She ran as fast as she could across the corn field, trying to get rid of her pursuers. Sam crouched down to hide in the corn, and slowly moved out of the path she was running in, trying not make any noise. They ran right past her. Then the tallest one said, "Where'd she go?" They stopped running and looked around. She could see them through the corn, and she hoped they couldn't see her in the dark.

"Get out here, you runt." The fattest officer spat. "You know you aren't allowed out past curfew!" She said nothing and tried to breathe as quietly as possible.

"We can wait her out, we're the ones with supplies." The muscular officer said. "Hand me the supplies, Ed. I'm getting peckish."

Ed shrugged. "I must've dropped it while we were chasing her."

The tallest officer and the muscular officer sighed in unison.

"We might as well go back and gather more officers for a search party." The tall officer said, and Sam waited until she could no longer hear the officers, and ran as quickly and quietly as she could toward the town. She was able to dodge sight of any other officers, and she went into her house. Suddenly, the lamp post switched on, and Sam started. Then winced when she saw her dad, Hank, in the living room chair.

"Bed, now. We'll talk about this in the morning." He said, standing up and walking down the hall.

"I can expla-" he put up his hand, silencing her.

"I'm very disappointed in you." He said flatly, then walked into his room and shut the door. A silent tear running down her cheek as she walked to her bedroom she shared with her younger twin siblings, Marshal and Julie. Julie was 5 minutes older than Marshal, and Julie was loud, and always had something to say. Marshal was quieter and almost always had his nose in a book. As Sam got into her bed, she could see Marshal had his favourite book open and face-down on his stomach, and he was fast asleep. Sam cracked a small smile, got up, and closed his book, setting it down on his bedside table. Then she went back into her bed. After a few restless hours, Sam finally fell asleep.

In the morning, Hank shook Sam awake. She looked at the clock on the wall and it read 6:00, and judging by how dark it was outside and that her siblings were still asleep, she guessed it was 6 AM. Hank motioned to the door and left the room, and Sam followed him, feeling dreadful. Hank sat down on a living room chair and Sam sat on the old couch that was opposite to the chair.
"Well? What makes you think you could run away like that? The teacher told me she saw you before recess, but then after recess you were gone! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't ground you for an entire month!" Hank yelled at his daughter.

Sam felt miserable and didn't think she could speak. She opened her mouth, but began sobbing. She couldn't stop, and before long, her father was sitting next to her and hugging her.

"Brason again? Oh, Sam I'm sorry. What did he call you this time?" Sam pulled away from the embrace.

"H-he didn't just call me names, he..." Sam faltered and started to sob again.

"What did he do?" Hank asked softly.

Sam gulped. "He ca-called me names and then f-forced me to kiss him!" She shivered.
Hanked seethed with rage. "In front of everyone? Tell me everything he did in detail."
Sam breathed in deeply, to try to calm herself down.

"Well first, while I was reading, he called me out saying I was a w-woman-lover. People laughed and pointed at me." She sobbed a bit, and carried on. "Then I told him I wasn't and he said to prove it by kissing him. If I said no, everyone would think I was a woman-lover, so I said fine. He shooed e-everyone away and pushed me behind the school-house wall. He said, 'C'mon, kiss me!' so I did, and I tried to do it quickly to get it over with, but he held me so I couldn't move." Then Sam cried again, and Hank patiently waited for her to continue. "I tried to push away, but he wouldn't let me go! He wouldn't let me out of the kiss until the bell rang, and I - I ran away." Sam finished, digging her face into her knees. Hank stood up angrily. "Please don't ground me it - it wasn't my fault!"
"I know, Sam, I know. When I get my hands on him, I'm going to-!"
"Do I still have to go to school tomorrow?" Sam interrupted. "I can't live with this kind of humiliation."
"Of course not." Hank said, hugging Sam again. Sam buried her face into her dad's chest, and sobbed some more.
After she had calmed down, she fell back asleep on the couch by the time Julie and Marshal came out of the bedroom. Hank made a quiet gesture by putting his finger to his lips. He pointed at Sam on the couch.
"Go play in your room." He whispered, and they walked back in and closed the door.

