Another Dark Day,

Chapter One

It's dark, it's cold. 425 days ago I was imprisoned here. They told me it wouldn't be for long, they told me I'd feel safe, protected. They lied. So much had changed since I first walked through the gates of the place I was forced to call 'home'. The walls seemed to stretch over my head endlessly, this is when I knew I wouldn't have a chance to escape. I was expected to greet my new foster parents with a pleasant and warmly grin, I tried. However my emotions were hard to hide. They smiled in return and waved as my child protection agent drove off after dropping me 'home.' The woman, Melissa, took my bags and showed me to my room upstairs. I was then told to freshen up and be down stairs in 10 to have our first dinner together as a family. I took my belongings to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. In the reflection I could see the paint pealing unpleasantly from the walls and the rust and grit around the bottom of the shower and basin of the bath. I looked into the mirror again, and stared into my eyes. I looked exhausted and hardly in the mood for bonding over a 'family dinner.' This is when I said to myself 'suck it up, they promised you'd be ok' and once said, I undressed and hopped into the shower. The water poured over my head, down my shoulders and over my hair. Once refreshed as I was going to be that evening, I got changed into my pajamas and slowly made my way down the stairs. This is when I heard the whispering of the woman, Melissa and her husband I recall being introduced to as Tom. They were talking about me. 'She looks so thin and pale, I wonder if they even looked after her at the last home she was at.' 'Come now Melissa, she will be fine. She's here with us now. After all, this is what we wanted right? Especially after the last one..' I took a step forward to hear more and accidentally stepped on a spiky ball. 'Ouch!' I yelled. That was when I realised both Tom and Melissa were staring at me..