"Hide Anna!"

Everything turned to static after Veronica yelled her name. She could still remember, she could remember how her heart raced as she ran down the small hallway, bumping into walls and bruising her arm as she tried to run far from the living room. Her little legs that could barely run a mile, felt heavy all that running. She could remember how many stairs she had climbed to get to where she thought she'd be safe.

Where was safe?

She couldn't think of anywhere else even with Veronica's voice finding her at every corner of the house.

She was terrified. Terrified of what could happen to her if she let him find her, if she let him get to her. She wiped the tears that had trailed down her eyes with the back of her palms as she took a quick scan around the empty hallway, unable to think about anything else but a safe space. She wasn't going to let him hurt her again.

Just like three days before, and a week before that, she found herself running in the direction of her room, this time, the idea of closing the door right after and making sure it got locked after her clouded her memory.

"What on earth is wrong with you!"
She barely had the time to take notice of the sudden pitch in Veronica's voice but she could tell immediately who she had been talking to; Billy.

"How could you bring them in here you bastard?"

With the way she could barely hear any words after Veronica, it was obvious Billy was barely paying any attention to her or anything she had to say.

Anna closed the door after her immediately, legs trembling, hands shaking too. She placed her hand over her ears to put her concentration in one place. She had to block it all out, the yelling, the whole idea that just like the other days, he was going to get his way again.

"What on earth are you trying to prove huh? Think about this carefully Billy, think about what the government would do if they ever find out. This ain't right, this ain't right at all Billy."

"The government?" His voice was barely audible from where she stood but Anna tried to listen. "The government can choke on the taxes that we pay to keep those monsters comfortable in our own land. Why do I need to care about what the government thinks when they barely give us enough to do all the hard work that we do, taking care of her ass. I'm not a freaking charity giver! She owes me, she owes us, and I am going to make sure I collect every dime and every penny my way! At least she can be good for something-"

"You have to think this through Billy. Billy she's just a child!"

"Well she's not my child. Stay away from this!"

With the way Veronica let out a high-pitched moan, Anna could almost guess that he had pushed her out of his way and he and those he came with were making their way to her.

She turned immediately, her eyes scanning her little room for a safety spot as their loud footsteps and discerning laughters filled the hallway.

There it was, The tiny computer table close to her bed. She rushed to it and tried to fit right under it just as the footsteps got closer.

Anna held her breath, clenching her fists at the same time. She hated it, she hated how she had become a freak show for him and his friends. She hated the thought of always letting them get away with what they wanted, and just like before, she hoped that that day was going to be different.

Her heart raced the moment her thoughts were followed by abrupt silence. She could hear her own heart beat.

"Bang!"
She could hear a loud bang on the door, and then another. She placed a hand over her mouth to stop herself from making as much as a sound. He was hitting the door as hard as he could get while his friends encouraged it and cheered on. With the way he kept persisting, she was just sure that the door wasn't going to hold for long, it was just as weak as her pulse was getting.

Anna trembled.
Her hands had become sweaty just thinking about it and there had never been a time she wished they were there, her family. It was like she was back at the basement again, hiding just like she used to. It was like that was all her life was about, it was like it had always been a crime for her to be born.

She could hear the rattling sounds of keys from outside and could immediately tell that he had gotten the spare.

The door unblocked once, then again and before she knew it, it was kicked opened and he walked inside with about three other pair of shoes behind him. Anna pushed herself further behind, holding her breath and wishing for an invincible cloak to cover her as she saw them make their way further into the room.

She could smell it, the stench of alcohol on them.

It was just like she remembered, Billy had always gone out after a fight with Victoria, and returned home drunk or in debt after a bad gambling game and each time he did, he would somehow always find his way to her room.

"I hope you're not shitting us Billy." She heard one of the men said. "I was under the impression that you had an Atian here, I don't see any around."

"If this is some kind of a trap of a cheap scam to not hold the end of your bargain, we won't let it go."

"She's here." Billy said.

"Then I must be blind." She noticed how the voice of one of the men suddenly became thick as he took a closer step to Billy. "where is she?!" His voice became even more hoarse.

Anna pushed herself back the moment she had noticed the silence that followed. It was almost as if Billy was taking his time scanning the room with the way he didn't say anything right after.

Anna started to tremble again when she saw how a pair of legs started to walk towards the table. She could feel her heart skip multiple beats when she recognized him from the shoes he was putting on; it was Billy.

She wished she had more space to fold herself into but she had exhausted all of it, and it was getting really hard to breathe with the way Billy's shoes were right in front of her face. He had stopped walking too, and he didn't make a sound.

