Chapter Text
It's going to rain soon.
You thought numbly as you peered through the glass window. Dark clouds had started to form outside and sudden booms of thunder rumbled in the distance. Your stomach churned at the sound, the feeling of dread burning at your core becoming more noticeable than ever.
You flinch away from the window as the clouds start flashing brightly, loud thunder accompanying it shortly after. A snicker sounds from your side and your head quickly snaps toward the source. You shoot a glare at your brother who stood near the corner of the room, sheer amusement painting his face at your reactions.
Deciding not to fuel his entertainment anymore, you quickly turn your head back towards the view outside, a stoic expression masking your unease. As much as you wanted to distance yourself from the window, you were currently trapped. You had decided to busy yourself with the view outside rather than give attention to the current happenings in the room.
"Gracias, Señor. You may go now." You hear your mother's voice call out, feigning warmth and gratitude.
You hear the door opening and closing shortly after, signaling that the doctor was now absent in the room. The only person that was keeping you from your inevitable fate.
"[Y/N]."
Your mother calls for you, her previously soft tone now replaced with a cold one. You refuse to turn around just yet, instead shifting your gaze to the reflection of the room on the glass window. You could faintly see your mother standing over the side of your sister's bed, a furious expression on her face at your lack of acknowledgement.
She quickly strides over to you, her nails digging into your arm as she harshly forces you to turn away from the window. "You will look at me when I speak to you." She hisses, her face scrunching up in anger.
You grimace at her expression, feeling disgusted by her proximity to you. You try to pull yourself from her hold, but her grip only tightens.
"Look at me!" She shrieks, her hand flying up to hold your head in place. You are forced to stare directly at her and you try your best to hold back your glare, knowing it would only anger the bitch further.
"Do you have no remorse? Your sister is dying," She finally lets go of you all together as she throws her hand toward your sickly sister on her bed.
Your unconscious sister had a look of agony on her face as she sweated profusely in her state. "And you know very well this is all your fault! Yet you continue to act as if you've done nothing wrong!" Your mother screams, her spit spraying with how intensely she was monologuing.
You close your eyes briefly and let out a short breath in an attempt to maintain your composure, yet your shaking hands betray your attempts. "What.." Your voice falters, "What did I do?" You dared to ask, your voice weak but determined to defend yourself from her accusations.
She laughs at your words, a bleak and cruel sounding noise. She approaches you in a flash, and before you could even notice, her hand had already made contact with your face.
Your eyes widens at the sudden impact, and you feel your cheek start to sting immediately. Your hand reaches up to hold your cheek, your breathing becoming quicker.
"Don't you dare insist on denying it! Every tragedy that has befallen this family, is all because of you." She jabs a finger at your chest, and you stumble into the window behind you at the force of it. "You hear me?" She continues to taunt you, and you could already feel the mix of anger and fear bubbling up in your chest at her words.
She continues to approach you, and you attempt to step back before realizing you're trapped between the bitch and the window. Your heartbeat quickens as you sensed she would start to hit you again. With the heavy pressure of panic clouding your judgement, you suddenly shove her harshly away from you, causing her to fall to the floor.
The people that were previously standing still at the corner of the room stirs at your sudden assault, and you watch as your brother runs to your mother's side. She lays pathetically on the ground, her look of shock quickly being replaced with one of fury.
Your eyes widen when you realized what you've done. The tears that previously threatened to spill were completely gone now as you started breathing heavily in a panic.
"That's it you little bitch." She says in between huffs of angered breaths.
"A little visit to the closet would surely put you in line." Her gaze never leaves you as your brother helps her up. She takes a hold of your arm as she starts pulling you from the comfort of the wall you'd wished would just swallow you up.
She suddenly pauses, a thought popping into her head as she nears the middle of the room. "No, no. A visit simply wouldn't do for you.. not anymore." She contemplates, a wicked smile flashing on her face.
She turns to you, pushing her face up close to yours. "You're going in there, and you're never coming out." She says in a low and vicious tone, and could tell just from her eyes that she found amusement in your situation.
Your breath hitches and your eyes widen once you processed her words. "No! NO!" You shriek as you start to struggle harder from her hands that had started to grip your arm to the point of puncturing your skin.
You never wanted to come back to that place. Your dreams were still haunted by the memories, and now she wanted to keep you in there forever. You had been acting obediently all this time just to avoid going back and now you were going to be locked in for something you didn't do.
"You're never going to harm anyone else again." She had a crazed look in her eyes. "I'd finally rid myself of your hideous presence in this household!" You mother cackles, most likely relishing in her brilliant idea.
You had to get away NOW. You just knew you would have no chance to escape once you were thrown in that cold and dark prison.
You let out a loud cry as you were finally able to tear your arm away from her, your punctured skin already stinging and bleeding. You push her away from you before making a dash for the door.
