Larry looked at his watch impatiently and growled in the back of his throat, "According to Janette, I need to get you back in time for supper."
"Supper?" Serenia complained in her mind. Her muscles were sore, and she wasn't sure if she would be able to move once she got to her new home. Somehow, she just didn't think she could voice her thoughts aloud. She might get slapped.
She was allowed to take off her skates and put on her street shoes. He escorted her home as if she would run away. More and more, Serenia was realizing that she was a prisoner.
She grudgingly started dinner, but she was too slow for Janette, who came in and started screaming at her to hurry up. Serenia flinched as she did what she was told.
Soon, supper was on the table, and once again, she was left with scraps as if she was a dog.
She was happy when she was finally able to go to her room-however cold and ugly it was. She cuddled under her blanket and stared up at the ceiling.
She didn't have to wait too long before Josh came to join her. "What are you still doing here?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" Serenia looked at him with confusion written all over her face.
"Why don't you just run away?"
Serenia sighed as she looked back up at the ceiling, "Because I have nowhere to go."
"Why don't you go to my cousin? I heard you two were friends." there was a slight hint of jealousy.

Serenia was scared. She had been practicing and practicing. It sounded like she was going to have to practice every day after school.
Every time she fell, Larry would get mad at her He would grab her roughly by the arm and make her try again. She could fake that she was falling, but how long could this go on before he just killed her out of impatience? Yes, she knew who he was. She had dreams every night. She thought that ice skating would be fun at first, but now it was becoming a literal nightmare.
She slowly got up and tried to skate again. Her muscles were sore, and she wasn't sure if she could handle much more of this. It was like a torture she had never known existed.

James knew where his father was. When he was not working or drunk on the couch, he was at the lake looking for his next, "Iced Princess."
That's what he called them. It disturbed James in ways no one knew. He had nightmares of their faces even more now than he ever did before. However, the cold hard face in his nightmares was of one who was not dead yet...Serenia.
He would always wake up in a cold sweat. Her eyes always pleaded with him to help her, but in these nightmares, he was always helpless.
He slowly walked out of the door. The day was cold, and he hid his hands deep within his jacket pockets. He wanted to see what his dad saw, the way his dad saw it. Maybe if he could see what his dad saw, he could help more people.
What he saw next, however, made him stop in his tracks. Whoever Serenia's ice skating teacher was, he was no longer employed. He saw his dad. He saw his dad teaching the girl how to skate, and if he had his way, Serenia would learn how to skate in no time. His dad was getting desperate for ice.
He stayed hidden behind the same tree that he did before and watched. Serenia kept falling. He wasn't sure if she was doing that on purpose or not. Surely she knew...

Josh came home and noticed that Serenia was gone. "Where is the girl?" he asked as nonchalantly as he could manage.
"She went ice skating." his mother said, sitting in a lounge chair with a book in her lap.
Josh tried to keep the alarm out of his voice, "Ice skating already?"
"Why, yes, dear. She can't be lazy. She needs to do something extracurricular to make us look good," Janette looked up at Josh, "Why the sudden interest in Serenia?"
Josh shrugged his shoulders, "I was just curious." he could feel his mother's unbelieving stare on his back as he ran up the stairs. This was not good.

It only took him five minutes to drive to the frozen lake. Serenia gulped, remembering when she had first met James. He had warned her that her life was in danger. Of course, she had not taken it seriously then, but now she did.
They both got out of the car. They had to walk down a hill and walk past several trees in order to get to the lake.
The sun hit the ice just right and made it look like glass. Once they got to the lake, Serenia saw her reflection. She also saw the fear in her eyes. If she could see it, then she knew he could see it, too, and that didn't make her feel any better.
"Now, put them on," Larry pointed to the skates, and she did as she was told. Larry smiled, "I will give you a month to learn how to skate properly."
Serenia looked at him in shock, "What?!"
Larry looked at her with impatience, "First comes grace, then comes jumps."
Serenia was shaking her head, "I'm not jumping."
Larry lost control of his temper and slapped her. She fell hard on the ice. Tears smarted her ice, but she didn't let them fall. Larry straightened up his shoulders and coughed like nothing happened, "When you ice skate, it is just like roller blading." he attempted to show her with his own skates.
Serenia slowly stood up as she tried to do the same. She followed his movements and only fell twice. She did not know why she was trying to do this, because she knew that it was only going to lead to her death. At the same time, she thought, he's going to kill me if I don't do it.
There was no win-win situation, and the more she realized this, the more she wanted to scream out.
"You're getting better," Larry said proudly, "Not quite graceful, but you'll get there in no time."
Serenia could hear an invisible clock ticking, signaling that her time was nearly over. She had to come up with a plan, but she knew that she couldn't do that by herself. She refused to go down without a fight!

