At my statement he looked at me in confusion, but soon this cleared to give way to anger once more. He went to charge towards where I was standing, but was stopped by the sound of hundreds of wings beating the air in unison. He glanced up quickly, but obviously didn't deem it important enough to stop his pursuit of me. Smiling at his mistake, I prepared my mind.

Um, excuse me, would you mind stopping that man from laying a single finger on me? He's hurt me a lot and I'd appreciate it greatly if you could do this for me. No sooner had I sent the words into the open that the rustling of wings got louder and louder. They were on us in minutes, encasing me in a protective bubble and shooting towards the monster. However, I had asked so many minds to do me a favour, that my power had skyrocketed, moss growing on any available surface in a 30 metre radius, and roots shooting out of the ground.

It looked like a battle ground, except there was only one enemy, just like there had always been. The monster had taught me that the whole world was against me, that we were all evil and retched, but I now saw that that wasn't the truth. Gray wasn't the only exception to an all-encompassing rule, there were so many good people – Sky, Althea, little Vince and Max, and those were just the nearest to me. It wasn't that the world was bad – the world was good, but sometimes we let bad people make it seem like this isn't the case. I wouldn't let him do that anymore. He was the only enemy in my battlefield, and I was done seeing shadows where there were none.

Off into the distance, blurred by the passing birds, I saw his figure fall to the ground. With a single thought, all the birds halted in their place, rising up to allow for me to pass. This gave me a clear view of the monster, who was writhing in pain on the grassy floor.

"You went against your own family!" He glared at me with what I would've considered an intimidating look. Not anymore though. I wasn't letting him scare me. He was lying down, and I was standing, ready to deliver the final blow. He didn't have anything over me, the glares which had scared me so much only a few minutes ago, no longer felt threatening at all.

"We're not family." With that, I kicked him, years of pent up anger going into the kick. It wasn't like the kick back in the room, when I'd been scared of failing and had barely put any thought into it. This time, I was putting as much emotion as I could place in an action. Anger, frustration, hatred, but also acceptance. Because I'd finally come to terms with it – I was ready to look what he'd done to me in the eyes. He'd abused me. Not due to the whole world being evil and him being another in the crowd, but because he'd chosen to hurt me. He'd hurt me so so much.

But I was ready to become stronger as a result of it.

However, I couldn't force myself to deliver the killing blow, so I looked away. He had a large gash going down his face, and another one in his abdomen, if the blood staining his shirt was anything to go by. He'd pass away sooner or later. And even if he didn't, he wouldn't go after me again, not after what I'd done to him. Without sparing him another glance, I turned around, walking out of the clearing as quickly as possible.

When the birds saw I was finished, most dissolved back into the forest, but a few stayed. Tailing me until I stopped to rest against a tree, as if they wanted to make sure I reached my final destination. I smiled at them in appreciation, my whole body feeling too heavy to do much else. Using that much energy had seemed like a good idea at the time, adrenalin pumping through my veins, but now I realised how dumb it had been.

I was drained, sagging against the trunk of a tree and stranded in the middle of the forest with no way out. I was going to die here, just like the monster. And for some reason, I was feeling ok about that. All my life had been leading up to this point, the moment when I stood up for myself and showed the monster that I wouldn't allow him to be my demise. Now that that had occurred, I felt so accomplished that even death couldn't put me down. What was even the point of living anymore? Not only had everything been leading to today, everything had always revolved around the monster. He was gone, and I didn't even know who I was anymore.

My whole personality was based on what he'd done to me and how I coped. Who would I become now, if anyone at all?

Petal! Petal! Petal answer me baby please! Jolting out of my morbid day dream, I noticed a faint voice in my mind. It was jumping into and out of focus, and caused a headache to rise, but I ignored all that. I'd remembered something I hadn't taken into consideration when I'd been all but ready to die – Gray. His family, everyone who'd come to care for me in these past months.

They'd help me understand, and would be the new thing my life revolved around. I didn't need a dramatic event to keep me running, I could live a normal life just like anyone else, my memories and personality being shaped by my family, not by a monster.

Pet-

I'm here. Using the last of my strength, I sent him all I remembered of this place, from the log cabin to the clearing to the tree I was leaning on. I also sent a strong pulse of energy, hoping that would be enough to locate me.

And then, everything went dark. I let myself fall into the embrace of the darkness, my aching muscles begging me to finally let go. So I did, after the most excruciating evening I'd had in a long time. But I wasn't ready to give up to the darkness, I'd re-emerge into a world where there was no such thing as a painful day.

Soon I'd get there.

Hi :)

Sorry that this chapter is kind of short, but I thought it'd be perfect to end it there. A lot of shit's gonna happen next chapter, so I hope you keep reading to see what I have in store *cue evil laughter* ;)

Thanks so much for all your lovely reviews! We didn't reach the target, but that's ok :) How about we go for 36 next time? Fingers crossed, huh?

Also, to anyone doing exams soon (I don't know about you, but I've got English Lang next week :/ ) tons and tons of good luck. Do amazingly! I know you can :D

Bye bye xx