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Chapter One

I didn't understand anything for a while. It was like everything was either in slow motion or speeding by and I never had enough time to truly comprehend what was happening around me.

It was all a blur - the flashing blue and red lights, the screaming, the blood and bruises that seemed to blend together. I think at the beginning I had an idea of what was going on but that was soon disrupted as well.

I remembered some place dark and cold. There was never a moment of warmth. I remembered tears and torturous screams, some of which were my own. I remembered the blue and red lights. And then I was here.

I wasn't sure what was going on but of course I figured it was something bad. Very, very bad. Yet no one would tell me anything.

It was always the same nurse that would walk in, put something in my IV, then give me a pitying look before I passed out. I would always try and get some information out of her but she just did the stupid "lock-my-mouth-and-throw-away-the key" gesture. It made me want to slap her.

I lost track of how many days I was there. My guess was a month but I couldn't be too sure. No one would tell me. Maybe there wasn't anyone who could. The only person I saw throughout my time there was that freaking nurse...the one I wanted to slap.

My parents never showed or my little sister. I became even more depressed than I already was until I just felt tired and emotionless.

The first time I woke up, I thought I was in a hospital. But I didn't see anyone other than my nurse and the room didn't look like a regular hospital room. It had the same layout but was too big to be a hospital room. But, again, it wasn't like I had anyone to get info out of.

It was yesterday that everything changed. It was around the time that the nurse usually came in to knock me out. But instead of a fifty year old chubby woman, a man who looked about in his thirties stepped through the door with a tight smile on his face.

"We finally meet, Ariana," He sat down in one of the chairs next to my bed. I kept still.

"Who are you?" My voice came out as a whisper, cracking at the end as a result of having very little human contact for so long.

"I'm Agent Floyd from the witness security program." He stuck his hand out for me to shake but I didn't budge; I just stared at him. He eventually dropped it back down to his side and cleared his throat.

"I'm going to ask you some questions before I can explain everything that's been going on. And I want you to answer truthfully, alright?"

"Can I see some identification?" I narrowed my eyes, daring him to admit to fraud. But he reached inside his suit pocket and flashed me his badge anyway, proving his place.

I nodded in consent. He sat forward and reached down in the briefcase he had brought with him. Pulling out a stack of sheets, he looked back up at me and began his questions.

"Can you tell me your name please?" I lifted an eyebrow. He obviously already knows my name...why would he want me to tell it to him?

"Ariana Felder," I answered anyway.

He nodded, writing something down onto the top sheet.

"Your age, birth date, and grade?"

"17. March 11, 1996. Junior in high school."

He scribbled again on the sheet.

"Very good. And your parents names?"

"Sarah and Daniel Felder." I shifted uncomfortably in the bed. I didn't like giving this guy my information - the fact I didn't even know him being the main reason.