The Dark Side of the Moon

1. Twilight

The streets are slick with the last light of the sun, the pavement darkened by the coming night. A late summer chill snakes through the air, curling around the corners of buildings, slipping through the cracks between streetlights. In the distance, the sounds of teenagers echo—laughter, footsteps, the slamming of car doors—as the last customers filter out of the diner across the square. Their lives are so normal. So simple. They don't even know how lucky they are.

A cold breeze stirs the trees as twilight settles over Forks, Washington.

It's a Thursday night. And I've been kicked out of the house again.

It wasn't my fault this time.

The doctor—the young one with pale skin and cold hands—told the social workers to check on us. On me. He didn't mean to start trouble, didn't realize the consequences of his concern. But Charlie did. And I paid for it.

I've only met the doctor twice in my life. The first time, I was six. Charlie brought me to the hospital with a broken arm and a concussion, claiming I'd been hit by a car. A hit-and-run, he said. A tragic accident. The truth was, he had tried to kill me.

The second time, I was just turning eleven. He beat me so badly I didn't wake up for two whole days.

Some part of me wants to believe he regrets it. That in the deep, hollow void where his heart should be, something inside of him cares—whether I live or die. But I know better. I always have.

I saw him kill my mother.

I was nearly four years old, and I still remember. Some things never fade, no matter how much you wish they would.

Since then, Charlie has kept me locked away, a ghost behind the walls of our old house. I exist in silence, a shadow that no one questions. Sometimes, when he drinks too much or his buddies come over to watch the game, he kicks me out. Like tonight.

On nights like these, I walk.

I don't know where I'm going—just away. Away from the house, away from him. I like the way the town looks in the dark, when no one is paying attention, when I can move freely between the empty streets and imagine what it's like to belong here. To be like them. The teenagers who laugh and complain about curfews. The ones who go home to parents who worry if they don't call.

I have tried to escape. Many times. But being the police chief of a town like Forks has its advantages. He always finds me before I get too far. And running only makes things worse.

I've learned that lesson well.

But when I turn eighteen, I'll be free. He won't be able to stop me then.

A raindrop lands on my cheek, cold against my too-warm skin. I watch as the last stragglers get into their cars, headlights flashing as they pull away from the square.

I wonder what it feels like—to have a life that belongs to you. To have a family that loves you. To have a future that isn't just another battle waiting to be lost.

I start school on Monday.

For the first time in my life, I'll be normal.

Books and research can only teach you so much. I know I'm smarter than the average teenager—I have to be. Every year, I was forced to take standardized tests, to prove that my so-called homeschooling was good enough. If I failed, he'd kill me.

I don't test Charlie. Not anymore.

The rain is falling steadily now, cold and persistent. I pull my hood up, curling deeper into my too-thin jacket.

I don't want to go back yet.

Instead, I turn toward the woods, slipping into the shadows where no one can see me.