BETA Halo140 (Thanks!)

BURNING EMBERS

Touring with four rock gods is the thing of dreams. Annie's family are these rockers. They have watched over her since she was four years old. She loves all four but her heart has a secret. Tour life starts to take a hold of her when she can't shake off a serious illness. It scares the hell out of her when she receives the results. Annie realizes her life will never be the same again. OOC, AU, HEA.

Characters: Christian Grey, Elliot Grey, Luke Sawyer, Ethan Kavanagh, Anastasia Wilks.

DISCLAIMER: Characters from the Fifty Shades Trilogy belong to EL James. Characters from the Lithium Springs series belongs to Carmel Rhodes. The plot and some dialogue is highly influenced by "The Rockers" series written by TA Browning (Please be aware of all the disclaimers - if you review and state it's just like the rocker series, well I have already warned you).

WARNING: This is a story about abuse, abandonment, a taboo relationship oh and of course rockers.

I have pre-written 12-13 chapters which about 10 of them need work. The rest of the story has been planned out and semi-written (another 13 chapters with an epilogue). I am hoping to post twice a week which will give me time to edit/write the remaining chapters (no promises, it may drop to once a week). The story isn't original since I've based it around a series I read when I was sick last month. Yes there is a reason why Ana's surname is Wilks which you will discover throughout the story.

PROLOGUE

The night sky switched on like a flashlight and the smelly dampness in the air made my chest hurt. It is raining again. The droplets are dripping down my broken window, seeping through the cracks in the glass.

I love the rain; but not the scary rumbles and explosions in the sky. The bright lights aren't too bad. It's the rumbly thunder that makes me jump. It always makes me think of Momma when she's crazy, silly on medicine. Sometimes it's pills, or the yucky drinks but lately she uses sharp needles in her arms. Then there's the boys. Not like my age but really old maybe like twenty, I don't know? Thirty, that sounds really old to me. Yuck thirty.

Tonight I have double trouble. The storm trying to make its way into my bedroom from my window and through my bedroom door. Momma is going to hurt me. Why does she hurt me?

I was praying on my knees. The corner seemed warm and safe in the dark. I clamped my fingers together. They were a little sticky and smelled like sick. I whisper my words and pray really really hard. I squeezed my eyes shut tight, hoping he'll hear me a little better. Maybe he will make Momma go to sleep so I don't need to be scared.

Oh no, my nose it's dribbling, running down my face. I'm trying not to sniff but I can't stop it makes my ears hurt.

He wasn't listening. It wasn't working. My eyes are leaking again. Oh no I sniffed too, owie.

Maybe God couldn't hear me over the storm. It was really loud and I didn't like it. It seems like God never listens no matter what time I pray to him. Is he even real? Momma curses God a lot so I know she believes in him, so maybe I should too.

Tuck you God.

It's not working.

"Shut up you little shit." Momma's old boy bashed my door.

I'm scared. I'm afraid. I don't want Momma or her old boys to hurt me again. I need to go.

I slipped through my window and the rain soaked through my thin pink tee shirt and grey leggings. I didn't have any other clean clothes. They were smelling funny. The drops in the sky dribble over my lumps and bumps on my body. They add to my leaky face as they try to wash away the cuts and burns Momma left after she went after me with a razor and lighter. She made sure I would stay quiet and used her fist and the heel of her shoe. It was sharp.

I'm numb and use to the pain. I don't feel it anymore. I only feel the cold and when I'm alone.

I couldn't find any shoes before I left Momma's trailer, so my bare feet were covered in sloppy mud. There is only one place I can think of that has comfy ground. I'm relieved when my dirty feet meet the snugly soft grass. It's the section that separates the run down trailer I live in to the one that Cwistin calls his resis… resists… resitants… residans. I can never say the word, it's too hard because my tongue is usually puffy and swollen. Cwistin never lets me call it home. He says it's never a home if no one loves you in it.

I don't think Momma loves me.

With my feet on the grass I pray to God again and hope his mom hasn't decided to clean his room. I don't want the window locked. He always leaves it open for me. Just in case for nights like this. Stormy nights.

I try my best to tip the old faded plastic chair. It's covered in water and trickling over the sides. It's really slippery, I try to be careful. I don't want to slip as I need to use it as a ladder to climb up to Cwistin's window. It's so high up and I'm only little. I try to slide the window open. It bucks in the tracks. I try again and it's really hard as my fingers are cold and wet.

"Nooo!" I cried onto the glass and my fingers keep scratching at it.

