18:15 pm

The angry lashes on my back were still burning as my mother raised the large wooden spoon a final time. My natural instict was to turn around and catch her wrist when she tried to hit me. I would twist her arm, throw her at the counter, then pin her arm to her back, and start slapping her with my bare hands. But I didn't. I couldn't. If I did, I might not have been able to stop. It would take over again. I would have to run away, but I would have nowhere to go. So instead, I tensed my back and braced for the final impact with the thich wooden spoon. As the spoon was about to whip my back, I moved forward and leaned into the counter really fast so I could sofen the blow. It was the least I could do.

"You stupid, good-for-nothing, lazy, little girl!" My mom spat at me as I turned around to glare at her. If looks could kill, well, my mom would have been dead a long time ago. "All you do is just sit around while I am down here working so hard for the food tonight!" She was wrong. If she knew what I was really doing upstairs - "and your attitude is horrible!"

"You shouldn't have voluteered to host the dinner if you couldn't do it yourself." I quietly mumbled.

"What was that?!" My mom shouted in my ear.

"I didn't say anything!" I exclaimed putting my hands up innocently, although it was totally a lie. My mom slapped me again, just for good measure.

"Make dessert for the guests. Make a cake. When you're done, go upstairs and put some pants on and look presentable."

"Fuck you too, bitch." I mumbled as I shuffled around the kitchen to make a stupid dumb-ass cake.

(19:15 pm) When I was done an hour later, I jogged up the stairs and stormed into my room. I had one last look at myself in the mirror. My simple brown eyes had those gold specks in them again. My almost black hair was long and striaght as I threw it into a low ponytail. I was ready.

It was time. This was what I had spend hours upon hours planning for a month. I was actually going to do it! I had it all planned out. I picked out all the most practical clothes. The clothes that I chose were specific to not only stealth, but for in the case of a fight, endurance, and enhanced comfort, and I chose specific layers that would allow me to stay outside, whether it was cold or hot.

I slipped out of my jean shorts and into flexible black, non-shiny leggings (more stealth and coverage), got into a black sports bra, and wiggled into a tight fitting black, long-sleeved Under Armour shirt. I pulled on a black hooded sweatshirt and laced up my black running shoes. I made sure that the shoes didn't have any reflectors on it. Can't have anyone spotting me.

I grabbed the small black backpack that was already peeking out form beneath my bed and I placed an unsympathetic note on my desk. I had written it a month ago. Mainly, it said:

"Sorry, bitches. You guys were too much of a bitch for me to handle, so I'm taking a long leave

absence to clear my hear. I'll be back and better, bitches!"

Fuck you,

Bethany FORD

(19:30 pm) It was kind of a slap in the face to my mom because "Norwood" was supposed to be my last name, but "Ford" was my real dad's name before he died. When he died, my mom married someone about 2 seconds later, and the devil inside of her began to reveal its true self. I guess I had my suspicions before.

With my small backpack strapped on tightly, I quickly slid the window pane upard and climbed onto the window sill. And jumped.

On my way down, I made a quick prayer that no one was watching as I tucked my body in and landed in a roll. I stopped rolling and stopped in a kneel (like a Tim Tebow stance). I could almost hear my father exclaiming "Ace!" I had been juping off that roof since I was 9. Sometimes my stepdad would lock me in my room for weeks. Jumping out the window was the only way I could get anywhere, even school.

I slowly lifted my head to scan my surroundings. Clear. I started off down 13th street in a sprint. They'll find out I'm gone and come looking for me. Objective #1: Get as much distance between you and your pursuers. It'll buy you more time to make an official plan.

The sun was already seting at the unnatural tinge of orange-yellow. Shit. I had already lost 1 hour of my escape time because I was forced to bake a freaking cake for my mom-monster. Or momster. Whatever was catchier.

