Claimed.

Awaken.

Cold. It was very cold. Where the hell was I?  What time was it? How long have I been laying here? The last thing I even remember was being at the mall. My ears were ringing and my head felt like it was splitting in two. I ached all over and my muscles were screaming at me. Get up. Slowly my eyes fluttered open to the bleak grey, cloud covered sky. It was drizzling. After a few painful attempts I managed to sit myself up.

My hair was a knotted mess, I smelled way to earthy, and someone had changed me into a pair or black tattered up sweat pants that were three sizes to large. A large puffy jacket was now wrapped up tight around me. My shoulder blade stung and slightly tingled. I looked around to find myself laying in the middle of some unknown forest. How the hell did I get here?

"Dia?! Dia are you here?!" a voice called out in the distance. My heart nearly stopped, tears quickly pooled down my face. Mom. I shot up and quickly started running. My mother was the only person I needed right now. It was strange how desperate I needed to see her since I had just seen her the night before. "Mom!" I screamed out as I frantically ran around  in the now pouring rain to find her.

"Dia!" she screamed as we finally found each other. We held onto each other as if our lives depended on it, she sobbed as we sunk down onto the floor. She was still in the same flannel pajamas I had left her in just a night ago. Her hair was a knotted mess and it looked like she was hit by a truck. I looked behind her to find five cops, my aunt Linda, and Cleo watching us, all in tears. 

"Mom what's going on?" I croaked as I pulled away to fully examine her. She looked as if she hadn't slept in months, her cheeks even sunken in as if she hadn't eaten in weeks. Tears continued to run down her face and she broke out into louder sobs, she held onto me with dear life as if I was going to vanish at any second. One of the police officers cautiously came up behind us and stood next to me, examining me.

"Dia. You've been gone for almost four months."

*Five months later*

"Are you almost ready?" my mother croaked as she tried her best not to start crying, again. After I was found I was quickly taken to the hospital where I was examined for over four hours and questioned for more than eight. Thankfully I was completely healthy, my memory lose not concerning them so much as they said it was probably my body's way of coping with everything that had happened. They did however find a very large black mandala flower that covered my whole right shoulder blade. Mom wasn't very happy with that bit of information.

No matter how many tests I took or how hard I tried I just couldn't remember anything that had happened to me. It was like someone had purposely blocked those memory's from me. The police told me that every day for two months people rallied together to find me, but after two months of no leads and no evidence of me anywhere I was dubbed a runaway. My mother on the other hand had never given up. The morning I was found someone had called the police station leaving an anonymous tip as to where my exact location was.

It didn't get much easier after that, I had missed a lot of school keeping me back pretty far. Students, even faculty had started spreading rumors that I had runaway with some old guy and became a prostitute, others said I had turned lesbian and ran away with an older lady and became a prostitute. Either way you changed the story I had ended up being a prostitute. Even with Cleo on my side I just couldn't take it anymore, I needed a fresh start and I needed to be away from this town.

So here I was packing up my bags, about to hop on a plane to California. Boarding school. Mom and I both agreed after my seventeenth birthday that it was the best option for me. Although I was completely torn about leaving her I just couldn't stay here any longer. I worked hard day and night at home to get through my junior year, the only year I got straight A's to be honest. Whatever had happened those four months I was gone changed me, my mind was completely clear and focused when it came to my work. I cared less about going out and more about completing school.