She was dying.

She was not breathing, her body crushed under the weight of the pain corrupting her every sense. Watery eyes opened, longing for the sight of a long awaited excemption. But what she saw ignited the fire in her veins, burned her skin so furiously she fought against the screams bubbling in her throat.

Green eyes searched for green eyes. His were cold and animal, almost inhuman. His skin wrickled under the pressure of the snarl curling his thin lips. The monster's calloused hands lessened the pression around the pale and fragile neck.

She was breathing again.

She felt something hard press against her stomach from where he was straddling her, his legs placed on each side of her battered body.

His voice was the result of some demonic entity, barely human in its sweet, raspy tone. His voice haunted her head like a neverending nightmare.

'' I told you to keep quiet.''

It was barely a whisper, but he might as well have been screaming. She screamed as well but only a groan came out, throat parched by all the crying she's done that day.

Her head felt funny, a mix of lightheadedness and pain. Crimson blood pourred from somewhere around her right eyebrow. Bile threatened to come surfacing and her mind wanted nothing more than to fade away in a cloud of bliss.

He smiled sour sweetly and a chocking uneasiness grew inside her guts.

'' You should always listen to your uncle, little rabbit. Always.''

She felt fingers fiddle with the rim of her hand me down jeans and she instinctively tried to will her mind away, far away from this hell. From this place she used to call home. It was a feeble attempt but sometimes, when she tried hard enought, she found herself back in her old house. When her mom and dad were still breathing the fresh Boston air. Back when her dad mounted her on his broad shoulders so she could also see The Red Sox of Boston fighting their way throught their opposants, whatever that meant. She just loved the atmosphere and the noise and despite being very young, she knew those people were having fun.

A muffled groan of pleasure brought her back to reality. The man ran his hands against her skin, not unlike those of a disgusting ramping insect. Her body shivered uncontrollably at the contact of his cold skin on her too flat stomach and her hips. Her eyes glazed over, blood tracing a curved pattern across her eye, clot beggining to form from the long gash. She wanted to scream, to curse, to yell at this man who took everything from her, but she stayed silent. The fight had left her long ago. She could never win. She never did. She was always at his mercy.

Her bare back scrapped against the wooden floor with each of his movement. Her head hurt from how tight her hairtie was. Sweat stained hair glued at her forehead. She felt like utter shit.

He panted and her body contracted on itself, fighting against this intrusive attack but he didn't stop. If anything it even fueled his sick selfish pleasure. A tiny whimper escaped her lips, which made him lick his lips wet.

'' Yeah... You like that baby girl?''

The pet name almost made her throw up right on him but she resisted. She knew the beating was almost as bad as the raping, and she did not want another broken rib.

And then she was left alone on the cold floor, as naked as the day she was born, only more tainted by a perversion she was once not aware existed. Tears rolled down her cheeks like waterfall, smudging the blood to a pink hue.

Her blood boiled insanely with a white rage that consumed her every thought, desire for murder strong in her good night wishes. She bit her lip and tasted blood, briefly wondering how good his own crimson gore would feel tainted on her small fingers.

And then the world disappeared on this last but everlasting blood lust.

Ellie woke up with her breaths short and raspy, chest tighening every time she breathed out. A sweaty hand jolted to fist the red flannel she was wearing, few inches above her madly beating heart. Her other hand clenched the cold handle of her pocket knife, cold panic surging from deep within her, tensing her muscles and freezing her bones.

'' Fuck... Oh fuck...''

She tried to steady her breathing, hand now cradling her chest in desesperate attempt at calming the panic attack.

'' You're fine girl. You're fine. It's... It's just a stupid nightmare...''

The sound of her own voice helped her to crawl back into reality. She smelled oil and felt the mattress under her body, old and battered with years of use. One last difficult breath and she let out a long sigh of relief. It was a nightmare. Just a freaking nightmare.

She swipped aside the hair that stucked at her forehead and cheeks, eyes taking in her surrounding one more time. She was seated on a mattress that has been tossed unceremoniously on the floor of the creepy old garage she has found a few days ago up north of the town.

''Fuck...'' She sighed, fatigue evident in her voice. ''What time is it ?''

