Here is chapter 1, the first chapter being more of a prologue. I hope you enjoy


A nineteen year old girl by the name of Alana Greenburg ran down the sidewalk as fast as she could. Her long, brunet hair swung wildly as she did so but, fortunately, the wind prevented it from getting in her eyes. The locket around her neck also swung wildly, hitting her cheek every now and then. The already filthy clothing that she wore got even filthier with sweat and dirt as she continued to run. The girl's feet also throbbed horribly due to her shoes being a size too small. Despite all this, Alana continued to pump her legs as she forced herself to continue down the sidewalk.

From behind her Alana could hear the owner of the general store shout at her as he continued to chase her. The young woman simply ignored his shouts as she tightened her grip on the shopping bag and tried to run even faster. By this point she was running so fast that avoiding people was starting to become impossible. Not that she cared all that much if she bumped into a person or two, though. When approaching a baby stroller, however, the girl slowed down enough to swiftly dodge it; ignoring the angry shouts of the mother telling her to be more careful as she did so.

As Alana began to near the end of the block her breathing had become heavy and raspy. She couldn't remember running so fast, or so much, in her entire life; not even in gym class. It couldn't be helped, though. The girl didn't think the store clerk would have chased her this far. It was annoying but it made her wonder just how many people stole from him. Whatever the answer was Alana saw her chance to get away when she heard the man run into a couple she previously dodged. So, turning sharply, the girl dodged into the ally before the man had a chance to catch up.

By the time the store clerk rounded the corner the girl was nowhere to be seen. People were walking in all directions and cars passed by on the road. The sidewalk was crowded enough for her to blend in and traffic was still light enough for her to cross the street. There was no telling where the girl had run off to and it pissed him off.

The man has had shoplifters in the past but it had been a good few years since he got one as bad as this girl. Perhaps he should have noticed something was wrong from the start, though. After all, aside from having clean and brushed hair the girl looked as if she could be homeless. Her clothes were filthy and her shoes looked as if they could be too small. She had come in with a plastic bag and put as much as two hundred dollars worth of stuff inside before running off.

"God damn it! The little bitch got away." Alana heard the man curse from behind her hiding place. Keeping herself crouched behind the garbage bin, the girl waiting until she was sure he was gone before standing back up.

"That was close." She sighed in relief before looking at the shopping bag in her hand. "Now, let's see what I have." She mumbled to herself. Sitting crossed legged on the dirty ally floor, the girl put the shopping bag in her lap and opened it.

Alana had been in such a hurry to escape the general store that she barely had time to see what she was taking. Inside the bag was a change of clothing, a pair of sandals, some fruit, a box of hair dye, four small bags of chips, toothpaste and a couple water bottles. Needless to say Alana did have money, just not a lot of money. So she often stole the things she needed the most. The chips were the only things she didn't exactly need but she couldn't exactly pay for those and steal the rest.

Alana had been shoplifting and stealing for around three years now; along with doing some other things. She wouldn't be surprised if the police had a warrant for her arrest by this point. There were times that the young woman thought about allowing the cops to capture her; as she believed that it would give her a warm bed and free food every day. However, it only took her seconds to shake those thoughts away. She knew that, after all the stuff she's done, she'd be in prison longer than a few months.

This is where the hair dye came in. Alana planned on changing her appearance as much as possible. She even had some scissors back home that she could use to cut her hair a different length. If she had to Alana would even try to get her hands on some colored contacts. Unfortunately, she had no idea how to get something like those. So she'd have to settle for just the hair dye for now.

Anyways, continuing to sit on the ground, Alana pulled her too small shoes off and chucked them into the garbage bin behind her. Sighing in relief, the girl rubbed her sore, socked, feet momentarily before pulling the sandals from the bag. Pulling off the tags, the young woman was delighted when they fit perfectly; with just enough room to last a couple of years. Of course, Alana would need proper shoes for when the weather got cold but, until that happened, she wouldn't worry too much about it. For now she was just glad that she could walk around in comfortable footwear again without worrying about her feet getting blisters and sores.

