Disclaimer: see chap 1.

A/N: next chapter will be longer...

Chapter 3

It almost had been a year since Matt was gone. I never heard of him. He never wrote, never called. I thought it was part of the plan. I missed my brother though. 9 days and he would come back. 9 days, I could almost taste freedom. I survived but sometimes I wished I was death.

To make it even worse, Laura joined Matthew. I don't know why but even she called me Stupid, hit me, called me names and used me as a work animal. Oh yeah, Laura is my mother's name and Matthew my dad's. I can't call them mom and dad anymore, that is a title you have to deserve and they don't deserve such a title. I have to say that it is easier to talk about them with their names. More distant you know.

Since Laura joined Matthew, she was cleared of his fists. She changed. At the beginning she only hit me when he would hit me, but now, she hit me even more than he did. I was promoted as her personal punch bag. I can't stand hospitals anymore. The smell, the people who always smile and for what? To make it better? They don't know a thing! If I died then and years later someone should have found me, I think that my bones could be used as a giant puzzle. They broke almost every bone I had in my entire body. I can't even count the times I had a concussion.

Laura found out about the basement. She now uses it to lock me in when she can't stand me anymore. I remember once when I was supposed to go to school. My teacher came by the house to ask about me. Laura told Miss Delaware that I was really sick and that she would write a note. I was angry at Miss Delaware. Because of her, my mother beat the crap out of me again. Miss Delaware came by on Thursday, because of her Laura locked me in the basement till Sunday! I knew that it wasn't her fault, she only wanted to be sure that everything was okay. 5 days in a dark basement, with a bottle of water and some bread. That's all I got. Oh no, sorry, once a day Matthew came downstairs to let me know how stupid I was, a mistake, that I couldn't be a Sidle child. A Sidle is strong, works hard, listens well and obeys her parents! I was a failure, a faux pas of Mother Nature. At some point, I broke, I started to believe him. I was a failure! "Remember that you are smart, Sar, never forget!". I never forgot. It was because of what my brother told me, that I stayed strong. I also remember that I really needed to sleep then.

9 days passed. It was the day that Matt would come and rescue me. I smiled the entire day. I never was this happy in my entire life. My mother tried to hit the smile of my face but she couldn't. A year, a long year and that night, I would be free. I did everything on the list as fast as I could.

I was ready with the rooms at 19.22 p.m. I went to my room and packed a bag. Some clothing, a toothbrush, my comb, some books and of course, my red crayon. I sat on my bed and waited. Waited. Waited. I looked expectantly at the door, soon that door would swing open and Matt would be there. Hours passed, clouds passed by the window, the sun went from bright to red. Red as my little crayon. Then she went to purple red, then dark blue to end in black.

22.51 p.m.: I checked my bag again. I wouldn't look back. Never. He will come, you'll see. I sat on the bed again and waited. Waited. Waited….

I looked at my watch again: 23.23 p.m. My door opened, finally Matt would be there! Yeah, I was damn right Matt was there, but it was the older version. He stepped into my room and looked at me. I looked to the floor, I always did when I saw him. He sat down next to me on the bed and put his hand on my shoulder. He bent down and whispered in my ear with his sweetest voice: 'Honey, don't be afraid, you're safe, believe me, close your eyes.' I closed my eyes, he whispered again. 'Relax, tonight the light will come for you.' I thought he referred to Matt. What happened afterwards I refuse to describe. I promised to myself that I would never ever talk about it again.

The next day I opened my eyes, still thinking that it was just a bad dream. Wrong again. Goodbye dream, welcome reality. It was real, it really happened. Before I could think of something else, I started to puke. I cried and cried.

I sat in my little closet staring at the line I had written beneath the lines: 'Light never came 23:23'. I finally understood the line beneath Matt's lines. I counted the lines again: 365, all crossed out. I think I could say then that light indeed never came. My light never came. Matt never came. He just left me there. He failed me. I lost hope, and he had told me hope never dies. He was wrong, hope can die. When you hope, there is still light. Light never came. My light was gone. I wondered who was the light of my brother? Because his light was gone too? And then everything faded to black.

R&R... Next chapter will be up soon! Thanks for reading!