Anna had her hand in her mouth, saying a short prayer in her head right before....

"Boom!"

She screamed the moment Billy's face appeared in front of her, pushing herself back and trying to make a run for it. She wasn't fast enough. She felt him reach for her hair and pull her out from her hiding place while she tried to push him away and protect herself.

"I told you she was here didn't I?" She heard him say as he took her to the men like he was trying to get their validation. She could see them, the looks on all their faces. They were different from the men he had brought the last time.

She had her hand wrapped around Billy's to stop him from pulling so much but he just didn't care.

"What do you think?" She heard one of them tell the other. "Do you think she's really one of them?"

"She looks pretty normal to me. What do you think boss?" He turned to the man that took the lead as Anna watched him examine her carefully.

"What do you mean she looks normal?" Billy asked them, chuckling sarcastically as they all turned to him. "What's normal about her?"

"Are you sure this is not a scam? I heard the monsters have blue eyes, and horn-like ears. She doesn't look like she's one of them."

"Me too boss. What if he just got a random girl to fool you just so he could pay off his debt?"

She could see how Billy's hands trembled from his grip on her as he looked at them. She could also sense the fear in his eyes.

"That's not it at all." he tried to assure the first scary-looking man. "I would never deceive you." The way he swallowed hard and turned to look at Anna immediately, she could tell he was thinking of something, probably a way to prove himself to them. He let go of her hair immediately and grabbed her by her arm. Anna tried to pull away but his grip on her was very tight.

She watched him reach for a pocket knife immediately and unsheathe it. He turned to her quickly, hesitating and looking into her eyes like he was terrified to do what he was about to do.

Anna could feel her eyes widen at the realization of what he was about to do and before she could protect herself, she felt his knife pierce through her wrist, cutting through it roughly.

Anna let out a high cry immediately she felt the pain that came with it. On a normal day when she had not had her powers bounded, it was going to be like a scratch that healed in a second, but without her powers, she hurt three times more than any human would.

Her eyes turned blue immediately as she howled in pain, causing the men to double back in fear, holding on tightly to one another.

"It's true, she's one of them, she's a monster." Anna heard one of them say and before she could register what had happened and even get herself to stop bleeding so much, she felt Billy slap her hard, too hard that she fell back into her bed and everything became static right after.

She couldn't breathe, and she could barely hear a thing or keep her eyes open but she could see just a bit of what was happening in front of her.

"I'd go first." She heard one of the men say as he walked forward, undoing his belt and pulling down his pants.

"No, I'd go first." The other one said taking an even closer step towards her.

She was terrified, she was scared.

"Let's just go together." The first man said as he walked towards them.

"Don't, please don't." She pleaded with them, trying to get up from the bed and make a run for the door when one of them grabbed her by her arm and hit her again, this time even harder than Billy did. He grabbed her by her hair and pulled her back to the bed with it and there he hit her again, and again.

She could hear them laugh, she could hear their triumph of success as they got rid of the dress on her, she could feel the way they touched her carelessly and in mockery. She could feel how they tossed her from side to side while they laughed and terrified her even as she could barely keep her eyes on them.

Every single push, every single voice, every single word, she could remember it all.

Anna felt a drop of tear fall from her gaze and then another one as she slowly opened her eyes, taking a sharp breath as she did.

Her nightmares has gotten even worse by the day and she somehow couldn't bring herself to forget. She cried even more in her sleep and her dreams were starting to get so real again. She felt irritated in her own skin, she felt like she was back there again, back at her foster home. She let out a gasp as even more tears left her eyes and she struggled to breathe.

"Mrs Trust?"
She turned to the door immediately in fright, taking in the look of her concerned bodyguard on her as even more tears rolled down her eyes.

"Urgh." She looked away immediately and cleaned her eyes before he took in a much more sight of her than he already did.

"Are you okay?"

Anna sniffed and cleared her throat silently. She took a minute to make sure she had gotten rid of any lingering tears before she slowly turned to him. She forced a smile on her face.

"I'm fine." She said right before she turned to the huge building in front of her; the hospital. She suddenly remembered what it was she was been sitting in the car for over an hour for.

She remembered why she had come back to the hospital especially and it wasn't to cry in her car. It was to help him, to save him.

"Miss Patricia just left the room and Mr Trusk is fast asleep now."

Anna nodded in satisfaction.

It was time, she knew what she had to do. She reached for her phone and took one last look at it. There were no notifications from Shink; no calls, and no messages. He hadn't stopped her and that was all she needed to go ahead with her plan.

She reached for her face cap and put it on quickly.

This was it; this was the decision that was probably going to change the rest of her life, the rest of their lives.