All Chapters of The Cold Floor: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The first thing I notice when I come to is the cold. Where am I? I feel around for purchase only to find smooth marble. It runs up the walls and all around me feels like a marble tomb. It's dark, wherever I am, and I find myself running through the last twenty-four hours in my head. A burlap sack with two shirts, two pair of jeans, and a toothbrush. A quiet bay window and sleeping girls in the beds around me. The rusty lock that almost gave me away. I see an empty street with flickering light. Headlights. I think they were headlights. Then blackness. Shit. I finally come to the realization that I was taken. I test my body for injury, but find only old scars and working limbs. I feel no pain, but I cannot escape the icy bite of the marble. I look around for my bag and I find it thrown in a corner of the tomb I have found myself in. I remove the clothes and dress myself in layers. I warm myself enough to stop shaking and I find myself fatigued from my shivers. I feel for a

    A normal girl would feel fear. A normal girl would panic to awaken in a cold prison. I'm not a normal girl. So many have told me I'm not normal, and they have never let me forget it.     Fear, I once knew fear. I felt fear from my Father's gaze. I felt fear late in the night when he would come to greet me, I felt fear when he doused the old house in gasoline and lit the match. My fear died with him there-with that house.     I was found in the attic just before the flames reached the window. I didn't feel fear as I was carried two stories down a ladder. I didn't feel fear as I was taken in by the state. I didn't feel fear. It was like I was reborn in that ash.    I didn't feel fear, no. My fear, the fear I felt for so long, was replaced with something else. I felt alive. For now, I slept. Not only did I rest but I planned. When I awoke I removed my flimsy toothbrush from the bag. A skinny affair that you would g

8 years ago...    "She has no sense of self preservation. Distortion of her instincts brought on by past trauma. In a sense it may be a form of self preservation in of itself. Her lack of in turn protects her from fear and she searches for new ways to feel." My school counselor tells my foster mother as I sit on a bench waiting nearby. "What can we do? She is wild. She climbed a four story roof yesterday and was found standing out on the very edge. I'm afraid-I'm afraid she will hurt herself. Who will be held liable? I," she pauses and looks at me. "I have other fosters to care for." Whispers my guardian.     "Therapy will help. I'm going to give you the number of  a child psychologist. He is a good friend of mine and I think if we work in tandem we will see the best results. I do not want to put your expectations too high. Her instincts may not change, but we can try to instill boundaries. Twice a week visits for each of us. As for

20 years ago...    "Jordyn, mommy needs a favor." I hear mommy say as she looks me in my eyes while I watch t.v. on the sticky floor. She always says to look at her eyes when I talk. "What is a favor?" I ask when mommy gives me a look. "Hm, a favor is when you do something nice for mommy because you love her." Mommy smiles. I get excited. I run to my room to get the picture I colored when I was watching Bug's Bunny.     Mommy takes it and groans. "That's nice dear, but what I really need is for you to come with mommy to a friend's house. It will only be for a little while. Please? It will be a fun game." Mommy pouts and I touch her mouth.    I don't like mommy's friends. They throw things and hit. They give her things and she acts funny. "Is she nice?" I ask. "He is very nice. Now go get your coat. We are leaving now."     Mommy is already acting funny. She is scratching her neck and blinking her eyes a lot.

    Was he serious? Did he just say he wants me to fall in love with him? "Ha! Fat chance!" I chuckle as I look at him. "If you wanted me to love you, why lock me in that cold prison?" I ask confused by this turn of events. He seems shocked and unprepared. He's more afraid than I should be. He is my kidnapper? I take in his appearance for the first time. He looks rich. He's got swaggering hips and a jawline to die for. His hair is dark like mahogany and his eyes are a shining emerald. He answers as my eyes follow the buttons down his shirt.    "I did it to establish dominance and let you know you can't run. Don't be fooled. I run things here and I control what will happen. You will fall in love with me." I ponder this for a moment and can't seem to understand him. He lives in a palace. The gardens outside the window are some of the most beautiful I've ever seen, not that I'd seen much of the Jones's lifestyle. Why take a girl off the street and bring her he