Scared Yet? Read Online Free PDF

darkness.
    Until now.
    A scrabbling, panicking sensation rushed up her spine. She opened her eyes wide as the moment from the car park replayed in her head. Not the whole thing – just the movement in the window, the hand, the arm, the voice in her ear.
    You’re mine, slut.
    No, she wasn’t. She was fine. It was over.

5
    Kelly stood at the hallway door, wrapped in a cotton robe, long hair in a slightly damp topknot, a hand cupped to her cheek. ‘Oh wow.’
    Liv copied her pose. ‘It feels huge.’
    â€˜It is huge.’ Kelly aimed her next words down the corridor. ‘Get a move on, girls. You’re not even dressed yet.’ She waited while little feet scrambled on the timber floor then made a face at the cartoons playing on the flat screen opposite the sofa bed. ‘Sorry if they woke you. They’re not supposed to watch TV before school.’
    â€˜They didn’t put it on. I couldn’t sleep.’ Liv had flicked it on in the early hours to try to break the cycle of nightmares that had kept circling in her brain – the movement, hand, arm, voice.
    â€˜How are you feeling?’
    â€˜Like someone put me through a tumble dryer during the night.’
    Kelly sat on the edge of the sofa bed, the familiar floral fragrance of her soap and deodorant drifting around bothof them. ‘I’ve got some work I can do here. Why don’t you sleep a while longer and I can drop you home on my way into the office later?’
    â€˜I don’t want to go to the townhouse.’
    â€˜Then stay here today. You’ll have the house to yourself. I can manage the office.’ She smiled gently.
    Liv didn’t like how close it came to pity. And she didn’t want to sit around with that moment from the car park on a continuous loop in her head. She needed to do something and it wasn’t fair to leave Kelly to deal with everything at the office. Not when the problems they had were Liv’s fault. ‘I want to go into work. I’ll feel better if I can be useful. Can you lend me some clothes?’ She sat up and winced at the throbbing in her cheek.
    â€˜There’s no hurry. It can wait a couple of hours. You should try to take it easy.’
    Liv rolled her head from side to side, testing her neck. ‘It’s mostly swelling. I’ll take some painkillers. It’ll be fine.’
    Kelly looked doubtful. ‘Well, see how you feel once you’re up and around.’
    When she was gone, Liv stood – and waited. Okay, no spinning head, no tears and the off-kilter feeling from last night had disappeared. Mostly. She’d be fine.
    She heard Jason talking to the girls in the kitchen as she made her way to the bathroom, kept her eyes down until she was standing in front of the mirror. She knew it would be black and swollen and ugly, so she took a breath in preparation. It didn’t stop the ripple of shock.
    Her eye looked like one of Kelly’s girls had found a black felt-tipped pen and drawn a pirate patch. The swelling inthe lid wasn’t too bad but the internal bleeding had spread far and wide across the temple and cheek, causing a hard lump of blue-green bruising down one side of her face.
    Someone did that to her, she thought. A man had pummelled her face with his fists.
    She slipped her right hand from its sling, flexed her palm, her wrist, her whole arm. Her muscles were sore but it was only her finger that was damaged.
    She’d broken it hitting him .
    For a year, she’d done nothing but accept what was thrown at her. Striking back had hurt but it felt good. Damn good.
    She studied the crazy colouring again, the lopsided bulging of her face, the bloodied cut on her lip. What do you look like this morning, you bastard?
    Under the shower she took a cautious inventory of her body. She had strained muscles all over and the scratching and bruises were worst on her shins. On her upper thigh and hip there were