Authors note: I am testing the waters with this one so please review and let me know whatcha think. Thank you also this is not beta'd so please excuse all my mistakes.

I was the baby of the family having three other siblings. I was the only child still left at home with my parents. Michael, my eldest brother had been gone for several years, he had moved to New York. As far as I knew Michael was some sort of computer technician for a fairly large company. I hardly ever see Michael now; it's been almost three years since his last visit. Luci the middle child lives in Florida with our dad. I haven't seen her since I was about 8, so I barely know her. The second oldest is my sister Gabriella, who is currently serving in the army. I see her most out of all my siblings. I don't really connect very well with my family; I was a mistake after all. My mother always tried to soften that statement saying I was a "surprise baby". I knew my father wasn't very happy when he found out yet again that his wife was pregnant. Luci by far was his favorite child. After I was born things began to fall apart, my dad began drinking and sleeping around. Michael was old enough to choose which parent he wanted to be with so he left with our mother, leaving behind me and my two sisters. My childhood was not the best that's for sure. My father went through woman like he went through whiskey. Every night there was someone new keeping my father company. Nothing really registers with me about my childhood until I hit about 6 or 7, and the memory isn't worth really remembering. It had started out as a normal day, Gabby was gone as usual she never stayed in the house; in fact her room was in the garage. She refused to live in the house with our father. So I was left with Luci to play with, she always bossed me around. This day she was being really bossy, we were supposed to have our room cleaned by the time our dad came home. Luci decided she didn't want to do anything and began yelling at me telling me I had to clean the room because she was older and she could tell me what to do. I refused of course I was young but I wasn't stupid. We argued most of the day until we heard the familiar slam of the car door in the driveway. "You are in for it now Cassie." She teased me. Dad walked in the door coming straight to our room, he saw the state of it and the vein in his neck began to throb. He began yelling about how he slaved for us and we couldn't even clean our damn room. I could smell the alcohol on him as it began to fill up the room. He slapped me across the face leaving a large red stinging hand print from the bottom of my chin to almost my temple. Luci had smiled at me, but she couldn't escape dad's rage. He grabbed her by the hair dragging her out to the patio. He grabbed a pvc pipe from the porch and began to hit her with it. I shuddered in the corner, as I watched my sister spit blood, and laugh. In the end I would catch her eyes to notice that they were completely black with ecstasy. I remember having haunting dreams of her face and her laughter. My father never hit her again…well not in front of me. A year later my father called my mother explaining to her that if she didn't come and get us he was going to send us away to foster homes. I don't think my mom ever fully grasped the terror we endured living with my dad but she wasn't going to let her children go to foster homes. She sent my Aunt Ruby to come for us. Aunt Ruby was a likeable person I would say if she was getting what she wanted. I know damn well mom had paid her a good chunk to get us; she would never do anything out of the kindness of her heart. Well not for my mom anyway, later on I would find out she did it for Luci. On the day Aunt Ruby showed up Luci had stayed hugging our dad tightly, there was a hint of jealousy then but it was drowned by the fact that I was clearly disgusted by the whole situation.

Gabby and I packed all our things into the trailer and headed off to live with my mother, a sadness swept over me as we drove off knowing I would never see my father again and hopefully never see Luci either. The drive was long; I tried to sleep most of the way not wanting to hear Aunt Ruby talk about how children needed discipline. She was the type to look for something she could hit her kids about, luckily she didn't have any. Gabby and I took turns looking out the windows and counting out of state license plates, pretty much anything to pass the time. 17 hours later we pulled up to a small two story house split into two apartments. My mother's apartment was on the ground floor, some crazy cat lady lived upstairs. My heart swelled as I saw my mother run down the porch steps to meet us. She had a grin plastered on her face as she smothered us in hugs. There was nothing like the tender touch of my mother after years of discipline and disappointment from my father.

Surprisingly Aunt Ruby stayed to help us unload the truck and cook dinner, mom must have been paying her double or some shit, she was never this nice.

I remember trying to sleep the first night it was soothing and terrifying at the same time. My mother had a two bedroom apartment so I had to share a room with Gabby, which of course I didn't mind. Gabby was out cold when her head hit the pillow, she never had trouble falling asleep it was like her gift or something. I knew that night was the start of something different; maybe not something better, but something different at least.