With great effort, she lifted her body and rose to her full height, cracking her back with a pleasured hum. The girl rubbed the sleep off her eyes and rested her hand on the shed's door and pushed ligthly.

The sounds of birds and the blinding light of the sun gave her what she needed to know.

''Oh shit!''

She ran back inside and gathered her belongings before throwing them in her torn black backpack. She grasped the straps as hard as she could and checked outside for the outlines of a human body.

And sure enough, there was one.

''Shit shit shit shit shit!''

She ajusted her backpack and looked all around for a way out, heart beating fast behind her ribcage. She spotted a broken window up high, out of her reach. Nearing the window she jumped on an old battered car in need of a good fix and then leaped on the metal of an odd looking furniture with too many drawers for her liking.

She reached for the windows and threw her backpack on the ground which was a few meters down. She casted a last look at the shed's door and jumped as it opened with the screaming of the wood and joints.

Her body hit the floor like a boulder but she didn't stop. She grabbed the straps of her bag and ran for her life.

The city of Jackson was lit with human activities despite the early hours. The streets were cramped of cars and sidewalks full of people going left and right to a precise destination.

Except that Ellie didn't have a precise destination.

Today was like any other day, the teen was being ignored by all despite her ragged apparence and dirtied face. Jackson had a high percentage of homelessness and she was nothing special to society's judgemental eyes.
The sun burned the top of her head and she was sweating under the fabric of her shirt and flannel.

Her dream still felt like a vivid memory.

Ellie rubbed her eyes, her finger hovering a nail away from the scar slicing her eyebrow. Oh she wished she knew how to make the nightmares go away. She hadn't had a good night of sleep for what felt like forever.

She stepped on the sidewalk and even though she blended with the crowd of bodies, she still felt like watching a movie, a movie of which she was not a part of. Old men would give her the stinky eyes and the side glances, hoping to be unseen, but she had vigilante eyes, she always saw them.

It only made her grip the knife harder in her pocket.

There was voices all around her from the people going about their life, but they all mushed togheter to a crampled mess of tones. But she was not listening, head troubled by her too vivid dream.

Beaten up blue and white snickers scrapped the asphalt. Cool drafts of wind sneaked their way into her clothes. Her flannel too big for her rubbed at her thights.

And she was famished.

She decided to make a detour to one of her favorite place in town. Unlike most people in this town, some of them still cared. There was this coffee shop near the skateboard park that would offer her two pastries and infinite refill of coffee if she helped them taking out the trash. She wasn't too fan of the taste of coffee. Burn shit tasted better. But she was grateful for everything she could fill her stomach with at this point.

By the time she arrived there, the low grumble of her stomach has turned into a loud growl. She was hungry, so very hungry.

'' Oh my, hello dear! You are early today!''
'' Hi Miss Hollers.'' Ellie saluted, giving the old lady a somewhat polite lopsided grin, taking in the wrinkly but sweet smile she was sending her way, probably the only smiles she get these days.
'' You look so hungry poor little thing. Why don't you go sit over there while I prepare something for you? Go on!''

Ellie took place on a chair in the backstore, nodding along.

The coffee shop was a small place, barely big enough to fit a dozen of customers at the same time. From what Ellie has gathered, Miss Hollers has owned this cafe for the past 30 years, so no little feat. The wood cracked, the floor screamed under their feet, but their pastries were the best. They had a vast menu and the place was always clean. It had gained a good reputation over the decade but it was mostly empty this friday.

''There you go sweetie. Now try not making a mess,uh ?''
''Yes Miss Hollers. Thank you.''

Her voice was weak, almost fragile as she thanked the owner, taking a bite out of the warm muffin, allowing the taste to fill her mouth with its chocolate chunks.

It didn't quite fulled her stomach but it did ease the pain, her core no longer an empty void.

After asking for a small coffee, Ellie helped the old lady to take out the heavy trash and soon enough she was on her way and it was as if she never came.

They never bothered to talk about her condition. A sixteen year old girl shouldn't be in the street. But things were pretty bad in Jackson. People didn't question it and if they did they never acted on it, much to Ellie's relief. She did not want the police on her case.

