Hey guys, this is just a preview of Envy. This story is going to be rated M, so in the real chapter, it will be more graphic, because of swearing, child abuse, etcetera, etcetera. It has been censored.

Envy

Chapter 1

"No! You bastard! Let go of me!" I heard my mother scream from the other room. Nathan Witte swore loudly and I heard a loud smack. I winced. I knew well if I didn't get out soon, he was going to hurt me too. I just need to get out the front door and to safety…

"Now you listen well, female! Women are meant to be used, not heard! So you will do what I tell you!" I heard another smack. I quickly jolted out from under my bed, and I pried open the loose floor board on the floor of my room. I took out my bag, and stuffed it with half of loaf of bread. That would be good enough for two days; I could take a beer or two and trade with Tony for money.

"You will always be a rotten dog! You are good for nothing drunk-!" She was cut off by another punch.

As quiet as I could, I opened up the bedroom door and crawled down the hall. Maybe I could sneak passed their room unnoticed, he won't see me.

"Get on your knees where you belong!"

"N-No!"

I kicked my bag across the hall, and it silently skidded across the floor. I got down on my belly and made my way to the other side. I reached their door and I saw it was open a crack. I shouldn't have stopped, why did I stop?

I took a peek at what the whole trouble was, but I should have known by now what was going on. I could see Nathan and my mother, they were fighting, well, he was hitting her. He threw her on the bed and was about to get on top of her, until he changed his mind.

"Get up; get the hell up, slut!"

"If you ever lay one finger on me again, I'm going to call the police!" She screamed. He took hold of her long brown hair and viciously pulled her up and forced her on her knees. He unbuckled his belt, and held it over her.

"If you do I'll kill you, and you know I will. I'll kill you like I did your mother! Now do as you're told!" He yelled and brought the belt down. There was a loud whipping sound as he hit her across the face, and then proceeded to hit her on the back and on her legs. She started to scream, but he grabbed her mouth and hit her some more.

"Call me daddy, sugar." He said, and he whipped her three more times before he looked down and saw me. I should have left, I should have left. He briskly walked towards the door, yanked it open, and grabbed a fistful of my hair. I cried out in pain as he brought down the belt. I felt a flash of pain tear across my back.

"You little cur; I'll show you, you little bastard!" He was going to hit me again, but I bit the arm that was holding me, and he cried out angrily. I managed to free myself from his grasp and I dashed down the stairs; I heard him behind me. I was about to reach the door when something took hold of my shirt.

"You're not going anywhere!" He shouted, he pulled me to the stove and turned it on. "Now let me teach you about respect, you ingrate!" He growled. He pulled out a knife from the drawers, and I began to struggle frantically.

"Dad, just let the brat go." I heard my mother say. By then, Nathan was heating the blade with the flame of the stove.

"What should I do this time?" He asked himself. He took hold of my neck, ripped off my shirt, and slammed me against the counter. I tried to scream, but he pushed my head forcibly against the counter. I saw a white light and I could feel a tickle of blood run down my face.

"Nathan!" My mother cried.

Nothing, however, compared to the pain of a sharp hot blade cut my skin. He would then burn me, and every time I tried to call out, he would slam my head down. I felt my mom push against him; he elbowed her in the face.

I don't remember when I blacked out, but when I woke up; I could hear noise coming from the upstairs bedroom. Nathan obviously won again. I weakly got my bag, and left the house; I wouldn't be back for few days…

"Hey, take a look at her." I heard Caleb say from a distance. I broke from my reverie as I leaned against the wall.

"If you say one more thing about Danielle, I'm going to shove you against the wall and hit you." I said, trying to sink back into the dark pool of my black memories.

"No, I mean Jennifer, her best friend." He explained.

"Who?" I asked, not really interested. There were so many people at Brazos, I didn't even know some in my class, much less Jennifer.

"Oh, man this is great!" Caleb laughed out loud. I looked up to see who he was looking at. At first I saw Danielle talking with some other friends, but Caleb wasn't looking at her. I followed his gaze that led to a bunch of football guys.

They were all joking around so I didn't spot her at first. Her hair was loose on her shoulders, here glasses were askew. She seemed flustered as she tried to get passed the guys blocking her way. She jumping, pushing, asking, but to no avail. She turned to look at Danielle, but she wasn't paying attention.

"Who is she again?" I asked.

"Jennifer Vaughn."

"Jennifer…" I said softly. Her dark brown eyes were large and vulnerable. There was something about her that made her seem fragile, and something about her eyes drew me towards her. Why did I have a sudden urge to take her hand and guide her through those thick heads?

She tugged on Danielle's shirt like a child and she finally turned to her. They exchanged a few words, and Danielle took her arm, wheeled her toward the guys, and stampeded through them. They fell out of the way like pins; Danielle looked unaffected, but Jennifer seemed slightly embarrassed. She gently patted on a guy's arm and said something to him.

"She's apologizing! Wow, and Danielle, well, she's something else." Caleb said. I didn't care about Danielle, Jennifer had tip toed into my mind somehow. I forcibly shut her out. She was going to become a nuisance.

Days passed, and I continued to relive the darkest part of my life; thinking about all of the bitter things that ever happened to me. Caleb was obviously talking about something I really didn't care about. Some girls caught my eye and they giggled; I scowled.

"Stop scaring them off." Caleb joked. He was always patient with me, he was the only one patient with me.

"They're prissy and annoying." I said, slouching against the wall. The tardy bell was going to ring in another minute or so. English was next, I'll probably skip, I hated English.

"Yeah, well…" He didn't know what to say to that. It's a good thing he didn't insist; I've heard too much about Danielle to last me for the next fifty years. I looked up to stare down the hall when I saw her. Jennifer, the girl from a few days ago. Her face was buried in a book, and she quickly raised her glasses up her nose. She was reading something about mythology, a subject we were discussing in English.

I don't know why, but as she neared, I felt a sudden nervousness enter my body. Nervousness and anger. I was nervous because she was getting close, too close, and I was angry at her for making me feel nervous. There were two things I could do, snap at her, or let her go on her way. The closer she got, the more agitated I became.

Just then, something from my subconscious made me put out my foot in front of her. She didn't fall, but she did stumble enough to drop her book and bag. Caleb bent down to help her, and it was then that she looked up and locked eyes with mine.

"I-I apologize…" She breathed. Her eyes were deep and probing, like she could see into my very soul.

"Then keep your eyes forward." I snapped. She flinched.

"Right, sorry, Brandon." She said quickly and sprinted off to class. I frowned.

"Smooth…" Caleb sighed.

"How does she know my name?" I asked Caleb.

"You've never noticed? She has English with us, dude. Don't you remember?" He asked.

As a matter of fact, I did remember. It's weird, I'm going to be strangely aware of many things from now on…