Maybe it was you all along (Jaime Preciado)

Proluge: Pieces

The sun danced off my firey red hair as laboured breathes escaped my mouth.

It had happened again.

When was I going to learn? I was stupid! I was a stupid girl who had been so blinded by love- or at least by the concept of it. I'm 16, what do I know about being in love with a man? Especially about thinking I was in love with Adrian who was 21.

I was foolish. No, I still am foolish. Cause I thought it was natural for him to be angry about finding about my true age and reacting by slapping me so hard that my cheek was bruised for weeks. I was foolish for thinking it was alright for him to break me, little by little, over the past year. I was foolish for thinking it would stop and I could take it.

But I couldn't. Now, I let him take it to far. I refused to have sex with him and he had forced himself on me and had tried to throw me away. I was disposable.

I was worthless.

I was nothing.

I deserved to die.

I was going to die. The sun was setting, no one was home and no one would be home for another 3 or so hours. I would bleed out by then since I had been left like this for what was probably 40 minutes.

Tears suddenly welled up in my eyes as I realized my mother would probably find me like this. Why? Why couldn't they be spared that? Why couldn't I be decomposing at the bottom of some lake? Because it's meant to be this way.

This was the last punishment I had for being stupid. I really was all those things he had called me- Slut, dumb, useless, screw-up. My death was probably a prolonged reminder and payback for all of that. Yeah, that was it.

I'll give in. There's no point anyways in fighting it. I was getting weaker and weaker with each breath I took. My eyelids started to get heavy, and I realized the last thing I would see was the pink-orange sky. Oh, might as well just enjoy that last bit of beauty.

Something began to wash over me. I was slowly drifting out of my body,

My vision bacame blurred and so did the sunseting sky.

I thought I heard something from the house.

"........"

Was the a voice? It sounded familiar.

"Dani...Daniella..."

It was a guy's voice. NO. No. He couldn't have returned. Please, anything, any force that can possibly help, keep him far away from me.

"Hey, I know you're here! Why is this house such a mess?"

My heart dropped. It wasn't him. It was the last person I wanted to see me like this.

I heard movement and the door that led to the backyard swing open. Tears began rolling down my face. A warm breeze blanketed the naked parts of my body. I heard footsteps getting closer to the the trees that hid me out of view.

"Damnit, Dani, I've had a long day today and I'm not in the mood to play hide an-" I didn't hear the rest. I passed out after he screamed.

I'm so, so sorry Mike.