A horrifying shriek filled the air of a small farm outside of town. Spatters of a liquid being spilled onto hardwood floors followed soon after. Another loud 'thwap' came, skin on skin.

"Owie! Mommy please-" The desperate cry of a young boy begging his parents to stop hurting him. A call in vain as no one was close enough to hear the traumatizing sounds of abuse. A cloud of black mist filled the air of the room as his father took another huff of his cigarette. Watching from his recliner, and doing absolutely nothing to to stop the relentless attacks from his wife.

The woman beating the child, the mother, grabbed her son by the collar of his shirt, fear filled the child's heart. "Have you learned your lesson yet?" "Y-yes!" The victim choked out. With that the mother picked up her frightened son by the waist, taking him outside and opening the cellar doors. With a loud creak she sent the boy flying down the stairs. Loud crashes of bone against stone rang out. Cellar doors slammed and the clicking music of a lock being placed was the last sound heard from his mother.

Silent sobbing was all the noise left in the room. The only light source came from the moon as it shown through the cracks of the old worn out cellar doors. Crawling towards the peaking moonlight and rolling himself onto his back with a rough grunt until he was satisfied with the spot he laid in. Starering up at the moonlight, admiring it's quiet and peaceful gaze peering through the holes, the only thing in the house that made him feel safe. A small blood painted hand reached up towards it before limply falling back down to the heavy breathing chest. A whimper escaped the boy's limps, pain searing through his slim body before finally falling into a deep sleep.

The new mornings sun shone into the underground prison in a pale orange glow. Shining directly into the boy's eyes, transforming itself into a nature made alarm clock. With a squint of his eyes and a groan from his body, the child awoke. Struggling to force his body back into movement, still throbbing in pain from the suffering he endured just the night before. Hugging his knees and hiding his face, he began sobbing heavily into his tattered clothing. His bare feet caked in blood, hair a mess and colored in dirt, camouflaging into his already off brown hair coloring. Clothing hung loosely off the child's thin body, torn, blood painted, muddied.

A sound jolted the boy up, sending another wave of pain through the body from the sudden shock. The announced sound was one that brought some relief to him, two car doors and the sound of a rough engine that echoed as the apparent vehicle left down the dusty path. A sigh of relief, and a time for change. He wanted nothing more than to escape his treacherous dungeon. The child became well acquainted with his surroundings as this was not his first sentencing here. He could tell where all the extra tools were kept, boxes of various holiday decorations and memories, crates of food, nothing he dared to touch in fear of another punishment. Slowly lifting to his achey body to his feet, beginning to carefully limp each foot, inch by inch until he finally reached his destination.

Fearing what may happen if he were caught trying to run away, but knowing full well that if he stayed he faced even more severe suffering than anything else he faced before, maybe even death. Wondering if he would even have the strength to accomplish the goal in mind. He grabbed a rusted metal crowbar. Dead set on leaving this prison cell, with a lot of pain he ascended the stairs. Sticking the tool through a hole of the door, he began to pry it open. Every ounce of strength the boy had in him was being sent to the metallic object. Crackling of wood was relief to his ears as the small hole grew. He worked at it again, and again until the hole in the door was about his size. Weariness continued to climb over his body, but knowing that this might be his best chance to escape death and suffering gave him the courage and hope to continue on.

As quickly as the beaten boy could muster he headed his way down the dry dirt road, sun relentlessly bearing down on his head. Following the path into town, worrying the whole time that his parents might return home before he could find a place to hide he kept his ears open, listening for any sign of the cranking old engine.

After about an hour of dragging his worn down body into safety, he finally reached town. Still early there were very few people around. No sign of the faded red car he was so familiar with, he continued on. Observing his surroundings, never having been in town before, so much was strange to him. The clean wooden stands, the tall well groomed buildings. The child so focused on everything else around him he stopped watching where the path in front of him. A fearful gasp sounded as the child ran into another human being, reacting on impulse his knees shot to his chest and hands clutched onto his head.

"I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me!" Panic ensued, everything in his body felt as though it turned into ice, pricking at his skin begging to be let out, he could only manage to sit there crying.

