Disclaimer: I don't own the Outsiders...S.E Hinton does. I just own the characters you don't see in the book or movie. :) Oh, and I'm going by movies descriptions to let you know. I love the descriptions in the book, but It'd be easier for me to use movie descriptions, please don't hate me. :( lol.

-Casey

Chapter 1. "An Unfortunate Beginning"

New York 1950.

"Dally!" Wait for meeee!" I called. It seemed so very long ago, I was a young girl about the age of 7. I hadn't any troubles in the world. I ran after my older brother in my little blue dress, with my waist length red hair traveling after me as I ran. My brother Dallas was 9, and my hero. We did everything together. Nothing ever meant more to me in my whole seven years of living. I know that's not saying much. But not even toys mattered more than him. And when you're seven, that's truly saying something!

We were on our way home from picking up a few things at the grocery store for our parents. Dally was the one that usually went, but I begged him to go. I usually did. He never had a problem with it. We were close as could be.

"Will, if you don't learn to keep up, I just might leave you behind!" Dally joked. I stopped in my tracks, and pretended to look pouty. Of course, being Dally, he'd never fall for it. "Faker!" He yelled with a laugh. With that, he walked up to me and slung me over his shoulder. I attempted to shake free but when I was over his shoulder, there was just no getting down. He was pretty strong for his age.

"Dal, put me down!" I cried. I could hardly get the words out because I was giggling so much. I loved my brother more than words could ever say. "Well why don't you make me?" He teased. Truth is, he never put me down until we got home. But it was one of the best days ever...the best day not including the night time. Because the night time was when the problem began. The night, where my life was changed forever.

That night, my mom and dad were putting Dally and I to bed after a long day of fun. "You get some sleep now." My mom said with a smile, giving me a kiss on the forehead. My dad did the same and whispered in my ear, "Have a good night's sleep princess." I giggled. I always loved it when he called me princess. Whenever he would say it, I would always feel like a princess.

"Goodnight Mommy, goodnight Daddy." I said shutting my eyes and turning onto my side. Then they went over to Dally's room and said their good nights to him and left.

After a few minutes I got out of bed and walked over to Dally's room. I always walked over to his room in the middle of the night. It always made me feel safer. I layed down next to him and he put his arm around me to keep me warm. "I love you Willow." He spoke softly in my ear. "I love you too, Dally." I responded happily, drifting off into a peaceful sleep.

This would sound like a peaceful night, and nothing could go wrong. I felt safe, but the truth was, I wasn't. Not at all. You see, my parents were both into pretty bad things. Drugs. But they had to stop when we were young, because they worked up a pretty huge debt, and they never payed it. So we had to move to New York because of the dealer. You've always heard the saying, "Don't run away from your problems...they'll always find you." I really wish my parents would've listened, because it was one of their biggest mistakes. But they were through with that lifestyle, and they moved us away from Tulsa just to make a better life for Dally and I. But the dealer wasn't through with them.

I heard a loud bang come from outside. I sat up and looked at Dally. He was still asleep. That boy could sleep through anything. I took the opportunity to get up and go to my own bed. I walked quickly to my room, layed down and pulled the covers up to my chin. I waited for a few minutes and didn't hear anything else. So I gradually eased back into sleep. It didn't seem long before I was jolted awake by something.

A hand was pressed hard against my mouth to keep me from screaming. And I felt myself being dragged from my bed. I struggled but then I heard a whisper in my ear say, "Struggle, and you die." So I obeyed. I really didn't want to die at the age of seven. But that didn't mean that I didn't start crying. Even though no one could hear me because he still had his hand pressed tightly against my mouth. I saw him drop a piece of paper on my pillow, and next thing I knew, he dragged me out of the house with him. I looked back at the house while he drove away with me thrown in the backseat. There were beer cans everywhere...and more trash than I had ever seen in a car. The one thing I took notice of, when I was being thrown into the car was that it was a blue mustang.

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(This is more of the POV of the parents and Dally)

The next morning, Mr. and Mrs. Winston began their normal daily routine, with making breakfast and getting the kids ready for school. Dally came down the stairs with his back pack, and he placed it on the chair. "Dally sweetie, can you go see if your sister's getting ready?" Mrs. Winston asked, cracking an egg into the frying pan.

"Yes, mom." He smiled, and went up the stairs. "Willowwww." He called teasingly. He always teased her by calling out her name in an animal calling sort of tone. It sounded really eerie, like a werewolf. But Dally liked to tease her. He could already tell something was up because there was no answer from inside her room. "Will?" He asked, and knocked on the door -- still no answer.

He gently turned the knob and pushed the door open. He looked around, but there was no sign of Willow anywhere. So he tried looking around the upstairs for wherever else she could be. After looking for 10 minutes, he couldn't find her. He ran down the stairs calling out for their mother and father. "Mom! Dad! Willow's gone!"

His father looked up from his morning paper and took a sip of his coffee. "What do you mean Willow's gone Dallas?" He asked incredulously, thinking it might be one of their old pranks.

"She's not in her room, the bathroom, my room, your room, closets...I checked everywhere!" Dally cried.

"You're sure you checked her room?" Mrs. Winston asked getting a little worried. She placed down the spatula and looked at her son for any sign of a prank. He looked dead serious.

"Mom, come with me, she's not there." Dally said taking his mother by the hand and leading her upstairs. She followed, with her heart beating a bit faster. He pulled her through the already opened door. "See? She's not here." Dally said, near tears.

She wasn't saying anything for a minute, and Dally followed her gaze to the bed where there was a piece of paper laying on the bed. Mrs. Winston walked slowly to the bed and picked up the piece of paper. She read it and nearly fainted. She fell onto the bed in shock, dropping the paper. "She's gone..." Mrs. Winston spoke in disbelief. "Willow...she's...gone...not Willow..." She started saying under her breath. Soon she got up and started shouting for her husband frantically.

While Mrs. Winston ran out of the room. Dally's gaze fell onto the paper on the floor. He slowly picked it up. He sat down on the bed and read silently...

Ryan and Natalie,

Did you really think that I wouldn't find you? You really must think I'm stupid. You can't run from me, when you haven't paid what you owe. At first, I thought your daughter would make a wonderful ransom, and that could somehow make you see reason to pay. But, I gave it some thought. Your family is not like mine. You're not rich...you're not even close to rich.

So, in return for your debt, I've taken your daughter. She'll make a fine Soc under my care. Don't you worry about that. She'll have the finest of everything. You're finally paying the debt you owe me. Only now, I pick in what terms you pay. I know your view on Soc's. I know how much you think they're distasteful. So, I'm going to raise your daughter as if she was my own.

I'll make her see why your kind is filth. You're nothing but wasted space on this earth. And under my care, she'll always believe that. That's a promise I intend to keep.

Enjoy your lives, it's been a pleasure.

Jeffrey.

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So, what do you guys think so far? Should I keep going? I hope you guys like it. The story may seem a little unclear at first, but it'll become clearer. Oh, and if it wasn't clear in the summary, Willow's raised to be a Soc. Which will be covered in the next chapter. And she builds feeling for Soda later on. If anything else seems unclear, tell me in a review. Please read and review, I hope you like it!

-Casey.