I don't own anything but my own character and the plot. I hope you like it.

Chapter one:

I could hear the yelling and screaming from up in my room. I hated when they fought like that. It always led to Rodney hitting my mom. I looked over at the bed that held my brother "Jake are you asleep?"

"No" Was all he said.

"I hate when they fight like that. I can never sleep. It scares me."

My older brother Jacob looked at me and smiled sadly. "I know but it happens."

Jacob was the strongest person I knew. Even though we had been through a lot throughout the last 10 years Jacob was still standing tall and he was always there to protect me. I wish I was more like him.

"Jakey?"

"Yes Sammy?"

"Can I come lay in bed with you?"

Jake sighed. "I don't know Sam-Sam. I would let you but if Rodney happens to come up you know he'll get mad as hell."

"That's why I want to come lay with you. I am scared he is going to come up here and try to do something to me."

Sam could tell by the way Jake had moved that he was now looking at her. "He won't ever get his hands on you, never, I promise."

Jake always kept his promises; ever since dad and the sibs had left he hadn't broken his word. This wasn't a promise he could keep though. Rodney had already gotten to me once before and eventually he would get to me again; it was only a matter of time.

I hated Rodney more then anyone, well almost anyone. I don't know why mom insisted on staying with him. He was bad news for all of us. I guess she was with him because of the money he provided. When dad left he had left mom, Jake and I high and dry. We lived in some very bad places for the first 5 years and then mom had met Rodney. When Rodney entered the picture things got better until him and mom got married. They had met and married in the period of six months so of course mom never really knew the real Rodney, she only knew the masked Rodney. After their marriage things changed drastically; he got abusive and he drank pretty much every night. However mom insisted that it wasn't that bad and had stayed with him until that night when she had caught him doing something he shouldn't; now they were fighting because mom insisted that he leave.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard a loud crash and then the sound of a gun going off. I looked over at Jake and I saw that he had risen from his bed and was putting some slippers on his feet. "Sammy, I want you to go out that window and run to the nearest house."

"What?"

"GO! Now Sam, no matter what you see or hear don't come back. Ask them to call the police."

Slowly I got out of bed and made my way towards the window. I opened and jumped out of it into the ice cold night. I made my way towards the Mcmullen's house but before I could ring the doorbell I heard two more gunshots. I started running for my house but I remembered Jake's words and ran back to the McMullens and rang the doorbell. Mrs. McMullen answered on the first ring. "I thought something was wrong, I called the cops when I heard the first gunshot." She looked out expectantly as if hoping to see someone else "Where is Jake?"

"He's back at the house." I saw a look of fright pass through her face and I immediately spoke up. "He is okay though, I know he is." She looked at me worriedly but didn't dispute what I had said. Suddenly I heard sirens and I knew they were there for my house. When the police got there I ran over, I could hear Mrs. McMullen calling after me. I ignored her and kept running.

I didn't get far because a young cop stopped me. "Where do you think you are going?"

"That's my home, my brother and mom are in there!"

"No one is going in there except us cops kiddo."

I tried pushing past him but to no avail and finally I gave up. I went over to the curb and sat waiting as patiently as could be expected when I knew my family was in trouble. 30 minutes later I saw a cop carrying out a body bag and then another. My body froze, there wasn't going to be a good outcome out of this. Even if one of those body bags belonged to Rodney the other belonged to my mother or brother. I was about to run over and ask about the people in the body bags when a third body bag was wheeled out. "NO!" I screamed but that was all I could get out before I blacked out.

XXXXXXXXXX~SeventhHeaven~XXXXXXXXXX

I woke up in a darkish room and I realized it was a hospital room. I felt dizzy and disoriented. I looked frantically around the room, hoping to find my mom or brother, I looked at the corner of the room and there was a figure sitting in the shadows. "Jake is that you?" I asked.

The figure shook his head no and said "It's me dad."

"Go away" I said frantically. If my father was here that meant only one thing, everything I had thought was a dream was real and my mother and brother were dead.

"Calm down." He said calmly as if nothing bad had happened.

"I can't, if you are here that means everything that I thought was a dream happened and my mom and brother are dead." Slowly a sob escaped but I pushed it back. My father, my absentee father, the father who didn't care about Jake or me would not see me shed tears for the only two people who ever cared for me.

