For the Love of Music

Chapter 1

Author's Note: So this is my new story. I am absolutely in love with this story and I hope you love it too.

WARNING - this story contains descriptions of parental abuse. If you have issues with this, please either skip ahead to the stars or leave this story alone. There will be other mentions of this topic throughout the book. Thank you.

This story is copyrighted, all rights reserved. Becca Ribeiro.

 Chapter 1:

The loud streets of New York City were almost comforting. The bright sun shining down on thousands of loud business people and the sharp air around me has never ceased to amaze me.

I pulled my dingy bag further up my shoulder as I walked toward the one place in the world that still felt like home.

Years ago, I had a home and two loving parents but now, now I had no home.

Before long, the concrete jungle disappeared and nature began. A calmness fell over me as the fountain came into view.

I still remember the first time I escaped and ran away to the fountain. It was around midnight on the second of December. My twelfth birthday. The moon had shone eerily on the snow that covered the hard ground.

I had been adopted for eight months then. They seemed like the perfect replacement parents at first. Marc and Susanna Hastings were nice to me and had enough money to take care of me and their biological daughter, Lucy. She was a year and a half older than me and since the first day we met, she had hated me. She didn't understand why her parents had adopted me – and at the time neither did I – but she made it her goal to make my stay there miserable, which she accomplished easily.

The first six months were fine – great actually. Marc and Susanna were sweet and bought me lots of new clothes and furniture for my room. Every time the social worker came around to check on the family, I had nothing but good things to say about Marc and Susanna but I kept my mouth shut about Lucy. I was afraid that if anyone found out about Lucy’s obsession with hurting me, the social worker would drag me back to the orphanage kicking and screaming. Lucy had gotten a pocket knife from Marc for her birthday and made me into a human cutting board whenever she wanted. This time though, I was determined to hold onto my new family and never let go.

The day that the social worker sent her reference of approval to the judge, I was jumping for joy. Less than eight weeks later, the adoption process had been completed and my new family had begun to act a little different.

A week after I had been legally claimed as Charlotte Grey Hastings, the Hastings’ threw a party. I thought they threw the party because they were happy that I was finally their daughter but I was wrong, so wrong.

That night, after dozens of Marc and Susanna's friends had arrived, I headed up to my room because the downstairs had filled up with people who were laughing a little too loudly and smelled like alcohol. When I reached my room, I tried to push the door open but someone had locked it. Sighing, I turned and walked to the door that was directly across from my room.

“Lucy!” I called over the music that shook the floor. I banged my fist on her door. “Lucy!”

A moment later, Lucy's lithe body floated into the hallway, slamming her door shut after her. Lucy looked exactly like Susanna but acted a lot like Marc. Her long, bouncy golden curls reached her waist and her dark brown doe eyes glittered evilly in the low light. I shivered in fear as I stared up at her.

“Lucy,” I said, trying to put more confidence in voice so it wouldn't shake like my legs were, “I know you locked my door again. I'm really tired and I can't go to sleep downstairs today because mommy and daddy have their friends over. Can you please open my door?” I asked her.