A/N : First of all, to the readers of my other stories, I am still continuing them, I am writing follow up chapters for some of my other stories, and for some stories, I'm kinda stuck. I will update every story, some sooner then other. So hang in there with me, thanks.

Summary : Lucas and Haley James are cought in a web of lies, abuse, torture and rape. Will they ever be freed from this cycle of violence ? Very dark story. Rated M for certain scenes.

Crawling In The Dark

Chapter 1

It was a new start for the twins, Lucas and Haley James, as they stepped into the halls of Tree Hill High. They were receiving stares from everyone because they were new, but at least the stares weren't because of something worse, this time.

Lucas and Haley were 16 years old and adopted. They had been adopted when they were 2 years old by Mr. and Mrs. Harold. The Harold had insested Lucas and Haley kept their own last names when they adopted them. It had been strange, but they oblidged.

Haley glanced at Lucas from time to time, trying to do her best to not let the tears of guilt run freely. It had happened again last night, as it does every night. Neither of them can stop it, never, they can only protect their secret.

Lucas didn't pay attention to any of the people in the school, he just had to protect his sister. He may not be able to protect her at home, but at school, no one would ever EVER hurt her. That much he knew for sure.

They both stayed silent as they continued to walk, in search for the principal's office. They walked past a guy with raven black hair standing in between a girl with blonde curls and a girl with straight dark brown hair.

Lucas didn't know why, but for some reason, he couldn't keep his eyes of of them, he just stood still for a few seconds, staring, as they stared back, it felt rather uncomfortable. Lucas was pulled out of his gaze by Haley, it stung his arm, but he made no sound, nor did he flinch, he was used to the pain by now.

"Okay, that was awkwurd. What was that all about?" The small brunette said to her friends as she continued to stare at the spot where the new boy had been watching them.

"Maybe he's got a hard on for you, Brooke. I know I do." The boy said as he tried to kiss Brooke on the cheek, she pushed him away, laughing. He always acted silly like that.

"Eww, Nate, find yourself a girlfriend. Perv." She said as she whiped the spot on her right cheek where he had kissed her. Nathan Scott was the most popular guy in school. He was the captain of the Ravens basketball team and yet he had no girlfriend. He always said most girls at Tree Hill High had too little braincells for him. He smirked at Brooke, she rolled her eyes.

Brooke Davis, she was one of the most popular girls at Tree Hill High, she was Co-Captain of the Ravens cheerleader. She was single too, but had no problem with it, knowing she could have a guy at her side by just snapping her fingers. The other most popular girl in school and Co-Captain of the cheerleaders was the blonde girl next to Nathan, Peyton Sawyer. She was also Brooke's best friend and Nathan's ex-girlfriend. The three of them always hung together, they were the best of friends and always had fun with one and other.

Lucas and Haley sat in the chairs before the desk of the principal's office, he had been staring at them for a few moments now, sillence ruling the room. Finally he opened two files and read through them quickly.

"First, I'd like to say welcome to Tree Hill. I hope you will enjoy your time here. Second, I must say I'm impressed, the two of you have an amazing track record. I see you almost always get straight A's, that's very good." He said, Lucas rolled his eyes.

He knew what would happen if he got less than an A, he once came home with an A minus, he can't even think about what happened then without getting sick, though that had been nothing compared to the time he came home with a B.

"Thank you, principal Turner. Can we go now so we can find our class in time ?" Haley asked, Lucas was always amazed by the way she handled herself around people, she did it much better of him. She was always friendly and calm, while Lucas always had to control his anger and fear.

"Off course, enjoy your first day." Principal Turner said as Lucas and Haley stood up and walked out of the class. Again, they were silent. This is how they operated during the day, through silence, they wanted to focuss on anything besides home, but it wasn't working for either of them.

"What's the first class ?" Haley asked Lucas, they always had the exact same classes, they always insisted on that and they always got their wish due to the fact they were such good students.

"P.E., followed by a free period." Lucas said with a sigh, he hated P.E. as did Haley. They always had to wait to get dressed until everyone had left the room, they always got called freaks for that.

