Ok, Chapter 1 is here, Enjoy!

The Road Less Taken By: Meghan McLaws

Chapter 1-

"Mom, I need to go to the bank to cash my paycheck. Can we? Can I drive? Please? I just got my license and HAVE to practice. Please Mom? Please Mom?" I jumped up and down in front of my mother, begging and talking at 100 miles per hour. My mom tapped her hands on her hips shaking her head. It was hard to tell whether or not she was saying no or if she was shaking her head in disbelief.

My father came up behind her in the stairway and wrapped his arms around her, laughing. He kissed her cheek, "Let her drive, honey. I'll sit in the back with Sam. We need to talk about the soccer game on Saturday anyways. Come on," My dad threw a wink my way and I laughed, but I quickly stopped at my mother deep sigh.

"Alright, you can drive," I began to jump up and down, "But," I stopped my celebration, "if you get into an accident YOU," she said, pointing to my father, "are buying me a new car."

I jumped up and down and my mom and father continued with their banter. I stepped back, eyeing my family with a content smile. My family has always been like this; happy, comfortable. I see other families that fight and spend their separate days at each parent's house. I'm glad that my mother and father are still happily married as if they were newlyweds.

I soon found myself planted on the hard tile, with my brother happily dancing close to my face.

"YOU LITTLE TWERP! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" I screamed jumping up, chasing him around the living room. He made a little squeak as I chased him like Jerry, and I was Tom.

"Stop it, you two. I wanna go and get to the movies. Besides, Sere, if you don't calm down you won't drive." Dang, she knows my weakness. I stuck my tongue out at the nerd and grabbed the keys from my father's awaiting hands. I skipped happily to the garage and got into the front seat of my mother's white Saturn Ion.

I don't think parents realize exactly what driving means to a teen. My parents made me wait till I was 17 to get my license, and when I did, I insisted on driving everywhere. The car means freedom in so many ways. You know how every kid has that one dream car in their mind, and their first car is always that old clunker that your Dad forces you to drive? And then when you been driving it two months you get in an accident? Well, that happened to me. So now my Dad is making me drive as if I had my permit. Oh well, at least I get to feel the rumble of the engine and the adrenaline rush that comes from sitting behind the wheel.

I start the car to the low growl of the engine turning over and I rolled down the window, "Come on you guys! Let's go!" I shouted. My family sauntered out of the house, my mom taking the seat next to mine, while my father got in the back with my little brother. My mom turned of the radio, and I glared knives at her.

"You know the rules, Serenity. No radio while on probation." I sulked as I changed my mirrors and moved my seat into the correct position. I put the car in reverse and backed slowly out of the driveway, pulling onto the road. After putting the car in drive, we were on our way.

The bank parking lot wasn't busy, so a space wasn't hard to find a parking space. I hopped out of the car and closed the door. I caught up to my dad and wrapped my hand around his waist.

"Hey Dad?"

"Yeah Honey?"

"Can I have a million dollars?" At this he laughed. It was an inside joke between the two of us. Ever since I was little we watched 'Fresh Prince' and my dad loved Phil. He used to call me Hillary at times. I really love my dad. I'm his little girl and I always will be. We walked together as a family, and my dad held the door as we all walked in. I grabbed a deposit slip and filled out the necessary information and waited in the line at the teller.

At this exact moment, 5 men burst through the doors, pulling out large, automatic rifles from under their long trench coats. Screams filled the room, and it took me a while to figure out that one of them was mine.

"Everyone get down and shut up!" one man, obviously the leader, shouted at the top of his lungs. My father pulled my family down and we huddled close together. I scanned the room. A total of 20 people were in front of the tellers, and about 6 were behind the counters. Faces of small children radiated fear and the clung to their mothers. My brother, only 9, clutched close to my mother, and I to my father. The police sirens wailed in the distance. Good, I thought, help was on its way.

"The only was you all are getting out of here is if we get what we want!" The leader bellowed as he walked up to the petite blonde teller. "Empty out every drawer, NOW!" The shy girl took the bag that was in his outstretched and went from drawer to drawer, empting each. I looked out the tinted windows to see police officers roping off the surrounding area. I sighed a small breath of relief, looking between each of the men. I had learned that a good eyewitness pays attention to everyone in the room, so I began to paint a mental picture of the room. The men position at the different areas stood- rifles in hand, guarding the clusters of people. I looked at each of the people, and then I looked at her father. The determination in eyes shined brighter than anything I'd ever seen. I smiled at his gleam and he winked back. I leaned into his embrace and continued to watch the men.

