Chapter One, Just An Ordinary Girl

The morning has come as my alarm goes off on the nightstand beside my bed. With a grumble, I reach over and turn my alarm off. I stretch my body as my feet hit the floor. Stepping over the pile of clothes from the day before, I head to the bathroom. After brushing my teeth, I work on my long brown hair that hangs past my shoulders in soft waves as it curls at the ends. I often wonder if I look like my mother or my father.   

Losing my parents at a young age, I can't remember them or what they looked like. I always wonder who I looked like more. I don't even have a picture of them because of a fire. Shrugging off the thought, I finish my hair and move on to my makeup. I keep it simple, with a bit of blush and light eyeshadow, followed by mascara that brings out my brown eyes.

Now that I was halfway ready, I go back into my room to the closet to find something to wear. Opening the two white sliding doors, I look through the shirts hanging, and I take several as I step in front of the mirror on my wall to see which suits my mood today. After several options, I choose a tee-shirt that shows off my hourglass figure. "I do approve if I say so myself," I say out loud to my reflection in the mirror. Pulling on my jeans, I turn to see if they look ok, and I finish putting myself together in time before Hannah arrives to pick me up.

I head over to my desk, shoving all my work into the backpack. I grab my phone off the bed and shove it in my back pocket. I pull on my hoodie and head downstairs.

Hannah's car horn signals that she has just pulled up into my driveway. "Later, Uncle Mike," I yell out, not waiting for a reply as I head out the door. I sling my backpack over my shoulder as I walk down off the porch. Running down the concrete driveway, I reach Hannah's car. I get into the front seat then throw my backpack into the back seat.

My best friend Hannah sits dolled up in her jeans that show off her curves that I wish I had. Her blond hair hangs a little past her shoulders, bringing out her blue eyes.

"Ready?" Hannah asks as she starts to back down the driveway.

"Not really; I can't wait till we graduate. I want to move into the dorms when I start college. Uncle       Mike is too strict with all his rules. You would think I was still a child. I'll be turning eighteen next month," I explain.

"Very true, it's probably because he's a single parent. Just bear with it until we move out. Then we can do whatever we want," Hannah says as she grins at me with a big smile.

The school bell sounds, signaling the end of my last class. I head down the hall when I spot Hannah as she comes around the corner with Kevin. He has his arm draped around Hannah's shoulder as he towers over her with his slender frame. Hannah and Kevin have been high school sweethearts since our freshman year. I have always wished that I could have a relationship like them, but all my relationships have ended in disaster.

I have been single since last summer when my last relationship ended. It had already been a few months into my senior year when I met Daniel when he transferred to my school. I can still remember the first time I met him. In chemistry class, Daniel walked in and handed the teacher a form. He looked nervous as the teacher introduced him to the whole class. After the teacher finished, she directed him to an empty seat next to me. Ever since that day, Daniel and I have been close friends. A few weeks ago, Daniel asked me out on a date, and ever since then, we have been together.

"Hey Kristen," Hannah calls out to me as she hands Kevin her books. I can't help it; I laugh at Kevin's face as he struggles not to drop her pile of books.

When I get to my locker, I see Daniel waiting for me.

"So, how was class?" I ask him as I open my locker, getting my backpack out.

"The usual, did you hear about what Brad did in English class?" he asks as he reaches over to hold my bookbag.

"I did; I bet he gets suspended a long time for that stunt," I say as I hand him my books. He places the books in my bag then slings it over his shoulder.

Throwing his arm around my shoulders, we start heading out to the parking lot.

"Sam said he heard that he got a week of detention for putting glue in some teacher's seat. It was hilarious when she went to get up and couldn't get out of her chair. She sent another student to the office to get help. He also said they had to cut part of her clothes to free her. I bet she was mad," Daniel says as he starts to laugh.

I imagine the poor teacher as she endured the whole incident. The embarrassment and humiliation would stick with her for a long time.

I turn and shove his shoulder, "it's not funny; they shouldn't do that to people," I huff as I try not to take my frustration out on him. 

He gives me a big smile then pulls me into his arms.

"She had it coming. She's so hateful to everyone. It makes her a target to their pranks," Daniel says.

"That may be true; no one should treat someone like that," I reply.

When we get out into the parking lot, we head toward Hannah's car. I can already see Hannah and Kevin making out in Hannah's car. Oh lord, not again. They need to get a room.