Haley looked at Lucas, she wasn't sure if he'd be up to P.E. today, but then again, skipping it was out of the question, or they would only make things worse if their parents found out. She touched his hand, letting him know that they would do it together as they always did. He smiled, as long as she was by his side, he was able to smile.

They said goodbye as they had to change in seperate rooms, everyone stared as Lucas entered the boys locker room. Lucas noticed that guy with the raven black hair from earlier in the hall was looking at him again. Lucas sat down on the bench as the rest of the boys changed into their blue shorts and white t-shirt.

"Yo, new guy, coach is gonna kill you if you show up late." the guy with raven black hair said as some of the other boys already started to leave the locker room. Nathan was a little weirded out that the new kid wasn't speaking or doing anything at all. He decided to find out what the deal with him was later, he didn't want to be late for practice.

As Nathan stepped inside the gym, he saw Brooke waving him to come over, she was standing with Peyton. Nathan smiled and walked over to them, before he could say anything, Brooke began to talk.

"You will never believe what just happened in our locker room." Brooke said, Peyton rolled her eyes, she loved Brooke, she did and Brooke was one of the nicest persons she knew, but when she knew about a good gossip, she could talk about it for hours.

"Propably nothing as weird as what happened in my locker room." Nathan said as he tilded his head over to the direction of the boys locker room.

"No, it's much better, it's... wait, what happened in your locker room ?" Brooke asked, it was an awfull coincedence that something would happen in the boys locker room at the same time something happened in the girls locker room.

"The new guy, the one we saw earlier today, with the sandy blonde hair, he wouldn't get changed. He just sat down on the bench and stared at the floor while the rest of us changed." Nathan said, he saw by the expression on Brooke and Peyton's faces that they hadn't expected that.

"What ?" He asked as the girls looked at their locker room.

"The new girl that keeps hanging with the new guy did the exact same thing. She just sat down on the bench and looked at the floor. When we told her Coach Whitey would get mad if she were late, she just shrugged and kind of chuckled." Peyton said as she looked at Brooke and Nathan. That was very weird indeed, and if Peyton knew one thing, she knew Brooke and Nathan would try and get to the bottom of that, they could never control their curiousity.

Coach Brian 'Whitey' Durham blew his whistle and told them they would play basketball during today's class. Everyone liked that, they always begged Whitey to let them play basketball during gym class, but usually he would let them run or do some other exercises. For Nathan, this was considered as some extra practice, since he and a few other guys in the class were on the team.

Five minutes into the game, Lucas finally came out of the locker room, followed by Haley coming out of her locker room. Lucas gave Haley a small smile, they always timed their watches so they would come outside around the same time.

Haley walked over to Lucas, but before either one could say anything, Coach Whitey blew his whistle again. Everyone stopped playing and looked at the two newcomers. Coach Whitey stepped through the crowd of students and walked to the newcomers and stopped when he stood a little before them.

"Is there any good reason why you two are late for my class ?" Whitey asked, staring in their eyes. He could usually read someone by the look in their eyes, but this time it was strange, the thing he thought he saw in both their eyes was pain, sorrow, anger. He didn't show it, but he was a little startled by this. Haley and Lucas both shook their heads, there was no reason to why they were late.

"Hmm, what's your name girly ?" Whitey asked, Haley just stared and the floor as she answered.

"Haley... Haley James." She said, then Whitey turned to Lucas.

"What about you, boy ? You have a name ?" Whitey asked, Lucas sighed, if this coach would be pissed at them everytime they were late, they would really have to re-consider changing untill everyone was gone.

"Lucas James." He said, Whitey nodded.

"Ah, the twins that transferred. I see the resemblence. Now, one last thing, why are both of you violating the dress code ?" Whitey asked as he looked at the long sleeved shirts both Lucas and Haley were wearing under their T-shirt.

"It's cold." They both answered at the same time, which happened every now and then, it was funny, though they didn't really smile.

"Ah, we have some jokers here, fine. You can joke around while giving me 20 laps around the court, followed by 10 sit ups and 5 free throws in a row. You screw up, you start over, everything. If you don't finish in time, too bad, you're staying here till you're ready. Enjoy." Whitey said as Haley and Lucas' face turned sour.

