When Childhood Was Stolen | Yearning of a Broken Child Novel (Chapter 1)
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When Childhood Was Stolen
The morning begins quietly and beautifully in Elora's house, where she wakes up happily because today is her birthday. We see her warm relationship with her family: her mother Marissa, her father Rami, and her brother Ziad, and an atmosphere full of love and fun. Elora goes to school full of enthusiasm, waiting for her celebration in the evening. ✦ On the exact opposite side... We move to a dark world where four masked men prepare to go out to commit a crime, under the leadership of a cruel leader who carries a past full of oppression and hatred. The men look for a "prey", and cause chaos in the street. They spot Elora by chance and decide to kidnap her. Elora is kidnapped by force and taken to an unknown place, while her shoe is left in the street as a silent proof of the crime. ✦ In the end: The psychological side of the leader appears, his painful past, his hatred for the world, and his desire to take revenge on everyone. He announces that Elora will be "the beginning"... And the part ends with a terrifying moment of tension that paves the way for harsher events to come.
The morning flowed quietly through the white curtains of the room, while the sun's rays danced on her small face, waking the features of innocence from their slumber.
Elora opened her eyes heavily, her gaze following those golden threads that sneaked in lightly, as if whispering to her: "It's time to live."
"Elora, your breakfast is ready, my sweetie!"
Her mother Marissa's voice rang out from downstairs, carrying a warmth unlike anything else.
She sat up in her bed with soft laziness, stretched with a smile, then got up gracefully.
She washed her face, brushed her teeth, and chose a soft pink blouse with simple jeans, perfectly matching her gentle and spontaneous spirit.
She went down the stairs lightly, her hair swaying with her, and on her face that smile that knows only purity.
"Good morning, Mom!"
"Good morning, Ziad!"
Her brother replied jokingly, while eating a piece of hot bread:
"A morning of energy and joy, you naughty girl! What's with all this happiness?"
Elora sat at the table as if she were the spoiled princess in her home.
She began listing her favorite requests in a cheerful tone, teasing her mother who was used to her childish pampering:
"I want that white cheese... the one you bought yesterday! And fresh juice too! Don't forget the baked cookies, Mom!"
Marissa laughed, and shook her head affectionately:
"You never change, you spoiled girl."
Elora sat and began eating her breakfast with the appetite of children who carry nothing but joy in their hearts.
A piece of cheese... a sip of juice... then she turned suddenly and said with a broad smile as if revealing a great secret:
"Today is my birthday!"
She raised her eyebrows in fake childish surprise and added:
"I want a big party! I want balloons, candy, and songs... and I'll invite all my friends!"
Her father Rami laughed as he looked at her from behind his newspaper, saying:
"Then you can't go to school, right? You'll stay to prepare!"
But Elora raised her finger as if delivering an important statement:
"No, Dad! I have an important lesson today, I can't miss it. I'll go quickly and come back, we'll prepare the party in the afternoon."
Ziad said, biting into a piece of hot pie:
"I'll drop you off."
But she stuck her tongue out at him and said jokingly:
"No, no, your only task is to think about the gift!"
She stood up, arranged her small backpack, kissed her mother's head, then left the house with the lightness of a butterfly, scattering her smile on the sidewalk, taking the steps of a child who does not know that behind this day... everything different will be born.
She was running lightly, her hair flying in the air, and her new shoes that she chose carefully hitting the ground with a happy tune.
Life was smiling at her entirely, and the street seemed brighter to her than ever before.
In another place, far away from the warmth of the house and the child's laugh, darkness was the master of the place, and the concrete walls witnessed secrets that are never revealed.
A narrow room, dark corridors, and a smell of sweat mixed with smoke and humidity.
Four men in black masks, their faces unseen, and their eyes shining with dark intentions.
One of them said, sharpening a long knife between his hands:
"Tonight we go out... gather our fortune, and return like kings."
Another laughed with a hoarse voice:
"Don't forget the commandment... we want a charming one. Young... little... easy to control."
The third said, in an anxious tone:
"We must move before the leader arrives. He doesn't like to see us talking like this."
A back door opened slowly, and a heavy silence spread, as if the place swallowed all their breaths.
Slow but steady steps entered the room, and with every step... hearts trembled.
It was him... their leader. He doesn't need a loud voice to terrify them, nor many words to command them.
