The beginning

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Hartley's POV
So to say the least I have had a shitty start to life. That's all there is to say really. People can try and be positive and say it will get better but I've been on the earth for 18 years and all I can say is that it is utter shit. Anyone else feel me ?? I suppose I better explain a bit further.
When I was 9 my parents died in a car crash. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was in shock I didn't know what to do. So I just ran, no social services no foster care I just ran as fast as I could as far away as I could, to get away from the crash, the image of my dead parents burned into my mind. I don't remember much about them but I have a photo I keep with them always. My mother was beautiful and kind and cared for everyone. My father was handsome and he looked after us well as much as I can remember. Anyways after running for so long I managed to sneak on a bus as I had no money to pay I was nine ffs. The bus kept going and I think I must've fell asleep because I was woken up by the driver and told this was the last stop. I thanked him and stepped out into the boring rain. Just great. My hoodie was clinging to me but I was soaked to the bone. I had no clue where I was but I could tell I was far from home. Who am I kidding, I didn't have a home anymore. My only family was my parents and they were dead. I hid in this alleyway next to this abandoned looking building, and I must've dozed off, my body drained from the days events.
I only woke up when a fancy car pulled up outside the alley way. My parents always taught me to be strong and never show my fear and I follow that to this day. The man stepped out of the car, he had a strong jaw, piercing blue eyes, slicked back hair and he wore a suit. You could tell he held himself of the upmost importance. He had men holding guns in either side of him, obviously his bodyguards. However he had this dark presence around him that i couldn't quite shake. He slowly walked up to me and crouched down. The smell of his strong cologne burned my nostrils, but I kept a straight face. " now what is a little girl like you doing around these parts ?? You could get hurt" he smirked obviously think i would be scared of him. To be honest I was terrified but I wasn't going to let him know that. With the bravest voice I could muster I replied "it's none of your business, and I can take care of myself" however my voice betrayed itself as you could hear the tremble in it. He let out a low chuckle. "I like you girl. You've got guts. My names Jason. What's your name?". This time I wasn't going to let my fear be known so I said " the names Hartley what's it to you?" And slowly leaned back against the wall as if I had no care in the world. "Well Hartley, why don't you come with me ? Your too young to be on your own,  and I can give you a good home with food and a bed and a family". I knew he was sketchy from the start, and what he was offering seemed way to good to be true, but I was in no position to say no as I was only 9 and complete alone. " fine I'll come with you but I don't trust you" I said looking at him skeptically. He just chuckled again and opened the car door,  I climbed inside and watched it close behind me. Oh the amount of times I've wished I could go back to that day and fucking say no to him.
The first couple of months living with him were actually pretty great, he looked after me I had my own room, anything I could want, it genuinely started to feel like a family, however when I turned 10 was the day everything changed.
You see I knew that Jason was dodgy I just didn't realise how bad it was. Turns out he was leader/owner of an underground fighting league, and not just any; but the most brutal one of all. Gangs and mafias, all trained fighters to enter, and anyone else brave enough to enter could. The winner always won a lot of money. There was different levels to the places they were held. The middle class and poor were on the bottom ground surrounding the boxing ring, whereas the rich who betted the most money, wore mask to conceal their identity and stayed high up watching from the balconies above. Now Jason made enough money just running it, however he was greedy and he wanted more, so he wanted the best fighters fighting for him.
When I turned 10 he decided I was old enough. He turns hostile and mean and would hurt me whenever I did anything wrong, he said he was teaching me to be strong, but he was just a dick. From 10 he had me training with his trainer Liam who was only young, but is actually a really nice guy and we quickly became fast friends. We trained 6 hours a day with only one day off a week. This went on for five years. When I turned 15 Jason decided I was ready to fight, however I was never prepared for how bad it was going to be. I lost my first 10 fights.every fight I would lose Jason would carve a line into my back with a knife making a tally of all my lost fights. Safe to say I learned pretty quickly that losing wasn't an option. From 16 onwards I didn't lose a single fight. So for the last two years I have been undefeated, but that doesn't mean I haven't had bruises and broken bones throughout the years, it's a brutal league and I'm always recovering from injuries. However I can hide it pretty good you could say I'm a bloody proffesional at make up by now. I was racking in the money for Jason from all my wins; he also let me keep some for myself so I had about 80,000 in savings which ain't to bad if I say so myself. You may think why don't I just run away from him ? But Jason is a very powerful man, and no matter where I would go he would find me, I am his property, and if I tried to leave he would just beat me more than he already does. He has even let some of his gang members rape me the pathetic bastards, not that I let them without a fight, definitely broke a couple noses.
Throughout the years Jason put me through school as I needed an education. This is where I found my love for soccer. It is the best sport in the world. You wouldn't believe it but I'm a striker, it does explain my good footwork in the ring though. Today's we had the final in the high school leagues, meaning there would be loads of scouts and I wanted to impress. I managed to score the match winning goal and it was an absolute banger not gonna lie. After the match Jill Ellis came up to me, I was gobsmacked. I could barely form my words. She invited me to the next camp, which I obviously accepted. Jason agreed to let me go as long as I continued training, and going to my fights, and Jill or anyone else on the team was allowed to know about it. Of course I agreed with him just happy that he let me go, as this was my dream come true and it would get me away from his beatings for a while. This brings us back to present day, with me standing outside the teams hotel for the camp, absolutely shitting myself.

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Hey guys !!! I hope you like my story. Give me your honest opinions but no hate please. This is my first story so won't be the best. If you have any questions about the story please don't be afraid to ask, I will update as much as I can. This story is set a few years back meaning that Jill Ellis is still the manager of uswnt. Also this is a fictional story meaning apart from the character names none of it is real including the game scores and events. Thankyou !!'

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