Children of a miracle (GxG)

Prologue

My name is Ashley. Ashley Roberts. To everyone, I am an average law student. But little did they all know where I come from.

I wasn’t born with this life, with this name, with this look. All of this was a pure creation after I escaped my hometown last year. You may think that I’m some sort of criminal for trying to hide myself but you’re wrong. I’m doing all of this to protect myself. From what? From whom?

My father.

Two years ago, my mom died after having fought against her breast cancer for years. Unfortunately, it got stronger than her and it took her away from me. I’m an only child, so my bond with my mom was unbreakable. After she passed away, my father had to take care of me. He did everything but that.

He started drowning himself in alcohol, smoked cigarette after cigarette and never left his armchair unless to come to me. Every night I had to endure the treatment he had planned for me while I was at school. It went from kicking, to punching and even to stabbing. I have multiple scars to remind me of his deeds.

The most visible one is right under my left boob. I call it my nightmare scar. The other ones are scattered all over my body but this one is the worst of all. The scar on my left arm makes me sick as well, as it starts at my shoulder and extends all the way down to my elbow. Every time I look at myself in the mirror I relive that day. The day of my 18th birthday. The day I decided to leave Portland. The day my own father tried to take my life.

During that day, I never thought my life would take such a turn. I was excited to finally turn eighteen. It meant that I was going to leave for college, start a new life away from my dad, hoping that this distance would put some sense into his head and heal our relationship. But what occurred that same night is what has made me run away for good.

I spent the day with my childhood best friend Lisa, and so far it went well. I never told her about my situation at home. Every time I would feel depressed or down because of my dad, I would pretend it was because I missed my mom. Today I wish I had talked to her about all of this. Maybe she could have been able to help me sooner. Anyway, when I came home that night I expected my father to spare me from his wrath, at least for today since it was my birthday. Far from it.

The first thing I felt when I pushed the door open was a rough hand grabbing my collar and pushing me against the wall. Between my head banging against it and the pain in my back, I didn’t realize that my dad was standing in front of me holding a kitchen knife.

I will never forget his smell of alcohol, his sharp look and the words he said to me right before he stabbed me. It went like this: “Listen carefully Brooklyn, you will never escape me”. He stabbed me a first time along my arm leaving a large cut from my shoulder to the back of my elbow.

I screamed so hard that it triggered something inside of me that made me knee him where the sun doesn’t shine, which made him fall to the ground grunting. I took advantage of that to run to my room and grab my belongings. I shoved some clothes in my backpack, grabbed my mom’s perfume, my laptop, and my envelope with the little cash I had. I quickly made my way to the front door but when I got there my dad was standing in front of it smirking.

I turned around and ran in the direction of the kitchen to try and leave through the back door. When I opened it, I felt his hand grabbing my neck from behind. He dragged me backwards and pushed me against the counter of the kitchen with my back still facing him. He stabbed me a second time under my right shoulder blade before turning me around and cutting me deep under my left breast.

I was crying and screaming so loud that I still don’t know how the neighbors didn’t hear me.

“Happy birthday Brooke”, he spat staring straight at me. He was about to thrust the blade deeper but was distracted by a knock on the door.

When he turned his head in the direction of the door, I felt his hands releasing a little bit of pressure. I managed to get out of his grip and to run through the back door, allowing me to remove the knife from my skin. When I reached the front yard, I saw my best friend Lisa standing at the door, probably waiting for me.

She saw my body covered in blood. She saw my father trying to catch up with me on vain. She heard him yelling at me, “I will find you! I’ll fucking kill you, Brooklyn! You can’t escape me!”. She saw me running away. Away from her. Away from my dad. Away from myself. I didn’t stop, I couldn’t. I was way too afraid.

Since that day, Brooklyn Harris completely disappeared. I am now living as Ashley Roberts. My used-to-be curly brown hair is now dyed blonde and constantly straightened. I moved to Los Angeles and started college thanks to the funds that my mom had left me after she passed away. Luckily, this money had stayed hidden from my father even if I was a minor which allowed me to pay for my student loan and find an apartment.

Nobody knows about my past, I have never told anyone about my true identity or my story. I figured that the best way to start a new life was to forget about my former one, even if it has marked me forever.