All Chapters of The Caged Bird: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

I stepped out of the shower. After three days I could walk more freely. The miscarriage and the bruises on my ribs made it difficult for me to walk. Even though I did not want to be pregnant at first, now I wanted it so badly. I still could not believe what happened a few days ago. My husband and his family were dead. I was no longer a married woman. I was no longer pregnant. It felt all surreal to me.Nicholas had left me alone during the past days after his first visit. I did not mind it. I needed to be alone to process everything. The only person with who I had contact was Debbie. She was nice but too talkative. The moment she stepped in the room until she left, she talked the whole time through.In the corner of my eye, I saw a glimpse of how I looked in the mirror. I looked horrible. The bruises were still very dark. I hated to see myself like this. I wended my head away from the mirror and started to dress. Today I felt like leaving the bedroom.When I was

One month. One month of misery. I barely slept during the night because of the nightmares. I barely eat because during the day the images of my traumatic memories would haunt me. Making it impossible for me to eat a whole meal. And lastly, I barely did anything during the day. All my things were still back at my last home and Nicholas did not want to take the risk to get my things back. He was afraid that would gain attention.It was like the world around me had stopped and I was stuck in time. It felt like I got a break from life and because of that, I could finally process what had happened to me. I was forced to marry an evil and cruel man, lost my family, got kidnapped, lost my baby, found out about the secret life of my brother, and was now locked up in another mansion again.After a failed attempt to eat breakfast I would settle myself in the living room. I would put on the tv and let that play in the background while I looked out of the window, thinking about ne

I was humming while I worked in the garden. I was planting the most beautiful red roses into the ground. The chirping of the birds, the cool breeze and the warmth of the sun kissing my skin felt like a blessing after such a dark period of my life. Never, once I thought my life would end up so darkly as it was now.I had this vision when I was sixteen, that I would marry someone who I would love with all my heart and be happy the rest of my life. I would live in a warm, cosy house, preferably close to a lake. I would have children, did not matter how much or which gender. Maybe I would be a stay-at-home mom, or I would have a job. I had many variants of this vision, but the one thing that would be the same was my happy ending like in all the stories they tell us when we were children.I sighed. Would it not be great to have such a life? I shook my head. Those stories are fairy tales. I had to learn that the hard way. No, things like that are fantasies and not reality. Reality is much,

Hot tears were escaping my eyes. I felt them slowly rolling down my cheeks and saw them falling down on the ground, making small pools of my misery on the wooden floors. When I thought back on our conversation, I hugged my legs tighter. They want me to marry someone again.I do not want that.I want peace.I want to have a happy life again, with no pain, no fear, and no marriage.I squeezed my eyes shut and laid my head on my knees. Trying to hide from the world. After my outburst I stormed towards my room. Escaping from my problems. I felt betrayed by Nicholas, by Evelyn, and mostly by my brother. Why did he not come for me? Why did he ask Nicholas to safe me? Why not himself?It seems that I have always questions on my mind lately and I knew it was not my fault. Everybody who I met kept me in the dark. I am done living like that. I want to break free from the prison I am right now and spread my wings. I want freedom.I want peace.From now on I will fight for myself. I will not let

"Trouble? What trouble?" I asked.Both men in front of me looked at each other for a second when Xavier nodded his head towards Nicholas. The said men straightened his back and cleared his throat. "I'm afraid I have to tell you bad news, again. It seems that the news of us being married has not convinced everybody. Some think our marriage documents are forged, fake if you will."Nicholas gave me an apologetic look. It was quite frustrating, really. We did all of this so I could have my old life back as much as possible, maybe with even more freedom. But this, this sets us back again. I really do not understand this power hunger of people."So, what now? What do we have to do now, again!" I slightly yelled. Frustration getting to me."Ava please-" Xavier started but was shut down by Nicholas. He held his hand up and said, "Xavier don't, we have talked about this." Nicholas spoke sternly. He continued, "We have to convince, Ava. Convince them that we are married.""Why? Why can we not l