Sweetcheeks

Chapter 1

The young girl's cries were lost beneath the thunder that rolled overhead. She sat huddled in a cold, wet, darkened doorway of a delapidated building. Her long brown hair stuck to her cheeks from the rain pouring down hard, pooling beneath her feet on to the concrete below.
Time went by slowly, what felt like hours was only minutes, minutes only seconds, no end to this horror that she prayed was a dream.

Her head shot up. The familiar smell filling the alleyway.

Cigarette smoke. That was her father's forte.

Footsteps sounded. As did the splash of the puddles, over and over. Was this a glimmer of hope?

The footsteps came closer. As did a glimmer of light, a phone shinning up at the walkers face. He was young, just a teenager himself.
"Help me" the young girl croaked, looking up, her eyes begging him as they locked onto his.
His neared her, dropping the cigarette,  which she unsure how he had got his hands on at such a young age, then bending down to her level.
He outstretched a hand to her, which she accepted with caution, her ice cold fingers being encased in his as he helped her up.

"What's your name?" he asked, his voice filled with worry and heartache for her.
She tried to speak, but became frozen to the spot, unable to get any words out no matter how hard she tired. She was trapped inside her own body, inside her mind full of fear.
His other hand brushed up against her cheek, soft skin against hers, wiping away the droplets, unable to distinguish her tears from the rain water.
"Are you hurt?" The boy asked gently, brushing a strand of her from her face.
She shook her head, glancing all around, the fear in her eyes still evident.

Not another word was spoken as they walked slowly, through the alley way until they reached a glimmer of light.
"What happened to you?" he enquired.
"She's dead" she spoke, her voice breaking with every word as reality sank in further and further.
"Who? Who's dead?" the boy asked.
"My mother" she replied, recalling the memory of running from the hospital, shrill cries leaving her parched lungs, breaking down in floods of tears knowing that her mother had been taken from her.
"I won't let anybody hurt you" he reassured her, gently wiping her cheeks with a hankerchief which he slipped into her coat pocket.

Silence filled the air again. Walking further in the rain until they reached the door of the hospital.
"I can't go any further" he told her.
Her eyes glistened over, knowing that once again she was to be all alone, "you said you'd look after me", her voice weak and breaking.
"You'll be safe here, and I'll find you someday, don't you worry, Sweetcheeks" the boy replied, dropping her hand as the double doors opened.
He walked away, sobs wracking the girls body again as she fell to the floor.
A quick look back and he was gone, doctors surrounding the girl as she cried out, her heart shattering, being encased by so many people but having never felt so lost and alone.