Take Me Away | ✓

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K A D E N

I had a dreamless sleep. It was a change from my scarring nightmares. Less tiring. I thought maybe the pain blocked everything out. Maybe I was just too exhausted.

There were only a few more minutes till midnight. I could see the hands from the clock moving slowly, the tick tocking sound and my own breathing filling in the silence.

Dragging my eyes away from the clock, I saw the girl slumped on the other couch. She had one arm tucked under her cheek, chest rising up and down as she was fast asleep. Her clothes had smudges of dark blood on them. My blood.

It wasn't fair on her. To have all my troubles dumped on her front door. So I decided to make the trouble leave but as I tried to stand up, I groaned in pain. The stitches were still tender as well as every other part of my body. It was a struggle pulling in a breath, as if my bruised ribs had caved in.

My attempt of leaving quietly was quickly foiled when I saw Phoenix rise. She rubbed her eyes of sleep with the other one reaching out to steady me.

"I'm fine." I protested as she pushed me back on the couch.

"Don't argue." She looked at me for a second longer before disappearing and coming back a moment later. "Show me your hands."

So I did. My knuckles had split open and there was discolouration at the base of my fingers. She cleaned the small cuts which stung.

"Sorry." She said quietly when I hissed at the alcohol on my skin.

The air was thick with tension as she worked quickly. I knew I had to say something but I didn't know what. Fortunately, she broke the ice first.

"Can you walk?"

I nodded.

Even then, she still wound her arm around my waist and helped me up the stairs to the bathroom. I leaned on her for the most part, my cut leg meaning that I walked with a limp.

When we reached the door, she left for a second to grab a small pile of clothes. I looked down at mine to see that they were either torn or covered in blood.

"These should fit."

"Thanks." I took the pile and locked the door behind me. It was weird being in someone else's bathroom. For one, they had a mirror over the basin so I could see everything that had happened tonight written on my face.

It didn't wash away with water. Neither did the stitched wound disappear when I covered it with a strangers shirt. The abuse was all there, hidden.

Still, I tried to push it to the back of my mind when I opened the door. Phoenix was waiting outside, arms folded and biting her lip anxiously.

"Do you want anything to eat?" She took the bloodied clothes from my hands.

I was about to say no when my stomach stumbled. She laughed for the first time that night. "I'll see what I can cook up."

Her words made me remember the night that I'd told her to leave. After I regretted my words, I found the groceries that she'd brought. It had made guilt pour into my stomach. She was still looking after me even after everything.

I may not have told her about the night with Dante but at the very least, she deserved to know about this.

"I got into a fight." I blurted out before I could change my mind. "He pulled a knife on me."

She paused on top of the staircase, nodded and then started to go down. I sighed in relief and leaned against the wall in support. After a while, my leg began to throb so I limped towards the first door and sat down on the bed.