Only+Solitary+Smiles+(Chapter+One)+Danielle+W

This novel isn ’ t for everyone. There are subjects touched upon (not in graphic detail however, mind you) that may be offensive to some people, although they will hopefully not take away from the story. (It is still kept rather clean of many mature things, of course.)Well, enjoy. __ Alissa Alliance Series: Book One __ __ Only Solitary Smiles __ __ “Hold onto the future, and never let it go.” __ “You can only love someone if you have learned to hate and love their flaws. If you love someone simply because you love them, then you aren't deserving of having that emotion at all.” “Forever is composed of nows.” --Emily Dickinson __ Chapter One: Chrysalis __ I wasn't sure of how long I would last until the nightmares would tear me apart like they had torn apart my mother. They were //killing// me. The insane nightmares prodded at my reality and took away my ability to think realistically. I would wake up sobbing, and within hours not remember why. The only thing that stayed the same once she had left was my fear of being alone, and the Sweet-William that was engraved into the lid of my knife box that she had made for me. I sat there, imagining the box in my hands, and practically tracing the perfect lettering for “Al” that she had done in her own special font. I wanted to seep through the floor and get out of there. “Wake up.” My eyes fluttered open, the world still blurry as I managed a small “//let me go back to sleep//”. I consequently rubbed at my eyes, allowing my vision to adjust to the light, and raised my head from my desk. Oops. I hadn't quite meant for that to happen. I was staring up into the intense gaze of my Standardized Learning teacher. I couldn't even remember her name as I started to mouth out something wordlessly. The teacher had an intense look, almost as if she would strike me at any moment for my foolishness. Which I deserved, I guessed, I was just too exhausted to think about it. She tapped her fingertips against my iron desk, frightening me. What if she told a Rank Six about it? Hell, even if she only told a Rank One I would've been scared out of my wits. What if someone found out that the poor little Alliance girl wasn't sleeping as much as she should have and it was due to severe mental trauma? I didn't know if they had a 'hospital' prepared enough to take someone like me on. “Alliance,” the teacher said firmly. I could notice that her face was deprived of pigment and her fingernails and lips were colored in deep red. Her cleavage was obvious to see even from my angle, and instead of it embarrassing me, is terrified me. She was a newer teacher. She didn't know about me, not at all. I swallowed, holding back a yelp out of fear. “Alliance, how dare you fall asleep in my classroom?! This isn't some nursery school; it is the Last Grades for goodness sakes! You need to learn responsibility, girl, or else everything is going to slingshot back into your pretty little face before you even know what has hit you.” I gulped, and waited for what her punishment would be. I peered around the room, noticing the snickers from the other students. I was in a higher class for a reason, and I should have known better. I could practically hear their thoughts as their eyes glistened with amusement and irritation. I kept my apathetic glare, trying to be strong. After all, it was only one little punishment. One little regret. But she didn't know... “You will have ten lashings on your arm by a Rank Three after class. I'll arrange it, darling,” she told me smoothly. I felt almost relieved by her remark. “Okay. Now turn your Arithmetics book to page 176...” I couldn’t get out of that classroom fast enough when the bell rang. I had to avoid her fast enough to bring my books back into my locker and straighten out the obvious bags under my eyes. I peered into my locker mirror, seeing only a typical girl with typical problems. Hell, she definitely wasn't me. I looked like a wreck: thin brunette hair tied back in two pigtails that reached my shoulder blades, tired hazel-nut brown eyes that glinted crimson around the iris when I moved quickly, and a t-shirt with a logo for some Liltish company with a name I could pronounce, as well as a hoodie and a pair of jeans. People said I was gorgeous for a fifteen year old, but I thought otherwise. Just as I managed to compose myself to the point of perfection—which was the only point in which I looked decent in my mind—I twirled around, slammed my locker shut, and with only one book in hand that I would read as always during the waiting minutes of Specialized Learning, and I headed back to receive my punishment. I had only gotten a lashing the year before for cross-answering the question during Standardized Learning when the teacher had been talking about how the school wanted us to read the more the merrier, and I replied that as long as we read something that had decent writing and a good moral we were set to go...unfortunately, teachers don't like it when you challenge them. Even then, everyone knew that it was because of my stubbornness and rebellious nature—which you can't really fix—but this time it was for a totally different matter. My parents could get hurt this time, and that was the last thing I wanted. I stayed as calm as possible as I walked over to the Official Punishment Room as I had the year before. Last time I was escorted though, and this time I was forced to feel like some sort of criminal. I was an idiot and made a fool out of myself, as usual. Wasn't that punishment enough? The Punishment Room, like the Punishment Rooms in every school in ever place you'll ever go in Osten'Est, is in the basement and surrounded by teacher offices and the Nurses Office. I had heard a tall-tale that the reason why they had kept the Punishment Room in every school in the basement was to stop people from hearing the screaming as the children were lashed, but I really doubted that. It was mostly so