AN: Hey everyone! This is my new story, Chained and Bound. Like the summary said, it takes place during the 1800s, and slavery was still legal in the United States. For the sake of the story, I bumped up Nudge and Iggy's ages [Nudge-17 Iggy-19]. Also, they're very OOC, but that is to be expected.

IMPORTANT: This story is about slavery. Of course, the theme itself is very mature and the practice is absolutely horrifying. I do not support slavery, or racial discrimination of any kind, but I'm trying to be as historically accurate as possible. Language will be the main thing, and I don't want to offend anyone, so here's your one and only head's up. Also, grammar and spelling may be off. I'm going to write in a way that is easy to read, rather than is accurate.

Disclaimer: Do I look like James Patterson to you? Do I sound like him? Nope. Didn't think so. So, obviously, the Maximum Ride characters do not belong to me. Don't sue. I'm broke.

Chained and Bound

- -Chapter One- -

+-Nudge-+

The breeze was wondrous on the back of my neck. The Alabama sun was unbearable, even in January. My hair was pulled up off my skin, though I was still frying. I glanced down at the bucket of water where my hands were buried; the water had warmed hours ago. I could only faintly recall the cool feel of it before the sun came up this morning. Soap bubbles floated lazily across the surface, colliding with each other, as well as the sides of the wooden bucket.

Sighing heavily, I once more dipped my rag into the lukewarm water, wringing it dry before setting to work on the hardwood floors. Missus Colburn is very particular of her floors. That's somethin I never really understood. They just floors, after all.

Havin already washed all the other rooms, all the windows and doors in the house were open. A faint breeze filtered in, stirring the heavy air within the house. 'Counting for all that bright sunshine outside, the house was rather dark and dim. I scrubbed furiously, thinkin' 'bout my family lots.

Just last week, my mama was sold off, my younger brother with her. Flora stayed here with me and my pa, not that that's much of a good think for us. Flora's a good bit older than me, prolly 'bout twenty. My mama was only sixteen when Flora was born-even younger than me myself. Flora just got married off near a month ago, to a good man by the name of Armistead. She and her man stay over at the Tucker plantation, prolly ten miles away from my place here.

That means its just me left here with pa. He meaner 'an a rattlesnake, and has a bite just as poisonous. My pa's got a thing for women, and it don't matter wether they be colored like us or white. I dunno how he hasn't gotten killed yet, foolin' with the pretty little white girls the way he does. I guess it's cause my pa's got a nice face on him, though his nose is a little broken from a fist fight when he and his brothers were chill'en.

Still, if Pa ain't doin a girl, he's hitting someone. He ain't never hit any white people before, specially not women. You'd be strung up on a tree fore you could blink, if you tried tha. So he hits me and my family instead. But it's jus' me now, and I've been staying away from Pa as much as I can. Cassandra's been taking good care of me though. She another one of the slave girls, and she's older than anyone I know.

Cass has been working for the Colburn's for a long time, well before I was even thought about. People says that she practically raised our Mister Colburn since he was just a wee baby, fresh outta his mama's belly. All the other girls like to tease her about her seeing Mister Colburn in his birthday suit, for he is a fine looking man. But Cass don't care about nothing, specially not something stupid like that.

I scrubbed away at the dirt and grime, and tried to ignore the tight, aching feeling in my chest. I missed my mama already. Family being sold is pretty common, but it ain't never happened to me before this. My mama's the only one that tried to keep Pa from hitting Flora, Dal, and I. She always got hurt cause of it, but now she's safe and so's her baby boy. Even Flora's alright.

I was surprised to find tears streaming down my face. They ran down the sides of my nose and dripped off my chin into the bucket of water. I sniffled once, twice, and then sucked in a huge breath. Gotta stop, gotta stop now, Nudge. Can't cry. Now, my real name ain't Nudge-it's Crystal Mae. But I can't remember a time I wasn't called Nudge.

Ah, that's the last of it. I rose up off my hands and knees, my knees raw and sore from the floor. My hands had long been numb from the water, chafed and peeling. I flexed my fingers quickly, working the joints, and then stooped once more. Grasping the heavy bucket in both hands, I walked awkwardly with it directly in front of me, in a sort of waddle. The barn wasn't too far off, and was my destination. The used water from cleaning was used to help keep the animals refreshed. They don't mind a bit of soap.

After dumping the bucket and returning it to its proper place, I poked my head out the door of the barn. The sun was beginning to sink; it couldn't be any earlier than five. All the men were making their way back from the cotton fields, and the road was packed full of them. I scanned for Pa, and found him quickly. He's easy to pick out of a crowd; huge in height and broad shouldered, he clears himself a path.

He was still a good ways back from the barn, so I made a quick dash toward the road, picking up the hem of my dress slightly. My clothes all used to belong to Flora, so they don't fit me very well. I'm about four inches taller than her, and just as skinny, but I've got more curves than she ever had. This straw colored dress was faded and threadbare, holes worn through the knees.

I slipped into the crowd, searching for a face I knew-preferably a friendly one. I've lived on the Colburn plantation all my life, and I know just about everyone there is to know. Still, there's a lot of them I'd prefer never to have met.

"Afternoon, Nudgey!" I glanced over at Willem, and shook my head at him. "'Noon, Willem." Willem's not much older than me, and I've known him for years. He can't seem to get it out of his head that messing with me is fun. But it's all good-natured, which is more than you can say for some.

We walked in companionable silence until we split, me going left to the women's section and he to the right. I stumbled through the small collection of huts until I came upon Cassandra's. Only five houses down from my current residence was my old home where I stayed with my mama, sister, and brother. Just seeing it set my heart spiralling downward again. The delightful smell coming from within Cass's house was almost enough to cheer me up, but not quite.

"Welcome home, little chick," Cass welcomed, gathering me to her and kissed the top of my head. There was a bath ready for me, seeing as it were the second Tuesday of the month. I slid out of my dress and sunk into the pleasantly cool water, being sure to leave my already damaged hands above the surface. Cass sat in a chair behind my and brushed my hair, humming quietly to herself.

I ate in a daze and fell into bed, just like every other night of my life.

So, what did you think? Please R&R!

-Sam