[center][h2]Jenna [First Draft] [/h2]
[h3][Abandoned - Will Not Be Finished][/h3]
[h3]by xxrhoo[/h3][/center]

[i][b]Chapter One - The Rabbit Hole[/b][/i] [right]1.[/right]

	They lived in the woods, in nothing more than a deteriorating two-bedroom shack. Their family was part of the recent gossip in town, particularly the second youngest daughter. She had two older brothers and a younger sister. She didn’t go to school much; her grades were below average. Even more curious, she isolated herself from the other students as if she were afraid. It was more than anxiety; she wasn’t just nervous. There was pure, solid fear radiating from her soul.

	People had a lot to say about Jenna McCarthy and her life, yet the full complexity about the events that had occurred were never portrayed. Rumors fly through small towns; some people said Jenna was the way she was because her daddy beat all four of the children. Some said it was because she watched her momma kill him and then herself. Some said both. Nobody knew the actual reason, but little Jenna sure was the talk of the town for a while without ever speaking a word.

	Jenna’s oldest brother was Cole Matthews, carrying a different surname because his daddy wasn’t hers. He was already eight years old when Becca gave birth to Jenna, taking his little brother outside every day to play and escape their step-daddy’s wrath. Things calmed down around the house after her birth, and Dale McCarthy became a tolerable man for a while. Penelope was born three years after Jenna, and it was shortly after her second birthday party when Dale’s anger and abuse was resurrected. The party balloons hadn’t even deflated yet before he caught his wife, Becca in another man’s bed, but he just couldn’t bring himself to divorce her, even if it would have been the best decision to make for all of them. He said it was against his nature. That was when he started taking his daily anger out on his wife and kids, right up until the day Becca killed him.

	It was a fairly cool day in September. Birds were chirping outside, the leaves on the trees were starting to turn. There was a nice breeze swaying their branches. Penelope and Jenna were in their bedroom, Penelope coloring and Jenna writing. Cole opened the front door of their measly shack to be greeted with a stern look from a police officer, who was looking at him over the shoulder of Cole’s younger brother, Dillon.

	“This your son, sir?”

	“Brother,” he sighed, swearing he couldn’t have looked [i]that[/i] old. “I’m the legal guardian, yes.”

	A drawn-out clicking noise was heard and Dillon’s once-bound hands hung freely by his side. The sixteen year old rubbed lightly at his wrists, staring at Cole with a crooked grin on his face, unflinching.

	“Caught him trying to shoplift from Uncle Buddy’s Convenience with a few of his friends,” the officer drawled, putting his hands on his hips. He seemed to stare into their home more intensely than what was wanted at that moment, so Cole shifted to block his good view. The officer continued, “Never had trouble with him before, not like the convicts he was grouped with. Gonna let him off the hook this time.”

	He peered at Cole with narrowed eyes, “You kids holdin’ up okay?”

[hr]
[b]Constructive criticism welcome.[/b]