that children wouldn't be troubled while transferring schools. So I crept down the silent stairs and navigated myself away from the main floor, taking a breath and hoping that by the tenth lash my arm would be so numb that I wouldn't feel the pain anyway. I reached the Punishment Room with my head low, hoping that by trying to seem guilty I would be able to get away from there even more quickly, maybe with earning fewer than eight lashes. Probably not. Still, I acted like I was the most pitiful thing on the Goddamn planet and entered. “Hello, Miss Alliance,” a Rank Four (at least) Officer, obviously a woman, murmured to me in a sweet voice. She was plump and sat behind a desk. “Your teacher gave us a phone message about your little conflict. Already getting in trouble on the second day of school, hm?” She chortled, giving me a bit of a feeling of relief that she didn't really care, but it stopped when she pointed me in the direction of the little side office that I would have to go in. “I hope you get things straightened out,” she told me, but I could hear the uncaring tone in her voice. Why should she care anyway, though? I was some idiotic teenager that had a sleeping problem. She was a Rank Four Officer, higher on the food chain than even my father who was a Rank Two Officer, and she was assigned to greet loser kids in a loser school in the bowels of Osten'Est. How fair was that? In my contemplation, I still watched her as I left, noticing the badge on her shirt with something that looked like a Bald Eagle. We had learned about them the year before, and about how they were the symbol of something, but that was at least seventy years before, and the species was now extinct from what I had heard. It didn't interfere with the present, anyway. I entered into the tiny office, keeping my head low as I navigated with only the tiles and furniture as my guides, and heard a door slam shut. There was a long silence that was broken by a male's voice. “Let's get this done, shall we?” I looked up at the handsome and young face of the man, his clothes shuffled around slightly from a rush and his tie hanging from the collar of his flannel shirt. Probably not too sharp, but still charming. His eyes were covered by goggles, making it as plain as day that he was an Air Force pilot that was sent to a school because he needed to learn better discipline himself. I watched as he quickly scanned over a paper on the desk, reading over the report the plump woman officer had filed out for him. “You're Alissa, right? Alright. Let's get on with it.” He finally raised his eyes onto me, catching my gaze, and I could tell that he cringed. “W-what's your last name, girl?” “It should be on the report,” I stated, not amused by his reluctance. I had just braced myself for a whacking, too! He nodded, giving in to my hostility, his eyes trailing back to the paper. His eyes widened for a moment, and he turned back. “Alright, Alliance. Let's get this over with,” he mumbled, and I could hear the nervousness in his tone. “You said that three times already,” I mumbled, dissatisfied and confused, as I again braced for the grab of the walking stick and my flesh to be bruised. I set my arm out on a metal pole that stretched across the room for balance, and held my breath. I heard a bang. I practically burst into tears simply at the sheer loudness of the sound—it was practically metallic—and the thought of the oncoming pain. But it didn't come. Instead I was filled with relief as I looked over at the metal only a few inches away from my fingertips. There was a small dent. I watched with wonderful terrors at this Rank Three slammed the walking stick ten times at the metal. I gaped at him and he smiled back at me, almost mischievously, and replaced the walking stick with a bandage. He quickly wrapped up my uninjured arm, muttering about how I deserved the pain of the blow, and I rubbed at my eyes, faking tears. Two could play at this game. I wondered if he did this with all of the people he was told to punish, but I knew that by the way he acted showed how much he didn't want to hurt me in particular. Why? Well, it had something to do with my last name or my face, that was for sure. I had no time to secretly ask as I was shoved outside of the office, holding my forearm as if it really was bleeding profusely, and I left. I was late to my Specialized Learning class, as expected, but our teacher, Ms. Graze, didn't really mind as she was getting the other students prepared. She was racing around the room, handing out papers frantically. When I entered the Auditorium, our designated classroom, she looked up at me and managed a small smile before returning to her work. I walked down to the stage where most of the students were sitting or standing, and I sat with my knees against my chin. The younger students looked over at me with a bit of concern, especially the ones that seemed to be in the supposed Seventh and Eighth grades, but as soon as Ms. Graze's voice rang loud and clearly they all stopped whispering to each other and promptly shut up. “Hello students to another wonderful year here. It's a pleasure to meet you all, and I'm hoping you are all satisfied with your choice of acting as a possibly hobby and career.” She went on to talk about the rules and about what we had done in the previous years, but I didn't really listen. I was too busy hoping that she would choose me to do the demonstration with her this year. Every year, on the first day, Ms. Graze and her star student had to improvise something epic and amazing and show the students what the class would be like so they wouldn't want to leave. I had watched in admiration during the past years as they flawlessly spoke with such boldness and emotion that I was breathless afterwards. I knew that it should have been something that The Last Years should have done, but I was so eager to do it. Ms. Graze danced gracefully across and onto the stage, clearing us all off of it, and she peered around. For one moment I could see her eyes as they burrowed into my irises, and she looked away. //Rejected?