I wiped my tears, but I'm so wet already it's not helping. I keep sniffing and it's hurting my ears. His mom has cleaned his room. The window is locked. I wish I had a coat and some shoes. I need to get warm… I need to get away from Momma. Lukie and Eeffin's trailers are too far away. Their windows really high up for me to get inside. I want to be bigger. Bigger like them. What am I going to do? I'm so cold.

The rumbles are here again. They are getting louder. My lip is shaking I… I… I'm really scared. I don't like storms.

My throat lets out a cry and I cover my mouth quick. I need to be quiet or Momma will hear me, her old boys will hear me.

I slide my matted hair away from my face. Rubbing in the pieces of fluff and now I have sticky mud in it. I don't have a brush. Momma says that costs money; money we don't have. Even my bangs are too long. I need to ask Eeffin to cut them for me again. I move my bangs. Owie. My cheek hurts when I touch it.

Momma likes to slap me, she likes my cheeks and the back of my head. I've got old bumps on my head. Tonight I was her target since she used the needles again and drinking from the big bottles. She tries to stab the needles in me and she has before but now I try and fight back. Sometimes I get away. Sometimes I don't.

The sound of squidgy foot steps are getting closer. Oh no they are from the across the grass.

It's Momma.

I spoke to God in my head. I only want him to hear me. No one else. Save me God, please save me. I need someone to love me.

Momma is trying to find me for round three or four. I've lost count. My heart is beating so fast, it's hurting in my chest. Please listen God. I'm scared. What do I do? I don't know what to do.

The sky lights up like the marks on Momma's arms. It squiggles in the sky. I curl over on the grass covering my face and my mouth. Momma can't hear me.

It's dark again.

I do the only thing I can think of. I move some bricks and a long piece of wood at the bottom of Cwistin's trailer. I try and move it quickly but it's heavy. The bricks scratch my hands. A nail cuts open my leg a little. It starts to rain harder, and my body is shaking. I move fast and use all the strength I have. Finally the space is big enough so I can get underneath his resis… resists… resitants… residans. My tongue hurts.

Whimpering as I crawl underneath it's dry and much warmer. I try my best to pull the piece of wood back so no one will know I'm here. So Momma won't know I'm here. I pull my hands back to find old water hoses, and gardening tools. I tuck my arms inside my pink shirt and put it over my knees so that I don't touch anything, only me. I lean against the side of the trailer and I rest my eyes. I pray to God one last time so Momma doesn't think to look for me here.

…..

The air is thick and warm. I must have fallen asleep. I can't remember. I usually have dreams, scary dreams about Momma… but there was nothing. The rumbles and rain has stopped. When I rub my eyes I hear Cwistin and Eeffin calling my name. Both sound worried.

"Annie?"

Cwistin is right beside me on the other side of the wood.

"Ana?"

He sounds sad.

I kick the wood out of the way, they don't notice me at first.

Cwistin is standing with Eeffin. I see they both have on their band shirts that they let me help design and sort of choose the color. They wouldn't let me choose pink, but they gave me my reasons. "Only little girls like pink and little girls can't come to our shows. We are sorry Annie. When you are bigger you can come and have every pink shirt you want."

Eeffin has his two drum sticks in his back pocket of his ripped black pants. I can see the pink Band-aids I put on them for his grips. He said it makes him play really really good. But his two tight fists scare me. Eeffin looks angry. He's always angry when Momma hurts me and I need to hide. Cwistin looks different. He looks sad. I don't want him sad. It makes me cry and my tears drop down my owie cheeks.

"She wouldn't have gone far." Cwistin called to Eeffin.

"That fucked up bitch of a mother! If I didn't think that services would be here in a fucking second flat and take Annie away I would be calling the fucking pigs over that low life cunt." Eeffin grumbled to Cwistin.

"They will Eth. Annie will be in a worse place than she already is if you make that call. At least here we can watch out for her, take care of her. Actually love her. Someone needs to love her man." Cwistin tells Eeffin.

It's what they always talk about every time when Momma has had her way with me. If they tattle on Momma, then social surfers will take me. Take me away from everyone, especially my friends. My boys. It isn't safe in foster care. Cwistin tells me all the time. I'm six, almost seven and I understand what that means.

Trying my best I crawl out from underneath the trailer. I'm so stiff and hurting really bad. There is crusty mud stuck everywhere. I know I'm going to get sick. I don't want to be sick, I don't want to miss school. I like school. I get away from Momma but I don't have any friends.

