Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 66503 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66503 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
I put on a bandage and make sure everything looks okay before I lower my shirt and get off the counter. It feels better already, but it’ll take a while to heal.
“What wound?”
I step out of the door and look at my father. He’s sitting in the broken seat, taking in our ravaged room.
“A shard lodged itself into my belly,” I say when he looks at me.
“Oh …” He looks away again.
“Oh?” I mutter. “That’s all you’re going to say?”
“Well, it’s your own fault,” he points out.
My eyes widen, and my face scrunches up. “What?”
“You should be happy you’re still alive.” He clears his throat, rubbing his wounds.
“Well you should be too,” I quip. “I saved us both.”
He stares at the dead body, sighing out loud.
“You killed him,” he retorts.
“He tried to kill us first,” I say, making a face.
He turns to look at me. “Well, now we have to run again. They’ll surely come looking for him.”
I frown. “How do you even know?”
“Because you brought them to our doorstep!” He’s suddenly so enraged that I don’t know what to do with it.
“I checked. No one was following m—”
“They found us!” he barks. “It’s too late for excuses. You shouldn’t have gone out. Look at what kind of shit it got us into.”
He’s cruel beyond words. “I did my best.”
“Not good enough,” he says through gritted teeth. “And even if they didn’t follow us here, there’s no way the hotel will accept this. They don’t do body disposals. Now we’ll never be welcome here again.” He points at the man like he’s mere trash. “Where are we going to fucking sleep now, Aurora?”
“You’re acting like all of this is my fault, like I shouldn’t have killed the guy. But what else was I supposed to do?” I swallow back the tears.
“Keep him alive. Maybe I could’ve negotiated with him after we’d strapped him down.”
“Like we even stood a chance! We could barely take him with the two of us. He almost choked and killed you!” I yell back, unable to keep the emotions at bay. “I did what I had to do to save us!” I’m right up in his face now. “I was stabbed by a piece of broken glass, and you don’t even care.”
He grinds his teeth, but the lack of words speaks volumes.
I can’t listen to another minute of this.
I turn around and head to the door.
“Where are you going now?” he scoffs. “You don’t even have your gloves on. What if people see?”
That’s all he’s ever cared about.
Appearances.
Reputation.
Perfection.
Something I’ll never be in his eyes.
Something I wished so badly I could be to my papa.
But the more time I spend with him now, the more I’m beginning to realize … the papa I thought I knew only existed in my mind as a cruel dream that would never be a reality.
I open the door.
“Don’t you think of going back to that warehouse again! What if more of them follow, huh? You want that on your conscience?”
“Don’t worry,” I reply, refusing to even grant him one more look. “You won’t be bothered anymore.”
And I slam the door shut as harshly as the door to my heart.
CHAPTER 4
Aurora
I’m cold. Icy cold. But I try not to let it get to me as I roam the streets, looking for a safe space to sleep.
I don’t know where I’m going or even where I’m at.
All I know is that this is the port city of the Netherlands, Rotterdam, and there’s nothing here that I recognize from home.
It’s the middle of the night and frigid out here. I hide my hands inside my shirt, not to keep people from looking but because I’m so freaking cold. I don’t have a coat to keep me warm, but I don’t want to steal. I’ve already taken these clothes off some unsuspecting stranger, and I felt terrible.
And the more I wander, the more I feel like I’m losing myself. My body.
As though I’m floating above myself and looking down, pitying the woman strolling the streets, searching for a place to go. A place of comfort. A place to call home.
But there is no such thing anymore.
Home and everything I associated it with was nothing more than a fairy tale.
A dark lie I’d told myself in order to cope with the horrible world.
A world in which I was born but never wanted.
A world in which everything would’ve been better if I had … ceased to exist.
Suddenly, my stomach contracts, and I hold my hand in front of my belly. It hurts. Badly.
What if …?
My eyes widen.
No, it can’t be.
I have to know.
I turn around and around, trying to find a shop, but there are only clothing stores and luxury boutiques.
Shit, I have to find a pharmacy. Fast.
I follow a woman who just passed me and stop in front of her. “Sorry, excuse me, ma’am, can you help me? I need a pharmacy.”