Brason walked with his buddies on the dirt pathway which was a shortcut from the school to his house.
"You're so lucky, you can get any girl you want!" Brason's friend Richard said. Brason smirked. "You got the prettiest girl in the school to make out with you!"
"Yeah, she's pretty crazy about me." Brason bragged. "She even asked me on a date to Oriens." Then he instantly realized that was a bad decision.
"That fancy restaurant?" Brason other friend, Chad, said. "She really is all over you!"
"What was the kiss like?" Richard asked.
"Pretty great." Brason said.
"Going to make any moves on your date?" Chad joked, raising his eyebrows.
"I don't know. I don't think I'm gonna go." Brason said, scratching the back of his neck.
"What?!? Why?" Chad exclaimed. "This isn't you."
"Yeah, what's up with you?" Richard said.
"I just don't really like fancy restaurants." He lied again. Then he thought back to his big urge after coming in contact with Sam. He just lost control.
"If you don't want her, I'll have her." Richard said. The path turned and ended on Brason's street, and it was time for the trio to split.
"No way. See ya!" He waved and ran to his house. He ran up the steps, then stopped short. Today his mother was home. Should he come home later? No he had homework to do, and besides, his mother would wonder where he went. He sighed and entered the mansion. He put his knapsack on the table near the door, and quietly passed the livingroom and kitchen to get to the stairs. But as he passed the kitchen, his mother Janice spotted him.
"Brason! You need tell me when you come in!" Brason hung his head.
"Yes mother." He said. Janice took a gulp of a wine bottle that was beside her. Brason started walking towards the stairs again but Janice glared at him.
"I didn't say you could go!" Janice yelled at him. Brason winced. "Come in here and make me a sandwich!"
"Yes mother." Brason said again, bracing himself as he passed Janice. He got two pieces of bread out of the cupboard, then got some bacon, lettuce, and tomato out of the fridge.
"When you're finished my sandwich," she stopped to belch loudly, then continued. "go upstairs and tell your father to go out to the store and get me more god damn wine!"
Brason sighed as he finished the sandwich. "Mother, Andrew died in the war 15 years ago." He put the sandwich on a smaller sized plate and put it on the table in front of Janice. She took another long gulp of the wine and slammed it down on the table.
"That's - hic! - straight up bull crap, Brason. He was just... like... right here though." She said pointing across the room. "Bull crap." She repeated, taking a bite of her sandwich.
"May I be excused, mother? I need to do my-"
"I don't care about your problems, Brason. This -" she lifted up her wine bottle. "Is the close-to-last bottle. That's not good enough! Go tell your useless father how uselessly useless he is!"
Brason nodded, and as he went back to the door to grab his knapsack, his could hear his mother swearing for no reason. He continued upstairs.
That night all he could think about was Sam. He felt the slightest bit bad for her, but that thought went away when he thought about how beautiful she was. He fell asleep with the slightest smile on his face.

"Why does Sam get to stay home?!?" Julie asked exasperated, while Hank put her knapsack on her back.
"That's none of your business." Hank told Julie, and she scowled. Marshal said nothing as he walked out the door, reading his book. Hank gave them both a kiss, and they headed on their way to school. Hank shut the door and turned around to look at Sam. "You just sit tight, I'm going out. I'll be back around 11:00-ish."
Sam nodded, wishing their door was still able to lock. "Oh, wait. When's mom coming back from her business trip?"
"This friday, which is only two days away!" Hank said smiling.
"We rarely get to see her anymore, she's always going places for work." Sam said sadly.
"I know. But her job is what keeps the roof over our head and puts food on the table." he smiled again. "Well anyway, got to go now. See you later." And with that, he put his hat on and went outside, closing the door behind him. Hank walked down the street, then turned a few times, ending up on the richer block. He saw a kid walking down the street, and instantly recognized him as Brason.
Hank walked up to Brason and stopped in his path. Brason glared at Hank, Hank being taller by just an inch.
"Get out of my way, old man." Brason said side-stepping Hank for him to step in front of Brason again.
"Do you know who I am?" Hank asked, rage creeping into his voice.
"No, and I don't care." Hank slapped Brason across the face, and he stammered backwards.
"I'm Sam's father, boy! You think you can touch her without coming across me!?!?" Hank yelled. Brason looked shocked for a moment, then his expression hardened again.
"You can't tell me what to do." Brason said, trying to sidestep Hank again, but Hank stretched his leg out, and Brason tripped, all his school work falling out of his knapsack.
"How does it feel to have the tables turned, you rich little brat?" He kicked Brason over again, and started to walk away. Then Hank felt a pencil hit his back, and he spun around. Brason looked back down at his things, and kept picking them up. "Consider yourself warned." He turned back around and kept walking, and didn't hear another thing from that boy.

Sam lay on the couch, looking out the window. She longed to be outside, but didn't want to come across anyone from school. After a while, when the air felt almost suffocating, she leaped off the couch and ran to the back door. She swung it open and stepped outside, then sat in the grass, taking big breaths. She smelled the fresh air of spring, loving every second. Sam picked a blade of grass, and started blowing it like all the times she practiced. She was the only person in her school who could whistle with a blade of grass. She watched a bee fly past her face, then land on a nearby flower. She finally had calmed down a bit after the incident at school. As she thought about it, she frowned and hugged her chest, almost guarding herself even though no one was there. She sighed and dropped the blade of grass back on the ground, grabbed a nearby stick, and threw it as hard as she could into the forest.

