Chapter 1
"Dammit Sasha! Don't you understand how hard I work everyday? I come home from a long day's work, and you don't even have supper started, let alone on the table! What the hell is wrong with you!"
Karen curled into a ball on her bed, squeezing her eyes shut. Tears lay behind her eyes, but never threatened to fall. Crying was for babies, and she refused to do it. She covered her ears with a pillow, in an attempt to drive her father's angry voice away. It didn't work. Her mother whimpered a small response, and Karen snorted in disgust. She couldn't believe how weak that woman was being.
"Don't you tell me to calm down! You're my wife and you do as I say!"
That was enough. Karen jumped off the bed, and pulled on her wool coat. It was early Spring, and nighttime, so it was still cold outside. Especially where she was going. She quietly tiptoed to her window, sliding it open. This was her nightly ritual. She closed it behind her, and shimmied down the drainpipe. When her feet hit the ground, she took off down the hill.
Her footsteps were harsh and angry, and she crossed her arms in front of her. She hated her parents more than anything in the world. She would be happy if it weren't for them. The only thing that kept her sane was the fact that in about a year, she would be eighteen, and able to leave this hellhole. She would be free, and would likely head for the city.
At last she could hear the distinctive sounds of the ocean, and she sighed in relief. She made her way down to the dock, and curled up against the post. She leaned her head against it, and drank in the atmosphere. Closing her eyes, she imagined herself in a far away place, on a beach, in the city, in the mountains...
"Excuse me?" Miss?" Karen jolted awake to the sound of a voice, and the unsettling presence of sunlight. Squinting, she looked wildly around for the source of the disturbance. She found it in a young man, tall, tan, and handsome. He had a purple bandanna around his head, and was carrying a duffel bag. "Are you alright?" He asked again, and extended a hand to help her up. Karen looked at it with distrust.
"I'm fine, and I'd like you to get the hell out of my way, thank you very much," she snarled as she got to her feet, brushing herself off. The man looked as if he had been slapped across the face. Karen smiled to herself. Who did he think he was, bothering her like that? With a fleeting glance back at him, Karen took off toward home.