Painting Flowers (You Don't Scare Me Book 2)

Runaways - Prologue

        My eyes scanned the dark room, averting from the windows with the little light they allowed to pour through the blinds. I had adjusted to the dark rather quickly, I wasn't a fan of the bright mornings but I came to life in the shadows of night. Perhaps I felt more connected to the empty space in the dark, it gave me a calm feeling that I could reach into nothingness. The night was something special to me, how one spot of the world became engulfed in darkness, and to me that could almost symbolize the future of mankind. If we were all to be engulfed by a sudden dark cloud, we would die within days, that was for sure. Maybe one day, the sun would fall out of the sky and leave nothing but darkness. For whatever reason, I wouldn't mind at all to die in the dark. Darkness is something that craddles me when I sleep and whispers sweet nothings to me in the so called morning.

        Everything was so blissful until there was a knock at my door. It was only two knocks, short and sweet, yet behind it was a lingering feel of tension as if the person who had knocked at the door had been standing there for quite a while. I, of course, didn't answer. I had better things to do then answer whoever was at my door, it wasn't like I cared anyway. At this point in my life, I didn't have friends. I didn't have anyone. Fifteen years of total isolation after I was dropped off on this bastard's porch.

Unfortunately, there wasn't a lock on my door. It busted open and the light from the hallway poured into the darkness of my room, devouring everything in its path. I shielded my eyes with my right hand, looking up to face the distressed face of Ash. But, that wasn't concern on his face, that was pure anger. His eyebrows were furrowed, glaring at me with those crystalized eyes that had captivated my sister so long ago.

"You know, this is all your fault."

Looking away from Ashton, my eyes went to my hands. They were strung together, my fingers running over each other as I tried to avoid his sea colored optics. My fault? Of course he always blamed the disappearance of my sister on me, despite the fact I had nothing to do with it. I was a kid, I could hardly talk, and I only remembered a few select scenes. It wasn't like I told Livia to run off with her little boyfriend, in my opinion Ash was just upset because he didn't have a chance with her. Jeff stole Livia away from him, and he was jealous. Although, that wasn't my problem, and I didn't care.

"You're fucking useless. You ever coming out of this room? If you wont do anything useful with your life, you might as well just disappear like her." And with that, Ash turned and slammed my door behind him. But I thought, maybe I will just disappear. Getting up from my bed, hearing it moan and groan as I lifted myself up, I reached up to the ceiling and bent my back backwards, hearing small cracks of my bones. I snatched up my black bag in the corner, dusting it off a bit and opening it up with the half-broken zipper. Rummaging around my room, I threw in everything that I needed. Clothes, personal hygiene things, a first-aid kit, and some junk food like chips and shit. Also in my pocket I had a knife, flashlight, and some money. No one could ever be over-prepared when life was so unexpected. Once I finished packing my things, I heaved the strap over my shoulder and walked to my window. I pulled the window up and open, cunningly climbing through it and onto the grass outside. It almost felt natural. My skin felt warm as the sun's rays kissed it with every moment I spent in its light. I felt.. Alive.

Before Ash would see me, I ran off. I was gone, leaving nothing behind but a messy, dirty room. I didn't need to leave him a note or give him a kiss goodbye on his cheek, it wasn't like he cared. After fifteen years of dealing with his bullshit, I knew that I was at the bottom of his priorities. Perhaps Ashton was just cursed to make everyone avoid him enough that they all ran away. But he was in the back of my mind now, at this point in time, he wasn't even worth a thought. By the time he would even notice I was gone, I might have grown a god damn beard. The strangest thing was, from the woods, I felt like I was being watched.