Grace slid her key into the lock of her front door of her old, rundown house she called home. She felt the tumblers all slide into place as she turned the key to the left and gave a solid push, opening the door.
The front yard, if you could call it that, needed weeds pulled and a good mowing but with her current schedule, Grace barely had time to eat, sleep and bathe let alone do chores that Chris was supposed to be doing. The irritation she felt when thinking of all the things he was supposed to be doing to contribute around the house and to this dysfunctional family while he was "between jobs" as he liked to call it, was beginning to pile up.
Chris is the stepfather, minus the father part, that Grace never wanted. At first he was cool, fun to be around and had job security that most people would kill for. Or at least that's what he said. Really, Chris gambled and drank with all of his "friends" after getting off at his minimum wage hourly pay at a burger joint down on 7th and Louis. The man lost his job a year ago and has been looking for one since. He'd told Grace and her mom that he was an accountant, and promised high standards and a good life. He'd lied for about a year while he and Jenna, Grace's mom, were dating. Now when they got married, he told them the hard truth...sorta. He'd told them that he'd lost the job as an accountant and gotten a new one at the restaurant. All lies, of course. He'd never been an accountant, hell, he could barely add 2+2. However, when that job eventually gave up on him, he decided that playing couch potato was a hell of a lot more fun than working.
Grace got to the point where she quit talking to him and just flat-out ignored him. Well, until he put his hands on her mom.
That was the trigger. The trigger that ended her normal life.
She entered the humble abode and immediately tossed her school bag on the couch to the left of the doorway. As she locked the door, she heard her mom screaming at the top of her lungs at Chris. Another fight. Not out of the ordinary at all unfortunately.
"You are a lying sack of shit!" Jenna screamed, pointing an accusing finger at Chris.
"Ah, fuck you. You don't know nothin' about nothin'." he snapped, turning away from her and plopping himself down at the kitchen table.
"You have gambled away most, if not all, of our money! How is Grace supposed to go to school next semester?" Jenna wiped the tears of rage from her face and stood there defiantly.
Grace poked her head into the kitchen and looked at her mom.
"Who gives a shit if the girl goes to school? I think she should pay for it herself as far as I'm concerned." he stated, tuning back to her with a smug smile.
Jenna landed a hard slap on his cheek.
Chris and Grace were both shocked at the strike. Though Chris was a little more pissed off.
He was suddenly on his feet, storming over to Jenna. He gripped the woman face in one hand and held the back of her head in the other, "If you ever lay a hand on me again, I will fuck you up! Are we fucking clear?" He put his fist in her stomach and let her fall to the floor coughing.
His six-foot six meant nothing to Grace in that moment as she rushed forward and, without hesitation or any thought on the matter, she kicked him in the back of the knee and as soon as he was kneeling, she slammed his head into the counter and let him fall to the floor.
As Grace knelt next to her sobbing mother, she heard Chris curse her loudly, "You little bitch!" He held his head and moaned on the floor.
"Mom, are you okay?" Grace pulled her mom's chin up to look at her. Jenna's makeup had run down her face, leaving black streaks that thoroughly coated her aging face. The woman's sad eyes could tell a story if she let them. They would scream of a newly discovered abusive husband and a rough life she had never wanted for her children.
Jenna's eyes suddenly widened, "No!"
Chris dug his fingers into Grace's short, curly locks and hauled her to her feet as she screamed.
"You stupid little cunt!" he shouted, "I'm going to make you wish you were dead!"
Grace squeezed her eyes shut as she saw the kitchen wall coming forward to meet her. Chris slammed her into it once. Twice. Three times, before he slammed her back against the wall and gripped her throat with both of his hands. She scratched and clawed at his hands and pulled at his wrists fervently. His hold tightened the more she fought for freedom. Her head began to pound as her face turned red with lack of oxygen, the pressure building into agony.
"Please!" Jenna cried, "Please, Chris, let her go!" Grace could hear her mom's pleas but they sounded muffled, distant.