// I thought, even though I didn't have any hurt feelings. Then her head snapped back over to me, and with a click of her fingers, I felt myself walking towards her. I bowed down, trying to hold back any nervousness I felt, and she handed me the very basic and vague script. “I’ll give you a minute to read over it, honey,” she told me. I gaped at her. “Uh, okay,” I mumbled, content but afraid. I looked down at the page, slowly reading. //Two sisters arguing over the death of their younger brother when he drowned. You are the younger sister who is very upset, taking a little lesson from your older sister.// I nodded, having finished it. Good enough, right? It seemed simple enough, but there was something tugging at my heart. She hadn’t chosen me because I was a good actress, only because I had the same feelings as this girl. I shrugged, planning my demeanor. “All done, Ms. Graze.” She nodded cheerfully, and I walked over to her part of the stage. Then the game of being myself began. “Sister, you have a problem,” Ms. Graze said in character. She shot a glare over at me. “There’s no reason for you to be so selfish, sis’. You’re tearing us all apart! It was a few years ago, and your still clinging on to the past. Don’t dwell on it, sis!” She pounced toward me, giving me a playful shove. “You just don’t get it,” I told her, my tone nonchalant. “How it feels after he died! You didn’t even spend a moment with him! I don’t know how to go on! I watched as he laid there lifeless, and it was because of my own hands! I didn’t want it to happen, no! But now…now he has no future…” “Can’t you just stay with the memories you have?! If you continue with this, you’ll make yourself sick—“ “I don’t care!” I yelled, this time in my own voice and tone. “I’d prefer it if I made myself fall and die!” How quickly I had reacted to it, and how harshly; Ms. Graze stared at me, her face covered in a layer of pure shock and despair. “I’d rather die than carry around the thought that I killed her—I mean him! I never wanted him to stop breathing…” I turned, racing quickly out of the auditorium. A few students clapped, the others too stunned to do anything. It wasn’t meant to end like that. I wasn’t supposed to run out. But I felt the need to. Specialized Learning was the last class of the day, so I decided to ditch it in general and sneak past the guards to the outside. The sun beat down of my face, and a ruffled old leaf flung into my mouth. Crap, did it taste bad. I spat it out at once, still walking along the outside. I wasn’t graceful or gorgeous or amazing. I was Alissa Alliance, the dumb and overly dramatic girl who slept through class and argued with teachers over stupid little things. I trekked onto the road, there not being any cars along it at this hour. I would go home and eat some grapes. That’s it. I heard a few leaves rustling and looked backwards at the boots that were following me. Looking upwards, I saw the faces of my few companions: Darlene Winters, Bailey Vega, Fae Allen, Adrianne Blair, and a few of Bailey’s annoying friends. Darlene smirked at me, mumbling, “Alissa Alliance. So we meet again.” She giggled at the darkness in her tone. “Al! Hey-yah! Did you ditch too?” she asked, a tired smile across her face. “Only one class,” I answered quickly, rubbing my eyes to rid them of tears. She blinked. “Uh, you okay?” she questioned, cocking her head to the side. “Yeah. Wouldn't want you dying on us now,” Adrianne joked, even though it was a half-assed one. Only Fae giggled. Go figure. “I'm fine, guys,” I told them, slicking my hair back to fix the slightly frizzy hairs and pivoted on my heel, trying to act cool. Of course, in this society 'cool' normally had to do with having killed someone in a brutal way, blogged about it, and never got caught. I looked more like a show-off than anything. “Really. Hey, why don't we all just hang out at Bailey's house later? Have some unplanned fun, yah know?” Bailey glared at me, muttering, “And I'll have to supply the beverages, food, and couches. Lucky me.” He shook his head. “I hate to like you, Liss, I really do.” I bit my lip. He was the only person that still called my 'Liss'. “You're very welcome,” I told him sarcastically. “This is gonna be so fun! I gotta find a //bonita//-looking dress. Maybe we can have this fun at five? Maybe you can tell your mom and dad that you'll be at my house, Al,” Darlene suggested, twirling around and holding onto Bailey's arm. Her black, wavy hair came along with her, making her look beautiful. She would often insert words in Spanish into her sentences, even if they didn't fit in it anyway. “Sure, darling. I should be heading home now~,” I told her, blowing a kiss to her and Fae. After all, even if Fae became the smart yet always kind and quiet girl and Darlene became the obnoxious and graceful girl, they were still my friends. Even if they resembled the people I tried to avoid. “Wait! Liss!” I heard Bailey yell to me, and I turned back again. I raised my eyebrows. “In case if that brat Jayson asks you, you can bring him. Whatever, I don't really give a damn anyway. See you later, Alliance.” I nodded and took the simplest route home possible—which just ended up being hitchhiking with an old lady who constantly told me about how much I looked like her granddaughter—and I walked out from where she dropped me off, which happened to be at the end of the road that I lived at anyway. “Thanks, ma'am,” I said, taking the quick walk to my home. I finally noticed the book that I was clutching. //An In-depth Tale of Orpheus// the title read. I blinked, not remembering having even started it. I shrugged, continuing into the perfect little house that we had. Well, it looked nice on the inside—siding, a little flower garden, a cute little white fence—but inside it was practically empty. Most of our furniture