*dream*
"No! Stop, daddy! Don't hurt him!" No matter how hard I pleaded, he seemed
not to hear me. He just kept beating Alex mercilessly, even though he was
already unconscious. "You took my wife from me; I have every right to do
this. You should be thankful it's him and not you! Now shut up, or it will
be you!" All I could do was watch helplessly as he pummeled Alex over and
over, until I couldn't help it, and I screamed "STOP!!!" He stopped, only
to turn menacingly to me. I tried to run, to hide, to do something, but my
feet seemed to be glued to the floor. He advanced on me, grabbing a knife,
slashing at me until everything went black.
*end dream*
I woke up suddenly to Slider shaking me. My throat was sore and I was soaked in sweat.
"Hey, you ok? Ya were screaming, and if it had gone on any longer, ya would have woken everyone else up." That would explain the sore throat.
"Yeah. I'm ok now, but I was having a horrible dream. My dad was beating Alex, and he was unconscious, and he started beating me, and-" she cut me off.
"It's okay, Fire, he's not gonna hurt you any more. Listen, I'm guessing you're not gonna be getting back to sleep anytime soon, and I'm not very tired. You wanna go up on the roof and talk?" I nodded in tacit (A/N: tacit! lol) agreement, and we silently made our way out the window to the roof.
We sat in silence for a few minutes, then I took a deep breath and started. "You remember Alex, right? How he ran away?" When she nodded, I continued. "Well, I didn't really tell you the truth about why he left. My dad, he used to beat us. The reason I didn't tell you was because he warned us that if we ever told anyone about it, he would kill us, slowly and painfully. With most people, you would just figure he meant not to tell anybody, but he was dead serious. (No pun intended!) I was reliving one of those times, right before Alex left. He- he just kept beating him, even after he was unconscious, and when I tried to make him stop, he came at me with a knife, and he didn't stop until I blacked out. Actually, I doubt he stopped then." She winced in sympathy, and I continued.
"After Alex ran away, he stopped beating me, but just recently, he started beating me again. Every night, he came home drunk, and he would take out any anger from that day on me. I still have scars from it, and this is the first time they've actually had a chance to heal. Every time I thought they were starting to heal, he opened them up again. My whole back is pretty much one big scar. I would have run away before now, but he kept me locked up during the day, and he's a light enough sleeper that trying it at night would be futile. I only escaped because he forgot to lock the door one morning."
She was silent for a few minutes, then tentatively asked, "Do you know anything about where Alex is now?"
"The only thing I know about that is that he said he would try to stay in either Manhattan or Brooklyn. That's actually part of the reason I'm here; to try to find him."
She immediately responded with "If there's anything I can do to help, just let me know."
"Thanks Slider. Not just for that, but for listening. I think I'm gonna go back to bed now. Ya comin'?"
"No, I think I'm gonna stay up here for a while. I'll see you in the morning."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I had been part of the LH for a week when Blink brought us the news that Brooklyn was hosting a party the next night, and we were invited. I had heard about past Brooklyn parties from the other girls, but that wasn't the only reason I was excited; finally, I would get a chance to look for Alex there!
The next day, I was so excited, I could barely sell, and still had twenty papes left by lunch. I barely managed to sell them later, but I finally sold the last one and sprinted back to the LH. When I opened the door to the bunkroom, the first thing I heard was Mouth asking me what had taken so long. I laughed.
"Sorry, had trouble finishing selling. I'll be ready in just a second, though!" A minute later, I rushed back out and we were on our way to Brooklyn at last.
(A/N: short, I know, but its either this or wait even longer for a long chapter!)
SO's:
Sprite: Yes, you get Mushy! lol WAIT! If you passed out for days, you got to miss school! *frantically does happy dance* *nothing happens besides getting dizzy* damn
Spark: Just wait, you'll see... here's a hint, next chapter is really busy! lol THAT SCIENCE TEST WAS THE SPAWN OF SATAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AFTER she curved it up majorly, I got a B-! Before, I think I got a C-! OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She is EVIL!