"Are you sure you're up for this, Luke ?" Haley asked Lucas as they got ready to start, Lucas didn't answer. He just started to run the 20 laps, Haley sighed and followed. Every bone in her body hurt and she knew it was the same or worse for Lucas.

Lucas felt free as he ran, he only had 10 more laps to do, he was doing great. Haley wasn't as fast, but she had never been good at sports and she was probably hurting. He felt the pain too, but he kept going, he had to be strong, brave, for Haley's sake. So he tried his best to ignore the pain, so far, it was working.

By the end of the class, Lucas and Haley were busy doing their last sit-ups. They both stood up at about the same time, but instead of picking up a ball and walking to the hoop, Lucas walked up to Coach Whitey.

"Coach ?" Lucas said, he forgot what his name was.

"Yes ?" Whitey said as he turned around, Haley looked at Lucas talking to Whitey, she wasn't sure what he was asking him, but she hoped it had nothing to do with home. Nathan, Brooke and Peyton had been joking around, they were the last people, exept for the coach and the James twins in the gym. They stopped playing when they saw Lucas head up to the coach.

"Could I do Haley's free throws too ? It's because she broke her arm once a few years ago and she can't really throw a ball, at all. I don't want her to have to start over again." Lucas said, coach Whitey looked over at Haley watching them, then back at Lucas.

"Fine, you can do your throws, your sister's throws and 20 more. If you fail to do 30, you start over." Coach Whitey said as he walked over to the bleachers with a clip board in his hand, and sat down, as he did that, he noticed Nathan, Peyton and Brooke sitting not far from him.

"Why aren't you changing for your next class ?" Whitey asked them as he looked at them, suspicious of why they were still there.

"We have a free period, we wanted to see the new kid throw." Nathan said as he looked while Lucas stepped up to the line and began his free throws. The first one went in very smoothly, as did the second one and the one after that. They all went in very smoothly, as if he were a natural.

Lucas got ready for the last shot, he knew it would go straight in, they always did. He loved this game, but he didn't play it, he would have to leave Haley alone at home too much and besides, everyone would notice the bruises then, so he never joined any teams, though he had been asked a lot at his previous school.

He made the shot and again it went straight in, Haley smiled at Lucas, she was glad he did her free throws, she was awfull at it. Without any comments, Lucas and Haley headed to the locker rooms, only to be stopped by Whitey.

"James!" Whitey yelled, Lucas turned around, as did Haley, she knew it wasn't her he was calling, but she wanted to hear what the coach had to say.

"You were good out there. How would you like to try out for the Ravens, our basketball team ?" Whitey asked, Lucas sighed, he wanted to say yes, but he couldn't, he just knew he couldn't.

"Thanks, but I don't play." Lucas said before he dissapeared into the boys locker room and Haley dissapeared into the girls locker room.

Peyton, Nathan and Brooke were horsing around again, they still had 40 minutes left to their next class, which was enough time.

"Hey B. Davis, shouldn't you be snooping around in our locker room ? The new girl's there, maybe she'll tell you her secret." Peyton said as Brooke did a backhand flip.

"Nah, I'm having too much fun, I'll do it later." Brooke said as she stood up and threw herself at Nathan. Coach Whitey watched the scene and shook his head, they did that almost every time and no matter how much he yelled at them or punished them, they still did it.

Lucas and Haley had managed to survive their first day at Tree Hill together. At lunch that had sat together, in a dark corner, avoiding everyone, their usual routine. They dreaded going home, they knew what would happen, they always knew. But they had no choice, and they couldn't be late either, so they got into Lucas' car and he started to drive home.

"What if we tell someone ?" Haley suddenly asked Lucas, he sighed, she would always get nervous on the drive home and ask the same question everytime.

"We've discussed this, we tell, we're out on the streets, no one would believe us." Lucas said as he made a turn into the street he lived, coming closer to their house.

"Besides, we deserve everything we get. We're bad children." Lucas said as he pulled up at the driveway of their house.

"Yeah, bad..." Haley said as she and Lucas got out of the car, walked up to the door, opened it and walked inside, to the living room to greet their parents.

"Hi mommy, hi daddy." Haley said as she gave her parents a kiss on the cheek, she was forced to do that every day, several times, if she didn't, hell would be paid.