Confident that the store clerk was long gone, Alana stood back up and exited the ally to head on home. Along the way she noticed a few people look her way but did her best to ignore them. The young woman was far used to people thinking she was homeless or a street rat. Filthy clothing tended to do that to a person, after all. It wasn't as if she didn't care if she wore dirty clothing or not, she just couldn't help it. Alana just didn't have the proper equipment to clean her clothes. At least these people didn't stare at her for the crimes she's committed.

"Home sweet home." Alana mumbled to herself as she reached a small, wooded park. Nearing a group of bushes and trees, the girl made sure no one was around before getting down on her knees and pushing her way through; ignoring the branches and twigs that pulled at her clothes.

Emerging on the other side, Alana stared ahead at the place she's called home for the past six months. A tent big enough for one person stood only a foot away from a small pond. A clothes line, which was attached to two trees, held a towel and a change of clothes. A food cooler that held most of Alana's food rested against the left side of the tent, firmly closed to keep the animals out. Inside the tent laid her sleeping bag, a pillow and a backpack filled with objects needed for survival. The area that held these things was well hidden and the only way in was to crawl under the bushes or climb a tree.

"It's good to be home. At least I didn't run into any bastards this time." Alana whispered to herself as she made her way towards her tent. Upon entering it she pulled out the change of clothing and tossed the bag to one corner of the tent.

Once stripping out of her old clothing and changing into the outfit she stole, Alana grabbed the hair dye from the bag. It was to turn her hair red, a color she believed would be smart since it was very different from her natural brunet hair color. She had scissors to cut her hair, water to wet her hair and she could even use her old shirt to keep her skin or new clothes from becoming stained. Although, for the longest time, Alana found herself unable to look away from the box, a soft frown coating her face.

If her parents knew what she was about to do they'd be so disappointed in her. They never believed in things like dyed hair, tattoos or earrings; the latter on boys. That is why Alana had loved her older brother so much. He had been such a rebel; a rule breaker but a loving rule breaker. Although Alana knew she had done much worse things than steal and have thoughts of dying her hair, she still wanted to respect the memory of her parents. However... they'd understand why she had to do it, right? After all, it's more likely they'd be more disappointed in what she's been doing than dying her hair.

"Please forgive me, mom and dad." She whispered and gripped her locket in one hand. Giving it a tight squeeze, Alana let it go after a moment and grabbed her backpack.

The backpack was a standard bag most little kids used for school. There was the big pouch but three outer pouches as well. The pouch on the left held her toothbrush, toothpaste, a small flashlight and tissue paper. The pouch on the right held some pencils, pens, scissors and a calculator. The front pouch held three, paperback books and a change purse full of money. The main pouch held more random things that Alana would need when traveling around town. Opening up that pouch, Alana put the hair dye inside along with a bottle of water. Out of the random things in the bag was a brush so all she needed was to find somewhere to get her hair dyed.

Crawling out of the tent, Alana looked up at the sky and frowned. It was already seven o'clock at night and the sun would be completely down in just a few hours. There was no way Alana would have time to visit a gas station bathroom, dye her hair, wait a few hours for it to dry and get back before it got completely dark. Perverts and murderers came out at night but that wasn't what bothered her; as she had a way to protect herself from them. The problem here was that, even though it was summer, nights could still be a little chilly and she was in no mood to rush home again.

"I guess I have to wait until tomorrow." Alana mumbled to herself and tossed her backpack against a tree before disappearing back into the tent. With a yawn, the girl grabbed a couple of things before exiting the tent again; unaware that her life was about to change in the weirdest way possible.


OK ^^ this chapter is more to introduce the character. I already started chapter 3 and Peter makes his appearance. Once again, please review and tell me if you think this story is worth continuing.