"Yes, it did happen. Your mother and Jake were shot and killed last night." How could he act as if nothing had happened? How could he act as if his son hadn't just been shot by some maniac? Mom always said that their relationship had been a mistake but she also said that he never regretted it because he got Jake and I out of it. I always wanted to believe her but now I realized she was lying to protect me, Reverend Eric Camden had never cared about his two children that had resulted from a mistake.

My father, Eric Camden, had been "Happily" married to Annie Camden for ten years when she came to him and told him that she was pregnant and he wasn't the father. At the time they had three children, Matt 10, Mary 8 and Lucy 6. Annie and my father called it quits and my father met my mother a couple of months later my parents were pregnant with my older brother Jacob. Two years later I came along. My parent's never got married and a year after I had been born my father went back to his lovely wife Annie. Jake and I hardly ever heard from him. He would give us gifts for Christmas and our birthdays but that was about it contact wise. The funny thing about the whole situation was when my father decided to get back with the "love of his life" he had committed himself to taking care of two kids that were not his yet he couldn't take more then two days out of the year to acknowledge two kids that were his own flesh and blood. I guess it took a tragedy to make him think about us.

"So why are you here?" I ask angrily.

"I am here to bring you home."

"I am home."

"That may be but that has to change. You have no where else to go but with me."

"Why don't you just let me go to an orphanage?" I murmer

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing at all." I knew there was no point in arguing with my father because he was right, I had no where to go. My mom was an only child and her parents had died when she was twenty years old, four years before my brother Jake had been born.

My dad sighed and stood up. "The hospital has been waiting for you to get up so they could discharge you. Annie went to talk to them when she saw that you were starting to wake up."

"Annie is here?"

"Yeah why wouldn't she be?"

"I don't know." You would think a father would want to be alone with his daughter, whom he hasn't seen in years, when he realizes she is suffering.

A nurse came into the room and started looking over my chart. "Well, the doctor says as long as everything seems okay, which it does, you can be discharged." She then handed my father some papers, which I assumed were the discharge papers and walked out the door.

"You should get dressed." My father says handing me some clothes that he must have gotten from my house.

I hurriedly took the clothes, waited for my father to leave, and then threw them on. When I was dressed I went to the door and slowly thrust it open. I barely had the door open when I heard two voices talking.

"Eric what are we going to do? No one in Glen oak knows about Celia and the kids. That is why we went to Glen oak, to start new, forget about the mistakes of our past. This is going to bring everything up again, people are going to look at me with disdain once again."

I couldn't believe my ears, my mother, Celia Andrews, and my older brother Jake had died not long ago and all Annie could think about was herself.

"Annie, honey, don't worry, we'll be honest and if people in Glen oak have a problem with what happened in the past we will easily find a new community to live in."

"I hope so." Annie sighed "Well we had better get going." Annie and my father then turned my way and a look of guilt crossed over their faces. They had been caught regretting my existence. "We didn't see you there Emily."

I rolled my eyes "My name isn't Emily, well it is but no one calls me that, they call me Sam or Sammy."

"Well, were going to have to call you Emily because we already have a Sam at home and it would just get confusing."

"I haven't been called Emily since I was five and I don't plan on starting now." I said with as much hatred as I could muster.

Annie looked at my father as if asking for some assistance. "Emily is the name you were given at birth and that is what we are going to call you." He finally said.

Tears started welling in my eyes. I knew I couldn't suppress them for long so I started walking hoping that Annie and my dad would follow me without making a big deal. A second later I caught my dad and Annie following me. "I don't know where the car is." I said sadly. At these words my father and Annie got in front of me and directed me towards the car.

Once we got to the car my dad unlocked the door and I got in. 15 minutes later we were in my old house and I was gathering stuff I needed. I grabbed my clothes, some books, the one photo album my mom had, and my jewelry box, the one my brother had given me last Christmas, inside the jewelry box was a pink sapphire heart necklace, matching earrings and a matching ring. My mom had given that to me last Christmas. She told me I was getting older and I deserved something that showed that. It was the best Christmas ever, even though I had only received two gifts. I also stuffed my brother's favorite sweatshirt in with my stuff and I went to my mom's room where I grabbed the only piece of Jewelry she had, a diamond ring she had received from my father, it had been an engagement ring but of course a marriage never took place. I always hated the way my mom held on to the ring but I knew it was her most valued possession so I took it. I wanted something of hers, something she loved and cherished.

I walked out of the door and went out to the car where my dad and Annie were waiting. When I entered the car I realized I was going to be starting a whole new life.