You were unable to hear the chorus of shouts coming from behind you as you ran through the cold empty halls of your home. All you could hear was the sound of blood pumping loudly in your ears as you ran towards your part of the manor.
You lock the door behind you, huffing in and out quickly as you desperately tried to catch your breath. You push your cabinet against the door once you calmed down a bit, before quickly snatching up your satchel that had been laying haphazardly on your bed.
As you start shoving in what little belongings you had into your satchel, you suddenly feel yourself jump in shock as your cabinet started to shake from the sudden pounding at your door. Wasting no more time, you throw on your satchel before moving to push aside the curtains of your window.
You throw down a makeshift rope you had prepared through the open window after tying the other end securely to the leg of your bed. You scramble out the window once you hear your door starting to break from all the pressure being put upon it.
As you start descending, your clammy hands holding for dear life on the rope, you could faintly hear the door in your room finally giving in with a loud crash.
You quicken your pace, your hands starting to burn from the friction of your rapid descent. As you start to near the bottom, you suddenly feel the rope in your hands start moving up, and you along with it.
You curse under your breath as you watch the rope slowly get pulled back up through the window. You look back and forth from your window and the ground before deciding to finally let go of the rope. Your breath hitches at the feeling of falling, your eyes wide and your arms flailing rapidly.
You feel your breath get knocked out of you as you hit the ground, your fall barely cushioned by a bush. You try to gather yourself, shaking out of your daze and pushing yourself up. You grimace as you watch the bush that had cushioned you start wilting from under you, the green leaves melting into a dark muddied brown color.
You quickly distance yourself from the bush once you managed to get yourself up, a look of disgust on your face at the destruction you caused. A yell from your window triggers you to start running once again, tripping repeatedly through rows of bushes and rocks as you traversed through the garden.
You didn't dare look behind your path, never having liked the sight of destruction you caused.
"[Y/N]! COME BACK HERE!" You hear the familiar voice of your brother shout with anger from behind you.
You heed no mind to his calls and continue to make your way toward the front gates of the mansion. You could hear numerous people trying to catch up from behind you, and you were sure your brother were one of them.
You slam into the gates once you reach it, your hands cushioning your impact. You fumble with the lock, panic growing in you as it refuses to open. Once you managed to pry the gate open, you quickly shut it behind you. You flinch at the harsh sound of metal slamming together, your whole body shaking as your hold unto the gate for support.
"[Y/N]! YOU FUCKING DISGRACE! YOU DARE RUN AWAY?" You hear the voice of your brother shriek once he nears the gates, the group of your mother's lackeys close behind him.
You shoot him a harsh glare as you step back from the gate. "Stop!" You shout, and surprisingly, they follow your words once they arrive by the gates.
"Don't come any further." Your voice was shaky and weak as you still struggled to keep your breathing steady. Still, you stood firm with a faux bravado as you stared down the people on the other side of the gate.
"You don't want me to cause a ruckus, do you?" You threaten with a mocking smile.
"I'm sure mother wouldn't like her pretty little reputation being tarnished in front of the whole town!" You feign a gasp, "Oh no! One of her children is fucking insane." You utter the last words slowly as you relish the angered expression of your brother.
Hoping they got your message clearly, you swiftly turn on your heel and start walking away. You just wanted to get as far away as possible before they realized you still had a ways to go before the town and that they still had enough time to catch you.
Thank god they were fucking stupid.
"You're making a mistake [Y/N]. You won't survive out there. You're gonna come crawling back like the little bug you are." You pause in your steps at his words, and you slowly turn back to look at them.
Your narrowed eyes trail over each and everyone of them, keeping in your memory the faces of the people who've made your life horrible from the start. Although your brows continued to furrow with a glare, a bitter smile tugs at your mouth.
"Oh, hermano. I'm never coming back."
You moved quickly once you reached the town. The hood of your ruana safely hung over your head in an attempt to mask your identity. The streets were mostly empty now due to the dark skies, save for a few people running errands. Still, you did not want to risk anyone outright noticing your presence and telling your family which direction you ran off to.
Just as you had predicted, rain had started to pour now, although only lightly. There were no more thunder to scare you, but the atmosphere still managed to carve a pit in your stomach. Everything looked dim and dark, as if the skies were trying to foreshadow inevitable trouble in your journey ahead.
You clutch your injured arm, cursing under your breath as you helplessly watched the rain wash off your dried blood. You had multiple other cuts on your legs and arms from your fall and dash through the garden, but it was your heavily injured arm that bothered you mostly because of the deep marks. That's surely gonna leave a scar. You thought grimly as you finally let go of your arm.
You've decide to travel through the dense forest at the edge of town instead of following the road. This way, if by some chance they found out you took this route, they would be forced to go on foot rather than taking a carriage, giving you more time to get away as far as possible.