"Watch wh-" The other person stopped cold in their sentence, their intruder now in sight. "What happened to you?" Their eyes widened in horror, unable to find any other words to say, he dropped to his knees and put his hands on the shaking child's shoulders. "I won't hurt you." The voice was comforting, but the touch of human caused the younger boy to hurl is body back away from the new person, another sting of pain ensued running all the way up his body, nausea was setting in.

"Ramone!" The other boy called out not knowing what else to do. He caught a young gentleman's attention on the other side of the street. The man known as Ramone had short blond hair, sparkling blue eyes and a soft genuine smile on his face.

"What's wrong?" Him and the cashier who was attending his purchase rushed over to the children, gasping in terror at the sight of the bleeding boy. Reaching out and placing a hand on a shaky shoulder, another hand came and cupped his chin and lifted the child's head up to see his face. One black eye, a swollen lip, blood covered and tear stained. His body was heavily scented with cigarette smoke. That was only the surface of the scarring.

"Let's take him over here, out of the way" a gentle suggestion from the lady in charge of the nearby food stall. "Yeah" with that the blond gentleman wrapped one arm behind the boy's back, and the other arm scooped up his legs and began carrying the boy from the middle of his road towards the kind woman's food stall. All the time the pained child was protesting, trying to scream in fear but the pain in his throat was taking over. He pushed, he kicked, and he squeaked with what was less of his voice. "Shhh. Were going to help you no-" A sudden yell interrupted the comforting attempts of the blond man.

"Hey!" The voice harsh and furious. A couple rushing towards the a couple more people forming into a crowd. A common interest in the child no one had ever seen around town before was among them. Ramone turned to see two very angry people, a man and a woman, heading in their direction. Footsteps heavy, movement brisk. "What are you doing with my son?" Same upset tone rang out along the near empty street. Hearing the familiar voice he clutched the coat of Ramone and hid his face in his chest.

The man grabbed the terrified child by the arm but only partly succeeded in tearing his child away from the man. Ramone became unbalanced with the sudden thrust forward, dropping the child's legs to the ground, still clinging around the boy's chest. The commotion stirred the residences of the nearby houses and shops as the roadside filled with various members of the community.

Black dust was exhaled from the angered male's mouth, one hand still wrapped tightly around the child's arm. Screaming in terror, trying his hardest to avoid the death glare coming from his parents. The woman being increasingly frustrated grabbed the other arm of the boy, the duo began pulling on the arms of their only child releasing the grip of the other man. Tears streaming from his face, whimpers of fear coming from his lips.

Dragging the boy away from the crowd, fighting him all the way. Ramone tried going after him, only to be stopped by a punch to the face by the boy's father. The crowd attempted to stop the mother's rage, an effort to stall as they waited for police to arrive.

The young teen who was with Ramone stealthily made his way through the crowd and towards the hysteric boy. Catching up to the mother and son he quickly plotted his next move. He swiftly carried himself over to the child, the mother dealing with the overgrown crowd circling them had not noticed the youth approaching. Holding out a hand towards the boy, the other child had one arm occupied by his mother's grip. With the other he hesitantly reached for the offer given to him.

Clasping onto each other the boy of black hair mouthed 'ready' to his younger companion, eyes widened in response unsure of what the plan was. Little time was given to react as he was hurled towards the unfamiliar person, slipping out of the clasp of his mother and falling onto the other boy they hit the ground with a thud. The beaten down child landing ontop of the other boy who quickly wrapped their arms around the tiny frame of the fatigued child. Fear still gripped him, his heart rate matched that of a quick paced drum beat.

The mother lunged after her son, but was stopped by the bystanders before she could even get close enough to touch him. A whirring of sirens started coming from a short distance away. The parents knew that they would be in trouble, the evidence and witnesses were to overwhelming for them not to get arrested. Red and blue lights flashed against the blacktop and light wood frames of surrounding structures.

"Freeze!" a commanding voice directed towards the mother and father. Several police officers surrounded the crowd. All innocence cleared the way, the abusers revealed from the clumps of people. Ramone looked around, trying to spot any sign of the boy he was with, and the one he was fighting so hard to save.

