Also, I'd like to note that I do not own ABC's One Life to Live or the characters and I will NOT be receiving any payment whatsoever for writing this story. It is intended for entertainment purposes only. This story is AU.
In this particular story, Marty and Blair are sisters.
*~o~*
When she woke up the apartment was dark and silent, like a quiet tomb. He was gone. She gingerly crawled out of bed and hurriedly got dressed. She grabbed a few of her clothing items and tossed them into a suitcase.
"Come on, baby. Wake up," she said as she stood over her son's little bed. "Hurry, honey, we gotta go."
"Where are we going, Mommy?" asked little Christopher. He was far too little to comprehend their escape. He didn't know any different. This was his world- the only one he had ever known.
"We gotta hurry, baby," Marty said as she threw a few of Christopher's items into her suitcase.
Christopher climbed out of bed wearing his bright-red Spiderman jammies. He picked up his favorite stuffed animal that he had christened Floppy Bear. The brown bear was really worn and his stuffing was falling out, but to Christopher Thomas Manning, he was his best friend.
"Are you taking me to school, Mommy?" the little boy asked. "Is that where we are going?"
"No, honey. We are going to see Auntie Blair and your cousin Starr. Won't that be fun?" Marty said as she took the hand of her six-year-old son. Carrying her suitcase in her other hand, she started to leave the apartment. With one last look at the smashed in walls and the scores of broken furniture, Marty spoke a silent 'good-bye.'
They arrived at the train station and boarded the morning train to Llansing, Pennsylvania. Marty knew her sister Blair would be greatly surprised when she unexpectedly showed up at her door. She had purposely been avoiding her family for months because she didn't want them to know. Her life had gotten out of control, and she was leaving the man she loved. She was leaving him because she didn't know what else to do.
She looked down at her feet to see she was still wearing her house slippers. She had ran away in just her slippers. She wanted to laugh, but instead, she could only cry. What would he do when he came home? Todd would be furious. She hadn't even left a note. She had packed up and left their marriage with little more than a backward glance.
As the train took off from the station, Christopher chattered on and on in his seat. "Mommy, look... it's the cemetery..." the six-year-old said.
Marty's eyes caught briefly on a tiny grave in the distance. Due to the movement of the train, she had only seen a glimpse of it. Her jaw clenched while hot tears slid her eyes. Reflexively, she clutched her cheek where the bruises had healed.
A memory came back to her, tragic, haunted, and laden with pain...
"Baby, I'm sorry. I didn't mean..."
"It's all your fault that this has happened. Because of YOU, our daughter is dead," she accused him tearfully.
"No, I never meant to hurt you," he implored her. "Please believe me."
"You always hurt me, Todd. That's all you ever do."
"I won't. I promise you. I never will again."
But sadly, he had lied.