A Rose Among Ashes

Kiera's POV

The world holds still while I hit the ground. One second, I am racing down to meet Jason, a painting of him clutched in my hands, desperate for my best friend to take a look at it, and the next, everything halts suddenly.

My pulse skips at the sound of a bell clanging in the hallway, causing me to freeze, for the last three steps to become one to me. My vision blurs the minute my body lands on the ground. The world begins to spin from where I lie, helpless.

I can't make out what is happening. All the sounds around me fade into the background, and all I can focus on is the intense pain coursing through me.

It shoots up my body like wildfire, pulling me in and out of consciousness. Someone screams in the distance, just as people gather around me.

"Call 911!"

It is too loud, piercing through the hollowness in my mind. My eyes sting, and I sink my teeth into my lips, stopping the tears from falling down my face. My parents have always said to be strong even in the hardest moments.

I am going to be strong.

Silence fills the car on the way to the hospital. Miss Clara, the housekeeper, holds onto my hands for the whole fifteen minutes. I feel her there, squeezing lightly. Her warmth envelopes me, and in that split second, I think everything is going to be fine.

Just because it reminds me of my mum.

But my Mom isn't around, and all of this is just in my head.

***

I have always hated the smell of the hospital, that sickening smell of antiseptic clinging to every corner. The bright lights and white walls usher me in, yet they leave such a scar in my memory, as if dredging something that I have forgotten.

Someone is wheeled into the ER. I take in the blood pooling at the spot where there should be a foot, and I resist the urge to gag.

A young doctor saunters into the room I am wheeled into, his eyes scanning my body before moving closer to my eyes.

"They are glossy," he murmurs to himself, as if I were not in the same room as him. But that is the thing. I try to raise my hands, to force my lips to move, but nothing works.

Nothing at all.

"Who brought her in?" He yells, turning around. Someone falls out of the hallway. Someone I can barely recognize. I search for the housekeeper from the visible part of the hallway, but the door gets slammed immediately, and I feel dread seeping in.

But suddenly, everything fades.

Or changes, depending on the way you look at it.

The doctor pulls out into the hallway, and in his place, Clara walks in. My eyes narrow when I take a look at my homeschool teacher. She has a huge smile on her face as she sits on the side of the bed.

"The doctor said you will be discharged later today," she murmurs, then lifts the covers off my legs. "They look better, don't you think?"

There is nothing wrong with my legs, and I want to tell her that. But I nod instead, allowing myself to feel the ease of the moment.

"Your parents and older brother are on their way here," she speaks excitedly, pushing even closer. "Do you want to speak with them?"

I nod again, like a child, desperate for the arms of her parents. Clara retrieves a phone from her pocket and dials a number before handing it over to me. It is summer, yet outside, the rain hits heavier on the pavement, like a sharp crack of glass.

It traveled in through the windows, the smell of iron and wet soil. I feel it tease my brain. A migraine comes along, but because I do not want to lose the moment, I desperately hold on to it.

Their faces fill up the screen at the first ring, and fresh tears sting the corners of my eyes. My older brother pushes his head in from the back seat, his eyes dropping at the sight of me.

"Are you alright, baby?" My mom asks. She tries to keep her expression steady, but the worry in her tone betrays her. I shake my head, promising her that I am fine.

Still, I can't talk. I can't feel my lips.

"We will be there soon." My mother's voice echoes through the phone, sounding like something far away, in time and location.

But suddenly, it all changes, and my whole life is shattered from the very beginning.

The screen flickers as thunder strikes in the distance. I hear the sound of crashing, of glass breaking against each other, of metal crushing. I hear my brother screaming my name, that heart-wrenching sound washing through me.

This is the point at which the screaming ends, at least from what my memory serves me. But right now, it is different.

It continues, but through my own lips.

"Mom!" I thrash hard on the bed, kicking the sheets, needing to be out of here. "Mom! Dad! Christian! No! No! No! Please! I killed them!"

The whole room shifts as the doctor rushes in, closely followed by his team. Clara strangely disappears from my side, along with the phone, which was still pressed against my ear. My fists move next, thrown into the air. They push me back into the bed, their murmurings following.

"Hallucination," I hear one of them say as my wrists are tied to the posts of the bed. "Something brutal from her past."

"I killed them!" I wail, allowing the tears to flow down my face. "If I hadn't called, they would still be fine."

"She needs to be sedated."

"Careful," the doctor murmurs. "She is pregnant and we can't let anything happen to the baby. Her husband's explicit instructions."

Lara appears in the doorway, along with Alex, the man I have been married to for the last year.

And I realize in that moment that I was transported to that day, seventeen years ago.

.

