Emily was thirteen yeas old and she was standing in the hallway of Oakwoods Middle School with her two very best friends. They were talking and giggling happily, as teenaged girls do, about what they'd be doing as soon as the bell rang. It was the last day of school before spring break and they were well aware that in just a few minutes they'd be free for an entire week of fun in the sun.

It was her best friend Jamie who asked her the question she'd been dreading all day.

"Where are you gonna go for spring break?"

Emily just shrugged her shoulders. "Nowhere that I know of. I mean, I guess we're just staying home." In fact, she knew she'd be staying home all week... they never went anywhere for spring break. Or summer break... or any other break.

The bell rang above their heads and they threw their bags over their shoulders and headed out the double doors of the school into the bright afternoon sunlight.

"See ya in a week!" Jamie shouted over her shoulder as she headed for her mother's car on the other side of the parking lot.

"Have fun at Disney World!" Emily hollered back.

Jamie smiled and waved as she clambered into the car and Emily waved back, sighing as she set herself towards home. It was a beautiful spring day and for once she was actually looking forward to the long walk. She'd just struck off down the sidewalk to where the crossing guard was waiting when she heard her name being called out from somewhere behind her. When she turned around to see who it was she saw Chris standing there. He was leaning against her mother's navy blue Ford Taurus and he was smirking at her.

Emily's heart fell and her stomach muscles tightened at the sight of him. 'What does he want?' she wondered silently to herself as she walked cautiously towards the car, half a mind to turn around and run the other direction as fast as she could and never look back.

As she approached him she could see her mother sitting in the front seat of the car. Their eyes met for a brief moment and she smiled.

Emily smiled back.

She couldn't help but notice her mom was wearing her darkest pair of sunglasses again that day. She shuddered as her thoughts raced back to the things that had happened the night before.

"Get in the car," Chris directed Emily harshly, opening the rear passenger door and gesturing forcefully for her to climb in. She did as she was told and slid quickly and quietly into the back seat as he slammed the door behind her. She watched him from the window of the car for a few moments, waiting until she was sure he was deep in coversation with one of her classmate's fathers. "Where are we going?" she asked her mother, never taking her eyes off him.

"To the lake for the weekend," she replied without looking back at her daughter. Emily could tell she was watching Chris too... staring intently at him out of the corner of her eye. "I wanted it to be you and me Emers..." she whispered, her voice cracking slighty, "but when I told him I was taking you... he insisted on coming with us."

Emily wasn't surprised. She nodded her head understandingly from the back seat. Chris had stopped talking now and he opened the front door to climb in. She could smell the whiskey on his breath from where she was sitting.

"What'd you tell her Angela?" he asked. He sounded angry, like he always did, as he reached over and squeezed her mother's shoulder... Emily could tell he was squeezing it way too hard.

"She said we're going to the lake for the weekend," Emily piped up from her spot in the back, trying to take his mind off her mother. "It sounds like fun."

He loosened his grip on her as he backed the car out of the parking lot without saying another word.

They were driving down the road in silence now... had been for quite sometime, and Emily really needed to go to the bathroom. She leaned up and tapped her mother on the shoulder, not wanting to bother her, but at the same time knowing she really had to.

Her mom turned around to look at her and she whispered that she needed to pee. Angela nodded her head in understanding and glanced over to the seat beside her where Chris was driving. His eyes never left the road.

"Emily really needs to use the bathroom." She said nervously.

"She's a big girl," He grunted, "she can hold it."

Emily sighed, she really, really hated him.

Her mother looked back at her and Emily shook her head... she really couldn't hold it.

"She needs to go Chris... can't we just stop at the next exit?"

Chris jerked his head around towards Emily and she quickly stared down at the floor. Even still she could feel his eyes boring a hole into the top of her head. "FINE!" He yelled steering the car roughly onto the exit, "but you'd better make it quick!"

