Letting Go of Us (Anchored Hearts Vol. 3) (44 page)

The Cursed Series, #1

By t. h. snyder

© 2014 t. h. snyder (Tiffany
Snyder)

Published by t. h. snyder

First published in 2014. All rights reserved.
This book is copyright. Apart from the fair purpose of private
study, research or review as permitted by the Copyright Act, no
part may be reproduced without written permission.

This book is licensed for your personal
enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to
other people.  If you would like to share this book with
another person, please purchase an additional copy for each
recipient.  If you’re reading this book and did not purchase
it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please
return and purchase your own copy.  Thank you for
respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters,
places, and incidents are the product of the imagination or are
used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual, locales or persons,
living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Images Copyright

Book Cover By Design: Kellie Dennis

Cover photo by Stacy Michael
Photography

Prologue

Sitting Indian style on my twin-sized
bed, I fight through the final battle as Zelda on my
Nintendo.

I’ve been trying to beat this game for
the past week and now I’m so close. I only have this one life left,
I need to do this…I need to win.

With my sword drawn out, my tongue
darts over to the side of my mouth and I can feel my heart beating
faster through my chest. As my sweaty hands hold on tightly to the
controller, my thumbs work their magic to defeat the unsightly
creature on my TV screen.

One more spear to the
torso should do the trick and I’ll be the Zelda legend. A smile
forms across my face, and I know very well that I’m about to become
‘
The Champion
’.

My eyes are glued to the colors flying
across the screen as I hear my bedroom door creak open.

For just a second, I turn my head to
see my mom walking in with my tuxedo in her hands. I roll my eyes
and quickly look back to the fight, but it’s a moment too
late.

“Mom!” I scream.

I toss the controller toward the end
of my bed and cross my arms over my chest.

“Lincoln, this is no time to throw a
temper tantrum,” she says with a serious look on her face. “You’re
nine years old and you’re expected to act like a mature young
man.”

I look up at her with a pout, “Yes,
ma’am.”

She nods her head and
smiles.

“That’s better. Now get yourself off
of your bed and get dressed. I’ll be back in here in less than
thirty minutes and I want you dressed and ready to meet our guests
for dinner.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I watch as she hangs my tuxedo on the
back of my bedroom door and exits the room.

Tonight is one of the biggest nights
for our family, not just for my dad. I know I need to act a certain
way and be on my best behavior. It’s nights like this that I wish I
was just a normal kid.

Ever since I can remember I’ve been
told to act like a gentleman, use appropriate manners, not to
slouch, and speak up only when spoken to. For a kid my age, it
really kinda sucks.

I just wish I was more like my best
friend Daulton. He’s the luckiest kid I know. His parents let him
do whatever he wants, leave the house whenever he wants, and just
be a kid.

Not me, I’m a Minzotto. I’ll have to
do as Mom and Dad say and follow in the political footsteps of my
parents. My older brother and sister are already talking about
their future careers, but seriously, I’m only nine years old. How
the heck am I supposed to know what I want to do when I grow up? As
of right now, all I know is that I’d rather play Nintendo than
celebrate Dad’s election night for another term as congressman of
our stupid state.

I slump my shoulders and slide off of
my bed. Walking toward my bedroom door, I take off my white polo
and reach for the tuxedo shirt. Pulling it off the hanger, I make
quick work of getting myself dressed before my mom comes back into
my room.

As I’m tying my shoes, I see my
bedroom door open out of the corner of my eyes. Mom doesn’t say a
word while she looks in on me with my brother and sister standing
on either side of her.

Mom stands tall next to my siblings
and she looks very pretty in her long black dress. Her hair is
pulled up off her shoulders and she’s wearing a fancy necklace that
hangs down to the neckline of her dress.

Shelton, my older brother, is dressed
in a similar tuxedo as mine and Mimi, my older sister, is wearing a
long shimmery blue dress.

I look down at myself and hope that I
appear to be as presentable as them. Standing from my bed, I walk
toward my mom. Not a word is spoken nor a glance of my siblings in
the wrong direction. I follow them as the four of us walk down the
grand staircase leading into the foyer of our home. As I reach the
last few steps, I see my dad walking toward us.

My eyes follow him as he leans forward
to place a kiss on Mom’s cheek. A smile creeps across her face and
his hand goes to the bottom of her back.

Our parents turn to face me, Shelton,
and Mimi.

“The guests will be arriving
momentarily and dinner will be served promptly at seven. I don’t
think I need to remind the three of you that this is election
night. It’s a night to celebrate and enjoy one another as a family;
however, I still expect courtesy and manners amongst our
guests.”