At that moment, Janette was coming down the stairs, "Larry!" she exclaimed, "It is so good to see you!"
"The pleasure is all mine." he lightly kissed her hand.
Serenia looked at them with disgust, "I think I forgot a spot on the kitchen floor." she murmured.
Larry looked at her, "Well, it's going to have to wait, because your ice skating lessons are beginning soon. Go get your ice skates."
Serenia looked between the two of them. They looked perfect for each other, "I'm not going anywhere with you."
He looked at her angrily, "You want to tell that to your new mother?"
"She's not my mother, and I just did."
Janette's face looked like a tomato, and at first, it didn't seem like she could talk. She took a couple of deep breaths before she said, "You will go get your ice skates on, or I will have you in isolation for two weeks!"
Isolation did not sound like fun to Serenia, so she grudgingly did as she was told. She slowly grabbed her skates.
She slowly walked up the stairs and sighed, "Hurry up!" she could hear him growl.
"Coming..." she said in a sarcastically sweet voice.
He opened the car door for her, but she didn't think he did it to be nice; probably just to make sure that she got into the car.

Serenia had worked nonstop since that morning-whether it was cleaning the floors, or doing dishes, it did not take her long to realize that she was Cinderella.
She would normally be in tears by now, but she was way past that now. She felt numb. She no longer knew who she was. She was beaten, and she wanted to fight back, but that was proving to be difficult.
There was a knock on the door. "Go get that." her 'evil stepmother' said from upstairs.
Serenia sighed as she answered the door. The face of her nightmares appeared in the doorway. You must be Serenia. My son has told me a lot about you." he tried to smile pleasantly, but it fell a little short.
"I highly doubt that." Serenia said dryly, but stepped back to let him in.
"So I'm sure that Janette has told you..."
"Told me what?" Serenia asked suspiciously.
"Well, I am your new ice skating coach." he grinned.
"You're Brad's brother?" Serenia's eyes widened in surprise.
"Yes, ma'am," he laughed, "At least she told you something."
Serenia groaned, "You know what, forget it. I'm not into ice skating anymore."
"Aw, Serenia, don't give up. It just takes a little practice. Besides, I don't think you have a choice." he looked at her menacingly.

James sat in bed. He had to find Serenia. He knew that she was out of the hospital, but she hadn't been in school that day.
Not only that, but his father was acting weird-almost desperate. He knew something that James didn't think he should know...

Josh had wished that he could tell his mother that he wasn't as evil as she was, but he knew that that wasn't the right thing to do right now.
It was better if she never knew, because if he looks like the "monster child," it could save his own skin, and then his mother might never find out about Serenia's weird story, which would save her skin. He just prayed that she would never find out...

Serenia woke up and fell off the couch, and then she flew off the floor and hit the floor. Once Serenia remembered where she was, she bit her lower lip, so she wouldn't scream out.
However, when Josh woke up, he yelled out, "What the hell?!"
"Shh..." Serenia said, while she was being slapped.
Josh grabbed her while trying to hit an unseen force. Serenia looked at him, "Josh, let him get it out. You'll only get hurt."
Josh soon realized that she was right when she was thrust about, and he ended up hitting a wall.
Finally, it was over, and Serenia laid on the ground, trying to breathe.
Josh slowly got off of the floor and walked over to her, "What the hell just happened?"
Serenia sighed as she slowly stood up,"You wouldn't understand..."
"Try me." Josh said without hesitation.
"I have a connection with this kid in my class," Serenia took a deep breath, "His father beats him, sometimes whips him. I feel it." she lifted up the bottom of her shirt,s o he could the scars at the bottom of her back.
Josh hissed through his teeth and looked at the scars, "How is that possible?"
"I don't know," Serenia sighed, "I just know that this is what happens." she pointed to her face.
Josh nodded, "We need to get you some helpl."
Serenia looked at him strangely, "What help?"
"I don't know..." Josh looked uncomfortable, "Maybe you can call a cop or something..."
"Are you nuts?!" Serenia looked at him in shock, "I can't tell this to a cop! They will put me in a nut house!"
They both heard the door open and some light footsteps on the stairs. Soon, Janette was face to face with both Serenia and her son. She lightly smirked at Serenia's already bruised face, "You know, son, I would normally commend you for such great work, but we need to be careful now, don't we? We don't want anyone asking any questions. Now I do have some news that might be a little shocking."
Serenia waited patiently.
"Your ice skating teacher came by. I told him that we would no longer need his services, because I have someone much  better in mind."
"What?!" Serenia looked at her in shock, "Who?"
"It is Brad's brother, who has been a pro for years. He will be a better teacher for you. Now hurry up and get dressed. You have chores to do." she clapped her hands together and walked back up the stairs.
Josh groaned, "Oh no..."
"What...what's wrong?" she looked at him with wide-open eyes.
"Uh...Brad's brother is crazy."
Serenia took a step backwards, "No offence, but your whole family is crazy, so how are you sane?"
"I'm not," Josh said simply, "I'm just not a killer."
Serenia nodded, "Makes sense. Now leave. I have to get dressed."
Josh nodded as he left her alone...

