Running from the life that was.

Chapter Two

Mia felt her legs fatiguing with each step on the pavement. It was now 5:30 AM, and she was on her way to the track.

Lane decided she would be running to the track as punishment for her attitude that morning, which she knew was just the beginning of her consequences.

Pains began to shoot up her legs, but she knew she couldn't stop. 'Eyes forward, embrace the pain,' she thought as she continued to run, ignoring the aches rippling through her muscles.

The track was only 10 miles from the Bishop household; however, Lane made sure to inform her that she would be taking the 'extra' long route, meaning she still had another 10 miles to run before reaching the track. She knew it was only a matter of time before nausea set in.

Lane hadn't given her enough time to eat a proper breakfast, so she had to make do with a bite of a banana as she ran out the front door, her stomach rumbling in response to her thoughts. It was likely her next meal wouldn't be until dinner, as Lane often refused to give her breaks to eat when he was angry with her. He claimed it was because he didn't want Mia to get overweight, which would slow her down, but she knew it was out of pure spite.

She shifted her mindset away from food, knowing that thinking about it would only make her feel worse about the long day ahead of her. 'Eyes forward, eyes forward,' she reminded herself as she continued to run through the pain of her aching muscles, even though they were screaming at her to stop.

This was the 15th consecutive day Lane had made her train. Katherine, Mia's mother, had tried to reason with Lane to give Mia a break but quickly backed down when Lane lashed out, telling her to mind her own business. It was clear that Katherine had lost hope of changing her husband's way of treating their children.

Mia had always hoped that her mother would stand up for her more, but as much as she hated that she hadn't, she also understood why. Lane was an intimidating man, one who made your skin crawl when he walked into a room.

When Mia was younger, she would wish her mom would sneak her away in the middle of the night and never look back, especially during the years after Maya left. But she could see the constant fear on Katherine's face, the fear that leaving would only make things worse.

In the end, Mia concluded that it was her against the world—no one else. She felt entirely alone in this life.

————

It was a little after 6:30 when she finally made it to the track to start her morning training. Her legs were on fire, and she felt like she might actually be sick on the ground around her.

She noticed her father standing on the far side of the track, ready to begin. With a big sigh, she started her walk toward what she knew would be a traumatic training session.

Lane looked up at her when she was a few meters away.

"Mia, nice to see you finally made it. I hope to see you running faster when you head home after training."

Mia looked at her father in disbelief. "Are you joking!?" she exclaimed.

"Afraid not, kid. What you did this morning was unacceptable. I need you to understand that your attitude right now is not okay. You're not training hard enough; your mind isn't in the game! I'm doing this for you, to make you better and stronger. You understand that, don't you?"

At this point, Mia knew there was no point in arguing. Anything she said would only make things worse. She succumbed to her father's words and nodded in response.

"Right then, we better get started. Drop and give me 100 push-ups," Lane commanded.

Mia dropped to the ground, her muscles protesting from the first movement, causing a surge of hatred toward Lane to flood through her veins. 'How the hell did Maya do this?' she thought to herself as she pushed her body to the brink of destruction.

————

It was almost 4 PM by the time Mia walked back through the door of her house. She felt like a shell of herself; her body was so overworked and exhausted that she could hardly find the energy to walk from the front door to her bedroom.

Lane had pushed her harder than ever, making her do repetitive strength training in between multiple 10,000-meter laps of the track. He didn't let her stop until she beat her time, which, in the end, she never did.

His frustration was palpable each time she failed, as he yelled obscenities about her worthlessness. It only got worse when she had to stop along the way to expel the contents of her already empty stomach, gagging as she brought up stomach acid and water onto the grass beside the track.

"I've had enough of you today," Lane eventually said. "Start making your way back home. I expect you to beat your time from this morning."

Defeat was evident on Mia's face as she began the journey back home.

As it turned out, Mia didn't beat her morning time. To be honest, she didn't even try. She had multiple blisters forming on her ankles, her legs felt like they could collapse at any moment, and her stomach was so empty that she felt as though her body was sinking in on itself.

Fifteen miles into her journey home, she stopped to sit at a bus stop. This was the first moment she had to breathe, to gather her thoughts on the extreme measures her father had begun to take against her. She knew things were only getting worse and that she couldn't live like this.

He was going to kill her; this was where this life was taking her.

As she sat at the bus stop, deep in thought, she heard sirens in the distance. The noise grew louder until a large fire truck sped past her spot on the side of the road. The sight of the fire truck instantly brought her mind to her older sister, Maya.

She started thinking, she couldn't do this anymore. She needed to get away, just like Mason and Maya. Mia stood up quickly and began the last leg of her run to the Bishop household, her mind racing in so many different directions as she moved.

... she needed an escape.

... she couldn't live like this anymore.

... he was eventually going to kill her.

... Maya.

... Maya.

... she needed to find Maya.