Arrival: The Lakmoun Series, #1

By Lara Boyd

I'm tired.
My husband is an abuser.
I know it all sounds very scandalous. But I swear to you that as soon as she falls asleep I will definitely elope with my daughter.
However, I know that everything will change forever.
There is a small town called Lakmoun.
Tonight, when my husband falls asleep, my daughter and I will go there to start a new life.
The future has to be better.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lara Boyd
• Release date: Jun 11, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201587444

Book preview

Veronika Stekman

The early morning when I fled was one of the coldest. I took my daughter, five-year-old Julie, and left that house, I hoped for good. Randy, my abusive husband, lingered in bed, lying on his back in his underwear, his belly projected grotesquely upward. That night had been the hardest for me. Randy had come in after a night out and pretended he wanted me, the way a husband would want to be with his wife, but it wasn't the right way. He had forced me to lie down on the bed, and he accosted me violently. I turned him down with all my willpower. Luckily, Julie had been sleeping peacefully in her bed for several hours, and for that reason our little girl had not heard anything. Randy, seeing that I, his wife, did not want to please him, slapped me, and was ready to force himself on me, however, I was able to run away and lock myself in Julie's room. On those occasions, my daughter's room was a kind of refuge. Randy followed me, but after a while he got tired of pounding on the door, and withdrew shouting curses. I, with my mouth covered by my hands, cried silently. I felt the tears run down my cheeks until they settled on my lips. Julie had not woken up; she was still sleeping with her tender face pointing straight up. Still crying, I curled up on the side of the bed, and inwardly vowed that this would be the last time. 

Before dawn, and while my husband slept, I grabbed my things, and left with Julie in my arms, the child dozing, and made my way to the bus terminal. Fortunately, I had accumulated a small amount of money, so that I could flee when the situation required it. And that morning, I needed that money that I had wanted so much not to spend. The cold breeze froze the tears on my face. My daughter was still sleeping, and I held her close to my chest as she stirred a little. 

I was waiting for a bus to take me away. I checked the time on my phone, it was extremely early. Few people swarmed around, and I chose a seat. Julie woke up looking around her. The first thing she glimpsed was her mother, I was distraught, but my expression changed when I saw that my daughter was awake. 

Mommy, where are we? I'm cold.  Julie said rubbing her eyes sleepily. Honey, go back to sleep. I promise everything will be okay, but for now, go back to sleep, we have to take a little trip. I tried to reassure her.

However, Julie began to cry attracting the stares of the few people in the terminal. I didn't know where to go, so I decided to take a bus to the unknown, as far away as possible from that place, from Randy, from my nightmare life. Julie kept crying until we entered the first bus that we saw arriving; I asked the destination: Lakmoun A tiny village in the mountains. It seemed to be a good place, one like any other. I didn't care, I just wanted to get away, and take my daughter away from that hell. I had put up with it for a long time, and enough was enough. Despite my determination, I was still crying, how could I explain my absence? There were people at home that I loved, yet I had never confessed to them what was going on inside my house. I felt ashamed. Although it was clear that I was not responsible, I blamed myself for making the wrong choice, for giving Julie a violent father. The girl continued to sleep, while I hadn't slept a wink all night. 

The trip lasted the rest of the night, and most of the next morning. I managed to fall asleep, but it was a restless sleep where Randy was chasing me wherever I went, and he abused me and forced me to go back. I was startled to hear a man shouting Lakmoun, Lakmoun over and over again. We had arrived. I was immediately assaulted by the cold. A characteristic mountain cold, the terminal was overflowing with people, and I took Julie in my arms to get off the bus. People were going back and forth in the eternal frenzy of the passenger terminals. Some were carrying large suitcases, others, like me, had only the bare necessities. I thought it best to go as soon as possible to a police station, and report what had happened to me, so at least they would not find it so strange to see a woman alone with a child in her arms with no more belongings than a few changes of clothes. At least I had been able to take my cell phone with me. We were helpless. We knew no one in that town. I put on a jacket and covered Julie with a blanket. My arm ached from carrying my sweet child. I preferred it this way, because if Julie woke up, she would ask questions and I hadn't thought about what I was going to tell her yet. Maybe going to the police station was a good idea just to find some shelter. Someone could help us. I was on the verge of becoming desperate. What could I do?

Suddenly, I remembered that I must have looked terrible. That explained the reason for the strange looks people were giving me. Randy had hit me the night before. I quickly reached into my purse for a mirror, and saw that my cheek was swollen. There were people who had always told me I was a beautiful woman. My long black hair was shiny, my face with fine features. At that moment, the image that my mirror reflected back was not the best, however, I had run away, I had been brave, and my appearance was the least important thing. There would be time to worry about that. Julie woke up and wanted to walk, the barrage of questions would take place