"I know you've been hurt by someone else. I can tell by the way you carry yourself."

Percy

I didn't know why it was suddenly so hard to climb through my window. I've done it a million times before, and I was usually able to slip into my room without anyone noticing that I was gone.

But that wasn't the case tonight.

I had to twist my body into an awkward position so that I wouldn't scrape the fresh bruises on my ribs, and I landed on my bedroom floor with a loud thud. I winced and bit down on my lip so that I wouldn't make any more noise than what I'd already made. I knew that I was screwed, because if Gabe or Courtney heard me they would kill me. Literately.

"God, Percy, you're late!" My step-sister, Hazel, burst into my room. "How long does it take to take pictures?" Hazel exclaimed, shutting the door behind her. I rolled my eyes while waving my waterproof camera in her face. "Taking underwater pictures is different." I reminded her cheekily. "The waves were wild today."

"I already told you that the waves get crazy whenever Poseidon isn't in a good mood…" I rolled my eyes as she started her usual rant about one of the Greek gods. I didn't understand why she was so obsessed with them lately. All she ever did was talk about them and read books about them. I guess everyone needs something to believe in, especially if you live in hell.

"Percy, are you listening to me?" Hazel's voice rose, and I snapped out of my thoughts. "Sorry, what?" I asked, making my step-sister shake her head. "I was saying that there are new people moving in next door. Maybe-" She started, but I cut her off. "I already told you, Hazel. We can't tell anyone." I stressed, shoving my camera case under my bed. "Percy, it keeps getting worse!" She protested.

"It will be worse if we end up living on the streets." I snapped, not turning my head to face her. I knew that if I looked at her I would start to feel bad about snapping at her, and I just wanted to feel angry right now. She'd already seen what would happen if we ran away, and I wasn't risking trying to run away again. Living in hell was better than not having anywhere to live.

I tried not to notice that Hazel left my room, and I tried to ignore the fact that I couldn't leave my room without risking seeing one of my step parents. I knew that they wouldn't do anything to me when Hazel was around, because they never wanted her to see anything.

I slowly walked down the stairs, pausing for what felt like an hour at each step so that I wouldn't make any unnecessary noise. I didn't know what kind of moods Gabe or Courtney was in, but I knew that they were probably pretty pissed. I was supposed to make dinner every night at seven, and it was eight thirty now. I realized now that I actually was scared, no matter how many times that I told myself that I wasn't afraid of them. They would kill me without a second thought, and no one would care.

I wrinkled my nose once the bitter smell of alcohol hit my nose and tried to get rid of the beer and wine bottles without freaking out. They were usually more vicious after they'd had a couple of drinks, but they weren't anywhere to be found. It was odd that the kitchen was actually clean, because I was usually the one to clean it every day after I came home from school. I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone, or in a horror movie. I was expecting Gabe to jump out and tackle me, but it wasn't happening. I opened the fridge as quietly as I could, and searched around for something to eat. I groaned inwardly once I realized that there weren't any groceries, and just a twelve pack of beer.

"Look who decided to come out and play." A deep voice rumbled from behind me, making me snap up and hit my head on the fridge door. Gabe stared back at me with an evil glint in his eyes and a beer stains on his dirty undershirt. I tried to think of something to say, but it was like my mind was blank. I couldn't even move; my legs were frozen to my spot in front of the refrigerator.

"Where've you been all day, brat?" Gabe spat as he stepped closer to me. "Did I give you permission to leave the house?" Gabe asked, moving in towards my face. I could smell the alcohol on his breath and I turned my head away from his mouth. "Courtney and I had to find our own dinner, did you think about that? We give you a roof over your head, put the clothes on your back and put food in your mouth! Is it really too fucking much to ask that you obey my rules?" He barks.

I focus on staring at a spot on the wall from across the room, trying to ignore Gabe. He would always ask me questions when he was mad, but he would get worse if I actually answered them. I can feel him breathing hot air onto my neck as he pulls my hair and turns my head so that I am facing him. "I-I'm sorry." I stutter, hating how small I feel in Smelly Gabe's presence.

