Excerpt: Invictus

Still the force of that blow surprised me, my head snapping back against the wall of the stall with a loud thud. The last things I do remember from that moment was my head striking the wall of the stall, and my father instructing Jett to leave the rest of the work for me to finish alone as my consciousness faded.

I’m not sure how long I was out of it. All I could comprehend when I regained consciousness was that I was freezing my ass off, and my head felt like it was splitting in two. The lanterns we used in the barn had burned themselves out by this point, the only light coming from the nearly full moon shining in through the open barn door. And I knew in that instant that my life was only getting worse, and I was not going to stay there and let my father ruin my life. My resolve strengthened by the unfairness of my fathers behavior in general towards me, left me with only one option. I had to leave, and I had to do it then, while I had the chance, and before I began to have second thoughts.
I got up slowly, cautious of my aching head, using the wall of the stall to rise to my feet. I paused there for a long moment, I can remember how bright the moon seemed with its light gleaming and reflecting off the snow. Flakes were still falling outside, adding to the accumulated snow blanketing the ground, as I pulled myself together mentally enough to move.
Now I wasn’t a dumb child. Don’t comment on that Vane, I was smart enough to know that surviving on my own in the middle of winter was not going to be easy, and also that getting in and out of the house with some supplies, and not waking up my father, was going to take luck. Lots and lots of luck, which I rarely had when my father was involved. But as they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained.