'Run.'
That was all I could think of as I sprinted through the thick bushes surrounding the estate. My feet ached badly, even swallowed from running for a long time, my lungs burned from the lack of air. But I didn't dare to stop. If I wanted to live, I had to run. I had to stay ahead of Claudia.
I had heard them, I wasn't supposed to, but I did.
"We should get rid of her once and for all," Claudia had said, her voice dripping with satisfactory malice. "I found someone who will take her. No questions asked."
"Are you sure he will keep her away?" My stepmother, Irene, asked skeptically.
"He lives across the country. Runs some kind of labor camp disguised as a farm. She will never escape, and if she does…" Claudia laughed, the kind of laugh that turned my blood to ice. "Well, no one will miss the bastard daughter, will they?"
I didn't wait to hear more. I rushed to my room, grabbed a few things; my backpack, phone, a coat and some money I have been saving and fled the estate. I knew they hated me. I knew I was nothing to them, other than a dirty little secret they never wanted. The illegitimate daughter of George Steele, born by a lowly mistress, but hearing that they wanted to throw me away, to sell me off like property, made it hard to breathe.
The beam of flashlights cut through the darkness behind me, and heavy footsteps followed.
"I saw her!" a male voice echoed, and my chest tightened in fear.
I pushed myself harder, faster, ignoring my body screaming in protest for rest and oxygen. I wouldn't let them catch me.
The bushes finally gave way to an open space, and hope flared in my chest. Maybe it was a highway or anywhere where I could scream for help.
But as I stumbled forward, I froze. It wasn't a highway. It was a cliff.
Below, I could hear the faint sound of water rushing through the spring. My legs began to tremble as panic surged through me. I turned desperately, searching for another way, but there was none. The cliff stretched endlessly in both directions.
I was trapped.
"There she is!" Claudia's voice cut through the night as she emerged from the treeline, followed my six me, which I recognized as the security men. One of them was holding a pair of handcuffs.
"Do you really think you can run from us?" Claudia said, her wicked smile gleaming in the moonlight. "From me? Poor, pathetic Anna. Always trying to escape what you are."
I backed away as she approached, stopping when I felt loose stones shifting beneath my feet.
"Your buyer is waiting," Claudia continued, stopping just a few feet away. "He paid good money for you. Father thinks you're being married off to some businessman in need of a submissive wife. If only he knew."
My fist clenched tightly and I felt my nails dug into my palm.
"Why…?" I asked, my voice breaking. "Why do you hate me so much? What did I ever do to you?"
Something flickered in Claudia's eyes before her lips curled into a sneer.
"You're nothing but bad luck. Mother said because you were never meant to exist, you will always be a jinx to everyone around you, especially to me." Her sneer deepened. "That's why we must get rid of you, Anna. You are not good for my happiness."
Each words struck like a dagger, cutting deep into my heart. I was always the family's black sheep, blame for every misfortune.
One of the guards stepped forward, reaching for me, and I jerked backward.
"Careful," the guard warned. "We need you alive."
"For now," Claudia murmured. For now, I repeated in my head. That was how much they truly wanted me gone. No one would miss me. They would be glad to finally had me erased from the perfect picture. A tear rolled down my cheek. I was unlucky and insignificant. And falling down the cliff was better than the life they planned to throw me in.
I took a step back, and another, until my feet were just an inch from the cliff's edge. The guards' eyes widened in terror, but Claudia's smile remained.
"You're not planning to kill yourself, are you?" She asked, mockingly. "Come on, Anna, let's not be dramatic." She gestured for the guards to hold me down. But I twisted away and lose my balance.
For one second, I saw the smirk on Claudia's face vanished, replaced by shock as she realized what was happening.
And then everything blurred away. I was falling. The wind rippled past me, and the roar of the river grew louder.
I squeezed my eyes shut, savoring the free fall. Then I felt my body splashed into the water with a loud sound.
And then, the freezing water and darkness swallowed me whole.
****
My eyes jerked open, meeting with the high ceiling. For the past few days, I have been slipping in and out of consciousness, but today, it felt like my soul had been punched back inside my body.
I blinked several times to clear my vision, the first thing I noticed was the sound of the heart monitor beeping in the heavy silence. I slowly turned my head to the left.
There were white curtains shielding the daylight, an empty chair was at the side of the bed, as if someone had just been sitting there recently, and above me was a crystal chandelier.
Where was I?
I tried to sit up, but my body wouldn't cooperate. My head throbbed, my throat burned, and my limbs felt as though they were held down with rocks.
Slowly, memories of that night flooded my head. I vividly remembered falling down the cliff and dropping inside the water, the terror I felt as I started to drown. My lungs had burned so intently but I had no regrets. And I remembered being pulled out of the water. Someone had saved me, yet I had no idea who it was.
Suddenly, the door creaked open. I quickly shut my eyes and held my breath as I heard about two people entered the room. One of them moved closer to my bed and adjusted something on my IVF.
"How is she?"
"She's out of danger. I believe she will wake up soon."
"Does her heart condition still need urgent care?"
"It is chronic. It can be controlled with medication."
It fell silent for a while before the other man came closer and placed his fingers on my forehead. It felt warm, yet cold.
"I hope you wake up soon," he muttered. He must have been the one who pulled me out of the water, but why? How did he even witness it? A part of me was grateful to be alive. But another part, the part that had long grown tired of everything, wished I hadn't. If I could, I would have begged him to leave me alone to die.
"You should keep her checked. I have to leave." And after that, footsteps assured, then the door shut.