James woke up to his father storming into his room, "Oh no..." he groaned as his father tugged him off his bed and started beating him...

Serenia sighed as she laid on the couch and stared up at the ceiling. The makeshift bed was lumpy, but Serenia wasn't tired anyway.
She was lost in her thoughts about her father and all the good times that they had had.
Tears came to her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away when she heard a knock on the door.
"Come in." she said. She was not sure they had heard  her, because there was a hesitation that lasted a minute or two.
Finally, Serenia heard the door squeal and hard footsteps on the stairs.
The son arrived and looked at her for a moment. He seemed nervous and looked around with disgust written all over his face.
"Yeah, I might have to get posters of landscapes to brighten this place up a little." Serenia lightly laughed, wondering why Josh was even there.
Josh finally looked at her, and he looked more at ease as he sat on the foot of the couch, "I guess you're my new baby sister."
"Well, that depends-how old are you?"
"Seventeen." he said, still looking around the damp basement.
"I haven't seen you at school..."
"I go to a private school about an hour away." he said.
"Oh..." Serenia said, and then it got quiet. The quiet became unnerving, so she said, "I kind of doubt you came to brag about your private school."
"No...I...came to talk about my parents..."
Serenia sat up straighter, "What about them?"
"They...aren't what you would call the perfect parents..."
"Okay..." Serenia said, so he would continue.
"Listen...you just need to do what they tell you, okay. Don't ask questions, and most of all, don't complain!"
"Um...okay, but what is this about? What's going on?"
"I'm afriad of what they will do to you." Josh said quietly.
"What?!" Serenia asked in shock, "What will they do to me?"
"Nothing," Josh said too quickly and stood up, "I have already said too much."
Serenia grabbed his hand before he could leave, "Please," she looked deeply into his eyes, "You can tell me."
Josh looked back into her eyes and sighed as he sat back down. "You know...we were a happy family once...like a family should be. My father...he died when I was twelve, and nothing was the same again."
 The silence went from seconds to minutes, "Continue." Serenia said quietly.
Josh looked at her, "Then she married Brad, and things have gone downhill. They had a baby girl..."
"Had?" Serenia furrowed her eyebrows.
"No one knew about her. They treated her terribly. If she complained, they would dunk her under water until she nearly drowned. One time, it was too long...and she died. They threw her into the lake,a nd that was the last of Janey Bowgart."
Serenia was shocked, "They killed...their own daughter?!"
"Sh...keep it down!" Josh whispered as he listened to make sure that no one was coming.
"Sorry..." Serenia whispered and leaned back against the couch.
Josh looked at her and continued, "Yes, they killed their daughter, and I'm afraid the might kill you."
"But the social worker-"
"That social worker is a joke," Josh cut her off and rolled his eyes, "Even I can see that."
Serenia was about to stick up for her, but then she realized that she could not deny it, because she had thought the same thing. She just nodded.
Josh stood up, "I should probably go."
Serenia grabbed his hand, "Please don't leave me by myself."
Josh stopped and hesitated before he sat back down. "There's not much room." he laughed.
Serenia shrugged as she sat close to teh edge, so Josh could have some room. Josh laid down and held her, so she wouldn't fall off the couch...

Chapter 3

James went home after school, and, as usual, his dad was in a drunken rage. James was in no mood for him, so he walked past his dad, up to his room.
"Don't walk past me, boy!" he roared, "What happened to that girl?!"
"She's off-limits. Find another one."
"Don't tell me what to do! What happened to that girl?"
"She went to another town." James lied with ease. Right now, he was not afraid of his selfish brute of a father.
"You are lying!" his father yelled and threw the beer bottle that he was holding. it broke on the wall above James' head, and beer went everywhere.
"Good job, dad." James murmured as he went into his room and shut the door.