Prompt: Can you do an Alone Together prompt of the night Ace ran away?
A.N.- I thought this was longer that it actually was, my bad
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I laid awake in bed, my heart beating rapidly. I checked the clock again and pushed my blankets off, sitting up. I had to get out of this house. I had to.
I'd realized it at dinner today. It had been an offhand comment by my dad, but one that struck me with dread.
"When you graduate college, we can fix up your room."
He'd said that casually as we ate, but I knew what it meant. It meant he planned on keeping me in this house even after I'd graduated from school.
I couldn't handle it.
I pulled my backpack out of my closet and unzipped it, all my movements slow and silent. I grabbed a few pairs of clothes and stuffed them in the bag. I tossed in all the money I had before opening my bedroom door, wincing as it creaked a little.
I held still, waiting for my dad to storm out and demand to know why I was awake. But when I peeked down the hall, I could just barely make out his sleeping form from his room.
Sneaking down the stairs, I went into the kitchen and reached into the cupboard, having seen my father stash money there before. I knew all the places he hid our money.
So I went around the house, sneaking my way through rooms as I gathered all of the money I could, my hands trembling worse and worse as the minutes ticked by.
If dad woke up, I was done for. He'd know what I was planning and he'd make sure I could never leave this hell.
He'd been getting worse lately. I was only allowed to leave the house if I was going to school or if I was with him. He got angrier than usual if I slipped up and mentioned that I'd been hanging around the kids from school. He'd been bringing me over to my Aunt's with him more often, sometimes drinking so much that we had to stay over. He'd stumble into my cousin's room as we sat together, and he'd look at me and mumble that I reminded him so much of my mom.
I crept back upstairs and stuffed the money in my backpack. I left my room and moved sluggishly towards my dad's room, taking the step down into it. He always slept with the door open in case I needed him.
My heart was so loud I was sure it would wake him up. I knelt down and pulled his wallet out from under the bed, knowing he was a fairly heavy sleeper but feeling terrified anyways.
My hand brushed over a frame and I paused, knowing what picture was there. It was a family picture, one my dad wasn't smiling in. He hated it, so he stuffed it under the bed and displayed the one that had been taken moments later, where he had a cheery smile on his face.
I grabbed the picture and pulled it out, tucking it against my chest as I stood up and backed out of the room. I wanted to remember that impassive look on his face. I needed to remind myself why I was leaving.
Once I had packed away all the money I could find in the house, including dad's wallet, I stared down at the picture. I looked so young, so innocent, so happy. If only that had lasted.
"I have to leave," I whispered, needing to speak those words out loud. No goodbyes. No more seeing my father or my aunt or my cousin. I'd be alone, but at least I'd be free of this asphyxiating grasp my father had clamped me in.
After changing out of my pajamas and into warm clothes, I carefully placed the picture in my bag and secured it on my shoulders. I crept out of the house, letting myself out of the backdoor to avoid the creak of the front door.
I darted around to the front of the house and unchained my bike, hopping on it and peddling away rapidly. The wind whipped against my face, but I didn't stop. I tilted my head up towards the open sky, breathing in the cold air.
"Free," I whispered.
I was free. I would ride my bike over a few towns until the sun started coming up. Then I would ditch it and take a bus as far as I could. I would hide myself away carefully until I was confident that I was far enough away not to be recognized anymore. He would not drag me back.
It wasn't going to be an easy road, but surely anything had to be better than spending another second in that house. 16 years was too much for me to take anymore.
Free. I was alone and terrified and running on limited resources. But I was free, and with that word creeping through my veins, I would find some way to survive and build a life for myself.
