Intro: Mackenzie

This is simply an intro and a warning of what's to come. Mackenzie Harding is a severely abused sixteen and a half year old. She has been basically inhumanized to the point of death in almost every way. I'm warning you now: this is NOT AT ALL like NLB. While NLB was happy and romantic, TWT is sad and only humorous after the first five+ chapters. Romance doesn't even start until around then, as well. And the very end, well, you'll see.

Roxas is now seventeen, and lives by himself in Hollow Bastion. He escaped his fate as a Nobody-you'll eventually know how-and, along with Namine, moved away. Namine disappeared shortly after. So, in result, Roxas and a few other familiar faces started an organization to help the missing, abused, and ill at mind. This is where Mackenzie and Roxas come together into play. And this is where I leave you!

Consider yourselves warned; Mackenzie is pretty messed up in the beginning. Of course, you would be too if you were in her situation. See you, and please feel free to rate and/or message/email me whenever you have an opinion. I tried to bleep out the language and tone it down, so it shouldn't be too bad. Alright? Later! ^.^

Chapter 1: Rescue

Memo: Mackenzie has fighting spirit in her, it's something I admire about her as a character. She also has a potty mouth at the beginning. lol.

your pov

Dark.

That's all you've been able to see for the past six months.

That's all.

You've been down here for a total of a year and a half, but you've been alone only six months.

You're dying.

You're starving.

You've been beaten too many times to count, and raped twice.

Things aren't looking too good. Talk about stating the obvious.

You let out a small cough, pulling the thin blanket around your thin, naked body. Your hands and feet are tied together, so it makes it difficult to move at all.

*Why won't somebody help me!* you think. *Why isn't anyone coming for me?*

Well, it doesn't matter anymore. You're going to die down here, whether it be from hypothermia, starvation, or your keeper coming back and beating you again.

A year and a half ago, you were happily walking home from school on your birthday when suddenly you were shoved from behind. You had figured it was a stupid jock trying to be cool or a neighborhood kid not paying any attention to where he was going. You turned and saw no one, though. Suddenly a man grabbed you from behind and shoved some cloth into your mouth. You tried to scream, but it hurt. He squeezed your waist tightly and opened some sort of dark portal. You blacked out, then awoke to find yourself in this very basement.

Since then, you've been-as you said earlier-raped twice and beaten every time the guy came home in a bad mood. The only thing he didn't do was starve you. He actual kept you well-fed and gave you water, even sometimes milk or orange juice. But still.

Then about six months ago, he left.

"Goodbye, my sweet cherry blossom," he said, holding a gigantic claymore of some sort. "I'll be back if I can. Don't you worry, cherry blossom." He elined down to kiss you and you spat in his face. "Oh, dear me, cherry blossom-"

"I swear to the freakin' higher power...call me that again and I'll kick your ass," you said, shivering.

"In your condition? No, no dear. I wouldn't try it." And then...

That was the second time he raped you. The first time was when he first brought you there. Whatever his job was must've been stressful, because he would come down and beat the hell out of you with that claymore and his fists and anything he could get his hands on. The only times you saw his face was when he would throw you down and cut your back with a knife, then leave the lights on so you could watch yourself bleed. Blood freaks you out, and he knew it.

You shudder and cough again. Your head hangs down as you kneel on the floor, surrounded by your own waste and vomit and blood. Your once bright-red hair seems dull now. You hunch over at your waist and start to cry. Only now when you cry, because you're so dehydrated, no tears actually fall, because the only water you get is when it rains and the basement leaks and you have to lick it off the ground... It's just a bunch of sobbing and coughing and shivering. And sometimes, when it hurts too much, you cry out.

Suddenly a pounding on the front door interrupts your crying. You lift your head up and cock your head to listen.

"Open up!" a man's voice shouts. You hear the door slam open and at least five people run inside.

*Oh no, he brought friends,* you think, falling to the ground. You let out a small groan.

"Search every room!" another voice, a younger sounding one, shouts.

You hear running and the opening of doors. Then, suddenly, the door to the basement flies open. You let out a small cry of fear.

"No! Leave me alone, damm!t!" you shout, curling up into a ball.

"Who's there?" the voice shouts, flicking on the lights. You shriek and shut your eyes. Geez, that burns!

"Oh my gawd," one of the people says. You open your eyes a crack to see three younger guys standing there in white and black uniforms. You groan.

"Leave me alone..." you sob, coughing. The guys run over to you.

"Go get the others! Now!" a blonde-haired one commands. The other two nod and run off. "Hey, hey, you're okay."

"Please, don't hurt me," you whisper, shaking.

"I'm not going to hurt you!" He reaches out to touch you and you growl a little. "Hey, calm down."

"Don't touch me!"

"Please, calm down. You're gonna be okay," he insists. He picks you up off of the ground and you shriek. It hurts so badly...

"DON'T TOUCH ME, DAMM!T!" you shout, squirming in his grasp.

"You're alright! Calm down, please!"

