AN: This is my first fanfic so be gentle with me. This is only the preface and the following chapters will be longer. I'm sorry if there are any spelling errors, this story is unbetaed. Leave me a review to let me know what you think.

September 7th, 2009

11:15 pm

Tavern Station, Renwood City

Sam Evans boarded the train, securing his worn down black bookbag across his shoulder with a firm tug of the string of fabric. He glanced wearily at the other passengers on the train, taking in their haggard looking faces which probably mirrored his own. A few of them looked familiar. It was possible to see a few of the same people every once in a while, Renwood City was only but so big. He'd been living here for several years, taking the same train every night to get back home after a long day of doing nothing with his life. Mainly he walked the streets under the shade provided by the trees and resturant signs. Every now and then he'd sit in a cafe, gazing out the window as if the purpose for his existence would be written out for him in the clouds.

Sam eyed the pregnant latina woman situated on the bench across from him, her long black hair was fastened in a loose bun atop her head and she stared blankly out the window just over his shoulder. Sam had seen her only once before, she was certainly bigger than the last time he'd come across her on this train. Her once slender face was much rounder, her full lips were no longer smiling and there was a worried crease in her eyebrows. She placed a small hand over her enlarge stomach and simply rested it there, as if feeling for the unborn childs heartbeat.

Sam glanced away, burrowing further in his seat. His hands went up to slide along the back of his neck, tentatively fingering the long scar that would be forever engraved in his skin just underneath the long feathered length of his blonde hair. For the last eight years, Sam tried to will the memories of where he obtained that scar away. But when he took the time to think about it, it left him feeling dirty and used. Made him realize that nothing in his life would come easy anymore. At the age of only twenty three, Sam already knew that each day he lived would only bring about new struggles, new hurdles that he wasn't fully capable of leaping over. To him it would seem that the world was slowly beginning to give up on him. He was nothing but a lost cause anyway, a sad excuse for a human being. Sam had learned to live with that harsh reality, it had become apart of him. He coped with it in the only way he knew how.

The drugs were easy to obtain.

They took him away from the pain, the memories, the depression. Just the feeling of the needle against his skin, cold metal against his feverish flesh, relaxed him a little. With them, he could go on pretending. It wasn't really that much of an issue. No one truly gave him more than a second glance and a false smile that he assumed they thought was reassuring. "You'll get through whatever you're going through" they always said, and he believed them for a long while. He wanted to forget. Erase the horrible images of his past and the violence that he had to endure within the place he was forced to call home. He was left to dwell in those thoughts whenever he was by himself. Sam had learned to fake a smile and be there when it counted and he supposed that he was doing a damned good job of fooling everyone...Even himself at times.

...

The train came to a mute stop in the empty underground subway tunnel, doors creaking open with a groan. Sam stepped off alongside the pregnant woman and a tall slender man with a furrow set in his brow. The air was heavy with the scent of the other mans cologne and Sam willed the scent away. If anything it did nothng but cause his head to throb in pain, he swayed a bit as he took a few steps away from the train, placing his hands into his pockets to keep then away from the cold air that was filtering through the air vents on the ceiling. He shifted his weight inside the warmth of his coat and simply let out a tired sigh. The insides of his eyelids ached from a lack of sleep, he would be up for a few more hours he was sure of it. There was no use in trying to sleep tonight anyway, just like every other night, he'd be alone in the darkness he called home. Being alone in that apartment had slowly made him paranoid and even more dependent on the drugs to help him get some rest. He never liked only being able to hear his own breathing every night, hated having to open his bedroom door only to find that the spot on the bed next to his was always empty.

He didn't want just some random one night stand. He wanted something more, what exactly more implied well...Sam didn't know for sure.

Sam continued down the tunnel, keeping his shoulder close enough to the grimy white tiles that lined it's face so that he brushed against them occasionally. He scanned the tunnel with drooping eyes, well aware that he had to remain alert until he got home to his apartment. Renwood was notorious for violent crime. It happened in broad daylight and in the hushed darkness of night. Anywhere and everywhere, danger always lurked. Sam yawned inwardly, coming towards the stairs that led up and out of the subway, gripping the frosty metal rail with a shaking hand as he ascended.

Little flakes of snow greeted him as he came towards the top, melting along his shoulders and the frayed ends of his blonde hair. The streets were empty and eerie. Just like they always were around this time. Renwood was nothing like the bigger cities, teeming with life and loud packed streets filled with cars. Oh no, Renwood was fairly vacant, atleast until tourist season started up again. That was when things went a little more than chaotic. Sam pushed his hat off his head and twisted it in his hands, trying to use the friction to bring some warmth back into the skin. He had to walk about seven more blocks and then he could collapse on his empty bed, in his empty apartment and just sulk for a while.

It was a plan. The only one that made sense in his troubled mind at the moment.

...

Sam hadn't realized what was happening until it had already been done. He was laying flat on his back, face smushed into the icy sidewalk as a heavy weight was settled on his back, securing his arms in a position so that he wasn't able to break free. He had almost reached his house, he was a mere block away and they caught up to him. They must have been tailing him for a long while. Sam felt a swift kick his abdomen and there was a brief mutter of curse words as someone rifled through his things. His bookbag was no longer on his shoulders, they were stealing what little possessions he had placed inside. He supressed a groan as a knee pressed into the soft bruised spot on his back. Someone laughed, it was a gruff noise. One that sounded like a man who had smoked far too many cigars in his life.

"Be still you little shit" someone muttered just as the pressure on his back intensified. Sam let out a breath of surprise, feeling the wind get knocked right out of him as his face was pressed even further into the ice slicked cement. He remained still, eyes falling closed as the sleepiness he had evaded in the subway caught up with him.

Just my luck, he thought to himself after a few moments, feeling the heaviness of sleep encase his body.