The World Out There

Chapter 2

Kyle visited Rosa every day, and every day Rosa felt herself getting closer and closer to her freedom. Together they planned an escape, an escape worthy of a great Wizard who had practiced enchantments for years. For once in her life, Rosa was excited. She had something to look foreward to.

On the day that her mother was set to arrive, Kyle got to the estate early and climbed up to the bathroom. Rosa bit her lip, nervous and excited about the prospect of freedom so close. She got up to greet him, but tripped over the long rope of her hair in front of her, falling uncomfortably with a gasp. She grit her teeth unhappily, clenching her fist.

Kyle gave Rosa a look as if to say Are you ready?, and pulled a silver knife out of his trouser pocket. It glinted in the light and caught Rosa off guard, making her insides tremble with nerves. She shook as he walked towards her, knife in his steady hand. The girl could hear the rumble of a car engine below, signaling the arrival of her mother. Rosa flinched as the cool metal of the knife made contact with the back of her neck; one wrong move and her entire head could be sliced off.

She barely let out a gasp when her head was none too gently yanked backwards and her hair was roughly fisted in the boy's hands. She yelped, then, as he yanked and dragged the knife up the back of her head, just close enough to get the hair but not her skin, and sawed. The boy worked the blade back and forth against her long, thick hair, watching as the pale tendrils fell slowly to the floor.

He hacked and yanked and slashed. It took awhile, but when the door begins to swing open the last bit of Rosa's hair is chopped off, leaving her with a messy pixie cut.

Light flooded the room and a towering figure appeared, tall and slim. Her dark hair pinned in a bun on the top of her head and a scowl on her face. She carried a plastic bag as she surveyed the room, dropping it abruptly when she spotted the boy in the corner and turnded towards Rosa. "Bitch!" she screams, "How dare you bring someone else into my house!"

Rosa visibly flinched at the words, but Kyle growled, holding his knife out in front of him and charging at the evil woman. The young girl barely had time to cover her ears before her mother let out a miserable aganizing scream, blood already soaking her dress and the floor below her from the knife that was plunged into her side. Kyle moved to grab Rosa, but the woman let out a terrifying shreak and knocked him into the wall, pulling the knife from her side as she yanked the up roughly by his shirt collar.

Rosa tried to yell for her friend, but was cut off by the agonizing scream that the boy let out. His eye was dripping blood - no, his socket was dripping blood. His eye was on the floor and the red liquid was pouring from his left eye socket. Rosa stifled a scream, but puked at the sight. Her body trembled uncontrollably and her vision blurred.

"Rosa, go!" Kyle yelled at the girl, but was cut off as the knife was shoved into his other eye. The gut-wrenching scream that filled the room gave Rosa all the power she needed to pull herself up from the pool of vomit and charge towards her adoptive mother, slamming her against the wall in a blind fury. She swung her fists wildly, willing all of her strength into the punches sent her mother's way. Rosa prayed to whomever was listening that she would draw blood, just so the evil woman would feel her pain. She screamed in fury, balling up a fist and slamming it into the large gash on the woman's side. Her mother let out a shreak and crumpled to the floor, giving Rosa enough time to grab her friend and pull him out of the open doorway.

The room spun as the two ran down the hall, Kyle's arm draped around Rosa's shoulder. She was weak, but Rosa forced her body to keep running as she half-carried her friend and nudged him to  keep moving. He was wimpering slightly, but didn't object as the girl kept shoving him along.

"Get back her you ungrateful child!" Rosa froze with fear at her mother's voice so close behind her and slipped, her foot sliding on the hardwood stairs and causing the two kids to tumble down the long staircase.

Rosa landed with a thud and could hear a loud crack!, but wasn't sure where it had come from. She tried to shake the fuzziness from her ees, but to no avail. She coughed and sputtered, blood shilling when she felt a tight hand grip on her arm, long fingernails piercing her skin. Rosa shreiked and looked back to Kyle for help, but the sight of his twisted neck made her stop. Tears welled up in her eyes; he was dead.

"Now who's going to save you, bitch?" Rosa's mother growled, holding the knife to her neck and pressing it just enough to draw a small trail of blood down her front. Rosa squirmed in her mother's grip, breathing hard and shallow, sweat beading on her forehead. She whimpered and the woman laughed.

Rosa, noticing the woman was distracted, turned and elbowed her in the gut. Her mother coughed and Rosa peeled the knife from her fingers. Without a second thought, the girl swiped the blade across the woman's neck, blood pouring onto her hand as her mother made gurgling sounds and looked at the girl in shock.

Blood poured out of her mouth as she feel to the ground, eyes rolling to the back of her head. Exhausted, Rosa sunk to her knees, crying. She cried for her lost friend, the only friend she had ever had. She cried for her dead mother who didn't know how to love. But most importantly, she cried out of joy for the freedom that she finally had.