COREY FELT DRAINED WHEN HE had to go to school. After all his chores, he was exceptionally sore. Cleaning pet cages gave his arms a workout, while bathroom duty was just... gross. Per usual.

By the time he had to walk back to the orphanage from school, he felt like he was going to collapse onto the sidewalk and fall asleep there. Corey's eyes could barely stay open, and his feet weren't supporting him very well. His heavy backpack wasn't helping much, either.

Corey stopped at a red light on the road, watching cars rush by. He leaned against the pole that he was standing beside, crossing his arms. Before he knew it, his eyes were closed. Corey listened to the whir of tires rolling down the street and the faint chatter of city folk conversing with one another.

Just as soon as he opened his eyes, a tug on his sweatshirt hood pulled him backward.

Corey gasped, stunned in surprise as he was being dragged. He looked around. There was no one else at the stop, and none of the cars seemed to notice that he was being kidnapped. I'll have to save myself, then, Corey thought. He threw his backpack off his shoulder, spinning out of the person's grip. He then swung the bag straight into their face, causing them to fall back onto the ground.

"Holy mackerel-" they hissed, bringing their hands to their forehead.

Corey knew that voice.

"Aspen?"

The girl shot a dark glance at him, picking herself up. She looked the same as she did a year ago. Her gray eyes were dull, dark bags making a semi-circle beneath them. Her hair was dark as ever, and cuts ran down her arms from self-defense school—that is, if she still went there.

His sister.

"We need to go, Corey, we need to go now." Aspen said warily, grabbing his wrist and digging her nails into the sweatshirt, once again dragging him away. Corey jerked his arm back, frowning.

"Where? Why are you trying to kidnap me? What happened?" he asked, worriedly. Aspen only grabbed his wrist again.

"Let's go, Corey! I'm serious!" she grumbled, her eyes darting wildly around the road. She walked faster this time, army boots clapping loudly against the sidewalk.

"No!" Corey said, taking back his wrist. "I'm not going anywhere with you! You... you left me! You left me there alone. I had no one except for you, Aspen. How do you think I felt when I woke up one day and the only person that I've ever trusted in my life wasn't there? I haven't seen you in an entire year, Aspen, and you just expect me to go running off with you?"

Aspen only shook her head, her eyes wide. "Look— Corey, I'm sorry, but now is not a great time to talk about this. I'll apologize later, I promise, but this is extremely important. They need your help."

Corey tensed.

"Who?"

"Mom and dad."