The man walked over to the door and noticed the police had left a phone outside. He opened the door to get the phone, and then one of his lackeys brought out a chain and padlock and he changed the door. The phone suddenly rang and he picked it up.

"So," he said, "What are you going to do for me?" A pause, "no I'm not willing to negotiate! I want what I want!" another pause. "If that helicopter isn't here in 45 minutes, a hostage dies. You understand me," he yelled into the phone, "DIES!" and with that he hung up. Everyone clung to the person nearest them, worried masked their faces. The leader walked past my family and stopped, turning my way. I held my head in defiance, looking at him when he looked at me. He grinned at me and dropped to my level. "You've very beautiful," he reached out and touched my face, but I looked away. His smile widened and he grabbed my arm, pulling me up with him.

"What are you doing to my daughter?!" My father said challengingly. The leader smurkered at him and pulled out a Glock, pointing it at his head. My mother let out a sharp gasp and I stifled a sob.

"It would be in your best interest to not care about what happens to your daughter." He said, walking to an office with me in tow. He stopped to talk quietly to one of his lackeys. He nodded and pointed to my father, then pulled me into a little office and closed the blinds. Before he shut them, I signed to my father, "I'm ok, worry about you." He nodded and my mother began to cry as a large man pulled my father away from the family. The blinds were suddenly closed and I looked at the large man who had removed me from my family.

"So, you know sign language, huh?" He asked sitting me in a large chair, then pulled out a pair of handcuffs and secured one to the chair. I blinked back tears and looked away, avoiding his hungry gaze. "I have 30 minutes to burn." His grin amplified as he ran his hands down my legs, touching me, making my body shiver. I began to cry as he touched me all over, feeling my breast, stomach and running his hand over my legs. "If you fight me," he said, unlocking my hands and pulling me to the floor, "I'll kill your father." He pinned me under his weight and crushed his lips to mine. His kiss was harsh and possessive and his hands roamed my body, removing my small shirt. He smiled and began to kiss my chest as I lay paralyzed. All I felt as he removed my remaining clothes was that as soon as he was finished with me, I would be back with my family. He soon removed his pants and laid back on me, thrusting himself inside my body. The pain was almost unbearable and tears filled my eyes as he forceful propelled himself in and out. 10 minutes later, when the pain ended, he stood up and threw my bra my way.

"Get dressed. Now." I nodded and began to cloth myself. I was crying the whole time, and once I was fully clothed, he pulled me outside the office. I saw my father, handcuffed to a chair with a gun held to his head. I released a small sob as I was held by the man. At that moment, the cell phone rang and he whipped it out. "Hello?" He paused. "What do you mean you can't?" I signed, 'I love you, daddy'. With one hand he signed, 'I love you, too Serenity.' I began to cry as the man continued to yell into the phone.

"Well, you just cost one man his life. You hear me! He's dead!" At this he nodded at the lackey and the lackey released the trigger. The loud bang was followed by my father's blood hitting the walls. My mother and I let out a scream and began to cry. The leader hung up the phone and released my hand. I rushed to my mother's side and together we sobbed over the loss of my father. One of the men approached the tight circle my mother, Sam and myself had made. He pulled my mother away from my arms and replaced her in the chair where my father was previously sitting. I gripped my brother and sobbed as my mother was cuffed to the chair. She was quiet now, staring at my father's lifeless body. Her face was blank, her features unreadable. She couldn't even cry. The look of my mother's face was now clear. She looked like she knew something. It was at that moment I knew none of us were going to get out alive.

The murderer moved my father's body by my side, and I turned as quiet as my mother. My father's face seemed peaceful. I never thought it would be this close up, the sight of death. Would I look this serene when I died? What about my mother? At this point, I wanted to. Die, that is. My father was everything to me. Now he was gone. I looked at my mother, and she was staring and me and my father. Then she signed to my brother and me, "I'm so sorry kids. Don't worry, we loved you both." I quickly signed, "Loved? What do you mean?" She smiled and turned toward her captor. I watched her motions as the man yelled at the phone, saying something about 20 minutes.

