Chapter: Dash dot. - prologue

The mattress was way too hard and Nora could feel some broken springs pressing against her back. It smelled so badly of schnapps that it made her sick.
On the little cupboard next to the bed stood a lot of empty and full bottles, some of which had tipped over so that brown stains soaked the floor. There were stains like this on the sheets too, some of them still felt really damp. Disgusting, she thought, but didn't move. The stifling air made it harder to breathe. Nora longed to get out of here, but Henry hadn't come back yet. For the fifth time, she wondered if she had done the right thing. It was just humiliating, gross, and besides, she was scared.
The creak of a door released her from her rigidity. Henry came in wearing nothing but boxers. He grinned crookedly at her.
Henry was by far the most disgusting man Nora had ever seen, and that with her father!The red bags under his little pig's eyes, the unshaven chin, those greasy hair, and his flabby beer belly made him a kind of human cockroach.
He came up to the bed where Nora was still lying and didn't move. "Hey, hello," she said flatly, staring at the ceiling where she saw two flies crawling. The smell attracted them, of course.
"Not so stiff, little one, you have to relax," he croaked, and grinned again.
Nora only wore a short skirt and a sleeveless shirt. So she could see the goosebumps that formed on her forearms. She closed her eyes and swallowed.
"Ah, are you cold?" Asked Henry roughly. "Not much longer, little one."