A Cold Heart

His hand cracked against my face, the skin turning red and flushed. I fell on the tile floor of the kitchen, tears heating up the burn on my cheek. I coughed, and looked back at him.

My dad.

"I don't want to do this to you, Mia! But you leave me no choice," he said, and stormed out the kitchen. He made thumps through the house before a door slammed shut.

I grunted in anger, throwing my dirty Vans on my feet. I opened the front door, and took a wiff of the fresh air. Our house was surrounded my woods. Acres and acres of it. The sky was black with night, and little stars were scattered across.

I set off into the woods, not a flashlight with me or anything. I just let the anger come over me, let all the pain I've been feeling for the last 6 years escape. After a while, I began to run, wanting to become lost. Wanting to lose myself.

Tears flew off my face and flung into the air. My shoes made crunches on dry leaves, and I ran faster. Faster and faster, until I fell on the dirt, letting all the tears come, and all the screaming. I sat up and punched the nearest tree, punching it hard until I felt the blood seep out my knuckles.

I screamed and kicked, until I got tired, and slumbered in the middle of the forest.

***

I woke up to birds chirping happily, and I sure as hell wasn't elated as much as them. It felt like my eyes were crusted together, and when I opened them, I saw a boy around my age, staring at me.

I slid back in fear, and his features finally came to me. His hair was a espresso brown, and his eyes the same. He had a faint stubble coming from his sideburns, and he held his massive hand out to me.

"Who are you?" I asked, holding my hands, feeling the crusted blood on the knuckled. The boy stood up straight, revealing a Rolling Stones t-shirt and a pair of jeans. He had a jean jacket over the shirt.

He flipped his hair once before talking. "I'm Cooper. I heard you screaming last night, and I've been...well...watching you."

I was weirded out by him. "What do you mean...watching me?"

He sat down on the dirt, facing me with his hands in his lap. "I saw you were hurt, and I made sure nothing would attack you. It's crazy in these woods."

"Oh well...nothing attacked me. I kinda...did this to myself," I responded. He looked at my knuckled, and smiled a grim smile.

"Well, we need to get you home," he said, standing up.

"NO!"

Cooper looked down at me, a confused look on his face. I looked at the dirt.

"I don't want to go home," I said. Cooper shifted his weight.

"Why?" He asked. I shook my head rapidly.

"I don't want to talk about it," I responded. He held his hand down to me.

"Well, we can go somewhere else," He said, and I looked up at him. I gripped his hand softly. You'd probably think this is crazy, going off with some stranger. But, I was getting further to completing my goal.

Losing myself.