was from stuff we had scavenged out of the garbage that reckless people had thrown away, and what else there was beaten down. And I loved it, too. I heaved a sigh, going into our teeny-tiny kitchen and taking out a bowl of green grapes from the refrigerator. I took a single grape off of the vine and popped it into my mouth, quickly slamming the door. With the bowl against my hip and my arm placed around it like it was a child, I took a turn towards the stairway and up and into my bedroom. On my bed, as always, was my little purple stuffed rabbit, Respa. He always seemed to be talking to me—people said that this was proof of my insanity. I thought that he was real. Nevertheless, I plopped the bowl down besides him and yawned. “Respa! I’m bored. Make me, uh, un-bored.” //Let me guess, you ditched a class because your emotions got the best of you,// he said, his tone very deep yet he was hissing all of his s’s. There was a silence. “Yeah. And what?” I snapped, my voice still monotone nonetheless. I looked to the side, blindly stealing another grape. “I don’t really care anyway. I have two years left after this, and then I’m off to pop out a kid and get on welfare. Just like every other grown-up girl I know except Mommy,” I mumbled sadly. I thought you wanted to become an actress, Respa stated. “Yeah, well, dreams get destroyed pretty easily around here. Look at Dad’s dream of becoming an UFOologist. I don’t like it, but if it makes him happy…well, hell, now he’s a cop. He doesn’t even like our government…” I was trailing off. I snapped my chin back over to him, amused. “Respa. Watch over Mom for me tonight. I’m “going to Darlene’s house”, deal? I don’t want anyone coming over and talking to her about Sara or Skye.” He groaned in response. That was a yes. I changed into something simple and put on my flip-flops, heading back down the stairs and putting the bowl of grapes in the fridge. I left out the back door and into our backyard, my single swing still attached to our apple tree that I had broken an arm while jumping out of. Damn, did that hurt. I was about to go and take a quick swing, get my mind off of the miseries of the day, but instead I heard another male voice. I looked over at tiny fence and into our neighbor’s yard. Voila! There was Mrs. Tate-Traces, her expression one of anger as she smacked dirt off of the doormat with a broom. “Thanks, Grandma.” From our neighbors’ back door came out a boy of little height, about five feet, and blue eyes with dirty-blond hair. He looked over at me and chimed, “Alissa?” I took the quickest route—over the fence. I raised my body up with the strength of my already hard hands and slipped over, nearly snapped my legs as I hit the ground. Without skipping a beat, I responded, “Jayson!” I ran toward him, my arms outstretched, and he stopped me with a hug. In his clasp I rubbed our cheeks together, laughing. “I missed you so much, Jay.” “I missed you too.” “Get out of my Goddamned yard right now you little rascal!” Mrs. Tate-Traces yelled at me, hitting me in the leg with the broom and I gradually fell backwards onto my bottom. “Sorry, Al,” Jayson apologized, helping me up. “Hey, Grandma! We'll be out near the stream getting some fish to eat, okay?” Without even letting his grandmother contemplate that he dragged me away and into the woods. I practically burst into laughter as he shoved me in front of him and raised an eyebrow at me. “Alissa? You okay?” “Yeah, yeah,” I told him. “So, Jett, we haven't seen each other in a month, right? You're just visiting your grandmother? And hey, you've had a growth spurt!” I tapped my fingertips on his head. “No, I'm staying this time. //Really.// And you consider //this// a growth spurt? I don't think about two millimeters is quite the growth spurt. Puberty hates me.” He shrugged nonchalantly and I actually did start laughing. “You'll get tall soon enough. And you are staying, really, really?!” I asked, excitement getting me carried away. “Those jackasses of parents you have finally put you over the edge?” I asked, shaking his hand in congratulations. “Yeah. I'm really miserable there. But that's not the point! We need to practice after on our 'performance'!” He leaned in towards me. “Grandma doesn't work, so I'm lucky if I can afford to get some bread. Milk is too expensive. So is meat. I'm getting skinnier, and if we don't make some money soon, I'm gonna drop dead.” “I really doubt that. But you know that you could always just eat at my house...” Of course, both of us knew that he would want to use the most difficult and least successful route in getting what he wanted. He had acted that way since he was seven and I was eight. That was, well, the first time that I had met him. After that, we just sort of latched together because of our experiences and our skills for survival. “Oh, and I'm bringing you along to Bailey's house after. Just so you know.” I winked at him. “But...damn, okay.” I looked down through the trees at the stream that flowed through our area. It wasn't very big width wise, but hell, it was really long. Of course, the current could sometimes pick up and drag you away with it, which—from past experiences—wasn't very fun. It was technically connected to a pond in town a while away and flowed under bridged and streets to get there. The water was a perfect teal and so vibrant with its glistening flow. It was one of the only bodies of water in the area that wasn't polluted. The forest around it was beautiful, too, and whenever the money was low Jayson and I would chase down fish to cook, and sometimes we would even take a drink from it or wash our clothes. I would take a bath in it once a month when we didn't want to spend any money at getting the hot water. “I'm going to go and wash up, okay?” I told Jett, kicking off my flip-flops and already pulling down my pants. I chuckled at the sound of him yelping and stiffly running towards the other side of the stream. “Uh, okay!” he