It was hard to breathe. He knew what was happening, had experienced it many times and was completely aware that all he needed to do was just wake up but that didn't stop it from being just as terrifying as the first time he had dreamt it. The world was a mass of upside down blurred images streaked with red. Screams filled his ears and continuously echoed in his brain; they were non-sensical and jumbled but he knew their true meaning.

Help me…

His limbs were stuck fast, weighed down heavily by rocks.

Why won't you help me?

His hands were sweat slicked and scrambling out to something, someone but whoever they were just weren't reaching back.

Wake up… why won't you just wake up?

All at once it seemed as though someone had pulled the cloth bag from his head and everything dissolved into chaos as sirens and engines screeched with a passion, flashing lights almost blinded him from different directions. But none of that mattered because of what was next to him or more who was next to him…

No… please just no… I don't… I can't…

The blooded face with unseeing eyes was all it took for him to open his mouth and scream.

"Dad!"

His body came into motion and suddenly he was sitting up and staring at a darkened room, the last letter dying on his lips as he exhaled shakily. It was just a dream, and just as always he wished that was all it was. Swinging his legs round so that he could sit on the edge of bed, he blinked back frustrating tears and pushed back the old hurts to the corners of his mind.

With a sigh he pushed himself into standing position and pulled himself off the rickety bed that was temporarily his, waiting until his vision cleared and his head became less fuzzy he then ventured off into the bathroom.

As he looked in the mirror it was hard to recognise himself compared to what he was like just a year ago and the monstrous change from the three years before that. He looked worn, dark bruise like marks were positioned under his dark brown eyes. His once long brown hair was now cut short with only a slight fringe dusting his forehead. He was now an average height for his age of sixteen but also skinnier than most with pale skin which combined with everything else made him seem sickly.

The cold water was refreshing and as he scrubbed his face his eyes were drawn to the odd looking blue wrist-band wrapped around his arm. He hated it, the thing had brought him nothing but pain and loneliness but for all the anger and hatred he found in himself whenever he looked at the band he could never throw it away. For all the hurt it had brought him and as much as he hated to admit it, it also brought him some of his happiest memories, back before that pain and loneliness had turned him bitter to the world that the band brought with it.

"Justin?"

Only years of self-control kept him from attacking the poor women behind him as he jumped. After his contemplation in the bathroom he had ventured downstairs for a glass of water. It had been 3:14 when he'd sat down it was now 6:20. Oops… He cringed as he faced the glare that told him she knew exactly what he'd been doing which was not sleeping as it should have been.

Abbey Carter was the orphanages main caretaker, she had been there when he'd first been left at the age of ten and had welcomed him back with open arms at the age of fifteen. Time had treated her well, even with the stern frown on her face the laugh lines around her warm green eyes and mouth were un-missable. Her blonde hair only slightly streaked with white was scrapped back into a messy bun. She was in her late fifties, something he had found out accidently, but was as rampant and formidable as if she were in her twenties. She made living there bearable.

"Justin, stop thinking those thoughts right now mister," she sighed her eyes softening and her frown replaced by an easy going smile.

He shrugged, offering her a sheepish smile. Talking wasn't something he did a lot of these days, words had often gotten him into trouble so he had lost all will power in using them at all.

"Is this about the move today sweetheart?" Oh shit, he had forgotten about that completely and that just made this day seem even worst.

Little Angels orphanage was crumbling at the seams and was in desperate need of repair, a need that unfortunately meant most of the kids, including himself, were being relocated to different homes for the time being. Abbey took a seat opposite him at the table, staring him straight in the eye.

"Your new social worker is nice, young but is great with kids. He should be seeing as I mentored him for a while." This was new information; there weren't a lot of people she could have mentored in the last few years between the times he'd been there. With that new though he tuned back in to what she was saying.

"This will be good for you Justin, I think you'll be surprised at what you could find in store for you there."

With that cryptic message and a last parting smile with a sly wink she stood back up and left the kitchen as quickly as she had came. She was normally a very straight forward talking person compared to the other workers who would either baby the kids or ignore them completely, so that last message in itself had been strange coming from her.

He stretched, maybe she was right and he was just being pessimistic but he couldn't help looking at this new day with a feeling of dread.

With a put upon sigh that only teenagers seemed capable of he pushed himself up and dragged himself towards his room to grab what few belongings he had left that he could call his own and spend what little time before the chaos of the orphanage began and he lost what little security he had found in this old building, to relax in his room with that book he'd been meaning to read.

Maybe Reefside wouldn't be too bad.