'Brason can't treat me that way!' She thought. 'What's wrong with being a woman-lover anyway? I don't even love women. Right?' She tried to remember the last time she had a crush on a boy. 'I liked Fred once... no that doesn't count, I was only in kindergarten.' She thought longer. 'What if I am a woman-lover?' Sam shivered at the thought. 'Was that why I didn't like Brason touching me? No! I do love men! And I'll prove it to Brason. I'll show him at school tomorrow.' Then she scoffed. 'I'm acting like such a child.' But she didn't change her mind. Sam stood up and walked back inside, closing the back door behind her. She went into the kitchen to get herself an apple, and sat back down on the couch. Sam put her elbow on the armrest of the couch and rested her chin on her hand. Then she thought, 'I haven't had any crushes on girls either, so that must mean I love men.' Sam sighed in frustration, And turned the T.V off. She looked out the window then at the clock. It read 10:58. Hank should be home any minute now. She looked out of the window again this time, seeing some movement to the far right edge of the forest. She turned her head fully to look, and some undergrowth shook a bit and stopped. Sam raised an eyebrow and kept watching the still undergrowth. Finally, it moved again, and out sprung a person. As the boy with brown hair walked towards the house, she recognized it as Brason. Sam took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds, then let it all out. She had to show him. Show him she wasn't a woman-lover. No - she had to show herself.
Brason knocked on the back door and Sam sprung off the couch. Her heart pumped with adrenaline as she swung the door open.
"I just came to apologize-" Sam stopped him by kissing him, with no pleasure at all. She kept him close, to try to be as convincing as possible. Finally, she stopped and pulled away. "Happy?" Sam asked him as he noticed the strap of her tank top slid off her shoulder.
"Y-yeah." Brason said, stomach fluttering.
"Anyway," he blew out through his mouth and looked at the ground. "I came to apologize."
"I thought you were trying to ruin my life by getting everyone to think I'm a woman-lover!" Sam said, putting her hands on her hips.
"No, I just, well, I wanted you to kiss me." He said looking into Sam's eyes. She suddenly slapped him hard, and he rubbed his face where he was hit. "What was that for?!?"
"Stop messing with my feelings! I've always hated you! You've been the worst bully I've ever met since day 1, and now you want me? Well guess what? I'm not for sale!"
"Why'd you kiss me then? Just now?" Brason asked, hurt.
"I wanted you to know that I - 100 percent - love men, but I have absolutely no feelings towards you. Just go." Sam said as she backed up to close the door. Brason grabbed her arm tightly and looked down at her, his face full of anger.
"You'll have feelings for me all right, strong ones." He said as he let his tight grip on Sam's arm go, running back into the forest.
Sam sighed loudly and sat back down on the couch. What did he mean by having feelings for him? Was that some kind of threat? A few minutes later, Hank came in, hanging his coat on the only hook by the door. Hank saw his daughter's facial expression and frowned.
"What's wrong?" He asked sitting on the couch beside Sam. Sam gave Hank a fake smile.
"Nothing, I just wish I was outside." Which wasn't a complete lie, as she did want to go outside.
Hank smiled. "I'll go out with you if you want." Sam nodded as they walked out the back door, sat in the grass, and chatted for a while.
"Dad?" Sam asked.
"Mmm?"
"I think that - well I don't really know, but I may or may not think that I might love women. But I don't know! Brason calling me a women-lover just got me thinking." Sam said, and looked embarrassingly at her father. Hank just smiled.
"There's nothing wrong with liking women, hun." Hank said, watching a butterfly fly by.
"Then why do the other kids at school use it as an insult?"
"Loving anyone but the opposite sex isn't accepted in these parts. Some very religious families - much more religious than ours - believe that loving the opposite sex is the only way. The Bible says so, and so they believe it. And that's fine, as long as they don't force it upon other people."
Sam nodded taking this all in.
"Sam, do you like Brason and his friends?" Hank asked her.
"No!"
"Then their opinions should mean nothing to you. All you need to know is that whoever you love, your mother and I will stay with you every step of the way. Understand?"
Sam smiled widely and cried tears of happiness, embracing his father.
"Love you, dad."
"Love you too, Sam."