He pulled up to the front of the gas station and Emily hopped quickly out, racing inside and to the restroom. Someone was already in there though, so she stood outside the door and waited as patiently as she could, counting the moments and wondering how long Chris would wait. She glanced at the big burly guy sitting behind the counter and then out the window towards the car where Chris was pumping gas. Thoughts rushed through her head that maybe she should say something. Maybe she should tell the guy that she and her mom were being kidnapped by an abusive madman. But instead, the door opened and an elderly woman came out. Emily took her place in the bathroom and finished her business as quickly as she could. She washed her hands and ran some cool water over her face. She dreaded the thought of going back out and getting back in the car with him again.

As she opened the door and stepped out, she felt a hand grab her arm tightly. She gasped in pain. He was squeezing as hard as he could and he wouldn't let go. She knew without saying a word that he wasn't going to let go.

"What the hell took you so long?" He whispered harshly in her ear.

Emily couldn't answer. The pain had taken her breath away and so instead of trying to answer, she just stared up at him, pleading with her eyes for him to let her go. But he didn't. Perhaps he took her silence as a sign of defiance. She didn't struggle as he dragged her towards the door and out into the parking lot. She wanted to yell out, but she couldn't. He finally released his grip on her and yelled at her to 'haul ass' back to the car. She must not have been moving fast enough because the next thing she knew she was being picked up from behind.

This time she didn't go quietly.

"STOP!" she cried loudly, finally finding her voice, as he squeezed her around the waist. "LET ME GO!"

She was nearly screaming at the top of her lungs now, but he didn't put her down, and sadly, no one was around to hear her cries. He opened the door and threw her forcefully into the back seat with a thud. She curled into a ball and lay there crying. Emily heard his door open and then the door next to hers. She felt someone's arms wrap warmly around her as he started the car and drove rapidly out of the parking lot.

"I'm sorry baby," her mom whispered tearfully as she held her close, "I'm so, so sorry!"

"Emily... Emily! Wake up!"

She could hear Marcus' voice pulling her away from her dream. A welcome interuption and yet... she still couldn't quite snap out of it. She lay there on the couch, her eyes shut tight, her heart beating rapidly inside her chest as sweatbeads poured down her forehead.

"Emily..." she heard him calling again and this time she forced herself to open her eyes.

"Are you okay?" He asked, the concerned look on his face surprisingly worse than the ones Nick usually gave her.

She nodded her head, still taking long deep breaths to slow her body down. Dr. Campbell had missed telling her the part where the flashbacks caused a person's entire body to run in overdrive... Dr. Campbell. Suddenly Emily shot up off the couch, remembering where she was and the conversation she'd had earlier in the day with Dr. Campbell.

The breakthrough. The dream... whatever it was. Was she starting to remember? This was definitely something new. She shook her head and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, watching as Marcus walked to the table and grabbed her a bottle of water, his eyes never once glancing away from her.

"He was drunk that day," she said to herself without really thinking about the fact that she wasn't alone.

"Who was drunk?" Marcus questioned curiously as he sat down beside her and handed her the bottle of water. Emily took a few sips and tried to think of how she could possibly work her way out of the answer to that quesion.

"Oh... uh... no one," she answered sheepishly, looking away and hoping he wouldn't ask anymore questions, "I was just... uh.. dreaming."

Marcus nodded. "You were definitely dreaming girl. I heard you hollering at someone to let you go from all the way out in the hallway. I thought some crazed fan had someone broken in or something."

Emily shook her head and shivered as her mind raced back to that moment in the dream. Marcus definitely noticed.

"You sure you're okay?"

"Mmm... yeah... it was just... it was a really weird dream."

Marcus seemed to accept her explanation, nodding as he rose from the couch and walked towards the door. He glanced back at her and smiled. It was a smile that failed to mask the concern in his eyes, but tried it's best to say he believed her, "Okay then," he smirked, now really smiling, "well, Boy Blue and the rest of the gang will be back in the hold very shortly. I'll be out in the hall if you need anything."

Emily couldn't help but laugh.

She laid back down on the couch and stared up at the ceiling. She thought back on the dream and wiped her eyes as the tears streamed down her cheeks. She tried really hard to remember that day... those moments. She'd been trying for years. What happened next? But she couldn't. And even still, with this new piece of the puzzle, as much as she wanted to, she wasn't sure she really wanted to.

She had a terrible feeling that after this, things were only going to get worse.