I thought that it would just be another day like any other day. Of course, I could not have been more wrong. It all started on that day, May 5, the incident where everything went wrong. Little did I know, my world was going to be turned upside down.

Here we go again. Another awful day of school. I always tell myself to take it one day at a time. The only thing positive about today was that it was my birthday. Yes, Amara Solis, a forgotten child, adopted by abusive parents, and struggling to live, had a birthday. At least, that's how it felt. My adopted family couldn't care less if it was my birthday.

To them, I was their personal slave. My sisters, Evelyn and Rita, forced me to do all their chores. This made my life extremely difficult. I had my homework to complete and I had the whole house to take care of. If only I could escape. Why haven't I? Well, it's not that simple. You see, if I ran I wouldn't be able to live on my own. I had no money, no working experience besides cleaning, and I personally didn't believe I would survive. So, my only option was to wait and live inside of this pigsty. I sighed as I heard my sister calling for me.

I dragged myself out of bed and changed quickly. I grabbed a white shirt and black leggings. I threw on a sweater and made my bed. I scurried out of my room, down the hall, and entered my sister's room. Evelyn was waiting with her arms crossed and tapping her foot.

Evelyn was the "queen" at our high school. At 17, she had blonde diva curls and pretty blue eyes. All the guys would ogle at her as she walked by. It was true that Evelyn was pretty, but the thing that made her nasty was her personality.

"You're late," Evelyn snarled as I entered her room. She proceeded to shove her sheets into my arms. "Wash my sheets. Make sure you use the lilac scented detergent." She turns around and reaches into her hamper. "Oh, and here all my clothes. Wash those too."

I grabbed her clothes and hurried down stairs. I had loaded her clothes into the washing machine and ran back upstairs. I did my best to detangle my dark brown waves and brushed my teeth. I packed my backpack and pulled on black booties. When I got down stairs, I packed my lunch and my sisters'. They came downstairs and grabbed their lunches. Rita made me finish her homework before we left the house. We arrived school early and I rushed off to my first class, trying to get as far away from them as possible. When I got to my classroom, I heaved a sigh and waited for class to start.

****After First Period***

I grabbed my stuff and got out of the classroom. I made my way towards my second class. As I rounded the corner, I slammed straight into one of the "popular' girls in my grade, Vivian. I crashed to the ground. Fortunately, my backpack broke my fall.

"Watch it brat," Vivian said. Her two goons sneered at me.

"I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going," I said.

She just laughed. "Sorry isn't going to cut it. You need to learn your lesson." She kicked me in my stomach making me gasp for breath. She kicked me again and again. I coughed and curled into a ball, protecting my stomach. "Beg me and maybe then I'll stop."

This is the last straw, I thought. It's my birthday and I wasn't going to put up with her crap. Vivian was not going to win today. Slowly, I got up and looked Vivian in the eye. "Leave me alone or-or else," I stuttered, my voice sounding not nearly as confident as I wanted it to.

"Oh, I'm so scared. Am I supposed to be intimidated?" She mocked, her goons snickered. "Trash like you can't talk to us."

"And what exactly makes you better than me? The fact that you seek that kind of attention to make yourself popular is really pathetic."

"You little brat! How dare you say that!" Vivian hissed. She lunged and dragged her fingernails down my arm. I screamed and fell down, clutching my arm. She pushed me back onto the tiled floor. Angry red lines formed on my arm.

"Get up, I dare you," Vivian said.

I gritted my teeth and stood up. Vivian slapped me, hard. My cheek began to sting. My eyes watered and I couldn't think clearly, I wasn't going to win. I felt helpless standing there. I couldn't do anything.

That's when I felt it. A cold sensation snaked through my body. It felt dangerous, but promised safety and salvation. I reached for it, grasped it. It consumed me, this power. My body became numb from the sheer cold. I couldn't feel anything and my vision was a blur. I could hear Vivian and her squad screaming. As my vision started to fade into darkness, I realized something. Whatever this power was, it didn't scare me. I was not threatened by the blinding cold rather I embraced it. My vision darkened and I slipped into the dark layers of my mind.

*

*

*

I woke up with a start. I shot up and immediately regretted it. My head was pounding and the previous events rushed back. I realized that I was in jail, sitting on a very uncomfortable and lumpy cot. I noticed a guard outside my cell.

I stumbled over to the guard and asked him what the time was. He told me that it had been two hours. Mustering all my courage, I asked him why I was in here, although I was scared to find out. He gave me an incredulous look. Realizing I was serious, he told me that I had sent three girls to the hospital. Stunned, I sank back down onto my cot. What did I do? I didn't really have much time to think about it as my adopted parents walked in.

"What have you done!?" My mom shrieked.

She walked up and slapped me in the face as I was released from my cell. "Do you know how much trouble you have caused us?! You ungrateful brat!"

She grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the police station and into the car. Inside, Evelyn and Rita were glaring at me and cursing at me. "You freak!" Evelyn yelled. "Look what you did! All my friends are going to think I'm weird! You should be locked up forever!"

Without saying anything, I closed the door. As we were driving, I noticed that we were taking a strange route. After about 30 minutes, we turned onto a dirt road with nothing but crop fields and forest. Rita shoved a beat up travel bag into my lap. I give her a confused look. Why do I need this? I opened it and found all my belongings inside it. I looked back up to see Rita smiling, and it was not a pleasant smile.

"Trust me, you're going to need it."

The next thing I know, my sister had pushed open my door and shoved me out of the car, straight onto the rocky dirt road.