Brason watched through the shrubbery as Sam and her dad went inside. Tears ran down his cheeks. Why couldn't his mom love him this much? Sam's family was much poorer than Brason's, but they seemed much happier. He ran through the forest, not knowing where to go.
'Anywhere but home.' He thought. 'I'm never going back!' He ran until his legs felt they were internally bleeding, and it had gotten dark already. It was a bit chilly, so Brason untied his sweater from around his waist and put it on, then sat down on the ground leaning against a tree. He instantly fell asleep from being exhausted.
He opened his eyes to see Sam looking down at him. It was morning, and everything was bright. He blinked and Sam helped him up.
"Hey, Brason." She said, looking oddly flirty, like someone had given her a love potion or something, even though there was no such thing.
"Hi?" He said questionably. Sam smiled and rolled her eyes, like saying 'Come on, it's obvious! I'm crazy in love with you!'
Brason's heart raced. "You were right." Sam said, adjusting Brason's collar, then looking into his eyes. "I do have strong feelings for you." Sam kissed him again, much more meaningful than when they kissed at her back door. The kiss seemed to last forever, but Brason didn't mind. They back up a bit and tripped on a root, causing Sam to fall onto Brason. She kissed him more, until Sam pulled away.
“Brason I’m sorry. I really do love you.”
“I love you too.” Brason said. They kissed again until suddenly Brason woke up, and he was still leaning against the tree in the middle of the woods, by himself. Of course it was a dream, it was way too good to be true! The sun was just rising, it had to be super early. He laid down on the ground this time to be flat, and he rolled onto his side. It took him another half hour, but he finally fell asleep.
Brason woke up in the same position as he had fallen asleep. The sun was higher in the sky, and he was getting hotter, so he took his sweater off and tied it around his waist. He sighed. This was the first time he didn't spend the night in his cozy, expensive bed. He legs ached from running so much yesterday, and his arms and neck hurt from laying on the ground. Not to mention he was starting to get hungry now. How could he have forgotten food, of all things? He looked around. Brason was in a completely new area of the forest that he had never ventured before. He decided to follow the sun, because that's what they did in books, right?
After a few hours, hunger really started to take it's toll, and he sat down. He looked at his surroundings. What here was safe to eat? He growled in frustration. He couldn't believe he was dumb enough to get himself into this situation! He pulled a maple leaf off of a branch, and checked it for any dirt.
'Maple leaves won't do anything to me, right?' He thought. 'Oh what's the use? I'd rather die from a Maple leaf than from hunger.' He gobbled it up then took and bunch more and ate them. It didn't help much, but it was better than nothing. He continued on his way, in the direction of the sun. 2 hours later, the sun was high in the sky, making it immensely hot, and he didn't know which way to walk anymore. He decided that he couldn't see much from where he was, so he found the closest climbing tree, and began to climb up each branch. His stomach growled loudly, and Brason tried to ignore it. He finally got as close to the top as possible, and looked across the trees. He found a house in the distance, and he estimated it would take him until it got dark to get there, so he climbed back down the tree. He ended up putting his foot on the wrong branch and it snapped off, sending him falling down the rest of the way. He tried to land on his feet, and a big shot of pain went up his spine and he fell onto his knees. He got up, trying to ignore the hunger and the pain in his back. He was also getting thirsty, and it made him realize how much you actually swallow. He went in the direction of the house, and stopped again to eat more leaves. He counted about 30 leaves he ate, and by the 30th one, he realized they weren't maple. He shrugged it off and kept walking.
A few more hours later, he started to feel incredibly sickly. The side effects of dehydration included a bad headache and a parched throat. His stomach was churning as well; and he hoped it wasn't because of the leaves he ate. As he finally started to see the house in the distance, he was tired and worn out so he decided to eat more leaves (and his head hurt too much to recognize what leaves they were), and he fell asleep on the forest floor.
His dream consisted of being cuffed to a cold cellar wall by his mother, Janice. She left him there to die, and he really felt the starvation and thirst. He kept watching the drips from the ceiling to the floor on the other side of the room, trying to swallow. He finally died of a mix of dehydration and starvation. Brason woke up in a start, feeling just as bad, almost worse. His stomach felt horrible, he just wanted to cry. It was the morning and he went to eat more leaves. He headed around the house and knocked on the door. And old woman opened the door.
"May I help you?" The woman said. Brason coughed.
"I hope I'm not asking too much of you, but I've been in the woods for two nights in a row now, and I'm lost-"
"Come in! You must be starving! You don't look so swell."
"I may have eaten something I wasn't supposed to." Brason said.
The old lady opened the door wider to let Brason in. "Go get washed up, then I'll fix you a nice meal. How does that sound?"
"Thank you so much!" Brason said.
"You're very welcome dearest. The bathroom is the second door on the right." Brason proceeded down the hall, feeling like he was going to hurl. He ran into the bathroom and put his head over the toilet bowl, and began puking up all the nasty leaves he'd eaten. He flushed the toilet, then washed his hands and mouth. As he was washing up in the shower, he had his mouth open under the water, drinking as much as possible. When he finally got out of the shower, he wasn't as thirsty anymore, and he found his clothes completely clean and folded up on the counter. Brason smiled and put the still warm clothes on. When he entered the kitchen, the kind lady told him to sit down.
"This seems too good to be true!" Brason exclaimed when the lady put a plate of assorted foods in front of him. "Thanks a million."
"It's the right thing to do when you have a guest over." The lady said. "I'm afraid we haven't been acquainted yet. My name is May."
"I'm Brason." He said with his mouth full of meatloaf. May smiled seeing Brason enjoy it so much.
"Once you're done there, we'll go outside and you tell me your address, and I'll give you a ride home."
"Thanks so much! You're a lifesaver." Brason said with gratitude.
"No need to thank me!" May said putting a hand up. After Brason gobbled up the entire meal that May made him and had a few glasses of water, they went outside and Brason followed May to the garage. She got her car out, and they got in. On the way back he thanked May a bunch more times.
“You can drop me off here.” He said as May turned onto his street. She stopped and parked on the side of the road. “Thanks so much, I might have died without you!”
May smiled again. “It’s my pleasure.”
“The world needs more people like you.” Brason said, getting out of the car and starting to walk away. “Thank you!!! Bye!"
“Goodbye.” May said, as she drove away.