You were heading toward the direction of the next town over, planning to take a quick rest there before moving once again. Despite your thorough study of the maps you found in the manor, you really had no destination in mind. Your only plan now was to waste no time and just keep moving.
The drizzling rain became harsher over time, and soon the distant booming of thunder seemed to get louder. You shook with every rumble, having a deep fear of the sound. Still, you continued on without rest, determined to increase your distance from the town.
You hugged yourself tightly from under your ruana, feeling extremely cold and wet. It had been several hours since you entered the forest, and the storm had also quickly passed once you trekked deeper. You felt a dull pain in your stomach from hunger, but you heed it no mind as it was nothing compared to what you've experienced before.
You've been moving sluggishly now, as fatigued overwhelmed your body. Your cuts and wounds didn't sting anymore, but you were increasingly getting tired. A big part of you screamed to continue moving, however, the fear of being captured overthrowing your fatigue. You were sure your pursuers were somewhere in this forest with you, nearing ever slightly with every second.
This is much better than being locked up in that prison, you thought in an attempt to reassure yourself.
Your eyes flutter close ever so often, your aching legs seemingly screaming at you to stop. Still, you continue to move forward, that nagging voice never leaving your mind. You would soon find this to be a mistake, however, as you suddenly felt the ground beneath you disappear.
You feel your foot fall through, and you could suddenly feel yourself falling once again. Whatever tiredness you were feeling earlier, it was now completely knocked out of you as you continued to roll down the mountain. It seemed as if there was no stopping, and you could only shield your head with your arms as you repeatedly hit trees and rocks.
You were put out of your misery soon as you rolled into a stop beside a running river. You felt dazed and confused, your breathing fast and erratic. You felt no pain, fortunately, as adrenaline still rushed through you.
You remain unmoving as you try to steady your breaths, your gaze locked upon the beautiful moon that shined above you. You heave out a strained laugh in your state, feeling hysterical and confused. You felt pathetic and sore, and you started wondered if this was your end.
You close your eyes, your breathing almost calm now, but your injuries starting to burn. Despite your fate, you were at least glad you would not die in the hands of your family. You were always so sure you were gonna crumble under the weight of their torment.
You soon felt sleep calling to you as you made no attempts to move nor open your eyes anymore. You simply felt too tired and done to try anything. As you welcomed the darkness with open arms, you were unable to notice the sudden murmurs from across the river.
You shot up in panic the moment you awoke. You felt extremely feverish. Your breathing ragged and your mind and vision hazy. You frantically looked around sluggishly at the familiar walls of the room, your panic increasing with every second.
"No.. no." You weakly murmured as you struggled to get off the bed you found yourself in.
You crashed unto the floor the moment your legs slipped off the bed as you couldn't find any strength to keep yourself up. You lay helplessly on the floor as you start shaking in fear, your body instinctively curling up into a ball.
You were back in the prison you've so desperately tried to get away from. How did they manage to find you?
You bite back your sobs as tears threaten to spill from your eyes. A million thoughts and memories flash through your mind, yet you were unable to understand anything with how disoriented you felt. You start to feel as if the room around you was spinning, and you clutch your head as a wave of pain washes over you.
You didn't deserve this! You swore it wasn't you. You didn't want to go through this again!
The door of the room suddenly flies open, and you instantly start scrambling away from the figure that entered. The unspilt tears in your eyes made you unable to recognize the person, yet you just knew they were here to torment you again.
You let out a whimper as you hit a wall behind you, watching as the figure moves to kneel in front of you. You frantically push away their arms that started to move towards you. "NO! No! Please! I'm- I'm sorry! I wont—" You felt your desperate cries come to a stop as you hear soft hushes coming from the figure.
You pause in confusion when you suddenly feel warm hands enveloping your face. They felt soft and light, as if they were holding something fragile. Your loud sobbing have died down now, trapping them in your chest as you try blink away your tears.
You stare up at an unfamiliar face of an old woman that held expressions of worry and pity. "Hush.. calm down. It's alright now, hija." She murmurs softly in an attempt to comfort you.
Your stunned gaze never leaves her as you try to steady your breathing. As much as you wanted to make sense of the situation, you found this difficult as your head continued to buzz with pain and confusion. After a moment, you open your mouth to attempt to speak to her, only to be stopped immediately as another wave of pain emanates from your head.
You let out a whimper at the sensation, flinching away from the woman's hold as you clutch you head. "You have to lie back down hija. You have a terrible fever." She immediately says in a tone laced with concern. You don't deny her help as she carefully helps you up and unto the bed.
You remain silent as she starts to care for you, feeling too tired to do anything. You feel yourself slipping slowly back into unconsciousness as you feel her wiping a wet towel on your forehead. A faint sensation of relief washes over you when you finally realize you weren't taken back after all.