Clair Pov

Tears were starting to form in my eyes but I rubbed them away. I looked at my father next to me at the driving wheel. His eyes were bloodshot from staring at the road for twelve hours. I did not know where he was taking me. I knew what I did to make him this mad. I'd yelled at his girlfriend. Well more than yelled really. I threw a rock at her window and then yelled out every curse I knew. And that was a lot after living with Mark Tanner for fifteen years. I was cursing at age three because of his mouth.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked for the hundredth time that day. He looked at me with a glare. I shrank back into my seat. I looked out my rain splattered window and watched the trees go by. At five that morning he had come into my room and threw every piece of clothing into a bag and yanked me out of bed and yelled at me to get dressed. He didn't even let me shower. First I'd thought he was taking me to stay with his mother that lived not for from where we did. I stopped thinking that when I fell asleep and woke up when we were four hours from home. Now I didn't even know where we were. He'd only stopped once after I'd begged him to let me go to the bathroom somewhere, and that was only because he had to go. We were finally somewhere where there were houses. But I still didn't see where we were. I was too tired to read the signs. Suddenly the car lurched to a stop. I gasped when I was jerked forward. My father got out of the car and slammed his door shut. I heard him open the trunk of the car and the slam the trunk shut. Then he yanked my door open and pulled me out by my arm. I gasped in pain and he pushed me in front of him. I looked at him with a watery glare. He only pushed me again. I stumbled and looked to where he was pushing me. There was a small white house at the end of the dirt walkway. It looked kind of old. There were no lights on in the windows, so either it was completely empty or no one was home. I stumbled up the creaky front stairs and my dad dropped my bag. He pounded on the door for a second and stopped to wait. No one came to the door so he pounded again and harder. Still no one answered. He cursed and kicked the door. Then he turned pointing his finger at me.

"This is where you are to stay." He said. I swallowed and blinked.

"What?" I asked.

"I can't take having a little bratty teenager around anymore. This is the last time I will ever have to look at your face again." He said turning.

"Dad please I'm sorry." I said in a shaky voice. He didn't turn around when he got in his car and sped away. I sank down on the step and wrapped my arms around myself and cried. I had no idea where I was and I was scared because I had no idea who I was supposed to stay with. I was scared that he would be worse than my dad. I heard thunder and it began to sprinkle. I shivered in the cold wind. I pulled my bag over to me and opened it to find a jacket. I put it on but I still shivered. The roof on the porch began to leak and I knew there was no way it could get any worse. I was getting wet and my hands felt like ice. I got up and tried the door handle to see if it was open. I looked over at the window and saw it was open a crack. So I went over to it to see if I could get in that way. I knew it was wrong of me to o into someone's house without asking the person that lived there but I was freezing so I really didn't care. I tried to pull the window up but it didn't budge. I pulled harder and harder but it was stuck in place. I cursed and punched the house. Then I screamed a curse when I felt my hand pop painfully. Tears ran down my cheeks again and I wished I were dead.

"Hey!" Someone yelled from behind me. I gasped and turned. A man stood in the middle of the walkway. He was really tall and very muscular from what I could see in the dark. He was also wearing cut off shorts and nothing else. Seeing a half naked man, well, I freaked. I jumped off the porch and ran. I didn't even no where I was going. Lightening struck and I could see a forest on the side of the house. So I ran towards it. I stumbled and cursed as I pushed my way thru the tree branches and thorns scraped my cheeks and caught in my hair and clothing. I heard footsteps behind me and I tried to run faster. I broke thru all the brush and fell into a small creek. I cringed when dirty water filled my mouth and soaked my hair. I tried to get up but I fell back down when my ankle let out a searing pain. I cried out in pain and clutched my ankle, sitting halfway in muddy water. A big figure burst thru the brush and stopped in front of me. Lightening struck again and it lit up his face. I screamed and tried to get up again but the man pinned me down. I screamed again and threw wild punches at him but he caught my hands in only one of his.

"Get off me!" I screamed in anger. He began to get up and I swung a punch at him and hit him in the face. He didn't even wince. But I did. He got off me and I ignored my ankle and began running again as soon as I could stand. But as soon as I began I ran into something hard and fell back into the water and my vision went black.

Sam's Pod

I carried the girl back to my house with Paul and Jared behind me.

"Who is she?" Jared asked.

"Probably a homeless girl who was trying to break into my house." I said shrugging as I walked up the porch and unlocked the door.

"This must be hers." Paul said and I looked behind me to see him pick up a duffel bag. I switched the lights on and walked into the living room to lay the girl down on the couch.

"You want me to call the police?" Jared asked. I thought for a second.

"Let me find out who she is first." I said. They nodded before turning to leave. I pulled a blanket off the back of the couch and draped it over the girl. I studied her face. She looked very familiar. I could see she was a young teenager. Her hair was brown and there were bruises on her face under the mud and leaves. I got a wet rag from the bathroom and wiped off the leaves and mud. I looked over in the corner where he bag sat. I was curios to see if there were stolen items in it or just clothes so I opened to look inside it. Clothes were wadded up inside it and on top of it was a ragged old stuffed bear. I looked thru the clothes but found nothing that looked stolen so I put everything back and turned back to the girl on the couch. I noticed a necklace around her neck and I pulled it out of her shirt to look at it. There was a ring attached to the chain and I could have sworn I saw it somewhere. The girl's eyes popped open and she looked at me with wide eyes. Then she screamed. I moved away from her startled and she struggled to get the blanket off of her. When she finally did, she stood up looking at me with fear in her eyes. I gaped at her. I knew who she looked like now that she was awake and standing.

Clair Pov

I felt the chain on my neck being moved and I opened my eyes to see the half naked man standing over me looking at my necklace. I screamed and struggled against the blanket that was on top of me. I finally got it off and I stood up ready to fight. He looked at me with his mouth gapped open. Then he snapped out of it and looked at me with narrowed eyes.

"Who are you?" He growled. My heart leaped with fear.

"C-Clair." I said in a weak voice.

"Clair what?" He asked.

"Clair Tanner. Who are you?" I asked.

"Sam." He said crossing his arms and frowning.

"What were you doing trying to get into my window?" He asked.

"I was cold and getting wet so I was trying to get in." I said blushing. "I'm sorry." I added.

"What were you doing here in the first place?" He asked. I shrugged.

"I don't know. I don't even know where I am." I answered crossing my arms and looking down at my feet with tears in my eyes.

"What do you mean by that?" Sam asked, frowning deeper.

"I was dropped off here by my dad. He said this is where I'm supposed to live. Then he left." I said my voice cracking.

"Mark Tanner?" Sam asked. I looked up and nodded.

"Who are you anyway?" I asked. Sam sighed and sat down with his head in his hands. He was shaking slightly. Then he looked up at me with sad eyes.

"I'm your brother." He said.