"You're sorry." Gabe mimicked. "What were you doing this time? Playing in a fucking puddle somewhere?" He spat, still gripping my hair. I shut my eyes, waiting for the blow to come. "Fucking answer me!" Gabe's fist slammed into the side of my head. I stumbled backwards, right into the corner of the kitchen. The kick to my already injured ribs came too quick for me to be able to dodge it, and I fell to the ground from the blow. "I'm going to assume that you really are sorry, and not just pretending like your whore of a mother." Gabe retorted.

At the mention of my mother, I felt something flare up in my chest. "Don't talk about her," I wheezed out, trying to control the pain in my ribs. Gabe laughed, and I heard a loud crunch as he stepped on my wrist. I was feeling pain, but it just seemed to be coming from all over. I couldn't tell where all of it was coming from.

"She's a whore, punk. She left you for some guy that she found on the street, though I can't really blame her. No one would want to have you around, not even your mother." I hear Gabe spit from above me. "S-she didn't l-leave. Y-y-you killed h-her..." I struggled to speak through the pain. I could hear Gabe's laughter echo on the walls of the room.

"Whatever stops the tears, brat."

I knew that Gabe had killed my mom, I knew it. My mom loved me and I loved her; she wouldn't just get up one day and decide that she would leave me with Gabe. She'd disappeared when I was eight, and that was when Gabe married Courtney and Hazel moved in. It was kind of like the good and that bad rolled into one, since Courtney was almost as bad as Gabe, but Hazel was the exact opposite of her mother.

"Just so that we are clear, you aren't going to be leaving this house for a long time, except to go to school. You won't be running to my daughter to fix everything like you usually do. What you will do is clean up this place, and then not come out of your room. I don't think that you'll be eating dinner tonight." I heard Courtney declare from somewhere above me. I couldn't tell where she was, because dark black spots kept popping up and clouding my vision.

"You're disgusting." I couldn't tell who was speaking anymore. I heard a loud crash, and could feel glass shards raining down on my head. "We're done here for tonight." I heard someone say from above me. "You'd better shut up and stay quiet. There are new neighbors next door and we wouldn't want them to hear anything, do we?" I think it was Courtney speaking now. All I could see was a swirl of color above me, and then everything went black.

"Shit, shit, shit! Oh my Gods!"

I knew that voice, it was familiar. What did they mean, oh my gods? I only knew one person who believed in more than one god… Hazel. I blinked repeatedly, trying to get used to the blinding light that was on in the room. "You idiot!" Hazel shrieked once she saw that I was awake. "I had to drag you up the stairs! I thought you were dead!" I could see the tears pooling in her eyes that were threatening to roll over and I felt uncomfortable because I couldn't speak to comfort her. If there was one thing that I couldn't handle, it was girls who cried.

"They broke your wrist, and I think some of your ribs, and oh Gods, Percy, you almost died!" Hazel rambled, squeezing my hand. "Thought I told you not to help anymore…" I mumbled, squinting up towards a blur that looked like Hazel. I couldn't think about what might happen if Courtney found out that Hazel was helping me again.

"I don't care. We have to get out of here, Percy." Hazel commanded, and this time I didn't want to argue. I just wasn't sure how we would do it this time. I had tried running away three times before, but they always found me. After the most recent time that I ran away, Gabe decided to punish me by throwing me down the stairs. I hadn't tried to run away since he broke my leg.

"I know."

"Are you sure that you want to go to school today?" Hazel asked incredulously, staring at me in shock as I struggled to put a shirt on. I shrugged. "I could go to school and escape for a little while, or stay here all day." I pointed out. Hazel didn't say anything else, but she still stared at me with concern.

Has anyone ever told you how hard it is to put on a shirt with a broken wrist? Even though Hazel had done her best to try and fix me up, everything still hurt like crazy. I could probably try to use pain meds, but they never seemed to work for me. It wasn't like we had them anyway. Meds cost money and any money spent on me was unnecessary.

