In Another's Skin

Pale As Ember

Chapter 19: (Aaira's pov)
27 july, 2025.

I took hesitant steps towards the door, my hands trembling from pain and exhaustion. As I approached, I saw it was secured with multiple locks, chains, and bolts. Panic started to rise within me as I realized I didn't have the keys to unlock them.

The sight of my own blood dripping behind me, creating a macabre trail on the floor, made me feel dizzy and weak. I leaned against the door for a moment, trying to gather my thoughts and summon the strength to continue.

Feeling defeated by the locked door, I turned away and scanned the hallway for another way out. My eyes fell upon a nearby window, slightly ajar, in the living room. I made my way towards it. With trembling fingers, I pushed the window open further and carefully climbed through, wincing as pain shot through my hands with every movement.

Outside, the early morning greeted me with silence. The streets were empty, devoid of any signs of life except for the occasional vehicle that zoomed past, their drivers casting wary glances at me before speeding away.

Confusion and fear gripped me as I realized how I must have appeared-bloodied, disheveled, and undoubtedly resembling a figure straight out of a horror story. Tears welled up in my eyes as the reality of my situation sank in. I wasn't just physically broken; I looked like a specter of murder.

I stumbled towards a nearby window, catching my reflection in the glass. The sight was shocking-my hair matted with blood, my clothes torn and stained, my face pale and streaked with tears.

I looked like someone to be feared, not pitied. The realization hit me hard, and I collapsed to my knees, sobbing uncontrollably. All I wanted was to escape, to find safety and solace, but instead, I felt more lost and alone than ever before.

As my hands started to feel numb from the cold and the strain of being bound for so long, I knew I couldn't endure another moment in that dark, suffocating room. Ignoring the pain shooting through my wrists, I summoned every ounce of willpower and stumbled toward the road, my mind fixated on finding help, any way out of this nightmare. I needed a carriage-a vehicle to whisk me away to safety.

Just as despair threatened to consume me, a blood-red car appeared, hurtling toward me with alarming speed, it's lights blinding me. My heart leaped. Could this be salvation or another cruel twist of fate? The car screeched to a dramatic halt right in front of me, the smell of burnt rubber mingling with the metallic tang of blood in the air.

Through the tinted window, I caught a glimpse of Ian, his expression a mix of shock and disbelief as he recognized me, battered and broken. Tears welled in my eyes as I felt the weight of my injuries and exhaustion crash down upon me like a tidal wave. With the last reserves of strength, I raised a trembling hand against the cool glass of the car's front window, leaving a blood stain of my hand there,the blood dripped from the window as well.

Aaira: Ian, save me!

As I gasped for breath, relief and disbelief flooded through me in equal measure. I couldn't believe I had actually found help, and from Ian of all people.

His shocked expression mirrored my own tumultuous emotions, his mouth slightly agape as he stared at me through the window. The windshield wipers began to sweep across the glass, erasing the streaks of my blood that had marked the car's exterior.

I tried to speak, to convey the horrors I had endured, but my voice failed me. With a sense of finality, I withdrew my hand from the window, leaving behind a faint smear of blood as a grim testament to my ordeal.

I collapsed onto the hood of the car, my body trembling with a mixture of relief and pain. My vision blurred at the edges, darkness threatening to engulf me as I struggled to remain conscious.