"Crow!" The boy with the black hair looked in the direction of the yell. Both hands occupied holding the shaky adolescence close to him still on the ground. Ramone ran over to them, inspecting the one he called Crow, making sure he had not been hurt in the midst trouble. "I'm fine!" annoyance played through his voice as he swatted the helping hand away. "All right all right!" Focus was then given to the victim, who reeked of cigarette smoke. The child wanted nothing to do with new people, having locked up his trust for so long, covered in dust, he was not sure if he even knew how to trust people anymore.

Another siren formed its way through everyone's ears. This time an ambulance. Stopping several feet in front of the three, four people and a stretcher bounded from the back of the squared machine. Placing the stretcher down on the ground, two of the people clad in white reached for the boy. Trying to comfort him through the process, talking sweetly as they were trying to get him on the portable bed and in the ambulance. Kicking and begging not to go, he did not want to leave with even more strange people. Afraid of them, not knowing where they wanted to take them or if they were going to harm him. It was unfamiliar territory outside of his prison, he started questioning if leaving was a good decision. At home meant pain, but at least he could familiarize himself with the people and surroundings. Out here he knew nothing and no one.

"Wait. I don't think we should try forcing the child to go. Let me take care of him first." It was a really small town, the rest of the folks living within the vicinity knew Ramone well. A trustworthy, kind fellow. The medical personnel gave the child a quick examination. Deciding that his condition would be stable enough for him to go home. A veteran officer walked up to them and chuckled "Found another one to take care if didn't you Ramone? You know we're fine with you taking the child we know he'll be in good hands. We'll start with the legal work later if you'd like." Ramone looked up and smiled, he was well acquainted with the officer he was speaking to. "Thank you."

Looking back at the child, he was attempting to squirm his way out of Crow's arms. "Here." Ramone reached over draping his arms under the boy's shoulders and gently pulling the boy towards him and gently placed him on his lap while the child screamed in terror the best he could. Rubbing the child's back while the other arm hugged around the body. The boy was pushing away from the man.

"You're safe now honey. We won't hurt you, I promise you." The black haired child, known as Crow, intently watched Ramone handle the weeping child. "Shhh" he kissed the top of his head. "Can you tell us your name hun?" A winy groan was the only response to his question. "I'm scared... stop..." barely above a whisper, the pain in his throat intensified. Tears streamed down at a quickened pace. "I'm sure you are, but we're here to protect you now. Look." pointing towards the boy who's golden eyes were still placed on the two in front of him. "His name is Crow." The nameless abused looked towards the fluff of black hair, and Crow smiled in return. A scared tear soaked face was the only response they got. "All right, let's take you boys home." Cradling the young child in his arms he nodded towards Crow and headed for home. Crow snatched up the groceries Ramone just bought before closley following him home.

Their house was a small looking two story house. The cobblestone path lead through a yard of lush green grass and beautiful flowering. The front door was a beautiful red violet, upon opening it was the sight of clean hardwood floors and a small area rug. Straight through the short hallway was the kitchen, to the left a living area. Patio doors leading out to a large backyard was at the base where kitchen met living room. At the far end of the living area was a doorway, leading to a small squared hall. One door lead to a bathroom, to the opposite end were a flight of stairs.

"Crow, why don't you go get him some new clothing. We'll have to go back into town some other time to find him some proper clothing." Crow nodded, they both ascended the stairs and he fled off down the hall. The upstairs was a large open area upon arrival. A few doors scattered about. The young child seen Crow run down to the farthest door, while he was carried off to the right entering into a bathroom. Ramone looked down at the boy in his arms, limp limbs and half closed eyes told how tired the boy became. "All right. Let's get you a bath."

Stepping into the bathroom he gently placed the child on his feet, the boy having an emotionless expression starering at the ground. Ramone prepared a nice hot bath and carefully slid the clothing off the boy. Shocked by just how thin this child was, ribs and other various bones were sticking out from his skin. Grabbing an arm and placing a hand in between the shoulder blades he slowly lead the undressed boy to the bath. "I'm going to lift you in now, ready?" A cautious warning as he lifted him up and over the bath railing, still with the same blank expression.

