A/N- This was an assignment that I did for English a few months ago. We had to pick a book and write about a gap or silence present, while also only using a minor character. I happen to hate 1st POV but it was part of the task. This is seen from the co-protagonist (Rachel) mums' POV. I chose a book called 'The Darkness' by Anthony Eaton. Which brings me to conclude that I own nothing.

Our Dark Arrival

It was dark. Completely pitch black as I walked to our new safe haven with my seventeen year old daughter in the dead of the night. Although I couldn't see them, I could hear the loud crashes of the waves on the shore, just behind the house in which we would be staying. The harsh, salty wind whistled through the trees, making them creak and sway. The biting chill seeped in through my sweater and whipped my long hair around my face. Rachel was also having the same problem as I watched her juggle her bags as she dragged her hand along her face to sweep away her hair.

I could tell that she was exhausted and I wasn't any better. I had driven for hours, trying to run, trying to escape. I wish it could be different, that our life could be perfect. I hated that Rachel once knew what it was to have a normal, happy life. However, it had been forcibly and cruelly ripped away. And it was all his fault.

We finally made it to the front of the desolate house. It didn't look at all habitable and it was obvious that no one had lived in it for a long time. I inserted the key, having trouble with the rusted lock. I tried to hurry so that my daughter could get out of the cold wind and finally get some deserved rest. Finally I managed to open the door and it creaked loudly on its hinges, needing much assistance to swivel.

My hand blindly felt for a light switch and I was honestly surprised that it worked when dull, yellow light filled the room. I sighed in despair as I looked at what I assumed would once have been a quaint living room but was now barren and damaged.

I felt my hands shake from both rage and grief. He had caused this. My husband had forced me to leave my home, take our daughter and run, seeking refuge in this tiny dilapidated house. I didn't want this for my daughter, she deserved so much better.

I turned to Rachel and watched as she also looked around at the condition of the room. She didn't say anything and for that I was eternally grateful. Not that she needed to anyway. Her face said it all. She hated it and didn't want to stay here. Hating seeing that face and everything about this situation, I took her into my arms, offering her the only thing I had… my love.

I embraced her tightly, resting my cheek against her soft black locks. My heart wrenched as I felt her sob. I softly shushed her and murmured reassurances, knowing that some of them were said mindlessly, that they were just words. However, I don't think that Rachel really noticed or cared at this point. When I felt her slump considerably in my hold, I knew it was time for sleep. I stepped back and took her face into my hands.

"Everything will okay. Alright?" I comforted as I looked her in the eyes. She nodded jerkily in silence. Rubbing my thumb against her cheek I pulled away, going over to one of the packed duffels. Grabbing some clean sheets, which I was thankful that I remembered in my haste, I went to find the least dreary room. It happened that it was the master bedroom.

As I quickly made the bed, Rachel changed into her pyjamas. I motioned for her to slide under the covers, tucking her in like I did when she was little. I kissed her forehead gently, smoothing the covers around her.

"You'll stay with me, won't you?" she asked in a whisper, grabbing my wrist as I began to move away. Again my heart broke, seeing my strong, independent daughter, seem so child like. And I didn't think it possible to loathe a person anymore than I did my husband at that moment.

"Of course sweetheart, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." I placated, smiling lovingly at her. I was happy when she returned it.

"Now sleep, I'll be in soon. Love you!" I said from the doorway.

"Love you too Mum." She sighed as she rolled over to get more comfortable. I stayed there watching, until she was completely asleep which unsurprisingly, didn't take long. It had most certainly been a distressing and eventful day.

I made my way back into the 'living room', grabbing a spare towel from the duffle and placed it on the grungy, broken couch. Amongst the duffels and in my own company, I did what I told myself I wouldn't, I cried. I couldn't stop the tears as they trailed down my cheeks.

I roughly scrubbed my face dry, only giving into my self pity for a moment. Sighing as I began to unpack and sort out our scarce belongings, I thought about all that had happened over the past few days.

I had finally worked up the courage to put into action something I had wanted for years; to leave my husband. I had grown tired of coming home and finding Rachel in tears. I had grown tired of being slapped and pushed around. I had grown sick of his stupid mind games. But mostly I had grown tired of not being treated as a wife should be, of seeing my daughter in pain… of there only being two members to our family instead of three.

Yet what made this all the more unbearable was that my husband had not always been like this. He was once a kind and loving man. However, one day he just changed. And he was no longer the man that I had fallen in love with.

When the room faded from my vision and only blinked back when I opened my eyes, I knew it was time for bed. Driving for hours and sleeping in a car didn't give one an adequate amount of sleep.

I swiftly changed into my sleepwear and got in beside my daughter. As Rachel snuggled up to me, I felt the corners of my mouth lift into a smile. Somehow, despite all that had happened it didn't seem all that bad. I had all I needed sleeping right next to me. We might have left so many things running away but it was my husband who had lost the most. He may have an abundance of tangible items but I had our daughter. And with her came love and hope.