Nova Grey's life is full of ups and downs. The up's always included her best friend Rowan and sometimes his older brother, they often spent their time doing illegal racing. But the downs... They were the worst and consisted of her abusive mother and...
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"She is my greatest achievement and all the purpose I need to keep going."-Nova
Set fourteen months after the prologue.
I gasp awake as the chilling sound of glass shattering has me on high alert. The shakiness of my body has Nia waking on my chest as her little hands ball up and rub her eyes. Within seconds it's as if the whole house has gone eerily silent, the air has slightly shifted and something feels off.
My instincts are screaming at me that I need to get out, that I need to take Nia and leave. I quickly stand from the bed, rocking Nia as I move, I grab one of the knives I have and open my door to go see what's going on. As I walk down the hallway all that can be heard are my footsteps, It feels as though the temperature had just dropped.
As I went down the stairs I became more alert and started to overthink bringing Nia down with me. I had no idea what Kenley, my so-called mother, would be up to or who she'd be with.
The floorboards creak as I step onto the hallway floor, you could hear a pin drop it's that quiet. I quickly survey my surroundings but nothing looks out of place other than the usual wrecked kitchen and bottle-ridden floor. I head towards the kitchen but come up with nothing, I hate that I have to bring Nia up in such a place. But that's all going to change, there are only a few more things I need to do and then I can get her someplace better.
Opening the living room door I don't know if I'll ever be prepared for what I see. Nia's eyes are covered before I even realise what I'm looking at.
Kenley's body is laying on top of the old worn-down glass coffee table, which now lays broken, with two needles sticking out of her skin. Bits of white powder and other substances can be seen mixed with the shards of glass on the floor. There's a stale smell of death that lingers in the air and Nia begins to cry sensing that something is not right. My breath catches, for a moment I'm not sure what to do.
Do I check if she's alive, call the police, or ignore it altogether? I turn for the stairs again, deciding that it's best if I put Nia in her crib quickly, so she is away from all of this. Never again will my baby have to see anything in that godforsaken room, ever. She settles faster than I thought she would, with her favourite cuddly bear that I was given a few years back, so I rush down the stairs and into the living room.
It hits me again, the smell, it's so pungent it makes my eyes water. I hold my nose and put my fingers on her neck. I don't feel a pulse and I almost think I've forgotten to check it in the first place. I try again... Nothing. I don't process what has happened so I see if I can hear her breathing and nothing again. What do I do? I panic internally. What do you do when you're drugged-up so-called mother decides to overdose?
