Father and Daughter

I was placed into an orphanage when I was five years old. My mother died of a heart attack when I was a newborn and eventually, my father killed himself because he couldn't live without her. For ten years, I waited for a couple to see me and think that I was "perfect" and that I was "the one." But none ever did.

Against my expectations, a man came into the orphanage one day, searching for a child to call his own. He had a family once--a wife and daughter--but they died at the hands of a reckless, drunk driver.

When he saw me, a filthy looking fifteen year old, he whispered to the nun and she nodded to him. "Hello," he said, sitting beside me. "My name's Dan." From the moment he first spoke to me, I felt a warmth in my heart that I'd never experienced before. He was so sweet to me and his smile was so inviting. I wanted to leave with him and he granted me that.

From that day on, under Dan's care, I was happier than I had ever been. He took me to extravagant and exciting places; stayed up late with me to watch stupid movies; and took care of me when I became ill. He was the perfect dad and I never wanted to leave him.

On the day of my seventeenth birthday, I discovered one of Dan's dirty secrets. It was a secret so shocking that I incessantly wondered how I hadn't known about it before. It had my stomach doing twists and turns until I was unconscious.

Dan was a serial killer.

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© Nicole Salvador (a.k.a. baby-girl)