hearing l.t. {au}

[ prologue ]

Aubrey couldn't feel the pain of her broken body. She couldn't hear the beats of her heart fading within her chest. She couldn't listen to the agonizing pleas as he clutched her against him. It was silent. All that was left was...her.

In the silence, there was peace. A peace that came too soon, but she sought refuge in its release. Release from the pain, the chaos and the fear. Being comforted by the unfamiliar calm would require a sacrifice she didn't want to make; but she didn't know if she had the strength to fight.

She used to live in her father's quietness, his empty eyes that stared at her with remorse and complete disappointment—that is where she lived.

Her mother's shouts, her uttered riddles that she wanted a better child and wishes that she wasn't born—that is where Aubrey lived.

A place where everything she did isn't just enough for anyone, where she swam in vast darkness, drowning herself in her own mind—that is where she now lives.

Aubrey fully knew time was slipping. She could no longer ignore the dwindling pulse. The thumping struggled to keep pace. The darkness pushed in around her. There was an ease to slipping away - giving in to the quiet and finding the resolution of nothingness. She was drawn to the resignation and fatalism. She tried to hold on to the memories of her sacrifice - the warmth, the flutters, the truth in his eyes, and so she thought;

Was life a choice?