One

Anna

It has been said that time heals all wounds but I do not agree. The wound remains. In time, the mind protecting it's sanity, covers them with tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone. You learn to live with that pain, it remains ingrained in your heart until your last breath.

I grabbed a bottle of bourbon laying on a small table next to the couch and filled the glass. I gulped it down still holding the bourbon bottle. The sour liquid pooled me inside and I concentrated on the burning feeling igniting a strange fire inside me. My plan was to drink the night away and it is still the same. 

The warm feeling which took the pain away even if it was temporary, I loved it. When you drank, the world was still out there but for a moment, it didn't have you by the throat and that is all that I needed.

I sighed as I left the bottle and glass on the small table but pause to pick a photograph laying on the table. A young woman with messy black hair was staring at the camera with a wide smile on her face and one hand resting on the cheek of a young man. He had curly black hair and brown eyes. His arm was wrapped around the woman's waist and his chest was pressed against her back. He too was smiling at the camera. My parents both looked so in love and happy.

I grabbed the frame in my trembling hands. My eyes started to burn with all the memories but I wasn't going to cry. I stood up and threw the frame on the tiled floor and watched it shattered into a million pieces. I struggled to stop myself from screaming but couldn't. I just let it tear my lungs apart.

I hated it that these monsters I call my parents are somewhere in the world living their lives to the fullest. The desperation to watch them shatter into infinite pieces just like this frame clouded my mind. I ran my hand through my hair, hoping it would stop the pain banging deeply at the middle of my head but it proved abortive.

Desperate for relief, I did something I hadn't done in years; something my stepmother used to force on me whenever she's pissed at me. I stepped barefoot unto the broken glass.

The first step sting jolted through me and I flinched, It wasn't new. Walking on shard had been my stepmom's twisted form of discipline. I thought I was numb to this kind of pain but I was wrong. Step by step, the sharp edges bit into my skin until my knees gave out and I crumpled to the floor. Blood pooled beneath me, warm against the cold tiles.

My fingers covered my face and before I could control it, a wave of tears poured down. No matter how many times I promised myself, it is hard to stop the tears when I'm alone inside these four walls with nothing but memories of my abused past. I lay on the cold floor with blood dripping from my wounded feet. 

Suddenly I felt dizzy and before I could make attempt to reach out for my phone, everywhere went blanked as I slowly drifted into nothingness.

When I opened my eyes, the scene before me turned my blood to ice. Blood seeped from the mouths of the two people who had loved me more than life itself, my adoptive parents. The ones who had saved me when my own father kicked me out to appease his new wife.

“No... Mum! No, please!” I screamed, dropping to my knees. My hands shook as I tried to shake her awake. “Mum, don’t leave me!” But her lifeless body was cold to my touch.

Tears blurred my vision as I stumbled to my brother. “Wi... William,” I stammered, my voice cracking. “William, wake up! You promised not to leave me right?. You can’t!” I shook him harder, desperate for a sign, a breath, anything. But he didn’t move.

“What’s happening? Why is this happening?” I cried, panic coursing through my veins. Just hours ago, we were all happy, alive, normal. A faint whisper broke through my despair. “A...Anna...”

I whipped around, startled. My father was on the floor, struggling to get up. His face was pale, his body trembling.

“Dad!” I rushed to him, kneeling by his side. “What...what happened? Who did this to you?”

He coughed, blood staining his lips. “You...you have to run,” he rasped, his voice barely audible.

“Run? Why? What’s going on?” I pleaded, tears streaming down my face.

His trembling hand tore a piece of his blood-soaked shirt, and with a shaking finger, he began scrawling names on the fabric. “Take this,” he choked out, thrusting it into my hands.

“Dad, you’re scaring me. What’s happening? Who are these people?”

“They’re dangerous,” he gasped, his breath labored. “If they find you...they’ll kill you too. You have to leave. Now.”

“But I can’t just leave you!” I sobbed, clutching his hands. “I need you. I need Mum. William... I can’t do this alone.”

He cupped my face with his blood-streaked hand, his eyes heavy with sorrow. “I love you, Anna. But you must go. You must survive. Keep our family’s name alive.”

“No! Don’t talk like this! We can fight this together. I’ll find help and...”

“There’s no time,” he interrupted, his voice faltering. “You must promise me.”

“Promise you what?”

“Promise me you’ll live. Fight. Keep our lineage alive. Don’t let them win.”

“But, Dad, please”

“Promise me!” he snapped, his grip tightening for a moment before his strength waned.

“I...I promise,” I whispered, choking on my sobs. “But I can’t just leave you here to die. Let me....”

“Go!” he gasped, his body convulsing. His eyes locked with mine one last time before his chest fell still.

“Dad? No. No, no, no!” I shook him, my screams echoing in the silence. His body turned cold, his face pale.

I sat there, paralyzed by grief, the bloody scrap of fabric clutched in my trembling hands. I didn’t know who these people were or why they had done this to my family, but one thing was clear; I was next.

"I'll kill all of you" I yelled.

I jolted awake, gasping, my heart hammering as though I’d been running for miles. And for a moment, I couldn’t breath. The nightmare had felt so real. It was actually real. A fragment of my past but I wonder why it has vowed to torment me at every opportunity it gets.

I wiped some beads of sweat off my forehead as my

eyes adjusted to the dim light. Just then, I realized I wasn’t alone.