The Pain Thief

Prologue

PROLOGUE

It all started years ago on a rainy night in Pennsylvania. The large raindrops splatted against the pavement relentlessly, casting the dark road in an eerie shine. Street lights flickered on and off on the side of the road as the trees whipped in the wind, rustling quietly. 

Zoe Szramik ran down the street, her small feet thumping on the pavement. Zoe was only eight years old at the time, but she had already seen so much. She was running because she had no where else to go.

Her parents had just been killed as she hid in her room in fear. Someone had broken into the house and her father screamed for her to hide. They seemed to know whoever it was, but there wasn't much talk since all she could hear was screams. She wanted to help more than anything, though she knew she couldn't have done anything. Maybe that was what bothered her the most; that she wasn't strong enough to save them. 

Zoe had opened her window and climbed out as tears flowed from her eyes. Her parents had been acting strangely for a while now, but being so young, she hadn't known what was wrong. 

She got onto the roof outside her window, trying to keep her balance in the rain. Zoe slipped after a few shingles though and fell from her second story window to the ground. 

She thought something would've broken from the fall, but luckily all her bones at least were in tact. That didn't mean she was completely unhurt though. She'd hit her head on the way down, giving her a massive headache and cutting her forehead. 

Slick, dark blood stained her... white hair? For as long as she could remember, Zoe had white, silvery hair, as if she was much older. It shone vividly in the dark, matching with her unnaturally gray eyes. Zoe had always been told she looked like her color was stolen and had a tough life because of it. 

Zoe stood and stretched, taking one last look back at her house. She wanted to check and see what happened, but her fear won out. 

She ran through the wet grass and into the streets, trying without luck to wipe the blood from her eyes. She cried out for someone to help her as she ran, but no one seemed to hear her over the pounding of the storm. 

Zoe ran down the empty streets until she tripped and lay flay on the hard pavement. She fell with a thud, sraping up her hands as she did so. 

The tears were flowing freely now, mixing in with the clean rain. Somehow it always ended up raining when something bad happened. Was it because the sky was sad too? Or was it because people thought rain could wash away all the pain and sadness? All it did was weigh your heart down with tears and grief. 

Zoe lay there in the flickering darkness, feeling each prick of the rain on her wet skin. She almost wished a car would come and end it all right there to stop the darkness that was threatening to overwhelm her. 

She no longer had the energy to stand up as she closed her eyes, welcoming the smooth darkness as the scene before her began to fade away. 

"Hey," came a voice. "Hey, wake up." 

Someone was shaking her. She wanted to ignore it, but it called out to her again, "C'mon please wake up. I need you to wake up, ok?"

There was some more shaking and Zoe felt a warm hand on her cheek. She opened her gray eyes, blinking to try and clear her blurry vision. 

In front of her was a boy with pitch black hair and deep brown eyes, staring at her with concern. His dark hair was hanging over his face as he leaned down over her. He was about her age, and for a brief moment she wondered why he was out in the rain. 

He seemed to consider something for a moment as he took in her bright white hair. He reached down and felt her neck, staying quiet as he took her pulse. 

"I'm going to help you okay?" he said quietly. 

Zoe breathed in almost painfully as tears constricted her throat. "I-I let them down... I couldn't help..."

"Who?" he asked searchingly. 

"They're dead now... they're dead..."

He looked at her again and his eyes softened. He leaned down and pulled her into a sitting position where he wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her tightly, as if to let her know she still existed. 

Then he hoisted her up onto his back and walked down the street with her arms hanging onto his neck. 

Zoe felt the cold seep into her as he carried her down the street, her eyes slowly closing and her mind drifting into unconsciousness.