Kiera's POV

"Do you really have to be that dramatic?" My eyes fall open to meet Lara standing next to me, her gaze drawn and her lips set in a grim line.

My lips work this time, but I have nothing to say. I am drowsy, and my whole body feels slow, like I have been asleep for too long that I no longer understand my bodily functions.

"Right," she rolls her eyes. "I expect you are about to launch into a tale of how Alex did this to you, right?"

"Lara..."

"Don't Lara me!" she snaps suddenly, her golden locks bouncing out of the hair tie. "I have done everything I can for you, Kiera. Everything your mother would have wanted for you."

"You took the house!" I wail. It tastes like salt. "That house was the only thing my parents left me, and yet, you took it without thinking twice."

"How about every single thing I spent on you since you killed them seventeen years ago?"

It is the first time my mother's sister has ever expressly told me I am responsible for the death of my parents. But I have always seen it in her eyes, all those years ago when I was forced to move in with her after the funeral.

"Lara...."

"I would have had my sister here with me if you had not gone ahead to call her that night. It's no different from today. Just the slightest inconvenience, and you go right ahead to call the world."

It hurts. Every part of me hurts.

"I was pushed down the stairs, Lara." My voice breaks, like the sound of the rain hitting the earth that night. "He pushed me down the stairs."

"Oh, stop being such a crybaby," she mutters, swatting a hand in the air dismissively. "Alex wouldn't have hurt his child. He cares about that little bump way more than you care for it. Because tell me why on earth you decide to get him pissed all the time enough to take it out on you?"

"Is that what I did to you, too, before you sold me off to him?" I whisper, my eyes tired of every shed tear. "I got you pissed each time you raised your hands against me and made me go to bed without dinner?"

"Don't get me started on how badly I wanted to toss you out!" Something changes in her tone as she moves away from the bed. "You are such an ungrateful child. I found you the best man, more than you could ever do for yourself. And this is how you repay me?"

"You should have given him to your daughter, Ava, instead."

The hit comes before I can blink, forcing my head to the other side. It stings, way more than the injuries on my arms. I try to push back the fresh tears, but they come anyway, unhindered.

"Your husband will be here to pick you up," she mutters, moving towards the doors. "You'd better play nice to him if you don't want to be back here tomorrow."

But after another six hours, Alex never walks in through that door.

And with my frail legs, I take myself home.

***

I am floating.

Or at least, that is what it feels like, where nothing tethers me to the earth. My arms feel light by my side, and a soft sigh escapes my lips. This is what peace should feel like, but even in that state, I know that it isn't bound to last long.

As if on cue, the sharp thud jerks me up from bed, in the little room in the basement. My eyes dart around the dark space for a few seconds, the blurriness slowly taking form. My head hits the top of the shelf when I move, and a whimper escapes my lips.

Another thud.

Wood splinters meet me where I sit on the bed, decorating my head and the sheets. I sniff in the dust, resisting the urge to cough, to let him know that I am awake.

"Where is she?" His voice roars through the building like thunder, and I push further into the headboard. My legs push up, and my knees press against my chest. The shivers that follow are uncontrollable.

Natural.

The way it has always been. I wonder why I still am not used to it.

"Keira, where the fuck are you?" he growls from the floor above, dragging his feet. I pray he doesn't come back here with all the might I possess. Still, I know prayers don't work. They never have for me. "Don't tell me we are about playing a little hide and seek again?"

A whimper escapes my lips, and I slam them against each other to stop another from slipping out. It is cold, even though it has nothing to do with the summer night.

When he moves again, when more wood splinters fall from the floorboards above, I hear someone else with him. A woman. Soft, tiny voice that feels like gritty butter.

"Alex," she sighs dramatically. I imagine her with long false lashes, stiletto nails, and an outfit that barely covers anything. Of course, it is the middle of the night. What else can Alex come home with?

"Why don't you let her be?" she continues, her tone filling me with dread, worse than Alex.

"Oh, shut the fuck up!" He screams suddenly, his voice echoing through the building. "This isn't any of your business."

"I just thought..."

"Just go into my bedroom and get ready for me. I need to show that good for nothing what real fucking feels and looks like. How dare she make me spend so much in the hospital?"

"No," I whisper in the dark, tears stinging the corners of my eyes. Even if no one can see me, I shake my head repeatedly, willing it to all be over soon. There is nowhere to run to.

No one to listen to me.

I hear the door to the basement crack open, and in that second, I slowly roll out of the bed, landing unceremoniously on the ground. He hears me, because his feet halt suddenly, and laughter rolls next, cold and dreadful.

"Hey, wifey," he calls, a tinge of amusement in his tone. The silence ends when he moves again, the floorboards groaning with every step as he comes down the dingy stairs.

