I grip the the gate at the end of the street. Looking down at the lock, I remember that my parents have the key. I can't go back to the house to get it, they would never let me leave.

"Liberty?" I hear from a short distance. I look back to see my moms friend Brittany.

I turn my head so she can't see my tears. I quickly wipe them away from my eyes. Turning to look at her, I hide my hands behind my back and say, "Hi." My voice is still shaky from crying.

"Come here sweetheart, it's been ages since I last saw you!" Brittany exclaims and throws her arms out for a hug.

After the short hug, I look down at my hands. I let out a little sniffle and say, "Yeah."

"Well come on! Let's go inside your house!" Brittany is the most cheerful adult I've ever met. Sometimes I wish she wasn't like that. It can be annoying.

Walking inside, we slide off our shoes and walk up the stairs. We both turn towards the living room to see my mom crying on the couch. She is cupping her face in her hands with a picture of me when I was seven laying on her lap. My dad has his arms wrapped around my mom. I can't tell if he's crying or not. I hope he's not.

Of course, Brittany doesn't clue in on the situation, she can be a little ditzy sometimes. She practically skips in and flops down on the couch next to my mom. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"L-Liberty ran away," My mom stutters between her sniffles.

"What are you talking about?" Brittany asks in surprise.

"She ran a-away!"

Brittany looks over at me with a very confused face. She then looks back at my mom and says, "No...She's right there!"

I slowly look down without saying anything.

My mom looks at me. Her face is full of shock. "Liberty! You're still here! Oh, sweetie you scared me so bad. Don't ever do that again!" She doesn't sound mad. I expected her to yell at me or something. Instead, she runs up and hugs me.

I think back to when I was younger. I would always get so mad at my mom. Crying, I'd say I was running away. She would never let me go. Every time she would sit me down and tell me that I would make her very sad and mad if I ran away. I always thought she was just trapping me or something. Now that I'm older I realize that she was actually protecting me.

I can't let that stop me. I have to make my own choices. I'm almost an adult! I need to do what's best for me. Plus, I have these things coming for me. I can't let them hurt my family or friends. I have to leave.

Eventually, Brittany's husband and daughter come in from their car. The daughter, Isabelle, is about five years old. I think that they're all going to stay the night. They probably will since Brittany and her husband are already drinking.

After dinner, me and Isabella go into the play room. I haven't been in here since the incident.

Me and my little brother used to come in here all the time. I'd spend time with him all day. That is until he, well... passed away.

His name was Noah, my only sibling. He had soft, dark brown hair and crystal blue eyes. His skin was so soft and pale.

When he was a few years old he got very sick. I remember the exact day, it was August 28, 2009. We had to take him to the hospital. We only expected for it to be like a cold or a fever. We just wanted to make sure that he was okay because he was so little.

The doctor started doing lots of tests. I remember staying in the hospital overnight, still doing more tests. That was until the day we got his results.

In the doctors office, he came in to tell us what was wrong. None of us knew what to expect. "Noah has leukaemia. I'm so sorry, there's no other way to explain it." He spoke with sympathy. Noah was only three.

As the months went on, he spent most of his time in the children's hospital. I would visit him everyday after school. I had no idea how long I still had with my only brother.

Every time he got to come home, he'd ask me to skip school. There were days I was allowed to, but usually I was forced to go to school anyway. It was the worst feeling in the world to see him so sad everyday that I was at school.

As soon as I got home, he would give me a picture he drew or coloured. He was the cutest little boy ever. I loved him so much.

Three years later, I got on the bus headed to the children's hospital to see him. His leukaemia had been worse then than ever. I got to the hospital and noticed that there was a new nurse. The usual one knew me very well. I did come everyday to see Noah.

"Hi, I'd like to see Noah Skyez." I asked quietly.

"Hi hun, he's in room 307. That's on the third floor." She responded sweetly.

"Thank you!" I skipped to the elevator.

She laughed, "No problem."

I entered the elevator lifting the piece I made in art for Noah and hit number 3.

I ran to his room and opened the door after I knocked. I walked in to see my parents were hugging each other and crying. Noah was laying on the hospital bed, it looked like he was just sleeping. Why would my parents be crying? After a few seconds I clued in and screamed, "No! Noah please wake up! You cant be gone!" I ran up to the bed and I grabbed his face softly. I kept whispering for him to come back.

That's the last thing I remember until the funeral.

A tear falls down my cheek. Isabella looks at me and asks what's wrong. I look around and quickly say, "Oh nothing, what do you want to play?"

She picks up one of Noah's favourite toys, it was a remote control car. "Can we play with this?"

"Sure, we have a track for it over here." I smile.

A few hours later my parents yell down the stairs that's it's time for bed. I walk up with Isabella. I stop her and ask "Hey, do you want any of the toys in there?" I obviously don't use them.

"Yes!" She screams, looking really exited

I hand her a bag and tell her pick out whatever she wants. She thanks me for all the toys and we say goodnight.

I go to my bedroom and sit at my desk. I grab my notebook and rip out a page.

I grab a pen and write I'm so sorry, mom and dad. I have to go. You won't understand exactly why. I have something that seems to be following me, it only seems to appear at the worst of times. I don't want it to hurt you. Don't be worried, it sounds scary but it's something I have to do to protect you.

I go and lay in my bed for about an hour and wait for everyone to go to sleep.

Once I think everyone is asleep, I grab my backpack and head to my window. I click the lock back and lift up the window. It lets out a loud scratching noise. I wait another minute to make sure nobody woke up. I lift my left leg onto the windowsill, then my right leg; I'm ready to leave my home.

Suddenly I hear footsteps heading towards my bedroom.