Daniel starts to laugh when he looks over at me. I can only guess it's from the expression on my face.

When we get close enough, I clear my throat to get their attention. Hannah looks at me with a smirk on her face as Kevin is oblivious to the awkward scene. He reaches over to get his backpack, then leans in to get another kiss from Hannah. I turn away from them. I reach up, giving Daniel a quick kiss goodbye before I climb into Hannah's car. Hannah and Kevin kiss for several more minutes, making me a little uncomfortable. I wish I had that kind of chemistry with Daniel. We haven't even gone past second base; the thought is depressing.

Hannah waves as Daniel and Kevin walk toward their cars. When she gets into the car, I give her shoulder a hard shove. I wish they would stop making out so much in public; it's embarrassing.

"What was that all about?" I ask Hannah, who is laughing at me as she starts the car.

"I can't help it that you and Daniel are not on the hot and heavy yet," she says as she tilts her head with a big grin on her face.

I throw my backpack into the back seat then climb into the car. "That's because we have not been dating as long as you two. It's only been a month since I started dating Daniel. I know that you and Kevin moved fast, but I don't feel that close to Daniel yet. My uncle doesn't like me to go on dates, so he limits the time me and Daniel get to spend with each other outside of school," I reply in a dry tone.

"I know your uncle can be a bit overprotective, but he needs to lighten up. When you turn eighteen this year, you will be able to make your own decisions. He can't keep you a little girl forever," Hannah says as she turns up my street.

"Give him some time. I think I will be able to talk him into giving me some more freedom," I say in his defense.

Hannah pulls into the driveway putting the car into park. I gather my things from the back seat and then hug her. 

Good luck with that; let me know what he says later, Hannah says as she gives me a look that says, I doubt you will win. 

I get out of the car, then turn, "I will text you," I yell to her as I walk toward the house.

When I head into the house, I head upstairs to my bedroom. I pull off my jacket and place my backpack beside my desk. I go back downstairs to get started on dinner. I'm in the kitchen when my uncle Mike comes in.

"How was school?" he asks as he reaches into the fridge, getting a bottle of water out.

"The same as usual," I reply as I get the cutting board and a knife from the drawer. 

"So, what's for dinner?" he asks as he walks over to the table. 

"I was thinking about making stir fry," I reply as I pull some vegetables from the fridge.

He sits down at the table, unfolding his newspaper. As he reads, I start chopping up some peppers. A few minutes go by when he sets the paper down on the table.

"I've got some work to do before dinner. Just yell at me when dinner is ready," he tells me as he gets up from the table. 

I give him a nod as I watch him leave the kitchen. I then turn my attention back to the peppers. A thought crosses my mind, I know he is not my birth father, but he's the only father figure I have ever known. He's been in my life since I was young. I never got to know my real dad. The thought is depressing. I shake off the negative feeling as I finish cutting the vegetables. I add the noodles into the water then move over to the frying pan to start the chicken. My phone rings that I had shoved in my back pocket. I fumble to answer it as I dump the chicken into the pan.

"Hey girl, what's up?" Hannah coos through the phone.

"Cooking like I always do," I reply, knowing she knows my routine. It's what I have done every day for the past several years.

Hannah rambles on about her parents and their latest disagreement. I stir the noodles as I try to balance the phone on my shoulder.

"Yeah," I mumble as I stir the chicken.

"Are you even listening to me?" she yells through the phone, getting my attention.

"Yes, I'm listening. What would make you think I wasn't?" I reply. I laugh inside, knowing she knows me all too well.

"I asked you if you wanted to stay over at my house tomorrow," she states with a bit of annoyance in her voice.

"I didn't catch the last part; the water was running," I tell her as I try to cover up my lack of attention. 

"So, do you want to stay over at my house tomorrow?" she asks in a calmer tone.

"I will ask my uncle if it's alright. I'm sure he won't mind. I'll message you after I get finished with my homework and have a chance to talk to him," I reply.

"Ok, I will talk to you later then," she says in a high-pitched tone that lets me know that she is no longer annoyed with me.

"Ok, talk to you later," I reply before hanging up the phone. I shove my phone into my pocket then continue stirring the noodles.

After cooking the noodles and the chicken, I then add the vegetables and sauce into the pan with the chicken. When the stir fry begins to simmer, I drain the noodles then set them aside. Uncle Mike comes in and sits down at the table.