His feet dipped into the water and with the sudden shock of hot water woke him up from his trance. "Ahh!" Kicking against the wall, trying to avoid being completely submerged into the hot liquid. Breathing became even more sporadic and heavy. "You're ok hun, I'll get you nice and clean. You'll feel a lot better after, I promise." Placing the frantic boy into the water and letting him stand on his own to feet he started calming down after stood there for a minute. Hands placed by his chest, starring down into the water, moving a leg just to watch the ripples go. Ramone allowed the boy to adjust to the new environment for a bit.

Just as the boy was becoming relaxed with the water Crow walked in "I found some clothes." The sudden speech scared the child in the tub. His foot collided into his opposite ankle and tripped himself. Ramone reacting on reflex reached out and grabbed his arms just above the elbows before he made the collision into the porcelain tub. A sigh of relief came from Ramone and the child's eyes widened and his air intake reversed back into rough breathes. "Sorry!" Crow rushed over, making sure the nameless boy was really all right. The brown haired innocence sat down and stared at the boy know kneeling at the bathtub.

"W-what?" Crow was getting flustered by the continual eyes gazing at him. Placing a hand on top of the railing palm up, seeing if the youth would take it. A smile appeared on the black haired teens face when he placed his hand ontop. "I think he's taking a liking to you." Ramone's facial expression was one of joy, the boy was finally opening up to someone. Whispering into Crow's ear 'ask him his name.' a nod was his response. "Will you tell us your name now?" Now with a questioning look appearing on his face, Seto's expression still hadn't changed from being worried. They all sat in silence for a few minutes.

"I'm going to go get a cup. I'll be right back." Crow only slightly nodded not taking his eye contact away. The young adolescence watched the water as he shuffled his free hand through the water, causing it to splash and ripple. "Se...to" The child so quiet the sound was nothing more than a silent squeak for Crow's ears. "What?" More swishing came from the dirty liquid, before looking back at the boy again "Seto." This time louder. Crow's lips turned upward and his teeth shown through "So thats your name huh?" The boy now known as Seto nodded back. "How old are you?" Seto took in a deep breath, his whole body trembled as he exhaled. A breathy "Nine..." came out "A-almost.. t-ten." A gentle grin formed on Crow's lips now. "Do you trust us?" A slight gasp, widened tear formed eyes gave the boy his answer. "It's fine... you'll get use to us.. I'm thirteen by the way." Crow was in the very soul of his teenage years. Making him just a bit over three years older than Seto by his statement. "How are you feeling now?" Crow did his best to keep Seto talking, but the boy remained silent now still clasping onto the older teens hand.

The thumping of footsteps told the boys Ramone had found what he was looking for. Entering the room with a smile, cup in hand he knelt back down at the bathtub. "His name is Seto." Crow wasted no time in telling Ramone the news. "He said he's nine almost ten." "He spoke to you? Thats great." A large toothy smile found it's place on his face. Placing his four fingers underneath his chin, he carefully rubbed the cheek of Seto. "And I suppose I forgot to properly introduce myself, I'm Ramone. You'll be living with us from now on. I just got to get the legal papers filled out." Seto allowed out a whine as a few tears dripped down his face. "Let's get you cleaned up now hun."

Dipping the cup into the water, he grabbed Seto's chin and tilted his head back, carefully pouring the liquid out and down through the child's hair. It darkened as the wet soaked in. His breathing became increasingly raspy and his whimpering restarted. "Hush now, you're fine." Grabbing a shampoo bottle and mixing the soapy residue in his hands, softly rubbing it through Seto's auburn hair. Moving his head back to a more comfortable angle only to be tilted back again by Ramone. "Keep your head back right now hun." The rest of the bath continued on like this, Ramone would carefully clean the rest of the boy and his various wounds. Restoring his skin to it's normal pale coloration.

Successfully scrubbing off the overwhelming amounts of dried blood and dirt from the child, the bath water was a deep reddish brown color. Ramone drained the digusting mix of grim, blood and water, grabbed a bath towel and wrapped Seto snuggly into it the smooth fabric. Picking him up out of the bath tub and placing him on the floor. Shivering from the cool air, Crow reached for another clean bath towel, carefully wiping the child dry. "Can you get the bandages for me hun? I want to take care of the wounds before we get some clothing on him."

