CHAPTER 1

Today was one hell of a hectic day for Maria. She was so tired that she just wanted to lay on her bed. Her comfy and warm bed.

She was on her way home and it was 9 o'clock at night. There were not many people around. She was thinking what her mother would have made for dinner, cause she's starving. Food is her life. She hoped it was chicken that has always been her favorite..

"AHHH." A scream escaped from her lips. 

She bumped into a wall and fell down. Her butt hurts like hell. When she opened up her eyes she saw brown timberland boots. Oh! God. It's not a wall but a man. Damn it.

She slowly craned her neck up to see the person and a low gasp left her mouth seeing the guy. He was strikingly handsome. Tall, muscular built, silky, smooth, black hair falling on his forehead. He was wearing ripped black jeans and a black leather jacket.

But when her eyes met his, she froze because his irises were black completely black, pitch dark, or maybe the darkest shade of brown. His face was expressionless. And the intensity by which he was looking at her was so intense that it made her glued to her spot. Somehow, I got dangerous vibes from him. 

Then he looked at someone behind her, and he passed by her. That's when she got out of her trance and stood up. I straighten myself up. And turned around but to my astonishment, he was nowhere to be seen. Strange, she talked to herself. He didn't even say sorry, creepy weirdo!

When she reached home, her mom greeted her and asked her about her day. Her dad has always been  drunk so she doesn't bother asking if he's home or not. She told her about her day, except that she bumped into a weirdo. She didn't want to worry her, she has always been against her working especially coming home but she's adamant and won't listen.

After, dinner. She went into her room and went into a deep slumber.

As usual, the next day she went to her morning jobs for work. She had grown up in this city, surrounded by poverty and violence. Her childhood had been far from idyllic; her father had been a drunk who spent all their money on alcohol, she had a difficult childhood. Her parents fought constantly, and her father was an alcoholic who would often take out his anger on her mother and Maria. Maria learned to keep her head down and try to stay out of the way, but it was hard to avoid the violence that seemed to be all around her.

The next week Sophie texted her for a meetup tomorrow because weekends always get days off. Sophie has been her friend for a very long time and she has been thinking of moving in with her just to avoid her father's abusive manners.

They haven't seen each other for the past few weeks and they decided to hangout.

She met her at the cafe and they enjoyed their meetup. Talked about all the stuff and gossip. They enjoyed it a lot. Sophie asked her about when she would be moving in with her but she told her she would soon because she hasn't told her mom yet..

After, bidding bye to each other. On her way home, she got a text from her mom.

"Honey, come home.''

She replied that she would be home soon. Facing down to her phone.

She looked up and saw the guy who she bumped into the other day. She was scared because he was looking closely at her and wasn't alone this time. 

She quickly calls a cab and goes home.

She got home and saw her dad drunk again and causing a mess in the room. She was so pissed and decided to go straight into her room. 

She kept thinking when all this is going to stop, Maria has always been the type of girl that fends for herself. She had two jobs to help her mom and to take care of herself. She thought it's the right time to stop thinking about them and start thinking about herself.  

She has always wanted to leave the house but she couldn't leave her mother alone and her mother would never leave her husband, this makes her upset and wonder how stupid her mother can be with the way her father treated her..

She couldn't leave the house because leaving the house also meant she would be losing her two jobs and now she needs to start over again.  

She couldn't take it no more as she heard her mom and dad but screaming at each other, a tear rolled down from her eyes and she stood up sharply and said "this isn't the life I wanted to live" she moved away from the bed and get her briefcase and packed her cloth hastenly in the briefcase and move carried it out of her room.

When she came out of her, they both looked at her. Her mom moved closer to her and asked whose bag is that and why she was taking a briefcase with her. She answered none of her questions  and moved the briefcase outside the house without talking either to her dad or mom.

When she get outside, she called Sophie. " Hello Maria, what's up it's late. Why are you calling me by this time of the night? At that time it was already 11:30 pm in the night. She said I'm coming over to your house tonight…

Sophie replied by saying, did your parents start fighting again?  She was about to reply, when she felt a hand on her mouth, and when she sniffed something, everything became blurry, and she went unconscious.

When she woke up her eyes felt heavy. Getting clearer as she tried to move but her movements were restrained. She couldn't move her hands and legs.

 They were tied with a rope. She panicked and opened her eyes, adjusting to the surroundings, which seemed to be unfamiliar.