A Quarter Mile Away

1 - Because Of You

Please listen to Because of You - Kelly Clarkson for this chapter

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I pushed myself up in a fright, sweat dripping down my face as dread washed over my body. It took me a moment to get comfortable with my surroundings before realising that it was all just a terrible nightmare.

Frantically looking around, I couldn't see the room I was stuck in for years. I saw a brand-new room in a new town; a blank canvas for a new life.

I looked to my right to see Alena still sleeping peacefully with no evidence of strain on her face.

I let out a shaky breath, my heart swells when I look at my sister who is only ten and yet, has been exposed to so much at such a young age. I wish I could have shielded her away from the environment our mother put us in.

I laid back down in the Queen-sized bed and stared up at the ceiling as I started to think back to three months ago and how different our lives were.

Three months ago we were still trapped with my mum and Henry and to be honest, I didn't think we would ever make it out. Our mother stopped caring about us a long time ago, to her we were just a waste of space and she always made sure we were aware of it. She stopped hiding the fact that we were a mistake for her.

When Henry first came into our lives, I was Sixteen. At first Henry left us alone for most of the time. He was very intimidating with his height of 6'3 and solid build, he took advantage of that. On one fearful night a year ago, he decided to verbally abuse my sister and I, at first I ignored it because he was always drunk but when he tried to physically hurt us, he saw a different side to me. I wasn't a kid any more, I wasn't going to sit there and allow him to treat us like that.

My mum maybe had accepted this and became accustom to it, but I'd be damned if I was going to let ANYONE talk to my sister and I like that.

So we clashed, repeatedly. I started to hate my mum even more because of this. She never spoke up, defended us or cared for us. She allowed him to treat us this way.

'You said you loved us, was it all a lie? How dare you just sit there while he treated your kids like that! You fought like hell to keep us under your custody, why? So you can kick us to the curb like we didn't matter?! Because of you all we've ever known is abuse and pain.'

'You watched him while he raised a hand to your kids, agree with him that we were worthless "Just like your dad".'

If she didn't care for us, then she should have left us with our dad who always showed us what love was supposed to look and feel like.

Enough was enough though, three months ago I made the decision to leave. I had been saving up every dollar I had earned since I was Thirteen just so that my sister and I could have enough to get out of that crappy town and start fresh.

You want the honest and sad truth? My mum didn't even care that we were leaving.

Henry had heard about our plans to leave and did threaten us that if we left we would regret it, so I left it for a few days so he wouldn't suspect anything.

That night when I woke Alena up to leave, Henry was out gambling while mum was on the couch passed out, I was so angry with her that I woke her up vigorously and yelled at her for the first time in eighteen years.

When I told her that I was leaving with Alena her only words were;

"What took you so long?"

I just stared at her in disbelief as she laid her head back down on the pillow, letting her long brown hair fall all over her frame. Looking at her one last time before I turned my back on this life and turned my back on her, I had no intentions of coming back once I was out that door.

It was 2am when I made the decision to take my sister out of there and drive us far far away from that seedy house. We purposely left when Henry wasn't around because frankly, he terrified me. I'm not one to be afraid of many things but I was so scared of what he was capable of and I didn't want to hang around to witness it. Now, I repeatedly have nightmares about that night and how it could have gone wrong, my mind keeps making up alternative endings which always freaks me out.

This is the second town we have moved to in less than three months. The last town didn't work out so well however, I was determined to make this one work for my sister.

I took a deep breath, inhaling the mix scent of vanilla and coconut that surrounded my room. My body finally started to relax as it slowly welcomed sleep back in, a warm smile tugged at my lips when I felt Alena huddle closer to me and began to innocently snore.

Leaving was the best decision I have ever made for us.

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A/N:
First chapter done!! I promise all the chapters are not like this, maybe only some lol

Share your thoughts with me! Do we like it? I hope you guys enjoy it!

Just remember guys, I'm not a professional so it obviously won't be perfect so go easy on me lol

Don't forget to vote! :)

P.S The titles of these chapters may not necessarily fit the theme or events of that chapter but these were the songs I was listening to at the time so I named the chapters after them :)

<3