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Abi's P.O.V.

My sixteenth birthday, it was the day every teenage girl dreamed of, her sweet sixteen, but in my case that was definitely not what I had wanted. It was like any other day, I got up and got ready for school silently so that I wouldn't wake my parents, not wanting to know what would happen if I did. I ate my breakfast silently and as I turned to walk out of the kitchen my mother was stood in the doorway.

"Happy birthday." She said, revealing a gift from behind her back.

I forced a smile as she handed it to me, thanking her. She wasn't as bad as my father, she only got angry when she had been drinking, which was most afternoons so I would get it when I got back from school, but my father was angry all the time, hitting me any chance he got. I tore off the gift wrap to reveal a small box. I opened it to see a silver necklace, it was beautiful, I was about to put it on when my father came barrelling down the stairs and slammed my mother against the wall, pinning her by her throat. I felt my heart start to race and I got angry, I let out a scream and what happened next was a blur. I was thrown backwards, smashing through the kitchen window, flames surrounded me and the house exploded as I hit the grass outside. I looked up, a pile of rubble in front of me and felt helpless as I knew my parents were underneath it all.
"No!" I screamed and a ring of fire surrounded me.
I was petrified, looking around to see if anyone had seen what had happened. Nobody was around so I scurried to my feet and ran in the opposite direction, scared that I would end up hurting someone else.

I woke with a start, beads of sweat running down my forehead. I quickly wiped them away with my dirty jumper sleeve before getting to my feet, knowing I had to move before the rush of people started. I picked up my rucksack from the store doorway and started off, it wasn't the place I would have usually slept, which was the forests, but that was too close to the store I had almost been caught stealing from yesterday. As I walked past an electronics store I saw the local news playing on one of the TV's, I quickly pulled my cap down further as my face was plastered on the screen. 'Local store thief' was in bold letters beneath it and my heart ached, that wasn't what I wanted to be known as, but stealing was the only way I could survive. The date in the top corner of the screen was what had caught my eye though, 15th October 2017, today was my nineteenth birthday and it marked three years since my life was flipped upside down. I shook my head and walked away, not wanting to think about it anymore, especially after the nightmare I had had last night. As I walked along the streets of Manhattan I enjoyed the peace and quite, knowing it wasn't going to last much longer when rush hour hit. I looked up, seeing a guy a few metres ahead of me, he looked rich but not like a business man, he had normal clothes on and a pair of sunglasses as if he was trying to hide his face. But just by the way he carried himself, it was easy to see he loved himself and had more than enough money. He pulled something that looked like a phone out of his pocket but with it came something else, it flew towards me and stuck to my leg, only then did I realise it was a $50 bill.

"Sir! Excuse me sir!" I called, trying to get his attention as I sped up to catch him up.

He was either ignoring me or didn't hear me because he continued walking. I let out a huff as I jogged up to him, putting my hand on his shoulder, he quickly spun round with a weird look on his face.

"Can I help you?" He asked rudely.

Part of me wanted to slap him and keep the money but I knew I couldn't.

"You uh... you dropped this." I sais, holding the money out for him.

"Oh wow, thanks, but keep it." He said with a small smile.

"Are... are you sure?" I asked quickly.

"Positive, it looks like you need it more than I do." He said, turning on his heel to walk away.

I didn't know whether he meant that as an insult but in that moment I didn't care. I ran into the nearest shop, buying myself a big bottle of water and some snacks before taking them up to the counter. The lady scanned them and pressed a few buttons before turning back to me, giving me a small smile.

"That will be $8 please." She said.

I handed her the money and her eyes went wide, she then handed me back my change and I quickly made my way out. I had wanted to buy so much more but I knew I had to pace myself, I didn't know when I would get so lucky again, this was the most amount of money I had been given in, well, three years. I made my way back across town and into the forest, it was where I felt safest, I had spent most of my time there and I knew my way around like the back of my hand. I climbed up into one of the trees, my usual spot, hanging my rucksack on one of the branches before eating some of my food. My stomach ached and made a loud noise, this was the first thing I had eaten in a few days, all I had managed to steal yesterday was a bottle of water before I was almost caught. I stayed there for a while and when it got to around noon I finished off my food and water, then let out a groan, regretting what I had just done. I wanted to save some of it for later but then I decided I would just go back into the town, it was my birthday after all so I was going to 'treat' myself and spend maybe a few more dollars but not too many. When the sun began to set I made my way back into the town, knowing there wouldn't be too many people around, just the way I like it. I headed for a different store this time, buying a big bag of chips and another bottle of water, paid for it then headed out, ducking back into the alleys that I had made my way here in. I preferred the alleys, people tended to avoid them so I didn't have to worry about being spotted. I quickly checked over my shoulder to make sure I hadn't been followed but when I turned back around I hit something solid and stumbled backwards, falling to the ground. I looked up to see a big guy stood there with an evil snarl on his face.

"Hand over your money." He said, his voice deep and scary sounding.

"I uh... I just spent the last of it on these." I said, holding up the chips and the water.

He smacked them out of my hands and grabbed the collar of my shirt, dragging me upwards and forwards. I felt his hand dig around in my pocket and he pulled out the $40 I had, in one swift movement he slammed my head against the wall and I slid down to the ground. I felt blood drip down the side of my face as he pulled out a gun and aimed it at me, more specifically my stomach. The gun shot echoed through the alley as he shot me in the side, I let out a scream as I looked back up at him, clutching my side to try and put pressure on the wound.

"When I ask you a question don't lie. Now do you have any more money?" He asked.

I shook my head, not having the energy to form and say any words. He bent down and got in my face, I saw the pure rage in his eyes, I was terrified but did my best not to show it. He stood back up straight and spat at me, my eyes started to go blurry and the pressure I was putting on the wound was now non existent. Even through my blurry eyes, I saw an arrow come flying past me and stick into the guys chest, he landed with a thud on the concrete next to me. The last thing I remember seeing was some guy carrying a bow and a quiver on his back, I couldn't make out any of his features and the ringing in my ears blocked out what he was saying. As he crouched down beside me, everything went black.