| Prologue Flashback Ten-year old Caroline Benson, ran out of the house and down the stairs. She didn't stop until she reached the beach. It was a hot, summer day. The Florida sun was scorching and her hair was sticky on her neck. She couldn't stand another second of their quarreling. They would scream ugly words at each until one of them broke down and slapped the other. Caroline dropped to the sand and quickly got up again. It was so hot against her skin. Why didn't she remember to bring a towel along? She began scrapping the top sand aside and settled herself on the cooler sand, before letting her thoughts drift back to her parents. Tears streamed down her cheeks, as her mind drifted back to the reason she was at the beach in the first place. It was her safe haven, the only place where she could excape. She hated her life and her family. She wished her life was more like Carly Roberts'. Her mommy and daddy loved each other and she had never heard them fight. Not once! She inhaled the sea-scented breeze and willed her thoughts on more peaceful things. * * * * * Carly Roberts was on her way to invite her best friend, Caroline, to spend the night. Her mom had given her permission and Carly knew that Caroline's mother was sick a lot. Because of this, most nights she would have to fix her own dinner or go to bed hungry. Carly wished that Caroline could be her sister. She spotted Caroline sitting near the water. She knew she would find her there. The water was her favorite place. "Caroline!" Carly yelled, running toward her friend. "Hi," Carloline greeted. "Wanna come spend the night at my house? My mom says it's okay." Caroline hesitated, knowing that she couldn't ask Virginia or Mitch. She wanted nothing more than to spend the night with her friend and she loved spening time with the Roberts'. Being with them was like having a real family. "I don't know if I can," she admitted sadly. "Let's go ask your mom," Carly said, jumping to her feet and pulling her friend along. "I'll ask her later okay," Caroline said. She didn't want her best friend to hear her parents fighting. "My dad's grilling tonight," Carly added, knowing how much Caroline liked her dad's hamburgers. "I need to do my chores, but after I'm done I'll ask my mom, OK?" Caroline explained. "OK," Carly agreed, knowing that Caroline wasn't going to invit her to her house. She had never set foot in Caroline's house and she had seen Caroline's mom only a few times and those had been on the beach. She had never been invited over for dinner or a sleepover but it didn't matter to Carly. * * * * * Caroline walked toward her house. All was quiet as she approached the porch. She pulled open the sceen door and went inside. The reality of her life was overwhelming. Her reality was nothing like Carly Roberts'. The living room was a mess; the couch cushions were strewn about the room and there were springs and stuffing popping out from even more places than before, beer bottles were thrown everywhere and the ashtrays were running over with butts and ashes. She sighed as she started to pick up the mess. Once she had finished cleaning the living room, she headed to her own room. She could hear their snores as she walked by their room. The door was slighly ajar and she peeked in. Her parents must have made up, since they were in each other arms. She hoped they would wake up soon so she could ask them about spending the night at Carly's. She just wanted to spend the night with a real family. She closed their door and went into her room. An hour later Caroline was lying on her bed reading. She checked the clock and hoped that at any minute her mama would wake up so she could ask to go to Carly's before it got too late to go. Her door swung open. Her heart leaped into her throat when she saw that it was Mitch who walked inside. "Daddy, is Mama awake? Should I start dinner?" He laughed as he walked farther inside her room. "She isn't going to be awaking up for a while." He sat down beside her on the bed and touched her cheek. Caroline trembled in fear. She could smell tobacco and beer on his breath. "I'll fix your dinner then," Caroline suggested. She didn't like it when he touched her that way. "I'm not hungry right now, darling." He dropped his hand from her cheek and Caroline let out a sigh of relief, only to intake another deep breath when his hand came to rest on her leg. Her body started to shake. He started moving his hand farther up her leg. She wanted to run from him but she couldn't move. She wanted to scream for her Mama but the sound died in her throat when Mitch's lips descended upon her own. Over her father's shoulders she could see her sister in the doorway. Her brown eye were burning with anger. In a split second, her sister was across the room, pulling her father off Caroline and screaming things that Caroline didn't understand. "You bastard! You will not hurt her like that. I'll kill you first!" Skye screamed. Caroline huddled in the corner of the room. She was trembling with fear and shame. The noise must have woken Virginia because she came into the room then, a sheet wrapped around her body to cover herself. "What the hell is going on here?" she demanded. "You better kept this bastard away from Caroline," Skye yelled at her mother. "Or I'll call the police!" she added, before going to Caroline and hugging her gently. Virginia walked over to Mitch and pulled him away from her daughters. "What the hell did you do to her?" Virginia yelled. "Nothing. I was just trying be nice to the kid and this one," Mitch said, gesturing to Skye, "came in here raising hell about nothing," Mitch spat out. "He was touching her in a way he shouldn't have been!" Skye interrupted. "Maybe you misunderstood, honey," Virginia reasoned, not believing her husband could do anything so inappropriate. "The hell I did!" Skye exclaimed, totally disgusted with her mother's lack of faith in her. "I'm sure you misinterpreted your father's actions. And you need to appologize for your behavior. And your language." "I know what I saw, Mom and I am not sorry for stopping him. And there better not be a next time!" Skye warned with a deadly stare directed at her father. Virginia heaved a sigh of defeat. She was so tired of having to fight with Skye. "You know, you girls get into more trouble than you're worth sometimes. I wish you would just behave yourselves and stop whinning about everything," Viriginia said, reaching for Mitch's hand and pulling him out of the room. Skye slammed Caroline's bedroom door shut when her parents left. "Arrrrgh!!" Skye screamed in frustration. She heard Caroline whimper and looked over to see her sister still huddled in the corner. "Shh...it's okay Caroline. I swear I'll kill him before I let him hurt you," Skye promised, giving her sister another reassuring squeeze. She was still seething over her mother's stupidity but she needed to calm her sister. Caroline watched her sister pace her bedroom. The only good thing in her life besides her friendship with Carly was her big sister. She was eighteen and beautiful, with hair as red as fire. She always wished she had red hair like her sister, in fact she wished she could be more like Skye. "She will never change," Skye realized. "Who?" "Mama. She's a drunk. She doesn't care about anything other than her next drink," Skye explained in annoyance. "I don't want to leave you," Skye admitted but knew that she couldn't afford to take Caroline with her right now. Caroline's lip trembled as she tried to hold back her sobs. "I'm scared." "Once I find a job, I'll send for you. And if he tries to touch you again, go tell Mr. or Mrs. Roberts, they know what to do. You have to promise me that you will tell them if he tries to touch to you again." Tears rolled down Caroline's cheeks, as she looked into her sister's eyes. "I promise. You promise you'll come back for me?" "Yes, I promise, Caroline." End Of Flashback Caroline walked into the grill and her eyes instantly filled with tears at the sight before her. Skye was talking to Sonny. She didn't know what hurt her more: finally seeing her sister again or the fact that she was flirting with her husband. She turned away from them and walked away as childhood memories over took her consciousness. Sonny had moved on. He would never forgive her betrayal but she just couldn't believe he had chosen her sister, of all people. She couldn't blame Sonny or Skye, since she was sure that neither knew about what they both meant to her. She ran past AJ. "Carly wait...we need to talk!" She didn't stop, so he followed. He saw the truck before she did and knew that she was about to be hit. "Carly!" AJ screamed, pushing her out of the way. The truck slammed on his brakes but didn't stop in time. |