I tried to speak but my voice was gone. My eyes are tired. Suddenly I feel the hands of two boys pull me out and up. As soon as my feet are freed I curl into Cwistin's big arms.

"Fuck man." Eeffin grumbles again. "She looks fuck-ing bad Chris." He tries to whisper but I heard what he said.

I know what he means. I look like a monster. A monster like Momma.

"Shut up dude. Don't say that stuff around her." Cwistin barks at Eeffin like a big dog.

His arms cuddle me, surround me, hold me. I can see the cogs ticking in his head, he's thinking where to take me? Where to hide me? So Momma can't find me.

Flicking my head to my trailer I can here Momma laughing with an old boy. I could hear the TV on in Cwistin's trailer. If his mom sees me, she will call. We can't go to either one.

"My Mom's on night-shift. No one's home." Eeffin is walking in the direction of his trailer. "Fuck, come on man!" He yells waving us over, I think to move faster.

"Don't say that around Ana." Cwistin hisses with his teeth really close together.

…..

In Eeffin's room I couldn't stop shaking. I'm cold and so sore.

"Quick we need to get her warm." Cwistin says. "Eth start running some water so I can bathe her." Eeffin follows Cwistin's orders.

I can hear water running in the bathroom. Cwistin stands me in front of him, pulling off my sticky wet clothes. I don't stop him. He peels off my leggings and doesn't touch my favorite pinky spotty panties with a little ribbon at the front. He never touches my private regions.

His breath hitches and he stops when he sees the marks all over me. His eyes look at all the colors of black, blue, purple and yellow. The cuts, some small but others deep on my arms and legs, but he twists me around and sees the deep ones on my back and a few on my stomach. I could see in his eyes, he's sad again. I see he has a tear.

"Shit you look like the Phoenix, with red feathers and flames all over you." His words were soft but I pretended I couldn't hear him. I don't know what it means? "I'm sorry Ana." Cwistin whispers and tries to hold my naked body but I hurt. I can feel the pain now. "I'm so sorry baby girl." He strokes my hair out of my eyes.

I can't say anything, I'm too weak and tired. I don't understand why he's sorry? He didn't hurt me. Cwistin never hurts me, he makes it better. This wasn't his fault. He's not a bad boy. It's never his fault.

I might be six, almost seven but I know that he can't always save me. My boys can't always be here for me. They have a band. I wish I could play in their band, but I'm too little. They are in high school. Cwistin's big brother Lelliot tries to explain it to me. I wish I was older. Older like them.

"Christian!" Eeffin calls out and it makes me jump a little. "I don't know man, is the water too hot for Annie. Can you come here and check it out."

Cwistin holds my hand and we walk slowly towards the bathroom. The tiles are cold on my feet as he bends in splashes the water around. I guess to feel if it's okay?

"This is perfect dude." Cwistin lifts me, I feel like I'm flying and he slowly places me into the bath.

I cry out loud in pain as the warm water bites my cuts and sores. It hurts and my eyes are open. My lip won't stop shaking. I can't hold it anymore. It was warm and dribbling down my leg. I didn't mean to pee, I'm not a baby. Only babies piss themselves, Momma always says to me. I stare at Cwistin scared, breathing really fast and I think he's going to yell at me like Momma. So I jump into the tub, splashing the water up so no one can see the color of the water. It really hurts my owies.

Cwistin holds my shoulders and looks at me. I can't look my head starts to shake. I've been naughty. I don't want him to hit me. I start to sniff and it hurts again.

"Baby girl. It's ok. Don't worry. Ethan does it allll the time and he's almost 17."

"Hey shut up man. When I gotta take a slash, I pee Ok!" Eefin punches Cwistin in the arm and they laugh.

Soon I stop shaking and I giggle a little. I don't feel so bad now. Why would I think that he would do anything bad? I need to stop being scared. Cwistin uses a soft cloth and washes me, trying to be gentle as he cleans my sores over my body. His jaw is tight and more tears drop from his eyes.

Eeffin is showing me dolls that are his little sisters. She's six, almost seven like me. We don't see her anymore. Eeffin and his little sister have different moms and her mom doesn't like the trailer park. Her dolls are so pretty. I miss my doll. I can't find my doll that Daddy gave me. It's gone.

Once Cwistin finished he wraps me in a towel. It's not pink but that's ok, it's green boys must like the color. My sores start to bleed on the scratchy towel.

"We're lucking Luke and Ell aren't here. They would be passed out on the floor." Effen laughs at Cwistin. I don't know why, are they talking about growned up stuff?

