"Get up Tobias." Dad tells me. I am still in pain from sleeping in the closest all night so I don't budge. "I SAID GET UP!" He screams. He then kicks my back and I cry out in pain. "I guess you should have listened the first time. Huh."

I slowly get up with a hand on my back and holding lightning with the other. "Sorry sir." I say. 'WHAP' he slaps my across the face.

"You're not sorry otherwise you would have listened to me. Now give me that." He says as he rips lightning from my grasp.

"NO, LIGHTNING!" I scream reaching for him but he just slaps my hand away.

"Oh.... so that's what you named this thing. Besides I recall this thing being left in your room when you were put in the closest." It's ture mom gave him to me last night, but I'm not going to tell him that.

"Please sir... give him back." I say reaching for him.

"Well I think I have the perfect thing to make sure you listen next time." I gulp when he says that because I don't know what he's going to do. He walks down the stairs pulling me behind him. He walks into his office and tells me to sit in a chair. I do as he says still keeping my eyes on lightning.

He picks up a pair of scissors and puts lightning on his desk. "What are you doing sir?" I ask him with some hesitation. He looks at me with a glare it feels like there are knives coming from them.

"Don't ask questions Tobias, it's selfish just like having this stuffed animal." He says lifting the scissors to lightning. They come down stabbing him in the chest, he then runs them down the animal revealing stuffing.

"LIGHTNING!!!" I scream getting up trying to rip my dad's hands off the scissors. He just shoves me to the ground and picks up lightning then drags me by the arm to the back door. He opens the door and walks to the dumpster. It's so early that it's still dark. Though you can see the sun start to peek out behind the abnegation houses in the distance.

He tosses lightning in the dumpster and I start to cry as I run inside. I lay with my face in the couch crying about lightning when my dad closes the back door. "Stop crying and take off your shirt Tobias." I'm so upset that I don't even resist.

After ten minutes of being whipped with the belt he tells me to get ready for school. I just nod and limp up the stairs. When I get to the top mom is coming out of her room or should I say dad's room. "Tobias!" She says with urgency in her voice. She puts her hand on my back and I yell out, and when she pulls it away there is blood all over it.

"Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry Tobias, let's get you cleaned up." She says leading me into my room. She sits me on my bed tells me to stay put while she gets the first aid kit out of the bathroom. When she gets back she cleans up the blood and raps my back up in bandages. She then walks out so I can get dressed.

Once I get deessed there's still an hour until school and I'm sitting on my bed waiting for dad to say it's time to go when mom walks in a locks the door. She holds a finger to her mouth for me to be silent.

She whispers in my ear, "I have something for you for your birthday." I smile, close my eyes and hold out my hands. She puts something heavy in my hands I open my eyes and see a blue sculpture. It's a clear piece of glass that looks like falling water.

"What's it do?" I ask. She just smiles and laughs quitely. She rubs her hands over it slowly and gives me a hug. I winced in pain and she let go of me.

"Sometimes beautiful things don't show what they can do, but they make a difference in you." She says this with tears welling up in her eyes.

I smile at the blue sculpture and hug mom and say, "I love it!" She kisses my forehead and hands me a box with a lock and a key.

My confused look must have given away that I have no idea what to do with it. "You need to put it in here so that your father doesn't know you have it. He will say it's selfish to have something that you don't need and have no uses for it. But it will always be here for you when you need it." She says rubbing my cheek. "I promise it will be over soon, and we'll be free."

The words I promise repeat in my mind and I just smile and give her a hug as she put the box with the sculpture under the bed. She walks out and I hear my dad telling her something then slap her and a door slam.

He then comes in and says, "Time for school Tobias, come on lets not be late." I just frown as we walk through the halls together with no sign of my mother.

When we get in the car I realize that one of the cars have already left, mom must have took it. "Where's mom?" I ask with slight hesitation.

"No of your consern Tobias, now buckle up." He says to me. I should have known that he wouldn't tell me.

I buckle up then dad slams the door and gets in the driver seat. As we drive off to school I look back and see our house dissapear around the corner. Though, all I can think right now is what happened to mom and where could she be going.