"Alessa! What happened?!" Micah shouted. I had a long, somewhat deep scar around my face. Last night Dad pushed me down the stairs, and the railing had scratched my face. But I just shook my head.

"Nothing. I just fell," I said. He sighed and shook his head.

"Would Ты please be еще careful? Do Ты know what it'd do to me if anything happened to you?" I frowned.

"I'm sorry," I сказал(-а) quietly. He rolled his eyes and hugged me.

"C'mon. We're late for school."

***

After school, I told Micah I wanted to go to the park или something; just to have fun. I didn't tell him I was still afraid to go home. He would worry if I told him I was still scared. We decided to go to the park. It was nice for a while, then something seemed to hit Micah.

"Alessa?" he asked. I looked up to him. "You'd tell me if something was wrong... right? No matter what it was?" I paused.

"Uh..."

"Because Ты know I want to be there for you. I want to help Ты if anything isn't right. No matter what it is." I closed my mouth. He knew. He knew something was terribly, terribly wrong. He'd finally put all the pieces together. All the bruises and cuts. All the fear. Mom's death... A tear rolled down my cheek.

"It's my Dad..." I closed my eyes. Another tear made its way out.

"What do Ты mean," he demanded. He grabbed the tops of my shoulders and stared deep into my eyes. "Alessa, tell me what's wrong," he сказал(-а) urgently. I pointed to the scar on my face.

"He hurts me..." I barely whispered. Suddenly, almost all the fear and grief poured out from me. I didn't feel alone in this anymore. Because I wasn't the only one that knew. Micah knew now, and just him knowing seemed to ease my pain a little. I looked back at Micah to see his reaction. His face turned slightly red, and his grip on my shoulders tightened a little. I swallowed. He instantly released his grip on me and took a giant step back from me. I stood there like a frightened little girl while Micah let out a long strip of profanities. Then he turned to me.

"Why didn't Ты tell me?!" he shouted. I gulped. Micah was absolutely terrifying when he was angry. I took a breathe and opened my mouth to speak.

"I was scared..."

"Scared of what?!" Another tear fell down my cheek. I looked up at the sky. The sun was soon to set.

"Micah, I have to get home, quick...." I сказал(-а) stupidly. He looked at me like I was completely insane.

"Are Ты kidding me?! I'm not letting Ты go back there!" he shouted.

"Then where am I supposed to go?" I asked. That got him. He thought for a quick moment.

"You can come to my house. Ты can sleep on the диван, мягкий уголок или something. Anything. But I don't want Ты going back there." I nodded. Micah took me back to his house, to ask if I could stay. We got in the house, which was incredibly small for a family so large. There was smoke in the air, and I coughed as we entered. Micah gave me an apologetic smile, and led me through the house.

"Micah! Micah! Do Ты want to play with me?" a little girl, no older than seven asked. She had Micah's dark, thick, wavy hair that bounced as she did.

"Not now, Kendra. I'm busy. Another time, ok?" he told her gently. She frowned, but nodded and skipped away. Two other giggling little girls ran past, probably ten или eleven, and slammed a bedroom door behind them. A little boy, maybe six, pounded on the door begging the girls to let him in. There was a baby's cry coming from another room. Micah brought me to the living room, where a man was sitting on the диван, мягкий уголок watching TV.

"Hey, uh, Mike? Where's my mom?" Micah asked. The man didn't take his eyes off the TV.

"What? Oh, uh I think she's taking care of Melanie," he said, waving us away. Micah rolled his eyes. Just then a woman called from the other room, shouting at the screaming kids to be quiet. Micah took me to the кухня next, where there was a woman holding a baby, and rocking it back and forth to calm it down.

"Shh..." she сказал(-а) soothingly to the baby. The woman looked very tired.

"Hey, Mom?"

"What," she said, annoyed.

"Is it ok if Alessa stays for the night? Her Dad's out of town, and she's afraid of being Главная alone." The woman looked up from the baby.

"Oh, is this your girlfriend that Ты told me about?" she asked. I blushed and stared at my feet.