The time past slowly as the men walked around my mother, undressing her with their eyes. As the timed ticked by, I kept thinking about what life was going to be like without my parents. My father would never walk me down the aisle. My mother would never help me pick out my dress for Prom. Who would help me buy my first house? What about when one of my kids won't go to sleep? Who will I call? Why do I have to plan a funeral now? I doubt my parents had anywhere to send us. Where would we go? I couldn't cry, not now anyways. Sammy's too vulnerable. The time passed even slower at this point. The second seemed like minutes; the minutes, hours. When phone rang, I think I was the only one in the room who didn't jump or scream.

This moment passed in a blur. But what stands out is my mother's head going limp against the back of the short chair; the way her hair fell across her eyes in the last moments of her life; the way she was calm, accepting her own fate. The uncuffed my mother and put her against my father. Sammy broke down into tears, and it was all I could do not to do the same. I consoled my brother, trying to keep him calm as another man was placed in the chair. The whole time between when my mother was killed and when the police stormed the building, all I could think about was my mother and father. Were they together, what ever the afterlife may be?

When he police had arrested all the men involved, killing only one, one of the officers approached me. She wore the dark blue police uniform, and in a field filled with men she stood out like a sore thumb. She came up to me, and by the look on her face I could tell she was as astonished as I was. My face was blank and unfeeling. I turned to look at my brother. Poor kid, he'd never play soccer with my father. I soon began to think of the things I'd never do with my mother. She'd never help me with prom, never help my find my wedding dress, and never help me raise my children. The officer stopped by me, putting her hand to my back. I shrug it away, not wanting the comfort that simple motion held. She sighed and grabbed a writing pad that was in her pocket, along with a black pen.

As she began to interview me, I replayed the events in my head. But I never cried. I kept thinking about how I was going to continue raising Sammy. We couldn't go to a foster home; we don't need another set of parents, we need each other. As the police officer walked away, a medic came and ushered my brother and I into an ambulance. As the siren wailed, I watched the bank become smaller and smaller, and the bodies of my parents were loaded into another ambulance.

When we got to the hospital we were separated, my brother seeing a male doctor; myself seeing a female. She questioned me about the situation, and when I told her about the rape she pulled out a rape kit. "Luckily," she told me, "You didn't get a chance to go straight home, because if you'd showered, we wouldn't have this evidence." She handed the small kit to the assistant that took it straight to the lab. When she found that I only had a few bruises, she released me to wait for my brother.

When my brother was allowed to meet with me, we embraced. In the short period of 12 hours my life changed forever. I took my brothers hand and we left the hospital, walking home.

~*~*~*~*~

I was pulled away from the memory by a deep grunting sound, and the pain of the man grinding against my hips was blocked out. His deep thrusts didn't even affect me, and I went through the motion of sex, letting him use me to his advantage. As soon as he finished he sat up, pulling on his clothes. I sat up too, following suit. He smiled as he buttoned up his shirt, then came over and helped me finish dressing. The po-dunk hotel where we were was filthy, and what we were doing was the norm here. I put on my last show as he pulled me standing, kissing my passionately. He smiled down almost lovingly at me and walked me to the door.

"I'll see about tomorrow night, but I think my wife isn't working, so I'll have to be home." He smiled as he put me into the small Focus that I drove and I started the car. I rolled down the window and kissed him again. "I'll call you and let you know." He handed me an envelope and I smiled.

"Thanks," I said. I blew him a kiss and drove off. I headed for my house, opening the envelope at a stop light. Inside laid 5 new one hundred dollar bills. I grinned and drove off, parking in the garage of my parents' house. I opened the door and went upstairs to where Sammy slept. I smiled as I pushed open his door; he laid asleep, his TV still on. I went over and quietly shut it off. Sammy was ok, and as far as I was concerned, so was I. Or so I thought.

~*~*~*~*

I wanna thank all of those who reviewed my first chapter. Yeah, I know, quite a tear-jerker. But don't worry; I'm a stifler for happy endings, so no fear. Lemme know what you think, because I'm more willing to continue if I know people like the story....