Chapter 1


Janel was walking down the corridor. This place brought her sadness. Brian had lived here once. Nine years ago.



As fourteen year old Brian threw some of his clothes into his gym bag, he felt a tear start to slide down his cheek. Why did his parents have to treat him like he was a child. He was old enough to go see the concert, wasn't he? They didn't think so. He had to go to this concert. Cindy would be there. If he didn't show, she would think that he was a baby.
"Brian," his mother yelled,"you can't be mad at us forever. You will have to come down from there sometime."
"Great," he thought," I only have a few minutes to leave before they come up. There goes the food I wanted to get."
He hadn't thought about running away before, but this was a desperate situation. He had to do it. The only problem was, he didn't know where he would stay. He couldn't go to his friends houses, his parents would look there. And in the middle of December, he couldn't stay on the streets.
Brian grabbed his jacket and climbed out the window, his bag slung over his shoulder. He landed right in the middle of a bush and tore his jeans. He ran around the house to the front, keeping to the shadows.
He ran down the street, and then slowed to a walk as he got out of view from his house.
He kept walking until he got to Burbank Hall, where the concert was to take place. It was his favorite group, The Rolling Stones, were playing. He grabbed his ticket out of his pocket. He walked up to the door and handed the ticket to the security guard. He walked into the building and noticed the cops for the first time.
One of them spotted him and called out for him to stop. The other cops looked up and started to advance towards him. He backed up and then started to run.
"Why did my parents have to call the cops," he thought," they could have at least given me time to see some of the concert. I've only been gone for an hour."
Out of nowhere, a man's arm reached out and grabbed him. He was caught.
"I don't think so young man. You're coming with us."
They ushered him out of the building so they wouldn't cause a scene. Once they were outside, the man released his jacket.
"You're lucky that we found you. It gets real cold out here in the night. You would have been frozen by tomorrow morning," one of the cops said.
"I don't consider myself lucky," Brian snapped. Just as they had dragged him out, Cindy had walked past and saw the whole thing. Now she would think that he was a loser.
A few of them looked stunned and glanced at the ground in embarrassment. Brian took this opportunity to run. Hands flew out to grab him, but his years of playing basketball paid off, and he quickly got out of their grasps.
He kept going until he knew he wasn't being followed, and slowed to a walk.
After his heart rate returned to normal, he started to notice the cold. He needed somewhere to stay, or like the cop said, he would be frozen by the morning.
He wandered around for awhile. When he stopped, he glanced up. He was right in front of the cathedral.
He started to laugh.
"This must be a sign," he thought.
He walked around back. He found the door and walked in. He was glad that his friends had dared hin to sneak in here once, or he would never have know about the back door. It was hidden behind some bushes. He didn't think that anyone except him remembered that it existed.
As the door closed behind him, he felt a blast of hot air. Did that ever feel good compared to the cold outside.
He explored the cathedral until he found an old room that was hardly ever used anymore. It was actually more than one room. It had a kitchen and a bathroom, and then a room that could be converted to a bedroom, and then a big room that had been used for gatherings.
It had once been the rooms that the monk lived in. Now there was only a minister, and the rooms were only used for storage. Brian didn't think that anyone would mind him spending the night there, so he could look for somewhere in the morning.
He took off his coat and balled it up for a pillow.
Then he dropped to the floor and was asleep in minutes.


Go to TS menu- Go to Fanfiction- Next Chapter