yelled. “Wait up, Jay! I was just kidding!” I zipped my pants back up and followed after him. “Jett! Why are we so awkward?!” “Because you're a chick and I'm a guy! Now stop looking at me!” “Jett...” I finally grabbed onto his shoulder and pulled him backwards and on top of me. The two of us fell down the the muddy grass with a thud. “Jett, don't leave me,” I murmured sweetly, which only made him blush even more. I played with his hair as he sat down between my legs, his arms crossed. “Jett, did you quit school?” He shrugged. “You have to do what you have to do. I have to take care of Grandma now, and I need to find myself a job for when you go to college and leave me here. Education doesn't mean anything anyway in this society. As long as you can work, fight, and lead, you can live.” “Oh, Jayson, don't think that way...” I sighed. “You're right though. The best way of being successful is to be in the military. It's not worth ruining our dreams for. But what could our dreams do in this society?” I sighed again, holding him. He rarely got irritated from my affection and motherliness. In fact, I think he sort of liked it. “Nothing. In this world, you're lucky if you can get through the streets without a bullet in your back. That's the way it will always be, unless if someone actually //tries// to change it. Which won't happen, because no one has the guts nor the heart. They say that its a safer and better world, but hell, I'd rather live in the world that was around a hundred years ago. At least the government had the decency to //lie// about everyone having freedoms.” He shrugged. His tone was cold and one that I rarely heard. “Yeah. I know.” I leaned over and kissed him on the forehead, a gesture that he didn't find amusing, and sighed. “No more moody speeches, Jetty-kins! Up! Up!” I stood up, him practically banging into me as he stood up too, and I grabbed onto his shoulder's and twirled him around. “Okay. //Now// we can get back to washing up. What do you say, Jay?” I grinned slightly. “Just remember, if you peek, you //will// get punished. I swear to all that's Holy, I will get my father's taser out and I'll personally make your heart stop.” “That's a bit harsh, but ah, okay. I've seen you naked before anyway and you aren't that amazing of a sight. See you later Alissa,” he mumbled. The two of us got into the stream and he took off, skipping over the stones as he went, and he was already unbuttoning his shirt. I remembered back when I was eight and I would take off all of my clothes to go for a swim in the stream, and Jayson wouldn't really mind or care. He used to be so oblivious to the difference between girls and boys. Even when we were younger, we would play a game called “Chase the Butterfly”. He loved playing it even more than I did. Thinking about it was what made me smile the most, because of how innocent he was while we would run around in the forest going after butterflies. The first one we had ever caught was one that landed on Jayson's nose and he had stared up at it in amazement until it flew away again. But, for several days in a row, the butterfly would always return to him, and it always want to play with us. The day before that butterfly disappeared, Jayson was watching it and, for the first time, told me about the cruelty of his parents that thought that he was a demon child. After that year, each spring that came the two of us would go and search for butterflies far too early. We could only find their chrysalises that hung from tree limbs with their own beauty yet grotesque ways. A few years later, when Sara left me, I stopped going out there completely. I sat in my room, all alone, trembling and crying, until Jett entered my room and murmured, “Alissa, you're the prettiest butterfly I've seen //ever//!” Then I had covered myself with blankets until he burst into tears and left, and I hid away in my own cocoon of a life for the next five years, Jayson never being able to see into my little world completely again. I returned to reality silently. I heaved a sigh, undressing into nothing but my undergarments and throwing my clothes into the bank, and slowly washed off my dirty arms and legs. There, in nothing but underwear and a bra, I swam around slightly, enjoying the relaxing nature of the water. Suddenly I heard footfalls against the ground on the opposite side of the stream. I paused, looking upward, and before I could notice anything I felt someone grabbing me around my waist. //Jayson you prick!// I thought at first, trying to get away from this person's grasp. However, once I looked down at the light brown hair this girl had, I stood in awe at its beauty, and I was easily dragged down and pushed into the water. I felt my legs under me collapse and my mouth get full of water. I tried to get up but the girl with the beautiful, happy face and orange eyes distracted me from balancing myself. //Holy crap,// I thought, //I'm going to drown here with nothing my undergarments on, smothered by a thirteen year old. Yikes//. I knew that there were worse things to be thinking about, but I was too stunned to even ponder over how to get myself out of that situation. “Terra! Terra! Universe to Terra! Universe needs Terra!” I felt baffled. //T-Terra? What the…?