A young, raven haired boy was running through the streets, going as fast as his thin legs could carry him. His lungs felt like they were going to burst and his entire body was in pain from the fever he hadn't fully recovered from last night. He knew he wasn't running straight as he kept bumping into the brick walls of shops, and anyone who saw him might've thought that he was insane.

He seemed to run even faster when he saw that he was on the block that he lived, and he quickly pulled the house keys out of his pocket, shoving them into the lock and unlocking the door at an alarmingly fast rate. He was an entire minute late, and he knew that he would be severely punished for it if his guardian was home.

'Please don't be home... Please don't be home...'

He silently pleaded as he took off his shoes at the entrance. His prayers went unanswered as he was backhanded by the woman who claimed to be his aunt.

"You were late by an entire minute! I told you to come home on time today! Is it too hard to ask that you at least be home by 4:30!?" The woman shouted angrily as Oliver fell from the impact, holding his cheek where she had scratched him. It was more of a push than a slap, but her hand had cracked across his face and had given him several scratches in the process.

"I'm sorry..." He muttered out, not bothering to mention the fact that one of the teachers had held him back an extra hour to do some late work. It wouldn't do him any good, as his aunt would just hit him even more saying that he didn't have the right to blame other people for his mistakes.

"You'd better be sorry! You purposefully disobeyed me you foolish, rebellious child!" She once again shouted as she kicked him and made him get on his hands and knees. She then stepped on the back of his neck with one of her heels, digging the sharp heel into his tender flesh causing him to bite his lip to keep from crying out in pain.

He put his hands on his head to keep her from stepping on anything too vital as she continually kicked him, not caring that one of her heels had been broken.

"A-auntie..." He cried out, when she continued to kick him, having seemingly lost herself in her anger. "Why do you have to make my life so difficult!? I wish you had never been born, my sister and husband would still be alive otherwise! You're not loved! You're not wanted! What makes you think you are?!" She shouted, obviously sounding very angry and stressed out.

Oliver knew that she had to be stressed out with her work, and that she was trying to relieve a bit of her stress. He also knew that it was his fault that his parents had died, and that if he weren't here his parents would still be alive and well.

His aunt eventually seemed to tire herself out, as she stopped kicking him and was breathing rather heavily. "Go clean yourself up. Our new neighbor is coming over to dinner tonight." She said before she turned around and walked off into the kitchen, taking off her now broken heels and throwing them away. Her job may have been stressful, but it most definitely payed well.

Oliver did as his aunt commanded him and dragged his body upstairs. When he entered his room he pulled out a bottle of painkillers, swallowing four of them without any water. He knew he wasn't suppose to take them on an empty stomach, but at the moment he didn't care as he just wanted to the pain to hurry up and fade away.

He then entered his bathroom and locked the door, just in case his aunt tried to do something to him while he was showering. It was quite unlikely now since he was turning fifteen in a few months, but she had used to do it all the time when he was little. He was pretty sure that he still had a scar somewhere on his body from a time that she had intruded.

Oliver turned on the water and stepped in, beginning to shiver as the cold water pierced his skin. His aunt didn't permit him to use the hot water, and she always did a body check after his shower so that she would know and could punish him if he used hot water.

After a minute or two of standing in the shower his body got accumulated to the cold water, making it a bit less miserable for him. He moved his bangs from out of his eyes and then grabbed the soap and began soaping up his wash cloth, his fingers beginning to get numb from the cold, causing him to move a bit faster.

The soap he used smelt of mint and coconut, and he actually found himself liking the scent as it was the same soap that his mother used as weird as it sounded.

He quickly washed his hair and rinsed all the soap and suds off his body before turning off the water and quickly stepping out. He then glanced towards the mirror and allowed himself to look in it for a few moments.

He frowned at what he saw. He was short, standing at a measly five foot two. He was underweight, weighing only eighty-five pounds and could count every rib in his body. His hair was raven black and traveled down to his shoulders. His bangs were too long and went down to the bridge of his nose, hiding his eyes from the rest of the world.

He moved his bangs out the way so that he could see the monstrosity that he called a face. His eyes were large, and were framed by thick, long black eyes lashes. His face was small and round, with light freckles on the bridge of his nose and on his cheekbones. His skin was a ghostly white color from lack of sun and he looked half dead. There were bruises along the left side of his jaw and his right cheek was now red as well, with red scratches that were beginning to bleed again.

His eyes were the worst thing about him. They were two completely different colors, causing him to look even more like a monster. His right eye was a vibrant blue color, with flecks of gold and purple in it. His left eye was a forest green color with a bit of pink and orange in the mixture. He quickly broke eye contact with his reflection and looked down towards the sink, sighing a bit.

'You're nothing but a freak.'

He thought before quickly drying himself off and heading back into his room, grabbing a change of clothes to wear. He then ran the towel through his hair a few times and sat down on the edge of his bed, opening the drawer in his nightstand and pulling out a few rolls of bandages.

