Surviving (Sequel to Survive)

Chapter 1

Pain.

The pain was all that I could feel. It was radiating all over my body as I tried to get up from the position that I was in. Being on the cold hard ground, I was shivering. Looking around I couldn't see anything. It was pitch black and eerily quiet. Finally reaching my feet, I stumbled around hitting a hard wall. Making my way across the wall I felt a door. Trying to find a handle, there didn't seem to be one on the inside of this room. Pounding on the door, it was made of metal as the ringing was causing a pounding in my head. Stepping away from it, I could hear footsteps coming from a direction. Stepping further away from the door, I hit something and fell. Landing on my wrist I screamed in pain.

The door opened and a silhouette was standing there. The curves of the body were a giveaway that the figure was a woman. Scooting away, the figure began walking towards me slowly. Hitting a hard wall, I was stopped immediately. As the woman came closer I could feel my heart drop down deep into my stomach. Breathing was becoming difficult as each step the she took she was getting closer to me. I could feel the sweat begin to form.

She kneeled down and began caressing my face. Grabbing my chin she turned it side to side. Shivering from the touch, I tried to back away from the touch only to be slapped hard. The pain began to radiate across my face on top of the unknown pain running through my whole body. I was knocked down to the floor from the force of the small hand. Trying to sit back up, the small figure was on top of me. Trying to get away from her, I began to struggle against her. As she felt me struggle she was pushing me down with her weight.

She hit me again but this time with an object with spikes. I could feel the warm liquid running down my arm. Screaming in agony, another hit came only harder. I tried to get away only for her to grab me by the hair and pull my face close to hers.

"You really think you can get away from me!" she screamed in my face as the tears ran down the side of the face while I just lay there helplessly.

She began hitting me again with everything that she had. With each blow across my body, I could feel my blood pooling around me. Everything was so blurry and leaving me. With every shaky breath that I took felt harder and harder. My heart was beating out of control. Everything was slipping from me as I became numb to every hit, slowly falling away into the cold abyss.

Waking up screaming, I was out of breath and my heart was pounding in my chest. Sitting up, I could see that it was still dark outside. Ever since the night that Jenny tried to kill me and my father pulled her off, she haunted my dreams. I knew that she was locked away but it didn't seem to help me one bit. I felt like she was still here watching me, making sure that I was still making her look like the wonderful step mother that she thought she was.

It had almost been six months and I still felt scared that she was going to come back and finish what she started. There would be nights that I wouldn't sleep because every time I shut my eyes she was there ready to kill me. My dad was making me talk to a counselor, but it only made me feel like I had to relive the terrible night and dreams that had been happening.

That night left my father a shell of a person. For some reason I felt like he thought it was my fault. Luke and Lilly everyday would check on me to make sure that I was ok, but they knew that I was far from it. Liam stayed around even though he was a reminder from my father of what he lost. That night changed lives for a lot of people. My father even wanted to move, not wanting to be in the house where his daughter almost died and his wife was arrested. We didn't leave Asheville but we moved far enough that he wouldn't have to see that house.

Getting out of my mind, I looked over to the clock and saw that it was only two o'clock in the morning. Getting up, I began to pace around my room. Looking around the three of the four walls was all white while the wall with my door and desk was a deep maroon color. Walking towards my window, I looked out over the sea of lights. Breathing in and out slowly, I began to calm my shaking from the terrible nightmare. My heart was back to a somewhat normal pace. Leaving the window, I walked over to the full length mirror sitting in one of the corners of my room. Looking at all the scars and discolored skin, I stood up taller and looked myself in my pale blue eyes.

Remembering that night was a flashback from hell. All the people swarming around me, asking what happened. Even after six months I still had to go to physical therapy for my back and broken femur that happened as she beat me with the rolling pin. I was trying to forget what happened but the scars reminded me every day of a hell that I had lived in for so long. The pain that I would feel every now and then was like reliving the beatings.

Hearing a soft knock on my door tore my eyes from the scarred girl looking back at me. Walking to the door, I opened it to see a sleepy Liam. His bright blue eyes looked like they haven't slept in days and I couldn't help but think that it was my fault. Moving over slightly so he could come in, he walked straight over to my desk chair and sat down. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he looked at me. I could tell that my screaming had woken him up.

"Another nightmare?" he asked yawning and rubbing his eyes from waking up.

"Yeah, for some reason they just seem to be getting worse." I told him as I walked over to my bed taking a seat at the edge.

"I know that you don't like talking about this but if you ever need to you know that I'm always here to lend an ear."

"I know." I told him beginning to play with my hands as I had begun to do whenever I began to get nervous. "Look I'm sorry for waking you up. You should probably go and get some sleep."

"You going to be ok?" He asked standing up and looking at me leaning against the chair.

"I'll be fine just go and get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning." I told him before walking over to him giving him a small hug.

Returning the hug, he let go and opened the door. Before leaving he gave me one last look before walking out of my room. Sighing, I walked back to my bed and laid down. Looking at my ceiling, my mind began to race once again. I knew that I wouldn't be getting anymore sleep tonight so I decided to read one of my many books.

Reading always seemed to help my mind wind down. As I began read I let my mind believe that it was actually in the book. Chapter after chapter I felt like I was the character. Not realizing that time at gone by faster than I thought, it was already six in the morning. Putting my book down, I got up and grabbed my things to go a take a shower. Once in the safety of the bathroom, I undressed and set the water to the right temperature. Once in I let the small droplets come pounding against my skin. Relaxing all my muscles, I washed my body. Going over every inch, I examined all the scars. Seeing them made me realize how strong I had once been.

Getting out of the shower, I dried myself off and walked to my room in just a towel. Shutting my door, I walked over to my walk in closet and picked out some clothes. Grabbing a light blue long sleeved V-neck shirt with and a pair of skinny jean, I got dressed in front of my mirror. After getting dressed, I just stared at myself. The jeans hugged the lower half of my body showing the curves that I was too scared show before. Looking at the light blue shirt covering my scarred arms, it also hugged every inch of my top half. Grabbing my pale red scarf, I put it on to enhance the light shirt. Pleased with how I looked, I grabbed my makeup and put little on. Only enough to make my pale blue eyes seem to pop. Leaving my natural waves hang off my shoulders, I walked out of my room and down to the kitchen to where my father was sitting.

As soon as I walked in I could feel the tension begin to grow again between the two of us. Even though Jenny was no longer here, she still had this hold on him that pushed him farther away from me. Not even trying to make conversation, I made my coffee and waited until it was time for me to leave.

Sitting there with my father in the silence made me feel uncomfortable. Shifting slightly he looked up from his paper towards me. Putting on one of my rare smiles, he just smiled back and continued reading his paper. Sighing in defeat as there was no attempt at conversation; Liam came walking down the stairs looking a little more rested. Smiling towards me I returned it with a half smile.

Looking back at the stove clock, I saw that it was time to head to my first day on my last year in high school. Saying my goodbyes, I walked out of the door and right to my truck. Getting in I held onto the steering wheel and began taking in deep breaths.

"This year will be better." I told myself out loud as I began my drive to the school.