// “Oh, Terra! So sorry!” the girl murmured, letting go of me and lifting my limp body up to the surface. I gurgled slightly and spat out the water. “Are…are you okay?” She tilted her head slightly, her lips making a perfect ‘o’. “Maybe…sometimes…ish….” I coughed. “Who…who are you, anyway?” The girl grinned, putting her finger to my lips. “I am Teresa, reject of my home planet and protector of, well, you.” She giggled. I finally noticed the odd shape of her ear lobes and how long and slender her face was. “I don’t need anyone to protect me,” I mumbled. This had to be a prank that my mother had set up for her self amusement. Yes, that had to be the case. “Oh, but you do! For you are going to be helping me with the start of a new world! A revolution, Terra, a revolution is in order! This will mark the start of a REBELLION!” Teresa lifted me to my feet and shoved my clothes at me, which I put on without another word, and she was grinning and skipping around like she didn’t have a single care in the world. “Rebellion, you say?” I asked once I had gotten out of the water. Wind carried my hair upwards as the leaved flitted. “But I’m sure I have no reason to rebel against anyone or anything.” Teresa’s grin faded. “But, you see, both you and I have reason enough to want a rebellion to be in order. Especially you, you see. They are planning on giving Terra a little visit, which would be nice and all, however…” Her gaze shifted slightly and she pouted. “Well, you see, they want to make the Earthlings like you into these perfect little creatures. Get rid of violence and what-not. Not only would that not work, but…” Teresa looked over at me, tears in her eyes. “But that would get rid of all of the druggies and crazies, and the world simply wouldn’t be as amusing without them!” She burst into tears, rubbing her face against my sleeve. “It just wouldn’t be the same without those freaks! WAAHHH!” “Uh…” I couldn’t reply. What she was telling me was beyond bizarre and, even though seeing someone talking in such an extreme manner was priceless, I couldn’t really comprehend it. Before I could even blink I heard splashing footsteps and saw Jayson running over to me. “Al!” he yelled, quickly pulling me into his arms, back into the cool water, and keeping my cheek against his bare chest. “Al, who is this?” he asked, “AH!” Teresa tore me away from Jayson and hid behind me, her shaking hands holding onto my hips. “Please…he’s going to hurt me! Save me Terra!” “Um…you have to be kidding me?” I asked, shaking my head. I couldn’t believe how outrageous all of this was. “Jayson, stop being stupid. Miss Teresa, stop being crazy. Now, can someone tell me what's going on?” “This imbecile...this frightening excuse for a creature...!” Teresa pointed at Jayson, spitting in his direction. It landed into the water before him. “I am //not// an imbecile!” Jayson yelled in defense. “Who the hell are you anyway?! And what are you doing to my best friend anyway?! Leave her the hell alone, you freak!” The girl burst into very irregular sobs, rubbing her eyes against my shoulder as she stayed balanced in the water. The water rushed between my toes, making me nearly slip. “No, no, no! This isn't right, Terra! The frequencies here...the //Truth//...this can't be it!” Jayson and I stared at each other, neither of us even capable to squeal out something. //Outrageous! Purely outrageous and silly!// I accused in my mind, shaking my head and probably making those two confused. I was about to protest, but the girl let go as the water splashed over my head—something that I had no experience with—and pulled me under. I opened my mouth under the water, getting some disgusting mud in my mouth, and felt as if I would be taken away. Before I could even begin to ponder my obvious fate, Jett's sturdy grasp pulled me up by my wrists and out of the water, and I toppled over onto him, promptly gagging out the mud onto his chest. He wrapped his arms around me, protectively, and I heard the voice of little Teresa: “Terra! You can do it! You can win at last! //It will be a rebellion//!” With that, it was obvious that the stranger was out of sight and nearly out of mind. Jayson and I stood up, still holding onto each other as we had been thoroughly soaked and chilled, and I could hear him laughing softly. “This is such a joke, Al. Did you get that girl against me on purpose?” “No, I didn't.” I pouted. “Why would I feel the need to do something so stupid, anyway?” “Just asking. Jeesh.” I squirmed out of his grasp and went over to the muddy ditch where my flip-flops where now. I slipped them on, avoiding Jayson, and walked through the mud and alongside the stream. Jett followed me; we were both going to the same place anyhow—off to retrieve his shirt and over clothes and head down through the woods and to the street to Bailey's house. Jett reached out for me, but like the bitch I was, I rejected it. “I’m sorry, Alissa. I just don’t know why you’re blaming what happened with your sister on me. It’s not my fault—I mean, I know that you’re still angry about it—there’s no reason to think that that little girl was Sar—I mean…” “No, Jett! I don’t blame you for anything, okay? That promise we made, what happened to her…that means nothing anymore!” I stomped on. I was a terrible excuse for a best friend. In between our journey through the woods, the key that had been hanging around my neck—as well as my token to get into Bailey’s house that he had given me when we were a couple a year beforehand—slipped off of the chain. I almost paused, as if reluctant to even think of it, but Jayson was quicker than I was. Too make me laugh—he did things like this often—he slipped between my feet and grabbed the key, slipping back out and skipping around. “Want it back, Al? Yah gotta fight me for it!” With that, he took off into the woods like a rocket. That was where his nickname had come from, Jett, and he had worn it proudly. “You have to be kidding me,” I gasped at last, my eyes trailing over to wherever Jay might perhaps be. //He has the keys, I think,// I pondered, in a trance. I was becoming quite the pacifist in the present of these utterly vacant yet astonishingly beautiful woods; who could think that a forest – for goodness sakes! - could be so enchanting? I felt as though if I was to blink it would vanish without a trace. //“Jayson!”// I yelled, my eyes proceeding to dart around the trees and under the fallen in order to find him. Whether or not it was beautiful, I still had a duty that consisted of being somewhere else. My heart raced within my chest, a melody that only I was aware of. //No answer.