He usually didn't cover up his bruises and scratches, but since someone new was coming over, he thought that it'd be best if he did. The last time he didn't he had scared the neighbors away, and they hadn't come back over since.

He put a thin patch on his cheek where the scratches were, as well as another on his jaw were the bruises were, wrapped his arms from the bruises that were covering it, and wrapped his neck where there were bruises from his aunt's heels. Once he had completed that his aunt told him to hurry up and to not keep their guest waiting.

Her voice had lost all its hostility as she put on a front for their guest. Oliver obeyed her and quickly put his things away, heading down the stairs a few moments later.

He entered the dining room where he assumed his aunt and their guest were, and he was right. "Set the table for me." His aunt said without even sparing him a glance. "Yes auntie." He said as he pulled out plates from the cabinet and set the table. While he placed the plates down he took a chance to spare a look at their guest.

He appeared to be about Oliver's age, maybe a year or so older. He wore a black and silver jacket and one white glove on his left hand, along with a pair of jeans. His hair was pure white, contrasting Oliver's raven black hair, and went down to his neck cut in what was considered a cute style by most. He had a strange red mark of some sort over his left eye that went down to his cheekbone, and Oliver questioned where he got it from, as well as why he wore only one glove.

Their eyes locked for a moment before Oliver quickly casted his glance to the ground before he quickly finished setting up the table. A moment or two later he sat down, across from the white haired boy who had yet to introduce himself. His aunt came with the food and put it on the table, before sitting next to Oliver, causing him to tense up for a long minute.

"So, what brings you to this neighborhood?" his aunt asked as they all began to eat their food, Oliver's gaze fixated on the table as though there were something on it that amused him. "I heard that the schools here were really good, and I wanted to see for myself." He said, causing Oliver to glance up just to see that the boy was staring at him.

He must've been lying when he said that the schools were good, as most of the people who left this school ended up as lifetime Walmart or McDonalds employees. Their althetic team was also nothing to brag about as he didn't remember the last time that there was an actual trophy in their trophy case.

He wondered why they even had that anymore, as it was just taking up hallway space and money at this point. "Really? What grade are you going into?" His aunt asked as she stuck another piece of food into her mouth, her gaze occasionally looking down at the younger boy beside her. "I'm going to be a junior." He said as he ate his food rather quickly, causing Oliver to worry as he thought he might choke on it.

"Oh wow, you're in the same grade as my nephew Oliver here." She said as she wrapped her arm around one of Oliver's slender shoulders, causing him to tense. He knew that she was only pretending to be friendly and she that she would go back to her hurtful ways as soon as he left. She always did.

"Oh really? I thought you were his mom, you two look so much alike!" The white haired teen said in shock as he glanced back and forth between the two. "No I'm not. Sadly Oliver's parents both died in a fire when he was six. He was lucky to make it out alive." She said as her voice got a bit quiet. She then perked up a bit and released Oliver, causing him to relax once more.

"Oh my where are my manners?! I almost forgot to introduce myself! My name's Kim and this is my nephew Oliver." She said with a fake looking smile on her face. "It's nice to meet you, my name's Allen." The boy responded, a smile on his face as well.

'So... His name is... Allen...'

Oliver thought as he glanced up from his food, chewing on a piece of pasta rather slowly. He knew he would most likely just be forced to throw it up anyway and he didn't want to eat a lot.

"Thank you guys for having me over by the way, and I'm glad to see that there's someone here that's around my age." Allen said as he smiled directly at Oliver, causing him to look down and blush. His aunt glared at Oliver for a moment, though she simply turned the other way once she had remembered that they had a guest. Allen looked at her curiously, although he soon began diving into his food again, causing Kim to actually chuckle a bit.

"My, my, would you like seconds? There's plenty enough." Kim said as she picked up the plate of food and began to put more on Allen's plate before he could object. "Thank you." Allen said as he began to dig into the food again, earning the curious glance of Oliver.

'How can one person hold so much food?'

Oliver thought as his aunt picked up both his and her plates, walking them over to the sink. "So... How old are you?" Allen asked as he took it upon himself to start the conversation with the raven haired boy.

Oliver looked up towards Allen, before avoiding his gaze and directing it towards the ground. He fumbled with his hands for a few moments before he began to speak, his voice quiet. "I'm fourteen." He mumbled out, ashamed that he wasn't even able to have a normal conversation without screwing things up.

"But didn't your aunt say that you were a junior like me?" Allen asked actually a bit confused. Oliver flinced at the word 'aunt' and began fiddling with the end of his shirt. "I skipped eighth and ninth grade..." Just then his aunt came into the room handing Allen another full plate of food to which he said thank you to and began digging into his food immediately, obviously enjoying the food.

