My mouth was partly open as I stared at the house we were pulling up to in shock. It was huge, and I could see movement from the front curtain. Houses like this, I had only ever seen in movies. "Don't tell me that you're pulling an Annie on me," I said to Jennifer as she pulled into the rounded driveway. There were several cars parked along the side of the house, and I had to wonder if they were having a party of some kind. "Not really. You actually got really lucky. This family saw your file, and they pulled a lot of strings to get you assigned to them. They tried for your sister too, but that didn't work out." I turned to stare at her as she explained, watching the fascinating lack of emotion as she spoke. "I've worked with them one time before, and they were just a family who had too much money seemed to be taking on too much. They have heart. I'll give them that. I was surprised they were allowed to take in another kid. It seems even after their foster kids turn

Meeting Liam was interesting. He walked in, placed the plate of food down on the dresser with a quick, "Terry said you need to finish this before you can take your pain meds." And then he was gone before I could say hi. I didn't mind as I was in the middle of a good, snot-running cry, but I did have a talk with Terry after she got back from running errands to confirm that he wasn't a threat. He was big and deadly-looking but didn't seem too interested in me, or Jessie. He wanted to get in and out as quick as possible. I did convince Terry to apply for an exception to let me finish out the year at my old school. It was a bit of a drive, but it would be worth it to stay with Jessie. I wasn't ready to be the new girl all on my own yet. After school, Jessie came with me to my old house. Nothing had changed since my visit there a couple days ago, but I did my best not to look at the blood on the floor. It gave Jessie a bit of a pause when he saw it. I pick

Jessie wasn't in third hour either, so I just laid my head down on the desk and closed my eyes. About five minutes after the bell rang, something hit my head and my head snapped up off the desk. I looked around but no one was even looking at me. I was about to put my head back down when I saw the ball of paper on the floor by my desk and curiosity got the better of me. I reached down and picked it up. Quietly unfolding it, I tried to straighten the paper so it was readable. Julie, Congratulations! Even God hates you! Why else would he let what happened to your family happen? I really hope that your foster family hates you as much as your birth family did. You don't deserve Jessie, and he doesn't want you anymore. By the way, I heard that you were the reason your mother was murdered. How do you sleep at night? Love, anonymous. I stood up quickly and grabbed my bag ignoring the tears that were threatening to spill over. "And, whe

I was running through the dark forest, branches, and bushes scratching against my arms and legs as I pushed through the foliage. The sound of crunching leaves and rapid footsteps to my right had me looking over, only to see Chris. I stumbled when I saw her, the small nagging in the back of my mind telling me that it wasn't real because she was dead. But, that didn't stop the dread weighing my stomach down. I knew someone was chasing us. I didn't need to see them or hear them to know they were there. The tickle in the back of my mind from their close proximity had the small hairs on the back of my neck standing up. As I turned my head to get an idea of what beast was after us, I saw the looming shadow of a large figure creeping closer. I pushed myself faster and looked straight ahead of me, praying Chris would speed up as well. If we didn't get to the tree line, it would be over. We would be trapped. "You're a liar!" I screamed,

  "Julie, I'm not hiding anything from you." He swallowed hard but moved forward to place his hands on my hips. Jessie pulled me to him by my waist, and I blushed as our bodies pressed together. The heat and comfort felt vanished as soon as I looked into his eyes. He looked tense, worried. Something was going on, and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. I pulled away from him reluctantly. A flash of pain crossed his face. It only confirmed my suspicions. "Well, Mike was acting really weird on the phone. That and the fact that it was him who called me. Tell me why you could contact him, but you couldn't even send me a text. It makes me feel like you were avoiding me. Even now, you aren't acting like yourself." My hands started to shake, so I pressed them down against my thighs. "Because I knew you would disapprove of me drinking on a school night." I nodded with my lips pursed. He was right, I would disapprove, but that didn't change the way his v