"Hello sir. Hello mother." Lucas said as he nodded his head at them, he was forced to greet them that way, at least it was better than Haley's way, which simply sickened him.

"How was your first day ?" Shana Harold, their adoptive mother asked, smiling her usual sneeky smile.

"Fine, thank you." Lucas said by which Haley agreed, they were about to head upstairs to their rooms when a hand on Haley's wrist stopped her, she froze on the spot as her wrist started to hurt and her heart started to break.

Lucas turned around, looking from Haley to John Harold, his adoptive father, standing behind Haley, holding her wrist.

"We have homework." Lucas said, knowing he'd only get himself in trouble by talking back, and he was right.

Without any warning, Shana slapped him across the face, looking very pissed.

"You know you're not permitted to speak unless we say so." She said as she slapped him again as punishment, Lucas touched his cheek, trying to control himself so he wouldn't start crying.

"Haley..." Lucas said as he looked at Haley, she still stood in the same spot, frozen, silently crying. John let go of Haley and walked up to Lucas. He looked him straight in the eye before hitting him in the stomach, not once, not twice, but three times. All this time Lucas stayed on his feet, he didn't want to leave Haley alone, knowing what would happen.

"Go upstairs! I'll deal with you later!" John said, grabbing Lucas by his neck and pushing him to the stairs. Lucas knew what his father meant when he said he'd deal with him later, he knew, he always knew. He looked at Haley once more and headed upstairs, there was nothing that could be done that wouldn't make it worse for both of them.

John walked back to Haley, grabbed her arm, so hard it hurt, and lead her to the only bedroom on the first floor. Without even realizing it, she started to struggle, as she did everytime. He hit her in the stomach, causing her to fall to the floor.

"Get up!" He yelled as he grabbed her arm and pulled her up. She was crying, yelling she didn't want to, which only caused more beatings. He threw her inside the room, pulled her up again and threw her on the bed, she cried out in pain.

"Please, daddy, please don't." Haley begged as he began to pull her pants down, followed by her panties. He took of his own pants and underweard and forcred himself in her. She cried out in pain, she tried to dissapear into her mind. Think about something happy, something she loved, singing, she loved that, she could escape the pain if she thought of that. But it didn't work, it never worked, the pain only got worse as she screamed, John put his hand over her mouth.

Lucas burried his head under his pillow, he couldn't stand the screams of his baby sister (he was 5 minutes older). All he wanted was to go down there and help her, but he knew they'd only get punished more because of that.

The screams finally stopped after an hour, two hours, three, Lucas didn't keep track. One minute felt like a lifetime, so it really didn't matter how long it was this time.

John got off of Haley and looked at her wih disgust.

"Get dressed and go to your room. Filfthy whore." He said as he spat to the ground and left the room for Haley to get dressed. She put her panties and her pants back on, she didn't cry. She always cried during and hours after, but right after she never cried, she couldn't for some reason.

She stood up and walked upstairs to her room. She wanted Lucas to comfort her, but she knew they'd get punished for that, they weren't allowed to talk to each other in the house, they had broken that rule several times, especially at night, sometimes they were lucky and didn't get caught, but most of the times, they got caught and things got bad then.

As she walked inside the room and turned on the light she jumped up when she saw her mother sitting on her bed, smoking a cigarette.

"Did you enjoy it ? Slut." Shana said as she took a puf from her cigarette. Haley knew what was to come, this didn't happen everytime, but it happened often enough, whenever Shana was too drunk or high or both.

Haley wanted to say no, but she knew if she did that, she was only going to hurt herself with it. She had learned to say yes a long time ago, so it came easier.

"Yes, momma." Haley said as she felt even more disgusted now. Shana motioned Haley to sit down next to her as she took another puf of her cigarette. Haley swallowed but did as she was told, trying to prepare herself for what was to come.

"You're dirty. Dirty girls need to be punished." Shana said as she grabbed Haley's left arm, Haley didn't struggle, she did nothing that would make it worse.

"Yes, momma." Haley said as her breathing got quicker and the heet of the cigarette came closer. Haley closed her eyes, she didn't want to see it, she bit down on her teeth, waiting for it to come.