By the time all the band-aids were in place the child was nearly head to toe in them. Finally satisfied that he got the open wounds covered up. Picking up the clothes Crow had set out for him, he began to dress the boy. The clothing was way to big, but it was all he had for him for him to wear. Deep green shorts that had to be tied up with some string to avoid falling straight down. A pale blue shirt hung loosely off his body, always falling through at least one of his shoulders. Once dressed he finally was able to untangle the mess the boy called hair. Carefully running the brush though his soft hair.

"That will have to work for now until I can get to town for some proper fitting clothes. Are you hungry?" Silence. "I'd imagine you were, c'mon lets go get you some food." Both Crow and Ramone grabbed a hand belonging to the silent boy. Leading him down the stairs and into the kitchen. A light wooden table set complimented the cherry wood walls. White appliances in strategic locations, and a big open window at the end of the food center.

"Have a seat." Ramone pulled out a chair for Seto to sit in. Seto refused the offer, backing away from it. The man motioned for Crow to hang onto Seto. He quickly grabbed a range of containers from the fridge, placing items from each onto a plate before heating it up in the microwave. Placing the warm platter of goodies at the spot with the open chair. He motioned for Crow to walk the boy towards the table as he pulled out two more chairs for them to sit at. With no energy to push away from his leader he gave in. Inching his way towards the chair. Being sat down in front of the steamy food, taking in the delightful smell of fresh food sounded a call from his stomach. Another motion was made in Crow's direction telling him to take a bite of the food to show him it was safe to eat. Seto watched as Crow ate a spoonful of mashed potatoes. Scooping up another round he stopped the spoon in front of Seto's face.

Under normal circumstances, the small child would have rejected the food. A growling residing in his stomach begged him to eat though. Shyly he reached out for the spoon, wrapping his fingers around it he slid it from Crow's grip. Placing it in his mouth and sliding it back out, hardly tasting the food as he dropped it into his stomach. After finishing the mashed potatoes he set the spoon down. A majority of what his parents fed him was bread, mashed potatoes or tomato soup. Looking at the little green balls on his plate, pushing one around a bit.

Crow picked one up placing his hand in front of the boy once more. "It's a pea, try it." Taking the pea from his hand and looking at him curiously, Crow moved his hand up to his mouth, telling the him to try it. Not removing his eyes from the older boy, he put it in his mouth. "Eat some more" Crow said with a caring smile. Seto kept starering in Crow's direction for a few more seconds before moving his hand to reach for another pea. Upon picking another one up some of them started rolling off the plate, onto the table and down to the floor. As the pea bounced Seto screamed and flipped backwards on the chair crashing to the floor.

Rolling to his side and curling up on the floor he struggled to get his words out with his sore throat "I'm s-sor-ry!" The other two jumped to his side instantaneously. "Calm down honey, you're ok." The calming fatherly voice rose above the panicked cries of the hysteric young child. Crow rubbed a hand along Seto's cheek, trying to comfort him just as Ramone had done for him. "C'mon, lets sit you back up." Each helping the boy sit back up, he hugged his knees shaking, weariness grabbed onto his body again. "Time for a nap. We've kept you up long enough. I'll get you some more food after you wake up." Picking the protestant child up again, he laid him down on the couch. Crow grabbed a blanket and wrapped him up in it. "I'll be here with you if you want." Looking into the tear soaked violet eyes of the boy, Seto reached out for his hand and Crow willingly gave it to him. Was not more than a few minutes later before the child's breathing steadied and he fell into a deep, relaxing sleep.

"Crow hun." Ramone was whispering, not wanting to wake Seto up. Crow looked at him. "Yeah?" "It's best we don't leave Seto alone at all around the house for a while. Not until he's well adjusted to living here and settles down a bit." Crow nodded in agreement. "He's probably pretty tired, so would you mind if I went and tried finding some proper sized clothing? Seto's taken a liking to you, you shouldn't have any problem if he wakes up." He looked at his father figure wearing a toothy grin on his face. "Course I don't mind." "You're such a good big brother." Not even trying to hide the tease entwined in his voice which only received an eye roll from the teenager.