Top 15 rules to not getting hurt by the people surrounding you

1 If is never a word to count on.

2 You should count on no one but yourself.

3 No one can be trusted.

4 People are mean to make themselves feel better about themselves so don't mind them.

5 If you want to get something done do it yourself.

6 Expect the worse so that if it happens you are ready.

7 Don't get comfortable.

8 Things can change in the blink of an eye.

9 People change, expect it.

10 You will change depending on what happens to you.

11 Not all people are nice.

12 Don't get comfortable with friends or family, they won't always be there.

13 Its best not to make friends.

14 People will stab you in the back, don't trust them.

15 Leave the outer world and make your own, by yourself.

These are the rules Shade had lived by since her parents had died when she was four. She found the book when she was 9 in the attic of the orphanage she was at for a year. There were a lot more rules but those were the main ones that she stuck to. The main ones she couldn't live with out.

She moved around a lot after she was adopted by some rich parents that couldn't have kids. They were rarely home but she had a caretaker. She has had to been to at least 20 of the fifty states not including how many cities she's been to.

She lived by the rules. Kept to herself, never opening up even after she was adopted. She was never herself in front of anybody or anything. She liked it that way. She liked the feeling it created. The feeling of safety. She wanted, no scratch that, needed that feeling.

Shade hardly ever spoke and when she did it was a quiet whisper. She loathed yelling or screaming. It reminded her of the night her parents died. A night she wished she never remembered, but could never forget.

Flashback

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The short four year old, black haired, midnight blue eyed, girl quietly stalked out of her room. She was heading towards the living room, where she still heard the t.v.. Her parents were watching it and she couldn't get to sleep. She moved stealthily behind the couch, hoping her parents didn't catch her like they always did.

She picked her head over the back of the couch, her parents faces still directed towards the t.v.. Her head was in between their's yet farther back. All of a sudden her dad turned around, lifted her straight over the back of the couch and laid her on her back in between her black-haired, green eyed mother and her blonde-haired, dark blue eyed dad. They started tickling her, all of them laughing, until little Shade was crying from laughter.

There was a sharp crash from the dining room window and they immediately turned to see what it was. Two men dressed in all black came out from behind the door way Shade's mother lifted her up and quickly ran up the stairs her husband not far behind. They turned a sharp corner her mom crying from fright the dad looking over his shoulder and desperately looking for something to protect his family with while still running they reached the end of the hall and Shade's mother stuffed her into the closet before both parents moved back up the hall to the father's office.

Shade carefully peeked the door open slightly and watched as her parents shut the door behind them just as the men in black reached the top of the stairs at the end of the hall. She could see their eyes gleaming evilly with unhidden malice. Shade's breathing turned ragged and it started to come faster and shorter. She was sure the scary men down the hall could hear it. They turned abruptly to the office door and opened it slowly only to be hit in the face with a fire extinguisher. The man who was hit fell back a few steps as the other took out a knife and stabbed her dad in the stomach. Shade's eyes widened and she put a hand over her mouth and bit it to muffle her short scream.

The man who stabbed her dad shoved to the ground not to far away from the closet door. Shade watched in horror as the man went inside the room and dragged her mother out by her hair. She looked down at her dad to see him getting up. He looked at the closet door straight in to her eyes mouthed an 'I love you' before shutting it so she couldn't see what was happening. That was when she realized the tears pouring down her cheeks. Shade sat there for awhile desperately trying to think of one way to help her parents as she heard her mothers screams of pain and fear. She listened to her fathers grunts of pain then all was silent except for her and her mother's crying but a few seconds later that ended to. Heavy footsteps were heard walking away.

Shade just sat there sobbing loud broken sobs. The sobs of someone who knows they just lost someone. She heard the police cars coming but it was like they were so far away. The cops knocked on the door but when no one answered they broke it down. The police split up and started to investigate in pairs. A young and an old cop started up the stairs. They gasped when they saw the hallway a bloody mess with two bodies. The young guy suddenly stopped and turned his head towards the closet. He was about to step towards it when the older man took his arm and pulled him back.

"What do you think your doing? This is a crime scene. You can't mess with it." The old cop said.

"Shut-up and listen." The younger one said.

The older man strained his aged ears and heard the quiet sobbing. He let go of the young cops arm and followed him down the hall until the younger raised his hand to stop him. The older cop went into the office to keep investigating while the younger opened the closet door. He poked his head through and looked at her, watching as she raised her head to look at him with tear-stained cheeks. Shade let out a terrified shriek before backing up into the back wall of the closet. The loud bump caused some coats to fall down and Shade launched herself at the door. It slammed open hitting the wall with a loud bang alerting everybody in the house, causing them to rush for the stairs. Shade screamed when she saw the bodies of her parents laying in the hallway and she rushed for her room just as the other cops reached the top of the stairs. The young cop who had opened the door grabbed her around the stomach and turned her around. She hid her face in his neck and cried. The young cop carefully crossed the hallway while the older one watched from the office. He carried the girl down the stairs hearing her breath slow as she fell asleep. The other cops watched on before going back to investigate. Shade's sleep was restless from the nightmares. Nightmares about the murder and the voices. She moved fitfully and woke up with a short scream.

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end flashback

Shade woke up with a short scream, thinking about the nightmares she used to have and how they haven't changed a bit.