Chapter One:
Life Isn't Fair

It just wasn't the same without Kyra, the girl decided, her eyes dancing across the room full of people.

"Only family was invited, and your friend isn't family. She can't come," she recalled her foster mother saying. That may be so, but she'd be much happier if Kyra was invited to her birthday party. Kyra was her sister in heart, after all.

It was okay, though. For once, everything was going okay. Raven could have her own birthday celebration with Kyra another day. Raven was happy. Her family was getting along, though they were acting a bit rowdy.

That was until her brother came home.

Her foster brother, the biological son of her foster parents, had been out partying with his friends - again - until their mother called him and nagged him to come home to celebrate Raven's eighteenth birthday. Raven knew that when he arrived it would be the end of the fun part of the night. It was always like that. He was just like his father, in more ways than one. She mentally sighed when her mother declared they would wait for her son, Tyson, to be home before enjoying her birthday cake. She briefly considered feigning exhaustion and going to bed early, however she knew her foster mother would throw a fit about it.

Over half an hour later, her predictions came true.

A very inebriated young man stumbled through the door, a goofy smile on his flushed face.

After welcoming him home, she tried to avoid him by continuing the conversation with her foster sister about prospective colleges and her job hunt, yet she knew it would only last so long.

Soon, the family was gathered around the table, and Raven tensed when Tyson slipped in next to her, wrapping an arm tightly around her waist in the process.

The lights flicked off and she felt hot breath near her ear, making her hair stand on end.

There was always something off about that man, and she didn't like it.

Not. One. Bit.

He was always like this when he was drunk. A bad feeling, an eerie feeling, call it what you may, but she always sensed it from him, and so did Kyra. That was why Kyra wasn't so bothered when she couldn't come to her house for her birthday; neither of them liked Tyson. This wasn't the first time he had wrapped his arm around her like that either, but no one saw anything wrong with it regardless of the fact that she had told them she didn't want him to touch her. It was innocent, they said; he's your brother. Lighten up.

Determined not to start any problems on her birthday, she focused on her foster mother carrying in her cake. It was a nice cake! It was a homemade chocolate cake with strawberries on top! Two candles that made the number "18" were blazing on the top, and she couldn't help but smile at the "Happy birthday, Raven!" scrawled in icing by her mother. This was one of the better homes she had been placed in thus far; it wasn't perfect, far from that, but it was better than most.

"Happy birthday, dear Raven~! Happy birthday to you~!" They sang, and she could hear Tyson's extremely off-key, drunken singing voice the loudest, and she could smell it quite well, too. The alcohol was very strong on his breath, making her cringe.

"Blow out the candle and make a wish!" Her foster mother beamed at her.

"Make sure you don't tell anyone what it is, or it won't come true!" Her sister teased, grinning slyly.

"Are you shure?" Tyson slurred, smirking as his hand tightened and he laid his head on her shoulder. "You never know."

Raven sighed. "I'm sure it won't."

"Well, maybe I can help make it come true," he whispered and winked at her.

'I'm sure you can't,' she thought to herself, leaning forward and blowing out the candles. Laughs, claps and cheers resounded through the room and only increased when Tyson suddenly turned her and held her tightly, roughly and forcefully planting his lips on hers. Her eyes widened and her hands pressed against his chest as she thrashed wildly, trying to free herself.

"Awh, how cute!" Someone laughed.

Raven gasped as he finally released her. "What do you think you're doing?!" She demanded, her eyes wide in both anger and fear.

"Jeez, I'm just giving you a birthday kiss!" He laughed. "Calm down! You're legal now."

"He's right, calm down!" She heard her mother laugh as she plucked out the candles. "It's not a big deal. It's just a kiss. Let's have cake! The first slice goes to the birthday girl!"

Raven felt numb as she accepted the slice handed to her moments later. Her heart pounded in her chest. He had groped her before when no one was looking - her mother didn't believe it of course, or laughed it off as him teasing her (boys will be boys!) - but he had never outright done something like that.

Raven did not enjoy her birthday cake. She finished it in record speed, claimed she was tired and escaped to her room as fast as possible. Without changing, she clambered onto her bed and balled herself into her sheets, clenching her eyes shut as she grit her teeth.

'I need to find a job as soon as possible,' the raven haired girl told herself. 'I need to get myself money and move out of here. I need to be independent of these people.'

She closed her eyes, determined to sleep tonight.

OoO

Raven had just begun to doze off when she heard her door creak open. In the distance, she heard car doors slamming. Blinking her eyes a few times, she groggily pushed herself, looking in the direction of her door. Her heart slammed up to her throat when she saw a tall, dark figure in the doorway.

"What are you doing in here?!" She demanded.

Tyson grinned. "What are you talking about? I knew you'd be waiting for me in here for when Mom left to drive Rebecca to her friend's house. They're gone now, don't worry. Mom won't be back for awhile. Let me give you your present."

Tyson haphazardly swung the door shut behind him, closing it only part way as he eagerly took a step forward, a hand moving to undo his belt.

"I know you felt it, too, when I kissed you." He grinned. "You've been waiting for this night for over two years, haven't you? Ever since you moved in."

