Chase Run

BREA POV

The sole of the red shoes she wore glinted in the sun before it smashed against the side of my face. A strangled cry escaped my lips, the throbbing pain fading into a burn as their laughs crackled around me. It was supposed to hurt worse, but they'd already hit me in the face so many times that my face felt numb.

"She's such a weakling. Look at her lying there all pathetic" The girl that stomped on me got out and spat on my face while the two boys and the girl to her right giggled.

"There's nothing she can do though. Worthless piece of garbage" the boy snarled and I winced, letting out a sharp hiss when his hand twisted in my air. My whole body ached as he forced me to gaze into his eyes.

"You should be kissing the very ground that I'm walking on Brea Larson. What, you think you're all that because you come from an elite family? Newsflash, doll face! Your family is nothing! Do you hear me? Without the money my father invested in your stupid family business, you'd have been a pauper living in the gutter!" He spat angrily, his grip tightening until it felt like my head was on fire.

"Let go of me Brandon" I managed to get out, then almost blacked out when he punched me in the gut. I flopped on my face, my head reeling. He was saying something, but everything hit me like a buzz. Nasty words that I'd had to listen to all my life started to get louder and louder until my ears couldn't handle them.

My Mom's voice was the loudest of them all. "Be nice to Brandon ok. We are nothing without his father's money. At least try to be useful for once in your life now that we know he likes you. He pushed for the investment Brea, so do not mess it up for us. If we lose this opportunity because of your stupidity, I'm going to send you off to the orphanage".

She was going to give me away. I didn't do anything to deserve this, any of this. They always targeted me, the girl that was never good enough, the girl who wasn't rich enough... They would never accept me. I was an outsider. Always have been.

I'm yanked to my feet, and Brandon yells in my face before his hand smacked me hard, then two more punches. "I am going to make you my bitch whether you like it or not" he yelled, then smacked my cheek so hard, my head almost snapped off my neck.

A rage I never knew existed clouded my lungs, it rushed upward until it poisoned everything In my veins, and it suffocated me. I couldn't breathe, and my hand just worked on its own, as if it had always known what to do to set itself free from the pain.

I snatched out the pencil I always carried around with me, and with unfamiliar precision jabbed it into his throat as he pulled his arms back to hit me again. He froze in shock, his eyes widening.

The quiet that surrounded me was peaceful, and the pain faded a little until the scream picked up, crescendoing to a point where it felt like I would bleed out of my ears.

Blood splashed on my shirt as Brandon's wide eyes continue staring into my soul, his hand wrapping tightly around the end of the pencil, but I felt nothing, no remorse, no regret, no pity. All I felt was freedom. He was never going to hurt me again.

*******

"You almost killed him, Brea... How could you do this after what I told you" she yelled as she shook me harshly before letting me go? I gasped, tears streaming down my face.

"He wouldn't stop... He wouldn't stop hitting me, Mother"...

She hit me across the face and it was so unexpected that my teeth sunk into my lips. I tasted blood and my heart ceased to beat for a second as I stared at Mother's harsh gaze.

"You are lucky that he is still breathing, if he wasn't, you'd have been dead too. He hit you? Couldn't you take a little beating? Huh? Are you that weak? He was just playing with you and you stabbed him in the neck, you psychopath!"

Her words hit me like a load of truck and instead of it tearing my soul into pieces, all they did was graze it. A mantra repeated itself in my head. He cannot hurt you anymore. He cannot hurt you anymore. I repeated the mantra over and over again until a smile touched my lips.

I blinked, my gaze clashing with those of my mother's horrified one. "You are out of your mind Brea and I'm going to make sure I fix you. I will fix you until you are right again" she stated, then looked over my shoulder as the doctor approached. I turned to face him at the same time he grabbed my hand.

"I'll take it from here Mrs Larson".

Mother nodded once, turned, and left the room without a backward glance.

********