"That smells good. I can smell it all the way through the house," he tells me with a smile. 

Thanks to Hannah's mom, I actually turned out to be a decent cook, I say. I beam with pride, knowing I have one accomplishment worthy of praise.

"I'm very thankful. I think we both would have starved to death if she hadn't helped us both. She took us both under her wing when I brought you here. Your aunt, Nicole, would have loved you if she had not passed away from cancer before you came to live with us. I know you can't remember her; she would have loved you like her own," he says as his face grows sad. I can only imagine how lonely it must be for him to be a single parent.

"Don't be sad. I know you miss her. I hate that I was too small to remember her. The pictures of you guys that you have all through the house are good memories. Both of you looked happy and remember those times, which should bring you happiness. I wish I had memories like that of my parents to look back on. I know you said that it was impossible to salvage anything after the fire that burnt down my parent's house. I wish I had just one photo of them, so I could see if I looked anything like my mother or father," I say as I set the bowl of stir fry on the table. Taking my seat, I scoop out a plate for Uncle Mike, then me. He runs his fork through the noodles, deep in thought.

"What is it?" I ask.

"When I think about it, I never expected them to die the way they did. A gas leak in the kitchen built up, one spark, and it ignited, and it blew up, and nothing was left," he tells me as I sit there in shock.

"I always wondered how they died. You never would tell me this before. Why now?" I ask as I look over at my uncle Mike who looks a bit shocked by my question. 

"I didn't want to tell you because I felt that you were too young to know the truth. Now you are old enough to know the truth behind your parent's death," he says as he sits back in his chair. 

"Can you tell me more?" I ask him in hopes he will tell me more about my past that I still cannot remember.

"It was a big blow to the entire family when we lost both of your parents. He was my big brother, and I didn't even have anything to remind me of him. The photos that I did have of you and your family got damaged when the house flooded that one year. You were too little to remember when the water pipe broke in the basement one night and flooded the whole basement.

I still remember it took us several days to pump all the water out before we could see what all the damages were. It destroyed everything down there. I couldn't save anything after it had set in water that long. The only thing that I managed to save is the necklace you wear. That belonged to your mother. It was given to me at their funeral for you to have," he says as he points over to my necklace.

"That you did tell me. I have not taken it off ever since you gave it to me," I say as I fiddle with the heart-shaped necklace with the strange engravings on the back. I shake off the depressing thought.

We don't say anything else about my parents or their accident throughout the rest of dinner. I clear the table, then wash all the dishes. When I finish, I start up the steps to my room when I hear Uncle Mike yell for me. I stop in mid-step, then turn toward the bottom of the steps.

Uncle Mike comes to the bottom step, "here in a little while, I will need your help."

"Ok, I'm going to get started on my homework. I'll be in my room," I reply as I continue up the steps to my room. When I get to my room, I head to the bathroom to get a quick shower before I get started on my homework.  

I towel dried my hair, then pulled on a pair of sweatpants and one of my long-sleeved tee shirts. I then head back to my room. After spending an hour on my essay for English class, I was ready to call it a night. I reach for my phone to check my messages, and I see one from Hannah. I quickly read over her text that had me smiling.

I hate these stupid essays. Why cant the teacher have us write about something more interesting, instead of things that happened before I was born, she text?

I could see her frustrated face in my mind as she typed this. I began to type a response. I know how frustrating Ms. Peter's class can be. I finally finished mine. It only took me an hour, lol. Just think of it this way, we only have a couple more months left before we graduate. I finish typing to her.

She was quick to respond. "Very true, this still sucks. I dread her class tomorrow. I know she will give us an assignment for this weekend. I'm so sick of homework. I want to focus on my date with Kevin this weekend, not do some stupid assignment.

Ready with my reply, maybe she won't be hard on us this weekend. Are you still picking me up tomorrow morning?

The sound of my uncle knocking on my door made me look up from my phone. "Can you come downstairs for a minute?" he asks.

"Yeah, give me a second," I call out to him as I look back down at my phone to see if Hannah had to text me back.

"Yeah, same time as always," she texted.

"Kristen hurry up," he calls again.

"Hold on," I yell back to him as I finish texting Hannah that I will see her tomorrow morning.

My door comes open as my uncle steps into the room with an angry face. "I told you to come downstairs," he says as he walks over to me. Without warning, he reaches over, grabbing me by my arm.