"Come on, baby. Are we going to play this game again?"

Kiera's POV

My whimpers get louder. I try to stop it. Oh God! I do. But it hurts. Every part of me does. My hand moves to my chest slowly, pressing hard on it. Nothing changes. The tears still roll down my cheeks, and it still feels like I am being torn from the inside out.

"Wifey!" The amusement is gone, replaced by an undiluted rage. I have felt it before. I feel it every day. "We can do it my way, which you know is the easiest. Or yours. Choose one, baby."

"Choose carefully."

I should go out. I know I should. Yet, I remain huddled in the dark, praying for a miracle that will never come.

He waits a full minute before he sighs. "Okay then. Do it your way."

My husband's footsteps inch closer every second. I try to drain out the sound, focusing on the roar of my blood against my ears. I am delusional enough to think he isn't going to find me, enough to wrap my hands around my frame and shut my eyes tightly.

My tears touch my lips, the taste of salt travelling through.

"Got you!"

I jump in fright when his cold arms wrap around me, pulling me out from the corner. His fingers dig into my forearm, and I scream from the pain that builds. Alex doesn't let go, pulling me to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

"Alex!" I can't see him in the dark, but I can feel him.

I can smell him.

That sharp liquor underneath his breath.

"Alex, please." My voice cracks, coming out frail. Helpless. Tears blur my vision, and my breathing comes out in pants. "Please. Not tonight."

"That is the problem, Kiera," he drawls, shaking his head slowly. "You think the world revolves around you, but guess what?"

My whimpers slice through.

"It doesn't."

"Alex..."

"What did you think would happen earlier today, huh? That Lara would throw me in jail for touching you?" His scoffs, and the sound settles in the pit of my stomach. "No one cares about you, Kiera. Not until you are taught a lesson."

"Alex!"

My scream travels through the building, but Alex doesn't budge, pulling me with him up the stairs, my bones hitting each step until I find it hard to breathe. My head slams against the ground when we reach the landing, and a piercing scream leaves my lips.

Outside the basement, he turns away for a second. Long enough for me to get up from the floor and race towards the door. My heart thuds hard against my chest. I hear him get closer behind me.

I look back at him. I shouldn't have. Because in a split second, I trip on one of his discarded shoes and find myself back where I started.

On the ground.

Alex hovers above me, the dim lights of the living area splaying on his face. I see his eyes, bright with action, and that smug look on his face that I wish I could wipe away.

"Did you really think you could run away after you returned from the hospital, Kiera?" This is the lowest I have ever heard him speak. He goes on one knee and brings his face closer to me. "Think twice, baby, because you belong to me. Now and until I decide I am done with you."

"You don't deserve me!" I snap, something going loose in me. "You and your whoring-self do not deserve me."

"What did you just say?"

"You heard me, Alex."

His hand lifts high in the air, and I close my eyes, bracing myself for the slap. But it never comes, because the next thing I hear is the sound of a car honking loudly in the driveway.

I want to hug whoever it is that just stopped on our driveway, because suddenly, Alex no longer cares about the punishment he has for me.

Or at least, not yet.

He arches a brow, pushing through the doors into the porch without giving me a second look. I wait for the sound of his footsteps to fade into oblivion before opening the door again. The night's air whips harshly against my broken skin, but it is ten times better than staying here, allowing Alex to have his way for the millionth time.

My heart thuds hard against my chest as I walk out through the small steps on the porch. My eyes take him in. He is leaning against the car on the driveway, talking to the person behind the wheel.

Even though I can hear nothing from where I stand, it looks like an argument. A lot of waving hands and saliva flying into the air.

I pick up a few words.

"You cannot do this!" It's private property." "That wasn't a scream. It was a moan. Know the difference."

Of course, I expect no different from the man my aunt sold me to after taking everything that belongs to me. The man who sees me as nothing more than a possession, beats me up every single day and brings in his whores, forcing me to attend to them, to watch them have sex.

It is sickening.

I thought for the longest time that I could endure until my aunt finally realized that I am the only daughter of her sister, and I do not deserve to be treated this way. But the days have turned into months, and this ... this is the only way out.

Yet, the moment I turn, my clumsy luck strikes for the umpteenth time today. My feet hit a tin can, the sound ringing through the night. And my dear husband jerks in my direction.

I know that tonight, it is either kill or be killed.

So, I don't think twice about it.

I run.

The wind roars against my ears, and my pulse thrums hard against my blood with every step I take. I am barefoot, so the tar on the road bites into my feet. It stings sharply, but anything is better than returning to that house with Alex.

But everything happens all at once.

The blinding white lights, the screeching sound, and the pair of piercing green eyes watching me from the glass before my body hits the ground.