"Wait, me?" Chris asked. He tried to make his voice sound weak, but he couldn't keep his natural strength down.

"Yes, he'll work out fine." Mr. Darby said, nodding.

"Um...are you sure that you want a child?" Terri asked. She didn't want this family taking Chris. "You don't seem...how do I put this...ready."

The two looked outraged to be questioned. That was obviously something that they were not used to. "How dare you!" Mrs. Darby exclaimed. "Someone as lowly as yourself questioning us!"

"Now, now dear." Her husband reasoned. "That is why this nice lady thinks we aren't ready." He chuckled a bit. "You'll have to excuse my wife. She has a bit of a short temper. It's just that she has been wanting a child for so long, and now we finally find one, I guess that she just wants him."

"Right, of course." Terri said reluctantly. She didn't believe a word of it. "Now, you will want to get to know Chris. That is why I have set up a little program where the child spends a week with the family that wants to adopt him, before they adopt him. It helps that family bond." Chris gave Terri a funny look. He knew that wasn't true. "That alright with you?" Terri smiled sweetly.

The couple looked a bit angered by this, but they hid it and smiled. "Of course. It makes perfect sense." Mrs. Darby responded.

"Great. Come with me to fill out some paper work." Terri led them away and Chris quickly bolted upstairs. He barged in the room to see the boys tossing around a basketball while they lay lazily in their bed.

"Chris. Good to see ya back. Did the demons choose you?" John asked. The ball came to him and he tossed it over to Hunter who threw it to Chris.

"Yes!" Chris yelled as he caught it. He flopped down on his bed, lying on his back.

"What?" John asked.

"I don't know. Should I kill myself now, or wait a few days." He asked hopelessly.

"No killing yourself!" Hunter said. His mother had killed herself, leaving him alone with an abusive father.

"It'll be better than living with them! They don't even know my name. All they know is that I'm 'strong'" he used his fingers to motion the quotation. "Any home would be better than that."

"I dunno." Dorian said. "They're rich. That should be a good enough reason to go with them."

"Money isn't everything." Hunter pointed out. "He's only nine, he needs love."

"Hello? Still in the room!" Chris yelled in frustration. He hated having people talk about him like he couldn't hear.

"Okay, Chris, what do you think?" John asked.

"I think I'd rather die then go with them." Chris put a pillow over his head as if to smother himself. The boys laughed. It may not have been funny, but it was to them. It wasn't happening to them. "Not a funny moment, guys." He said, his voice muffled through the pillow.

"You could run away." Hunter offered. "That's what I did."

"And where do you expect me to go? I'm nine!" Chris said, taking the pillow off his face.

Terri walked in the room, giving a sigh of relief. "Well, they're gone." Loud 'hooray's' could be heard. "But, Chris. Tomorrow, you go off to their house for a week."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then they can sue us." Terri said simply.

"Oh."

"So, please just spend the week with them. If you don't like it, then you can say they hit you and not live with them. K?"

"Um...k?" Terri never said anything like this. She wanted the kids to have a good home, but usually only good people came to the poor orphanage so she never had to worry. And if the kids didn't like their new family, she told them to put up with it, you'll learn to love them.

"Good." With that, she walked off, leaving the boys to stare in confusion.

The rest of the day ran smoothly. Nothing special. It rained so the boys and girls had to go play out in the rain then the usual TV time was watched. Someone got a black eye because they wouldn't give up the one computer and dinner was eaten. They were told to turn in early and at one in the morning loud banging could be heard downstairs. Terri's voice could be heard. It sounded like it was chanting something, but everyone was always told to think nothing of it and to stay in their rooms with the door closed.

The next morning, at 7:00 A.M. Terri woke everyone up.

"Wake up! Wake up!" she called. The boys all groaned in protest.

"Terri, what are you doing?" John asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"We have unscheduled people downstairs! Get dressed and come down. Quickly!"

"Tell um to fuck off." John responded, settling back down into bed. "Its to early." The boys in the room looked at John like he was a dead man, then looked over at Terri. You never cursed in front of her.

"John, get dressed and come down into my room. We need to have a little talk." Terri's voice was stern and pissed off. John knew this voice. His head quickly snapped up and looked at her as Terri left the room.

"Oh shit." They all got dressed in their best and headed downstairs. They all looked around for the family but couldn't find them.

"Why am I even here? I'm leaving today." Chris said hopelessly. John went to see Terri and a half an hour later emerged looking upset.

"Okay, everyone." Terri announced. "The couple is waiting for you."

"Where are they?" Alesha asked.

The doorbell rang. "At the front door. They had to leave for a moment, but now their back." She went over and opened the door to reveal a woman with long brown hair, almost to her waist, and a square jaw. She has warm brown eyes and a friendly smile. Her husband towers over her in height. His hair is a light blonde with loving blue eyes.

"Kids, this is Mr. And Mrs. Halliwall." Terri talked as if she knew them.

The kids all said hello, but Chris was laying down on the couch, not even looking at them. He was leaving for the hellhole today, no need for him to look over people who had no chance at getting him. To bad Terri knew everything that was going on at all times.

"Chris! Come see these people! They came a long way, we wouldn't want to cheat them by not letting them see all of the children." She spoke as if she had something up her sleeve, but Chris paid no attention. Terri could be weird sometimes. No one ever put much thought into it. He gave a loud sigh and stomped over to see the couple.

As soon as Chris saw them, something felt familiar. It felt like he had seen them before. But hell, he had seen a lot of people from running around like an insane person for the past nine years on the streets. But this felt different. Almost as if he had been waiting for them. That was crazy!

"Oh my god." Mrs. Halliwall said. Tears came to her eyes and Chris noticed that he felt bad. How did he make her cry? What did he do? It wasn't him! She turned and looked at her husband and nodded.

"You're sure?" he asked.

"I know it."

"What's going on?" Chris asked. This wasn't normal. John had always been teaching Chris, and he always said to hate strangers. You never know who they could be. Killers, kidnappers, terrorists, rapist, or the dirt bag who left you as a baby. This woman was a complete stranger and he felt bad about making her cry.

"Chris, these are your parents."