Post by starletinwaiting on May 17, 2019 12:37:42 GMT -8
Hi, my name is Lewis Patrick Jackson McFarland (2/15/1999). My dad is Eric McFarland. When I was about six and my younger cousin, Charis, was about four, our families were out at the park together. Charis and I had always been pretty tight, so we were off by ourselves when an unfamiliar couple approached us. They lured us away, into their van, and took us to live with them as theirs. However, because they were far below the poverty line, when we were preteens, they sold us to a human trafficking ring. Ever since, we've sort of floated around from place to place, but somehow always managed to stick together. We only recently managed to escape, with the little family we've created for ourselves.
My biggest coping mechanism was books. Anything I could get my hands on. I learned a lot about history and science. I basically taught myself basic engineering and woodworking through my reading. These are skills that come in handy when you're on the run.
My cousin, Charis Elisabeth Adriana McFarland (12/8/2001) [played by Josephine], daughter of my Uncle Brian and his ex-wife Brontë, has been under my protection since the moment we were kidnapped so many years ago. Because of the harrowing experiences we've endured together, she and I are almost more like siblings than cousins. She has the patience of a saint and the courage of a soldier but the humor of a rock. Everything is pretty serious in her book. It's pretty much all life or death for her, black and white and no in between. But... I can't really blame her, after what she's been through.
Charis also brought her three-year-old daughter, Sapphira Eliana Emmaline McFarland-Brunetti (4/27/2016). Sapphira has a huge personality, a trait I think she's picked up more from me and her dad than from her mom. For being only three, Saffy has an incredible sense of humor and an insane sense of human emotion. She knows when we're scared and when we're sad and she can tell the difference.
Saffy's dad, Charis's long-term boyfriend, and my best friend, Tudor Romeo Brunetti (5/3/1999) helped to orchestrate our escape along with Charis. They met when we first were sold to the traffickers, and they hit it off really well, especially after me and Tudor started getting close as well. When Charis was, unsurprisingly, raped by one of the traffickers at thirteen, Tudor, then fifteen, stood up for her, which really solidified their relationship. To this day, we don't actually know if Saffy is really his, but neither he nor Charis want to do the DNA test to find out. They'd prefer to believe she is one way or the other.
We also couldn't leave behind my long-term girlfriend, Jayla Americus Kaitlin Parker (3/5/2001) [played by Josephine]. We also met in the trafficking ring. She was pregnant when we met, very, very pregnant, and the way the traffickers treated her... I couldn't let that happen, so I took on the role of protector in her case as well. It never ended well for either of us. But she's the love of my life. I would never let anyone do anything to harm her or our two kids.
Our first child together is five year old Anastasia Karina Jaylin McFarland (12/10/2014). Ana is a great little kid who adores her younger brother and clings to her family for dear life. It's been hard to see her grow up under these circumstances, though she has always found her own little way to cheer everyone else. Usually through stories or little songs and dances.
After Jayla and I started really connecting, we ended up having a baby of our own, Paxton Keenan Patrick McFarland (5/2/2017). Pax is pretty shy. Ana and Saffy are his best friends, probably the only kids he's had any real contact with. He sticks to me like glue when I'm around, so I try to make as much time for him as possible.
After Paxton was born, the four of us-- me, Charis, Jayla, and Tudor --realized something: we had to get out of the ring. We were all in pretty bad shape, our experiences bonding us for life, and we knew that if we stayed much longer, it could result in more damage than was already done. So we sat down and we planned our escape.
Thanks to Corinne Marshall, who we found out later was Charis's new stepmom, our plan succeeded and here we are.