I woke up the next morning from yet another dreamless night. It was one of the effects of the sleeping pills the doctor had given me to help me sleep after we'd been found. When we were first brought to the hospital I had fitful nights that kept me awake for days. When I did manage to fall asleep from exhaustion I had horrid, gruesome nightmares and was awakened by my own screaming. Given the alternative, I preferred not to dream of anything, despite the emptiness of my nights.

I hauled myself out of bed and sauntered over to the bathroom. I started the water and returned to the bedroom to look out the window. I'm not sure why, but for some reason looking out windows always reminded me of Veronica. Probably because she liked to look out windows when we were traveling or just sitting around. Or maybe I was just wishing to see her standing outside waiting for me. Either way, she was always the first thing on my mind when I woke. Always hoping to open my eyes and find her sleeping peacefully beside me, and being devastated when I found myself alone in the bed.

Outside, I could see several cats lying around in the alley. Again, this reminded me of Veronica and how much she loved cats. I never really cared for them myself, but she loved them like crazy. So much it surprised me she only had one when I first met her. When we started touring, she gave it to one of her cousins to take care of.

I went back to the bathroom and found that the water was more than the temperature than I wanted. After some adjustment, I shed my sweatpants and boxers and stepped under the warm water. I picked up the bar of soap and rubbed it over by body. The hairs on my arm pricked when I went over the rigid skin on my lower back that was burnt beyond helping and raised into the shape of a large swastika (Nazi symbol). The flesh was rough and hard from the multiple layers of skin the burn mark went through. The doctors said they could remove most of the scar tissue, but there would still be an imprint in the dead skin. I'd told them I wanted to wait for them to do so because I was still trapped and didn't want it removed until I could honestly say I felt free from the Ringleader's death-cold grip.

Stepping out of the shower, I felt more awake, but not anymore alive. After getting dressed, I looked out the window again. The cats were still lazing around the alley, but now they were gathered around someone. It was the black- haired girl from before. For some reason, I suddenly felt protective of her and had the strongest urge to go down there and make sure she was alright after yesterday. Five minutes later, I found myself going down the stairs, out the front doors, and into the alley where the girl was sitting. I didn't know if she knew German or not, but it was worth a shot.

"Hi, I'm Tom-"

I didn't even finish my sentence before she stood and ran back into the apartment building through a side door. So much for making sure she was alright. I turned and went back into the hotel. I decided to go to Bill's room to see if he was up yet. Upon approaching his door, I could hear the familiar sound of Halo 2 coming through the walls. I let myself in and sat down on the couch while the rest of the guys played mindless videogames.

~*~*~*~*~*~

As the next few weeks went by, I stilled tried to get the mysterious girl to talk to me, but whenever I came near, she would run back into her apartment. And every day I would ask myself why I was being so persistent when she kept running away from me. But deep down, I knew I kept doing this because I knew she needed someone to talk to; someone to protect her from whoever was abusing her.

The only question was, how do I get her to listen to me first?

*~*~*~*~*~*

Last night I just couldn't sleep. My pills for some reason weren't working, and I'd spent the entire night tossing and turning. And to make it worse, I'd been hearing screams all night in my head. I don't think I need to tell you who's they were. Odd thing was, when I used to hear her screams they sounded kinda far away; these screams sounded so real and so near it was hard to tell if it really was just in my head. Even into the early hours of the morning, I could hear the sobbing. When I decided to get out of bed, I looked out the window and saw that the sobs weren't in my head at all, but coming from the dark- haired girl across the alley. I suddenly decided to get to the alley before her and try again to talk to her. I quickly got dressed and ran downstairs. I waited by the door that leads from the alley into the apartment building until it opened. The girl sat down on the steps and continued to sob into her hands. One of the many stray cats walked up and rubbed it's head against her leg. She reached out and stroked it as her cries quieted.

"How much longer will this go on, Misha?" she asked the cat.

I was surprised she was speaking German rather than Russian.

"Hi," I said from behind her.

She jumped about two feet in the air and made a grab for the door, but I was standing right next to it, blocking her hand. She tried to run out of the alley, but I grabbed her wrist before she could. She pulled and struggled, but I just stood there.

"пожалуйста! Отпустите меня!" she cried.

"I know you speak German, just calm down I just want to talk."

She finally broke free of my grasp and darted for the exit to the alley.

"I know he's been hurting you," I called after her, "if you ever want someone to talk to, my window's right across from yours!"

A minute later she walked back into the alley slowly with her arms crossed over her chest. She kept her clear blue eyes on me fearfully, as if at any moment I would lash out and hit her. She inched her way along the brick wall, always staying slightly turned towards the street.

"What do you want?" she asked in a light accent and a small, shaky voice.

"I just want to talk. I've seen that guy hit you around and I just wanted to know if you would like to talk to someone about it?"

She gazed at me analytically, glancing at the street out of the corner of her eye every few seconds.

"I'm Tom."

"Lynn."

"I know what it's like to be beat up like that every day, felt like hell and seemed hopeless. Even after I was released from that place, I felt like I couldn't feel like I could function properly in the normal world. Or, what you might call 'normal' for me."

She just stood there staring at me with those big, terror- filled eyes. She turned her gaze to the ground and kicked a rock around.

"My father blames me for the death of my mother and sister. He is a drunk and likes to hit me when he comes home from the bar; for things he thinks I might have done. If he finds out about me talking to you, he will punish me harshly," she said, trebling slightly.

"Is that why you ran from me every day?"

She nodded. "He left this morning for a trip to my uncle's. He beat me half the night in case I got in trouble."

"I know, I could hear you." She cringed for a moment. "It reminds me of my girlfriend, she- uh, she's been missing for the past year and a half and my last memories of her were of watching her be raped right in front of me."

"I am sorry. I hope you find her," Lynn said softly.

"Thanks; would you like to come in and sit down?" I offered, gesturing towards my hotel.

"No, I must go finish the chores my father left for me."

She turned and walked out of the alley.

"So does this mean you'll stop running from me?" I called after her.

"Until my father comes back, yes."

I went back to my room with a new sense of comfort that I hadn't felt in quite a while. I just hoped Lynn had the same feeling now.