Crossing Paths

Prologue

"I got it!" I excitedly whispered.
"I got one too!" Christian responded. We were chasing fireflies in the warm Pennsylvania evening atmosphere. We were too young to care about anything. We caught a few more laughing and giggling throughout the evening. As the evening wore down, we caught about 10 more fireflies and layed down in the grass stargazing. All we could hear were crickets and cows in the distance. There was nothing more peaceful. Around 10, my aunt called for us to come inside and go to bed. At that time, I had no idea what was yet to come. I only knew that Christian was my best friend, and I never wanted to lose him.
The next morning, I woke up to sirens. One cop took my aunt and uncle in one car, and the other took me and Christian. I never knew what my aunt and uncle did. I just knew that they dropped Christian off at his house, and I sat in the police station for what seemed like hours.
Eventually, a lady came and told me that I was a brave young girl. She said that I was going to a safe place away from harm. I was clueless what she meant by taking me away from harm. My aunt and uncle were never abusive. I loved them, and they loved me.
I was taken to a farm that seemed like forever to get to. There was an elderly couple waiting on the porch. They seemed so sweet. Looks happen to be very deceiving though.
Over the next few years, the woman left bruises from whips, boards, belts, and even a shovel once. I never tried to disobey her rules, but every time I tried to obey their rules, they came up with a new one.
At night, the man would slowly slip into my room and make me do sexual favors. As the years went by, the favors got worse. He said that nobody would ever believe me, and that I was a delusional orphan.
When I turned 16, I ran away. I made it to the same town that I started to grow up in. I found an old abandoned house, and I slept there for the next week. I found a job at the little supermarket down the street.
Once I got a few dollars saved up, I went and made a down payment on a house. I got back on my feet, and I went to the police station to report everything that I have been through with that couple.
They sent me to the hospital to get me checked out and do a mental evaluation. They found the couple guilty of everything that I said. The couple was sentenced to ten years in prison, but the man died six months into his sentence. The lady died not too long afterwards.
The court decided that I could be emancipated as long as I kept my job and went back to school. Luckily, the past abuse let me get ahead in my schoolwork. Instead of stuggling in school, my focus got even stronger trying to forget what I had to go home to. I was able to go back to school as a senior, and I got work release too. I graduated valedvictorian, and I got accepted into Duquene University for Pre-Med with a scholarship that paid all of my college expenses.