Julieanne Lynch - Beneath the Lighthouse

Other Books By Julieanne Lynch

Silently Still

Within the Shadows

Escaping Shadows

Fighting Shadows

Unbreak Me

A Cross To Bear

Ash

The Curse Of The Rose

The Claiming

Beneath the Lighthouse

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously.

Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright 2018 Julieanne Lynch

All rights reserved.

Cover Credit: Original Illustration by Sam Shearon

www.mister-sam.com

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the publisher, except where permitted by law.

ISBN: 978-1-944109-19-6

Published by Vesuvian Books

www.vesuvianbooks.com

For Jenn

Even if the hopes you started out with are Dashed,

hope has to be maintained.

~Seamus Heaney

I cy tendrils of air cut into her throat like shards of glass. The more she struggled to breathe, the more her lungs burned.

The binding cords kept her stilla statue, standing frozen in eternity, shrouded in darkness. Her restraints were so tight her hands had gone numb. She shivered, unable to shake the feeling that she was being watched.

Where am I? She moved her lips, but her voice failed.

Footsteps echoed all around.

She turned her head toward every sound, hair whipping across her face with each snap of her neck. Who was there? She stared hard, searching for a glimmer of light. A scream formed in the base of her throat as the footsteps came closer.

She closed her eyes, shielding them from the coming horror. In a moment of madness, she opened them a slit, but the darkness was gone. She stood on the cobbles of the causeway, her hands still bound.

Confused, she looked at the overcast sky. Gulls swooped down, their calls echoing in her head. The salty stench of the coastal breeze nipped at her nostrils. When she saw the lighthouse, its beacon of light now resting in the day, she wanted to run.

A teen boy leaned against the stone tower.

As she focused on him, a strange sensation swept through her. His heartbeat thumped in her ears. The trepidation seeping through his veins resounded in her head. The fear. The anger. The desire not to live a moment longer. A jumbled mesh of thoughtshe was lost, just like her.

How was it possible?

She had never seen him before.

He glanced in her direction and their eyes met.

Her jaw slackened. He saw her.

P resent Day

The first slap stung the most.

Would you get the hell up? Ma shouted.

Jamie opened his eyes and scowled at her. His heart heavy, there was no avoiding what waited for him in the kitchen.

His fathers nightly heavy drinking had become routine along with the next mornings confrontation. Jamie sighed. It didnt matter how many times he pretended to be elsewhere, the reality hit him hard in his waking moments.

Your father is going mad down there. Why in Gods name did you do it?

Jamie pulled the covers over his head.

Jamie McGuiness, get your arse out of bed before I wallop you. She tugged at the duvet.

Aye, right, Ma. He sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Sonya rested her hands on her hips.

Jesus, Ma, Jamie said. He stood and inspected her new war woundsa blackened right eye and swollen lips. His insides churned as he reached for her.

Dont you dare. She pushed his hand away. Not today, I cant be doing with this. Not this day. Her voice broke.

But Ma, he cant keep getting away with this.

Sonya turned her head, hiding her face from his view. She picked up Jamies school uniform and threw it at him.

Get dressed and get down the stairs.

Jamie stared. Her humiliation had turned to anger. He hated Da for turning her into a shadow of the woman she had once been.

Sonya closed the door behind her.

Left alone with his thoughts, Jamie pulled on his trousers and stood in front of the mirror. Why cant my parents just be normal?

Normal. Something hed never be because of Asperger syndrome. But he longed for a family life without all the drama ... the way it used to be. He zipped his trousers and kicked his brothers soft stuffed bunny out of the way.

Noise, coming from downstairs, filtered through the closed door as he buttoned his shirt. Doors banging, the baby screaming, his father bellowingthe floor vibrated beneath his feet.

If he ignored it long enough, the noise would fade, masked by his thoughts. He went through this ritual every morning. For nearly three years, life had become something Jamie hated. It never made a difference how many times he tried to help fix things. Da undid all the good and wallowed in a drunken stupor, drinking himself to death.

Jack McGuiness had become a shell of a man, trapped in a self-destructive rage. Hed changed right before the eyes of his family, becoming a monster none of them recognized.