Naia's POV

It was all back to normal. All four of us got into big, big trouble. I've never seen the Samuals so upset. They beat us with belts, pushed us, slapped us. Then afterwards, they locked us in the dark in the basement for I don't know how long.

Now I was in the bedroom I shared with Ellie. Shane and Thomas shared another room. We were lying on the mattress on the floor, waiting for the sun to rise just a little.

"What time is it?" I asked Ellie who then looked at the worn down watch she found in the lost and found at school.

"6:00" She whispered back.

"I'm going out." I announced and got up. October was coming to an end so it was chilly outside for this time in the morning but I didn't really care. I was done with this and needed everything to stop. For Thomas' sake, and Shane's sake, and of course, for Ellie.

I didn't really have anything besides a few t shirts and some jeans and a sweater. My only pair of shoes were had a bajillion holes in them and I could wiggle my toes and see them.

I said bye to Ellie and creeped past the Samuals room. Then I slowly made my way down the stairs, making sure to skip the creaky ones. Then I quietly unlocked the back door, since the Samuals never checked the back and went into the backyard. I climbed on the tree to get over the fence and then started running.

My legs pumped hard as I ran towards Firehouse 51. I turned right and then sprinted down the block. I loved running. I would have joined the track team at school but I highly doubted that the Samuals would let me.

As I got closer to the firehouse, I noticed that there were two people standing outside. As I got even closer, I saw that one was Gabby and the other was a man. From his looks, he could have been Gabby's brother.

Gabby turned around when she heard my footsteps and her face lit up when she saw me.

"Naia! You're supposed to be resting!" She said and walked closer towards me.

I slowed down and stopped next to them. I looked carefully at the man. He looked at me too.

"Naia, this is Antonio, my brother." Gabby introduced us. I gave him a shy smile.

"Hi Naia." Antonio said and smiled at me.

Gabby said good-bye to Antonio and led me into the Firehouse. That's when she noticed the large bruise on my jaw.

"Yikes, that look like it hurt." She said, as we walked into the kitchen.

"Naia!" Everybody greeted. I looked around at the smiling faces.

"Hey Brett! Can you get some ice from the freezer?" Gabby asked.

"Why?"

Gabby pointed to me, "Bruise, looks pretty bad." I knew that there were more bruises on my arms so I pulled my sleeves down, trying to make sure hey wouldn't see those.

After I pulled my sleeves down, I looked up to see that Matt had seen me.

"Show me your arms." He said. The words seemed like they were supposed to be harsh but they weren't.

I looked down at the ground, not saying anything, not doing anything.

"Naia." Gabby's gentle voice said beside be, "Can I see your arms?"

I continued to stare at the ground.

"Naia, just pull up your sleeves." Gabby said gently. It seemed so weird to use such a gently voice. I didn't want to show them the bruises.

Gabby put her one arm around my shoulder and the used the other to hitch up my sleeve.

The firehouse went silent when they saw the bruises and cuts on my arms.

"Naia what happened?" Brett asked as she came over with the ice pack. Gabby took it from her and put ice on my jaw.

"Naia, what happened?" Gabby repeated Brett's question.

I felt my heart pumping in my chest, hard and fast. At that split second, I decided to run.

I dropped the ice that I was holding against my cheek and spun around and ran.

"Hey!" Gabby said and she grabbed my arm. When she grabbed my arm though, she put a lot of pressure on a bruise and I let out a yelp. This surprised her and she let go. I took this as an opportunity to sprint.

Just as I was about to exit into the garage, Severide appeared out of nowhere and I ran into him.

"Whoa!"

I quickly ran around him and out of Firehouse 51. As I ran out onto the street, I remember hearing a car beep at me and then something ramming into me as I smashed against the road.