Sarah Cade, dressed in a pink nightgown and her black hair up in a bun on the top of her head, walked into a small mint green kitchen and began cooking eggs and ham for her and her younger brother. The sixteen year old cracked the last two eggs over the rusty pan, and as they cooked she turned to take the last slice of ham from the fridge and placed it on another rusty pan over the stove. She hummed quietly to herself as the eggs and ham cooked over the stove. She imagined that today would be a wonderful day and that maybe, if she were really lucky, her parents wouldn't even fight today.

"G'morning Sarah!" The fifteen-year-old brother she had been making breakfast for walked from his room into the kitchen. "Dad didn't come home last night?" He asked warily.

"Nope." Sarah said taking a spatula and putting the eggs on a plate. One of the eggs slipped from the spatula and onto the floor. "Damn." She muttered under her breath. Placing the plate with the one egg on the table and picking the one up from the floor and placing it on another plate. "Five second rule!" she chimed, smiling.

"We should probably eat and get out of here soon right?" Johnny asked picking up a fork and quickly eating his eggs. "I don't want to be here when Dad gets back."

"You're probably right Johnny. Here." She took the ham from the stove and placed it on his plate.

"You have to eat too Sarah," Johnny said taking the ham and putting it on his sisters plate.

"You have to eat more kid. Add some meat to those bones!" Sarah said laughing placing the ham back on her brother's plate. "Plus I'm not hungry anyways. Steve took me out to dinner last night and I ate way too much." She lied. She had gone out with Steve Randle, but she hadn't eaten. Steve had taken a few beers from his father's fridge and him and Sarah had downed them at the vacant lot.

The two siblings ate the rest of their small but plentiful breakfast. When they were done Johnny got dressed in jeans a black t-shirt, while Sarah washed the dishes. When Johnny came back from his room and stood in the living room Sara couldn't help but smiling as the gleam of the living room light hit the top of Johnny's head making the grease he'd applied to his hair really show.

"I'm going to shoot over to the Curtis's Sarah! Pony's parents have gone away for a few weeks to take care of Mr. Curtis' mom." Sarah nodded in agreement. She had heard the Darry was taking care of the boys for a little while. Their grandmother was really ill up in Moore.

"I'll be along as soon as I get the chance. I'm just going to clean up around her a bit first." Sarah smiled as her brother walked out the door, letting it clatter behind him as he left.

The older Cade cleaned the rest of the dishes; placing them back in the cupboard she had taken them from. When she was done she quickly changed into Jeans and a white and navy striped T-shirt. She left her hair flowing loosely down her back as she walked back to the living room and began to clean the mess her parents had made that prior evening. She swept the dining room floor, and picked up the empty liquor bottles off the coffee table and from her fathers recliner. She took out the trash and brought in the mail. Placing the bills in a tin can atop the fridge.

She tiptoed past her mother's bedroom to get to Johnny's room, and was just about finished making his bed when she heard the front door clatter shut. "Johnny?" She questioned softly, not wanting to wake her mother. As she walked out of the room, she saw that it was not her young innocent brother who stood in the center of the living room, but her father. He was roaring drunk and stunk of sweat and dirt.

"Why are you here girl!?" He yelled taking a sloppy step towards her. Sarah stood absolutely still. Years of abuse had taught her that standing still was the easiest way to get a beating and also the most likely way of getting out of a beating alive.

"I said, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" He roared.

"I was cleaning sir. I was just finishing up." She whispered back, not looking him in the face, but instead down at her bare feet.

"You stole my liquor!" he accused, referring to the bottles missing from his chair.

Sarah shot a glance upwards, "No sir! They were empty, I just threw them in the trash." She felt her chest tighten, and a large rock form in the middle of her throat.

"I've had it with you girl!" he took another step forward and lifted his hand. "You stay the hell out of my house!" His hand came down upon her cheek with such force that she fell sideways against the wall, hitting her head. She cried out in pain, but didn't loose consciousness.

She only had to endure a few more blows before her father past out cold. As soon as he was out she ran from the house, tears gliding down her beet red cheeks. She felt the warm liquid in her hair that ment she must have been bleeding. Her running was anything but steady. She was disoriented, her head stinging from where she had hit it against the wall. She wasn't quite sure where she was running to. Did Johnny say he was going to see the Curtis's or was he going to the convenience store? Sarah couldn't remember, so she decided against going to the Curtis's. She hated seeing Johnny worry about her, and she definitely didn't want him to see her like this.

Sarah began to slow down, her eyes wanted to close and her feet had begun to hurt as well. Sarah cursed lowly under her breath as she looked down at her feet. They were bleeding too. She sat down on the curb in front of a small white house where an elderly couple lived and began to pick the shards of glass from her feet. She was amused that she hadn't felt herself stepping on the glass as she ran. She assumed it was because of her high adrenaline rate, or the fact that her head was pounding so hard that it really helped to forget any other pain.

Sarah got lightheaded after picking the last shard of glass out of her left foot. The amount of blood leaving her head and foot at the same time made her quite nauseated, and she began to feel as though she was loosing consciousness.

"Sarah!?" She heard her name called, but couldn't force her eyes open. That was when she felt her head hit the soft grass. She had completely toppled over and now who ever had yelled her name was over top of her, and touching her head.

"Dammit! OW!" Sarah screamed as, whoever was checking her over touched the gash in her head. "That hurts!"

"Well damn, Sarah I could have guessed that!" the voice shot back angrily. This voice was tuff. Sarah could tell right off who it was.

"Dallas Winston!?" Sarah tried to open her eyes, but she couldn't. "Get your dirty hands off me!"

"Dumb broad..." he muttered lifting her up.

"Put me down!" she insisted, but she couldn't put up much of a fight. She felt her feet going numb and it was only a matter of seconds before she was out cold.