01.

It was raining cats and dogs and she was soaked head to toe but was only walking slowly and barely registered anything.

Her green eyes were still reflecting her anger and the determination to never go back to that devious house and the woman she no more considered a mother. She had had enough of it all and swore to herself she was going to leave this town and would never come back. But above all the anger and frustration that were building inside her for years she felt tired. Tired of everything and everyone, tired of her whole damn life. She had barely thought that when she felt dizzy and for a split second everything spun around. She put her hand on her head and shook it in order to clear it, then continued on her way.

It was getting darker and soon night was going to fall; the rain was getting stronger, the wind was blowing in her hair, her stomach was growling loudly in protest because she had barely put anything in her mouth for the last couple of days and she was already freezing but she just carried on walking with backpack hanging on her shoulder. Deep in her thoughts she didn't notice the black car that passed near her and stopped meters away. When she was walking by the window of the back door slid down and a man's voice called after her.

"Do you need a lift?"

She turned her head and looked at the direction of the voice; it was a young man whose face was hidden under black mask so she could only see his deep brown eyes. For a split second there the man looked vaguely familiar to her, but she quickly shook herself from the thought.

"No." She responded a bit harsher than she had intended. "I prefer walking."

And she fastened her pace when she heard his voice again.

"In this weather?!"

She turned around barely keeping her temper.

"Look, just carry on your way and leave me alone, ok?!"

She continued on her way but the car followed her and she was this close from bursting out. She didn't even know where she was headed to but it was further from that town and that stupid car that was slowly driving by her side. After walking like that with the car stubbornly following her for nearly half an hour she couldn't stand it anymore and stopped abruptly turning to the car. As if on queue it stopped too and the back window rolled down again.

"Come on, jump in and I'll drive you to where you live. You shouldn't be walking alone at night not mention in this weather. It's buckling down and it's freezing. And your clothes are already soaked, you're going to catch a cold or even worse - a pneumonia."

"Listen you, moron, there is no way for me to get in that car and ride anywhere with you, let alone to the place I never considered real home and had finally escaped from, so just knock it off." She started yelling unable to keep her temper. "What the hell do you want from me anyway?! If you think I'm so dumb to get in your car and let you take me wherever you want so you could rape me, you better think twice! Now go away and stop-"

All of a sudden her vision began to blur. She felt lightheaded.

"—stop getting on my—"

Her legs gave her up and she started falling down. The only thing she heard was the sound of a car door being opened before everything faded into darkness.

The tears were rolling down her cheeks while her grandfather's yells were echoing all over the place. The red mark of his hand was burning her cheek, but she was only a four-year-old kid, too scared to fight back.

"I didn't do anything."

It was the truth.

"Shut up!" He yelled at her and more tears started to fall down.

"No."

"You're a little liar and it's all your fault!"

She saw her grandfather raising his arm again.

"No!" The yell escaped her lips and her eyes shot open.

For a moment bright light hit her eyes and when they finally adjusted to the brightness she realized it was already morning.

She felt she was sweaty from the nightmare and someone was gently wiping her forehead with cold towel. She looked around and saw the same guy from the car sitting in a chair close to her bed..wait she was in a bed?!

"How..how did I get here?" She tried to sound firm, but failed.

"Well you fainted so I brought you to my house. You were with fever the whole night." He explained concerned.

There was something in his soft voice that made her calm down a bit, but she couldn't put a finger to it. Looking up at his face she caught her breath in her throat. He was without the mask now and she could take a better look at him; apart from his big brown eyes he had big lips, soft, chocolate colored skin and black curly hair that was in a messy bun and complimented his features in a perfect way. If only she could love she was sure she would've fallen for the guy right in that moment.

But she couldn't love anyone, she remembered. After all the pain she'd been through in her life she had closed her heart and she knew she wouldn't ever be able to feel love.

"Thank you for bringing me here and taking care of me, but I've got to go now."

She pulled off the covers and began to sit in the bed, but he stopped her catching her hand.

"Where do you think you're going? You were with fever the whole night and you're still very sick. I won't let you go anywhere in this condition. You're going to stay here until you feel better. Once you do - you'll be free to go."

Her green orbits pierced his brown ones.

"Why do you even care?"

"Why not?!" He answered her question with a question.

She only shook her head.

"I don't know. I just..we don't know each other, you're a complete stranger to me and so am I to you and..well you shouldn't care about someone you don't even know."

His expression changed a bit and she could now clearly see the sadness that filled his eyes.

"Why shouldn't I care? We're both human beings after all. And one human being should help another one when the second is in need, right?!"

Damn, she couldn't argue with this.

"Right." She nodded slowly. "But we still have to introduce ourselves to each other."

She stretched her hand to him.

"My name's Michelle."

He took her hand and shook it. When his hand made contact with hers she felt how soft his chocolate skin really was.

"And I'm..Michael."

She noticed that he hesitated a bit before telling her his name.

They finally dropped the handshake and he pulled back the covers on her.

"I'll leave you to get some rest now."

He began to stand up when her voice stopped him.

"I'm not tired."

"You're sick and you need to rest." He said standing up. "I'm going to get you some breakfast."

And he headed to the door.

"Thanks." She said after a brief pause.

He only gave her a small smile and she was stunned by how his face changed when he smiled; his features looked more handsome if that was even possible. While she was thinking about that however he walked out of the room.

Michelle reached to where her backpack was and pulled something out of it, a small smile rising on her face. She traced the small framed photograph with her fingers.

"I finally escaped that prison. Now there's nothing that will stop me from finding you."

She pressed her lips against the cold glass of the frame.

"I love you, dad."

And she held the photo tight to her chest getting deep in her thoughts. When Michael got back to the room holding a plate with breakfast he found her asleep with a small smile plastered on her pale face.