Dear diary,

It's day thirty since we saw the last of family and we thrown into this filthy old foster home; the only ones we've ever known to truly love us. And I have no else to thank but my great uncle who had no desire to watch over three abandoned children for me and my siblings' current form of room and board. Which isn't much more than shabby clothing that was far too small or big, worn bed sheets for bedding, and a couple of moldy pizza crusts along with our daily share of water. As for the room, there's not much more of it than a large walk-in closet. It's always so dark. Nothing else but a pile of crates. The moment we descended the stairs, I felt for sure it would be the last place we will ever go before we starved. The crack under the door is our only window to what goes on beyond our "box," our source of oxygen, and the only light in our shroud of darkness.

Everyday is always the same. Our "guardians" place grimy pillowcases over our heads and from what we can tell,drive us to an old dump where we collect whatever valuable items we can find to earn our keep. Along with the possibility of getting gnawed at the heels by vicious dogs if we don't work fast enough.

Allen and Cher, the people who blindly took up our responsibility, hardly ever see us except to feed us. I worry for Justin. I'm honestly not sure how much longer he can stand without enough to eat and the rations get fewer by the day. I swear I can see his all of ribs even with a shirt on. I'm afraid my share of rations and the scrapes I find outside won't give him enough strength. He's just a little boy. I try to keep his spirits high with stories and songs whenever he goes to sleep.

I'm also equally concerned about Katherine. I becomes increasingly hard to simply talk or reason with her, her protests often unshakable. Most of our arguments highlight the fact that we could escape this mudhole. Yet out on the streets, we'd be doomed to scrounging in the garbage and become ideal targets for the countless city gang triads. Here we are at least protected from the dangers of the streets. But these walls cannot contain us. Her heart has turned cold and distant. Sometimes I wonder what the old Kat would think of her now. The one who was almost never quiet, who sought the comfort of her older sister, who wasn't closed-off and reclusive.

Getting my thoughts out on paper is my only comfort, besides that of my younger brother and sister. Yet there are times that we cannot stand living with each other, but my father's last words always remind me. "Protect them Tessandra. Never give into grief. And never, under the heaviest of burdens, give up hope. Hope is the ability to see light in the midst of darkness." Which brings me to my sister's most recent question: "What hope is there for us here?" I admit that I ask myself the same question. For some strange reason, I know it means that we must escape this infernal pit.

I hear the door unbolting and I shove my journal under me. Both of my siblings scurry like mice away from their corners and sit beside me.

"They're coming."

"Are they gonna to hurt us Tess?" Joven asks looking up at me with his baby blue eyes.

"It's gonna be fine little brother. I'm not going to let them hurt any of us."

"But you get hurt Tess."

The leather-dressed man in the doorway stumbles down the steps and almost trips on a loose stone. He growls ferociously and glares in our direction as if we were the cause of it. Joven buries his face in my shoulder. In the dim light, I can see his pupils are dilated and drool drips out of his mouth.

"Eat," he mumbles, setting down a pan with little less than a quarter of it set with a hand full of chinese noodles and few peas. "I hope you choke on it. You betta be glad that my girlfriend and I couldn't eat all our take-out."

I grit my teeth. This is his usual behavior; Slobbering drunk and dangerously unpredictable. Up until a few days ago did I listen to his crap without my patience exponentially deteriorating. And right about now, it's wearing slim.

"I betta not catch any a' you brats tryin' to escape outta here."

"What make you think we would try something like that Allen?"

"Don'tcha play dumb with me little girl!" He gives Kat a nasty look before barreling towards her, only to slam face-first into the wall. "Don't think I forgottin' that you pieces of trash made a run for it a lil whil' ago."

"Allen let her alone," I hand Justin to her and stand up. Allen is far bigger than me and much stronger. He could snap my neck with very little effort, especially if he was in one of his moods like right now.

"You got no room to talk either!" My face stings as I fall backwards onto the floor and hit my head up against the wall. I guess the room is smaller than I thought. "I'll do whatever I wanna do when I please."

"Tess!" Joven squeals and starts to cry. "You hurt her!"

"Shut ya trap ya little wuss, or I'll shut it for ya."

My head throbs, my face is numb, and I feel something wet drip down my cheek. Allen always wears a lot of rings.

"If I find any a ya' kids even trying diddly, I'll make ya wish ya never been born." Wobbling on his feet he makes his way up the stairs, slamming the door behind him and sealing out the remaining light.

"Tess." Kat grabs me under the shoulders and pulls me while Joven runs to my side and touches his little hand on my cheek.

"You bleeding Tess."

"It's not bad Jo. I'm okay," I say as calmly as possible.

"Why do we let that stupid drunkard push us around like this?! Why do we stay here Tess? There's nothing but death for us down here!"

"We gonna die?"

"Kat chill out. No Jo, we've going to be fine. For Joven's sake Katherine, don't yell like that."

"You know as well I that we can get out of this place but you choose not to."

"It's not that I choose not to, it's called being smart. We need a plan."

"I have a plan."

"Well right now, let's quit arguing and get whatever we can to eat." All of us scramble to the pan that Allen left for us. The noodles are stiff and hard to chew, but food is still food. Kat separated the peas into three even piles for each of us.

"Give him more," I order her.

She shakes her head, but gives half my share to Jo."You know you really don't have to do that."

"Do what?"

"Always giving everything to everyone else."

"Since when is that a bad thing?"

She places her hand on my shoulder, a gesture I haven't recieved from her in a long while. "You're starving Tess. You need to eat."

"This isn't enough to last us into the night, let alone half the day. I'm going out."

"Woah Tess. You serious?"

"I'll see what I can find us. Mind giving me a hand with these boxes Kat?"

"What are you doing?"

"I know you can't see it, but there's a cooling duct in the ceiling. If I can reach it, I can access the cooling system and get out onto the rooftops."

"And you didn't bother to mention that, oh I don't know, maybe thirty days ago!?"

"Kat be quiet! If Allen hears us, he'll come back."

The boxes wobble a little when I stand on them, but Kat steadies my feet as I grab the metal grate and remove it from the ceiling. "Be safe Tess."