Breathless // lp

Chapter 10.

Ash shot up from her posistion, her eyes snapping open as frantic gasps escaped her parted lips. She scrubbed at her face, desperate to stop the tears that streamed down her cheeks, trying to get the sobbing to subside. It was only then that she realised in horror she was someplace awfully familiar - someplace dark, cramped, and scary. 

She began to cry harder, clutching at the air desperately for something to hold. Someone to hold, Liam.  But it was no use, there was nothing but pitch blackness that joined her in the cramped space she was being contained in. 

It was dark, except for a small sliver of light that managed to peek through the crack in the doorway. Ash stared at it, tracing her fingers around it to realise that the floor was carpeted. Fear started to trickle into her mind, sending chills down her spine. 

Ash remembers that light from somewhere, and she's sure of it. 

"So, I see the little one's up. Finally," A deep husky voice growls from outside the door. Ash stays silent, clamping her hand over her mouth to hide her quickening breaths. A low chuckle resonated for a moment before the door slid open, revealing the last person Ash wanted to see. 

Unable to contain herself, Ash let out a small whimper and a scream as his meaty fist wrapped itself around her ankle, yanking her out from the confined space. 

Ash lay still, her red hair sprawled across the carpet, as she tried to let her eyes focus on the brightness of the outside room. 

Suddenly she jerked towards the place she had been dragged from and let out a ragged gasp. It was a closet. 

It wasn't just a closet. It was the closet. The same one that Ash had hidden in for the first ten years of her life, clutching tightly to the guitar she'd recieved. She remembered the fights, the screams of her mother, the resonating slaps and skin on skin that made Ash shudder with fear. 

Ash looked at it with wide eyes, reminicing the tight space as being much smaller as she remembered. What used to be her safe haven, now turned into her nightmare fuel as her father dragged her from it. 

He was speaking to her, some incoherent mumbling in her ears that seemed vaguely familiar. There was no chance Ash was listening, though. Her gaze was focused on the closet. She was sprawled across the floor on her stomach, her head slightly raised to see the open doors, and her feet mercilessly being tugged upon by her fathers hands. 

That was it. She had to get to Liam. She had to. Ash grunted with a scream as she violently kicked her legs, causing her father to lose his grip and stumble backwards, stunned at her sudden movement. 

Ash quickly took the oppurtunity to scramble to her feet, the anticipating fear rising in her chest. Pain shot up her body, every inch of her screaming for her to stop and rest, but she couldn't. 

Liam, she had to get to Liam. Her dreams were interrupted as someone yanked her arm roughly, creating a purplish color to errupt across her skin. Ash let out a painful cry and sunk to her knees, her eyes squeezing shut tightly. 

She vaguely felt several more blows, but it didn't matter. She was numb anyway. Ash prayed that this would be over soon. She prayed that everything would turn out all right in the end. 

Ash gasped for air as a sharp blow to the stomach caused her to lose her breath. Somehow, Ash still managed to choke out a final sentence before falling into darkness.

"Please Liam, come back to me."

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It had been a week.

A full seven days of sleepless nights and dull grey mornings. Everyone was tired, and keen on the idea of giving up. But not Liam. No, Liam still searched. Day after day he searched all the places he could think of, but Ash was never there. No, not once did Liam see a glimpse of fiery red hair or even the subtle black guitar case that always tumbled behind her.