"Let go of meeee!"

"Don't worry! I'm not going to hurt you!"

"No! Let go!" You start to cough uncontrollably.

"Hey, hey, calm down! You're gonna be alright!"

"Shut it! Shut your mouth! Let go of me! You're hurting me!"

The boy looks down at your broken and bruised body.

"Oh my gawd," he murmurs. "Okay, what's your name? How old are you?"

"You tell me!"

"Please, just try to cooperate."

"No, tell me your name and age, and I'll tell you mine."

"Fine, if you insist. My name is Roxas. I'm 17."

"I'm Mackenzie Harding. I'm 16 and a half."

"Alright, that's all I need to know." You start to cry without tears again. "Hey, hey, you're alright. We're going to help you, alright?"

"You're hurting me! Stop!" you shout, pulling the blanket around you tighter. Just then, the two other guys and the "others" came running down the stairs.

"She's the only one," a stout, brunette one says.

"Alright. Secure this place. We're going to have to come back later," Roxas says. He starts to walk up the stairs.

"W-where are you taking me?" you cry, coughing still. "PUT ME DOWN! LET GO OF ME!"

"I'm only trying to help you!" Roxas says.

"I don't care!" You choke on your coughs. "Please...just...put me down...you're hurting...me!"

"You'll be fine in a minute. We're getting you out of here."

"To where?"

"A hospital."

"Why?"

"You, you're dying!" he shouts, walking into a white and black van. He lays you on a table and covers you with another blanket.

"I don't want to die!" you shout, coughing. You wipe your mouth to see blood on your hand. How long have you been coughing up blood?

"You won't. You're not going to die," Roxas says, putting his hand on your forehead. You howl in pain. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"Please, just don't touch me. I hurt all over..." You sniff a little. "I'm...going to die."

"No you're not, Mackenzie. We're going to help you."

"You can't. I'm...too far gone." You stifle another cough. "Look at me, damm!t! I'm going to die."

"Don't say that!"

"But it's true! I've been f*cked and beaten and starved and I've got hypothermia, I'm sure, so don't bother!"

"W-what?" Roxas looks at you, wide-eyed.

"I was raped. I was beaten. I've been starving to death for the past six months. In case you didn't notice, I have no clothes, only this damn blanket. I'm going to-!"

Roxas covers your mouth and you shriek again. He removes his hand quickly to find it covered with blood. "Holy..." he whispers. "How long...how long were you down there?"

Before you can answer, a voice calls, "Roxas, save those questions for the interview later on. Leave her alone for now."

"Thank you," you say, sniffling a little.

"Pence, I can always write it down-"

"Roxas, shut up," another voice says.

"Hayner, you shut up before I run up there and kick your scrawny-"

"Hey, all of you, cool it," a third voice says sternly.

"Screw you, Leon!" the two other guys and Roxas say in unison.

"HEY, SHUT UP!" a fourth voice shouts. They all are quiet.

roxas's pov

You arrive at the hospital a few minutes later. Mackenzie groans.

"Don't touch me again," she murmurs.

"No, I won't," you say. The back doors open and you wheel Mackenzie out of the van and into the hospital.

"I'm going to die..." she says.

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am. Don't argue with me. Let me win a struggle for once."

You blink, then shake your head slowly. How long had she been down there?

You wheel her into her room to find Aerith waiting for you.

"Oh, you guys weren't kidding," she murmurs when she sees Mackenzie. She walks over and picks Mackenzie up, and you cringe. You know what's coming. Sure enough, Mackenize lets out a howl of pain.

"PUT ME DOWN! STOP TOUCHING ME!" she cries, sobbing and coughing. Aerith quickly sets her down on the bed.

"We'll take it from here," she says, her eyes a little wide.

"Have fun," Cloud says sarcastically.

"Shut your mouth, ba$tard," Mackenzie mutters, eyes closed. She's shivering uncontrolably.

"You wanna try calling me that again?" Cloud asks in a threatening tone.

"Yeah. I said to shut your mouth, ba$tard." You bite your lip to keep from laughing.

Cloud fumes and Leon and Cid elid him out of the room. Pence and Hayner follow him. You stay behind.

"Be good," you say, looking at the broken girl before you. She opens her eyes.

"I don't remember how to," she whispers, grinning.

"Well, try."

"Okay. Maybe."

You chuckle and roll your eyes. Considering she's so beaten up, she certainly has what's left of her personality.

your pov

"Alright, what's your name, miss?" the young nurse asks you.

"Tell me yours first," you reply.

"I'm Aerith."

"I'm Mackenzie."

"Okay, Mackenzie, I'm going to give you an anesthetic. It'll make you sleep for a while. During that time, we'll get you stitched up and get some fluids into you."

"Why do I need an anestetic if that's all you're gonna do?"

"Well, it'll make things easier on us..." You smile.

"I know. You don't have to say it." You shift around a little. "Sorry for being a bitch."

"You have every right to be one. Don't be sorry."