Broken

Prologue

The 10 year old girl sat on her bed, playing with her favorite Barbie doll. She flipped her brown hair over her shoulder for the millionth time that day and continued to play with her doll. All of a sudden, she heard a rough knock on the door.

"I'll get it dear!" Her mother shouted.

Rose lived with her mother, as her father had left them, for another woman called Lila. Rose had been given the decision and, as a little girl, she looked up to her mother and didn't want to be separated from her, so she had picked her. She still talked to her father and her new stepmother wasn't nearly as bad as those portrayed in films. She was actually quite sweet and always gave Rose candy, making the girl like her instantly.

"Ok mummy!" Rose yelled back. She said, continuing to play with her doll. She heard yelling come from downstairs and went by her closed bedroom door.

"I already told-" She heard her mother say calmly, but she couldn't make up what was said next as she heard a scream and something or someone falling to the ground. The poor girl was frightened and ran to her closet to hide. She heard footsteps coming up the stairs and she immediately knew it wasn't her mother as she wasn't nearly as heavy. These footsteps made a sound echo all over the house. Whoever it was, was in the same floor as her. She could hear her heart beating in her chest as she tried not to make any sound.

"Anyone up here?" She heard a masculine voice ask. She hugged her doll tighter, not moving and almost not breathing as she was afraid that he'd hear her. She heard him open the door to her room and close it. He looked around and just as he was about to open the closet, police sirens sounded from around the house. Rose heard the voice swear and run down the stairs and (hopefully) out of the house. She stayed there until she was certain he was gone.

When she was sure, she jumped out and ran downstairs, where she saw her mother's body laying on the living room floor, a pool of blood surrounding her, her eyes staring without seeing. Rose screamed loudly, tears pooling in her eyes as she started to cry loudly. Two police officers ran in and started to question the young girl about what she heard but she could only talk in a quiet whisper as she was still picturing her dead mother's body in front of her eyes.

From that day on, she started to live with her father and stepmother, but, nobody could bring back the bright happy girl that Rose once was. Now, she couldn't hear the word mum or mother without breaking down into tears. She also almost never smiled only little grins here and there, her eyes were almost always red, swollen. Basically, she looked broken.