I freeze at the sound of that voice, not trusting my own words. I never thought I would have to hear that voice again. Now that I've heard it, I'm reminded why I've wanted to never hear it again.

"Don't you have anything to say to your dad?" my father asks me, his voice sending so many shivers throughout me that I have to sit down on the side of the dirt path just a few yards away from the house.

I take a deep breath and manage to steadily reply, "How did you get this number?"

"I see that you still have that same disrespect you treated me with. I'll quickly fix that. Anyway, I'm calling to tell you that you're expected to come to New York City in the next couple of days. You're needed in court. It looks like my case has been reopened, and I need you here to defend me," he tells me in his same menacing voice.

My stomach fills with butterflies as I say with great effort, "W-why would I want to help you?"

He laughs one of his all too familiar evil sounding laughs. "Because, if you don't, I'll make sure your life is miserable. I may not have freedom to personally do it, but I have still have friends who will do exactly what I tell them to do, starting with dealing with my stupid step-brother. He's been meddling in my affairs just like your mother did, and I'm not letting that happen."

My words catch in my throat at the mention of my mother and Uncle Sam. I manage to squeak out, "No."

He lets out another laugh. "Be in New York City on Friday by twelve o'clock. Court starts then. The address of the place is being emailed to you. Be there, or you'll regret it."

I don't have time to reply because he hangs up. I drop my phone back inside my purse and sit, frozen. I'm too afraid to move. He shouldn't have such a hold over me after such a long period of time. I don't understand why I can't just break free from him. I finally slowly rise from my position on the ground. I have to get back to the house, but I can't let Emma see me in such a daze.

I take a deep breath and try to place his words in the back of my mind. I slowly walk toward the house, a slight breeze blowing against my body. Now, the dusk seems to carry sounds of harm with it. I shake my head. I can't let him have power over me. He has no power over me. I am stronger than this.

With this resolution in mind, I step inside the house with a smile on my face. I walk into the kitchen but don't see Emma. I then walk into the adjoining dining room and see her sitting at the table, staring at her laptop. She's wearing her pajamas, and she's wearing glasses with her hair in a messy bun.

I clear my throat, and she quickly looks up. "Hey, Maya. How was the play?" she asks as she closes the laptop.

I sit down across from her and carefully yet cheerfully tell her, "It was really good. The acting was pretty impressive, and I could tell that they worked really hard on it. Everyone there loved it."

She smiles. "Good."

"Um," I say as I shift in my seat, "when did Uncle Sam leave?"

She looks down at her watch. "Right after you left the house, so I guess about two hours ago. Why?"

I stand up and shake my head. "No reason. I was just wondering. Well, I'm exhausted, so I'm going to go to bed. I have to be at the festival grounds again tomorrow. Goodnight."

I go over to Emma and give her a warm hug as she replies, "Goodnight, Maya. I'll see you in the morning."

I nod and go up to my room. I slip off my clothes and place them in my hamper. I quickly put on my pajamas, wash my face, brush my teeth, and get into bed. I use my remote to turn off the lights. I slip under the warm covers and rest my head on my soft pillow. I close my eyes, but my mind drifts to my father, making me toss and turn for a little while.

I keep telling myself that I can't let him have this affect over me, but it's not helping. He's still filling me with fear. Sadly, I know that he does have the power to hurt those close to me. I sigh and resolve that I'll go to New York City. I won't go to help him, but I'll go to make sure I can put a stop to anything he's trying to do. I'm eighteen-- I can handle this.

I finally feel myself doze off, and I'm soon in a restless sleep.

~•••••~

"Hello, Maya," he says with an evil look on his face.

I cringe as he takes a step toward me. By instinct, I take a step back, and my back is met with the cold wall, sending a message that there's no way for me to go to get away from him. I'm trapped.

"Missed me?" he questions with an icy voice.

My body trembles as I stammer, "L-leave me a-alone."

He evilly laughs again as he takes another step forward. "You can't tell me what to do. Have you forgotten what I can do, or have you just lived a spoiled brat life in that house with your uncle?"

"You have no power over me," I whisper, but I whisper it loud enough to where he can hear me.

He glares darkly and takes another step forward. He's right in my face as he spits out, "Who convinced you of that? You're bound to me by blood. You can't ever change that. What you can change is your brat attitude. In fact, I think I'll try to do that right now."

"Uncle Sam is here. He would never leave me alone with the likes of you," I tell him contemptuously.

That causes him to glare even more as he yells in my face, "You really think he cares about you? Hate to break it to you, but he's gone. You chose to come here with me. He let you make your decision, so you're here with me. He never cared. Why would he ever care about a worthless girl?"

"I am not worthless," I say through gritted teeth.

He laughs again, sending more cold shivers through my body. "You were never meant to be alive. You're here by accident. Your mother never cared, and your uncle never cared about you. They just felt pity on you. I'm the only one who ever cared about you."

"No, no, no," I say, shaking my head.

"Yes, Maya. It's all true. You wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for me. I'm the one who has kept you alive. I'm the only one who cares about you in this world," he tells me with a sinister grin.