// At this point, I took off, dashing into the woodland as fast as my legs allowed, not a word escaping from my lips. I sprinted across the forest, hearing the thuds of footfalls from creatures around me. I was engulfed in a steady breeze that would lift me from my stature any minute – as I guessed. Then the aroma of perfume filled the air, and I was obviously not the type to be wearing such. It traveled around my limbs – almost as if attacking me – and stopped my heart. I heard the sound of footfalls, uneasy footfalls, and I collapsed to my knees, my hair mopping the forest floor. //I want Jayson back. Why did he take the keys?// And more so, where was he at that moment? I plucked strands of grass from the ground, fear making my calls inaudible. //Please.// Voices hit me like stones; I was so useless all alone. //Their// voices. A male a female voice, both in foreign tongues and accents. It was my second nature to attempt to interpret them, but I simply couldn't.   //Help me.// Tears cascaded down my cheeks, and a soft wince managed to escape my lips. The voices were coming closer: //Child? Child!// They weren't said with fright, either, if anything it said with a harsh tone. //Please don't let them take me. I don't want to be killed. I don't want to lose this life. People might think that I'm obsessed with death, and that I'm prepared with the way that I act...but I don't know. I just can't be killed. Not here.// I could then hear the creeks' water slamming into stones, normally a relaxing sound..except in this case. Every single cut that I have across my body started stinging, and my core was crying. //Yelling.// I merely echoed it as I stood up again and pushed my legs forward and across the forest. //I cannot be lost, at least, not now. Not here.// Along the dirt that had softened near the creek from rain storms and into a clearing I raced. The road. My ticket away from this nightmare. My eyes widened as I wiped away fear and searched for Jayson once again. Instead, I found a hawk diving down into the abandoned road, swooping at something or another. It retrieved to the skies with a creature of some sort – //no//, a baby squirrel. I yelped as it picks apart at the rodent, and then it plunged to the grass and dropped it. Without a word I rushed to the squirrel, seeing that another animal was crawling towards it. An elderly squirrel, nevertheless. She struggled to save her baby with all of her might, dragging it to the tree trunk and making a track up the side. “It isn't any use,” I whispered, as the hawk came once again and ripped the child and mother apart. I wanted to help more than anything. //That hawk is ruthlessly killing a newborn and making solitude of its mother.// “Alissa!” a voice exclaimed; it was undoubtedly Jayson's voice that ripped through my soul and tore me to pieces. “Are you okay? I was worried!” “Y-yes,” I responded, breathing heavily. I could no longer smell the perfume, yet I could still hear their voices. “Well, we have to go,” he urged, gripping me by the sleeve. It hurt, even though I doubted he truly meant it to. We were just in a rush, that was all. “No, we're staying,” I insisted, motioning towards the squirrel and sighing. “Let nature take its course, Alissa. We can't save what is meant to die,” he stated firmly, dragging me away from the lifeless baby. I could all but wonder if he would say that about what happened to //her//. I wasn't quite sure myself. He plopped the key's into my palm, tightened his grasp on me, and we walked off down the road like it was nothing. Truthfully, it wasn't. I was just hearing voices, right? And the squirrel, well, that happened every day, didn't it? Still, the image of my sister pounded into my mind. //No,// I thought, //why must you always think of her when you're scared?// Jayson looked like an old man in comparison to me. I was wet, covered in dirt, and skittish. No use in taking that dip in the stream earlier, wasn't there? He was shorter than me, but he still looked like he had seen everything. I had, too, but he looked at things in a more skeptical and intelligent way. I guess that was why I had always liked him. “So, Alissa, I was thinking,” he began, “You know, about our skit thing. Anyway, I was thinking that we could wear actual circumstance-worthy outfits. Like, I could dress up like a jester and you could dress up like a French maid. In fact, I'm sure more guys would come, too. You'd look cute. And, of course, I would look none other than completely awesome~.” He laughed at his own joke, but I kept silent. I simply wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. Jayson sighed loudly, and in the middle of his sigh he wrapped one of his arms around me. He grinned at me, even though I knew that he only did it to piss me off even more than I already was. He was really good at it. Good thing I never intentionally aimed at him. He talked and talked about how his own two best friends (who were quite a bit like Darlene and Fae, not surprisingly, just males) weren't very interesting now that they were off trying to get laid and the miscellaneous. “All they ever think about are girls!” he said with a chuckle. “And, as you know, you're the only girl that I hang out with besides Darlene, and I'm not interested in you, and Darlene has already ditched my ass a few times without a thought! All for Bailey, too. Lucky bastard. But the thing with my friends is that they don't even like //talking// to me anymore. They're all too busy getting busy to reproduce to hang out anymore!” He shook his head. “I need to tell you something, Alissa. Back when we were kids, whenever you would walk past the three of us, I would point to you and say, “That's the girl I'm going to marry someday and you're going to be more jealous than ever when I do.” They didn't care back then though. Now, the only time they talk to me is when I find some stupid broad to date for a few days and swap spit with!” I smiled at last. We were almost there. I already knew that he had said that when we were