Before I can say another word or react, he pulls me to my feet, making my phone fall to the floor. I'm sorry, I was about ready to come downstairs, I say as he leads me down the hallway. I must be in deep trouble; he looks very mad at me. What the heck did I do this time?

His grip tightens, causing his fingers to dig into my arm. "What's wrong?" I ask as I try to keep up. He never acted this way before, and I feared I'd done something bad this time. I tried to think of anything I might have done that would cause him to be this angry, and I couldn't think of one thing.

"Uncle Mike!" I plead once again. With no response, we approach the top of the steps. This must be bad, oh what did I do. Think Kristen, what could you have done to get into this much trouble?

He began to pull me down the steps of our two-story house. I'm finding it hard to keep up, and my balance is not the best as he pulls me behind him. I try to ask him again, only to get silence. I pull my arm free as I start to protest the brute force he is imposing on me. He turns fast, faster than I expected. What came next, I never saw coming.

His hand came across my face, making me stumble back up the steps. My mind goes blank; the shock of being hit has me floored. He has never hit me. He's never been violent toward me. As he starts back towards me, the look on his face sends chills down my spine. Something's not right. 

He grabs me by my arm again, pulling me up from the step that I had stumbled back on. He pulls me down several steps again, and I am more confused and scared by his actions. I need to get as much distance from him till he calms down. In his state of mind, he will not be rational with me. I can't imagine what I have done for him to be this mad at me. My mind races as the scene unfolds before my eyes.

I break ahold of his death grip on my arm once again. I stumble, but not as much as before. I turn and get up a few steps, only to feel him grab ahold of my leg. I lose my balance and hit the steps face first. My vision swims, and my face lights up like fire. I cant see, and the pain in my face has me in tears. I could hear him coming up the steps, and he was now almost on top of me.

"Stop! Stop!" I scream as I hit him with my hands in hopes of fighting him off. He's trying to grab me but can't get a good grip. This only causes us to slip down the steps with me on my back. My back takes blunt force contact with the steps as I slip down more steps. We end up at the bottom of the steps, tangled in each other. I feel his hand on my arm as he starts to pull me to my feet. I have only a second to get my balance before he starts to pull me through the house as he struggles to get his breath. 

"For fucks sake, why did you have to fight me? You would have made it easy on the both of us if you would have just come with me without a fight," he hisses under his breath.

I began to panic at his tone of voice. I start to cry from the pain and the sheer terror running wild through my body. I know that no matter how much I fight against him, I'm no match for his strength. I can tell he's getting angrier because of how rough he got with me. I must find a way to outsmart him. I beg and plead for him to stop, "you're scaring me."

He spins around and backhands me across the face. I fall to the floor with a hard thud. More tears welled up in my eyes as I looked up at him in disbelief.

"Shut up!" he shouts at me. This can't be happening!

He reaches down, grabbing me by my neck, making me get to my feet as I continue to cry. The tears run down my face as I cry even harder. He drags me by my arm over to the basement door. He opens the door as he keeps his hold on me. The thought of being dragged down into the basement freaks me out. I don't like the basement. I never go into the basement. I don't want to know what's down there.  

I can't help but panic at this point as he pulls me down the steps. This is not right. I hear someone talking. Who brings a teenage girl down into the basement after beating the crap out of her? I had to get away from this situation before something bad happened. I had this one chance to try to get away before I faced what was down there. 

I push my body backward with everything I have, causing him to lose his grip on me. I try to brace myself for the fall. I use my foot to kick him, causing him to lose his balance. He falls forward down the steps, giving me the perfect opportunity I needed to getaway. I grab at the steps ahead of me, pulling myself to my feet. I stumble through the door of the basement, turn and shove the door hard to close it. With shaky hands, I fumble with the lock on the doorknob, then put the chain on the door to give me a few more minutes before he can kick it down.

I run up the steps to my room as fast as I can. When I get to my room, I turn and lock the door behind me. I grab my chair from my desk and shove it under the doorknob. I then grab a pair of shoes from my floor, slip them on, then grab one of my hoodies from the floor. I slip it over my head when I hear footsteps coming up the steps. I began to panic, knowing that he would come through the door in a matter of seconds. I look around in desperation when I spot the window as my only option of escape. I run to the window, trying to get it unlocked. I fight to get the window open when I hear the doorknob start to rattle, making my heart pound in my chest. I manage to get the window open when my uncle begins to hit the door.

