Chapter 4 - The Friction of Grass
The young woman’s knees gave out.
She let her full body weight drop, a desperate attempt to anchor herself to the earth.
The young man in the black suit simply adjusted his stance.
He leaned backward, dragging her dead weight across the concrete.
Her bare kneecaps scraped against the rough edge of the sidewalk.
The top layer of her skin tore away, leaving a trail of bright red droplets on the grey stone.
They reached the edge of a perfectly trimmed lawn.
The older woman kept her hand clamped violently over the girl’s mouth, her heavy pearl earrings swaying with the exertion.
They dragged her across the grass.
The blades of grass flattened under the girl’s dragging legs, leaving a wide, unnatural path in the dew.
Looming ahead was a massive, two-story house built of dark red brick.
In the center of the brick facade sat a heavy, solid white door.
The brass handle of the white door was already turned.
The door hung open, revealing a square of absolute, suffocating darkness inside.
"Lift."
The older woman grunted, her knuckles whitening around the green stone ring.
The young man hauled the girl upward by her armpits, suspending her feet inches above the grass.
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The girl’s fingers clawed frantically at the white armband, smearing the red stain across her own pale hands.
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