P R O L O G U E

“Ava… Ava!”

I toss and turn on the bed struggling to keep my eyes open.

When I finally do, I cower back to the edge of the bed in fear.

“Why are you moving away? Are you scared of me Ava?”

“No, N..No I’m not. What would you need Uncle Sebastian?”

I avoid looking into his eyes.

I know what will come if I do.

“Move forward.”

I try to move but my legs feel weighed down. I even try to respond but words just won’t come out.

Deep down, I want to scream. Scream at him to leave me alone. Scream at my aunt and cousins to do something about it. Even Scream at my parents for leaving me here with no one.

But I can’t.

I just can’t.

So I do the one thing I can do. I dig my nails into my knees and try to think of anything else but the massive amount of fear I’m feeling.

Literally anything else.

But nothing comes.

“Ava, I said move forward. And look at me when I’m talking to you!” He snaps and I flinch.

I don’t look up and I certainly do not move one inch.

Almost immediately, I feel my ankle being dragged down until my back falls into the cold hard floor.

He grabs my chin and forces me to look up at him. “That’s better…”

He’s drunk. As always.

I close my eyes as I await the inevitable. And as expected, his cold knuckles cut across my face in a hard punch.

And another.

And another.

It feels like time stands still and all I can hear are the intensity of his punches and the pain spreading all across different parts of my body.

And the worst part is; As much as I want to, I can’t fight back.

I can’t do anything about it.

I hear it again and again, until the sound starts fading away.

“Hey!”

I open my eyes and realize I’m in the backseat of a car with two men at the front.

“We’ve arrived.”

Instantly, I look out the window and the first thing I see is a big navy blue building surrounded by numerous guards and bound by a very tall metal fence with electric wires at the top.

“Welcome to Robertson Behavioural Management School. Your home for the next year…at the very least.”