"How are you even gonna go to gym like that? They'll send you to the nurse or something, and then they'll call home." Hazel pointed out as we neared the stares. I tried to shrug, but I felt a blinding pain when I did, so I just blinked at her. "Maybe I want them to call." I said simply, walking down the stairs ahead of her. I knew that I had to just run out of the door before Gabe or Courtney noticed me, because if I took too long they would find something to get mad at me for something.

Gabe and Courtney were both passed out on the couch, and the living room was trashed. I sighed, knowing that I would probably have to clean it up when I got back. Once we were out the door, I reached over to grab my backpack from Hazel, but she shook her head and looked at me like I was crazy. "How are you going to hold this with your broken self?" She asked incredulously while rolling her eyes and shaking her head. I smiled as Hazel began murmuring something in French that I knew was about me.

Hazel and her mother came from the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana. I didn't know that people still spoke French there, but I guess that was the reason why Hazel spoke it fluently.

"Hey!" A feminine voice shouted behind us. I turned to look back at her, but Hazel snapped my sweatshirt hood up so that it covered the bruises on my face. "You should've freaking let me put makeup on you," She hissed, looking worried. I rolled my eyes, though I was worried too. I knew that if someone found out about what went on at home, Gabe would take care of them.

"Is she talking to us?" I asked Hazel in a whisper. She shrugged, not looking back. Most people who lived around town didn't pay attention to Hazel or me, because we were never really allowed to be outside of the house when we weren't going to school or picking up beer. "Probably. We're the only ones on this road." Hazel shrugged. She gently grabbed my wrist that wasn't broken and pulled me along faster.

"Did you guys hear those noises last night? My dad and I couldn't figure out what it was." The voice yelled, making me stop short. Hazel turned around slowly. "What noise? We didn't hear anything at our house." My step-sister lied smoothly. I slowly turned around, but kept my head down. The girl had curly blonde hair and grey eyes, but that was all I could see in a quick look at her. I couldn't decide if I was supposed to think that she was pretty or not, but I did.

"Hey, what's that on your face?" The girl asked, taking a step closer to me so that she could see the bruises on my face. My eyes widened for a second before I spun on my heel and started walking, quicker than I had been before. A few seconds later, Hazel was next to me.

"Sorry, that was probably rude." The girl called as she ran to keep up with us. I groaned, wondering why she couldn't just leave us alone. "Do you guys have names?" She asked, trying to make conversation or whatever. "No," Hazel snapped, not making eye contact with the girl. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

"Well, I'm going to school. Do you guys go to Goode High?" She asked, making Hazel groan. I didn't really mind that she went to our school, as long as she kept asking questions. "Didn't you just freaking move here?" Madison rolled her eyes.

"Well, I did, but I didn't want to sit around and unpack with my dad. I have a step-mom and two little brother, too, so I didn't really want to be home today. Do you know what I mean?" She asked. I was about to answer, but Hazel spoke before I could. "Why can't you just leave us alone? Can't you see that we don't want to talk to you?" She asked.

I knew that Hazel wasn't trying to be mean or anything, and that she was just trying to make sure that no one found out about Gabe and Courtney. Still, I couldn't help but feel bad when the girl's face fell. I only felt bad for a minute, though, because her face was back to normal.

"I just wanted to know what the noise was. There was all of this yelling going on, and my little brothers were getting freaked out." The girl explained. Hazel didn't seem like she was going to answer, so I did. "Well, my step parents have been fighting a lot more than usual, so…" My voice trailed off when I realized that I didn't know what I wanted to say. I could feel the girl's eyes on me, and I couldn't tell if she was staring because she didn't believe my lie or because she could see the bruise on the side of my head.

"Look, we have to go." Hazel suddenly spoke up, making me grateful that she was such a great liar. "We have to stop at the store before school, to pick up some stuff for our parents." She added, pulling me off to the side. I rolled my eyes when the girl started walking with us, yet again. "Don't you think that it's a little late to do that? You'll be late for school." The girl pointed out, making Hazel chuckle. "Oh, yes, because it would be ever so horrible if we were late."

The blonde girl rolled her eyes, and I decided that I might like her. That was, until, she reached over to pull down my hood.

What did you all think?