Shadows Within

Chapter 2

Liah's P.O.V

          I flinched awake not really knowing what was going on. The pain that seared through my entire body, at the slight movement, brought back the memories of the night before more vividly than I wished them to be. I guess I can't say I was surprised. Every time I disobeyed, the outcome was the same. Still, this time his anger had been greater and that spark of madness, I noticed in his eyes, had scared me half to death. His blows had been more forceful too. I thought for a moment he had intended to kill me. But I was still alive, wasn't I?

          I opened my eyes to stare at the light colored ceiling. Peach. One of the few neighbors I had ever spoken to, told me that was the name. She had been old but nice. Reeka liked talking to my mother back when she was still alive and life was...different. The old lady had been gone for a few years now. She caught one of those nasty diseases that keep flying around these days that no one can cure anymore. She was gone before I knew it. I closed my eyes as the memory of the pain I felt at the time came back.

          Why did I have to think of her now? It's not like I needed any more reasons to be upset. I already felt like crying merely at the thought of having no place to go to anymore. Sure, it wasn't easy living there. Blake was treating me like a money making tool but at least I had a roof over my head and I wasn't exactly starving. What was I going to do now? I doubted that Blake would take me back, considering how pissed he had been and I had no living relatives.

          As I felt the sting of the first tear falling and passing over one of the cuts on my face, my eyes snapped back open at the peach colored ceiling. I distinctly remember mine being a lovely combination of dirty white and moldy green. So, if this wasn't my ceiling, I wasn't in Blake's home. And if I wasn't in his home, where was I?

         I went to sit up but my body protested and the only thing I managed to accomplish was to tear a pained groan out of me. I momentarily gave up and resorted to taking deep breaths to get over the sudden, but not surprising, wave of pain. When everything was down to a dull ache, I tried once more. Despite getting the same result, this time I was prepared for it and just gritted my teeth against the agony. I was used to working with it but the first try was always the hardest.

          Finally sitting up, I rested against the headboard, repeating the process of taking deep breaths. I was sure I had at least a cracked rib, if not a broken one. My wrist hurt but I didn't think it was twisted. My legs felt numb, except for my right knee that hurt, regardless of the angle it was sitting in. I had a feeling I was going to have some trouble putting my weight on my right ankle as well. On top of that, I felt each and every scrape, bruise, cut and gash on my skin, I had a horrible headache and my face felt all swollen. Still, I was alive, which in the end was all that mattered... I think.

          I took one last deep breath, trying to make my body relax a little but I noticed the pills on the nightstand. A vague memory, of someone telling me they were going to help with the pain, came to the forefront of my mind. The face was a blur but that voice, oh, it felt like velvet as the words poured out of his mouth. I didn't waste any time and swallowed them with the glass of water that was right next to them and only then realized I was parched.

          With the empty glass in hand, I looked around to find a bathroom. I froze when my eyes fell on the floor to ceiling windows and more importantly, the view just beyond their clear glass. I had never seen the entire city from this far up. Well, in all honesty I had never seen the entire city. Ever. Blake said not to leave the apartment without his permission and when he did let me go outside it was never beyond the block we lived on. As I looked upon it now, only one word came to mind: beautiful.