Red.
The color flooded her vision as blows rained down from above. A heartbeat of silence between each impact, the rhythm of her agony calculated and even compared to the frantic stuttering of her own pulse. Somewhere in the onslaught of pain her skin must have split open as blood now flowed freely down her face. She curled tighter on the floor, doing her best to shield herself from the blows in the only way she knew how. Each breath she took tasted of copper and burned like fire. Red was everywhere, on her hands, her lips, the concrete beneath her.
Orange.
The zip-ties binding her wrists together stood out brightly against the sickly greyish tone her skin had taken on. The golden bronze sheen of her time in the sun was gone, erased by hours spent in this damp place. Even now the memory of the warmth seemed as distant as a dream slipping away with morning light. The bright synthetic orange of the plastic ties dug into her wrists like a vice, it's color mocking her helplessness. This was a color meant for safety; now a part of her prison.
Yellow.
Sunlight pierced through her blood matted eyelashes causing her to flinch and squeeze her eyes tightly closed. The light made her situation all too real. In the dark it was easier to pretend that this was just a nightmare that she would wake from. Not that long ago she had been the one standing tall, crowbar in hand as the light revealed her handiwork. Now she flinched at its touch, the warm light bringing a dire warning. The sun had sunk low enough to peer through the basement windows and her time was running short.
Green.
Blades of grass became a blur past her barely open eyes, a watercolored smear of green and brown. Barely scabbed wounds were torn open by the pebbles and rough earth beneath the carpet of grass. As many times as she had walked this exact path through the meadow behind the church it had never felt this long. Somewhere between the basement and the manicured lawn of the cemetery her shoes were pulled off by the uneven ground as she was dragged relentlessly.
Blue.
The world spun around her as she fell, blue and brown mixing together Pain exploded like lightning, searing white hot through her back and sinking deep into her bones. She cried out, a raw scream lost in the vast open space. There were no clouds this evening and no mercy.
Indigo.
When she opened her eyes again, the sky had darkened. Briefly she thought it matched the color of bruises just before they begin to fade. It was a deep color that blotted everything else in its path out and seemed to stretch on forever. Little pinpricks of light twinkled in and out of the storm clouds rolling in overhead. Between the clouds, moonlight filtered through to illuminate the dark walls of the pit she lay in. Damp soil pressed cool into her back as she stared upwards, half-buried with bones aching. She'd never been nearer to the grave but instead of the end, it felt like a pause in time. There was still life left in her yet.
Violet.
The rain lightened before fizzling out completely as dawn turned the lingering clouds to a soft lavender. Soon the sun would rise and reveal the world in vibrant greens and blues. For now she was wrapped in a hazy gray of fog and the muted colors of early morning. Her hands and shoulders trembled from exhaustion and cold. Her rain and mud soaked clothes clinging to her body like a second skin and making every movement feel impossible. But still she moved. Inch by inch, foot by foot towards the tree line.
That was something her friend had always said after a storm. "A rainbow will always lead you home."
Mistakes had cost her the last home she had here, but she would find a way out of this.
The color flooded her vision as blows rained down from above. A heartbeat of silence between each impact, the rhythm of her agony calculated and even compared to the frantic stuttering of her own pulse. Somewhere in the onslaught of pain her skin must have split open as blood now flowed freely down her face. She curled tighter on the floor, doing her best to shield herself from the blows in the only way she knew how. Each breath she took tasted of copper and burned like fire. Red was everywhere, on her hands, her lips, the concrete beneath her.
Orange.
The zip-ties binding her wrists together stood out brightly against the sickly greyish tone her skin had taken on. The golden bronze sheen of her time in the sun was gone, erased by hours spent in this damp place. Even now the memory of the warmth seemed as distant as a dream slipping away with morning light. The bright synthetic orange of the plastic ties dug into her wrists like a vice, it's color mocking her helplessness. This was a color meant for safety; now a part of her prison.
Yellow.
Sunlight pierced through her blood matted eyelashes causing her to flinch and squeeze her eyes tightly closed. The light made her situation all too real. In the dark it was easier to pretend that this was just a nightmare that she would wake from. Not that long ago she had been the one standing tall, crowbar in hand as the light revealed her handiwork. Now she flinched at its touch, the warm light bringing a dire warning. The sun had sunk low enough to peer through the basement windows and her time was running short.
Green.
Blades of grass became a blur past her barely open eyes, a watercolored smear of green and brown. Barely scabbed wounds were torn open by the pebbles and rough earth beneath the carpet of grass. As many times as she had walked this exact path through the meadow behind the church it had never felt this long. Somewhere between the basement and the manicured lawn of the cemetery her shoes were pulled off by the uneven ground as she was dragged relentlessly.
Blue.
The world spun around her as she fell, blue and brown mixing together Pain exploded like lightning, searing white hot through her back and sinking deep into her bones. She cried out, a raw scream lost in the vast open space. There were no clouds this evening and no mercy.
Indigo.
When she opened her eyes again, the sky had darkened. Briefly she thought it matched the color of bruises just before they begin to fade. It was a deep color that blotted everything else in its path out and seemed to stretch on forever. Little pinpricks of light twinkled in and out of the storm clouds rolling in overhead. Between the clouds, moonlight filtered through to illuminate the dark walls of the pit she lay in. Damp soil pressed cool into her back as she stared upwards, half-buried with bones aching. She'd never been nearer to the grave but instead of the end, it felt like a pause in time. There was still life left in her yet.
Violet.
The rain lightened before fizzling out completely as dawn turned the lingering clouds to a soft lavender. Soon the sun would rise and reveal the world in vibrant greens and blues. For now she was wrapped in a hazy gray of fog and the muted colors of early morning. Her hands and shoulders trembled from exhaustion and cold. Her rain and mud soaked clothes clinging to her body like a second skin and making every movement feel impossible. But still she moved. Inch by inch, foot by foot towards the tree line.
That was something her friend had always said after a storm. "A rainbow will always lead you home."
Mistakes had cost her the last home she had here, but she would find a way out of this.