I gasped for the thin air in the house, I’m going to die; today. He straddled me; his meaty hands strangled my neck. I tried to yell for help but the words were frozen deep down in the throat. One individual tear slide down my cheek, this is it. The last sound I heard was the ringing of sirens. I don’t care if I die; let no other young child feel my pain. Let no other child go through what happened to me. With the last gust of my strength I tried to push him off of me; however, I was only twelve and there was no way I could push a full grown man off of me. My last breath felt so fresh in my lungs, as if it were the air only heaven could send a dying angel.

Eight years later…

“Chay! Get out of the bathroom” I yelled through the hallway into our dorm.

“Skylynn, calm down. We are going to a party tonight and I have to look amazing” she said as she pushed her long brown hair behind her back. She was beautiful, your typical long brown hair, summer body, type of girl. All the boys wanted her, I couldn’t blame them… I envied her. She was perfect—exceptional.

“I’m not sure how I feel about this? You know I don’t get out much” I plopped down on my bed, and watched her finish curling her hair.

“I’ll do you hair, babe. You are coming with me. I can’t do this without my best friend!” she pleaded. And finally I gave in, what could go wrong?

I walked around to the purple box chair that sat in the middle of our room; she played with my hair while I read my book ‘Stay’ by the end of the chapter I looked into the old mirror.

Holy crap! I looked…amazing! I felt beautiful! “Holy sh!t, Chay you did an amazing job.” She just smiled like she already knew that. I touched my loosely curled blonde hair as she began explaining what I should wear and how I should wearing—drama queen. I looked flawless; however, not as flawless as Chay.

Putting our party cloths on, I got a strange feeling. I felt as if someone was watching me. Chay noticed something was up with me so she tried to pull me out of this a coma I was currently in. I brushed it off like it was nothing. It couldn’t be anything, right? He was gone…right?

We headed toward the beach where the party was located. Right away a group of three, good looking, guys greeted us with lays and margaritas. They led us over to a fire pit; we talked about what college we go to, but they interrupted us and asked for our names. Chay introduced herself right way but when she gestured for me to go, I walked away. I wasn’t ready for this. Something was wrong. I walked over to the bar and ordered a few more drinks. I needed to relax. Around midnight I was feeling the alcohol that soon became my blood running through my veins. I was feeling good—happy for once. We were dancing and having a good time when a slow song came on in the truck that was playing the music.

Suddenly someone grabbed my hand and led me into the middle of the dance floor. His arms were large—muscular. His hands were those of a working man, calloused and dirty. He smelled of alcohol but then again so did everyone. I was still looking down at my feet. Our eyes had not met yet. He took his rough hand and raised my chin with it. Our eyes meet. Black. I was back in the room, with no air to breath. It was him. The memories all came back like a flood. “How did you find me?” I said in a quiet, scared, low voice.

“I’ve been looking for you, Skylynn. Why did you run away? I only loved you, baby.”

“Does mom know you are here…Dad?” I stuttered out of fear.

I got no answer, mom was supposed to keep him away from me! She promised her would. She stayed with him to distract him so he wouldn’t come looking for me. I tried to run. I tried to fight. Nothing. Because I didn’t die eight years ago, I am going to pay for that now. I thought back to the day… With the last gust of my strength I tried to push him off of me; however, I was twenty and there was no way I could push a full grown man off of me.