He stood before them, with sharp eyes that know no mercy.
Strongly built, with a cruel look as if it dug directly into their faces.
He said coldly:
"Prepare the car. There is no room for mistakes tonight."
One of them nodded respectfully and said:
"As you wish, sir..."
The leader said in a firm tone, his eyes roaming among the faces behind the masks:
"Don't forget to hide your faces. I don't want you to leave behind any pain or evidence... understood?"
One of the men nodded with discipline:
"Understood perfectly, sir."
Another said as he tied his mask tightly:
"Everything will be as you wish. Clean, and fast."
One of them approached him and said:
"Aren't you coming with us, sir?"
The leader raised his gaze calmly, his tone of voice was strange, neither cold nor burning:
"No... I won't come. I'll wait for you here."
Then the four men left the room, their steps quickening, and weapons hidden under their clothes.
Elora, the last period of her school day, and her heart dancing with joy.
Today is her birthday... her special day... she whispered to herself:
"They surely prepared a surprise... and Dad definitely bought me my favorite gift."
She left the school with her usual light steps, her backpack on her shoulder, and her hair dancing with the evening breeze, walking back with a smile, not knowing that darkness was waiting for her at the corner.
On the opposite side of the road, a black car was parked on the margin, its engines still warm.
Four masked men stepped out of it, their gazes roaming the side street looking for prey...
They weren't only interested in stealing, but they were fiercely hungry, knowing no mercy.
They started wandering among the pedestrians, harassing girls, pushing men, screaming in everyone's faces, and breaking store windows for no reason.
Their laughs were full of madness, and their minds dipped in chaos.
Then... Elora appeared.
And she approached with her small steps on the same road... she didn't know what awaited her.
One of them said, pointing at her with a sin-stained finger:
"Today is our lucky day, guys... look at her."
Another smiled maliciously:
"Hey beautiful... where are you going?"
Elora stopped, looked at them with confusion and anxiety, and whispered nervously:
"What do you want?"
One of them replied as he advanced towards her step by step:
"What do we want? What do you think?"
Another laughed saying as he looked at her childish body:
"She is young... she doesn't know about these things yet."
The third replied, getting closer to her:
"We'll teach her... in our own way."
Elora screamed and tried to run, but a strong hand grabbed her from behind.
She tried to wriggle out, but she was no match for them.
A mask over her face... a strange smell... everything started to go dark before her eyes.
One of them said mockingly as he opened the back door of the car:
"The gift has arrived, guys... let's celebrate tonight our way."
They threw her small body into the car, and drove off into the unknown...
The echo of their filthy laughs resonating in the empty street...
While her small shoe remained lying on the sidewalk, as if witnessing the first crime that stole childhood.
In that desolate place, far from the sunlight and the warmth of life,
The leader was sitting on an old, worn-out chair, enveloped in silence...
But in his head, there was another world... noisier than all the screams of the earth.
An old voice rang in his ear, a voice that has been haunting him since his childhood:
"We found you in the street... a filthy image... you are good for nothing!"
Followed by screaming... hitting...
Laughs of children mocking him...
Looks of contempt...
Wounds that time did not heal, but scratched open more until they became a curse haunting him.
He raised his head slowly, his eyes tearing with anger, not regret.
He reached his hand to the bottle on the table, and swallowed what was left of it as if extinguishing something burning inside him.
Then with a voice choked with hatred, he muttered:
"I will make you all live what I lived..."
He stood up suddenly, and kicked the chair in front of him violently, scattering tools on the floor.
He screamed with a hoarse voice:
"I will make your lives hell... you will wish for death and not find it!"
"Just as this cruel world showed me no mercy... I will show no mercy!"
"No elder... no young... no innocent... no guilty... no one escapes me!"
One of his followers approached him, afraid, but dared to say:
"We brought the girl, boss..."
The leader turned to him, sparks flying from his eyes, then laughed sarcastically:
"Let her be the beginning..."
And with slow, terrifying steps, he advanced towards the closed room where Elora was placed...
The first victim of a demon that wasn't born, but made from the cruelty of humans.
End of Chapter
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This is the first chapter of the novel,
I hope you like it 🤍
I would be very happy to read your opinions and comments,
And your interaction is the biggest support to continue ✨