Save Me

Chapter 1

Today was just another day in Joon's life of Groundhog Day. He was shocked but pleased when offered a spot as Captain at a firehouse. To be a Captain at 24 years old that's a huge deal. They even told him that he could hire whoever he wanted and that if they spoke Korean, it would be even better since they'd be in charge of Korea Town. He didn't know the LAPD had left the Korea Town firehouse in ruins. 

He'd brought his friends with him; they all worked together in Korea and were happy to move to the States with him. It's been a long two years, but they finally got the building up to code and livable. He was standing in front of a truck that was about 15 years too old to be in service when his life changed forever. He heard a tiny and desperate voice cry out and whimper; he turned around and saw a girl who was covered in bruises and dirt before she collapsed in his arms.

Zachary's life has never been easy; her dad has always wanted a son. So much so that she was named Zachary James and raised to be a boy; her mom homeschooled her until she got sick. When she passed away, Zachary was starting to show signs that she was not a boy. Her dad left her alone for a year and ignored her very existence. One day, he got drunk and crashed into her room. "You look so much like her; you know what that means. It's time for you to step up and take your mother's place."

She was naive to this world and had no idea what he meant; she had already been cooking and cleaning the house. He fell into her bed, and that's when she realized what he wanted, and it wasn't right. She pushed him hard, but he was so much bigger than her that it didn't do much. When he touched her stomach, she screamed. He grabbed his ears to cover them. She grabbed the bottle of whiskey he dropped and smashed it over his head.

It knocked him out, and she ran. She couldn't get out of the house; he locked it tightly. So she hid, and this became her new life. He never tried anything unless he was drinking, but after that first night when she fought back, he was terrified that she was going to run away. He bolted a chain to the floor, and it was long enough for her to get to the bathroom, kitchen, and living room. During the day, she was attached to that chain; in the evenings, he'd release her so she could go to bed.

Every night, he'd crash into her room, trying to find her. She had long given up on sleeping in her room. She started sleeping in his room, under his bed. He never looked for her there, so she was safe. She could only shower if he left the house, which wasn't often. She barely even went to the bathroom because he'd watch her. She'd been planning her escape for a while; she just needed him to pass into a deep sleep.

It seemed like any sound she made at night woke him up, so she started collecting the painkillers that he took. It took her nearly a year; she could only take parts of them at a time; otherwise, he'd notice. But pills sometimes break, and it can't be helped. The day she decided to run, he'd been particularly nasty; she had been slammed into the wall repeatedly, and her shoulder didn't feel right. She couldn't use it anymore.

Zachary crushed the pills and put them in his Dr Pepper, which he drank every night with dinner. It took longer than she thought it would for him to fall asleep, but she took that as a good sign when he was wobbling more than usual on his feet. She hid in the living room closet until she heard him snoring. Then, she slowly made her way to the laundry room. There was a big vent that led to the outside. She only found it because the washer had started leaking.

She ensured it stayed hidden; she could only work on it when she switched the laundry. So she'd get maybe 20-30 seconds at a time to turn screws. She got to the laundry room and pulled the grate off. It made a loud sound, and she wanted to cry. It sounded like he was still sleeping, but she waited to be careful. She crawled into the vent when she was sure he was snoring again. She didn't take anything with her, just the clothes on her back; she didn't even have shoes since she never left the house.