I shake my head an collapse on the floor, stating over and over again, "No. No. I would be dead if you hadn't been stopped. I would've been dead. I would've been dead. No. No."

He crouches in front of me and evilly laughs. I look away and close my eyes. He hasn't laid a hand on me yet, which makes me feel like he's just here to torture me with lies in an effort for me to go back to the girl who used to cower every single time he walked into the room. I can't allow him to do that to me.

I keep my eyes closed and keep praying for strength to resist the temptation to give into his lies. I know they're lies, but it's hard to keep telling myself the truth when he's in my face and constantly repeating the lies over and over again.

"What's wrong, Maya? Are you thinking about finally giving into the truth?" he sneers.

I shake my head as I feel my butterflies in my stomach multiply. I don't answer. If I don't answer, maybe he won't have anything to use against me. I keep my eyes closed and repeat the truth to myself in my head over and over.

"You know I'm right," he says.

I don't respond, and I hear his breathing getting heavier and heavier. I feel his breath closer to my face, and I smell the foul smell of too much alcohol. I take a deep breath and keep speaking the truth to myself. I'm not going to let him win. I can't let him win.

"Answer me!" he shouts, causing me to finally cower down because I know what's coming next, and I know it's going to hurt.

I open my eyes just as he's lifting his hand up, and I swiftly close them, waiting for the impact of his hand on my face.

~•••••~

I jolt awake, my breathing heavy and sweat all over me. I sit up and stare into the darkness, almost expecting to see him standing in my room with his threatening face. He's not there, but it feels like someone else is in the room with me, and I don't like it.

Not wanting to stay in my threatening looking room, I slide out from under my covers and head for my door. I quietly open the door and walk downstairs to the kitchen. I keep the lights off as I get a cup out of one of the cabinets and fill it up with water. I take a sip of water and then hear soft whimpers coming from the living room.

I furrow my eyebrows and slowly walk into the living room. It's dark, but I can make out the faint shadow of someone. Nobody else is in the house except Emma, but I've never seen her without a smile on her face. I carefully approach who I think is Emma and tap her on the shoulder. She jumps and quickly spins around, and it is in fact Emma.

"Are you okay?" I quietly ask with concern evident in my voice.

She wipes away her tears, and I can faintly see her give me a small smile. "I'll be fine, Maya. Go back to bed."

I shake my head and sit down across from her with a sigh. "I'm eighteen, not six. I can handle whatever is wrong with you. You're like my sister or mother. I don't want to see you sad or upset, especially when I've never seen you ever cry before."

She takes my hand in her and gently squeezes it. "I just have a lot of things on my mind right now. I promise I'm okay. It's just been one of those days."

I give her a small smile and whisper, "If you're sure."

She smiles again. "I am. Now, go back to bed and get some sleep. This has nothing to do with you, so just let me sort it out."

I slowly and hesitantly nod as I rise to walk back up to my room. I stop at the top of the steps, and take a deep breath. My father is back on my mind, as well as Emma not being okay. I don't know how I am going to be able to go back to bed and sleep, so I don't. I go back into my bedroom, but I go out to my balcony and turn my little lights on. I sit down in my chair on the balcony and close my eyes.

My heart is heavy as I think about everything my father said to me. He threatened Uncle Sam and me. I can't let him hurt Uncle Sam, but I also know that I can't handle this situation alone. The moment I see him will be the moment that I fall down and faint. He's hurt me in too many ways for me to see him again and act like I'm fine.

He's hurt me so violently that I know that I'll turn into the cowering girl I once was, like in my dream. He's good at talking over the truth. I groan as I realize that I need to have someone come with me. I need someone who won't stop me from doing this. Unfortunately, Alli doesn't actually know the full details, so I don't think she would be able to help me very much. Plus, she would be way too nice.

There's no one else that would be willing to come. Uncle Sam is in New York City, but he would never let me do this. I've had no contact with Nick for such a long time, and I also don't think he would allow me to do this either. I sigh as I search for something I can do. I have to go to New York City to make sure he can't just get away with this, but I can't go alone.

"Maya? Maya Walker, what are you doing awake? I told you to go to bed," Emma's voice says from behind me.

I spin around and see her giving me a look of disapproval. "Sorry," I sigh. "I've just had a lot on my mind. My thoughts are racing so much that I know I won't be able to fall asleep."

Emma gives me a small smile and sits down in the chair beside me. She faces me and in her soothing voice asks, "What is it?"

I hesitate as I wonder if I should tell her about the phone call or not. I don't want her worrying, but I don't want to have to carry this secret around alone. I don't think I can ever get sleep again if I don't talk to someone about this. However, I also know I could create more trouble if I tell her because I know she probably tells Uncle Sam everything, and he doesn't need to know about this because he'll freak out.

I take a deep breath and simply say, "My father called me."

I watch as Emma's expression doesn't change as much as I thought it would. In fact, she calmly says to me, "I should have known he would be able to contact you sooner or later."

My mouth drops, and I lean back in my chair, trying to comprehend what she just said. "What? How do you know about him? What's going on here?"

Emma sighs and looks away from me as she whispers, "I think we need to talk about something, Maya."