"I don't need you! I don't need anyone! I've gotten this far on my own!"
For decades, unwanted children have run away from their homes, orphanages, foster homes and whatever else they've experienced, but many a time, have come or been brought back.
...
Bronwyn woke up quickly at the loud noise. She sat up from where she lay, her eyes adjusting to the sunlight as she attempted to scan her surroundings.
Everything seemed the same in the alley. It was cold, damp and quite shady looking. In other words- perfect for a girl in hiding.
CRASH
There it was again. Bronwyn sat up abruptly and grabbed the nearest thing she could to defend herself. Her hands clasped around a cylindrical object. She inspected what she had picked up. "A can? Really? That's it? Nice one Bronwyn." She threw it to the ground, noticing a sharp piece of glass as she did so. She carefully grabbed ahold of it, attempting not to cut herself and thrusted it in front of her.
"Who's there?" She called, frightened of the reply, "I'm not scared of you!" She lied.
CRASH
As if on cue, the noise rang in Bronwyn's ears once more. She began to shift towards the source of the noise, still clutching the piece of glass, with a grasp that was perhaps too tight.
She treaded carefully around the large dumpster, her hands shaking at this point, her mind whirring with thoughts at what the noise could be.
A cannibal waiting for their next prey?
A coke addict completely out of it?
A murder waiting to make a coat out of her skin?
Her mother?
Bronwyn shuddered at the thought of her mother, not lingering on it for too long. She never wanted to remember what that demon of a woman had put her through. In fact, she wasn't her mother anymore.
After what seemed like forever, Bronwyn faced the noise. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she lowered the glass to her side. She knelt down and stared at the creature. A dog. An actual dog! Bronwyn had never touched one, but had always longed for one of her own, but could never have one, for obvious reasons.
She inspected the puppy; it was a black and white dog, but it wasn't a Dalmatian. Bronwyn knew that much. She could see it was scared of her, and in pain.
"Don't worry little guy," she comforted, "I'm just trying to help you." She smiled at the dog. Being only nine, it did not register with the child that the dog did not understand what she was saying, but it seemed to calm it anyway.
She discovered burn marks on his skin, hidden by his thick fur. Bronwyn deducted that its previous owners had used it to put out their cigarettes, but they had scarred over, so that wasn't what was causing him pain.
She couldn't put her finger on what the source of pain was until the dog whimpered and turned around, exposing his tail and back paws. His paws were littered with glass and his tail lacked fur, exposing his skin. Bronwyn gasped. The poor dog was severely mistreated.
She began to help the dog by pulling out the biggest shard of glass in his paw, "Don't worry. I'm going to look after you now. You'll be safe with me. I promise."
The dog barked, as though he understood completely, and agreed. Bronwyn chuckled, "I think I'll call you..." she hesitated, looking at her surroundings for inspiration, until her eyes rested upon one thing.
"...Shard. I'm going to call you Shard."
* * *
Present Time
Running had been something Bronwyn had to become accustomed to. Whether it be from the police, or from one of her goons.
Bronwyn and Shard had been running for the past half hour after reports had come into the police station of a teenager and her animal sleeping on the streets.
The police had attempted to reason with Bronwyn, but she and Shard had taken off as soon as they said "foster home" knowing they'd take Bronwyn back to her.
They ran as fast as they could towards the nearby forest, knowing the police car couldn't get far there.
Bronwyn came across a seemingly deserted and secluded camping site.
"Shard!" Bronwyn called, "I think we lost them. We can rest here tonight, and-"
"HEY!"
Bronwyn froze. Sheer terror flowed through her. Both she and Shard were tired. There was no way they could outrun the police now.
She turned around ever so slowly, her hand creeping into the pocket of her trousers, and clasping her favoured item used to defend herself in these situations; the glass she had found when meeting Shard.
But once she was facing the owner of the voice, she was surprised because it wasn't the police.
It was a boy.
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Thank you very much for reading the first chapter of 'Shard of Glass'.
All characters and plot lines are owned by me so please don't take them. (I know you guys wouldn't)
This is my first original book I have ever written! This chapter was actually going to be used for another book I'm writing, (an X-Men fanfic), but I got halfway through the chapter and realised that I could use this character for an original. And so I changed a few things and created this!
I'm very excited to hear your reactions and if you have any questions please ask me!
You may also notice that I have not included a description of Bronwyn. This is because (for now) its up to you.
This is what Shard looks like:
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