Children of Fire (Complete)

twenty-two

Emerson

A resounding crack echoed off of bright yellow walls, and a muffled whimper escaped my lips. I always tried my best not to let him have the satisfaction of knowing I was actually in pain, but sometimes it was so hard to be strong when you've been being mercilessly beaten for the past three hours off and on. I clutched my cheek gently, blood from the cut was already seeping through my fingers, my chin was stained with blood from my busted lip. Needless to say, I looked like death warmed over.

"I told you not to speak to Clary anymore, bitch. Why didn't you listen to me?" Greyson hissed, spitting onto my bare feet. I winced at the degrading act, turning my gaze quickly to the floor. Clary called me late last night, trying to apologize to me for sleeping with Greyson on the night of my birthday.

"I'm sorry, Grey. I just thought that if I answered she would quit calling." I said quietly. I hated that this was the woman I had become over the last two months. Since the night of my birthday, when Greyson hit me for the first time, I had slowly crumbled into a timid, frightened young girl. It wasn't the way I had ever imagined myself to be, I had always been so strong-- I had always stood up for myself and others around me if I could. I hated that Greyson had turned me into a submissive punching bag, and I hated to see myself in the mirror. I suppose this was when my self-loathing really began.

"I don't care how many times she calls you, you are not allowed to speak to her again." I said, his voice had an eerie layer of calmness and that frightened me more than when he was yelling at me. I nodded my head vigorously, keeping my eyes trained on the floor, watching as small droplets of my blood fell on the linoleum every so often. I was so focused on the dirty floors that I would have to clean before he noticed, that I didn't even see it coming. Greyson's fist connected to my temple, and before I could even make a noise I was on the floor and darkness had consumed me.

----

I jerked awake and fell sideways off the bed, somehow I had managed to get tangled in the sheets so horribly that I couldn't do anything but thrash around on the hardwood floor for a minute before I could get myself free-- which didn't help my anxiety from the nightmare at all. "Shit." I murmured to myself before I grabbed my phone on the nightstand to check the time. 11:45am. I would have liked to sleep a few more hours, but I suppose I needed to go ahead and get up and start getting ready for this gala tonight. I scratched at my head for a moment with my short nails before deciding that I probably had time to go out into town and get my nails done, something I hadn't done in years. I wasn't exactly a 'long nails' type of girl anyways, but I figured this would be as good a time as any to get them done. I quickly pulled my hair onto a messy bun on the top of my head and changed into a pair of leggings and one of my moms oversized REO Speedwagon vintage baseball tees. I slid my boots onto my feet without tying them and grabbed my bag to head out the door. I needed to be as quick as possible-- there was no telling how long it would take me to actually look decent this evening.

I managed to walk into town at a fairly quick pace, which was surprising considering that it was lunch time and Luciana always seemed to be bustling around then. I found one of two nail shops in town and walked in, thankful there didn't seem to be a wait. The girl ushered me to one of the stations and asked me what I wanted, when I told her I just wanted my nails done, she had insisted on getting my toes done as well, which is why I found myself sitting in the pedicure chair half asleep when my phone went off loudly in my lap. I jumped up and almost kicked poor Mary in the face. I apologized feverishly before answering my phone-- Mary was significantly less gentle after that.

"Hello?" I asked, halfway breathless.

"You alright, Em?" Gideon's voice asked from the receiver.