She was curled  in a ball inside the bathtub. Hugging her knees while forcing her sobbing quiet. There was nothing she could do to stop her tears but she had to stay quiet or she was dead.

The light was off, the tub was empty and the door was locked. Nothing to give her away. If she just stayed still and quiet, it would all work out. It would work out. It had to work out...

"FIVE!" his raging voice yelled through the house, like claws hunting for her and tearing apart her illusion of safety. "Where are you damn brat!?"

She could hear he was getting closer, probably already in the staircase. The poor girl was utterly terrified. She couldn't do anything. She couldn't protect herself.

"Obey your dad and come here, stupid bitch!"

She couldn't escape.

"I KNOW YOU'RE THERE!"

And she knew perfectly well she had no way to hide...

That's when he busted the door.

\*/*\

A small but sudden pain in her back awakened Vee. The girl immediately looked around in panic. Something, somewhere to hide from him!

"It's okay Vee." spoke a soft voice, a kind voice...

With deep breath, she remembered where she was. She was in a car. The passenger seat. And far, very far away from her dad...

"You're feeling better?" asked the lady driving, giving the teen a quick compassionate smile before looking back to the road.

"Yeah..." answered Vee with a weak voice. "I'm good now. Thanks... Sorry about that..."

"Don't worry about that. Nobody expects all this to disappear like magic. Take all the time you need to heal at your own pace."

Vee knew very well this woman was trying to be supportive but those words still felt heavy. With dejected eyes, the teen girl leaned on the door.

"I wish it would just disappear..."

She looked at the night sky through the window. She knew it was pretty. Her classmates would never shut up about how they wished to have dates under the stars. But to Vee, it wasn't pretty. It was just the sky. It was just... there.

Now that she thought about it, she couldn't remember when she last thought that something was pretty, that something was nice. She never had anything nice. If she stared at something nice at school, it's owner would look at her weird and go further, getting the nice thing out of her sight. If the owner didn't notice her, she would feel jealous and angry. And if she stared at something nice when her dad was around, her dad would notice and get angry. He would drag her home and punish her. He would yell she didn't deserve stuff, she wasn't worth it. Nice stuff only brought her sadness, anger and pain. Therefore, she stopped looking at it, she stopped caring, stopped hoping.

She wasn't sure for how long she was lost in her thoughts but she was lost enough for the voice of the lady to surprise her when she spoke again.

"I'm sorry. I wish it could disappear too. Nobody deserves what you went through. It's gonna be a long way, but you won't be alone okay?"

Vee stayed silent for a moment, then looked back at the woman. Sure she was doing her job but she really seemed to care. In a way it was obvious she cared. Vee only lived one shitty childhood and she was already... well to put herself in the shitty mess of kids like her as a living, this woman obviously cared a lot. She was also stupidly strong, stronger than Vee would ever be, that's for sure...

"Hey..." the girl spoke with her weak, but this time with a breath of curiosity in it, voice. "How is she? My mom I mean..."

The lady smiled as she heard the kid. This wasn't exactly hope yet but at least she cared about what was awaiting her. It was a good sign.

"I had some occasions to talk with her. Camila is a really kind woman. She's a veterinarian. She works a lot but doesn't drown herself in her job either. You know, she spent years looking for you. She hired many private detectives to find you. It's unfortunate they never did but records of their research really helped us to find your mom. She really loves you. You'll be in good hands with her."

She loved her? That seemed nice. Was it true? Even if it was, what was it even like to be loved? What was it like to grow with a parent who loved you? 

"And what about... you know... my sister?"

"Ah Luz? I also talked with her a bit. She's quite the character."

"What do you mean?"

"She spent most of the talk telling me about all the series and games and books she had to make you try. She was speaking so fast I didn't understand much but she was clearly excited to meet you. She's very energetic so you might have to be clear about your boundaries at first but I'm sure you'll be good friends."

"I see."

This was all she could think of. This was also all she was curious about. With nothing left to ask, the rest of the way was spent in silence. Vee was still wondering about her sister though. They were twins apparently. Was Luz a perfect copy of her? She was curious what a version of her with a nice life looked like.

It took another hour before the car finally stopped. They were in the parking lot of a house. It was bigger and cleaner than what anything was used to. As she got out of the car, she observed the neighborhood. The other houses were also in good shape. They all had big yards and even the street was clean. This was a good neighborhood. They had it good.

She had it good.

"You're ready?" asked the lady as she was heading to the doorstep.

"Yeah…"

Vee quickly grabbed the bag in the car and followed the woman. The bag wasn't hers. Nine of the clothes in it were hers. She never had anything. Would it really change with these people?

As she joined the lady to the doorstep, Vee felt her heart rate speed up a lot. As the lady knocked on the door, Vee felt her skin hitch painfully. As the door opened, Vee felt all her muscles tense to the point of paralysis.

Then a woman appeared in the doorframe. She had dark skin, just like her. She had brown hair, just like her. She had brown eyes, just like her. This was her mother…

"Mija?"

This was her mother and she was crying. This was her mother who ran to her. This was her mother who, instead of hitting her, put Vee into a warm hug.

"GRACIAS A DIOS ESTAS BIEN!"