The Runaway Orphan

**Trigger Warning - Abuse/Violence/Alcohol**                                                                                 Rena The sun was beating down on my skin as I walked home from school. I wanted to go slow and enjoy the time away from home. It wasn't home I guess. Home didn't mean anything to me. Never had. I had bounced from foster home to foster home for as far back as I could remember. The first memory of my life was when I was around 2 years old. I was living with a foster family in Michigan. I had been playing in the yard by the fence when the teenage son of my foster family had come up to me and had burnt my arms with a cigarette. 14 years later I still had the scars from that. And many more over years gained at other foster homes. My current foster home was the worst. I just had to make it through the next two years and I would be away from this life and be able to live my life however I wanted. I don't know what that was yet but it would be my life.  I looked at the time on my watch. If I didn't hurry up and get home I would be in trouble. Although it seems no matter what I do I'm always in trouble. I could get straight A’s, do all my chores, and still get in trouble. My foster dad Tony worked as a mechanic and loved to drink when he wasn’t working.  I walked up to the porch of the house we were living in. I heard yelling coming from inside the house. I quietly walked inside the house and walked up the stairs to my room. I opened the door and looked around my room. I had pale yellow walls, a twin-size bed with a thin blanket, and a dresser. When I had been in other homes I had had more things but here in the conners house, I didn't have much. Tony spent most of the money from the state on booze and not on things I needed.  Sitting down on my bed I opened my blue backpack and pulled out my homework and my phone. Slipping my earbuds in my ears I turned up my music and got to work on my homework.  After I finished my homework I laid down on my bed enjoying my music and not being able to hear the yelling coming from downstairs. I don't know what was the cause of the yelling today. But Tony was yelling at Sarah and home from work early today. That couldn't be a good sign. “Wake up” I hear as I opened my eyes to see Tony's big form standing inside my doorway. I must have fallen asleep. s**t. He stormed over to me and grabbed me by the shirt and pulled me up to stand up in front of him. “What are you doing up here sleeping. You should have been down there helping Sarah with dinner if you were finished with your homework” he yelled at me still gripping my shirt.  I knew better than to apologize or argue with him. The last time I had I ended up with a broken arm and still have the screws in my arm to remember it by.  “Get downstairs it's supper time,” He said shoving me into the wall by my door. My right side slammed into the wall and would probably leave bruises come tomorrow. I ran out the door of my bedroom and down the stairs as he neared me. I bounded down the stairs taking them two at a time and reached the kitchen before he even made it down the stairs. I felt so bad for Sarah. She used to be a nurse when she met Tony. She was the sweetest caring person I ever met and how she ended up with a slime ball like Tony I’ll never understand. I could tell she had been crying and hurried up and helped her finish putting food on the table. We both hurried and sat down at the table as Tony lumbered through the doorway and into the kitchen. He sat down at the heard of the table glaring at us. The smell of booze from his breath made me want to vomit.  Sarah immediately place the largest steak on his plate followed by mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, and homemade rolls. Sarah was a really good cook. After tony had his plate of food Sarah and I made our plates. If you want to call it that. Both of our plates of food equaled up to what Tony had on his. And he would go back for seconds and sometimes even thirds. We sat silently eating. Boom. Tony slammed his plate on the floor breaking the plate. God poor Sarah. She told me once that those dishes were from her grandparents. They had brought them to America when they immigrated here from Poland. I glanced up into her eyes and saw tears brimming. “Who taught you to cook. That food isn't edible. Not fit to even feed to a dog” he said standing up and leaning back and forth. Man, he was drunk. My stomach was starting to hurt. I didn't know how much of the fighting I could take anymore. Sarah bent down and started to pick up the shattered plate.  “I’m sorry Tonyyyy,” she said softly trying to hold back her tears. “You're sorry. You're sorry” he lunged at her stumbling. He grabbed her by the hair pulling her to her feet and slammed her into the sink. Ahh, she screamed as she hit the sink hard. I stood up holding on to my stomach as pain erupted throughout my body and my head started pounding. “Why don't you leave her alone” I yelled. I was so tired of the abuse. And tired of seeing this happen to Sarah too. They both turned towards me as I yelled at Tony trying to ignore the pounding in my head. “No Rena” she whispered softly. “What did you say to me” He growled as he attempted to stumble towards me.  “I said leave her alone. Leave US alone!!” I yelled at him. Tony swung at me fast knocking me in the face causing me to fall to the floor. My head was screaming and my body was contorting. I felt like my bones were rearranging themselves. He stepped towards me and stopped. I shut my eyes because of the pain ripping through my body and fear of what tony was going to do to me. “What the…” he said dumbfounded. The pain eased up and I slowly opened my eyes. Something was different. I felt different. Stronger. I looked down and saw that I had paws, with sharp claws.  I tried to scream and the sound came out as a wolf's howl. I had to get out of here. I stood up growling at tony as he advanced towards me pulling a gun out of the waistband of his jeans.  “Run. Hurry. Through The Window” a voice said in my head. Not currently worried about the voice in my head I ran full force through the sliding glass door shattering it. I kept running as I heard a sound of a bullet whiz past my head.