Her footsteps seemingly echoed through the woods as each branch and leaf crunched under her feet. She looked back, the tears in her eyes blurring her vision, and yet, he was still there, still sprinting after her, his blood red, glowing eyes piercing into her very being, striking more fear into her. Discouraging her thoughts of survival. She breathed heavily, panting, the pain of forcing herself to move was overwhelming, as if knives were digging into her at every side but she wasn't dying anytime soon. Just stuck with the pain. Stuck feeling as if her legs would give in at any second. But she knew she couldn't stop. She couldn't give in to him. She shouldn't give in to him.
Swallowing down the lump in her throat, she looked back as she continued to run. She stared the man dead in his eyes and screamed,
"Why won't you leave me alone?! Haven't you done enough?!?!"
He responded with that chuckle, the chuckle she had grown used to, after having dealt with... him for years. His gaze was fixated on her, each movement mimicked by the being stalking her. She was aware of this. She knew this thing all too well. She knew he wouldn't leave until he got what he desired.
And he wanted her.
Her legs eventually went numb, and she realised her fight was for nothing as she fell, seemingly in slow motion. A newfound fear washed over her, something she had never felt before. Something she hadn't felt in the past with him. She always used to feel safe. He was her coping mechanism. He had his... ways of soothing her in her worst times. And yet, she was stuck with an overwhelming fear, which caused a sudden dizziness to hit her like a bullet, the force so strong, she winced, as if it was a true physical pain. She had her eyes shut, as if she couldn't even open them. But when she did, she hated seeing him tower over her, him wearing a smug smirk.
"Thought you said you could beat me, get rid of me, Ashleigh. Look where you are now. Looking right at a life in Hell. We could've been friends. Remained so. But you tried to break me off. Did you really doubt me? The power I hold?"
Ashleigh felt herself lose control of her body, as she unwillingly nodded to him, he chuckled. A dark chuckle, a chuckle that made her grimace. All she wanted was freedom, and not only did he strip her of that, he took away one of the ones keeping her stable. She broke out into sobs, feeling the control absorb back into her being, and it hit her even harder than the fear hit, her body shook and quivered as she murmured begs to her... 'friend'. Murmurs, pleas, begs, just so she wouldn't get too much a consequence.
He only laughed manically in response, then his expression went cold again, lifeless, numb. Like he had made her feel here and now. She could feel darkness pulling her into its cold embrace, its cold arms wrapped around her and she tried to writhe to escape it, buy herself some time to get up, to run. To leave him for eternity. But... to no avail. He laughed, and she knew he was merely mocking her. As he closed in on the now frail, sobbing little girl, with his mischievous grin, the words that slipped out of his mouth came slick with venom.
"You're mine, Ashleigh. Don't. Forget. That."
And then... darkness.
***
"NO, PLEASE!!!"
She jolted awake, beads of sweat rolling down her forehead, her breathing fast and shaky, her body shook and quivered and she threw her body up, as if attempting to escape him again. Her head darted from left to right, and she was met with the walls of her room. The blank walls of her room. After taking in her surroundings, she let out a breath she was unaware she was holding.
She was safe.
She let out a sigh of relief, wiping the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand and taking deep breaths to steady her heart rate before laying back in bed for a moment, to allow relaxation to somewhat wash over her... before she heard the slow, squeaky twisting of the door knob. Her senses heightened, her eyes flicked to the door within a second, her eye trailing each movement the door knob made. Absorbing the sound, the door slowly opening. She braced to see someone she didn't want to...
Light was shining through, and she could see a silhouette form as her room flooded with light, she was scared, her breathing began to go unsteady again and she began to shake, her thought process consisting only of;
'Please... not again...'
And then, the words she pleaded weren't true;
'You're still dreaming...'
And fear enveloped her entire being... until she identified the being. Her brother walked into hr room, leaning on the nearest wall. She took a sigh of relief, blurting out the words,
"Fucking Hell... next time Jack, say its you before opening my god damn door... gave me a bloody heart attack."
Hide the secret. Hide it from hi-
"Sorry for scaring you, Ashleigh. I'm merely wondering why you're screaming as if you're being murdered at 6 in the morning. I've literally woken to your screaming 4 days in a row. What types of dreams are you having?..."
You don't wanna know. You do not wanna know.
Ashleigh sighed, knowing that she cant be truthful. She could already feel him making his way to punish her if she revealed too much. She felt the chains dig more so into her frail wrists, making her internally scream, her red marked wrists bruised and scarred.
"I swear to god, girl, if you say a word... I will not hesitate to kill you. Heh. You'd be with HIM at least, if that was the case. Maybe that's best for you."
His voice rang in her ears, but inside? They were screamed at her. He decided he'd make an appearance to ensure she didn't fuck anything up in my speaking to Jack. If she did... Hell, not even death was worse than what she'd receive.
"Its... just erm... me... t...thinking about how mum treats us, y'know..."
