Blood everywhere. Star woke up the memory of blood, and the stench.

She was half a world away, safe from the monsters, but she did not feel safe.  Star may never feel safe.

All she had known at home was abuse, the very people who were supposed to love her, beat her, raped her, treated her worse than a dog.

What if the Baxter’s were like that?

Star knew nothing about these people who were now her parents, the girl who was now her older sister.

The truth was Star was frightened.  She did not want to admit that, not even to herself, but she was frightened.

So scared, the memories were so real.

She could smell the blood.

But she was not scared because her family was dead, this was a relief to her, she was afraid that something worse would happen to her.

The hell she had been through before may not have been the worst.

Perhaps she would be taken somewhere else, somewhere where they tortured her more.

Chapter Two:

Star woke up cold sweat pouring down her face.

The memories were so real.

So vivid, it felt like they were happening now instead of almost four years ago.

She could smell the blood, taste the fear, not fear because her family was dead, but fear of the unknown.

She had worried then that she would be taken somewhere worse, where she would be tortured more than her Father tortured her.

That’s why she was so scared of these people who were to be her family.  What if they were more like her Father?  What if they hurt her?

Something told her they were not like that, but that did not stop the fear inside of her.

She had horrible memories of the things that had happened to her before.

The things that her Father had done to her, her brother, the men of the neighborhood.

She was as worthless as a lazy old dog in their mind.

Girls just did not matter.

Star shuttered at the memories.

Memories she wished she could forget.

This was supposed to be a second chance for her, a new chapter, but she did not know these people, and she had fear of the things she did not know.

They were now her family yes, but they were also strangers.

People she did not know, and she worried that she would get hurt again.

What if they are monsters?

Star had been thrust into a new world, a whole new culture, so no wonder she had fears.  Fears of the things she did not know.

She had been taught to believe that all Christians were evil infidels who were bound for hell, but the truth was she knew that she had already lived in hell.

The memories of the glass shards haunted her.

Old broken cold bottles that left scars on her in places there should never be scars.