Ashes of Cinder

29

Mouth parched and your stomach grumbling like a monster every few seconds, two days have gone by with you still stuck in the attic. Water and food. Those were the only things on your mind. You were at your weakest — barely able to lift a limb as you continued to lay there on the ground for hours on end. Beginning to regret your decision of not accepting Rosa's request, everything was beginning to feel a little dream-like. Lifeless and floating, it was as if you had no soul left in you. A corpse left to rot in a dusty, old attic was what you were.

Most of the time spent here was on sleeping. What else could you do when you had no energy nor places to go? The dirty bandages to your feet were stinking up the place too, bothering you to the point that you almost wanted to vomit. It would not be a good move though, especially when you were already emptied of your stomach.

Squeezing your stomach at the pain erupted from being starved for too long, you let out a raspy sigh. It was actually a surprise to you that stepmother wasn't lying. You were being starved in here... if you hadn't known Blaise would -- hopefully -- save you, you would be panicking a lot more. Would she allow you to die? Was your death something she would even ruin her morals for? Though you were pretty sure she already was breaking the law enough as it was, with you locked up in here.

Just one more day, was what kept going through your mind. It was the last string of hope you desperately held onto, keeping you grounded to this world. You couldn't quit just yet, not when you were still so young.

Footsteps approached the ladder to the attic and your heart immediately spiked, anxious to see who it was. Using all your strength to turn your head to your left, you locked in with the trap door and waited. Rattling for a few moments from the other side, it then swung open. Your eyes widened when it was not stepmother -- it was him. How was this possible? You thought he wouldn't come until tomorrow. Parting your lips to question him, you couldn't even seem to speak because of how drained you were.

Blaise took you in, his face contorting into a grimace at the state of you, with you being on the brink of starvation to your horrendous feet. Scooping your frail body into his arms, he began leaving the attic and climbed down the ladder. "You're safe now," he whispered to you, looking down with gentle hues. They were the right words, for they instantly relaxed you. He was correct. This problem was officially over. No longer were you going to be stuck in the confines of this home, working your ass off only for nothing to come out of it. Stepmother's abuse towards you in the last ten years were done. Not that the rest of your life would go by in bliss, but at least this chapter was closed.

Down the stairs the two of you went and you silently furrowed your forehead in confusion. Where was everyone? How did Blaise find the key to the attic from stepmother? There were so many questions floating in your head, but you were unable to voice them.

That was it. This was the last time you were ever going to be here. Passing through the slightly ajar door, the first step he took was enlightening. The early morning sun laid there in the horizons and the world was painted in a soft pink. Cool, crisp wind brushed at your skin, refreshing you from all your worries. Glancing back at the normal-looking, two story building, you frowned at the sight of it. A hell hole hidden in a facade of a house, you were happy to never return. Most memories made at this place were terrible and would remain to scar trauma to think upon. Growing smaller by the second, the view of it disappeared when Blaise turned the corner.

Strolling down the streets, he went at a faster pace, avoiding other people who lingered around. He dodged them left and right and the houses on either side of you became a blurry image. People glanced at you as well, but at this point you could care less. Let them stare all they want -- lately that's what they've always been doing to you anyway. Once the neighborhood transitioned into the marketplace, he turned right and crossed through a deserted path. Noticing that your eyebrows rose, he shot you a smile of assurance. "We're taking a different route to my shop. We're just walking behind the buildings to enter the back door. I thought you'd appreciate it more if there were less people around. You see? We went to these woods before, do you remember?"