Chapter 1

I climbed to the top of the hill, tired and breathing heavily. Without shoes on, I could feel the soft, lush grass and soil beneath me. I could smell the many flowers, particularly lavender, mixed in with the trees surrounding me. The sky was a dark navy blue, and the stars were just beginning to show. Down the hill I could see my hometown. The houses were a rainbow of earth tone colors. I smiled weakly and took a deep breath of fresh air.

Walking down the hill, although faster, was more painful. Sharp rocks often cut into my tired feet.

I stopped at a house near the hill id just scaled down from. I waited outside, listening, before tentatively knocking on the back door. A few moments later, a young girl, no older than seven answered the door. Her wide, innocent eyes grew wider when she saw me. She then smiled, showing her two bottom front teeth were missing. "Hello sir!" She giggled. I hesitated, and then smiled back politely. "Hello." The hyperactive little girl hopped up and down, holding onto the door handle. "What's your name?" She asked, suddenly growing still with a curious look on her face. "My name is Dustin." I answered, squatting down to her height. "What's yours?" I asked while taking in her appearance.

She had skin a shade darker than peanut butter, long thick, wavy almost black hair. Large wide brown eyes filled with curiosity and wonder, with long dark eyelashes. She had on a dress, dirty from playing outside all day in, and scuffed up tennis shoes. Through her rant, I learned that her name was Sophie. I smiled graciously, "Sophie, a beautiful name, perfect for such a beautiful little girl." Sophie giggle and high pitched giggle. "Sophie, are your parents' home?" I asked, knowing I needed to talk to some adults. She nodded quickly and ran off, her shoes trailing bits of mud throughout the house.

For about five minutes I waited outside, standing as still as could, trying hard not to shiver. It was during this time that I realized how awful I must look. Dried blood all over me. Clothes shredded off of me, also coved in my own blood. I am filthy, and smell like death and mud. My hair is greasy and has grown out quite a bit, and I am in dire need of a shower. I become more self-conscious of myself as the door opens again and I am faced with a women and a boy about my age.

The women gasped when she saw me. The boy just stared into my eyes a long moment before turning away. "Oh my gosh! Look at you! Who are you? Where are your parents?" The women said in a motherly voice. I forced my face to show no emotion, but my eyes became wet with tears at the mention of my parents. I failed to keep my voice strong, and choked out, "They're gone." She frowned in understanding. "Louis, why don't you take him upstairs so he can bathe? And give him some clothes to wear while you're at it."

"Come on." Louis said, motioning me to follow him. We walked through what I assumed to be the livingroom, up a staircase, through a hallway and into the bathroom. He turned on the shower, adjusting the heat so it wasn't too hot or too cold. Louis turned toward me, "Keep the door unlocked, I'll be back in a minute with clothes." I nodded and waited for him to leave, shutting the door behind him, before stripping my clothes off and folding them neatly and setting them in a pile. I stepped into the shower, getting to work on cleaning the dirt and grime off my body.

As I was about to wash the shampoo out of my hair, I heard the door open and close. My body tensed up at the sound of footsteps coming closer into the room. I stilled my body, not daring to breathe as I listened intently to what was going on just outside of the shower I was in. "The clothes are on the counter." Louis called over the shower. My body tensed further, before relaxing finally. His footsteps paused, and I felt him staring at my form through the fogged up glass door. I wondered if I was supposed to say something, and whispered a thank you. The door opened and closed again and I got back to work on cleaning myself. I watched the dirt and small twigs, and dried up blood, not only mine, stain the water a dirty rust color.

When I was finished, I stayed in a moment longer to make sure there was nothing on the floor of the shower. I stepped out into the cold air of the bathroom and grabbed a towel. I stood in front of the mirror watching myself as I dried myself off.

I could see my ribs and spine easily and there were many bruises, cuts and scars all around my body. I had sickening greenish yellow bruises around my neck where someone had tried to choke me. I had burn scars wrapping around my left arm, and words carved into my right side. They were unreadable to most people, because it was a long forgotten language. Turning around, I saw welts and deep, perfectly straight scars going across my back. There were faint bite marks on my neck and shoulders.

Tears stung my eyes as I had flashbacks of whips, chains, snakes, and much more filled my mind. A few tears fell, but I bit back the rest and pulled on a pair of loose pajama bottoms that barely held on to my hips, and a shirt, also extremely loose. I was lucky that the sleeves covered most of my arms.

I looked back into the mirror and combed my fingers through my hair, trying hard not to think about the fact that my face was also just skin and bones. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and left the bathroom, walking out into the living room.

When I reached the stairs, Sophie ran up and greeted me by hugging my sore leg. I stumbled a bit and grabbed the wooden railing to regain my balance. She smiled up at me, and I smiled back weakly. I fallowed Sophie down the stairs and into the kitchen where her mother and Louis were.

Authors Note

To be honest, im not sure where this was going…I can tell its not going in the direction I originally planned! But, you cant plan everythin that goes on :P Anyone that thinks this is worthy of more chapters should really review so that I actually have motivation. Thank you for reading