I opened my eyes to a strange room I didn't recognize. A mass of person snored across the room from me and two somewhat familiar suitcases sat across the room from me, apart from that it was too dark to tell. I sat up and a dull ache crawled through me. Then, I remembered the attack.

THE NIGHT OF THE ATTACK

"Come on, Midnight. I promise you'll have fun." I groaned as my big sister, Isis, tried to convince me to go to the party again.

"Just go and make her happy, Midnight." My mother chimed in.

"Fine…." I let out an exasperated breath. Isis beamed as I made a move to follow her. Her smile fell.

"You're wearing that?" I nodded and Isis gave me one of those looks. I gave up and headed to my room. I stuck with my jeans and tank top, but I traded my hoodie for a thin jacket that only went down to my waist. I pulled my hair out of its ponytail and let my waves fall. Isis came in and nodded approvingly. She separated my hair over my shoulders and pulled the black net hood from my jacket over my head. She grabbed my purse, my wallet, and my phone and shoved them in my hands. She yanked me down the stairs and onto a wet sidewalk, where she hailed a cab. On the way to the party, I organized my stuff in my purse, making sure my emergency twenty dollars were in my jean's pockets.

Once at the party, Isis took my purse and hung it on a coat rack that was already overflowing with jackets and purses. She set her purse in with mine. Then, she disappeared. I looked everywhere, only finally catching a few glimpses of her tangling tongues with some blonde guy on the couch, then the crowd shifted and I lost view. A group of high schoolers came up to me, led by a blonde chick. She whispered something to the others and giggled, all of the others followed suit. I just shook my head and took a step back, they laughed again. I didn't want to know what they were gonna say, so when they took their next step forward, I turned and ran out the door.

The party was in a bad part of town, but walking home was my only choice. I didn't even bother going back in for my purse. I took as many short cuts as I could remember.

"Hey you!" A shadow moved behind me. I broke into a run, but a hand caught my hair a yanked. I fell onto wet pavement. My vision blurred. My attacker, a ratty man, pulled out a switchblade. A few cuts later, the blood loss from the wounds in my stomach made me blackout… and let that man get away with my twenty bucks.

PRESENT

The hulk snored as I slowly risked getting out of bed. I opened the door and stepped slowly into a hallway. I closed the door softly behind me. I went down the stairs and found my way to a small kitchen area. Isis stood at a counter with a cup of water. She set the cup down, then, turned. Surprise registered on her face when she saw me.

"Where are we?" I managed to whisper. She opened her mouth to answer, then her eyes hardened and her mouth closed. She shot me an apologetic glance then left the room. I turned, and behind me stood the brother who'd left me, Isis, and mom for no reason when he was thirteen… that was five years ago… My now eighteen year old brother stood in front of me…. Embry Call