1 Growing up

Avril woke up to the sound of blaring sirens racing down the street, the smell of the sewers hitting her nose, and the blinding lights of New York making her squint. Home sweet home she thought to herself as she peeled herself away from the rotted out cardboard box she had been napping in. Honestly it was a miracle that she had survived this long in a city like this. With drug and sex traffickers always on the prowl she should have been snatched up long ago to be abused by some human scum. She slowly crept out of the ally, looking up at the flashing bill board. it flashed the time "3:00 am" well that was a good nap she thought to herself as she stretched out. Looking left and right she thought about where she could find some food. She turned left, deciding she hadn't hit the Parrez Family restaurant in a while. The owner, a huge Latin guy with a round belly and a huge laugh named Morris was a sucker when it came to hungry kiddos.

As Avril slunk down the streets to a seedier part of the flashy, glam city she saw her old run down orphanage. Now abandoned in the wake of its foreclosure due to government assistance being dropped significantly through out the city. The dark molding structure reminded Avril of her time in the orphanage.She remembered the old hateful matron screaming at her day in and day out. "You're as useless as your cracked out father." It had been told to her so many times in the orphanage. Children trying to make themselves better, or the 'volunteers' trying to make themselves feel less ashamed about their own standing in life. "Your cracked out father was too busy trying to get high and kill himself. He came to the orphanage dropping you off. Leaving as fast as possible." of course this was one of the nicer stories out of the plethora she had heard. At least hers had the decency to leave her at an orphanage. Avril could have hated her father for all that she had gone through in her short 18 years of life, but she knew it wouldn't do any good. In fact now that she was looking back on it, it would have only made her an angry and resentful person.

As Avril was lost in thought she turned a corner, scaring a mangy cat from its trash can perch. La Contenta shined in neon blue above an adobe bricked apartment in a mostly closed down strip mall. Across the street you could hear the sounds of the stragglers being booted out of the restaurant. Avril swaggered up to the door, smiling at Torah as she poked her head in.

"You don't happen to have any scraps for a little old ally cat like me do you?" Torah looked up, her smile lighting up the place as she dropped the cloth she was wiping the table down with..

"Avril, my darling girl its been way to long." Torah pounced over the table she had been cleaning, grabbing up Avril in a tight embrace.

"Torah....Can't....breathe" Avril wheezed out. "Oops, sorry darling girl, I got too exited there for a moment." Torah gently set Avril down. Avril plopped herself down at the bar as Torah ran to get some food and Morris her husband. Avril adored the couple and their thick Latin accents. Both of them were warm and gentle with everyone. Avril wondered what it would have been like if she had been their child. She shook her head, trying to dismiss the thought, what ifs' didn't have a place here in the now Avril told herself sternly. Avril looked up from her thoughts. Its to quiet she thought. Avril could feel the danger brewing in the air. She slid of the bar stool, crouching down under the bar. That's when she heard it, the sounds of heavy boots coming into the room. The click of a gun being pulled from its holster. Avril tried to slow her breathing, keeping as quiet as she could. Suddenly a piercing shriek rang through the room. It was Torah, fighting like a wild cat against her restraints in the kitchen. That's when Avril booked it towards the door, trying to make an escape with the distraction that Torah had made. Avril heard a mans curses, and felt her heart drop as she heard the click of the trigger. The bullet went through her shoulder. In a daze she noted it was a colt revolver she was being shot at with. The smell of gun powder and disinfectant entered her nose. Strange how heightened her sense of smell was Avril thought to herself.She couldn't even feel the gunshot wound as she picked herself up. Only to be nocked down again by the butt of the gun slamming into her wounded shoulder. She cried out, feeling the intense pain shoot into her spine. The man using her scraggly brown hair tossed her onto her back, aiming the revolver at her head. She felt burning pain scream through her scalp into her head. As she tried to move she felt her body give out. Her ribs hurt from being thrown so violently, and Avril felt like she needed to gasp for more air.

"Any last words rat?" The man said in a weasel like voice.His foot pushing down on her scrawny frame.

"F*** you, go die in H***" Avril said. The man smiled, pulling back the hammer.

"Don't worry rat I will, but please rats first" he pulled the trigger. A crippling pain seared through Avril, then blackness. Utter black enveloped her into its fold.