Little Bird

Prologue I: Bleeding Out

    The second his car pulled out of the driveway and around the corner, she ran inside and started to pack. She had been planning this for a while now, running away. It wasn't that she didn't love Eric anymore, she just couldn't hide anymore cuts or bruises. Aradia Ross wasn't one to be scared, or weak, but Eric terrified her these days. He was drinking more than he could hold. He was abusing her. She didn't  even get to talk to anyone anymore. She piled everything she owned into her car and drove out of New York until she was in Ohio before she even got off the inner state. Once she got to the nearest car dealership, she traded in her car for a new one. Afterward, she called and canceled her credit card and traded in her phone under one of her old friends names. She did everything she could to make sure Eric couldn't follow her. 

    In her car, Aradia thought about her old life as she drove. Eric Stevens had turned into a monster over the last year. The man was twenty-six years old and the strongest person Aradia had ever met. He was the tall dark and handsome guy of every girls dreams. He had learned how much she loved music and she learned that he was sweeter than she had thought. They had gone to high school together back in Denver. She was a cheer leader and he had been a football player. They were the schools celebrity couple. Everyone knew them, every fight they had, every conversation, every kiss. They were kept under a microscope and acted like they were perfect together. After high school, they moved to New York City together and the act quickly faded. Eric would hit her if she talked back which would cause her to yell, he would punch. At first it wasn't bad, just every now and then. On their fifth year anniversary after moving, his parents had come down from Denver to  visit them, that was also the year Eric got her a baby grand piano as an anniversary gift. That's how he tried to cover up the bruises he put on her skin, he bought her expensive things, but he still hit her. Those gifts were the only things she had left behind  in New York, the gifts that stood for every punch and kick, for every drop of blood that she had to wash away with bleach because he had hated the sight or smell of it. 

    She sighed while she thought about the beautiful piano. Aradia knew no matter how much Eric had loved listening to her play, the minute he found out she had left, he would take his anger out on the instrument. It would be nothing but firewood when he was finished. She shivered and reminded herself that he was miles behind her on a business trip in Delaware. She rubbed her wrist that was covered by the long sleeved shirt, the recent cuts were scabbing and they iched. She didn't dare pick the scabs though, that would create scars. She had enough scars to last a life time.

    Aradia drove for over a week, stopping only at cheap motels to sleep. She let out a relieved breath when she passed the sign.  'Welcome to California' was written in creative lettering on an old sign off the interstate. She drove through a few towns before she found one that seemed small enough, different than what she was used to. She checked into the only apartment building in town and started lugging her stuff up to room 124 B to start her new life.