“You little piece of shit,” she screeches. “I’m going to kill you.”
I tear through the living room. Heart thundering. Lungs searing. Every face and piece of mismatched furniture a blur in my hurry to get away. I zero in on the screen door and bolt toward it—the promise of freedom just steps away.
“Get him, baby!”
I’m almost at the door when something barrels into me from behind. I hit the floor hard, the sound echoing in my ears.
“You’re dead meat, bro,” Tanner sneers, flipping me over and straddling my chest. His weight bears down on me, crushing the breath from my body. My mind screams at me to get up, to run—but I’m stuck.
“Get off me!” I flail beneath him, every muscle straining to escape.
“Hold him down,” he orders the onlookers. One person grabsmy wrists and pins them high above my head, while two others press my legs to the floor.
I thrash against my human shackles, fighting like an animal caught in a trap, but it’s no use. They’re bigger. Stronger. Meaner.
“Let me go!” I yell, my voice cracking.
“Give me that,” Brandi barks, snatching a cigarette from one of her friends and stabbing it into my neck. It sears through my skin like a hot blade. A scream rips from my throat. It hurts so bad I can’t even think.
“Shut him up,” she hisses.
Tanner’s fist slams into my cheek, and a sharp pain slices across my face, freezing me on the spot. He doesn’t stop—his punches come fast and brutal, one after another, crunching bone and cartilage. My head snaps sideways. Blood fills my mouth. My vision splits in two. Everything is pain and fists. Hot tears spill from my eyes as their cruel laughter rings in my ears.
I need to act fast before he kills me. I go limp, pretending to be unconscious, but the punches keep coming. I force myself to lie perfectly still, barely breathing. When you’ve been abused your whole life, pain becomes second nature—you learn how to disappear without leaving.
My plan works. The hands holding me slip away.
“Dude, chill. He’s out cold.”
It’s now or never.I arch forward, smashing my forehead into his mouth.
“My tooth!” Tanner squeals, diving after it as it tumbles across the carpet.
I don’t think. I just move—leaping to my feet and sprinting toward the door.
“Grab him!” Brandi shouts. “Don’t let him get away!”
I dodge the hands reaching for me and burst outside, falling down the stairs in my desperation to escape. I’m back up in a heartbeat. Getting caught means another beating and being thrown back into the trunk. I race into the humid night, my bare feet slappinghard against the warm pavement. I can hear them behind me, closing in like a pack of wolves.
“I’m going to beat the snot out of you!” Tanner bellows.
I pump my legs faster, not daring to glance back.
Move it, Sam. Don’t let them catch you.
Lightning cracks across the dark sky, and a single raindrop lands on my nose. I close my eyes, savoring the coolness on my scorching skin. Then the sky breaks open, dumping cold rain all over me.
“You can’t run forever!” Brandi yells after me. “You’ll be back and I’ll be waiting!”
They turn back, but I don’t stop running.I can’t.A soothing voice whispers in my head, telling me everything will be okay, promising things a boy like me could only dream about.
Soon my surroundings become unrecognizable. Big houses. Perfect lawns. Clean streets.
I don’t belong here.
My legs give out, and my face meets the drenched concrete with a hard whack. I roll onto my back, wanting to disappear. Not die. Just… be gone.
I’m a shadow in a world that doesn’t see me—unloved, unnoticed, alone.