"Kristen, open this damn door," he shouts as he starts to ram the door with his body. I can hear the wood beginning to crack.

I turn toward the window and start to climb out when I remember my phone. I turn and spot it on the floor as the door to my room comes crashing in. I turn back toward the window and make my way through as he runs across the room. Before I manage to get myself completely through the window, he grabs one of my legs, causing me to fall out of the window face-first onto the porch roof.

He manages to keep his grip on my leg as I squirm to get loose. I try to reach the edge of the roof to get leverage as he pulls on my leg tighter. I look back, and he's halfway hanging out of the window. I take my other foot and put it against the house. I push with everything in me, freeing my leg from his grasp.

He leans out the window, trying to get ahold of me again. I kick at his hands as he fights to try to get out the window. I kick at him harder, causing me to lose my balance. I start to slide down the slope of the roof. I know it's too late when I reach the edge of the roof. I slip off the edge of the roof of our two-story house. This is going to hurt.

I hit the ground on my back, and everything goes black for a second. A second later, everything comes back to life, as I panic when I can't get my breath. I struggle to get air back into my lungs but remain paralyzed and sprawled out on the lawn. I know I had to move; I had to get up, but I couldn't, no matter how much I tried. Run . . . Run . . .  I scream in my head as I gasp, trying to get air back into my lungs. After a minute, my lungs fill with precious oxygen, allowing me to move. I manage to roll over, get to my feet, and start to run.

I have never been this scared in my entire life as I run to get to the main road. I was halfway across the yard when my foot slipped on the wet grass, making me fall to my hands and knees. I quickly push myself off the ground, getting to my feet. I freeze at the sound of my uncle's voice. 

"Kristen! Get back here. Don't make me run after you," he shouts. I turn to see him looking down at me from my bedroom window.

"I will find you," he shouts when I turn my back to him and start to run toward the road.

My heart's racing, knowing he was already on his way down the steps to come after me, and I knew he would catch up with me if I didn't hurry. By the time I made it to the road, it was dark. The entire neighborhood was asleep. I should have been asleep at this hour, being a school night. I run down the road that's lit only by the streetlights. There are only a few houses on my block, and I knew it would be too late to pound on the doors for help. No one would hear my screams for help in time before he got his hands on me again, so I continued to run toward the town square only a few blocks away.

A few raindrops hit me in the face signaling the start of a downpour. I ran down the road as the rain began to pour. The sound of the raindrops fills the quiet night as I pick up my pace. Out of all the times for a downpour, this couldn't get any worse, I thought. This all seemed unreal as I stopped to catch my breath. I stopped to catch my breath. I was gasping for air as the pain in my ribs burned with every breath I took. I took one deep breath and began to run as I held my side to make it another block to reach the town. Once there, I hoped to find a store that had late hours.  

The first thing that came into view were two large buildings. This could give me some cover until I could come up with something else. I made it halfway down the alley when I start to throw up. I held onto the wall to keep myself on my feet as the dry heaves hit me over and over. Tears ran down my cheeks as my body shook violently from the dry heaves and the cold rain that continued to rain down over me. I collapse to the ground as the pain radiated through my body. I try to catch my breath as I fight the urge to give up. I knew that I wasn't a quitter. I wanted nothing to do with what I had witnessed earlier, which kept me motivated not to give up. I slow my breathing down as the dry heaves slowly came to a stop. I know I couldn't stay long.

I slowly get back to my feet as my whole body protests. I make my way down the alley, using the walls to help me stay upright as I hold my ribs. When I reached the end of the alley, I look both ways before making a quick decision to take the one that didn't have any dead ends.

I pick up my pace to a slow jog until I get to the end of the alley. I peek my head around the side. I don't see anyone. I run across the road to another set of buildings. I knew the layout pretty well. Growing up around town gave me a little bit of advantage. I knew I had to pick up my pace, or he would catch up to me eventually, so I speed up till I was running again.

I stopped at the end of the alley, completely out of breath again, and my body couldn't go any further. I look around in desperation till I spot a place to hide to give me a chance to get my stamina back.

Sliding down the side of the building, I stay on my feet just in case I need to run, keeping my eyes on the entrance. My lungs pull air in as sweat runs down my face. I move my wet hair out of my way. Overwhelmed, I can no longer hold back my tears as the betrayal and fear wash over me. I was now all alone, betrayed, and wanted for unknown reasons. I had so many questions racing in my head with no answers. I can't seem to get his face out of my mind when he attacked me for no reason at all. I had never seen him that angry with me, even when I pushed him to his limits. It was clear that something snapped; he was not the same man who raised me as his own child. It was clear that something wasn't right.

