Lost Night

"Graduation. To me, the word graduation means 'the celebration of an old chapter and the start of new beginnings'. I don't know what the next chapter of all of our lives will hold, but I do know we are gonna rock it! I don't know what a lot of you do now, or whatever, but I do know that this class is the best class I could've been with. Now, everyone will start to move out, get better jobs, and become adults. A percentage of you will go off to college and continue to party and live your life to the fullest until you graduate. Some of you will skip college just because you don't want to be in school anymore. As for me, I have no clue what to do with my life. Some of you, or even all of you, might be in the same boat as me. I can promise you this, as we all leave this place and begin our new chapters of our lives, we have to live life to the fullest. Never give up. If you see something you want, work for it, and then go out there and get it. Good luck, Class of 2012," I stepped down from the podium nearly breathless.

I walk over to my friends, "That was amazing, Rose," Alex said.

"Thanks, Alex," I replied.

"That was great, Rose," Tora said walking up to me. Tora was eighteen with long silvery hair that glittered in the light. Tora and I used to be pen pals for the longest time before I moved here.

"Thanks, Tora," I said hugging her, "Anyway, I have to get to work. Bye guys"

I run home to get my work uniform and get ready for work. Luckily, my dad isn't home. If he was, I don't know what would happen. I don't know how long he is gonna be gone, so I run around getting ready and leave for work. As I'm walking, I see my dad's truck. It's parked outside of the bar. I rolled my eyes and walked past the bar and my dad's truck to get to work. I push the door open and smile at my boss.

"How was graduation?" He asked me.

"It was good," I replied, "Dad wasn't home when I got home, so that was good too."

"Good. Rose, you know you could move out of there, right?" He looked at me with sympathy.

"No, I can't. He needs me to survive. Plus, he wouldn't let me leave, you know that," I said with a sad look on my face.

"Why don't you come spend the night this weekend over in my town?" He asked me.

"We'll see," I replied smiling.

"Oh, before I forget, I have some errands to run, and I also have some vey important people coming in today," He said looking at me with urgency, "Can you hold down the fort while I'm gone?"

"Sure, I can," I looked at him giving him a thumbs up.

As I'm waiting for customers and for my boss, Dustin, to come in, I start seeing cars pull up. I stand up and walk to the back to get ready for them. I hear the door open.

"I'm back, Rose, and luckily not a moment too soon. My guests are here," Dustin said as he walked in.

I look past Dustin and see a bunch of guys walk in. I see two guys wait at either side of the door. Then, I see him. The most attractive out of everyone I've ever met. Of course, he didn't see me, but I saw him. Dustin was out in the dining room with everyone the entire time. The sign on the door had been flipped to closed. As people started to stand and walk out the door, I hid in the backroom. I didn't want anyone to see me.

"The place looks good, Dustin. Smells great too," An unfamiliar voice said.

"Thanks, River," I heard Dustin say.

I waited for the River person to leave before I came out from the back room.

"Thanks for covering for me, Rose. Now get home before your dad gets upset," Dustin looked at me like he wanted to say something, but I just shrugged it off.

I grab my bag and walk out. I start walking towards the house. As I approach my house, I don't see any lights on and my dad's truck is still gone. I just shrugged my shoulders and figured he was still at the bar. I walk inside and to my room. I see a tiny bit of light coming from under my door. I open my door and the light for my room is on. I see my dad sitting on my bed.

"Why were you late getting home?" My father asked.

"Dustin asked me to work late for a special meeting that was very important for business," I said shaking.

My dad stood up and looked at me. I thought for sure he was gonna do something, but instead he just walked right past me laughing as he went to his room.

I close my door and get undressed. I pick out night clothes to wear and quickly get dressed. I turn off my light and slowly climb into my bed. I fall asleep quickly.

I hear gunshots and banging. My good dream quickly turns into a nightmare. I wake up and open my eyes. I see my dad in my face. I try to scream, but I can't. My dad is standing on both of my hands. I quickly realize I've been moved to the floor. My dad was smiling.

"I told you a million times. You come home on time, or don't come home at all. Unless you clear it with me first, you come straight home and be home by the time I have given you. Do you understand, little girl?" my father was looking at me like he was happy to be doing this to me..

I nodded while tears welled up in my eyes.

"I expect a response," my father said angrily.

"Yes, sir. I understand," I said with a shaky voice.

Quickly, I see my dad raise his leg and bring his boot down on my chest. I could barely breathe. I have tears streaming down my face at this point. He quickly races his boot and smashes it into my ribs and my stomach and my chest. I don't know how I'm still conscious at this point. He stops.

Dad crouches down so I can see his face in mine, "This is your punishment. Next time, you better listen to me." He got up and left m room closing the door behind him.

Next thing I know, I'm being greeted by darkness. I start seeing a wolf emerge from the darkness.

"You are the strongest of all," the large creature said, "Don't give up yet, everything is about to change."

I slowly wake up and open my eyes. I slowly sit up groaning in pain. I look at the time. '2:37.' Shoot, I'm late for work. I quickly grab onto the side of my bed to get up. I stand and see my shirt is torn. You can see the bruises and the damage done from earlier through the tear.

I slowly get dressed, wincing in pain every step of the way. I put my hair up and grab my bag, stuffing clothes and stuff in it for this weekend. I slowly leave my room and head out the door, but as I'm going to leave, I feel the back of my hair being pulled.

"You better be back on time," my dad said in my ear.

"Yes, sir," I replied.

He let go of my hair and I started on my way to work. I see someone standing near the diner as I approach. It's the guy from yesterday. I think his name was River. I look at him and he's staring at me.

Something in me starts stirring. I look away, but can't help but stare at him. He has dark brown, maybe black hair. He has deep, crystal blue eyes. I look away and walk into work.

A new beginning. A new start. Maybe Dustin is right.

I walk to the back room and put my stuff down. I clock in and walk to the kitchen to let Dustin know I'm here. I'm holding my ribs and every step and everything I do is extremely painful.

"Hey, Dustin, I'm here," I struggled to say.

"Why are you late?" He asked.

"Let's just say, I'm taking you up on your offer for this weekend," I replied.

"Awesome! It's Friday, so we'll go after work," He said turning around to look at me.

I quickly walk away so he can't see that I'm in pain. Hopefully my dad doesn't look for me this weekend.

Dustin and I start closing the restaurant. I walk over to the door and flip the open sign to closed. I look out the window and see my dad's truck. He's leaning against his truck staring into the restaurant. I lock the door as fast as I can. I quickly walk to the back and into the kitchen. I look at Dustin with a scared expression.

"My dad is outside. I locked he door and flipped the sign to closed. I saw him staring at me, Dustin," I said with tears welling up in my eyes.

"Now, you have to tell me what happened," He responded.

I started crying and fell to the floor. Dustin rushed over to me.

"My car is parked out back, okay?" Dustin said to me reassuringly, "We can go out the back door and take the back roads. He won't see us leave that way."

Dustin got up and turned off all the lights and the music in the store. He walked back over to me and helped me get up. I winced in pain.

"Stay righ