I have a poll on my profile page asking a question I really want to have answered. I'm trying to get as many answers as I can, and very few people visit my profile. I've gotten literally one answer in a week, and that's sad. Please answer, and be honest about it.

I only own my OC's!

Old Family Part 2

Tuesday Morning, Normal POV

"SHEYENNE RAYNE MCANALLY, GET YOUR F***IN' ASS OUT OF BED RIGHT NOW, OR I'M COMING IN THERE WITH A BELT!"

I roll out of bed and yell out the door at him. "IT'S MARIANNE RACHEL!"

"Shut your f***ing mouth, Bitch!" He steps in the door with a belt in his hand, and, after all but ripping my pajama top off, starts beating on my back with the buckle end. After about ten hits—I can feel that I'm bleeding—he stops. "There. Now, get your lazy, impertinent ass dressed and off to school before I decide you need worse than that."

I run around at that, trying to make sure I have everything together in the old Elmo backpack at the same time as getting dressed for school. I quickly change my underwear—the looks-like-adult-underwear set Stacy had gotten me. They're both Elmo print. I pull on a dress with a black short sleeved top, lavender and silver glitter suspender graphics, and an "I", a , and an Elmo graphic, purple and white striped long sleeves, a purple tutu skirt, and a purple collar. I pull on a pair of purple and lavender striped tights, and slide my feet into into a pair of black quilted Mary Jane shoes.

I go into the bathroom and clean my back as well as I can with a red washcloth, bandage it with almost a full box of Elmo band-aids, brush my teeth—which makes my tummy cramp because they got fluoride toothpaste—then do my makeup like Stacy had told me—first comes the pale foundation to cover my tan skin, then comes the blush, eye shadow, mascara, and lipstick to hide the fact that I'm wearing foundation. I glance in the mirror with a sigh, then twist a small part of my hair around itself before pulling my hair into pigtails with rubber bands, then take two purple hair ties like the ones Carrier and Sire use on my hair when I'm with them, and twist them as good as I can into my up high pigtails—they actually look really good, for my only being 6, all nice and smooth.

I go back to my room to get my backpack and notice that my bed's wet—not like "wet the bed" wet, but "my window leaks and it's raining outside" wet. "Darn." I take off my shoes and put them in my backpack, then pull on my rain boots, grab my umbrella, and pull on my light blue Elmo raincoat. I pull my backpack on, then turn to leave the room, only to find Aaron in the doorway. "Your breakfast is waiting, lunch money is on the table, and your excuse note is sitting on the counter. Make sure you take the makeup kit from your mother. With any luck, you won't have to wear it after a few days. Don't forget your glasses and watch either."

"Excuse note?"

"You've missed a month of school with that little escapade, Sheyenne."

I open my mouth to speak, then close it with a sigh. He doesn't care—never has, and obviously never will. I slip the yellow Elmo print makeup kit and the red Elmo print pouch I transferred my emergency kit from Carrier into, then run into the kitchen and eat the French toast and eggs before sticking the dollar in quarters and the note into the pocket on my raincoat. I run into my room and grab the red plastic glasses and fasten the red leather strap onto my wrist before slipping the glasses onto my face.

"Good. You're ready. I'm driving you in so I can get Briar to preschool. Come on."

I follow him out to the rental car and slip into the Elmo booster seat wordlessly, making sure to set the Elmo backpack on the floor before buckling in.

Tranquility, Nevada, Third POV

Prowl steps into the police station and over to the desk, only to be motioned into an office. "Good morning, and welcome to orientation."

"Good morning." He sighs heavily.

"What's wrong?"

"My daughter was kidnapped around midnight last night. We suspect that someone followed us from Indiana, but the military is on it because she is one of our own."

"Do you feel capable of working at the moment?"

"I can go through orientation, and if you need me to work, I can, but I did promise her I would search for her ceaselessly until she was found."

"I can give you a week, but after that, I will need you. We have someone planning to retire after this week, and we will need you to fill his position."

"Thank you, Sir." He nods toward the paperwork. "Now then, I believe we were getting ready for orientation."

"Yes, we were. Can you handle this?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Jazz, I am on my way."

"Wha'? Ah though' ya were gonna work today, an' we'd go tomorrow."

"They gave me a week to search for her. We are going to Indiana tonight."

Culver Community Elementary School, Normal POV

I step into Mrs. Johnson's room with a sigh, and hand her the note. "Welcome back, Sheyenne."

