"The sky is so tragically beautiful.
A graveyard of stars."
I am sitting on a bench of a very familiar park.
I frown trying to remember where am I and what am I doing here. As moments pass, waves of realization hit me. This is the park near my house. I glance around at the familiar swings.
Why am I here? I think as fear rises in the pit of my stomach. I am not supposed to be here!
I am about to panic when a gentle voice calls my name from the behind. "Ellie," the voice calls again and again. "Ellie." I feel my eyes widen at the familiar voice as I slowly turn around.
Behind me is a lovely woman, with a warm smile planted on her pink lips, making the corners of her blue eyes, similar to my own, crinkle.
"Mum," I manage to choke out, feeling my throat burn with tears. I gulp and slowly get up.
I make my way towards her and see her smile and me. I try to smile back but I driven by too much emotion that I might just end up sobbing.
"Come here honey, come to me", she says as she opens her arms, wide, for me.
I eagerly run towards her, wanting to touch her and hug her but as I get closer to her, her warm smile turned into a sad smile and her eyes are filled with tears.
I stop in my tracks, terrified. My chest tightens. "Mum. What is it, what is wrong?"I ask her desperately. Her arms are no longer outstretched and her eyes are a swirl of emotion I am not able to understand.
"You can't come back Liz. You can never come back to this house," she says as tears run down her face.
"What...uh.. what is happening mum? You are scaring me," I am panicking by now.
"You have to run away Liz. Go away, please. Never come back to this hell hole ever. I won't let you have this life; I CAN'T let you have this life. Please, go. Run away darling", she begs and keeps looking back as if someone will come and catch her from the behind.
When I don't react and keep asking her what was going on again and again, she wipes her eyes and her face hardens, though her eyes still hold the gentleness.
'"Elliza Baker, listen to me. This is not a time to cry. You have to run away. You have to be strong, so strong", she says, desperately, with her hands on my shoulders.
I am about to say something, asking her what is happening, but I never have the chance.
My mother gasps and her eyes widen. Slowly, she moves her hands to her stomach, making a painful sound in the movement.
I am momentarily frozen. My eyes find their way to her stomach and I see blood, blood, blood, everywhere.
I let out a scream and reach for her. Before her body crumbles to the ground, she murmurs in an almost inaudible voice, "Be brace, honey."
I try to scream but my voice seems to disappear somewhere. I fall to my knees and cradle her head in my arms. Her body has gone limp.
"You filth!" screams a monstrous yet familiar voice. I raise my head and meet the raging eyes of the man who is my father. I am suddenly trembling and wheezing. I can't breathe, I think. I have to breathe, I have to breathe, I have to breathe. I keep repeating.
I look up again and see a sharp knife in his hand. My breathing halts. The knife is coated with blood. Red blood. My mother's red blood.
He smirks as he follows my eyes to the blade. "That is right. Your mother's blood. I killed her. With this very blade", he says proudly. I am about to make my way towards him when I remember my mum's last words to me. You have to run away, she had said, run away and never come back to this hell hole.
My father, as if he could read my mind, suddenly frowns and roars "Don't you dare think of running away, you bag of dirt, or I will CARVE your eyes out myself!"
I take a shaky breathe in and start to run away. I run and run and run for what feels like hours, days, years, decades, and centuries. I run till the end of time, till the world goes dark, completely dark. I keep running and never look back. I run and run.
I wake up with a start, panting. I look around and take in my surroundings. It is my bedroom I share with 5 other girls at the orphanage.
Calm down, I tell myself. It was just a dream. You are away from them now. You are safe. You have Dumbledore and will be at a different place tomorrow. I remind myself.
I am going to a school tomorrow, a different school. A school for witches and wizards like Dumbledore.And you, I force myself to say out loud. A school for witches and wizards like me. A place where I will belong. Where I will be safe and no longer be a freak.
A better place, I remind myself.