Love, Hate and Hockey Skates

Twenty-Seven

I'm sorry everyone for not posting any new chapters! My recovery has taken a toll on me for the worst and I have been trying my best to get chapters done when I can. I hope you can enjoy this short chapter :)

~*~*~

We had been driving for at least a day, and my hand zip-tied to the door handle. Even if I get it open, I can't take the whole door with me. My only means of escape was for him to stop somewhere.

"I have to pee, shall I go here?" I asked, knowing he would say no the first time.

He grunted. "So do I, we'll pull up over here."

We got off at the next exit but to my surprise, he didn't lead us to a store – we drove straight through the forest, away from the only road. My father stopped the car and untied my hands.

"Get out and go, don't even try to escape." He reached under his seat and pulled out a sawed-off shotgun.

"What the hell, that's illegal to have!" I cried.

He snickered. "You're going to lecture me about the low now, girl? It's a little late for that."

He was right, what was I thinking? Just because I was his daughter, didn't mean he wouldn't hesitate to kill me to keep me from spilling the beans.

We walked into the forest, and I ducked behind a tree, but I knew my father was close by. He had seen me in diapers and watched his drunk buddies as they tried to take their turns with me. I knew he had no shame in watching his daughter go to the bathroom, just to make sure I didn't run off.

"Hurry up," he grumbled behind me.

I could see his legs from under the bush in front of me. He was a much larger man than me, but if taken by surprise, I could maybe knock him down long enough to make a run for it. I waited until he paced himself and turned around, then lifted my leg and with as much force as I could muster, I kicked in his knee.

He went down like a howling bear, and I took off running. I made sure to remember which direction we had come and followed where the moon was, knowing it illuminated the road.

What I didn't expect was that he took his shotgun with him. I heard it go off closely behind me and picked up my feet faster.

'He's going to kill me this time! Holy shit, he's going to kill me!'

It was all I could think about. How my father was finally going to end me.

'Not today. Not before I see Ace one more time.'

I needed him to know it wasn't his fault, he did nothing wrong. I just couldn't have him be the one running from my father with a shotgun right now.

I could see the road a few feet away and heard a car in the distance. I was going to be saved, it was a damn miracle. I kicked up my feet and sprinted to the road, then waved down the car as fast as I could. They came to a halting stop and a woman climbed out of the front seat in a panic,

"Oh my god, what happened to you?"

"Please, call 911." I was out of breath and incredibly weak by the time I got to her.

But it was too late. The front headlight was shot off from behind and the woman screamed before she ducked back into her car. She tried to drag me in with her as she fumbled for her phone, but we would be sitting ducks.

"Hello, police, please!" I heard her say before I ran behind the car and back into the road.

"Get back here, Isla! Don't make me regret this!" he screamed behind me, too close for comfort.

I continued to run blindly into the road, anywhere was better than with him. I was so far gone that I couldn't hear what he was screaming behind me until it was too late.

I felt the front bumper hit the side of my legs and swept me up before I crashed down on the hood. The car came to a rolling stop and I was flung a few feet away, rolling and scraping my body against the pavement. I could feel my skin tear and my head crack as it hit the ground, then the tunnel vision began.

"Isla? Isla, stay with me! You'll be alright!" I heard someone screaming in my face, their breath hot against my cold skin.

I only had one thought before I drifted off.

Who is Isla?

~*~

I woke up to the sound of soft beeping next to me and white all around. I was unfamiliar with the room I was in, but I knew the tools around me were used for medical reasons, and I wondered if I was in a hospital.

As I got up, the beeping seemed to increase, and the door flew open seconds later.

"Please, miss, you need to lie down. You've suffered many injuries and you're barely healed." A woman in light blue approached me.

"What happened to me?"

She frowned and began explaining how I escaped my wretched and abusive father but was struck by a driver. It seemed I was suffering from total amnesia; I couldn't remember my name or where I was from, or even who this abusive father was.

Maybe that was a good thing. But surely there were things I didn't want to forget. People in my life I didn't want to lose memories of.

"Well, what happens to me now? I don't know where to go."

"I have your cellphone here, maybe you will recognize a name or number in there and can call someone to come get you."

It was the best idea I had on where to begin. I grabbed the phone and went through my text messages to see who I spoke with the most often, and one name popped up the most.

Ace Huxley.