Emma's Escape

Emma POV

The scary man with the mean eyes was talking to Daddy, but I couldn't hear what they were saying anymore. The golden light inside me was getting louder, like a roaring fire that wanted to burn everything up.

"Make it stop," I whispered to myself, pushing my hands against my ears. But the power wasn't in my ears. It was everywhere inside me, getting bigger and bigger until I felt like I might burst.

I was hiding behind some rocks near the mine entrance, watching Daddy talk to the bad man who had tricked me. The man had told me Daddy was hurt and needed help. That's why I went with him from school. But it was all lies.

Now Daddy was in trouble because of me.

The power pushed against my chest like a balloon getting too full of air. I tried to hold it in, tried to be good like Mommy always told me to be. But it hurt so much to keep it inside.

"Nobody hurts my daddy," I said, and the words came out strange and echoey.