The next day, Sam went back to school and she saw people whispering while she passed. She was miserable and stared at the ground on her way to her seat. She sat down next to a pretty girl who had black, curly hair. A few people giggled and Sam blushed. The girl flipped her hair over her shoulder and glared at Sam.
“Quiet, class.” Mrs. Hammond said. “No talking while I do the attendance. First grade. Kendra Richards.”
“Here.” Kendra said quietly. Our class was intermixed with multiple grades, as the school house only had one classroom. I waited and twirled my pencil on my desk. Then I looked back to Brason’s normal seat, which was empty. Sam wondered why he wasn’t there. Finally, the teacher got to the ninth grade.
"Nicole Chance."
"Here." The girl sitting beside Sam answered.
"Sam Fredrickson."
"Here." Sam said, and the other kids giggled. Mrs. Hammond looked up from her piece of paper and shushed the class. After she finished the ninth graders, she got to the tenth grade.
"Richard Downey."
"Here." Richard said, with boredom in his voice.
"Brason Lee." With no answer, Mrs. Hammond looked up at his spot then frowned and looked back down at her paper.
"Jason Phillips."
"Here." He said. Sam felt bad for him - Jason was blind. He was very kind, the exact opposite of Brason. He judges people on their personality rather than looks.
After the attendance, they had to read the bible, then say their prayers. Next they learned some math, (which was quite boring, as always) and then it was recess. Sam burst outside and took a deep breath of the fresh air. She sat on the playground bench and continued her book. Someone got in the way of the sun hitting her book, and she looked up to see Nicole.
"I'm just here to tell you to never sit beside me again." Sam frowned.
"Why not?"
"I don't like to be close to people who disobey god." She said rudely.
"What do you mean? I don't disobey god. I go to church every sunday, I say my prayers -"
"Women love men and that's it." She said. "Don't be such a sinner. I'm through talking to you." Sam opened her mouth to argue, but Nicole walked away. Sam growled in frustration and went back to reading her book.
After school, Sam walked home with Julie and Marshal, like always. Julie would blab on and on about things she did during the day, and Sam said she knew, because they went to the same school. Julie ignored Sam's comment and kept talking about her arch nemesis.
"...then she started saying how poor we were, which is weird because there's people that are much poorer than us, people who don't have houses. Right, Marshal?"
"Mhm." He said, reading his book.
"Anyway, so I said 'At least I'm not a priss!'. You should've seen the look on her face! She was so mad!" Julie paused for a second to laugh as hard as she could for exaggeration. "Hee hee, fun times. Right Marshal?"
"Mhm."
"I also learned that if I kick people in the shin they shut up." Julie said brightly, and Sam just rolled her eyes. They finally got home and Sam crashed on the couch.
"Long day?" Hank asked.
"Nicole called me a sinner." Sam said, huffing. "I guess without Brason here to call me names, Nicole felt like she had to..."
"School is hard around your age. But don't worry, it'll get better when you're older."
"I hope you're right." Sam said. "I'm going outside." She went outside and laid down in the grass, not caring if twigs or leaves got in her hair.
Two days later, Brason was back at school and chatting with his friends. Naturally all the girls were crazy about him, but he ignored them. Sam approached him during recess. Richard and Chad were talking to girls, and Brason left them. Very unlike him.
"Hey." Sam said. Brason looked up from the ground. Sam saw he had a black eye. "What happened?"
"Oh - I just - er - tripped, and my face hit a rock." He faked smiled then looked away, showing he was lying.
"What really happened?" Sam asked again.
"Oh, nothing." He said, his face going red.
"So you just woke up one morning with a black eye." Sam said sarcastically.
"Nothing happened, okay!?!" He yelled. Sam stepped back.
"I'm sorry, I just-" she frowned. "Nevermind." Brason sighed.
"It's fine." He said awkwardly.
"Why were you gone for two days?" Sam asked him.
"I got lost in the forest." He fake smiled again, but Sam could tell he was telling the truth. Then he looked into Sam's eyes. "Do you trust me?"
"No, not really." She said flatly.
"Will you come behind the schoolhouse with me again? I promise not to kiss you." He looked sincere.
"Fine, but if you kiss me I'm never talking to you again." They walked behind the schoolhouse. "What is it?"
"It's my mom." He hesitated. "I've never told anyone this before. She - well -" he pointed at his black eye, and Sam's eyes widened. "She's an alcoholic."
"I feel like I should feel bad, but you've been so mean to me for so long, it's kind of difficult." Sam said.
"I'm trying to get better, I really am." Brason said. His heart was pounding, telling someone else his long-kept secret. Without her consent, Brason got closer to Sam, and his heart pounded even harder.
"No kissing me, remember?" Sam reminded him. He looked her up and down and Sam saw lust in his eyes. She backed away from him, and he blinked, seeming to come out of a trance. "I'm gonna go..." She said slowly turning around and jogging back to the playground.