"Yeah, Mom," Micah сказал(-а) through clenched teeth, a hint that she should probably shut up. His mother laughed and held out her hand, balancing the baby in the other.

"Hi, I'm Sandra, Micah's Mom." I shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you," I сказал(-а) shyly.

"Well, I guess it's ok if she stays here... as long as she doesn't mind sleeping on the couch." I shook my head 'no.' "Ok then. Dinner's in an hour... I think... Why don't Ты go get her thigns from her house." Micah thanked her, and then we were out the door again. Soon, we were back at my house.

"I'll sneak in the window and get my stuff," I told him. He nodded. He helped me climb up the roof like he had just a few days ago. I pulled on the window. "It's locked," I told him. He frowned. "I guess I'm gonna have to go in the front door..." I said. I jumped down from the roof.

"I'm coming with you," Micah said. I stopped and pushed him back lightly. He didn't budge.

"No. You're staying here. He'll get mad if I bring Ты in." Micah looked like he was about to argue, but closed his mouth again and pouted. "I'll be fine," I told him. Micah sigh,ed but nodded and stood there patiently. I tried to quietly unlock the door. I started up the stairs, slowly. I could here the TV buzzing from downstairs. The stair squeaked. I cursed under my breath and waited. The TV muted for a трещина, сплит second, then turned back on. I breathed a sigh of relief.

I made it up to my room, and grabbed my school bag. I dumped out all of the crap on my bed. I began putting in extra clothes, my hairbrush, and anything else I might need. I headed to the bathroom for my toothbrush. I grabbed it, and turned to go back to my room.

Dad stood there in the bathroom doorway.

My heartbeat picked up rapidly. I swallowed and a nervous laugh slipped through my lips.

"What're Ты doing?" he asked, referring to why I was about to go to my room with my toothbrush in hand.

"Uh..." I said. I couldn't finish. I had nothing. Dad turned to go to my room, and I had an insanely stupid moment. I grabbed his arm and tried to pull him back. "No! Don't!" He threw his arm back, his elbow smashing into my face. I yelped, and stumbled backward, my hand clutched to my nose. I looked at my hand, which was covered in my blood. It dripped down over my lip, and spilled into my mouth. I spit it out on the floor and ran after Dad, who was already in my room.

He saw my bag filled, with my dresser half empty, and any necessities gone.

"What... Are Ты doing," he asked.

"Nothing," I сказал(-а) quickly. He turned to me, his eyes burning.

"Don't lie to me!" he screamed. "You're leaving, aren't you?!" He advanced toward me, and I ran. He was after me at once,hollering at me. I made it to the stairs, but then he grabbed the back of my shirt, pulling me back. My рубашка воротник choked me, and I already had some blood draining to my throat as I swallowed, and he spun me around to face him. I gagged, and spit up a fair amount of blood onto his shirt. I let out a scream. His fist punched me in the chest, knocking all the wind out of me. I flew down the stairs, flipping head over heels. I landed on the hardwood floor, gasping for air. None came, and that's when I really started to panic.

"Alessa! Alessa!" I heard faintly. I knew at once it was Micah. He was in the house. With Dad just upstairs.

"Get out!" I tried to shout. But it was еще of a gasp, and I was running out of the little air I had. I tried breathing through my nose, but that just sucked еще blood into my throat than oxygen.

"Don't worry! The cops are coming!" he said. I sucked in deep, but little air came. It was not enough to satisfy my growing need for oxygen. "Oh no," he said. He tried pushing on my chest to force oxygen into me, but it only hurt the terrible bruise that was bound to be there. The black spots appeared, and this time there was nothing I could do to keep them away. They began filling my vision, and noises began to fade in and out.

"Get away from her!" Micah shouted. Dad swore at him. I heard something slam.

"Freeze!" сказал(-а) an unrecognizable voice. Then еще and еще I faded away, the less I could tell what was going on.

"...medics..."

"...collapsed lung..."

"...not going to make it..."

All around me was darkness. I was all alone. If this was what death was like, I didn't like it. I didn't want to die. I wanted to live, live a bright and happy future. The darker and darker it got, the еще I began to accept that wouldn't happen. I finally gave up and surrendered to the dark...