A noise not far away pulls me from my thoughts. I look up in the direction of the sounds. Fear begins to spike through me as the sounds grow closer. I fear he has found me. I manage to stand up without making much sound as I make my way toward the end of the alley. I can only hope that in the darkness, I can outrun him. I know if I keep running, I will give myself away, so I look around in desperation for a spot to hide.

I manage to get around the corner, drop down, and hide beside a large metal garbage bin. Pushing myself against the wall, I try my best to conceal myself in the shadows. I see a few bags of trash and a few boxes that give me the idea of a perfect hiding place. I move the bags in front of me and the boxes to make them look like random trash that someone threw out.

My breathing is erratic, my heart is pounding, and all the adrenaline running through my body is taking its toll on me. The smell is about to make me gag as I try desperately to calm myself so I can focus on the situation. Who was I kidding? I was just a teenage girl, helpless and defenseless against him. I had a bad feeling about this whole situation, and I was not sure I was smart enough to figure a way out. When I hear footsteps closing in on me, I freeze. My whole body becomes stiff, and I quit breathing as my body trembles in fear. Please don't find me. I shout in my head as the footsteps stop. With every hair standing on end, I fight against my body's urge that screams for me to run. Did he find me? Can they see me? I wanted to move the box to see what was going on, but I knew better. Knowing if he spotted me, I wouldn't be able to outrun him from this distance.

I'm exhausted, and my body aches all over. All I can do is hold still and not make any noise. I make myself focus and try to be as calm as possible. The footsteps start again, and they are growing closer. I listen without moving a muscle as they walk right past me without stopping. They move out of the alley, and I let out the breath I was holding.

I move the bags and boxes very slowly to make any sounds that would draw any attention. I stand up and walk to the end of the alley. I peer around to see two men that I don't recognize making their way up the street. I try to make out more details, but they are already too far away for me to get a good look at their faces. I was relieved to know that neither one of them was my uncle. I wonder who they are and why they are looking for me. I jump when one of the men shouts. I freeze as I watch them take off, running out into the street.  

I take one quick look and slowly take off, running in the opposite direction. I'm trying to figure out where I can hide. My mind is blank as I look around in desperation. I'm almost to the end of the building leading to the main street when I look around. I spot a fire escape ladder hanging down only a few feet from the ground. I make a quick decision to take a chance to hide.

I jump up to grab ahold of the ladder; it makes a grinding sound as it comes down. I begin to climb up the rusty steps that threaten to give way to my weight. I climb onto the platform, then reach down and grab the top of the ladder to pull it up so no one can reach it from the ground. Holding the rails, I climb up a few more steps putting me further off the ground. 

When I reach the top, I find a window that's busted out. The broken glass litters the platform around the window. Carefully I stick my head inside to see if the building appears abandoned. When I'm sure that the building is empty, I slide the end of my sleeve over my hand so I can knock the rest of the window out. I take one last look around before I slide one leg in first, followed by the rest of my body. Holding on to the window frame, I steady myself as I pull my other leg through the window. Peering out, I look for any signs of anyone that might be around, only to find the streets are quiet with no one in sight. 

I step back from the window. I find that every muscle aches, making my body scream for relief. I walk over to the wall and slide down to sit on the ground. I lean up against the wall and bring my knees to my chest. I try to get control of my body that's shaking violently from my wet clothes and all the adrenaline running through me. I listen for any sounds that signal anyone's approach but only hear my ragged breathing.

With a jolt, I wake in a panic, realizing I must have dozed off sometime during the night from exhaustion. I look around to make sure I'm still alone.

The room is empty, with trash and broken items littering the floors. The walls have wallpaper with several spots that have peeled down the walls.

I manage to roll over, getting to my feet even though my body protests from the position I slept in all night. Making my way across the floor, avoiding several holes and cracks, I make my way toward the door. I push the door, making it creek on its rusty hinges.

Sticking my head out, I look to see if I can find anything to help me. I wasn't going to get my hopes up with the way everything looked. I make my way down the hall without stepping in the damaged parts of the floor. I find another door in the hallway. I push the door open to find a bathroom that had seen better days. A broken mirror hanging sideways on the wall over a dirty old skink stained with rust and grime.

