*7 years later*

Hope's POV:

It's so dark. I can't see anything. Like I'm locked in a dungeon. Darkness is covering the room as far as I can make it out.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, I hear an overly familiar feminine voice calling out my name.

"Hope."

I immediately recognise whom this voice belongs to in the blink of an eye. Mom.

Sadness and confusion take over me as I try to process what was happening.
"Mom?" I reply with a shaky voice. "I can't see you. I can't see anything."

"I know, my little princess. I can't see you either. It's because we have been separated from each other."

She explains in that soft and gentle voice of hers that I missed immensely over the years.

Along with a hint of relief from hearing her voice, many thoughts and questions start building up in my head. But I ask the one which bothers me every single day.

"Why did you leave so... suddenly?"

"Oh, I'm sorry sweetheart. I know I should have told you. But I just couldn't bear seeing your reaction when you found out - " She trails off, leaving me even more curious.

"Found out wh- " I begin to question but get interrupted by a loud, massive sound similar to that of an explosion.

Followed by mom saying, "See you soon, my little princess."

Her words start echoing in my head, getting louder by the minute until my eyes finally flutter open and I find myself on my bed, breathing heavily with wet cheeks and a rapid heartbeat.

I quickly sit up and try to calm down my breathing. Just as my heartbeat gets steady, my thoughts fly back to what mom said.

It was just a dream, right? She wasn't actually hiding something from me before she died.

I sigh at the thought and get up from my bed to go to my balcony. I place both my elbows on the railing and start biting my knuckles nervously.

It was a habit I had developed at a young age. Somehow, it calms me down. It gives me a sort of distraction to drown out my worries.

××××××

"No! No, you are not doing it right! You have to be on your toes in the last step."

I silently groan in my head for the umpteenth time today as my ballet teacher Mrs. Johnson criticises me once again.
Mrs. Johnson had been my ballet teacher ever since I was 14 years old. She was a kind middle aged woman in her forties.

I admired her because of her kind behaviour and politeness towards everybody. Though, she could be very strict sometimes.

I started liking ballet at first because my mother used to teach me sometimes when she was not busy.
She had a glowing passion for ballet, and even though I didn't share the same passion, I still liked doing it.

My learning was complete when I was 17 years old but I kept doing it afterwards and until now because.. why not? I enjoyed it.

"Hope, come here."

I sigh and walk to Mrs. Johnson with a heavy mind and a heavier mood. I feel very tired. Maybe it's because I couldn't sleep very well last night.

"What's going on with you today?" She asks, frowning.

"I'm really sorry, Mrs. Johnson. I'm sure I'll get it right this- "

"No, you won't." She cuts me off. "You're distracted. You need to focus. Is something bothering you, Hope?"

She's right. There is something bothering me. I still can't get that dream out of my mind. I know I shouldn't be thinking about it this much. I should just focus on ballet.

When I don't say anything, she studies my face for a few seconds then speaks up.
"Okay, you know what? You should take a break. It'll help."

"Yeah, a break would help." I say and flash her a smile then make my way to the benches near the drinks.

A break would definitely help. All my limbs are aching. I feel very tired, exhausted. I wonder if this is normal. I don't usually feel like this.

After a while, I jog back to the middle of the room, ready to perfect that spin.

"I'm ready."

"Good." Mrs. Johnson replies.

"One two three four... Yes, yes that's very good... Now.. spin!"

As I'm spinning, I abruptly start breathing heavily and get a nauseous feeling inside my stomach, but I don't stop, with the will to go on.

Until, I start panting furiously and lose my balance. I trip down and land on the floor. Still panting, I get an abnormal feeling and put my hand on my mouth as I cough frantically.

All this happened so swiftly, that Mrs. Johnson couldn't even walk up to me till now.

As she nears me with a worried expression, I stop coughing and look at my palm, horrified when I see it covered in blood!

It wasn't even in a small amount.

Mrs. Johnson quickly comes by my side.

"Oh, my! Hope, what's wrong? Is that...?" She gasps.

Slowly, I feel my vision blurred and all I see is red, red and red.

"Oh, lord. We need to call the.."

And that's the last thing I hear before I faint.

××××××

Well, that's the first chapter of We Always Have A Choice.

Hope you liked it!