Suddenly, her eyes burned as if they were on fire. Grace squeezed her eyes harder, trying to fight off the pain. It only intensified. A sudden burst of clarity and strength shot throughout her body. Grace's eyes shot open, and the look on Chris's face in that moment was something Grace will remember forever.
She let go of his wrists and slammed her hands down into the crooks of his arms, forcing him to let go of her throat. She then backhanded him, knocking him off-balance only to finish him with a strong kick to his stomach sending him crumpling to the kitchen floor.
The burning in her eyes continued as she dropped to her knees, coughing erratically. She rubbed them ferociously as the pain subsided. Grace let herself fall back and sit against the wall that had, to her chagrin, busted her lip open.
Chris laid on the floor unconscious, his nose and head bleeding. There is a good chance he has a concussion.
Jenna sat near the oven, face covered by her hands, sobbing.
"Mom," said Grace, "Mom, we need to leave."
Jenna's head snapped up, "What?"
"When he wakes up, he's not going to be happy. We need to leave. Like now."
"What? No. Absolutely not." She shook her head and stood, wincing.
"Mom," Grace stood as well, "He just beat the hell out of both of us and will probably kill us if we stick around!"
"No! No, first you have to tell me how the hell you did all of that!" She motioned to Chris on the floor.
"Did what? I reacted to him threatening you!" Grace shouted back, "What the hell else was I supposed to do?"
"You could have killed him," she stated with a shaky voice.
"Are you serious?"
"He is my husband! And your father-"
"No! He is not my father."
"He, and I, have both tried to provide for you and I'm not going to let this little hiccup mess up everything that we have." Jenna stomped over to Chris. She placed a trembling hand on his forehead.
"Are you kidding me? I'm your daughter and you's rather have an abusive scumbag for a husband than your own flesh and blood?" Grace felt tears spring into her eyes.
"We are done discussing this, go to your room and clean up." Jenna demanded without looking up.
"Like hell." Grace stormed towards the front door. She picked up her satchel and slammed the door shut as hard as she could. How could her own mother take a huge fuck up like Chris over her own kid? Grace's thoughts reeled as she went over the night's events in her head.
As Grace began to walk briskly across the front "lawn", she heard the front door open again.
"Grace LaRoux Branch, get your sorry ass back inside this fucking instant!" Her mother called from behind her.
Grace spun on her heel and glared daggers into her mother, "Go to hell! When you decide to be smart, come and find me!" Spinning she stalked off, anger spewing from every pore of her body.
"No, no, wait!" her mother's sudden change in her voice had Grace turning back.
Chris all but ran at her.
. . ran through Grace's mind over and over as she turned and began to run. Her feet felt like they were moving in slow motion as Chris gained on her almost instantly. When he tackled her, her head smacked against the broken and cracked asphalt of the road. Chris once again grabbed her by her hair and began to drag her kicking and screaming back towards the house.
"Ow! What the fuck!" He suddenly let go of Grace's hair and looked at his hand, then back down at Grace.
As she scrambled backwards from Chris, a sudden nauseating throb made its way from her stomach throughout her entire body. Grace lurched forward, spilling what little food she had in her stomach on the ground.
"Aw, disgusting!" Chris spat.
A strangled cry forced itself from Grace's lips as she gripped her stomach. Her insides felt as if someone was grabbing, twisting, puling and lighting them on fire. Another retch and stomach acid coated the ground.
Heat was suddenly radiating from the ache and causing her heart to pump quickly, making her feel as if it were going to suddenly jump from her chest. Grace curled into a ball next to her stomach's contents as another half sob half cry forced its way out of her chest.
When she looked up, Chris was once again storming towards her, anger twisting his features. A new level of agony ripped through her, making her back arch off the ground and a bright light burst from her eyes and mouth. It held multiple colors within it, all appearing and disappearing, like the northern lights that hung over Alaska only more white is mixed in. The heat and light that burst from her engulfed her, making night into day for a split second before she was suddenly shot into the air.