"Marianne."

She gives me a confused look. "What?"

"My name is Marianne, Ma'am."

"Okay, then. Marianne, I'm glad to see you. Where have you been for the last month?"

"With my real family."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I was saved by my real Dad, and my fake Dad kidnabbed me."

"Really?"

I sigh. She doesn't believe me. "Yes, Ma'am."

"Well, why don't you take your seat, and we'll stick with your given name until we can prove that what you've told me is true."

~Pots?~

~MARI! Holy Primus! Are you okay?~

~Huh-uh. Ouchie back…gotted beated dis mornin'.~

~Well, your Carrier and Sire won't be happy about that. Your Sire told us he and Prowl will be out here by tonight to join our search for you. We've got two bots each per town, and we're undercover as a rescue team in…Culver.~

~You's close ta me!~

~Good. We'll try to find you then. Smokescreen and Bluestreak are in Plymouth, the twins are in Warsaw, and Red Alert and Inferno are in Bremen. Jazz and Prowl will cover Culver with us when they get here, and Lennox's human team is searching around South Bend with Ironhide.~

~I's gonna watchy for you…~

~That's my little sister.~

Tranquility, Nevada, Third POV

"Prowl, we've got her narrowed down to Culver-Plymouth area. Alert all teams to this, so we can continue our search around there. She's being beaten, so I have to assume it's the man who found her initially."

"Thank you for the update, Hot Spot. Jazz and I are packing some things to comfort her once she is returned to us, then we will join your team. Blaster is on security until further notice. Prowl out."

Culver, Indiana, Normal POV

I hurry through the assignment sheets with very little trouble, and start working on a coloring page—Elmo, of course—out of the coloring book the abusive family I'm currently with provided for me. While I'm here, I feel safe, but I know I'll have to go home at three.

The bell rings for lunch, and I pull out my quarters before lining up for lunch. I go through the line with everyone else, and get a tray that holds a foam bowl of soup and a grilled cheese sandwich with some hexagon-shaped crackers and peaches. I follow the line and sit between the kids I'd been in line beside. I eat silently while everyone starts to talk while they eat, so I'm done before everyone else, and head out to the playground. I hop onto the swing and watch the other kids play, feeling lonely and out-of-place at this public school.

I ride the bus home, and pray to God he's not mad as I walk up the driveway. I'd made it a point to make no noise, and did my best to be as obedient as possible for a kid my age.

Even though I had been good, he's still mad, and ready to beat me before I'm even in the door.

"Clothes off, face down on the couch." I nod, and do just that, hiding my eyes in the arm of the couch in preparation for the beating. He starts with a charger cord this time, and leaves marks on the backs of my legs before moving on to a hair brush on my back, which is still sore from this morning. I cry silently into the arm of the couch until he lets me sit up. "Now, get to your room and get your homework done. If you keep behaving, and you don't tell anyone what I do, I'll be able to stop these "honesty" punishments." He hands me an Elmo pull-up. "Put this on before you get started. If you're still dry by suppertime, you can eat with us. If not…"

'If not, I get beat.' I step into my room and get my homework done quickly before packing it up and moving on to the Elmo coloring book. What bugs me is why an adult man likes Elmo so much…

I step nervously into the kitchen at 6:00. "Are you dry?" I nod. "Let me see." I step over to him, and hold as still as I can as he checks the pull-up's "wetness indicator". "Good." He straightens up. "She can eat."

I watch as Stacy fills the yellow Elmo plate with food—Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, and corn—then sets it in front of me with my personal Elmo flatware and a sippy cup of water—even when I'm allowed to eat, I'm not allowed anything but water to drink.

"Grammy got you an alarm clock. We expect you to use it. If you're not in school, you get punished. Got it?"

"Yes, Sir." I change into my pajamas, leaving the pull-up on because I don't want to get beat for wetting the bed. Once I'm sure they're not going to check on me, I pull out my phone. Red?

Mari? How are you?

I'm otay. He beated me twice today.

We're looking for you, Sweetspark. Just hang in there. We'll be here for you once you're back, too. We won't let them get you again.

Otay. Loves you. Gotta go night-night now. Bye-bye.

Goodnight, Little One. I'll let your Carrier know you're safe for now.

I sigh softly as I turn my phone off and slip it into the red Elmo print case I'm using for my emergency kit. So far, so good. He doesn't know I have a phone, and my people are coming to rescue me.