I want to fly away.
“No!”
Daddy lifts his shot gun to his face. Aims it at me. “Once a whore, always a whore.” Daddy slips his finger over the trigger. “You'll be better off dead.”
“No!”
Before he can fire the shot gun, I muster up every amount of strength I have and start hobbling down the path. My feet sting from all the open wounds, and a dull ache pumps through all my limbs. I hear Daddy behind me. “Get back here you little bitch!” He fires the shotgun. “It was supposed to be you!”
I break out into a jog, crying out every time my feet hit the ground. Up ahead there's light. And a loud rushing noise. I run in that direction, the whole time telling myself…
Do.
Not.
Stop.
And I don't.
I break through a thick mass of wiry branches and jaggers, barely noticing when the thorns cut into my face. Branches snap as I swat at them with my hands, bursting through the brush in just enough time to see the road beneath my feet.
A road?
I'm on a road.
My head jerks up and my eyes shift to my left as a bright white light blinds me. It blankets my body from head to toe. I shriek, arms raised. Palms face up.
Then the light devours me and I drift off into the quiet, calm sea of darkness.
Chapter Nine
~After~
My eye lids flutter and bright fluorescent lights zoom past me, fading in and out of focus.
Part of me feels like I'm in a car. There's no top. It's a convertible. The wind whips through my hair and blows it into my face. It feels like the driver is speeding down a long stretch of open road.
We pass trees.
Open fields full of long, swaying grass.
We're going so fast that everything appears to be blurring together.
But there’s this other part of me.
The lifeless part of me that feels like I’ve crashed the convertible into a river and am sinking slowly to the bottom of the river bed.
I hope someone saves me.
I hope to God they don’t let me drown.
Muffled voices throb in my ears. I hear a man to my left, talking. I try and turn my head, but I can't. Then I realize they have me in some sort of neck brace. Rolling my eyes to the left, I get a look at the man who is speaking. His gold hair shimmers underneath the bright lights and it looks like he has a halo.
Wait…
Did I die?
Maybe this man is an angel.