Aria

"We can't keep this filthy scum ball in here forever." A rough, dirty voice broke my sleep. I kept my eyes shut, listening in on the conversation. "She's not even a fun time anymore."

"Then I guess we should let her go."

"Yeah, I've got other shit to do besides deal with her. She's long forgotten anyways."

"You got the injections? Inject her in the wrist, smack dab in the middle."

"I ain't gonna do it. Don't want my fucking fingerprints on those injections."

"Fine. God, you're a pussy. Move out of my way."

I squeezed my eyes shut tightly and held my breath as he grabbed my arm. Him. Daniel. That dirty, worthless bastard. It may have been the fact that they thought I was sleeping, or that they were just terrible people, but the injection was stabbed into my wrist with no mercy.

My vision went foggy when I opened my eyes in pain, the last thing I saw being the two dirty people heading out, leaving my body to intoxicate with this cruel substance.

As the liquid flowed through my veins, my body went numb. And so did my mind.

That was the last thing I would ever remember.

---

I woke up on an unfamiliar surface, and better yet, I was freezing. My fingers were numb along with the rest of my body. I felt the blood on my lips from the cracks in the chapped areas. Then I realized I was on the ground.

I sat up with heaving breaths, only a small blue cardigan wrapped around my body. The sky was dark, and when I squinted, I could see many other people in rags, sleeping under cardboard boxes. My heart tugged.

I blinked several times and looked at the ground around me, my eyes falling to a beige bag that was zipped shut. I grabbed the strap and pulled it closer to me, digging through it. My hands froze inside the bag when I felt something in particular. I peered inside the bag and my eyes rounded in surprise.

The bag was filled with wads of cash on end. My jaw dropped, and the first thing that went through my head was, How the hell did I get all this money?

Did I steal it from a bank?

I searched through the bag and found something else, a small booklet. I opened it up and looked at closer, realizing it wasn't just a booklet. It was a wallet, and I contained my ID.

Aria Luciano
DOB: 09/13/1994
Citizenship: USA

I stared at the little card in my hand, trying to figure out what was wrong with it. All of this seemed wrong. I rubbed my eyes and even tried pinching myself, thinking maybe this was all a dream. But when I opened my eyes, I was still in the middle of a group of homeless people on a cold night in the middle of a city.

I stood up. At first, it felt a bit wobbly, but I managed to regain my balance. I looked at the backpack on the ground, then shook my head and took it along with me.

It didn't take me very long to find out that I was in a European city. There were occasional boutiques with Union Jacks flags covering the windows. A couple walked by, speaking in a British accent. I spotted a Mc Donalds at the corner of the street and my stomach began to grumble accordingly. I had money in the bag. Perhaps I could use some of it.

Tightening the thin blue sweater aroung my body, I headed into the McDonald 's restaurant. It was nearly empty, except for a young couple, most likely teenagers, sitting at a table in the corner. They looked like they were in love, laughing quietly within their coversation over their individual McFlurry's.

"Hi, welcome." a voice caught my attention, directing my eyes to the main counter. A girl stood behind the counter in her cashier outfit, smiling widely at me. Maybe she was trying to get me to give her a tip or something.

"Hi." I smiled politely, looking up at the menu. "Can I have one double cheese burger and a large fry?"

The cashier nodded, punching my order into a screen. "Anything else, m'am?"

M'am? I was barely seventeen.

"One small drink." I added. "That's all."

I paid for my food and got my receipt with my order number on it, then headed into the bathroom with the sudden urge to pee. Once I was finished, I headed towards the mirror and caught my reflection.

I screamed.

I ran towards the mirror and started tugging my cheeks, cringing at the soft wrinkles that any other person wouldn't notice, but stood out like neon lights to me.

Sixteen. I was sixteen.

But when I looked in the mirror, it was apparent that I was far older than sixteen.

I looked like I was forty.

The beating of my heart began to speed up. I gripped the edge of the sink and blinked hard, hoping that when I opened my eyes, I would be sixteen again. That didn't work.

And so I began to freak out.

I whimpered softly, trying not to cry.I even pinched myself, as if I were in a dream. Nothing worked. Nothing at all. I took deep breaths, trying to calm myself, when something flashed in the mirror and caught my eye.

A necklace.

I looked down, studying to small heart pendant resting on my chest. I picked it up, quickly realizing that the three dimensional shape of the charm wasn't ordinary.

It was a locket.

My hands began to shake with anxiety as I took the necklace off and picked the locket open. My heart nearly froze at the two pictures pressed into the inside of the locket.

On the right was a picture of a man wit h blonde hair. The picture looked a bit faded out, and it didn't help that it was so small. However, I could tell the man was smiling happily. The eyes and the overall face had long faded. On the left was an even more faded picture. I could only make out three heads, two of which I knew for sure were blondes. The other head looked smaller, therefore harder to see.

My fingers shook as I held the locket, the only possible clue to finding out why I didn't look sixteen anymore.

I left the bathroom silently to see my order on the counter. I walked up and grabbed my tray of food, popping a few french fries into my mouth while I chose a booth to sit in a few seats down from the teenage couple.

"Stop it, Will!" the girl hissed at the dark haired boy when he tried to steal some of her McFlurry, but she was still smiling all the same. "God, I hate you."

"No you don't." 'Will' rolled his eyes, dipping his finger into his McFlurry and wiping it on his girlfriend's nose. Then he reached out and tugged on a strand of her blonde hair.

"I seriously don't know why I'm friends with you." The girl groaned, wipping her nose clean. "All you do is bully me."

