I used to see so much hope when I still had my gloves.
But now … all I see is carnage.
Straight from these fingertips that chose to save my father …
At the cost of the life of the only man who sacrificed everything to save me.
CHAPTER2
Aurora
After a few hours,I abruptly wake from a dreamless, restless sleep to my father touching my shoulder.
“Aurora. I’m hungry. We need to fix something.”
I frown, sighing out loud as I’m still struggling to wake up. “How? I don’t have money.”
“I don’t know,” he hisses. “Go out there and see what you can do.”
Why do I always have to do everything?
I roll my eyes, but then my stomach growls too.
Grumbling, I push myself off the pillow, get up, and walk into the bathroom to splash cold water on my face. Then I open the door. There’s a cart in the hallway of another hotel guest that never touched his dinner.
Could I? Should I?
What other choice do I have?
Looking around to make sure no one’s watching, I quickly sneak toward it and push it into our room, then lock the door.
I know it’s bad. I know it’s wrong.
But my stomach is growling, and I need to survive.
I pull off the plastic covers and look at all the delicious food. A steak, potatoes, cheese-covered broccoli, some chips, and a chocolate dessert.
“Well, it’s not much,” my father complains.
“It’s something,” I retort, frowning at him.
I grab the cutlery and cut into the meat, but my father eyes me down. “I’d like that.”
I roll my eyes. “Fine, I don’t care.” And I grab a piece of broccoli instead. The taste is divine and almost makes me want to cry. I haven’t had a decent meal in ages. Most I ever got in the cell was bread, water, and sometimes a bit of soup. This has texture and taste, and actual effort was put into it.
And it almost reminds me of home.
Or at least … what I remember of it before it was stolen from me.
Before my father tainted the mere memory of it.
“Give me the fork and knife,” he says, hurriedly snatching it from my fingers so he can cut into the meat and devour it.
I grab the broccoli and sit down onto the bed, eating it in silence while he stands in front of the cart, refusing to move.
I’m happy with my little cup of broccoli.
And when it’s all finished, I rush back to the cart to take some potatoes too.