Brason just stood there, shocked. He totally couldn't control himself there. What's happening to him? He shook his head and returned to the playground as well. He couldn't keep his eyes off of Sam, and Richard or Chad kept having to snap him back to reality.
"We know you have the biggest crush ever on Sam, but can you please talk to us?" Richard said, sounding annoyed.
"Yeah." Brason said, still watching Sam. Chad snapped his fingers right in front of Brason's face and he looked at Chad.
"What?" He said.
"Speak to us!" Chad said, putting his hands on his hips.
"What do you want to talk about!?" Brason asked, sounding irritated.
"Well if that's how you're going to act, we'll talk by ourselves!" Richard said, pulling Chad away. Brason sat down on the bench beside Sam, and she continued reading. Having a crush was the weirdest thing. His chest was tight, and he felt light-headed. He stared at Sam's beautiful features.
"What do you want?!" She finally said, looking up from her book.
"I - well - I want you." He said, stuttering. Crushes also twist your tongue when you try to talk. Brason expected Sam to be mad, but she finally - accepted it.
"You can have me after a year of having a good personality. Which includes being kind, polite, and minding girl's' personal space." Brason sighed.
"I'm too messed up." He said. Sam smiled, sending warmth through Brason's body.
"Yeah." Amused, she looked back down at her book.
After school, Brason went inside to the family's black maid cleaning the house up. Everything was smashed, and there were remnants of a party everywhere, like alcohol stains and streamers. He was careful not to step on any broken beer bottles.
"Did my mom have a party while I was at school?" Brason asked the maid, Kim.
"Yessir." She said. "An' now she's at the bar with her pals." Brason sighed in relief and went up to his room, which wasn't touched. He lay on his bed and looked out the window. All he could think about was Sam. Was she serious about being with him if he cleaned up his act? He looked in the mirror across the room and touched his black eye, pain flaring through his face. The day he went back home, his mother was furious, and drunk as usual. She whipped him and punched him in the face. Looking at the mirror, he began to cry, then dug his face into his pillow. He missed his father so much, it hurt. He loved Sam so much, it hurt. He hated his mother so much, it hurt. He felt extremely depressed and angry. He picked up a book that lay on his bed and threw it at the mirror as hard as he could, smashing it. Running away made everything worse, and staying is unbearable.
He just has to end it. End everything. There's only one way.
He took off down the stairs and outside. He went into the garage and took out his dad's pistol.
'This is it.' He thought. 'I'm doing it.' Outside of the garage door, he saw his mother pulling in the driveway. 'This is it.' He put the barrel on his temple and was about to pull the trigger when suddenly someone hit down his right arm, the arm holding the gun, and the muscles went slack. He dropped the gun. His right arm was now paralyzed. Then the person grabbed Brason by the waist and shoulders, and he tried to fight back, but the person was too strong. Then they put a cloth that smelled of chemicals over his mouth and nose, making Brason slip away from consciousness.
He awoke on the floor of a dark room which smelled of mold. He had a bad headache from the chemicals which had knocked him out. He looked around and jumped at the sight of someone tied to a chair, facing the wall. The person's head was limp, and Brason assumed the person had been knocked out as well.
"Hello?" He called to the person,who didn't answer. He walked to the direction of the light, but something holding onto his heel made him fall over, and he realized he was attached to the floor by a chain. He sat down, hoping whoever his captors were, that they wouldn't let him starve.

On the walk home from school, Sam was trying to ignore Julie's blabbing like usual, but then she said, "Oh guess what? Mother's coming home today!" She squealed in excitement.
"Right!" Sam remembered. "I can't wait to see her! It's been a whole year!" Marshal looked up from his book and he even had a wide smile on his face. Suddenly, a crazy-looking man wearing all black jumped out of the bushes and jumped in front of the kids, scaring them. Sam noticed the man had blood red eyes. He hit Julie hard in the temple with his fingers, and she passed out. As quick as light, he did the same to Marshal. Then when he came to Sam, he hit her in the waist and shoulder, making her unable to move. She fell over, and the man picked her up and put her over his shoulder. He walked through the forest for a good half an hour until he stopped abruptly. He put his hand out, and grasped an invisible door knob. He opened it, revealing a small room full of controls that Sam had never seen before. He layed Sam down, leaning her against the wall. He closed the door, clicked a few buttons, then touched a glass surface, that had changing pictures.
"Sorry to break it to ya, but you're never seeing your mommy again." He chucked as clicked something on the glass. The room shook a bit and started to float, like there was no gravity. The floating stopped just as quick as it came, and the man picked Sam up again, opening the door. They were in a dark hall, and Sam could tell it was underground. He brought her to the second door on the left, and unlocked it with a key. The cell was dimly lit, and there was water dripping from the ceiling in the corner of the room. There was only one thing in there, which was an uncomfortable looking plastic chair. He tied Sam to the chair with chains and locked it. Her turned the chair so she was facing the wall.
"Don't even try to escape. There's no exit." And with that, he left the room and Sam could hear the lock of the door, then the sound of the machine departing. A silent tear ran down Sam's cheek.

