Chapter 1: Strange Disappearance

It was a seemingly normal morning that Cinnamon woke up to. The sun was just rising in the sky and the birds were beginning to chirp in the trees. Cinnamon liked the early mornings. She felt they were so peaceful. Not that she saw them through the heavy drapes covering her bedroom window, but she knew they were there.

She stretched her hands out to her sides and then brought them together and over her head in a big stretch, her back arching, her breasts pressing against the fabric of her nightshirt, and gave a big yawn. Then she settled back into bed and closed her eyes to sleep some more. She'd just started to drift off when someone began pounding on her door.

"Cinnamon! It's time for breakfast!" her mother yelled.

"Ugh!" Cinnamon groaned. As much as she loved mornings she hated breakfast. It wasn't so much the food, although she was rarely hungry first thing in the morning. It was that she hated the company. Her mother and stepbrother would be there as well as her new stepfather. She didn't have a good relationship with any of them. She'd never had a good relationship with her mother and it had started sliding even further down hill after her father died. Once her mother remarried their relationship stopped its downward slide completely. It fell off the cliff. And it was still falling, straight down.

While her relationship with her mother was bad and getting worse she had no real relationship with her stepfather. She thought he was ok but she didn't really know him. She didn't see him much; he was a bit too involved with his work. Even when he was at home he seemed glued to his newspaper, cellphone, or laptop. She thought that maybe if he wasn't so involved in his work things might be better, since the few times he had gotten involved it had been on her side. As it was, he didn't see her unless something blew up under his newspaper. And by that time it was usually too late for her.

And then there was her stepbrother. He was the same sort who made her life miserable at school. The kind that picked on her, called her names, played pranks on her and stole her things. And that's when they were being kind. Home had been her refuge. But now that her mother had remarried, her misery had no end. He continued, at home, what the others started at school. What made it even worse was that when no one was watching he gave her a look that gave her the creeps. She'd even caught him in her underwear drawer. They'd had a big fight over that and her mother supported him by saying she'd told him to put her things away. Cinnamon couldn't believe it and was outraged. He'd allegedly been sent in with t-shirts to put away for her. However she hadn't put any laundry out to be washed and even if she had, her t-shirts belonged in the second drawer, not in with her underwear.

They'd had an even bigger fight a week later when she'd used most of the money she'd saved up to have a dead bolt installed in her door and locks put on her windows. Her mother insisted they be removed. Cinnamon finally won by saying the next time she caught him in her room she was calling the police. Her mother gave her one of those "if looks could kill" looks and told her that she'd pay for it. She happily told her she already had and held up her receipt. Her mother slapped her and ordered her to her room without dinner. Cinnamon ended up testing her new lock on her mother, after slamming the door as hard as she could.

Even though it had caused another fight Cinnamon was glad she'd done it. She felt safer behind the locked door. She was even more glad she'd started keeping her money and diary behind the heating duct under her bed. Before then her money kept disappearing and everyone knew the contents of her diary. Even so the lock and its installation had used up nearly all that was left of her meager savings. Not that she minded in the least. She hardly even minded the extra chores her mother made her do. The past week she'd slept better than she had since her father had passed.

Her mother pounded on the door again and yelled "Breakfast! Now!"

Cinnamon sighed as her good mood left her. As if things weren't bad enough, the rest of her family hated mornings. Even when they didn't fight she still left for school feeling ruffled and raw. Cinnamon sighed again and then turned onto her side, swung her long legs out of the bed while pushing herself up with her arm. She sat there looking at the clock trying to focus on the numbers until her mother pounded on the door again.

Cinnamon groaned and called out "I'm coming!"

"Hurry it up! And don't use all the hot water either!" her mother snapped.

Cinnamon groaned again. That meant her stepbrother was still here. He usually left early for practice and was showered and gone or on his way out the door by the time she got up. That meant she was up even earlier than normal. It also meant that she'd not only have to face her leering but that she also had to take extra precartions to ensure her privacy. It also meant that she had to have a quick shower and not the long ones she favored since her mother only warned her about the hot water if someone else still needed to shower. Of course no one bothered to ever save her any hot water. It was usually only lukewarm at best by the time it was her turn to shower. She sighed again as her depression deepened. She slowly stood up and gathered the clothes she'd planned to wear today from her chair. She paused to consider putting her clothes on first but she didn't have the energy to dress now, just to undress again down the hall.

She carefully unlocked the door and opened it just enough to stick her head out. She looked up and down the hall for any sign of her stepbrother. Then she listened carefully for him. Not seeing any sign of him didn't mean he wasn't lurking somewhere. She smiled and some of the tension left her as she heard his voice coming from the kitchen. What she heard made her bristle with anger. He was hitting his father up for money again. And she knew he'd get some of what he wanted.