Next chapter! I'm pretty happy with myself, I updated a lot faster than I normally would. I hope you love this chapter as much as I do! WARNING: There is abuse in this chapter. Just want to let everyone know. Alright, enjoy!

The heavy breathing behind the door. The click of her heels against the spotless hardwood floor and the rustle of her dress. The smell of her heavy perfume wafting through the air.

"Brian…." her voice coaxed softly. I could hear the doorknob turning. "Where are you sweetie?"

Beneath my hands, the window slid open silently. It slid up and I hoisted myself over the window sill. I had one leg out. Then the other. Just as she walked into the room, I pressed myself against the frozen grass, sucking in a breath when I heard it crunch under my weight. I could hear her walking slowly around the room. She paused occasionally, looking in my old hiding places, the closet and under the bed. Long since had I abandoned those. She would find me too quickly, then I had to feel the hard sting of the belt against my skin and would hear the sound of her mainical yells in my ears.

Mother paused her steady steps just in front of the window and paused. Then finger my finger, she laid her hand on the window sill and leaned out the window. She looked directly at me.

Crazed eyes, one blue, other yellow, stared at me from her face. Wrapped around her perfectly manicured hand was a leather belt. She had done this countless times. She had one goal, and it was to make me into an enforcer for the Capitol. She would stop at nothing until I was ruthless enough to be an enforcer. Ruthless enough to be just like her.

My mother laughed. "You run. Just like your father did. What a disappointment he was. What a disappointment you are." Suddenly, she lunged towards me. I jumped backwards, already running as she fell out of the window, growling.

My feet hit the ruined pavement hard. I couldn't stop. Smoking, crumbled buildings rushed past on either side of me. Dark allies sat between each building, but they weren't the ones I was looking for. Just left of the Capitol building, I slipped into a hidden ally. Old boxes, pairs of shoes and just bits of trash littered the ground. Dirt and ashes covered everything like a blanket.

I made my way towards two- no three dark shadows at the end of the ally.

"She gone?" A deep voice called. I nodded and stepped into the small beam of light that had filtered over the building. My friends, Jacob and Levi stared back. Levi held a boy by the scruff of his collar.

"Who's this?" I nodded my head towards the kid.

"Just some kid Levi picked up off the street." Jacob curled his lip and glanced at Levi. "As far as I know, he didn't do anything."

"He's a scout from 1." Levi growled, shaking the boy hard. "He was coming to see if the rumors were really true. That the Capitol was finished."

I dropped to one knee and looked at the boy. His long hair was matted and he was covered in dirt. "Well, here you are. And we aren't finished, are we?"

The boy spit in my face. Slowly, I stood back up, wiping my face. "We've got a feisty one here." Levi and Jacob chuckled. Levi pushed him down and the boy fell down.

"From One, eh? We can't very well have any scouts from One going around telling that the Capitol's free game, now can we. No siree."

I looked down at the boy again, and took a step back. It was almost like I was looking in a mirror. I could see a younger version of myself, dirty and cowering. Her voice echoed in my ears hauntingly. You know why I have to do this. Jacob and Levi stared at me, confused.

"You know why I have to do this," I repeated slowly. The boy's eyes were clear and brave. He bit his lip then dropped his head.

With each blow my mother delivered to me, I delivered a blow to the boy in front of me. I couldn't hear anything. I couldn't see anything. I just knew I had to hurt this kid. Someone had to pay for my pain. The kid was just the unlucky one.

I blinked and the kid was in front of me again, sobbing and crawling away from me. He cupped a bloody nose in his bloodied hand and his other arm hung at an odd angle. One of his eyes was already swelling shut and it looked like his jaw was broken.

"Leave me alone…" the kid cried.

Levi and Jacob looked at me. I stepped away from the kid and nodded my head in the direction to leave the ally. "Let's go."

"We're just going to leave him here? What if he snitches on us?" Jacob asked.

"To who?" I shrugged. "Our mothers would be happy to hear we did this. And right now, nobody else is gonna care."

I watched the boy over my shoulder as his figure got smaller and smaller. This was who I'd become. This was who my mother had turned me into. A monster.

What do you think of Brian? Any thoughts on this chapter? I forgot last chapter, thanks to ellalovesmusicaltheatre for submitting Furia and thanks to wiifan2002 for submitting Brian! See you guys next chapter!