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Three

The support group itself was held outside in the gardens. There were about seven or eight chairs set up in a circle in the shade.

I followed behind Emma and Connor, silently taking it all in. Emma sat down, but the moment Connor tried to sit beside her, she shooed him over a seat.

"This is for him. This way, he isn't stuck between you and Marcus." She said and guesured for me to sit down, an over dramatic Connor flipping down beside me.

"I heard my name?" That same British voice said from behind me. I looked over my shoulder just as he scooted between a couple of the chairs, before taking a seat. Just as he did, Connor shifted the chair, making Marcus stumble and fall over his chair. But he didn't go down alone. He grabbed the back of Connor's chair and tipped him as well.

"Haha! I go down, you go down." He said, trying to sound all deep voices and scary.

"What happened this time?" Daniel asked and he sat on the other side of Emma, giving me a small hello.

"Just the two being the two they are." Emma replied with a small giggle.

"Boys." A serious, older voice said and I turned around to see the lady that was in charge. I had met her earlier. I quite liked her, though I didn't know her well. "No rough housing. You could injure someone. Sit up, and try not to harm yourselves or others."

The two groaned and muttered before sitting up and fixing their chairs, casting looks at each other.

At last, everyone was gathered in the circle, with two nurses. Zoe was a small, Brown haired girl with blonde ends, just stared at me blankly.

"Well, since everyone is gathered, why don't we have our newest resident introduce himself." The Nurse that seemed to be in charge smiled and gestured at me, eyes bright.

Nervously, I stood up. "H-hi. I'm Mitchell, b-but everyone just calls me M-Mitch. I'm Twenty y-years old..." I faded out my words and stood their awkwardly. Did I tell them why I was here? Did I just sit down?

"What happened to you? What did you do that ended you up here?" Marcus asked, completely unfiltered, earning himself a slap from Connor and a scolding from one of the nurses.

"Marcus. You do not ask those kinds of things. It's very wrong. Mitchell, if you don't want to tell us, you don't have too." She turned and smiled at me.

"I don't mind. S-S-Scott told me talking about it h-helps." I shrugged, trying to ignore my nervous stutter. "I was kidnapped j-just over four years ago, a few months after m-my seventeenth birthday. I was missing f-for just under those four years, and in th-that time, I was sexually, physically, and v-verbally abused, as well as raped, and t-tortured for the fun of it. Then, I was rescued. I struggled with depression and panic attacks for..."I paused and counted quietly in my fingers, From August to December. "F-five months, to the day, up until I tried...tried to com...commit. The night b-before, I was raped agai-gain, then had a fight w-with the only one that supported me, a guy named Scott. N-now I'm here."

Silence met my words as I finished. I simply sat down, heart rate accelerated, palms sweaty, looking down at my lap. I had never been good in front of large crowds, which always made others question why, if I was so afraid of crowds, I wanted to be a singer. It didn't matter now, though. I wasn't ever going to achieve that dream.

Connor was the next to stand up, giving me a weak smile. "I'm Connor and I am a recovering Drug addict. I was addicted to all sorts of drugs. I've been clean for almost a year, and I have never been happier. I first took drugs because my 'frined'," I took notice of the quotations around friend, "told me it would help me forget about my last. I was sexual assaulted by my uncle, repeatedly throughout my childhood, and no body believed me. When I was finally old enough to stand up for myself, I refused to go to his house, but the memories stayed, and that is how I got hooked on drugs." He sat down and gently nudged my shoulder with a kind smile. I nudged him back as Marcus stood and told us his story.

He had anger issues, and had beaten several kids up for no other reason than they were there when he snapped, and he came here to try and rehabilitate, learn to control it and ways to let it out safely.

Next, though she seemed reluctant, was Zoe. Quietly, she told us that she had been abused as a child, up until the age of about five or six, until she was rescued. When she was in Junior High, she learned just what had happened to her, and sunk into a depression. For years, they tried to find a way to at least lessen it, but nothing worked and she was sent here, where they could keep an eye on her while they tried to find a medication that works. I have her a very weak smile, though, if she saw it, she made no move to return it.

"I have anger issues." Daniel spoke up. "I got sent here after I slammed a kid into a wall with no reason. I've always been able to stay in control, but, for some reason..." He trailed off, scratching his head and looking down at his feet. He sat down and looked to Emma who stood up.

"When I was seven, my father started to drinking really bad, and one night, beat my mom to death. He was never convicted, because seven year olds have impressionable imaginations, and I lived with him. Thankfully, he never tried anything with me. He died from alcohol poisoning. Just after my sixteenth birthday, I had my first drink of alcohol, and I was hooked, just like my father. For weeks, months, years, I drank alcohol like it was water. Years after this habit started, I nearly drank myself to death. I've been clean three years, and I do not plan on going back anytime." She smiled and say down.

As I stared around me at the men and women, all who have struggled and survived insurmountable odds, I didn't feel quite so alone.

~°~
Ahh!!! I am so sorry that this has taken forever! Anyway! An update. And guess what!? Fluffy chapter next.

Do you guys want me to do a chapter of Jerstie's wedding? Let me know.

Oh, and stay sexy
-Scomiche❤💛💚💙💜