Later that evening, the roaring sound of music reverberated throughout the house. There were cheerful bursts of laughter, and people dancing to the melody of the music. Not once did anyone ask about the scars all across Annabelle body, as was to be expected with all the excitement going on around her. She sat limply in the corner of the room watching the people come in and out. They were all so happy. How could not they be, they were surrounded by people who cared for them. That is what Annabelle wanted so badly, to be surrounded by people who cared for her again. Not one single person in the world did though, much to her disappointment. They did not care if she died or lived. Annabelle was alone in her own little world, surrounded her fears that kept closing in on her. How could someone's life change so much in so little time. One second her mother was standing right beside her, the next she was laying on the ground, never to awake again. emIt should have been me; I do not deserve to be here./em Annabelle thought to herself. The party went on through most of the night. By that time she had decided to go up stairs and go to bed, which was not easy when the house was full of people's naive laughter, not knowing what horror had taken place where they stood just hours before. The next morning, she woke up early enough cook her father breakfast and set it out just before he got down the stairs. He greeted her with a grunt and quickly devoured the food, leaving Annabelle to clean up the mess after he left. Sometime later she made up her mind that she was going to run away tonight, even though she had run away before, it had never worked out but tonight was different from the others. She was tired of being treated like nobody. Her father barely acknowledged her presence and when he did it was to scold her for something she did not do. Her mother once told her "don't let anyone take advantage of you," and that is what was happening right now. She knew her way around town pretty well and knew that if she kept walking she could reach the edge of Paris in a couple of days. Besides it is not as if anyone would miss her. After the chores were done, she rushed to her room and packed a light bag with a couple outfits, food and a little money that was lying around. From there she had to wait until the sun had gone down and her father started snoring from the room across from her. When this very sequence of events happened, she snuck out of her room on to the wooden floor, made her way to the front door and began the long journey ahead. By the time she was sure her father was not following her, the sun had started to rise illuminating the ground with light. She was finally free, no more scolding, no more beatings, and no more waiting on people who could not even look them in the eye. She came to a halt as an officer spotted her. Had her father already noticed her absence? "Excuse me ms. but are you Annabelle Hawthorne," the officer asked causally as if this name had no significance" I believe you have me mistaken for somebody else. I am Catherine Jacobson." Annabelle lied quickly and walked away trying to appear as she was in a rush to get somewhere. The officer seemed to believe her and was on his way, not knowing that the real Annabelle had just walked past him. emWhy was her father looking for her? /emAnnabelle wondered, emshe was nothing to him/em. She kept walking, trying to put as much distance between her and the officer as she could manage. She was still limping from when her father whipped her and her scars showed the most above all. All things accounted for, she kept her head low trying not to draw to much attention to herself. Not wanting anyone to recognize her and turn her in. Whatever she did, she could not go back to her father not after what he did to her multiple times. By the time it became dark again, she to make it to the center of Paris, being recognizable by the small river running through it. By this time she would have liked to be closer to the outskirts of Paris by know but under the circumstances this was as far as she got. She glanced across the water seeing the moon glisten on the water, and a face that was not supposed to be there. Then the sound somebody's footsteps could be heard coming closer to the water's. Swinging around, there staring at her was a man with golden-brown hair, and blue eyes like crystals. He started to say something when he was cut off by the guards yelling that they found the girl. Annabelle started running in the opposite direction., figuring if she could run long enough she could find somewhere to stay. Her heart raced in her chest, thumping loudly into the silent abyss. Yet lucky for her a small ally lay behind a rundown building. She ran towards it and hid quietly in the corner. The sound of the officer's boots hitting the ground let her know that they did not find her, for now. What was she going to do? She could not run away from them her whole life. Everything was a big mess. Her whole life, after her mother died, had been miserable. She was alone. Nobody cared for her. Her father did not even want her. The only reason he is trying to find her is because he does not want to do the house keeping, and he needed a punching bag when he got angry. She was more of a maid of her father's than a daughter. Why did everything have to change. She had friends and family. Now no one cared what happened to her. All that filled their conceded minds was how good they looked or how they had the biggest house among their friends. Yet while they are having the time of their lives, people all around them were poverty-stricken and dying. By now the officers had gone back to whatever they were doing not even noticing Annabelle when she snuck by, determined to get out of Paris. Although, when she was running a twig cracked under the pressure of her body weight, letting the officers know that they had been wrong once more. An hour or so later, after many failed attempts at getting away from them, she stumped upon the deserted streets of Paris in the mist of the night, no office to be seen. On the deserted street, the only sound that could be heard was coming from an owl trying to find dinner. She decided to find another small ally to sleep in, as if the protection of the secluded alleyway was enough to stop the search for Andre's daughter. The next morning Annabelle woke up somewhat rested and started to look for food. All she had left was a little piece of bread she had noticed her way out. She had no money or clean clothes to change into. She could not live like this. Not out here. Not anywhere. As fate would have it, the officers were once more searching the town as if they expected her to still be there, which lucky for them she was. Getting away from them for a third time on the other hand was not as an easy task as finding her was, but it could be done, not alone, however. She had to find someone to help her.
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