Little Sparrow

Chapter Fifteen

My back collided with the wall.

Sally pressed her hands down on my shoulders, the pressure preventing me from moving anywhere, her nails digging into my skin. I struggled to try and free myself, but she only gripped me that much harder and forced me up against the wall with no chance of escape. She kept the same amount of pressure on my shoulders, but I could feel her hands inching across my collarbone towards my neck; her grip never faltered. Not once.

Her fingers danced across the skin on my neck, she wrapped them around my neck and squeezed as hard as she could. I gasped and tried to claw her hands off my throat, but she only gripped that much harder until I found myself choking. Sally's face loomed over me, contorted in rage and something else that I could not read. She pressed harder, her fingernails digging into my skin and the pressure on my neck becoming harder to bear.

Small, dark spots appeared in front of my eyes and the room swayed under me, as though the entire building had started to tilt to the side. Someone grabbed ahold of Sally's shoulders, whilst someone else wrestled her fingers off my throat. Her nails dragged against my skin when they pulled her away, deep scratch mark no doubt appearing across my neck. I gasped when a flood of air streamed down my throat and fought to get up all the air I could before it could be taken away from me again.

I massaged my throat, gasping for air as the dark spots vanished and the room finally began to right itself once more. Sally wrestled against the grip of the other girls who piled on her to try and stop her from freeing herself. She broke free for all but a few seconds, but it was all she needed for her hand to connect with my cheek.

The slapping sound echoed through the corridor and Charity grabbed hold of Sally's arm to pull her back once again. Charity pushed her against the other wall and some of the other girls pushed her against it to stop her going anywhere, but she had stopped fighting against them. I continued to massage my throat, under the pads of my fingers I could feel the crescent-shaped indents from her nails on my skin. My hands shook and even without Sally's hands around my neck, I struggled to catch my breath.

Ethel crouched down beside me and placed a light hand on my shoulder but I shrugged her off and pulled myself into a tight ball, pressing my back as far into the wall as I could. I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting the visions that flashed in front of my eyes. The raised hand, the screaming, the sheen on the blade of the knife as it was dragged across my cheek. I remember the agonising pain of the knife digging into my skin, the trickle of blood. All of it came flooding back.

"Lizzie?" Charity asked. I could feel her lean down beside me, across from Ethel.

"Don't."

"Look at me." I slowly opened my eyes to look at her. "You're not there. You're not with your foster family, you're with me and you're safe."

"No."

"I promise."

She offered me a reassuring smile and placed a light hand on my shoulder which I did not try and shrug again. I watched Ethel as she walked over to the girls still holding onto Sally, even though she did not put up a fight, and whisper something to Miriam. Miriam nodded but I did not know what either of them said and instead focused on trying to get my breathing back to normal. Even without Sally's hands around my throat, I still could not seem to catch my breath. It felt as though someone was sitting on my chest.

Footsteps echoed up the stairs but no one moved. Miriam continued to hold Sally against the wall even though she had long since given up fighting. She just stood there, breathing heavily and staring at a blank spot on the wall in front of her. No one said anything, no one dared to breathe too loudly as the footsteps got louder, we were all in trouble regardless of whether everyone resumed their chores. The sound reverberated off the walls and rattled around my head. I did not think I hit my head on the wall, but the base of my skilly throbbed a little and I knew I had a headache coming.