Rise with the Sun; Cradled by the Moon

Prologue: Escape

It was loud. It smelled awful. It was sticky and gross. And she couldn't get away.

This is about a little girl who just wanted to escape her father.

You see, Alicia was 6 years old and already having experienced the worst humanity had to offer. All from one person.

Her father beat her, tormented her and did so many unspeakable acts to her. But she couldn't escape. He would always find her.

At this particular moment, she was sitting on the disgusting floor of her father's favorite pub. Now she could probably take this opportunity to leave through the crowd. But she had nowhere to go. Not to mention he had her on a leash like some sick pet.

She wanted away from this. The familiar stench of alcohol permeated through her nose and it almost made her vomit.

She looked up to her father who had been drinking himself stupid for the past couple of hours. He was passing out and she looked around for anything to help her escape.

A loud crash nearby made her jump and she looked at two men arguing. From the altercation, a bottle flew from the nearby table and shattered on the floor in front of her. She picked up a large shard of glass amongst the tiny pieces, looking to her now drunken, passed out father.

The collar around her neck was worn and torn and on the verge of breaking. So she gripped the shard tight and dragged it across the withering fabric of the collar.

It tore right through and the chain and collar fell limp to his side. She dropped the glass which had sliced through her hand and neck but she was too worried about her escape to feel the pain. She looked up to make sure he was still passed out. When she was sure, she made a break for the door, running through people's legs and chairs and finally out the door into the cold, wet world.

She had no time to think as she picked a direction and started running.