Fade

Chapter One

The memories came in blurry flashes. She wrapped her hands around my throat, squeezing until black spots danced along the edge of my vision. He would throw me around like a rag doll. She would burn me. He would punch me, usually aiming for the face. The time he missed because I was fighting back, he ended up breaking some of my ribs. She once took a knife and held it up to my face, scarring me as a warning.

Sometimes I could get him to go after her instead. I was happy.

Happy for awhile, at least, until they both decided to take turns hitting me and kicking me down.

But I always got back up eventually, even if I had to take a trip to the hospital once or twice. They would say it was an accident with another kid. I went with their made up stories. What else was I suppose to do? They were good at faking that they loved me.

The dream changes.

We were in the car with the broken window handle. I was crying-

Somebody shook me awake. She spoke in a soothing voice, trying to be gentle. "Maria, you have to wake up. Come on, you can't keep screaming. You'll wake Miss Claudia up. We need to hurry up and start cleaning."

I opened my eyes and pushed the redhead away. For a moment, I was confused as to where I was. It wasn't my room.

I sat up, hitting my head on the bunk bed. Wincing and looking up, I suddenly remembered everything that had happened since that night in the car.

Turning my eyes to Christina, I met her glare head on. Standing up, careful not to hit my head this time, I made my way to the bathroom to inspect my appearance.

My hair obviously hadn't been brushed in days, dark circles made their usual appearance under my eyes, and my tanned skin was lacking its usual glow. I opened the medicine cabinet and found a hair tie, then quickly put my hair up in a bun. I brushed my teeth and washed my face before sending a quick glance around the bathroom.

With seven kids living here, it didn't matter how many times a day I cleaned it. It would always look like a tornado swept through it within a few hours. I rolled my eyes in annoyance, then started picking up all the dirty laundry on the floor. I tossed it in the laundry hamper and peeked out into the hallway, trying not to gag at the smell of dirty socks and mildew.

"Sweep and mop the bathroom," I ordered a petite blonde as she walked passed me.

Katrina sighed to herself, then hurried off to find the broom and mop.

I proudly towered over both Katrina and Christina, standing at 5'7. Katrina was 5'0 while Christina was maybe 5'4. We all couldn't have looked any more different, despite the fact I saw them as my sisters.

Katrina was a dirty blonde with brown puppy dog eyes and a doll-like physique. Everything about her was calm and gentle in comparison to Christina.

Christina is somebody I would describe as tough. It took a lot of effort for her to act anything like Katrina. Her eyes were hazel and she was one of the palest girls I had ever seen, though she was covered in freckles. Her hair was a dark red and she had dark eyebrows that I was pretty sure she tinted. She was muscular too.

I was scrawnier than both of them with light brown skin that was covered in scars, usually taking on a sickly appearance.

I picked up the laundry basket and struggled not to drop it as I walked to the laundry room, bumping my hip against the door frame.