Trail of Ashes

Prologue

WARNING! This book is a work of FICTION. It is raw and emotional. Please know that if you are dealing with sadness, emptiness and depression, there is help for you. You are not alone. Suicide is not the answer. You can get through it. One day at a time. You are a victim of your thoughts. Ask someone for help.

Henley Black, 18.

Alone?...Check!

Empty?....Check!

Baggage?...Too much to bare.

I'm not your average girl. I might be pretty if I looked in the mirror. I don't look. I chose not to. I hide behind a mess of long brown hair and blue eyes. At least they were blue when I looked a few years ago. I used to smile but it was forced. Fake. I decided a long time ago that I would not be fake anymore. This is me. Henley Black, daughter of a murderer and a dead junkie.

I'm a drifter now. I don't answer to anyone. A dilapidated warehouse is what I call home. I've been here for three weeks. I've been on my own a lot longer. I refused my fathers way of life 3 years ago when the abuse took a turn for the unthinkable. I made it out of there with my innocence barely intact but my sanity was hanging by a thread. It took 2 weeks for my broken body to heal enough for me to move to a safer location. My body may have healed but I'm covered in scars and defects. Reminders of the torment I've endured.

I wont tell you all of my past. I hate to see people cry. I don't need any pity. I just need the guts to end my sad excuse of a life. I've had 13 broken bones. I know pain. But I cannot build up the strength to grab a tiny razor blade and end it.

Don't feel sorry for me. I've cried enough for the both of us. This is me. I am a broken girl with no future. Only my past haunts me these days. I'm tired of remembering. I'm tired of nightmares bringing me out of my fitful sleep. Mostly I'm tired and ready to die.