Ah, so they were the two overly close friends who had every bit of attraction for each other but were too afraid to let each other know the truth. Crazy kids.

I focused my attention on my food, slowly deciding what to eat first before I ended up devouring it all. I was starving to no end, and I had to resist myself from getting up and ordering myself another meal. I gulped down my drink and sat back in the booth, staring out the glass window. The streets had started to empty out, only the occasionally pair or two walking home for the night.

"She looks lonely." I heard a feminine whisper coming from the two lovestruck friends. I turned my head towards, to see them both putting their heads down in embarrassment of being heard.

"Sorry," the girl apologized, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I didn't mean to offend you in any way."

"It's okay." I smiled. "You two are a cute couple." I complimented, knowing that they were only friends. I just wanted to see them blush and get all awkward.

As I thought, the blonde girl's cheeks turned crismon and the dark haired boy cleared his throat abruptly. "We're not dating." they protested in unison, looking at each other then averting their eyes.

"We've just been friends for an extremely long time, m'am." the boy explained. "She's practically my sister."

I saw hurt flash in the girl's eyes, but it vanished as quick as it came.

"Oh." I nodded hesitantly. "Well, my apologies, then."

The two teenagers smiled politely and shortly after, gathered their things, heading out of the fast food restaurant. I watched as they walked past my window, the guy hugging the girl to his side as they walked into the chilly night.

I smiled at them, shaking my head. Young love.

I struggled to decide what I should do. I didn't have a clue where I could possibly sleep, and there was no way I could just go buy an apartment or something. I would have to stay in a motel for tonight until I could muster up some sort of plan. I had no other option.

I slipped out of the booth and threw the backpack over my shoulder, stepping out onto the quiet streets. I must have walked a mile or two before reaching a motel, built into the trees. I took a deep breath and studied the building. It was completely run down, with green vines covering the entire front of the motel. The sign flickered on and off, buzzing as electricity flew through it.

I took a deep breath and approached the entrance of the motel. My nose was met with a strong, musty smell, like a mixture of a garbage dump and spoiled milk. I scrunched my nose and made my way to the front desk, ringing the small bell for service.

An old lady with grey hairs sporting in her head of brown strands pushed opened the "Employee's Only" door, scowling when she saw me standing on the other side of the desk.

"What do you want?" she spat, her voice croaky as if she hadn't used it in ages.

I held back a scoff. The way she spoke was no way to attract customers. "I'd like to buy a room please, only one night."

The old lady, Claire, according to her nametag, scanned my face before rolling her eyes and typing something into the old box shaped computer.

"Fifty two euros." she spat, spit literally flying out of her mouth as she spoke. I dodged her saliva and quickly took out the needed money from my backpack, eager to get away from her. She grabbed the money from me and shoved it into her pocket. My jaw dropped.

The old lady tossed me a key and turned swiftly, pushing through the door she had come from. Good, stay in there.

I looked down at the room number on the key. Engraved into it were the numbers 125. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair stressfully before hunting for my room. Once I stopped in front of my room and stepped inside, the musty smell seemed to become even stronger. I nearly gagged, shutting my door and locking it.

I slid off my backpack and collapsed on the bed, wincing when my back met with metal springs. Shit, the concrete floor was more comfortable than this.

I groaned and rubbed my eyes, sitting up while trying to process what had happened today. Nothing was making any sense. How could I possibly be homeless? What happened to my dad? I had been living with him in California for my entire life.

Upon the new thought of my father, my muscles became weak. Memories flooded through my mind, visions, past occurrences of him touching me, hurting me. I remembered. He had raped me. I remembered him coming home almost every night, drunk and out to get me. I shuddered, wondering where he was now. Was he still in California?

I shook the memory of that vicious devil ouf of my head and tried to remember other things. The more I tried to remember, the more blurred my thoughts became. Something was wrong. My father couldn't be the only thing I could remember. There had to have been more that happened in my life. What got me here? Why was I in London instead of California? Why was I homeless?
Endless questions clouded my mind.
I stood up, done thinking about anything for the night. All I had now was the sudden urge to shut my eyes and fall into a heavy slumber. After washing my hair and body in the gross, insect infested shower, I toweled myself dry and had no choice but to wear the same clothes again. I would need to buy myself some clothing first thing tomorrow. Without any effort, I crawled into bed and fell asleep, exhaustion conquering me.

---

I woke up late. The sun was already high up in the sky and the birds were tweeting loudly by my window. I grumbled quietly and sat up in the uncomfortable bed, rubbing my eyes tiredly.
"Shut up." I snapped at the birds as the sung loudly. I swear, they only began to tweet louder. I got out of bed and combed out the knots in my hair with my fingers, feeling like Tarzan. I was beyond worried about shelter for tonight; I didn't want to have to stay in this disgusting motel again, but it didn't seem like I would have any other choice.

After getting my muscles woken up, I grabbed my backpack, my only possession, and left the room. I tossed the key onto he front desk as I headed out, for the nasty old lady was no where in sight.

The streets were busy as ever, people pushing past me to get to their destinations. I frowned. I had no destination. I hadn't a clue what I was doing, let alone where I was going.

It was then that I spotted a large clothing shop at the end of the street, and I looked down at the bag of money that hung over my left shoulder. People were entering the shop quickly, so it must have been a popular place for clothes shopping. Perhaps I could start by getting some decent clothing.

I smiled to myself and began walking towards the end of the street, glad that I had found a place to start.

Notes