Page 1 of Link's Property
PROLOGUE
Shayna
“I’m scared, Shay.”
Her soft voice is echoed by a loud clap of thunder, and another streak of lightning lights up the dark sky. Even the heavens are crying for my friend, knowing what’s coming in the morning. I hate this. But there’s nothing I can do to stop it. All I can do is try to make her feel better.
All I can do is lie.
I climb out of bed and tiptoe across the floor, not that anyone would hear me through the loud storm. But if the staff hears that we’re awake, they’ll come in and make matters worse. Izzy doesn’t need to be yelled at when she’s already suffering. She needs comfort right now.
“I know you’re scared, Izz.” I sit on the edge of her bed and pull her in for a hug. “But what if they’re amazing? What if they’re the parents you always wanted? What if this is it?”
The hope tastes bitter on my tongue as I say the words, but I’ve been jaded by the truth. I’ve spent my entire life watching kids come and go from this place. Get placed into foster homes then brought back with thicker emotional scars. Some with physical scars too. I’ve gotten to see it firsthand and hear all the horror stories. Listen to the sobs through the walls. Some reliving the terror they went through. Others crying from the rejection of not being chosen. Kids so desperate for a family, so desperate for love, but getting returned because they weren’t good enough. Getting traded in like used vehicles. People always wanting someone younger and better. Always hoping for an infant they can raise as their own. Meanwhile, the rest of us are already marked as unwanted goods.
Izzy is thirteen. Not a lot of people want to adopt someone her age. Usually, the folks willing to foster the older kids are only out for the money they receive from the state. Most don’t even like kids. I’ve heard how cruel some of them can be and it gives me nightmares—which is why I refuse to let them place me anywhere. At sixteen, I know what’s in store for me, what my fate would be.
Therefore, I make it so they can’t send me anywhere.
Acting out and getting into trouble with the law keeps me safe. No one wants to foster a juvenile delinquent, which means I get to stay in this place. They say the devil you know is easier to handle than the devil you don’t, and I wholeheartedly believe that. The care workers here may be strict, but no one lays a hand on me. I can handle doing extra chores and being yelled at just as long as I’m safe. In my room. Sleeping in the only bed I’ve ever known. Or at least, that I can remember.
“But what if they’re mean?” Her fearful whisper sends a shiver down my spine as another clap of thunder echoes the dread of the possibility.
What if?That’s what I’m afraid of. What if they have uncontrollable tempers and hurt her? What if some creepy man tries to touch her? What if they have other kids who are mean to her? Who bully her? What if their mere interest is to enslave her and make her do all their housework? I’ve heard every scenario from the ones who come and go. Some deciding to run away before they have to endure another foster home.
“Then you call Mrs. Williams.” My voice comes out too loud, the anger churning in my gut, brewing like the storm outside. I look toward the closed door, trying to calm myself down, trying to quiet my own fear so I don’t alarm the staff. “Or you call the police and ask for Officer Lincoln Price.”
He’s my correctional officer and just about the only adult I trust in this world. Officer Price would keep Izzy safe. He actually cares about us kids, where others cast us away like rejects. They ignore how broken the system is, and act like just because we’re in here we’re bad seeds. Some of us came out of the womb into this situation. We didn’t ask for this. None of us want to be here. We all wished for a home with two loving parents, a couple kittens curled up on a pillow, and a steamy cup of hot chocolate on snow days, but we got the rotten end of the stick: parents incapable of providing a secure, safe home. People who didn’t want us.
My mother didn’t want me. I cried too much. The fact that I was a colicky baby was somehow indicative of the monster I would become, so I became a ward of the state.
“I don’t want to go, Shay.” She curls in tighter, like a little ball. Her frame is so tiny and frail. It terrifies me more because she can’t defend herself. “I want to stay with you. You’re the only family I need. What if I run away? Or key their car and slash their tires? I can do something to get them to send me back.”
As much as I want her here with me, I don’t want to see her getting into trouble and being sent to the detention center. It’sfilled with bullies, and Izzy is too sweet. She’ll never survive that place. One look at the tiny girl and they’ll pulverize her. They prey on weakness. Which is why they never came near me. I’m too cold and callous. Too numb to give a shit. And I’m able to hold my own. I’ve always been ahead of the growth curve for my age. But Izzy… I shudder just thinking about her locked in that place without me to protect her.
“I think you should give it a real chance, Izz. Don’t ruin things for yourself. With my record, I won’t be going to college.” I’ll be lucky if I get a job waiting tables when I get out of this place. She has the chance of getting a scholarship one day and truly making something of herself. She’s so smart. Too brilliant for a life of cleaning floors or serving people. I never considered the consequences of my actions when I was younger. Then again, I’ve never been book smart. There’s something about school that doesn’t compute. But Izzy is a genius. She’s always helping me with my schoolwork and I’m three grades ahead.
“Will you still be my friend? Even if I don’t come back, will you promise to never forget me?”
I could never forget her. Izzy is the only one I’ve ever truly connected with in here. She’s the only one who understands me. She’s not just my best friend; she’s my chosen sister. But tomorrow, they’re going to take her away from me, and I’m not sure how I’m going to survive without her. My only hope is that it doesn’t work out for her and she gets returned, but I can’t tell her that. It’s cruel for me not to wish the best for her. But I’m going to be miserable without her.
“I will never forget you, Izz. As soon as you get settled, you send me your address and I’ll write you every week. And when I turn eighteen, I’ll come find you.” Unless she comes back sooner, which I’m crossing my fingers she will.
“I wish we could’ve been true sisters, Shay. You’re exactly who I would’ve chosen as my big sister.”
The tears threaten to break the barriers of my eyes as another clap of thunder rumbles in the sky, rocking through me with an emotion I try so hard to block out. I hate feeling sad. It makes me feel weak. And weakness breaks you in this life. I’ve seen it over and over again.
“We are sisters, Izz. No matter where life takes us, no matter what happens, we will always be family.”
“Pinky promise.”
A tear slides down my cheek and I quickly wipe it away.
“Pinky promise.”
1
Shayna
