On the run (Camp Camp Maxneil, Dadvid)

Chapter one: The beginning

I felt my wrists bang against the kitchen floor tiles.

He slammed my head into the wall, I was already losing consciousness.

''you're staying home this summer,'' Mom sneered, leaving me there on the floor, beaten, bleeding and bruised. I was NOT staying home this summer; I was going back to camp whether they liked it or not.

That's what I told myself. I told myself that for the last two years, and I never kept my own promise to myself. I didn't go back to camp; I didn't have a choice. They locked doors, barred the windows, put chains on everything, anything they could do to keep me in this shithole. I wanted out, I needed out. I wanted David, Gwen, Neil, hell, even Campbell. I'd take anyone from camp over my parents, who I barely even considered my parents anymore. After being beaten half to death through the 12 years of my god forsaken life, I can hardly look at them with any kind of sympathy for their shitty lives. They had me, they had my sister, we never chose to be born. I felt bad for my sister, she already moved out after her 18th birthday last year, she had to deal with these horrible monsters for all her life, and she just... left me here. I hated her but I understood why, she can't exactly take me from them without them reporting me missing. And she already told CPS, they didn't do shit. They had no actual evidence, after all.

I hastily laid down on my back on my sorry excuse for a bed and tried to hold back the tears. My body was in pain, I didn't know what I could do. The only thing I had as an opening to anyone outside was an old flip-phone David gave me in case of emergencies. But my 'mother' took that away. I still had some numbers written down in a box, Neil's, David's, I think Gwen's is in there somewhere too. I wasn't completely sure. I hadn't looked in the box for a while. I sometimes dreamt of someone, anyone, from camp coming to get me, save me, or do something. Either Neil or David were the ones usually in my dreams like that, it would be so nice to see one of them again. I had a huge soft spot for both those assholes, Neil was annoying and geeky, but he was cute, and he gets me, he understood my boundaries and I gotta admit, his face is super kissable. David's even more annoying, and super chipper, which makes me gag just thinking of his annoying voice, but he was kind and he... cared about me. I almost called him dad once on accident on the way back to camp after Parents' Day.

My eyes swelled up the more I thought about them, the camp, the adventures we had, and the thought that we'll never have them again or even be able to see each other. I hope they had fun summers these past two years, I would hate to know they weren't happy.

I wiped my eyes and looked out the barred-up window next to my bed, I saw people and cars walking and driving on the snowy ground, a family that looked like something you'd see in a hallmark commercial. It sickened me.

''Maxine,'' My 'mother' called me. She never called me by my name, always my deadname. ''we're going out for dinner, make sure to wash the dishes before we get back.'' She finished. As her and 'dad' drove off in our broken-down Volkswagen. I ran down the stairs immediately, looked around frantically to find the flip phone, or any phone to contact someone. Unfortunately, I couldn't, but I took this chance to find the door keys and pack a few things in my backpack.

An extra hoodie, my ace bandages to cover my chest, a few phone numbers, and Mr. Honeynuts. That was all I needed, and all I had anyways. I ran back downstairs, closed my door to make it look like I never left, and unlocked the front door. As soon as I stepped out onto the snow-covered pavement, I felt... free. I felt like I was able to go anywhere, even though I didn't know where I was actually gonna go. I had Neil's address memorized last year, but since it had been a while since I recited it I didn't anymore. Shit.

I remember he lived somewhere in Emerald Ridge, it was a few miles away, but I could probably take a bus there. I don't know what house, but I remembered what his dad's car looked like, so I could just walk around until I see a house with that car. He can't be gone at 11 PM, right?