Kim simply smiled at him and the two continued a bit of small talk in between Allen eating while Oliver just kind of sat there a bit awkwardly before gathering the courage to speak again. "Uhm... May I be excused?" He asked, his shoulders trembling as he glanced over at his aunt.

She glared down at him for a few moments, telling Oliver that he would later be punished for even speaking to her. When Allen hadn't been looking she had even kicked Oliver under the table before she began to speak. "Go ahead." Was all she said before she turned her attention back to Allen as though he were her own skin and blood.

Relief flooded through Oliver as he stood up and left the table, making sure that he pushed his chair in. He didn't want to give his aunt any more reason to punish him. His aunt and Allen soon continued their conversation as Oliver quietly headed upstairs and into his room, closing and locking the door behind him.

He grabbed his phone from off his bedside table, checked the time, and sat on his bed, sighing as he leaned back. It was already a quarter 'till eight and he wondered how time had flown by so quickly. It felt good to finally be able to relax and not worry about getting hurt by his aunt.

A sudden noise made him sit up and look towards his window where the source had come from. What he saw was only there for a split second but it was on his front lawn and it terrified him. He didn't know exactly what it was, all he knew was that whatever it was it wasn't human.

"Maybe it's just an animal or something." Oliver muttered to himself in hopes of reassuring himself. He looked out the window once more and saw Allen this time, making him sigh with relief. He didn't know why but for some reason Allen made him feel calm, not accepted, just calm. He watched from his window as his aunt said her goodbyes to Allen and he soon left, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he walked away.

Oliver didn't realize that he had a smile on his face until he noticed his aunt walking back into the house and his smile slowly faded. He quickly went to his bedroom door and made sure it was unlocked before sitting down on his bed and staring intensely at the door.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

Time seemed to go by slowly as Oliver tried to calm himself down as he knew what was going to happen. Suddenly there was a knocking on the door meaning that she was in a good mood, probably from Allen. "Oliver. Open the door, what have I told you about closing the door?"

Oliver knew that she hadn't actually told him not to close the door, but he slowly stood anyways. "I'm getting ready for bed auntie." He said wondering whether or not she would walk away or stay. "Open the door." She said once more, her voice growing rather cold. Oliver bit his bottom lip before walking towards the door and opening it.

He took a few deep breaths and counted to three as she opened the door wider at what seemed like a painfully slow speed. "On your knees, now." She said as she closed the door behind her and locking it. Oliver took a deep breath as he sat on his knees, his shoulders shaking with fear. He wasn't sure as to what she was going to do as her options were practically limitless.

"Why were you so rude to our guest today? You know how you're suppose to act. You made ME look like a fool so I had to cover for it! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SUCH A BAD CHILD?! I WISH YOU HAD NEVER BEEN BORN, WHY CAN'T YOU JUST ACT LIKE ALLEN OR SOMETHING?!" She said her voice getting louder and louder with every sentence. Oliver kept his gaze to the ground as her words continuously stabbed him in the heart. "TO EVEN GO AS FAR AS TO DISMISS YOURSELF FROM THE TABLE, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" She literally screamed before kicking him hard in the stomach.

"I-I'm sorry..." Oliver choked out as he held his stomach. His aunt simply sighed before pinching the bridge of her nose. "You can sleep outside." She said coldly as she unlocked the door and opened it, forcing him to stand up and shoving him out his room. "I don't ever want to see this type of behavior from you again."

She said sounding genuinely disappointed. Oliver bowed his head in shame as he walked down the stairs and opened the front door, closing the door behind him and sitting down on the front porch. He could see his breath in the chilled December air and he pulled his knees up to his chest in order to try to retain his warmth. He was terrified that he would see whatever it was that he saw earlier, but he figured it must've been an animal.

It had to be an animal. "Just think good thoughts Oliver, you've done this before and you can do it again." He spoke to himself as the minutes slowly ticked by. He knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep outside. Between his open wounds and the temperature already going into the negatives, if he fell asleep then he would probably freeze to death.

He regretted that he didn't bring his phone with him so that he could know what time it was, but if he really needed to know then he could walk to a gas station and look. He began rubbing his hands together and began blowing into his hands to try to keep warm.

His lips had turned a light blue color and he was trembling from the cold that was sending needles through his entire body. He could hear his aunt roaming around somewhere in the house and he knew that she was most likely drinking again from the clinking of glasses and the ocassional shout or two.

He then decided to walk around a bit and stood up regretting the clothes he had decided to wear. He wore a black short sleeved shirt and some gray sweatpants. He wasn't even wearing shoes or socks and as he walked through the streets the rocks pierced his feet, giving him small but painful cuts.

He slowly made his way over to the park and sat down on one of the swings, slowly swinging back and forth a bit as he hummed to himself a bit to keep himself from thinking about anything bad. A sudden noise from his right caused him to turn his head, fumbling with his fingers nervously. "W-who's there?" He called into the darkness as he stood up, not daring to move too close.