Slider: Umm... why am I evil? I agree about science, see spark's for science rant!
Sami: Yay! I have a new reviewer! *does new reviewer dance* woah... *sways* pretty colors... anyways, thanks a lot for the compliments! Wait, does that mean I've actually RETAINED something from English class? *shudder* scary!
I will try to update again soon!
I woke up suddenly to Slider shaking me. My throat was sore and I was soaked in sweat.
"Hey, you ok? Ya were screaming, and if it had gone on any longer, ya would have woken everyone else up." That would explain the sore throat.
"Yeah. I'm ok now, but I was having a horrible dream. My dad was beating Alex, and he was unconscious, and he started beating me, and-" she cut me off.
"It's okay, Fire, he's not gonna hurt you any more. Listen, I'm guessing you're not gonna be getting back to sleep anytime soon, and I'm not very tired. You wanna go up on the roof and talk?" I nodded in tacit (A/N: tacit! lol) agreement, and we silently made our way out the window to the roof.
We sat in silence for a few minutes, then I took a deep breath and started. "You remember Alex, right? How he ran away?" When she nodded, I continued. "Well, I didn't really tell you the truth about why he left. My dad, he used to beat us. The reason I didn't tell you was because he warned us that if we ever told anyone about it, he would kill us, slowly and painfully. With most people, you would just figure he meant not to tell anybody, but he was dead serious. (No pun intended!) I was reliving one of those times, right before Alex left. He- he just kept beating him, even after he was unconscious, and when I tried to make him stop, he came at me with a knife, and he didn't stop until I blacked out. Actually, I doubt he stopped then." She winced in sympathy, and I continued.
"After Alex ran away, he stopped beating me, but just recently, he started beating me again. Every night, he came home drunk, and he would take out any anger from that day on me. I still have scars from it, and this is the first time they've actually had a chance to heal. Every time I thought they were starting to heal, he opened them up again. My whole back is pretty much one big scar. I would have run away before now, but he kept me locked up during the day, and he's a light enough sleeper that trying it at night would be futile. I only escaped because he forgot to lock the door one morning."
She was silent for a few minutes, then tentatively asked, "Do you know anything about where Alex is now?"
"The only thing I know about that is that he said he would try to stay in either Manhattan or Brooklyn. That's actually part of the reason I'm here; to try to find him."
She immediately responded with "If there's anything I can do to help, just let me know."
"Thanks Slider. Not just for that, but for listening. I think I'm gonna go back to bed now. Ya comin'?"
"No, I think I'm gonna stay up here for a while. I'll see you in the morning."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I had been part of the LH for a week when Blink brought us the news that Brooklyn was hosting a party the next night, and we were invited. I had heard about past Brooklyn parties from the other girls, but that wasn't the only reason I was excited; finally, I would get a chance to look for Alex there!
The next day, I was so excited, I could barely sell, and still had twenty papes left by lunch. I barely managed to sell them later, but I finally sold the last one and sprinted back to the LH. When I opened the door to the bunkroom, the first thing I heard was Mouth asking me what had taken so long. I laughed.
"Sorry, had trouble finishing selling. I'll be ready in just a second, though!" A minute later, I rushed back out and we were on our way to Brooklyn at last.
(A/N: short, I know, but its either this or wait even longer for a long chapter!)
SO's:
Sprite: Yes, you get Mushy! lol WAIT! If you passed out for days, you got to miss school! *frantically does happy dance* *nothing happens besides getting dizzy* damn
Spark: Just wait, you'll see... here's a hint, next chapter is really busy! lol THAT SCIENCE TEST WAS THE SPAWN OF SATAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AFTER she curved it up majorly, I got a B-! Before, I think I got a C-! OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She is EVIL!
Slider: Umm... why am I evil? I agree about science, see spark's for science rant!
Sami: Yay! I have a new reviewer! *does new reviewer dance* woah... *sways* pretty colors... anyways, thanks a lot for the compliments! Wait, does that mean I've actually RETAINED something from English class? *shudder* scary!
I will try to update again soon!