Chapter 1 ~ The Great Escape
"Where are you going?!" Father screamed at me, stumbling down the stairs after me. He was drunk again. I could smell it on his breath all the way across the room.
"Away from you!" I snarled. "Away from all of this!"
"Get back here, you little b***h!" Jason called, grabbing my hair. He tugged me down to the ground. I struggled and kicked as he drug me across the floor to our bedroom. "You think I'm going to let you walk out, Vivian? Huh?! You think it's that easy to escape from me!? You can't run from love, Vivian!"
"Let me go, Jason! Let me the ******** go!"
His foot smashed into my stomache. I curled up as he continued to drag me through the living room. My mother stood in a corner, watching me without a single emotion.
"Mom! For god's sake get a back bone!" I cried, still struggling with Jason.
She just stared at me.
"Help me!"
Jason drug me into our room and through me on the bed. His hand still in my hair, he pushed my face into the pillow.
"Where do you think you could go, Vivian?!" He jerked my head up. "Who would take in a little 16-year-old tramp like you, huh?!"
I pulled my knife from my pocket and sliced off my hair. He fell back with the force of it and I scrambled for the open window. Screw it, I was leaving!
I was actually half-way out the window when he grabbed my foot again. I smashed my other one in his face, busting his nose. He let me go and I fell out the window.
After that, it was just running. Running running running. I pelted out of the town and into the forest. Even then I kept running. My chest burned with the effort and sweat beaded my forehead. But I couldn't stop. One of them would catch me. My ears still echoed with their calls of my name. I started to cry as I kept going. My brain screamed "run! faster! faster, for god's sake, FASTER!"
I tripped over an uprooted...well, root. My face was dunked into ice cold water. Coughing, I sat up in the stream, whiping grime out of my eyes. I started to shiver in the chilly night, looking around wildly. The sounds of the forest at night echoed around me, causing my nerves to be on edge.
"it can't get much worse than this, can it?" I whispered.
Thunder cracked above me.
"Dirty damn."
I pulled myself out of the mud and started following upstream. Upstream led deeper into the woods, right?
I continued walking for two hours. Rain came pouring down on me, continuing to drench me to the bone. My spine ran with shivers and still I walked. Stopping could lead to my death. It was bone chilling enough outside I might just get pnemonia or something. I'd never gotten terribly sick as a child. The thought of dying slowly by sickness scared me.
Finally, as if hearing my thoughts, a house appeared. It was a tiny house, a cottage type. It had a small fence around it's front yard, one of those tiny white-picket ones. Shutters were pulled tight over the windows. A cobblestone walk led up to the small blue door. Around the bottom of the house ran a garden with brightly colored flowers I'd never before seen.
Another roar of thunder let me know to stop gawking. I walked up to the door and knocked. No one answered, so I knocked again. Silence. Knocking once more, the door opened of it's own accord.
Oh, how hollywood.
I peeked inside. It was empty and dark.
"Hello?" I called.
Silence. Except for another crack of the night sky.
"Not to be rude, but I'm coming in!" I said, entering and closing the door. The house was strangely warm. I seemed to have walked into the living room hall. I looked around the living room after entering it. A large pink couch complete with pillows sat before a vast fireplace. Next to the fireplace was a large pile of wood and kindling. The carpet was plush and a lighter shade of pink than the pastel couch. The wallpaper was a soft silvery color with tiny pink flowers. The room was strangely empty of all decoration.
I took off my shoes and socks, laying them in the hall.
"Hello?" I shouted. "Please, is anyone here? It's pouring outside and I have nowhere to go!"
I walked through the living room and into what was obviously the kitchen. It was a pale yellow color with yellow and white tiling on the floor. The stove was an old one, with a double-door oven on the bottom. An island about five feet or so behind the stove held a few cupboards. Hooks on the bottom of the upper cupboards held pots and pans of every size. the counter was one giant cutting board. More cupboards lined the bottom. A double sink sat on a counter adjacent to the stove, more cupboards still above those. A small refridgerator sat in a nook made just for it. A bay window looking over the back yard, i assumed, held a window seat and a small table big enough for maybe three.
I walked back out into the living room and noticed a door by the fireplace I hadn't seen before. It blended in perfectly with the wall. I walked over to it and knocked lightly. No one answered. I knocked again and opened the door slowly.
"Hello?" My breath caught in my throat.
A giant four-poster bed sat against one wall, an armoir next to it. A smaller fireplace rested against the opposite side of the bed from the armoire. On the wall behind me was a door that I assumed led to the closet. Opening it, I was correct. The room was a soft blue color, the carpet even plushier than the one in the living room.
I guess no one was really here.
I looked at the bed and noticed a small note against the pillows. Had that been there before?
I took it up and opened it. It had one of those old was seals on the back, done in an elegant vine shape. The note inside was an old 1800's card thing and read in a delecate writing:
"If you have found this place, then all is fine for now. I must have passed on. Please enjoy this house and all the wonders in it's backyard. Only those with the right soul can understand what magic this house holds. I pray you find what you're looking for.
~Maria Clemenceau"
Okay then.
I folded the note back into place and set it on the armoir. Stripping down to my skinnies, I crawled into the bed. Ooh, it was a down comforter with a foamish mattress. The sheets were clean and comforting. The pillows were also down. I fell asleep gently in the comforting bed.
Sassy Stormy Sky Community Member 
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