Chapter 10 - The Light Returns
David knelt back down in front of the white cabinet. He took off his expensive dark suit jacket and gently wrapped it around Mia’s frail, shivering shoulders, completely covering her torn and dirty clothes.
He didn't pull her. He waited for her.
Slowly, Mia crawled out of the suffocating darkness of the closet and collapsed directly into her father's chest. David wrapped his massive arms around her, burying his face in her messy dark hair, finally letting the heavy, agonizing tears of a two-year nightmare fall freely. He held his little girl, realizing the universe had given him a miracle.
Little Lily walked over, her pink cardigan brushing against David's leg. She reached out and gently grabbed Mia’s dirty hand.
"I brought you a sandwich," Lily smiled softly.
Mia looked at her little sister, the toddler who had bravely defied her mother's terrifying threats to keep her alive in the dark. A small, weak smile finally broke through the dirt on Mia’s face.
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David scooped Mia up securely into his arms and took Lily by the hand. He walked away from the dark hallway, carrying his daughters out into the bright lights of the paramedics waiting in the living room, vowing silently that no one would ever hurt them again.
If you were David, would you have been able to control your rage while waiting for the police, or would you have taken justice into your own hands?