(19:45 pm) I passed by one of the abandoned apartment complexes my read dad used to take me to so that he could help me work on my sparring skills. The temptation to just hide in the abandoned apartment kep viciously pulling me towards it. I shook my head. Note #1: Never go to a place that's familiar. It increases your chance of being found by about 65%, and I wasn't willing to take that risk.

Instead, I ran to the dark alley opposite it, the one with dozens of stray alley cats lounging around. They were never afraid of humans. If you touched them, they wouldn't run away. They would just purr. I stripped off my clothes and wrapped my short robe around me. i was completely naked underneath the robe, so I was freezing. I had to act fast. I tied each article of clothing to a different cat and let them run off with a piece of my clothing tied tightly to their back.

(20:15 pm) I quickly shuffled to the closed perfume store that was under the rug. The owner of the perfume store told me that I could come in any time. She knew how much my momster whipped me. I entered the store, dropped the bath robe, and started running around the store. Naked. I sprayed myself with so much perfume, it must have been inoxicating. I spritzed on everything she had in the store. Then I opened one of the cabinets that was in the back of the store and grabbed the new black douffel that had been untouched for about 1 month.

Last month, I had ordered 2 black bags, and 2 sets of the same exact black outfits. The first set of black clothes and small backpack had my scent all over it. The second had been shipped directly to the store and the owner, who didn't look at it, but she just hid it in the back of the store for me. I had told her what to do with it without telling her what I was doing. I can't have anybody know what I was doing ahead of time. The douffel was clear of my scent.

I opened up the bag to look at my weapons and getaway supplies. I pulled out the new pair of non-shiny leggings, black sports bra and underwear, and long sleeved Under Armour shirt. I didn't wear the new sweatshirt, but I did wear some fashionable (but practical) dark brown combat boots. I laced up my boots and pulled out the weapons in the bag, which included knives and my father's handgun, which I had secretly kept. I tucked one pocket knife into each boot, snapped on my poorly constructed, homemade "utility belt" (as I liked to call it), and strapped the handgun to the holster on the belt. I grabbed the new douffel, which had a stash of getaway money and unscented food. I quickly fled the perfume store leaving it seemingly untouched. I continued running down the never ending street, police sirens blaring through the streets, heading to my house where they would most likely use the search dogs.

(20:30) Rule #2: Lose your scent. If search dogs are with your pursuers, your chances of being found are increased by 95%. By losing my old scent with the cats, I should lead the search dogs and police in a wild goose chase. In spraying myself with over 50 perfumes and using different clothes that I have never touched before, my scent should be masked long enough for me to get out of the city.

As I turned tthe corner to head down yet another dark alley, a flash of light on the cold brick walls caught my attention. I rolled behind a trash can and crouched down. As I peered past the can, a pure white beam of light sliced through the air and struck the brick wall.

"Holy shit, mother of all-" I began to whisper in awe, until I saw the small box that was creating the light. It was just sitting on the ground facing the wall, a white light slicing from it and landing on the wall. It looked similar to a transformer's rubix cube made out of metal. It was making soft and soothing beeping noises.

As I inched towards the beeping contractionl, I tried to rest my hand on the nearby brick wall with the white light on it. My hand went right through it! I had read a lot about crazy alien technology, but I never actually thought that it was real! If anything, it could be a teleporter.

"Whatever, might as well." I mumbled with a shrug. It's not like I had anywhere else to go. At the most, I predicted that I would be found in a matter of 2 weeks. I picked up the beeping box and jumped through the light so no one could follow me.

Right as I entered, I felt a large calloused hand on my shoulder. I was about to yell out in surprise and attack them, but the light was so blinding that I had to close my eyes and I couldn't move. It was like I was frozen. Red dots started to dance under my eyelids and the corners started to become fuzzy. Black started to creep in from all sides of my eyeliids. My chest felt like there was a band aorun dit and I couldn't breathe. My head felt like it was expanding and my eyes were bulging through my eyelids. I tried to scream, but absoluely nothing cam out until my body began to completely submerge into the sharp light and my vision tunneled into darkness.