"Excuse me, Miss?" A man asked with his body leaning over mine. The rain poured down heavily, as usual. The sky was dark due to the night that was approaching. I was sitting silently under the park trees, not ready to return to the woods where I usually slept. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Loitering isn't allowed at the park."

Pulling my hood tightly over my head, I stood up, avoiding eye contact with him. It was clear that he was a police officer with his flash light in his hand shining brightly upon me. I could feel his eyes burning into my scrawny appearance. After studying me, he asked in a more gentle tone, "Miss, do you have any place to stay?"

Panic flooded through me, making my heart rate quicken. At this question, I turned my head to look at him. His brows were knitted together with concern, forming wrinkles on his wet forehead. The rain was seeping through my jacket, and I shivered as it met my flesh. The man stepped closer to me, making me flinch away from his hands with gloves covering them.

"Erm, yes I do," I stuttered the obvious lie. He looked doubtful. "I was just trying to think, you know, because my parents were in an argument, but I'm going back now." My feet shuffled quickly passed him, and I shoved my hands in my pockets. Just before I was out of reach, his hand grasped my shoulder tightly. Despite my desperate attempt to make my arms squirm out of his grip, I was frozen.

Without any warning, he opened up the palm of my hand with his, and placed something in it. I gave him a look of confusion and didn't look at what he had given me. However, the kind look in his eyes told me not to worry. "Just in case you are lying," he answered my unspoken question of why he had given me what he had. And with that, he walked away, letting me be.

I began walking towards the direction of where the forest was where I slept, when I looked at my palm. It was difficult to make out what was there in the darkness, but eventually my eyes managed to see what was there. The police officer had given me exactly three one hundred dollar bills. Gasping, I whipped my head around in search of his figure. However, he was long gone, engulfed in the dark, rainy night.

After I had admired the power strips of paper, I carefully placed them in the pocket of my leather jacket. My leather boots trudged through the puddles as I crossed a vacant street that was silent, other than the rain. A few streetlights gave a dim glow, allowing me to recognize my surroundings. I had to walk at least another five miles before I finally got to the forest area. My stomach grumbled with hunger, with frigid goosebumps coating my skin.

A sudden thought occurred to me. With my new money that the man had so humbly given to me, I could sleep in a hotel for one night and be able to wash my clothes, have a decent meal, and take a greatly needed shower. My mind made up the decision to do that, and I changed my path, heading towards a hotel that was a few blocks away.

Sometimes, on nights where it was bitterly cold with a downpour of rain, I would start to walk back to my home that was in the smallest town of England which was Manningtree. However, I would always stop walking and remind myself that it was better to be alone than with a mother who doesn't care for me. Then, I would always return back to the same spot under a large oak tree which had my small bag buried in the bushes, filled with hardly anything.

I was staring down at my feet, watching the cracks of the quiet sidewalk run beneath me. There wasn't anyone out at this hour, so the dim streets were completely silent. The rain was beginning to slowly lighten up, lessening to a heavy drizzle. My body was still cold, and I rubbed my hands together and blew warm puffs of air into them in attempt to heat them up.

As I rounded the final corner that led me to my destination, a deafening sound filled my ears. I looked up and saw two bright circles shining at me. Realizing where my careless feet had led me, I couldn't help but scream as the large black car sped towards me at a fast right. My muscles made an attempt to move, but they wouldn't budge. The moments that followed seemed to pass in slow motion, flashing by in only a couple of seconds.

The sound of breaks and screeching tires was loud, but despite of the powerful sound that they held, they weren't able to stop fast enough. I was suddenly knocked to the ground onto my side, with my arms flung heedlessly over my head as all at once, I hit the black pavement of the road with a thud. My eyes automatically closed as my head hit the hard ground, but I was still barely able to remain conscious.

A car opened quickly, and footsteps approached my limp figure. I could feel the person kneeling beside of me, their breath escaping their mouth in heavy gasps of panic. It wasn't until a warm hand touched my wet body that I realized how much pain I was in. A painful groan exited my parted lips, and the person sounded relieved yet worried at the same time.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" It was clearly a man speaking and his voice was so soothing and sounded like music. "Are you okay? Can you hear me?" I swallowed and tried to speak, but only muttered another groan. The man's voice was quite husky, with a deep tone. My eyes refused to open, so I just laid there whilst listening to him freak out. I had heard his voice before, but wasn't sure where I had.

Although my body was already soaked from the rain, I could feel a thicker liquid at certain parts of my body. The blood made me fear that I was going to lose a great amount of it, and possibly die. My whole body ached with a constant throb, but I wasn't able to cry. The man was pacing, with the echoes of his steps ringing in my ears. He began cursing profanities at the wind, occasionally kneeling beside of me to brush his fingers against my skin, which only made me groan with pain again. However, the touch of his fingers was familiar as well, and was comforting.

He was suddenly talking at a fast, firm rate, but not directly to me. As I listened more to his words and studied the pauses of his sentences, I could tell that he was talking on the phone. "Well, what do I do? Take her to the hospital or bring her back to the flat? What? I don't know. She looks about eighteen." Wow, he was good at guessing ages. "Shut up, Louis, this is serious! I don't know what to do! Well, she's bleeding mainly on her forehead and has a bunch of bruises, but that's all that I can see. Alright, bye."

The click of a beeping sound indicated that he had ended the call with whoever Louis was. The rain had now completely stopped, but I still remained completely wet. After a few more moments had passed, he whispered closely to me, "Sorry for this, I should've been careful. This will probably hurt, but you will be safe soon."

Confusion swept over me, but the anticipation ended when his two strong arms wrapped themselves beneath of me, scooping me up into the air. I winced and gasped at the pain that struck my body, and he held me tightly against his hard chest. His touch that caressed me was oddly familiar, and I desperately wanted to open my eyes and see his face. I felt myself swaying above the earth, flinching with each movement. I wanted to run away, realizing that this was a complete stranger and that he was placing me in his car. Unfortunately, my muscles couldn't muster up the strength to move.

The car started up again with a low roar, and it accelerated quickly, making twists and turns that jerked my body with hurtful jolts. I continued to groan softly as the pain was sent throughout my entire being.

I wanted to just be back in the woods, cuddled beneath the leaves and twigs, and listening to the night noises of nature. However, I was somewhere that I desperately wanted to escape away from. My eyelids were stubborn and refused to do what I requested them to. They remained closed, not allowing me to see my surroundings. I should've been used to the darkness by now, but instead, I was more petrified by it as the slow seconds passed.

The man's voice would occasionally mutter things to me, but I couldn't make out the distinct words. It was hard to tell if his words were frightening or comforting. They slurred together in my mind, making me confused.

After fighting and struggling against the darkness for what seemed like hours, I finally surrendered to it, letting it engulf me with nothing but a black world that didn't allow any dreams, but instead a nightmare of narrow emptiness.