This made Raven stand up. 'He's drunk. Nothing I say will make him understand. I have to get out of here.' Her eyes snapped to the half-open door.

Tyson was within an arm's reach, his belt on the floor and his hands working on his pants. "You've always been the silent type, huh? That'll just make it even better when I have you screaming for me."

His hand reached for her and Raven bolted, reaching out desperately for the door only to gasp when an iron-like hand gripped her arm and threw her back onto her bed.

"Playing hard to get, huh?" Tyson laughed. "You're so adorable."

The man leaned over her, grabbing her hands when they darted up to push them away and pinned them above her head with one hand, the other gripping her face and smothering it with another kiss.

Raven grit her teeth as he tried to force his tongue in her mouth, maneuvering her legs underneath him before bringing a knee up as hard as she could.

The reaction was instant: Tyson's grip on her loosened and he jerked back, his face paling as he shouted in pain. Raven wasted no time in shoving him to the side and bolting out the door and out of the house.

OoO

Raven ran as fast as she could, stopping only when her legs ached and her lungs burned for air, and even then she continued to walk. She couldn't go back tonight. She'd go back tomorrow and tell her mother what had happened. Maybe she'd finally believe her!

Raven's eyes squeezed shut and she bit her lip. It was a long shot, but she was still hopeful.

Raven was startled back into reality when a car's horn honked close by, followed by a familiar voice.

"Raven! What are you doing outside so late? I thought you were going to sleep!" Her mother called, sounding concerned.

Her eyes widened as she turned to the street. Her mother had pulled over to the side of the road and rolled down the window. Not hesitating, Raven walked over to the car, gripping the window's opening tightly.

"What's wrong, sweetie? You look paler than usual," her mother exclaimed.

"It's Tyson!" Raven blurted out. "He's really drunk, and he tried to rape me!"

"..." Raven's foster mother remained silent, the emotion drained from her face as she simply sat there and stared at Raven.

"Mom, I'm telling you the truth! I would never lie about something like this! Please believe me!" Raven pleaded.

"..." She remained silent for a moment longer. "... Raven... This isn't funny. You're not funny. After all we've done for you, you're going to keep accusing my son of these... these lies!"

"I'm not lying!"

"Yes, you are!" She shouted. "You ARE lying because my son would never do anything like that! My Tyson is a good man! Even if he was flirting with you like you've said before, that would obviously be your fault for teasing him with the way you dress and the way you look at him! I've seen it! What happened? Did you ask him out after I left and then he turned you down, so now you're trying to get back at him by accusing him of trying to rape you so you can ruin his life over something so petty? Well, it's not going to work. I've had enough of your pathetic attempts for attention. You're more trouble than you're worth! Don't bother coming back. You're no longer welcome in my home. You're eighteen now; you're an adult. Take care of yourself."

Without hesitation, she rolled up the window and drove away.

Raven stood there silently for several moments before turning and forcing her legs to walk over to the park a block over, finally stopping and collapsing on a bench. Slowly, she pulled her knees to her chest, wrapped her arms around her legs, dropped her head and began to weep.

OoO

Raven's breathing was ragged, but she had finally stopped sobbing after a while. Her mind was now focused on what to do next. She could still go to her foster mother's home to get her belongings tomorrow, and she most definitely did not want to go alone. She'd have to get Kyra to help.

Regardless, she no longer had a home and was unemployed. Maybe she could ask Kyra's mom if she could stay there just until she could afford an apartment, as long as she paid rent?

So lost in her thoughts in her thoughts she was that she did not hear the heavy footsteps coming up behind her until a rough hand grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the ground.

"You just couldn't keep your mouth shut, could you?!"

A choked cry escaped her mouth after a harsh pain erupted in her stomach.

"You ruined everything!"

And again.

"We could have been happy! It could have been so nice, living together in the same house, being together every night!"

And again...

"But NO! You had to go and lie like you always do! You know you wanted it, but you just have to be a drama queen like you always do!"

A hand reached down and grabbed her by the hair once more, pulling her back before slamming her head against the pavement.

"You fucking whore." Tyson glowered at her, standing up again. "You never deserved me anyway. You were lucky for my attention to begin with."

His foot darted out, and pain erupted in her stomach one more time.

"Stupid bitch," he muttered, turning and walking away to leave her laying on the pavement.

Raven's hand was still for several minutes before it twitched, and she moved to push herself up.

OoO

"I'm coming!" A faint voice echoed past the door Raven had banged on, and she sighed, sliding down against the railing. Her head drooped as she once again hugged her knees to her chest.

The light clicked on and the door opened, yellow light streaming through the now open doorway, revealing her small and battered body.

An audible gasp broke the silence. "Raven?!" Arms were thrown around her. Gentle arms she more than welcomed, even as they pulled her up and ushered her inside.

"What happened to you?!"

Her breathing quickened as she leaned against the person at her side. Her body began shaking as she began falling over the edge. She was sat down on the bathroom floor as the only person she ever truly trusted pulled out a first aid kit and tended her wounds, and she held it in as best she could until she was done.

"Just let it out, sweety."

And so she did.