12.

For a moment it was silent while I was still sniffing and crying.

"Jade, don't worry okay baby, I'll do everything to fix it, I'll talk to my aunt and uncle please calm down." His voice didn't sound as warm as usual.

"When are you leaving?" 

Jake's voice betrayed how he was feeling. I could hear the heartbreak.

"In less than ten minutes." My voice sounded so small, a little raw from the crying as my tears burned my skin.

"Okay, don't worry I'll make sure you won't have to stay for long, it's not too far please be careful okay, let me handle it." 

"Okay," I sniffed through my tears, afraid I couldn't trust my voice if I said more.

"I will fight for us, just make sure you do all you can and I promise to do the same, Lilly and I can still visit," Jake reassured me.

"I love you too."

"I know you do, now please don't do anything so they can reject the request for adoption okay?" I said.

"I love you."

"I love you too," my voice echoed his words. He broke the line and I kept crying until there was no time left and Bella came in to carry out my bags.

The entire ride to Summerville I felt the burning sensation of my first broken heart and numbness, protecting me from my own hurt. While I usually loved car rides, today I hated every second of being in this car with my legal guardian.

The place Bella chose to be my new house in Summerville was a white Victorian house surrounded by a beautiful garden. The hallway we stepped into had a shining wooden floor, the walls were painted white. 

I was inside all day long. I had to hand over anything important, like my phone and credit card, It made me resent the woman called Lydia instantly. 

The first two weeks I barely came out of my room, while the others were at school I had to do chores, and I resented everyone and everything in this place. I missed everything I left behind in Savannah, and since I arrived here I never even bothered to try to befriend the others or to be friendly.

Though I felt sad and missed my old life, I was disappointed in myself for letting my walls down and allowing myself to become comfortable. I knew this would happen. 

After two weeks Lydia took the other kids and me to an internet cafe so we could have thirty minutes of computer time. It was a sunny day, I was glad I was video chatting with Jake and Lillith.

Jake acted reserved, I saw through him when he pretended to be bored. His voice was too excited, he was too eager for what I had to say. I didn't know him like this, but maybe he didn't want me to know how badly this affected him as well. 

Lillith was in the background. Lillith chatted off about everything that might even slightly interest me, and she teased her brother to drop the act. 

I curled up on my bed and cried, mourning the life I used to have. Despite knowing I'd have to leave someday, being here was worse than I imagined when I doubted whether I should let Jake in. 

All I knew was that I needed to get out of here. 

For days I carried on like that, that was until I decided I didn't want to wait. I didn't want to wait for wherever CPS would take me. 

The bus took me close enough for me to call Jake. He picked up and soon enough he came with the woman he lived with right now. She had light brown hair and blue eyes. She looked like the definition of a mother. 

She picked me up and took me to their house, where a few other kids lived and gave me a drink while we chatted. I explained what had happened. From moving me away and the lack of schooling to the chores I had to do, not being allowed to see a doctor or have my phone or call anyone except for the one time when we went to the internet cafe. 

Jake went to bed, he hugged me and I saw sadness in his eyes. The woman, whose name was Sally drove me back to Summerville. She had a lot to lose if she didn't return me, which I understood despite feeling sad and betrayed. 

Just when I was almost calm after crying for hours once again, I heard loud noises coming from downstairs, shouting from one of the other kids I hadn't bothered to learn the name from. 

I wondered what was going on, usually the only trouble here was me. I decided to see for myself, what was the worst that could happen? 

Feeling no fear since all I cared about was already taken from me I went to look, the air smelled like fear, and that was confirmed when I looked at the first faces of children and workers downstair. Fear was etched into their faces.

Not fully realizing what was going on, in fractions of seconds a boy, with cold blue eyes and blonde hair pointed the gun in his hands, the reason why everyone looked terrified at me and he pulled the trigger.

"What's going on?" I came down and rolled my eyes as I walked to the fridge and poured myself a cola as if there wasn't a boy with a gun.

"Jade, run, find a place to hide."

"Jade, what are you doing?!"

Quite honestly, I never feared death. I had wished I hadn't been born since I could remember, and if I was honest, I didn't really have anything to lose. 

Not like some of these other kids. One of the other kids, a girl with raven black hair and green eyes had peed herself but took the shift of attention to attempt to sneak away.

"What are you doing out of your room" The boy shifted his body in my direction while he still held the gun aimed at Lydia. 

"I Live here." I took a few sips of my drink. We usually were only allowed to drink milk and water.

"Do you have a death wish, or are you really insane?" 

"Can't it be both? I shrugged and took another sip."

The boy shifted the gun in my direction, and despite the hesitation in his eyes and posture, he decided I was a worse threat than Lydia. 

A few of the others took their chance to silently get out while the boy kept his focus on me. 

"Get out now." The boy's voice was low, he kept all of his attention on me. 

"Or what? If I die I die, if you're going to do this just get it over with, or at least let me finish my drink. Would you want one too? While I'm at it, let me grab a snack as well."

"Last chance." The boy said with more determination. 

I laughed as if he just made a joke and rolled my eyes. I just wanted to step into the direction of the fridge again for another drink.

"I mean it, I warned you and this gun is loaded."

"Oh, I have no doubt you mean it, I'm curious though. Why do all of this?"

The boy looked confused.

"What?"

"Why shoot others if your life is miserable? These kids aren't your enemy, these workers, as much as I despise them are people doing their jobs. So what is your problem wannabe cowboy?"

For a moment he was silent, his attention was still on me as he closed the distance between us.

When I saw he was thinking and pissed off by my words, I tried to grab the gun from him, I tried to pin him down, he yelled a lot but I didn't listen to his words.

That was when the first bang sounded, a sharp pain quickly went through my stomach as a gunshot hit me.

I heard his voice when he cursed at me while I still fought back despite the pain. I had successfully distracted him by biting him, grabbed the gun and shot his leg. 

Sadly I was too weak, he hit me in my bleeding stomach and got up to grab a knife. He started cursing at me while he held me against the wall and stabbed me over and over again.

All I could hope for was that I stalled him enough for the others to escape, and the realisation that I would never see Jake or Lillith again went through my mind when everything faded away. 

One last bang sounded, a last bullet in my head before I fell to the ground and everything turned black...