  I could feel my heart beating rapidly against my chest, it was almost painful against my sensitive ribs, but I ignored the pain as I watched my mum run back towards me. There were no suitcases left which meant she was coming back to get me. My hands shook at my side and my knees seemed to turn to jelly as I started walking so that I was meeting my mum half way.

  

      As I stepped out into the cold night air, I couldn't help but breathe in deeply. The wind blew around me as the door slammed shut behind me. I knew that this could possibly be the last time that I saw the white house behind me and I didn't feel sad. There were so many memories in that house and most, if not all of those memories were bad. It had all been a nightmare.

  

      "Are you ready?" My mum asked softly as she stood in front of me. She had a small smile on her face; her blue eyes alight with hope and someth

  I heard a small sigh from my mum's direction before she spoke, "I know but its okay now, you're here with me, with us and we are finally free. Everything is okay for once."

  

      "We should never have let you leave." My grandma stated in a teary voice. I wanted to open my eyes and comfort her but I knew that the conversation was far from over. I bit my tongue to stop myself from intervening.

  

      "There was nothing you could do," my mum reassured her, "I'm just glad that you called when you did."

  

      I could hear my mum's tough façade about to break as I clenched my hands into fists. It wasn't long before my mum's quiet sobs filled the car, I could hear her heavy breathing. It went against everything within me to not reach and comfort her but I knew that I had to listen.

  

      "We're always going to be here Kerry," my grandma tried to soothe as she shifted both m

  As the light from my bedside light illuminated my mum's face a gasp escaped my lips as I took in the bruises covering her face and neck. I knew that there would be more littering her body but she hid them well just as I did. I stared at her fat lip that was cut and swollen and a bruise on her right cheek just under her eye. Another bruise rested on her jaw to the left. I had seen my mum bruised before but this for some reason got to me more and I knew that it was because he had punished her for saving my life.

  

      I wanted to ask if she was okay, if she was hurt, but I knew she would just plaster on a smile and tell me everything was fine. It had always worked when I was little as I had believed her but as I got older I knew that she was lying.

  

      "Where are we going?" I asked as my mum gently handed me an outfit. I was then reminded of my still damp clothes and a shudder crawled its way up my spin as I took them from her with a grateful smile. An ache in my cheek informed me of a bruise that had no doubt developed from his slap, in the couple of hours that I had been out.

  

      My mum turned to face me from where she had been gathering my suitcases on my bed. A look of hope flittered across her face, "We're leaving."

  

      That one sentence, those two words seemed to alight something within me and I instantly recognised it as hope, a foreign feeling that I had never experience before. I could see the same expression that had been on my mum's face slowly dance across my own. I quickly stripped of my clothing, not caring that my mum was in the room as I slide on the skinny jeans, a long sleeve t-shirt and a large oversized jumper. I could already feel the wool warming my cold body before I had even pulled them hem down.

  

      "He's out right now with his business partners from earlier. I'm pretty sure they're getting drunk; we have to hurry in case he does come back," My mum said. I didn't miss the way that she said 'he' and the bitterness that seeped into her voice as if it literally left a bitter taste in her mouth.

  

      "How are we going to escape?" I asked.

  

      The only car my family owned was the black expensive one that belonged to him, he rarely allowed my mum to use it and I didn't l know how to drive. If he was out entertaining his friends then he would have no doubt taken the car to show off.

  

      "It's all planned don't worry." My mum soothed me.

  

      "What about our stuff? We don't have any money." I told her in a panic.

  

      "Everything is packed and ready to go and I opened my own bank account a few years ago without him knowing and whenever I could I stashed away money. We have plenty of money Esme, there's a load. Don't worry." She reassured me.

  

      I nodded my head. My mum was the only person I trusted, and it was obvious that she had prepared for this. I knew that my mum would never mess up an opportunity to escape him. I only hoped that we would be able to escape without him coming back in the middle of it. I didn't know if he would come after us but I knew that we would most likely be far away by that time. I didn't know where we were going but I knew that my mum would take us someplace safe.

  

      "Let's go." My mum said.

  

      I threw my wet clothes across my room, a ghost of a smile on my face as I did so. I helped my mum with one of my suitcases as we exited my room not bothering to turn off the light as we left. The hallway was dark and we walked quickly down the stairs and towards the front door where I could see that my mum belongings were all packed up and in three suitcases.

  

      I couldn't believe that this was actually happening. I was finally escaping; escaping the life that I had always known and hated. My mum and I would finally be free from him and be able to relax and do what we wanted when we wanted. A list began to form in my head as I thought about all the things that I wanted to do that I wasn't allowed to do before or hadn't be able to.

  

      "Wait here." My mum told me as she placed her hands on both my shoulder for emphasis.

  

      I nodded my head quickly. I was nervous. A number of 'what if's' went through my head as I stood in the door way while my mum ran out of the front door with a suitcase wheeling behind her in each hand. I could see a car parked up with its boot open. What if he came back while she was loading the suitcases? What if he came after us? What if we were too late?

  

      My mum continued to run towards the car then back again and there again, each time taking a suit case in both hands before she would stop and load them into the car. I had no idea who was in the car; I didn't recognise the number plate or the car itself, everything about it unrecognisable.

I could feel my heart beating rapidly against my chest, it was almost painful against my sensitive ribs, but I ignored the pain as I watched my mum run back towards me. There were no suitcases left which meant she was coming back to get me. My hands shook at my side and my knees seemed to turn to jelly as I started walking so that I was meeting my mum half way.
  
      As I stepped out into the cold night air, I couldn't help but breathe in deeply. The wind blew around me as the door slammed shut behind me. I knew that this could possibly be the last time that I saw the white house behind me and I didn't feel sad. There were so many memories in that house and most, if not all of those memories were bad. It had all been a nightmare.
  
      "Are you ready?" My mum asked softly as she stood in front of me. She had a small smile on her face; her blue eyes alight with hope and something close to happiness. I could see my own eyes mirroring hers as I reached out and held her hand 

Chapter 7