Julie and Marshal woke up at the exact same time. They were on the ground of the path they'd been walking home on. It was pitch black. Julie gasped.
"Where's Sam?!?" Marshal swung around.
"The man must've kidnapped her!" Marshal sobbed.
"We have to tell father!" Julie exclaimed. They quickly picked up their stuff, and ran the rest of the way home. By the time they got in the door, they were panting. Hank and their mother, Haelen, were talking to two officers, and they were upset. When they saw Julie and Marshal come in, Haelen gasped and ran to them, giving them each a big hug.
"Where were you? We were so worried!"
"A man attacked as!!" Julie cried. "And he kidnapped Sam!"
"What'd the man look like?" Haelen asked, looking extremely serious.
"He attacked us s-so fast, I had barely e-enough time t-t-to glimpse him!" Marshal said, sobbing.
"He was wearing all black..." Julie sniffed.
"And he had scary red eyes!" Marshal added. Haelen stood up straight.
"Gareth... sending his goonies to do his dirty work." She mumbled.
"Haelen, what are you talking about?" Hank asked, looking panicked.
"Hard to explain." Haelen said, getting her purse and her coat. "I'll get her back."
"But ma'am, they could be anywhere by now." One of the officers said. "Let us send out a search party, it would be much-"
"Don't bother, that won't be of any help." Haelen opened the door and ran out, slamming the door behind her. Julie burst out crying and ran to Hank for comfort.
"Don't worry, Sam will be alright."

After a few more hours, the door opened again. Someone walked in and put another person on the floor. Sam could hear the clinking of chains.
"Didn't think I'd be seeing you again today, but turns out this guy needs to be here too." The man scoffed. "Ah well, can't go against my boss's orders." He closed and locked the door, and left. Sam heard the person wake up.
"Hello?" It was Brason. She tried to say who she was, but she still couldn't move. She heard Brason walk a bit then fall over. Then Brason just sat there in silence. After a while he started to talk again.
"Did you get kidnapped too?" He asked, Sam still unable to answer. He sighed. "Can't believe I'm talking to someone who's obviously unconscious." After an hour or so, Sam could start to move again, and slowly she could pick her head up.
"Hello?" Brason said again.
"Hi." Sam said. "It's Sam."
"Sam? Do you have any idea why we were captured?"
"Nope." She sighed. "Can you reach far enough to turn me around?"
Brason got up, stretched a bit, then walked towards Sam. He stopped just short of the chair, and he realized that if he stood on his free foot and leaned against the chain, he could get farther. He grabbed the back of the chair and pulled it closer, then turned it around.
"Thanks." Sam said, smiling a bit. "I heard the guy say that he didn't think he'd see me again today, so I don't think we're going to get fed today."
Brason looked panicked and sat down on the ground, hugging his legs. "I don't want to starve again..."
"Again? But your family's rich!"
"Got lost in the forest for 2 days remember?" Brason said, laying down on the ground, clutching his stomach.
"Right."
"I'm hungry already." He moaned. Sam realized she was pretty hungry as well, as she didn't have dinner.
"Same here."
The next day, they woke up, hoping it was the daytime as they couldn't tell what time it was. Sam woke up sore from trying to sleep upright in a plastic chair, and her stomach growled in disagreement. Sam sighed.
"Do you think they're starving us?" Sam asked Brason.
"I hope not." He said. A few hours later, they heard the man's machine reappear at the end of the hall. He unlocked the door and gave them each trays of food. The food looked horrid, like they mixed food that wasn't supposed to be together. Each tray also had a glass of water.
"You'll be fed every two days." The man said. "Oh, and my name is Jagged."
"That's an odd name." Sam said, reaching her head down to her glass as her hands didn't go all the way up to her mouth.
"I named myself." Jagged said with a tone in his voice meaning not to say anything more about his name. He waited till Sam and Brason were finished eating, and smiled when they gagged.
He took the dishes. "Well, see you in two days."
"Wait!" Brason said. "Why are we here?"
Jagged slowly turned around, glaring at Brason. "You'll find out someday."
"When will you let us go?"
"When we see fit. Which isn't anytime soon." Jagged replied. "Oh and no sex. My boss told me to tell you two that."
"How could we possibly-?" Brason asked, shocked.
"People have figured it out before." Jagged sighed and shook his head. "Don't ask." He closed the door, locked it, and departed. Brason and Sam sat there in awkward silence for a while. Sam still tasted the horrible food in her mouth, making her shiver.
"...they could at least feed us quality food if they were only going to feed us once every two days!"
"This is almost worse than not eating at all." Brason said. "I think they're just keeping us alive, not caring if we're hungry." Brason said, jingling his chains around. 

