Ashley’s POV
It was the nightmare again, the same one that I have had for over a week now. Nothing could get the thought of Caleb and Pandora off my mind, and I was beginning to feel that my mother wasn’t really who I thought she was as it looked like she had lied to me.
“When are we going to get to the safe house?” I asked again for the tenth time that day.
Zach has been snapping at me unnecessarily making me doubt if he was even my biological father like my mom had said.
Even though they were all playing lovey-dovey she didn’t seem to mind that we had been walking in the wilderness for nearly three days.
“Why don’t you just keep quiet and stop whining? We are trying to save your already miserable life here. Why can’t you just be grateful, you little twat?” Zach snapped at me.
“Don’t call me a little twat! I didn’t even know of your existence until this happened. If you were really my father, you would have come to look for me.” I yelled back at him, livid with thirst and anger.
“Don’t speak to your father that way!” My mom hissed at me and I looked at her, feeling betrayed.
“Mom? Are you really going to support this man treating me that way? It’s not fair, mom. That’s not fair, and I regret ever leaving Pandora for you. You do not deserve any kindness, and they were right about you all along. You crazy murderer!” I yelled at her and didn’t see the blow connecting with my jaw as Zach had thrown one at me.
It was too late to dodge, so the punch connected with my jaw, nearly knocking out my consciousness as I struggled to find my feet. Everywhere went blank for a second and all I saw was back.
“You shouldn’t have hit her. You know how emotional these young ones get.” My mom said dismissively, and I could hear them kissing right to my almost unconscious state.
“Here, take this water. We should be at the crossroads soon and from there, we would be on our way home. Learn not to disrespect me or your father as we will not take it lightly with you if you disrespect either of us. And if you want to survive on this thing, you have to learn to listen and shut up when you are not being spoken to.” My mom scolded and threw a bottle of water at me.
I was too weak to catch it as I was still recovering from the impact of the punch that Zach had delivered to my jaw. The tears were running down my eyes as I sat down on one of the logs, trying to catch my breath and sanity back.
“You better get up and don’t slow us down. If we do not get to the crossroads, we won’t be able to get somewhere to sleep tonight and these forests are not safe.” Zach hissed, his voice was hard and impatient.
“Where’s Wilson?” I managed to ask after a few minutes of trying to put myself together.
“Why are you asking me that ridiculous question? I already told you that Rolan and Pandora had him killed secretly for his crimes. They were going to do the same to you, and I am merely doing you a favor by taking you with me. They were going to fake something and kill you for it. Now be a good daughter like you have always been and get up. We need to keep moving, and I won’t let you slow me down.” My mom snapped, her voice becoming aggressive with every word that came out of her mouth.
“When are we going to get to this life that I have only been hearing about for the past week? All I have seen is just pure suffering even though your knight in shining armor promised us something different. Maybe I’m not even a priority to both of you but do you think that a man who truly cares about you would put you through this harrowing experience all for a better life?” I asked my mom, looking her in the eyes, wishing so badly that I could take back the hands of time and hand her over to Rolan.
“Oh, since you are so smart, maybe you can find your way in the forest yourself. I don’t really care about you, in fact, I don’t even care about both of you. I was only living my life peacefully when your mom wouldn’t stop disturbing me with her unnecessary request of needing me. If I had known that she had such a smart daughter to think through everything, I would not have bothered myself and gone through all of this stress.” Zach yelled at the two of us before stomping off in the opposite direction, mumbling curses as he went.
“Do not ruin this for me, you cursed child. This is the man that I have always wanted to be with, and I won’t let you become an obstacle to me getting what I want. If this arrangement is not good enough for you, you can also go back and meet the people who were already planning your demise. Won’t it have broken your heart to find out that your Rolan was not going to ever love you because of Pandora?”
“A woman whose brother saved her life and in turn had to go to jail for it. Think about all of these before you make any more stupid decisions. I am going with Zach, and it is left for you to make your choice since you won’t learn how to control your tongue.” She yelled and stomped off, calling Zach’s name as she hurried towards him in the distance.
The forest got scarily quiet, and I knew that if I stayed here tonight, I wouldn’t be waking up to a sunrise tomorrow. All I had to do was to be patient, soon we would be out of this mess and I would be able to make my big move. For now, I will play the fool.