“Yes, sir,” Shelton
replies.

I tilt my head to the
floor and roll my eyes.
Suck up.
My sister nudges my side and I look up to see our
father nodding his head as he leads us toward the formal living
room.

For what feels like an eternity, I
stand around and watch as my parents discuss the evening with
guests as they start to arrive.

Collin, Dad’s campaign manager, calls
for everyone to move to the dining room for dinner. I take my seat
next to Mimi and enjoy the meal our chef has prepared for
us.

I find myself gazing off into space,
not that it’s unusual during these kinds of events. I don’t know
why it’s so important for me to even be here. My parents haven’t
looked at or spoken to me since I came down the stairs. To be
honest, I don’t know that they’d even miss me if I slipped out of
the room and upstairs to play Nintendo.

The idea of leaving piques my interest
more and more as the conversations begin to turn toward the polls.
I’m so bored I can’t help but yawn as I look around the table at
all the men and women here to support the election
tonight.

I plot my plan in my head for the next
few minutes. Daulton only lives about two miles over the bridge. If
I leave after dinner, I should be able to make it to his house in
less than fifteen minutes.

My mind is made up—as soon as dinner
is over, I’m ditching out of here.

I may only be a nine-year-old boy, but
I sure as heck know that I’m not needed here tonight.

Once we’re excused from the table, I
watch as everyone moves into the other rooms and I quickly make my
escape through the open garage door.

I can feel the sweat trickle down my
back the faster I pedal my bike. In a few minutes I should be at
Daulton’s house; I just hope he’s home.

Rounding the last turn in his
neighborhood, I see that the front porch light is on and the garage
door is open with his mom’s car parked inside.

I hop off of my bike and lean it
against the side of the house. As I march my way up onto the front
porch, I take off my jacket and hang it across my arm. I reach for
the doorbell and wait for someone to come and answer the
door.

The front door swings open and Daulton
stands in the doorway wearing a Skate or Die tee-shirt and black
running pants.

A smile comes across his face as he
pushes open the screen door.

“Dude, what are you doing here? Isn’t
it like election night or something?” he asks, standing up against
the door frame with his arms crossed in front of his
chest.

I look to him and punch him in the
shoulder.

“Yeah, it’s something alright. I was
bored out of my mind and needed to get out of there
fast.”

“Linc, your parents are going to kill
you. Are you sure you should be here?”

“I’m sure, now let me in and let’s
play some video games.”

I make my way through the door and
follow Daulton back to his room.

The house is eerily quiet and dark. I
know his mom is here, I saw her car parked in the garage. It’s
really no bother to me, so I shrug it off and plop myself down on
one of the bean bag chairs in front of the TV.

Daulton loads a game into the Nintendo
and hands me a controller. For the next hour or so we battle one
another, each of us winning a game or two.

Lights flash across his bedroom wall
from the outside and I hear a car door slam.

My ear perks to a noise coming from
the front yard. It sounds like someone’s yelling, but I can’t make
it out.

Daulton grabs my hand and I follow him
into the other room.

He quickly closes the old, cracked,
wooden closet door after us and we slide back to the wall behind
the musty clothes and boxes.

My body is trembling and I can hear
Daulton’s teeth chattering in fear.

What the heck just
happened?

All I remember is playing video games
in his bedroom and before I know it, he’s pulling me into the guest
room closet.

I follow his lead, completely clueless
as to what’s going on. A million thoughts are racing through my
head.

Is it his mom? His
dad?

Is there a robber in the
house and we’re hiding so that he doesn’t find us?

Is there a chance that
something bad is going to happen and I’ll never make it home to see
my family again?

Daulton and I have been best friends
since Kindergarten. We’ve played tee-ball together and even made
the traveling baseball team this year. The two of us have been
inseparable since we first met.

He’s the one friend I can get along
with and be myself. I don’t have to pretend around him, and I sure
as heck don’t have to act like a congressman’s son when we’re
together.

No matter how badly we mess around or
bully one another on the playground, I always know I’m safe with
him…that is, until now.

I rest my head in my hands and can
feel the tears prick the back of my eyelids. I never should have
snuck out of home and ridden my bike to Daulton’s house tonight. It
was a big mistake and now I’m scared to death to be here with
him.

When my parents find out that I’m
gone, I’ll be in more trouble than ever before. But one thing is
for sure, being grounded for life is better than hiding in this
closet.

A door slams in the other room and I
hear a muffled cry. Three loud sounds vibrate the wall behind us
and I can only imagine what could be causing the thumping
noise.