Chapter One

How Do We Live This Way?

With a sigh Piper walked down the grizzled cement sidewalk, which had been reduced to rubble long before her mother left. Even from a distance she could hear her brother's tormented cries which put a lump in her throat even before she got to her little worn-down shack of a home. She paused for a moment and looked up at the place she once called home. Now, now it was nothing but a prison, an asylum, purgatory even. She gradually turned the rusted door handle and pushed the creaking door open. The smell of rust clung to her hand, but that was the least of her worries. She crept into her own house and into her room.

The walls were gray, once white but now aged with time, eleven years of time. The single window that occupied the wall was plagued with a mildew that, possibly no cleaner had ever encountered. The flooring, cracked worn cement, much like the sidewalk outside. A roach crept out of a hole in the wall and Piper watched it scurry around, looking for a place to escape. She shivered a bit, she'd always been afraid of roaches, even after living with them for so long. Daniel, her two year old brother immediately stopped crying and looked up at her. His dark brown eyes, perfectly round, gleamed wistfully at her.

She merely nodded and lay next to the boy, brushing his hair back with her nimble fingers. She pulled three granola bars out of her backpack which she'd stolen from the snack machine at school. Breaking them into small pieces she laid them on the bed next to the child but he didn't eat, not yet, he'd learned.

"Ready?" she whispered and the small boy folded his tiny hands into one another and bowed his head. "Whoever listens to us," she started "since there obviously isn't a God, I thank for the food that we've… come across. I ask for tonight to be less painful than the night before," she whispered the rest "because I don't know how much more Daniel can handle." She looked up, "amen." The little boy grabbed the food and quickly shoveled it into his mouth hungrily. Piper didn't eat, she knew that if the boy didn't keep his strength up that he'd surely die soon. Soon after he'd finished, the babe started whimpering and Piper cradled the child in her arms.

"Hush little baby, don't you cry," she hummed "I'm gonna sing you a lullaby. Rock-a-bye baby, on the tree top, the wind keeps blowin' but the cradle won't drop." The boy's eyes slowly but surely closed and soon he fell into a restful peace filled sleep. "Thank you," she whispered to herself glad that the boy had finally fallen asleep. Her stomach growled a bit but she brushed it off as an everyday occurrence and laid down next to the boy.

She awoke with a start as her drunken father made his way into the house. Piper clutched her brother close to her chest, praying silently that if he merely passed by she'd do absolutely anything. The door handle turned and she shut her eyes tight. No, she thought, not again. Please, not tonight. She heard the door click,open, and she saw the drawn-out outline of her father. A brawny man, burgundy hair that was buzzed so short that you couldn't make out the pigment anymore. His eyes, piercing green they were, told the story, he was drunk.

"Make your choice," he breathed in a husky voice and Piper looked over at the sleeping babe. Her, or him. She silently promised herself she wouldn't scream, wouldn't cry even. She'd just close her eyes and just wait for it to be over with. She nodded slowly, that's it, just wait for it to be over with and Daniel would be safe, for the night. She slid off of her mattress and walked towards her father. A lump formed in her stomach, why her? It was a wonder her mother had waited so long to leave, and then she came back and left Daniel there too. Piper followed her father down the hallway, stepping over beer bottles and needles. She never took her shoes off in that house, never once since her mother left.

"Lay down," he ordered as they entered his room. Piper choked a sob but did what she was told. Her father, the man that everyone absolutely loved was, like so many other things, not what he seemed. Joseph Williams, son of Toby and Sasha Williams, was manager of the town's tax office. All money went towards two things, beer and drugs. There wasn't a bit of food in the house, not even a scrap, so Piper had to steal from the school vending machines. But then if she didn't, her and her brother would starve. Joseph's smile grew as he saw his daughter's anguish. She feared him, he could tell, as he stripped the young girl of her clothing. Her ivory complexion, her radiant scarlet hair and emerald eyes drove him into a state of furry. Slowly, like a wild animal he crept upon her in her nakedness. Pinning her down, he slowly moved into her and watched her frightened eyes search for an answer to her pain. He smirked to himself, he had the power, he had the authority, he had control. He decided when her pain ended, and knowing Joseph Williams, he wouldn't end it until long the hours of the night.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning Piper dragged herself off of her makeshift bed, feeling sordid. She slowly made her way to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. Blackish-purple bruises covered her neck and arms. She was sure she had more but she didn't bother looking at herself.

"Hurry up in there," Joseph called and Piper quickly brushed her hair and raced out of the bathroom. She quickly grabbed her school bag and rushed out of the house, not even kissing Daniel goodbye. Piper entered the school, had running all the way and practically collapsed in her P.E class. She dressed out and stood in line while her teacher, Mrs. Oelschl, made sure they followed the dress code.

"Piper," she snapped "I believe you wore that yesterday." The young girl lowered her head and muttered something about her washer being on the fritz. "I don't care," she snapped "you wash those clothes by tomorrow, do you hear me?"

"Yes ma'am," she whispered. They ran for a while and then went in to dress back in and shower. This was the only place Piper could shower, home wasn't safe and she had no where else to go. School was a small haven, well… sometimes. Piper dried off and dressed, feeling much better.

"Did you see all those marks on her?" she heard as she walked past some of the dance team "oh shh, here she comes." Scarlet gave a smile and winked at her "hey there doll, how's it goin?"

"I'm fine," Piper said shyly "how've you been Scarlet? You still going out for the swim team?"

"How'd you hear about that?" she asked in surprise "I only told three people." Piper gave a small shrug and smiled kindly at her.

"People talk," she shrugged "I merely listen." The group of girls got quiet and all looked at her like she was insane. Slowly, Piper made her way to her locker and grabbed her stuff and left the locker room. The day passed, no one mentioned her dark bruises but then no one talked to her either. In English she did get a book thrown at her, it bouncing off the side of her head. She spun around, looking for whomever threw it but no one looked up. She knelt over and picked up the book. Its orange-red binding only caused the title's gold lettering to stick out more: The Labyrinth. She flipped through it and, catching her eye she flipped back to the beginning and started to read it. By the end of the day she'd finished the whole thing. Reading it, she realized that she'd heard the story many times before from her grandfather.

Goblin King, huh? she thought to herself sounds like some fantasy the cheerleaders would come up with. Nonetheless, something about this… goblin king, interested her. Soon she found herself walking back home in the rain. I can't take much more of this, she was sure, I'd rather die than live this way. But she couldn't leave Daniel, not like this. By the time she got home, she was dripping wet. Coming into the house she noticed her father, passed out on the floor in his own vomit. She shivered and went into her room, where her brother was sitting quietly playing with a spider that made its way into the house. It wouldn't hurt to try, she thought to herself and even if I didn't work, no one would know, right? She took Daniel in her arms and kissed him, just in case.

"Daniel," she whispered and the child looked at her blankly. Her heart sank, she just HAD to find a better life for him. They just couldn't survive this way. "I wish," she breathed and closed her eyes "I wish the Goblin King would come and take you away." Nothing. Piper rubbed her eyes furiously trying to keep tears at bay. Please, she thought to herself just let something happen. PLEASE. She dug in her backpack and pulled the book out, flipping to the right page she prayed that there be something wrong with her words. Ah, there was. She closed her eyes again and clutched the babe close to her bosom, pleading with any divine power to give her just ONE break in her entire life.

"I wish the goblin king would take you away," she said in a shaky voice "right now."