I Died on Valentine's Day

I stood outside the door, frozen, as Nathan slammed the door shut.

He kicked me out because of Erika, but I did not know where to go.

The lights from the houses behind me were all shining brightly. Sadly, not a single one was meant for me.

My autism manifested when I was a kid due to Nathan’s cold attitude.

Even after I started elementary school, I still could not speak.

The teacher told Nathan to get me checked, and the doctor said that I was born with autism.

Nathan sneered. “Autism? She’s just faking it for attention. I’m not going to pay her any attention. Let’s see how long she can keep up the act!”

After that, he never got me any therapy or moved me to a special school.

By the third grade, my classmates realized I never talked and always kept to myself. So, they began treating me like a weirdo.

That was when the bullying in school started.

I told Nathan about it, but he did not care. He said that I deserved it. “Think about it. People don’t bully for no reason. Why are they only picking on you and not others?”

Remembering all this made me feel even worse. I sat outside the door and sobbed.

After a long time, Erika came back looking disheveled.

She saw me and wore a brief look of disgust, but she pretended to care. “Moon, what’s wrong? Why aren’t you inside?”

Just then, Nathan opened the door and spoke coldly. “Erika, you’re being too nice. Don’t worry about her. She knows exactly what she did.”

Erika seemed confused. “What did she do?”

Nathan handed her the paper I had written on and said, “Take a look. I’ve known for a while that she’s been up to no good. She’s so young, but she’s already trying to come between us. I gave her a chance to make things right. All she had to do was apologize to come inside, but she wouldn’t do it. She made her choice.”

Erika’s face turned pale.

Her expression changed, and she sternly said, “Moon, how could you accuse me of something like this? Haven’t I been good to you? You…”

Nathan pulled her into his arms and softly said, “Don’t bother with her. Let her stay outside. This will be a lesson for her.”

As they shut the door again, I saw Erika glaring at me with hate through the gap.

I instinctively shuddered.

It was getting really late at night, but Nathan still refused to let me in.

Feeling sleepy, I whispered, “Nathan, why won’t you believe me…”

Suddenly, a rough, smelly sack was thrown over my head.

Before I could react, someone pushed me into a car.

When I woke up, I found myself in a strange club.

My hands were tied, and I could not move.

The first person I saw was Erika’s lover.

I heard others call him Harry Lewis.

When Harry noticed that I was awake, he took the sack off my head and smiled creepily at me. “Hey, little girl. I heard that you’re pretty brave. You told your brother about us?”

I was terrified, and I shrank back into a corner.

Memories of what happened before I fainted soon returned.

I only remembered seeing a pair of shoes in front of me, followed by the sack that went over my head.

Right then, it finally dawned on me that I had been kidnapped.