I take my sleeve to my shirt and wipe a spot on the mirror to see how I look. I was curious about my injuries, especially how badly my face hurt. I knew that I had damage; I didn't realize how bad. When I get enough of the mirror wiped clean, my reflection shakes me to my core.

My poor face is a mess, with makeup running down my cheeks as the bruises show from underneath it all. I reach up and rub my face, but the sting from the cut that runs along my jaw makes me stop. Anger runs through me as I take in my appearance. I look like I got hit by a car with this amount of damage to my face. How could he do this to me? How could he say he loved me like his own child and turn around and attacked me?

Tears sting my eyes as I choke down a sob that threatens to undo me. My dark hair hangs flat past my shoulders in a tangled mess. The cut is not too deep that it would require stitches. I needed to clean it before any infection set in. My eyes look swollen from crying through the night. I pull my eyes from the mirror to assess the rest of my injuries.

I pull up my shirt and see a large black and blue bruise that matches my poor face. I hear something hit the floor. I reach down and see my necklace that broke when I was trying to get away. It was my mother's necklace that my uncle gave me when I was a young child. I put it in my pocket, so I don't lose it.

I begin to look at the rest of my injuries. I run my fingers along with the black bruise, making me flinch. I run my hand along my back, and it hurts in several places. I can only guess what my back looks with how it feels. I had no idea how bad it was last night with all the adrenaline raging through me.

I pull my shirt down, then slide my pants down to reveal more bruises covering several parts of my legs. I don't remember how I got those exactly. I figure it was when I was fighting him off. I pull my pants up, then fix my clothes so they don't look bad. I try to soothe my poor hair down to find it's a lost cause.

I wonder if this building has running water still. I turn the knob on the sink, hoping there might be some water, only to be disappointed when nothing happens. Just my luck as usual. What to do? I take my shirt sleeve and wipe my face the best I can to get as much dirt off my face as I can. I wipe only to find that it's not dirt but bruises that are starting to form on my face from when I fell. It looks no better than when I started. He beat the crap out of me with just his hands. I can't let anyone see me like this, or they will grow suspicious.

I head out of the bathroom, making my way through the building to find old broken furniture with trash lying around everywhere. I head back to the room where I came in last night. Sliding down the wall, I decided to wait till dark to travel in the shadows of the night, to keep hidden from the world.

I pull my knees up to rest my head. I reach into my pocket and pull out my necklace. I fiddle with the locket that always gave me comfort, knowing I had a piece of my mother with me. The locket was in the shape of a heart with strange writing engraved on the back in a language that I couldn't understand. Out of a nervous tick, I would rub my thumb along the engravings of the words.

When I was four years old, the necklace was given to me when my mother passed away. My uncle told me that I should take care of it and never take it off. I couldn't remember my mother or anything before I started living with my uncle after the accident that took my parents' lives. I cherished the necklace in hopes that my memories would come back one day, and I could remember the face of my mother. So, I never took it off since I was a small child, knowing it meant something special to my mother.  

I sit back, letting my head rest against the wall as my thoughts run wild. I can't help but get angry when I think about what my uncle had done to me. It was a side of him that I had never seen before. He was so mad at me, which had me confused. I tried to think of anything I had done to make him this angry with me, but I couldn't think of anything.

I've always tried to be a good child and always did what he told me to do, so his behavior confused me. I thought that he loved me as if I was his own daughter. He had raised me since I was four. I had no other family other than him, and I could honestly say it wasn't that bad growing up. He had taught me many things, and I had many happy childhood memories, except for the one night he snapped. The hate that I saw in his eyes for me made no sense to me. I was so scared as I begged and pleaded with him to stop. I still didn't know why he wanted to get me into the basement so badly.

As I ponder my thoughts, the sky slowly turns dark, signaling me to get out of here. I peek out the window to make sure that no one will see me as I make my way through the window the same way I entered the previous night. Carefully I make my way down the ladder that threatens to give way as it protests from my weight. I jump to the ground then run to the end of the alley.

I quickly look around the corner to make sure no one is around. I run down the street till I reach the park in hopes that it could provide better cover. I make my way through the park as I think of where to go. I can't run forever; I have to find a safe place to hide. Where do I go from here? I'm only seventeen with no other family other than my uncle, that has turned on me, leaving me all alone. I have to figure out what to do if I am going to survive the night.