My Russian Nightmare by Danielle Sibarium Read Free Book Online

of the freezer and turn myself into a human ball. I wrap my arms around my knees and tuck my head down. I rock back and forth, crying. Screaming. Pleading with God to let someone find me.
    The door opens. Afraid it’s Sammy and that he’s going to do something even worse to me, I slowly lift my eyes.
    “Thank God I found you! She’s in the freezer!” he calls out. Thank God it isn’t Sammy!
    Mommy rushes in and scoops me up in her arms. She hugs me and holds my head against her warm shoulder as she carries me out of the cold and back into the warmth of the kitchen. I cling to her and cry harder. I don’t want to let go of Mommy. Ever.
    “SAMMY!” Daddy yells. I never heard him yell this loud. He’s so angry. I think the walls of the diner are shaking. “Get your ass in here!” Daddy’s going to punish Sammy, and Sammy deserves it.
    He’s in the kitchen with us in a flash. “You found her. Whew,” he says, wiping his hand across his forehead like he actually cares.
    “How did your sister end up in the freezer?” Dad growls.
    “I don’t know,” Sammy shrugs. “Ask him. He did it,” Sammy says, pointing to the boy that rescued me. The boy that’s now my hero.
    “Is that true?” My father turns his threatening stare on the frightened young boy.
    “No,” he says, shaking his head. “I didn’t,” he says to another young woman that has joined us in the kitchen.
    “Don’t lie!” Sammy accuses. “First you shut the lights in the basement and tried to lock me in there, then you came up and stuck Kiera in the freezer.”
    “I didn’t. Mommy, I swear!” he pleads, pulling on his mother’s sleeve.
    “Who found her?” Sammy asks. “Maybe whoever found her locked her in.”
    I hate Sammy. He’s trying to get my friend in trouble, and I know he didn’t do it. I was peeking out from the kitchen at him. My friend sat in a booth drawing. Earlier he promised to draw me a picture of a unicorn. My mouth was covered from behind me so I couldn’t scream, and someone pulled me back and shoved me into the freezer.
    I didn’t see who did it, and even though it felt like someone bigger and taller, I know it was Sammy. He hates me. And he hates my friend. I think my brother is trying to get rid of the boy. I can’t let that happen. Then it will just be me and Sammy again, and I’m afraid of Sammy.
    “Mommy.” I whisper.
    “Yes, princess?”
    Before I say another word, I look between the two boys. My friend is scared. He’s hiding behind his mother. Sammy is angry. I know that look. If I get him in trouble, he’ll beat me up later. If I get my friend in trouble, I might not see him again. He already went away for a while. He only just came back.
    “I’m sorry. I was playing in there and the door closed.” I barely choke the words out. “I got locked in.”
    Mommy knows I’m lying. She looks at Sammy, then back at me.
    “Don’t protect your brother, Kiera. He needs to be punished. You could’ve been seriously hurt.”
    I shake my head and drop my eyes to the ground. I hate lying to Mommy. I love her so much. But I’m so afraid of my brother. It’s not Sammy I’m protecting, it’s the other boy. “It’s my fault.”
    “We have to get back to work.” Daddy says. “If anything like this happens again, the three of you will be punished. For a very long time. Does everyone understand?”
    We all nod. Mommy escorts us out of the kitchen and leads us to a booth. I slide in, and my friend sits next to me. He and Sammy glare at each other. Sammy gets up and sits in another booth away from us.
    I take my friend’s hand and hold it under the table so Sammy can’t see. That’s what got him so angry to begin with. He saw us holding hands earlier.
    “I won’t let him hurt you again,” the boy with the dark eyes says. “I won’t let anyone hurt you. Ever.”
    *
    The memory is so vivid, but I don’t know if it really happened or if I’m making the whole thing up in my mind. Maybe I’m just