He let out a chuckle, the type that sounds as if no effort was put into it, the understanding type. He then let out his fed up sigh. He knew things with their mother was bad. Everyone knew that. He gave a nod of understanding, before saying,
"I'd recommend being careful today too... she's awake, and she most definitely heard you. I... can try take the hits for you, if you-"
Her frown slipped away, and her eyes trailed to the hallway behind him. Her ears began ringing, blocking out his words, and every sense besides sound heightened, and the world around her blurred, until she looked ikto tge hallway, that one area of the hallway.
Blood red eyes. Crazy smile.
HIM.
"Well done, princess. I don't need to cause you too much harm. Yet."
This was an everyday thing now. He would appear at the most inopportune moments and remind her in some way of how he owns her. How she's not a free person.
How she's a prisoner in his game.
"-leigh? Ashleigh!!"
Ashleigh snapped to attention, his voice pulling her eyes free from the hallway, ripping away the fear that began to wash over her, and making her feel safe again. Thank God for siblings... even when they don't know what's happening.
"Y...Yeah?"
Jack's expression displayed nothing but worry, as he made his way over to her bed. And when he reached her bed, he took a seat on the edge of the bed, looking into his sister's ocean blue eyes, and sighing, before saying,
"I know that... this situation seems as if it will never get better. It feels like we're stuck in this hellhole with that bitch but... we aren't. When I get enough money, seen as I'm saving up as much as I can while balancing putting food on the table, I'm getting us out of this household. You do NOT deserve to grow up in a household with someone like her. Hell, I'm working extra hours tonight, just so i can get extra credit. I need to get you out of this hellhole. And I intend to do so soon. So please sis... hold on for a little while longer, and then we'll be away from here. I swear."
And in replacement of her frown, was now a grin. Jack had always talked about getting her out of there. And now he's sacrificing his time at home just so that he can keep her away from their mother? She was unsure as to what she did to deseve him, but she was glad she could call him her brother. He's the only one keeping her sane.
"Anyways... I hate to make your day even worse, but... it's Monday."
Ashleigh groaned loudly, flopping back on the bed, het groan dragged out the entire time.
"Do I have tooooo? I just wanna sleep."
Jack chuckled in response, shaking his head, responding with
"D'you think I wanna go to work? Heh, come on, get up."
Ashleigh rolled her eyes in response, but giggled at her brother's response to her complaining.
She loved him so much, he was the only one that made her feel safe. Made her happy. Her mother wasn't a mother. She had herself hooked to drink and drugs to such a stage the house always reeked of cigarette smoke. Or... it would stink of much much worse drugs.
***
After slowly preparing herself for school, and slinging her bag over her shoulder, she stood by the front door, having successfully passed by her mother. Jack stood beside her, wearing his proud smile he always wore when he talked to his sister.
"Have a good day, sis. I'll see you after 5. And if anything happens... tell me, okay? And if anyone says a word to you... I'm happy to crack some sk-"
She cut him off quickly, intervening with,
"No, no attacking the students. I'll be alright, and I'll tell you, but you ain't coming into school again about this. You have a good day at work, alright?"
He smiled, his normal smile. He offered a nod in response and opened the door for Ashleigh, allowing her to step out, turn around to her brother, and wave goodbye. He waved back, and then closed the door with a sharp inhalation of the air outside.
Ashleigh watched the door close, her face falling right after. She hated school. Hated it with a passion. You ask her what she hates about school, surely she'd be able to speak for about four years. School was... a place she hadn't ever liked. Primary, hated. High school? Despised. She had a hatred no other could possibly have.
"Welp... time to enter that 'world class school', eh..."
She murmured to herself, the chill air nipping at her skin. She shook her head disapprovingly, as if she had just watched the school be given thst status.
"'You learn in a world class environment, with world class staff...' blah blah fucking blah. Literally last week alone I watched two girls smoking in the fucking toilets. Literally a day ago, I was laughed at and punched and slapped. Really is world class, eh?..."
She kept bursting into random conversation to herself, putting on a voice whenever she spoke from the perspective of a teacher. She then let out a heavy sigh, having not even walked halfway to school before she came across a bench and flopped down onto it, all of her former effort leaving her being with that one action.
"Awhhhh. Giving up already? Pathetic. Y'know. Just like your father att-"
As soon as he began speaking, Ashleigh rose to her feet, spun to the lamppost that stood tall beside her, and threw her fist at it, with all of her might. She didn't feel it. But she could see it. Blood, remained on the lamppost. Blood, dripped from her knuckles. That familiar sight.
"Will that shut you the fuck up..."
And she could see him in her head, Lucifer with his smile, his smile that said it all. But the thing is, up in her head, she lay in chains. To remain Lucifer's, and his only. The chains that dug into her wrist and drew blood. The chains that felt truly like knife blades, digging in.
"Thank you for feeding me. Though, a shame I couldn't obtain it myself."
Ashleigh rolled her eyes at him, not bothering to snap back... because of she did...
He'd make her do much worse than just punching a lamppost.
Ashleigh carelessly wiped the blood onto her jumper with a fed up sigh, beginning to walk again.
***
After what felt like an eternity of walking, she now stood outside of the school gates, the towering buildings visible from the front gate. She looked up at the buildings, and heaved a heavy sigh, casting her eyes to the ground.
"Welcome back to Hell..."