Chapter 1: Black Rose

FAYE

I fluffed the pillows on my bed again, looking around the room to make sure everything was perfect. I wasn't about to risk my father's ire again. He always found a reason to punish me. Even for the littlest things. I wished I could fluff my sorry life to perfection, just like the pillows. 

I looked around at the room. My room for the past six months. Father had demanded I left the main house. He was finally tired of me being there with his perfect little family. All my life, it had always been the three of them; Dad, Erin and my stepmom and then me. The pesky little responsibility that dad had to look after. My stepmom and stepsister despised me, anyway. They always have, and they've never hidden it. I walked down the stairs, leaving the arctic

Even though he was my father, he hated looking at me; hated hearing any mention of me. I could tell on some days when I had the misfortune of running into him. The mere sight of me was a torment to him. He always said I looked too much like mom. My birth mom. And for that, he didn't enjoy looking at my face. 

I entered the dining room downstairs, seeing the table already set. There was no place for me at the dark wood gleaming dining, even though it could seat seven more people aside from the three spaces already taken on it. I always have my meals in the kitchen, away from my father's sight. 

I had to eat and then get to school. Erin had a mini convertible that she drove to school every day. Riding with her wasn't an option, even though we went to the same high school. I had to take the school bus or trek to school most of the time. 

"Faye." My step mom Ava called out, walking out of the kitchen and giving me that look of disgust. "Take your plate from the kitchen island." 

She sat at the table with Father and Erin and they started having breakfast without me. I went into the kitchen, looking at the pitiful slices of toast and bacon. I didn't get to have more than just toast. Thinking to myself and taking my food, I  settled down on the floor beside the island to chomp on my food. I avoided my fathers's line of sight. Nothing good ever came of him seeing me. Finishing the two pieces of toast and bacon, I exited the kitchen, hoping to leave quickly.

"So, Faye, did you have fun last night?" I heard Erin ask with her whiny voice, as I tried to retrieve my backpack off the floor. 

I looked up at her. 

"Fun?" I asked, keeping my tone low and without a hint of what would come across as sauciness to my father and stepmom. 

"Yes, last night. When you went out with Dad's car." She threw a sly glance my way and then sharply turned to face my father. "Dad, have you seen your car? I went to the garage for something this morning, and you should see the front bender. It's totally smashed."

I let out a gasp. What was she doing, trying to pin something I know she did on me.

"I wasn't out with Dad's Car and you know it!" I said, glancing at my father's face for the first time that morning. His face was red with rage. His veins were popping out and I could see he was already about to chew me alive.

He loved his car and treated it better than he had ever treated me in my eighteen years of life. 

I shot out of my seat. Father always punished me for little things like misplacing an item or supposedly speaking out of turn to Ava or Erin. What would he do now that his precious Erin was saying I'd bashed his car?

"I didn't do it, believe me, father." I begged, already close to tears, but I watched as my father rose from his chair at the head of the table and demanded I follow him to the basement. 

Tears escaped my eyes as I refused. I knew what awaited me in the basement. He always whipped me there whenever he was punishing me for a crime he felt unforgivable, which was at least once every other week. 

I looked at Erin. She had a sly smirk on her face and I've always hated Erin, but I hated her even more at that moment. "She's lying! Just look at her. I heard her on the phone. She's the one who took your car out with Jared." 

I continued as desperation riddled my tone. "Please—"

"She totally did it, Daddy! I saw her take the keys last night," Erin said again.

My dad growled In his low booming voice. "I said, get to the basement now and await your punishment, you cursed girl!"

Ava walked up and dragged me by my upper arm, pulling me towards the basement with a hard grip. "You know how much Erin's daddy loves his car, and yet you had no fear and took it out. Who said you could take anything out of this house? You're not even permitted to go anywhere around here." 

She marched me towards my doom and I marvelled at how she called my father Erin's dad. My father wasn't even Erin's biological father. 

I started sobbing earnestly. I really had taken nothing out. It was so obvious who between me and Erin would have bashed the car, but no one was listening to me. 

No one ever listened to me. 

Ava pushed me through the doorway just as my father entered with a whip in his hand. His eyes glowed a feral red as he raised the whip, and it landed across my back with a hard thwack sound. I yelped in pain, backing away from my father as he approached me with even strides, raising the whip again and catching me on my left shoulder this time. I dropped to the floor, crying hysterically as more blows landed. 

I raised my hands to shield my face from as many of the blows as I could. Knowing my father, he wouldn't care if he caught my eyes with the whip and blinded me. He'd probably be happy about it. It seemed all I brought him was shame and hate since I'd been born latent.

"From this day, work and pay back for the repairs of my car you've ruined. I'll make sure of it!" Father yelled as he continued lashing at me with his whip, not caring where any of his blows landed. 

I cowered in intense pain, still quaking with the aftereffects of the whipping even after my father had left the basement. I looked from the corner of my eyes to see Erin at the slightly dim doorway. She bared her teeth in a shit-eating grin. She always enjoyed it whenever I received punishments for what she had done. I closed my eyes and let my tears fall even harder.

••

A few minutes later, I pulled myself to a stand and walked out of the basement slowly. No good would come out of me wailing there throughout the day. I had to get to school. I hurried back to the arctic and cleaned up the wounds with a first aid box I had stashed away somewhere. 

I was always fixing myself after getting beatings from my father, so I always had the first aid kit handy. My wolf was latent and I wouldn't heal fast. I dabbed the long strips of red blotchy whip marks with a cotton wool dipped in disinfectant. It stung a little and fresh tears sprang to my ears, but I suppressed them. 

This wasn't the first time I had to fix myself after a beating from Father. I slipped out of the T-shirt I already had on and put on a long sweatshirt, hoping to cover the whip marks. I went downstairs, heading to the kitchen to pick my backpack off the floor. I was stark silent; I didn't want anyone feeling offended by the sounds my shoes would make against the hardwood floors. As I neared the dining room table, I found my bag lying against the kitchen doorway. I bent to pick it up, and that's when I heard my father's voice. I thought I heard my name, too.

He was saying something about the Black Saints pack. It was a powerful pack around I'd heard of. I had to cross the doorway to get to the double doors that led outside. I did so silently. If they caught me, they'd say I was eavesdropping and Father might actually whip me to death then. I don't think my body could handle another beating this same morning.

I started my trek to school, hurrying cause I'd already missed the bus, and I knew I'd miss first period too if I didn't hurry. 

I rushed to cross the intersection before the pedestrian light turned green and signalled walkers to cross. I hadn't seen any cars on the road and I was already in a hurry. 

Just as I crossed the street, a huge screech sounded as a black Ferrari sharply turned the corner and headed straight for me. I froze in the middle of the road, so sure that this was when I died. 

Of course, the speeding car hit me, sending me tumbling against the asphalt. My arms broke my fall and I was lying on my chest in a pool of blood so soon. Eyes open and limbs hanging limply at my side, I knew I was seeing things.

But there was a black rose lying beside me, soaked in the pool of red. It wasn't there two seconds ago. I could swear it, but my weak eyes couldn't look away. 

Then everything blacked out.