Suddenly she screamed, she couldn't help it, who wouldn't scream when a cigarette was pushed onto your skin.

"I... I... I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'll try to be good, I promise." Haley cried, Shana nodded, took the cigarette of Haley's skin and walked outside the room. Haley held her arm, crying, she wished for death to come so badly, she couldn't keep living like this.

Lucas had heard the scream coming from the room across his, he knew what it was. They never did that to him, but he knew because she showed him the first time their mother did that to her. He had his own punishments, the only thing they had in common about the punishments was what happened in in the bedrooms with their father. He couldn't even think about the word that was used for that, he just thought of it as a bad nightmare and the day they would go to far and finally kill him, he would wake up and be happy...

It was past 1am when the door of his room opened, he was still awake, he hardly ever slept, he sat up, hoping to find Haley standing there, instead he saw his father, John Harold. Lucas swallowed, he hated this part. John would always take Haley to his bedroom, but not Lucas. He always came to Lucas' bedroom at night, always holding a sharp needle and lighter in his left hand.

"Take of your shorts and turn around." John said as he stepped further into the room untill he stood at the end of the bed.

"No, I can't." Lucas said, he always said this, he never did what John asked, he knew he should, he was bad for not listening and deserved to be punished, at least that's what he believed. But still, he said no each time, hoping, praying, maybe one day John would listen and go away, but he never did.

He walked up to the right side of the bed and kicked Lucas off the bed. Lucas crawled away, trying to reach the door, but John grabbed him by his neck before he could reach it. Lucas was thrown onto the bed again with a loud thump.

Lucas struggled with John, waving his arms in the air, but John was much stronger then Lucas and not too mention in better condition too. He turned Lucas around, forcing him to lay on his stomach as John pulled his shorts off, took of his own pants and underwear and began to violate Lucas yet again.

Lucas bit down on his pillow, tears running down his face, but he didn't scream, he almost never screamed. He tried to struggle, but it hurt and he was too weak.

Haley lay awake in her bed, she had heard all the loud thumps, she knew what was happening. They were bad to her, but worse to him, they were always worse to him. He had the courage to speak up, he once said something about their mother's drug addiction and he was locked in his room for a week, tortured, abused, without any food. He had survived it, but he had never been the same after that week, when the abuse first started, we took it in, it wasn't so bad yet, but that week, they began something which changed him more than anything. Something they have continued over the years, whenever they felt like it.

After John had put his pants back on, he started to heat the needle, Lucas didn't move, he laid perfectly still. He knew the reason why John was still in his room, the thing that changed him more than anything, it was about to happen again. This was more painfull than anything, he bit down on his pillow, very hard, so he wouldn't scream, he hated it when he screamed, but this was very hard.

John pulled Lucas' T-shirt up and revealed carvings on his back. Numbers from 1 to 4 and sentences next to them were carved in his skin, done with a heated needle.

Whenever John would brand Lucas, he would either carve a number or a letter, only one each night, so it wouldn't be over too fast. Lucas knew what was written on the carvings, he had forced Haley to tell him, even though she didn't want to tell him because it was too awfull.

It said this, so far :

1 I AM BAD

2 I AM DIRTY

3 I AM WEAK

4 I AM STUPID

John was currently carving the number 5 in Lucas' back as Lucas had to use every fiber in his being not to scream, biting down hard on his pillow, his nails digging into his bed, tears running down his face, he had succeeded, he hadn't screamed as the number 5 was now on his back, blood dripping from the still open wound.

"Good night, son." John said, very casual and almost sweet sounding, as if nothing had just happened. Lucas sighed and stood up, he was going to take a shower. He always showered at night, it was another torture method of them, he wasn't allowed to shower during the day, only at night, to keep him up longer, he was also forced to get up at 5am, which was only 3 hours away...

Lucas didn't feel like a human being, he hadn't felt like that for a long time. He felt like an object people could play with and he would take it all in. It was his own fault, he was bad, dirty, weak, stupid and whatever was to come next. He's been told those things for so long he just believes them, he's to blame, not his parents, but he is to blame, he has sinned too many times and so has Haley. ..

TO BE CONTINUED