AVA'S P.O.VIt must have been the adrenaline singing in my veins, the pain of Andy's betrayal blurring my thoughts, or the sweet, temporary sight of freedom, but I didn't feel it at first.I didn't feel the hot bullet zip through my flesh, part the tissues, and pierce through to touch the skin on the other side.But slowly, like the cold, unforgiving vice slithering around my heart, excruciating pain suddenly exploded in my shoulder, torso, and leg.Frantically flapping my arm for balance, my breath caught in my throat as I strained to grasp onto the other end of the wall.Or at least fall into the sea.It would be better than suffering the consequences of my charade here.Another bang rang out, and this time, it skimmed my wrist, pushing my hand from its intended trajectory and forcing my fingers over the surface.A hopeless cry fell from my lips.Oh, God.Tears blurred my sight as my face twisted in desperation.I missed it.I lost the pull against gravity and tipped back into my prison.They say your life flashes before your eyes when you're about to die.But I didn't see my life.I saw my girls smiling at me, Leslie begging me not to go, and Guila and Skitty grumbling over who the best drinker was, and I felt the regret and fear I had tried to block from swallowing me whole.'You have me. You have our girls. Ava, please.'It all happened so fast, and suddenly, I was yanked back before I could hit literal rock bottom.Like I hadn't already.A couple of hands roved over me, grasped my arms, and dragged me up like a sack of potatoes."Don't move," I hazily heard someone warn.I could barely open my eyes, and even when I did, black was all I could see.Everything inside and outside burned, twisted, and screamed. The ache ripped me apart and robbed me of every sane thought that I could barely think to panic.My chest heaved as I tried to force air in, but all I could smell was a coppery scent. Something thick slinked down from the corners of my mouth.I swallowed. Blood."Take her to the surgery room," I vaguely heard another say, "and be sure not to give her a needle."I didn't bother trying to do anything else.I was done for.They would torture me and make me lose every bit of sanity I had left before gifting me with death.That happy ending was way out of reach now.A tear slithered down my cheek. I should have listened.Fingers wrapped around my wrist and pulled. I gasped at the stretching throb as I was dragged across the dirt, misshapen stones bruising my skin whenever I bumped into one.By the time we stopped, I was barely conscious. Someone tugged at my wrists again and tossed me into an elevator when it pinged open.I coughed, my breath catching when my arm slammed into the metallic wall."Stupid slut." A guard sneered beside me.All I could murmur before I blacked out was a proud, "Says the regular client."--------------------------------I was lucid dreaming.I knew it because Mama was on her knees behind me, braiding my hair into fishtails.Mama hadn't braided my hair since I turned twelve, and I told her I wanted to do it myself.I wanted her to realize that I'd grown and could care for myself.I wanted to show off as a pre-teen who didn't need any help.But, every night, I'd sneak into her room, and she'd run her fingers across my scalp, soothing my aching roots, which had suffered abuse from my hands, and rebraid my hair.We never said a thing about it in the morning, and it remained between us, a little secret we kept for no reason.I gulped, not daring to move as she hummed under her breath, her lithe fingers weaving between my strands.Guitar strings thrummed from across us, and I looked up. Tears gathered on my eyelids. The last person I expected to see was strumming away on his guitar, the lyrics of my favorite song on his lips.Daddy!A sob echoed in my chest, and I gritted my teeth to keep the sounds muted for fear that a single move would make them disappear.The dimple in Daddy's cheek deepened as he pressed on the strings, his voice rising higher and higher as the song reached a crescendo.Then he glanced at me and smiled.Like it was any other Saturday before noon.Like it was all okay.Like I was safe, protected with nothing to fear.Like my life wasn't hanging by a thread.Like everything was back to normal.The sun was warm, brightening the pretty reds and oranges of Mama's wild garden. She had never failed to bring us to her little haven when she had the chance.I grinned at Daddy. My head pounded with the tears I was restraining.He was here, alive.He wasn't gone.My teeth chattered with emotion. Was he going to stay here? Did that mean he wasn't dead? Were the past four years a horrible dream? Was this rather reality?"Daddy," I leaned toward him, my fingers grazing his shirt. "Daddy, I-"A breeze blew past us, and with it, he disintegrated. I gaped, a tight ball in my throat, as he ebbed away like a wisp of smoke."No." I choked, my eyes wide as the last of him vanished into thin air."No," I trembled, harshly running my hands over the grass where he was sitting. "Please come back."I swiveled. And the hole in my heart widened.Mama. She was gone.Refusing to accept what was happening, I frantically glanced around, searching and searching and hoping for something. The flowers of Mama's garden folded in on themselves, their pretty colours dissolving into browns and greys.Shoving my hands into my hair, I gripped the roots and screeched at the greying sky.There was no one left behind."No!" I cried, but it didn't bring them back. They didn't come back, no matter how hard I screamed.My hands formed into fists to beat the earth beneath me, but it, too, wasn't there.I glanced down and caught the eyes of my reflection in the rippling water.They mocked the stark horror in mine right before I was sucked in.