Kiera's POVMy eyes snapped open suddenly. I blinked a few times, trying to figure out where I was. I licked the top of my lips as the world slowly came into focus and people stopped screeching in agony. Gingerly, I sat up until I was resting my elbows on my knees, the only sound in the room my harsh pants. Something had woken me up, but I couldn't pinpoint what it was. Well, whatever it was, I was glad for it.Before I'd woken up, I had been in the midst of a dream. To put it more accurately, a nightmare. People were screaming in agony. It was endless and bloodcurdling.A loud piercing sound rent the air and I flinched instinctively.My eyes went wide with panic as my heart galloped rapidly. It took me ten horrible seconds in which I died twice before I finally located the sound.I huffed at my own jumpiness and leaned towards the edge of the bed to pluck up the phone. I needed to change that stupid ringtone before it gave me a heart attack. ‘I'm hungry.’ The text message was just o
The sun God must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed today. The weather wasn't hot, it was searing, burning everything within sight. I wiped my brows for the upteenth time, trudging slowly towards home and succor from the punishing heat. I was thirsty and weak, not only from the bag of coals disguised as a backpack I was logging around, but because the hotter the sun got, the more it sapped what little energy I had left. I had walked this route a thousand times to and from school but it had never seemed as endless as it did today. What a perfect end to a truly terrible day. No one was meaner than a highschool cheerleader, especially when said cheerleader decided that you wanted to steal her boyfriend because you were his partner in chemistry class and then said cheerleader and her group of meanies decide to warn you by dumping dishwater-complete with rotten fruits-over you right after gym class. Now in the blazing heat, I was humiliated, tired and stinky. The smell emanating
I was woken up by the sound of glass smashing against the wall. Angry words slithered up the stairs. While I couldn't understand what was being said, the anger behind them was undeniable. I sighed. Father was home. And angry by the sound of it. 'When isn't he angry?' A snide voice in the darkest recesses of my mind whispered. I shoved off the heavy fort I'd made around me and crawled out of my room. Mother had made me promise that I'd leave whenever father was in a bad mood, but I wanted to hear what was going on. I tiptoed down our silver rug. It was thick and soft and I liked to walk through it with my bare feet because I liked to feel it's silky strands tickling me, and also to give mother less work. Father insisted that she wash the rug herself, along with every other chore she already did, beacuse it made sense to have your wife washing a rug when it would cost next to nothing to have a professional do the job for you. My dad was weird like that. He woul
"Close the window." I grumped, turning on my side to get away from the intruding light.A sharp pain in my side made me whimper and stopped my movements. I opened my eyes to unfamiliar surroundings. I was in a room with beige colours that had nothing except two beds. I was on one and there was an IV drip connected to my wrist. On the second bed was...was my mother!"Mum!" I yelled, but she didn't respond.Both of her eyes were swollen shut and she spotted several cuts on her body and face. The blood had been cleaned off but she was still almost unrecognizable. I yanked off the drip, wincing slightly at the pain before rushing over to mother's side. She still wasn't moving, but when I put my finger under her nose, I felt her breathing. I exhaled in relief that didn't last long. The heart monitor started making erratic noises when mother began trashing on her bed. I ran out of the room to get help when I stumbled upon them.There were two silhouettes just a
My feet could no longer support me and I kept stumbling into the walls. Everything had it out for me today, even the walls were intent on tripping me. After hitting my head for the fourth time, I resorted to crawling. Where I was going, I had no idea but I just wanted to get as far as possible from them. How they didn't hear all the racket I was making was beyond me I refused to ponder what they could be so engrossed in that would steal so much of their attention. Some small eternity and two flights of stairs later, I was in the living room.Basement. Mother had confiscated a keg of fuel just two days ago from Clara, our neighbor's daughter. I doubted she had had time to give it back to her dad. If that man was intent on using me for my grandpa's money, I intended on ending everything right here. At least mum would have a chance at a new life then.Father's feet thundered down the stairs just as I clabbered down the two short stairs that led to the basement. I panicked
I put the box thing under my oversized shirt and held it together with my pants. I uncapped the keg and poured an ample amount in the small secret room, then I made a trail up the basement stairs. After checking to make sure there were no movements, I made a line out to the kitchen where I grabbed a box of matches and unlocked the backdoor and made a line out to his car. I'd wanted to burn that stupid bright red Audi since the moment I saw it. He refused to buy mum a car even though she was always running errands both for the house and for him and also when I'd asked him for a car for school-even a used one, he'd refused! Then the next day after my birthday-which he failed to get me a gift for-he shows up with a car worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. I poured as much as possible gasoline on it and moved away from the car. When I was as far away as possible, I rolled up a wad of newspaper and lit it on fire then threw it at the car. BOOM! went my dad's favourite thing in
Not the time. I reminded myself as I hurried away from the disturbing image in the mirror. It was nothing but a figment of my imagination anyway and I needed to get to mum before dad got here. Weird voices and faces that weren't mine would be analysed and dealt with at a later date. Mother was awake. That was good, and also bad. I'd hoped she would still be asleep when I got here, it would have made my work easier. "Mum!" I ran over to her and hugged her. Her eyes looked sallow and tired. She looked tired in ways no woman of her age should be tired. "Hey baby." Dad had said almost the same thing to his tramp earlier today. I cringed at the comparison. "What's wrong, love?" She asked worriedly, turning my face this way and that to get a better look at my face. "Nothing. Dad..." "Shh.. don't say anything. Your dad just lost his composure for a minute okay? He loves me, he loves us." "Really? Is this what love is to you?" I asked snidely. "You don't understand. This is a battle.
I woke to sunlight filtering in and yawned in the face of a tall, slim man in black suit. "Ma'am" He shook me gently, his voice warm and inviting. "Yes?" I groaned, yawning and stretching my arms in his face with all my strength. "The train is now in London. All passengers are disembarking." He related in a bland tone, his face betraying no emotion at my uncouth behavior. I sat up immediately and glanced around. Ours was a private car so there was no other person here besides mother, the conductor and myself, but I could here the sounds of people moving and talking. "What time is it?" "It's 6 o'clock in the morning ma'am." "Thank you." I murmured to the still standing conductor. He nodded his assent before turning smartly on his heel and exiting the car, leaving mother and I alone. "Where are we Kiera?" Mum gasped in a frightened voice, peering at everything as if they were made of poison. I groaned once again, working out the kinks in my limbs. Where had the hours gone? When