PROMISE

Faelyn didn't know what she did in her past life to be thrown into such a miserable life like this. She didn't know which sin she had committed to be suffering this way.

Her father was a drunken man. He gambled away all the money Faelyn and her mother made with their sweat and tears.

And now when she stares at the horror scene playing in front of her, she regrets a thousand times that she hadn't escaped this hell hole way long before.

Her father is beating her mom because she refuses to give him the money he demanded. Before she could cross the hallway, her father struck his beer bottle to her mother's head.

Eira's heart stops at the sight of blood oozing down her mother's temples. Her fingers tremble with terror and anger as she strides through the hallway and pushes her father from behind so hard that he falls on the floor with a loud thud.

"How dare you! Isn't she your wife? Where is the vow you made when you married her, you prick?!" Faelyn barked at the drunken excuse of a father who stared back at her with disbelief swimming in his orbs.

She turns to her mother, and with shaky fingers, she rips away the hem of her dress and presses the cloth to her mother's wound as she cries. "Mom— Oh, my God, we need to go to the hospital! You're losing so much blood!"

Faelyn wipes away her tears furiously with the back of her hand, "I will call the police!" She growls at her father when he gets up from the floor, ready to charge at her.

A flicker of outrage glimmers in his eyes before he runs out of the door, the alcohol in his system making it hard for him to balance his moves as he almost banged his body on the wall.

"Fae— Go, run away from here, he's going to get his friends and come back. I'm— I know I won't make it. I'll die." She grimaces at the pain, the words getting stuck in her throat, "Please, go— save yourself, honey—"

"No! I won't! I don't need a life if you're not in it. If you die, I die too. If we live, we live together." Faelyn says, her words muffled with her sobs.

"Come, Mom. We need to get out of here—" She wraps her one arm around her mother, guiding her out of the door even though she protested so much to leave her behind. She kept saying that she wouldn't make it but somewhere inside the far corner of Faelyn's mind, a voice whispered that her mother would make it. That she will live.

With shaky fingers, she fumbles her phone out of her pocket. Punching the numbers of the only one she had to call, "Lucy! Can you please come here, please my mother is bleeding!"

"What? What happened?" The panicked voice of Lucy ripples out of the phone that is pressed to Eira's wet cheeks. "Where are you, Faelyn?!"

"I'm at home but I'll stand by the nook of the street. Could you please come?— I'm so scared—" Tears stream down Faelyn's cheeks when she sees the pained look on her mother's face. She feels like someone has just ripped her heart out.

The line went silent for a moment and panic skims through Faelyn's veins.

"I'll come and save her but you need to promise me something." Lusy finally breaks her silence, her voice has a seriousness that sucks out the air in Eira's lungs.

"Promise?"

"Yes, Faelyn. A promise. Promise me you will go to the lezal forest and treat an injured man."

"What are you talking about, Lucy?" Lusy's voice quivers. The name of that mere place makes the hair on her skin stand. Lezal forest is so dangerous that no one dares to step foot in it unless they have the power. A power that Faelyn doesn't have. A power that is born from money.

"You don't have to worry. You'll be safe, I can promise you that. They'll pay you 50,000 dollars. 50,000 dollars, Faelyn; did you hear that? You'll be saved. You and your mother can live a happy life. Away from the hellhole of your house." There is a desperation in her voice that makes Faelyn's brows hunch down in confusion.

"What is your gain in this, Lucy?" Faelyn asks her. Not bothering to beat around the bush. She knows Lucy very well. She won't do anything that won't benefit her.

"It's actually 100,000 dollars." Lucy says, "I'll keep half of it—this is my opportunity but I hand it to you because I know you need the money."

Faelyn soaks up each of the words Lucy said. She is right. Faelyn needs the money more than anything now. But will she be able to make it back alive once she steps foot in Lezy forest?

"You please come here, Lucy. My mother is bleeding!" Faelyn says when she feels like all Lucy cares about is a mere promise that feeds her money when Faelyn's mother fights with death.

"Promise me then I'll be there in a minute."

How can she be so oblivious to Faelyn's pain and try to take advantage of her miserability?

Biting down the wrath trying to slip out of her tongue, Faelyn says, trading her own life for her mother's, "I promise."

***

A/n: Please comment, vote, and collect if you liked the 1st chapter of this story! Your support means the world to me! Love you >.<