Beyond the Grave: Chapter 1
**TW: Contains Violence and body mutilation**
If you or someone you know needs help or someone to talk to, Please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at (800)799-7233 or text BEGIN to 88788. Your safety, and the safety of your loved ones, is the most important!
"THEE!?"I yell for my best friend as I wake from being knocked out.
There is so much blood. Is that all from me? How did they even know we where trying to leave today?? Ughhhh. My head.
"Focus Percy." I whisper to myself. I hear her scream. I know what is happening in there. They are trying to brand her like they had done with me. I can't let them do this to her. I grab the crowbar from under my bed and follow the screams. I run into the room swinging the bar hoping I hit someone.
"Woah there Little Dove. Your awake." Luke says stopping me. "Now my Love we've talked about this. Your actions have consequences."
"Why are you doing this to us? What did we do to deserve this?" I ask as he grabs my neck.
"You made us fall in love with you." He responds.
"I never asked-"
"Luke! I hate having to hold her down like this." Nate says as he tries to keep Athena still. "Please just do it so she will stop moving and I can lay here with her."
"Please don't do this! I'll do whatever you want! Just let her go" I plead. Nobody should have to suffer being branded.
"Don't you get it Little Dove. You belong to us now. People need to know that. You have my mark and Athena will have Nate's."
"Just hold on Baby. I will be over soon.." Nate says to Thee
I don't know if it was hearing Athena scream and try to kick her way out again but it was like adrenaline shot went through my body and I jumped on Luke's back, knocking him over and dropping the brand. Nate, like a dumbass, let go of Athena to grab it. Which made her start to fight him. She was able to get the brand and hit him with it. Luke had me on the ground choking me when she finally knocked him out too.
"Percy! You need to get up." Athena said as shes trying to get me up. "We have to get out of here before they wake."
Once I finally come to I look around at the men on the floor of her room. "Please Perc! Get your emergency bag and lets get the fuck out of here! Don't forget to leave your phone!"
Fortunately, or rather unfortunately, We have been preparing for weeks to get out. We've tried so many times to escape but nothing ever works. It seems like they are always 3 steps ahead of us. Until tonight. We grab our emergency bags and sprint out the door. To the use car lot we've been casing for a while now. We pay for the cheapest but most reliable for now, fill it up and get the hell out. We where driving for a while before we feel comfortable stopping. We pull into a truck stop somewhere in ... well i'm not really sure where.
"Percy. Your face." Athena says looking at me like she just seen a ghost. I flip the visor down to check what is happening and boy. It looks like I've been through hell and back. I have dry blood on the side of my head. I lift my hair to see the cut. Its small but it sure did bleed a lot. I also have dry blood coming from my nose and I can see a black eye already forming. I look back at Athena and she only has a few cuts on her face and half a brand on her back .
"It could be worse. Lets just get gas, use the bathroom quickly and keep going." I say
"Yeah we should also find out where we are."
We get what we need along with a bunch of stares from strangers. Yeah we must look pretty crazy to walk through this small town with looking the way we do. Once we get gas, we stopped a nice trucker who let us know we are in Seymour Tennessee. Not as far from Greensboro as I'd like to be but it is a start.
"Do you ladies need me to call anyone for you? You should probably get your head checked out." He said.
"No sir thank you."
"Where you headed anyway?" He asked as Thee and I look at each other.
"West." She responds. "We are headed west."
I believe he picked up on the fact we didn't want to divulge to much info so he said "Just stay on 40. It will take you as far west as you need to go."
We thanked him and set off on 40 like he said. Starting our new lives somewhere out there. Hopefully far enough away from Luke and Nate.
We stop a few more times, Once to pick up a phone with a GPS and in Joplin Montana. Apparently Athena has been making wire transfers into an account out here. Its in her birth name, Diana Athena Susanne Anderson, so Nate had no idea she had it.
"Wow. I would have never thought about that."
"Yeah it helps that my grandparents set an account up for me a long time ago." She responds "But I never touched it, just made wires into the account."
"Thats so smart."
"Yeah. The first time I tried to leave Nate, and failed, I knew I needed something when we both finally found the courage to leave."
The guilty feeling is building up again. If I wasn't so stupid and saw the signs. She would't have had to do this. I've ruined our lives-
"Don't do that." She cuts off my thoughts. Like she knows what I'm thinking. "I know what you are thinking Perc. It's not your fault. He was really good with manipulating you. So was Nate. We were both in love and it's neither on of our faults. It's theirs." She said as she start's up the car again.
"Yeah but we have to start over now." I say looking out the window.
"Starting over is going to be fun. You can finally become the cook you've always wanted to be and I can open a shop to sell the things I make."
"I guess your right. I just wish I would have been more smart about who I fall in love with and bring into your life."
"Girl! It's hard to find someone to love out here. All the good ones are gone or we cant find them."
"Yeah. Might as well do a seance and date a ghost." We where both silent before busting out laughing.
"For real tho! Let me get it in with Elvis ... Respectfully." Thee says while making me laugh again. It feels good to laugh without being scared of getting hit or offending someone.
"Okay okay. Where do we wanna head tho?"I ask as we start heading west on 40 again. "We should find a place to live."
"Well California is as far as we can go." Thee said while ripping into another beef jerky stick. "We should also see where the next restaurant is because i'm tired of junk food."
After eating, sleeping, filling up the car .. a lot. We finally made it to California. To a small dinner, we sit and attempt to find a place to live without any road blocks. We order and I come across a house.
"Oooo this house is way under price. 4 rooms, 2 baths, an attic and basement."
"Let me see." Thee takes the phone and gasps "Percy! We need this house. It's has the perfect spooky vibe." I go to respond to her when the waitress cuts in.
"Ah. The Halliwell Manor." She says.
"Whats wrong with it." I ask
"That house was owned by the Halliwell family for generations. The are a family of witches. It's also apparently haunted."
"Righttttt. Perc. Make an offer." Thee says and I do.
"Good luck with that. Nobody ever stays in that house for to long." She says as she walks away.
A few hours later, to our surprise, our offer gets excepted.
"Looks like our new home is San Francisco Percy! Lets go."
We get into the car and head to the Manor. I find it strange we got excepted so fast AND can move in. It makes me wonder. What is really in that house? If it's just ghost, then this is a steal. Let's be real, after what we have been through. Ghost could never scare us away.
Whats this? A new family moving in?
Yahhhhhh... Sorry this is so long and doesn't have Stray in it yet. I promise the next Chapter will!