The Rebel

Chapter 9

I tried to ignore the gigantic ache in my heart by paying much attention to the sloshing noise my feet made. I slowly carried myself to the hellhole I am unfortunate enough to call home. My legs grew weak as I remembered a day much like this.

Flashback

I slopped slowly down the driveway with my backpack on my back. My mother had forgotten about me the first time in my short life. After waiting at school for more than an hour for her to come and pick me up, I finally up and walked home.

I flung open the door, almost in tears. My fingers were so cold that they were long past the point of being numb. I stepped into my house, taking a deep breath of the smell that was my house.

Taking off my shoes, I wiggled my toes around hoping that I might gain a little bit more circulation. After peeling off my wet socks I finished taking off my outside gear that was probably enough to take me to the moon and back.

I decided to go look for my mother and father, "Mamma!" I called out. There was no answer, "Daddy!" I tried, still nothing.

Frowning, I ran through the house, not missing a single room. That's when the tears started. They had never left me alone, why would they start now? I double checked, then even triple checked, then proceeded to run outside to look.

When I discovered that they weren't there either I went into the garage to check. I figured that the garage was flooded when I stepped in something wet and simply proceeded over to the light switch. It was dark in the garage and I could barely see anything. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something move and I ran quickly to turn on the light switch.

However, just as I was about to reach it I felt two arms around my waist. I let out a shrill scream and kicked and punched and clawed. I felt around my attackers face and began clawing at there eyes, sticking my fingers up there nose, and pulling hair. As quickly as the arms had appeared, they were gone and I was dropped to the cold, hard concrete.

I scrambled around trying to find the light switch that continued to elude me. I finally found it a switched it. On the floor in the left corner was my mother, coughing up blood and my father was unconscious with a huge gash in his head. His breaths were ragged and they scared me.

"Rosalie!" My mother choked, "Run!"

Looking around in horror, I saw the man who had done this. I would never forget his face for as long as I live. His eyes were brown with specks of red where I had clawed them. His hair was long, shaggy, and blonde. He wore it in a pony tail, with strands hanging out of it, most likely from out struggle. He had shaved recently, perhaps not to look like a hobo.

He grinned at my coldly and began walking forward. "I'm here to help… your parents." He cooed.

"Don't touch her!" My mother spat. She gasped and held her side tightly. She was in obvious pain but I was smart enough to know not to trust him. I remembered that my father's tool kit was only three yards away and I made a dash for it. He caught my ankle and I tripped, falling to the ground. My head landed hard on the concrete below me and I heard a crack.

Whimpering, I struggled to get free, bending over and biting his hand that was on my ankle as hard as I could. He pulled his hand away without realizing what he was doing and I was off again, crawling over to the tools. That's when I saw it, the axe hidden neatly under the tools like it had been placed there for that specific purpose.

I grabbed it and stood up, despite the pounding in my head and the blood trickling down the side of my face. With effort I held it; ready to swing if the man dared come anywhere close to me.

Surprisingly, he smiled, "Don't worry Rosalie, I'll be back. When your least expecting it, I will be back." He assured me before running out the door.

After he was gone, I walked over to my mother who was still in pain. My father had stopped breathing and was now officially dead. The tears continued streaming down my face.

My mom opened her mouth with much effort and wheezed, "Rose, get out of here. Run as fast as you can to the police station, now. If a black mustang drives by I want you to take off into the woods, do you understand me?"

I nodded and ran out the door as fast as my legs would carry me. I had always been pretty fast but at this moment pretty fast wasn't fast enough. I desperately wanted to fly all the way there, knowing that I needed to get there fast enough. I had already lost my father and I wasn't about to lose my mother.

About halfway there I felt the after affects of the adrenalin rush begin to sink in and I could feel myself getting weaker. The gash in my head was throbbing and there was blood and sweat all over my neck. I started to forget what I was running for but kept telling myself it was important.

Just when I thought I couldn't take any more, I realized I was right.

I let myself sink into the gravel, letting the cold rain suffocate me. I had never felt so cold or alone in my entire life.

When I heard a car coming down the road, it was obvious to me that it wasn't my mother's car or my father's truck because a loud rattle replaced the normal, soft purr that normally occurred. Because of this, I didn't even bother to look up from my spot on the rocks.

I heard quick pattering and then the rocks I had been counting were getting small and smaller. It took me a second to realize that I was actually being lifted by someone. I really honestly didn't care; it wasn't anyone I wanted to see. The only people I wanted to it to be were about to die and at least two miles away. Shivering, I realized how cold I really was. That's when everything went black.

Flashback Ends

I shook my head, attempting to clear it. I could feel the tears threatening me now to spill over. An unfamiliar red jaguar pulled up next to me and surprisingly rolled down the window. An even further surprise was when I saw who was in the driver's seat: Royce King.

In all his amazing glory, he smiled at me, "Hey Rosy." Flashbacks from the happy nightmare before popped into my head though I made sure to shake it off.

I shot him a wolfish grin, something I did quite often ever sense I started hanging out with Lauren, "Hey Royce."

"It looks like you might need a lift…" he trailed off. He was much more vulnerable than I had predicted and it scared me… for him anyways. He couldn't last a day with Lauren. He would most certainly, be chewed up, spit out, and thrown into the garbage can. But I wasn't Lauren… all the time.

Acting like I hadn't noticed, I looked around and turned back to him, "It appears so."

He nodded his head, a gesture that told me that I should hop in. And for the second time that day, I hopped into a car with a guy, unsure of what the outcome might be.