First of, hello. I'm glad to tell you all that I've gotten some of my inspiration back and am currently revising my story. It has a much more stable plot now.

I thank my friend ArkenailCrowson for helping me come up with many new ideas and helping me with the old ones as well.

Also, thank you to everyone who has followed this story and put up with me. Hopefully I can keep this running this time around.


I watched the shadows pass under my bedroom door, hysterically shifting around as my father tried to open it. He couldn't though, I had made sure of that by pushing my heavy wooden bookcase in front of the already locked door along with several other pieces of furniture scattered around my pitch black room. I then was huddled in the farthest corner from the door, wishing this moment would end, that my father hadn't been drinking and that I hadn't angered him by coming out of my room without permission. It was too late to change that though. I settled for just listening to his eerie footsteps on the hardwood floor outside my room, his breathing heavy and haggard.

I jerked back when he suddenly hit the door, making it rattle on it's hinges as a booming crack echoed through my room. Even through the darkness, I could see that one of the door hinges was broken, the metal piece hanging loosely while the door remained firmly in place, kept up by my desk. My sigh of relief was cut short when vicious cackling seeped into depths of my safe haven.

"I swear, Ester, when you come out of there…." His threat trailed off making me cringe and sweat heavily, my eyes wide and mouth gaping as I started silently sobbing. I knew I had to keep quiet because if I made any noise it would make him angrier.

Another blow was given to the door and it began to crack obviously having been hit with something heavy and solid. I scrambled to my feet and grabbed a handful of my curly black hair and tugged at it nervously as I watched the door crack more and more. I needed to find a way out, to get away from the man I once called my father, but it was so dark! The light flooding in from under the door was the only reason I could see the slow deterioration of the barrier keeping me and that mad man apart, but it refused to help light any other part of the darkness around me. If I didn't come up with an escape plan soon I was going to be trapped in a small room together with that man. He would "teach me a lesson" without a doubt if he got to me.

After only a few seconds he stopped attacking the door and I could hear him huff in exhaustion, forcing me into motion as I placed my hands against the wall and started to feel my way around, hoping to find a way out. I moved along slowly but steadily, coming across my messenger bag and jacket, which I kept packed in case I needed to get the hell out of there. I slung the bag over my shoulder and hastily shoved my jacket in when the banging on the door started again. I hit a corner and moved onto the next wall. I knew my window was somewhere here and I had to get to it. It was my only chance. The door was near its end and the furniture wouldn't do much if there wasn't a door to keep in place.

My fingers brushed against cloth and I grabbed a hold of it and frantically pulled down, revealing my small window. The moonlight slunk in like a mischievous white shadow making me squint, my bright green eyes not used to the light regardless of its dimness. I reached for the latch that was keeping me from my freedom but stopped in my tracks when I heard the man speak.

"I don't know why I let you live, I really don't." He said in a heartbroken tone. It was a sickening sound and my heart clenched.

"Dad-" I began before his infuriated voice cut through my words and made me back into the wall slightly.

"No! Don't you dare talk to me, you bitch! You killed my wife, you fucking murdered her!" He screamed in his gruff voice, making my bones rattle. That's when he landed the final blow, tearing apart the last of my bedroom door.

The light flooded in, a dark silhouette shoving at the opposing furniture. As soon as I saw him struggling, I unlocked the window and flung it open before scrambling out onto the roof into the crisp night air. I heard a scream directed at me, but I was too panicked to understand it and ran to the edge of the roof.

I'm only one story up, I can make it. I raced off the edge and sped toward the ground below. I landed ungracefully and yelped as a sharp pain shot through my ankle, my teeth ground together at the feeling and tears flowed down my cheeks.

A crash came from the window above me, and I pushed away my pain and staggered to my feet. Looking around quickly I found my best bet was to run through the woods, and so I sprinted into the treetops, causing my foot to feel like it was being ripped off.

I knew I was free though, and that was worth the pain that ripped through me. I knew I didn't have to bear the harsh beatings of that man or the verbal abuse when he didn't have the time to bloody his hands. That I knew.

I wish I had know that the path I chose was much more dangerous than the one I had left behind.


Thank you for reading. Please review!