It Started in the Woods ((ON HOLD))

Chapter 1

It was a cool summer evening. The sky was going into many shades of pinks, purples, and oranges as the sun set beautifully beyond the horizon. A soft breeze blew across waves of thin grasses and plants. Out in the middle of nowhere in the countryside was a small house. It was inhabited by a small girl. Her rich, straight blond hair covered her back, she had bright, mesmerizing green eyes complemented by her delicate features. Little Jaelyn sat outside on the wooden stairs leading up to the porch. She silently watched the sun in the distance. Thin hairs blew lightly around her face from the slow, comforting wind. Thoughts constantly clouded her mind as she reminded herself of one thing. That one thing she tries to tell herself every day as much as she possibly can to help keep her faith in her future. 

It's okay, she thought to herself, it's okay, we'll get out of this place. 

If there's anything she had ever wanted, it was to just go and live in any other place in the world instead of continuing to stay here, fearing for her life more and more every day. To her, her house had never felt like home. Well, it felt like home at least when she had her mother around. When her mom and dad were together, things were different. Her dad, John, wasn't near at all abusive towards her. Although back then when he still went to bar with some friends he kept his drinking under control. At least he tried his best to. Sometimes he would call his wife, Julie, for a ride back home because he had a little bit more to drink than he had anticipated. 

But then times passed, and a tragic event happened as the death of Jealyn's mother came around the corner. When she died things changed, everything changed, especially for poor Jaelyn. 

Jaelyn dearly missed her mother very much. To Jaelyn, Julie was the sweetest person that anyone could have ever met. Julie had great, healthy curly brown hair with green-emerald eyes. She had a very impeccable personality like no other. And she was soon gone, and Jaelyn had to slowly learn that there is no way to bring her back. No matter how many times that realization haunted Jaelyn she always found a way to shake it off. She always found a way to shake everything off. The only thing she could never be able to shake off right away, however, was the scars and bruises that claimed her body everytime her father would begin beating her. Some of them thankfully went away over time, some stayed longer than wanted. 

Jaelyn continued to look in the distance of the sunset, rubbing the pain away from a dark bruise on her left forearm. A tear slowly dripped down her face as the thoughts of her dead mother made it's way back into her brain. This served as a warning of the nightmares she may have tonight. Yes, she had nightmares about the mysteries of why her life is the way it is, but it was only every once and a while. She quickly wiped the tear getting up from the porch stairs. She stood perfectly still watching the rest of the sun go down. Before she walked inside she saw a sight that she was always happy to see. A rusty silver truck was not in the driveway, which meant her father was not home. She walked inside of her now quiet and peaceful home to get herself some dinner. A small piece of paper was hanging from the refrigerator door. Jaelyn looked closer wondering what the sudden note said: 

Jaelyn, 

There's some food in the fridge you can heat up in the microwave, and when you're finished eating the dishes need to be washed. I'll be gone all night at a party and won't be back until morning, okay, sweetie? Don't try anything while I'm gone. Love ya, little twerp. 

Jaelyn ripped the note off the fridge with a disgusted look on her face. She hated how her dad would try to sweet talk her when he was around his buddies. The one thing about his friends is that they would get pretty upset with John if they were to find out he beat his own daughter over his wife's death. All of John's friends have kids and they don't even do anything like that to them no matter how much they come out as bad people.