Eeffin gives Cwistin a handful of pink band-aids like the ones on his drum sticks. I like pink. It's my favorite color. My eyes open really wide when I see the tube of stingy cream in his other hand. I start shaking my head. I know what Cwistin is going to do and it's going to hurt.

"No." My voice hardly made a sound. "NO, that hurts. I don't want it." I try and say it louder. Cwistin puts a dab of cream on his finger, and I move to Eeffin trying to hide. "No Cwist." I start to cry. "I… I… Don't want it. It hurts me. It hurts like Momma."

"I know Annie. I know it hurts. If I don't your sores will get infected." He sniffs and wipes his forearm over his eyes to get rid of the water on his cheeks. "If they get infected you will have to go to the doctor… the hospital."

The waterfall of tears pour from my face. I don't want the stingy cream but most of all I don't want to go to the hospital. I don't like hospitals. No way.

"Eth I need you to hold her." Eeffin gently holds me, so I can't move. All I can think is it's going to hurt.

Cwistin puts the cream on my sores. I try not to whimper but I do. It's hurts really bad. By the time he is done the tube is empty. Eeffin helps him put on the pink band-aids. After each one they kiss my sores.

Eeffin says what he always says. "And with this kiss you get better Baby Girl."

"Rise again my beautiful Phoenix." Cwistin whispers in my ear. I'm not growned up like him and I don't know what that means?

Eeffin tries to find some of his little sisters old clothes that have been left here. I put them on and they are too big.

"Fuck man! My sister is six and Annie… She's fucking drowning in them."

"Ethan don't say that. How many times do I need to remind you!" Cwistin barks like a dog to Eeffin.

His big voice makes me jump.

"Annie, I'm sorry." He rubbed my hand and it feels nice when Cwistin is nice to me. "When was the last time you ate?" Cwistin asks.

I only shrug my shoulders. I don't know? I eat, only when Momma gives me food. I can't remember? I know I'm hungry. My tummy hurts sometimes and it makes me sick on the floor.

When Cwistin makes a few wiggles and knots to my outfit, the clothes don't fall off anymore. He's so strong and carries me back to Eeffin's room. I feel so little when Cwistin picks me up. It's like I'm a little baby. I hope he doesn't think I'm a baby. I'm six almost seven. He puts me into Eeffin's bed and tucks the blankets around me that smell like high school boys. It smells funny but a lot better than my room.

Lukie and Lelliot come into the room. I've missed them. They have a bag each from different stores. First a big box of medicine is placed on the bedside table. Cwistin gives me a big gulp of Tylenol and then they feed me. Lukie got my favorite. A cheese burger with fries in the middle and a Dr Pepper. My tummy grumbles.

"Yes please." I rub my hands together happy about my favorite food.

My tummy hurts when I swallow my first bite. I feel sick.

"Hey man, Annie doesn't look good." Lukie calls out to everyone.

Just as I start being sick, Cwistin puts a trash can under my mouth.

"It's ok baby girl." He rubbed circles on my back. "I love you baby girl. Don't forget it. I will always love you." He whispered in my ear only for me too hear.

Once I felt better I gobbled down my burger with the fries in the middle. I was so happy and drank a whole can of Dr Pepper. I even burped like Cwistin and Eeffin. Lukie smiled at me as he pulled out a surprise from his plastic bag.

"Just for you Annie. She's all yours." I couldn't believe it. A doll with hair just like mine. Long and brown with bangs. She had a pretty pink dress. She's like a real princess. She looked happy and she made me happy. I whispered into her ear, Please don't leave me.

"Fank you Lukie." I crawled up to him and blew him a kiss.

I'm so happy he caught my kiss and swallowed it down into his tummy. He needs love too, his other daddy and Cwistin's daddy isn't nice to him.

"Any time." He smirked sticking his tongue out at Cwistin. Cwistin didn't look very happy.

Cwistin brushed my hair when I was lying down on the bed. It pulled and hurt so I bit on my lip every time the brush caught in my hair. Cwistin is so smart and braids my hair.

"This should keep your hair nice for a few days baby girl." Cwistin voice hummed in my ear.

He is so kind, Momma doesn't braid my hair. She doesn't even brush my hair. Cwistin asked if he could braid my princess's hair and now we look the same. I held the real princess close to my heart. Soon my eyes grew sleepy as I said good night to my four boys. Lukie, Eeffin, Lelliot and my favorite Cwistin.

AN: Thanks for reading. Please favorite, follow, review and PM any questions or concerns. See you in a few days for Chapter 1.

missmusicteach