Haelen sat down at a booth at the bar. She wore sunglasses to not show others who she was.
"Beer please." Haelen said to the bartender. She put 10 100 dollar bills on the counter, and the bartender stared at her. "I also need information."
"Who do ya think you are?"
"Don't worry, I'm not asking for personal information. I need to know if anyone named Gareth passed through here?"
"Gareth Forman?" The bartender asked with realization in his eyes. "Yeah, he came in here. He was real drunk, he was. He was goin' on about how he was gonna travel in time to the 21st century... stupid git." Haelen gave him the money.
"Thank you so much, sir. That's exactly what I needed. Did he say any specific year?"
"Er... it was a few weeks ago... I reckon he said 2013 to 2015." He scratched his head. "Still want that beer?"
"No, that's alright. Any location?"
"I don't know why y'all are takin' this so seriously ma'am... he was quite drunk." The bartender said, stashing the money in his pocket. Haelen pursed her lips.
"It's - important- to me."
"Well, good luck ma'am. Hope ya'll find whatcha lookin' for and come back soon!"
"Thanks again." She said, getting up and leaving the building. She walked behind the building to a metal box. She opened it and got in, clicking buttons.
"Hmmm... I'll try 2015 today." She clicked buttons and used the touch screen to say go. Her touch screen showed a map, and where she landed. She made sure to land in an alleyway where no one was. As she got out of her time machine, she locked it. Haelen walked down the alleyway to the street, and she passed a brown cat that was foaming at the mouth. She ran by it quickly, and it hissed at her. When she got onto the street, the roads were full of cars that were bumper to bumper.
"Gareth... Where are you hiding?" Haelen said as she thought hard. It was very difficult to find a skilled shapeshifter, but not impossible.
'I can't believe he dragged my child into all of this.' Haelen thought. She stepped onto the sidewalk, and someone pushed her out of the way.
"Move." The woman said. Haelen scoffed and rolled her eyes.
'Okay, so where does Gareth like to be?' She thought. 'Hmmm... bars... clubs... and... his basement.' Haelen sighed in frustration. 'There's no way I'm going to find him. He could be anywhere in the world!' Her heart skipped a beat. 'I have to use my power. For Sam.' She shivered. 'It's the only way.' She went back into the alleyway, and concentrated. Her eyes turned red. She concentrated more. She felt every location of her brothers and sisters. 'No! They aren't my brothers and sisters anymore!' Haelen tried to convince herself. She found Gareth's location and zoomed in on him. He was just outside of New York in an old abandoned warehouse. She started to feel weak, and darkness started taking over her mind. 'N-no, control it! I'm not with them!' Then her mind slipped. 'I'm still with them.' Then she caught herself. 'No. I'm. not!!!' She held her head, kneeling on the ground, trying to fight the dark demons in her head. 'You.... are.... Haelen!' Her eyes turned back to brown, and she collapsed on the ground, panting. She shakily got up, hoping she'd never have to do that again. Haelen went back into her time machine and traveled to near the coordinates of the warehouse which Gareth was in. When she got out and locked her time machine, she knew that they might try to get in, so she covered it with a dusty blanket nearby. She walked down the street a ways, then ended up in front of the warehouse.
Haelen found an entrance to the warehouse from the side. She rattled the doorknob, but it was locked, so Haelen took a bobby pin out of her hair and picked the lock open. She was suddenly faced with her old friend, Raivo. Raivo held her gun ready and pointed at Haelen.
"Tore?" Raivo said, lowering her gun."You came back?"
"I'm not Tore anymore, I'm Haelen. And no, I'm not coming back. I want to speak with Gareth." Haelen said, crossing her arms. Raivo didn't dare fight Haelen because during training, Haelen would always win duels. Raivo stiffened.
"He's... busy." She hesitated. Haelen raised an eyebrow.
"Just let me in."
"Alright, but I have to keep my eye on outsiders." She furrowed her brow. "Why'd you leave, To- Haelen?" Haelen ignored her question as they continued walking across the room. Multiple other people were training, and they stopped to stare.
"Is that-"
"Who is that?"
"That's Tore!"
"Look, it's Tore!"
"She was one of the best fighters-"
"Wow."
They walked into a back room which was Gareth's office. He was writing something on a peice of paper. Raivo stopped at the door, and Haelen walked in.
"It's Tore sir, she wants to speak." Raivo said. Without looking up, Gareth spoke.
"I knew you were coming." Gareth said matter-of-factly. "I felt you finding my location. I didn't think you were able to do that anymore when you detached yourself from us."
"I try to avoid it." Haelen said.
"What brings you back here?" Gareth asked, putting his pen down and looking up.
"One of your people stole my daughter-!"
"Your normal daughter, I might add..."
"I don't care, she's my daughter all the same!" Haelen crossed her arms. "Give her back to me."
"I'm afraid I can't do that."
"Why not?"
"Because we need her."
Haelen seethed."You're not converting her!"
"We aren't." Gareth said calmly. "We just need information out of her and her friend, and we might let them go."
"I'll fight you all until I get her back!" She growled. "I'm coming back here in the office tomorrow, and if she isn't presented to me alive and all in one piece, I'm torturing all of you until I get some answers."
"Now there's the Tore I know." Raivo said, smirking.
"I'm Haelen." She said through clenched jaws, pushing by Raivo. Raivo glared at Haelen then looked at Gareth.
“Let her go. She’ll be back.” He said, smiling.