Free Annabella's Oblivion (Hard World Tour #1) by V. F. Mason Page A

Hershey. He was eleven years old. My hand raised to pat him on the head when he opened his mouth and almost bit me. With a scream, I snatched my hand away and stepped back.
    “ He isn’t exactly the most friendly one here. Still struggles with the fact he needs to do as we say,” said the gruff, yet amused voice behind me. I turned back to see who it was.
    Standing there was an older man, wearing jeans and a jacket. He studied me carefully. He had brown eyes and his hair was gray. He must have been in his fifties or sixties.
    “ I didn’t know.” I cleared my throat. “My name is Bella. I’m, well, I’m—”
    “ I know, a friend of Nate’s.”
    He reached out his hand and nodded. “Dean.” I shook his hand and nodded back. “Like horses?”
    “ I used to, and wanted to touch this one, but, well, he isn’t friendly, as you said.” He chuckled and pointed at a black horse a few feet behind us.
    “ You’re better off with Star. She’s friendly and loves the attention.” Before I could say anything else, a young guy entered the stable, or rather, a teenager. The kid was skinny and it was hard to see anything of him, since he had on his hat, gloves, and jacket. He smiled and extended his hand.
    “ I’m Nolan.”
    “ Bella.”
    “ Nate said, if you wanted to ride a horse, I should help you. Do you want to now?” They both looked at me curiously, and although they were kind and considerate, all I wanted to do was run away from there.
    I didn’t even consider touching Star; even the damned horses didn’t like me. I forced a smile and mumbled under my breath, “Sorry, I have to go,” then quickly left and went back inside the house.
    I should stay clear from all the folks here until I’ve cleared my head because this is unacceptable. I had no idea why I’d just acted up back there. There was no reason to.
    Frustrating as fuck, that’s what it was.

 
    “ Stupid girl! How many times have I told you to keep your clumsy hands away from my things, and especially the booze?” Dad kept on screaming while I prayed for the floor under me to open up and take me in. It was my thirteenth birthday, and I wanted to keep the whiskey away from him. I didn’t want him drunk and angry on my special day. Unfortunately, he came downstairs when I was trying to hide it, and because he started shouting, I panicked and it ended up shattered on the floor. The brown liquid made a big, wet puddle on the white kitchen floor. He was wearing his usually stained white shirt and black sweatpants, and his bulky figure and beefy hands were looming over me. We were alone in the house. Mom had to go to work because they wanted to buy more drinks for the weekend, which was two days away, and since all their money went to it, they worked hard for it.
    Nicky was at his football practice and I had no means to let him know something was wrong. The old man had never touched me, but today he saw it as me antagonizing him on purpose, and I knew there was no escape from what was coming next.
    “ I’m sorry.” I kept on repeating that over and over again but knew it wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference to him. There was nothing more important for him and Mom than the whiskey.
    “ It was a whiskey I worked one week for. Do you know how important that stuff is? I already invited a few friends over to celebrate your birthday today and now look at it! Stupid girl, you ruined everything.” He snapped the belt he’d brought with him and everything inside me froze. I knew from Nicky’s experience that it was painful, and Dad was never gentle about it. He used all his power to make it excruciating and to make you shed blood. “You need to learn how to behave and keep those clumsy hands of yours away from our things.” He raised his hand and I closed my eyes in horror as I put my hands over my head, because I didn’t know how else to protect myself from what was about to come. Then there was a deep pain that ran across my back and I