A Rose Among Ashes

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.