The pain stopped as Grace found herself soaring into the night sky uncontrollably. The tunnel of light that carried her was astonishingly beautiful. The colors that swirled around her reminded her of a kaleidoscope she'd had when she was a kid. She could feel the cool mist of the clouds as they began to swirl with the rainbow tunnel. Lightening flashed around her, none of it as bright as the tube of light that encased her.
Grace abruptly realized that instead of blackness coming at her, it was dark green grass. She slammed hard into the ground as the light faded around her. Grace laid sprawled out on the cool damp grass for a moment as her head spun making the world blur. Her head felt oddly warm: little did she know that her hair had turned almost completely snow-white, save for the very ends of her hair that remained her natural pitch black.
She sat up with a gasp as it occurred to her that she hadn't been breathing the whole time she'd had her, she assumed, trauma induced LSD trip. The rapid intake of crisp air made her head spin all over again, laying her out on the ground once more. She was in the middle of some sort of...field?
In that moment, she heard it: thu-thu-thump thu-thu-thump. Over and over again. Soon it sounded louder, closer and as though it multiplied. She sat up and pushed herself from the ground just as the thumping reached her. She spun around, unsteadily as armored men on armored horses surrounded her, all of them dressed the same.
Grace spun around as they all circled her, blocking any escape. She noticed something then: the horses had...six legs?!
"Do not attempt to flee." A booming voice sounded behind her. This guard is dressed differently than all the others, as well as the one next to him. The one who spoke was blond and wore a silver helmet with wings that lay against the side of it. His armor consisted of silver and red adornments that went well together and it him perfectly. The man carried a large hammer that looked as though it could smash through anything. He looked ready to strike her down if she flinched. The blond, buff man almost looked angry.
The man next to him, to Grace's left, looked as though he were analyzing her. His helmet was gold with large antlers that protruded from his forehead, His glowing green eyes seemed to penetrate her. His short black hair matched with his green and gold embellishments that is shaped perfectly to his form. This man, unlike the blond one, seemed to be trying to hide multiple emotions that flashed through his eyes. He kept his features stern but his eyes betrayed his...pain? Uncertainty?
"I-I.." Grace trailed off and looked back and forth between the two men, her gaze lingering on the one in green a split second longer than she had intended.
"State your name." demanded the blond man.
"M-my n-name?" She looked at him, terrified.
"Thor, she appears to have forgotten it." The green-eyed man said with an arrogant smirk. All hints at his swimming emotions gone.
"Indeed, brother, it seems as though she has." The one named Thor slid from his horse and approached the five foot one girl.
"M-my name is Grace." She said, trying to sound confident but failing miserably.
"Well, Lady Grace, you are trespassing and seem to have some sort of extraordinary gift, or maybe you've stolen something that has given you this ability to come here," He stated matter-of-factly.
"E-excuse me?" she gripped the leather strap of her satchel tightly as fear crept throughout her body like a cold snake.
"Arrest her," he turned and jumped back on his odd looking horse.
"Thor," the other man looked at him with a hard glare. Thor didn't say a word, only turned on his horse and began to ride away.
One of the guards behind Grace suddenly had her on the ground, binding her wrists with something that seared her skin.
"Hey!" The guard didn't have her sit on the horse but rather tossed on top of it as if she were a sack. He climbed back on and they rode off.
The ride had been incredibly uncomfortable has she had bounced around unceremoniously, barely on the verge of falling off, which would have led to being trampled by the other guards that rode behind them.
Once they reached the castle, which was extravagant, and after being from pulled from the horse, then led into the castle, dragged down a few hallways, hauled down stairs that seemed as though they would never end, and put into a pure white room. The guards that had thrown her in there, undid her bonds before the stripped her of everything but her underwear and tossed her some rough burlap feeling clothes for her to wear. Once she'd slipped into them she was immediately overtaken with the urge to scratch herself...everywhere.
This is going to be just great.