And she'd rather die than go back home, if she could still call it like that. It sure as hell didn't feel like a home back then.
Her feet took her nowhere in particular but she found herself in front of a high school building and memories flooded her like rain. She had liked high school. She had medium grades. Had a friend or two to hang out with after school to avoid going home. She particurly loved the music lessons, where she had started to learn playing guitar. Gustavo was a good teacher and she had good memories of him. She smiled sadly at the education she was most likely to miss and never have. Life was like a lottery ticket; and it was clear that she didn't win this one.

She sat on the ground, back against a broken tree trunk just in front of the school building. Taking out her diary from her bag, she tapped her pen on the rim of the book, bitting down on her lip as she seemed deep in thought.

I saw him again last night. I swear he gets more scary everytime I dream of him.
I was helpless, bloodied. Totally at his mercy.
I'm so tired of this shit.
If only my morning sun would shine...

There was the sound of footsteps as she wrote the last word, and curiosity caught the cat.

And in front of her stood the most beautiful girl she has ever seen.
She was her age, maybe a bit older, and she sported the high school uniform which suited her so well it was criminal. A mope of black curls waved around an olive colored face, with a smile so enticing Ellie felt her throat block suddenly. Her brown eyes were round and big. She noticed how her irises would turn honey if under the right light. The smile stretched on her face at the joke one of her friend made her knee go numb, and Ellie couldn't help but notice the many freckles dusting her face, not unlike herself.

The teenager allowed herself a dreamy smile. She didn't know the girl.
But every time before and after school she would come here and let her eyes wander over the beautiful teenager laughing with her friends.
She would stare at her from across the street with the faintest smile for minutes, until the bell rang,

Then she would leave and come back at the end of classes. So far she never spotted her, since she was very experimented at playing the wallflower.
She was so beautiful and Ellie was never able to take her eyes off of her.

Glancing down at her diary, she gripped the pen tightly and continued to write.

My morning sun is the drug that brings me near
To the childhood I lost
Replaced by fear...

It was the lyrics of an old song. And yet it described her so well it hurt to think about how screwed she was right now. Barely 16 with no roof above her head and in a constant hunger. Per chance she was never one to eat a lot and she was used to go a long time without snacking. She hated having to scavenge the trash so she would often do odd jobs for a few needed bills. She still had a fucking pride to maintain and would die hungry before she picked food from trash.

Her feet brought her to a picnic area, in the park near the school, already patiently waiting for the girl to come out, to show her her perfect white smile.

'' God I'm such a creep.'' She muttered to herself, nervously playing with her fingers.

She placed her head in her hands, wondering why things went so wrong. She was an happy kid.
Why did her parents had to die so early?

''No. I can't think about them right now. I'm stressed enought as it is. I need to find shelter for tonight.. that morning was too close of a call...''

But she did like that mattress. And the shed offered warmth and security. She just needed to wake up before 5 am.

Every morning without exception, the owner of the shade makes apparition. For what, she had no idea but she was always gone by that time. Ellie was also one to have the worst sleep schedule. There was too many a close calls lately.
But there was also something that bothered her greatly, sending a methaphorical brick in the pit of her stomach.

Sometimes she would wake up in the middle of the night with a blanket near her. Or other times in the morning she would spot snacks around the shed she was not sure was there before. Maybe she was just negligent. That was the most probable answer.

There was no way the man knew she was there. He would have her thrown out already. Like the others before.

Time passed quickly. She even succeded in taking a short nap, head rested on her arms like she sometimes did at school.

And when she moved towards the school, she saw her again, leaning against a taller asian guy, and he laughed wholeheartedly at something she said in his ear. Ellie leaned her shoulder against a tree, his rough trunk scrapping the soft fabric, her ponytail laying on her other shoulder. Trying the stare at her throught the thickness of her soft dark auburn hair.

She loved to observe the mannerisms of her movements. She loved the way she moved, the way she talked, how her hand would often brush her dark bangs out of her eyes. How good she always looked with her uniform. How white her teeth shone under the smile and how she liked the way her hair bounced at every step. Ellie chuckled lightky at how creepy she sounded just now.

''She doesn't even know you, creep'' She grounded herself like she would a perverted boy.

She better go before she turn into some kind of sexual harasser or something. She stared at her way too long for it to ne normal. But when she did turn around one last time to check on her, the young womam was looking directly at her with a smile.

And Ellie felt her heart drop.