Running from the life that was.

Chapter One

Mia Bishop's bedroom was suddenly illuminated by the overhead lights, causing the 14-year-old blonde to pull the blankets over her head and let out a disgruntled groan at being woken from her slumber. She squeezed her blue eyes shut, not ready to wake up and start her day, her body aching in protest at the mere thought of moving from her bed. Within seconds of the light turning on, her blankets were yanked from her body, and she was embraced by a cold breeze sweeping over her.

She shivered before feeling her arm being yanked, and she was aggressively pulled to her feet. Still in a daze, her legs stumbled slightly as she tried to regain her balance. "I thought I told you to set your alarm for 4:00 AM! What do you think this is?" Lane Bishop, her father, yelled, pointing to her bedside clock, which read 4:06 AM.

Mia flinched as her father's voice shocked her into wakefulness. She raised her hand to the side of her face, where droplets of spit from his tirade had landed. "Dad, I'm sorry! I was so exhausted from training yesterday that I fell asleep as soon as I got home. I didn't mean to!" She looked into his blue eyes, which were filled with nothing but rage. Though she had never been scared of her father, things had changed over the past year; she constantly felt like she was treading on eggshells, worrying that his anger might escalate into something more.

"That is not how you become an Olympic champion, Mia! Do you think Maya ever forgot to set her alarm? No! She didn't! Because she listened, she trained, and she worked hard. She became a star, and at this rate, you will never be as good as her!" Lane yelled, shoving her with such force that she fell back onto her bed.

Mia felt her own anger and frustration boiling over, and before she knew it, she was yelling right back at her father. "I never asked to be a star or an Olympian!" she spat, hatred lacing her words. "You made me train! You are forcing me to become her! You've never once given me a choice! I don't want this! I quit!" Instantly, she felt regret for her outburst. Normally, she just rode the wave of Lane's anger, but this time, she couldn't hold it back. She was tired, sore, and didn't want to live like this anymore.

It all happened in seconds, and before she knew it, Lane had his hand across her jaw, forcing her to look straight into his eyes. "You ungrateful little bitch! You don't know how lucky you are to have me! You have every opportunity to be the best, and you're fighting me at every turn. You better be careful, or you're going to end up like your druggie brother, Mason! Homeless and worthless!" Lane yelled, his anger palpable.

Before Mia could respond, Lane pushed her face away from him and turned to leave the room, leaving her slumped on her bed in a state of shock. She watched him storm out, slamming the door behind him. "I expect you out and ready to train in ten minutes!" he yelled through the closed door, his footsteps quieting as he moved further away.

Mia curled into herself, trying to hold back her tears. 'Crying is for the weak, crying is for the weak,' she repeated in her head, attempting to calm the panic threatening to escape her body.

A few minutes later, she slowly forced herself to move toward the set of white drawers in the corner of her bedroom. She grabbed her training gear and began to change. As she dressed, she couldn't help but think of her older siblings, Maya and Mason. What were they doing right now? How did they get through life in the Bishop household? She wished she had them here to talk to, to vent to, to guide her.

Mia hadn't seen Mason since early childhood, and to be honest, for all she knew, he might already be dead—at least that's what her dad said. He didn't seem to care either way. She knew Maya was okay, well, at least she was alive; she was a firefighter at Station 19. But Mia hadn't seen her in over four years—the last time being when Maya screamed at their parents, declaring she was never coming back and to stay out of her life forever. Sometimes, Mia would search for Maya's name online to see her heroics and admire the woman she had become. She was so proud of her big sister and wanted to be part of her life, but Lane had restricted that from happening at all costs.

Mia felt tears welling up at the thought of her siblings. She never expected to hear from Mason, as he had never really been involved in her life; however, she had hoped Maya would try to contact her at some point over the past four years. Unfortunately, that never happened, not even on her birthdays. After three of her birthdays passed without contact, Mia officially lost hope of being reunited with her sister. Since then, she tried not to think of her siblings, as it only led her thoughts into a dark place—a place she didn't want to visit, a place of weakness, and weakness was forbidden in the Bishop household.

Mia was jolted from her thoughts as she looked at the time on her watch. "Shit, shit, shit!" she exclaimed aloud. Eight minutes had already passed since Lane left her room, and if she was even a second late, she would make her already disastrous morning even worse. She had already messed up this morning, and she couldn't afford to make it any worse, either physically or mentally. Lane Bishop did not allow mistakes, and she knew she was about to pay for hers.

How was this her life? She saw no escape, no other option but to walk out of her room and run—run until her feet bled, run until she couldn't feel her legs anymore, run until Lane told her to stop, run until she dropped dead. She quickly put on her trainers, letting out a slight groan as her body ached from yesterday's training. She knew that today's training would be the death of her.