younger, and the memory stung. I needed to get to Bailey's house as soon as possible to forget how Jayson had been so proud to be my friend, and how we would talk for hours when we were younger about our best friends, no matter how girly or annoyingly stupid they were. I needed to see Darlene, who would blow my mind with her neglect of her own life. The house was a rather normal one, except it was tucked back behind trees and it was a bit bigger than mine. We managed to trek up the long driveway—Jayson talking and keeping me smiling, of course—and to the house. From what I knew, Bailey lived in it all alone; he apparently inherited it from some dead relative and as for his parents, I was clueless. Bailey and I had once been considered a couple, but now that was lost in a sea of 'why?s'. He was nothing more than a self-centered bastard, who simply found me amusing, although he liked to continuously mock me and cause me pain. I think that was what I had found so charming about him when I had loved him; his love for torturing and putting me down. Making me seem human, I think. Or I was just a a masochist. Okay, probably the latter one. “He better be here,” Jayson mumbled. “Or I just wasted about an hour of my life for absolutely nothing.” I took out the key and unlocked Bailey’s door, and Jayson and I entered the quiet house hand in hand. “That liar! He just likes tugging on my chains, doesn’t he?!” Jayson shook his head quickly and I put my finger to my lips, hushing him. I walked about the house, looking for a note of some sort, but there wasn’t anything useful. I tilted my head slightly at the sound of the shower running. Oh, there he is! Wait, he’s there? Oh…shoot. Before I could ‘bring the villagers to safety’, Bailey opened the bathroom door with nothing but a towel around his waist. At first he sighed, but the sight of me—standing there probably with my hair standing up—caught his attention pretty quickly. “Liss? What the hell are you doing here?” he asked, shaking his head. “Oh, God, girl.” He started laughing, and I knew that I was turning a bright red. I looked away. “I thought you promised us a night of fun or something,” I mumbled. “You stupid, filthy manwhore…” “Al!” Jett yelled, and I noticed him running towards me. “Hey, Bailey. Long time, no see, eh? I didn’t know that you had gotten to be even more of a sicko than before. Don’t be hitting on Al, okay?” “Hey, hey. Don’t be an asshole to me just because you two intruded on me. Now, this is my house, so you abide my rules. Deal?” He padded his towel down, making me go into an even bigger mental panic, and he laughed yet again. “Alissa, go into the guest room and change into something in there. You look like a mess….an even bigger mess than usual.” Instead of arguing with him on the matter, I nodded and jerked my body around and towards the guest room. I could hear Jayson saying something calmly to him and then walking off into the kitchen. In the guest room, after slamming the door shut I managed to sit down on the bed and stare up at the ceiling as I relaxed myself. //What a day,// I mused. I managed to get my first “Punishment” in a year, ditch what has always been my favorite class, meet some girl that liked to repeat the word “rebellion”, start hearing voices, and practically see my ex-boyfriend naked. Well, now I had time to wipe it all off of my countenance and have some fun...that I had arranged for myself. I got up to change into a forest green crop top, a button up hoodie over it, and some jeans. //Good enough,// I thought, wishing that what I was wearing didn't look so slutty. I buttoned up the hoodie, put my hair up into two perfect pigtails as usual, and twirled around, staring at myself in the mirror. “Eh, I look good enough,” I told myself. While I was staring at myself insecurely, a checker table caught my eyes. I skipped over towards it, gaping. “Oh! This is the exact table that Sara would play on!” I chimed to myself, sitting down in a little stool and playing the game with none other than myself. “Having fun? Doubt it,” I heard Bailey mumbling. I twitched slightly and turned around to stare at him in the doorway. “You should really learn to lock doors, Liss.” He laughed. Bailey was finally wearing some decent clothes, and he looked rather handsome there. “Don't you want a partner for that?” he asked, and I nodded without thinking. With a single movement he was back to me, The two of us arranged the checkers—him doing it more swiftly than I was—and we started playing. We played the game in silence for a few minutes, before Bailey shook his head and muttered, “You aren't even trying, Lissa. How can you expect to win if you don't try? The least you can do is pretend to be competitive.” He laughed. “You're supposed to be the Aries, after all!” I glared at him. “I have too much on my mind, that's all,” I told him. “Then forget about that. Unless if you concentrate on the game more than even you emotions, you're going to lose.” “Like you have ever done that.” “It's pretty easy, Alissa.” He cleared the board and rearranged it. “Here. Try it again. This time, you need to win. Or else you're a pitiful loser.” We went on to play; I did slightly better this time. After a while, I had to break up the game again. “Is Darlene joining us?” “Yeah. Only for your sake though,” he muttered, his voice becoming darker. “King me.” I did so. “What do you mean 'only for your sake'? She's your girlfriend,” I told him. “Not anymore. I broke it off with her,” he insisted. I raised an eyebrow. “King me.” “You did what? How could you have just done that to her? And why?!” I shook my head furiously. “She's my best friend! You should have told me so that I could have mentally prepared her—” He cut me off. “Your opinion doesn't matter. I cut it off with her so that that little prick of a friend you have there could have a chance with her, okay Lissa?! You're such an idiot. I only did it so that I wouldn't hurt her!” He angrily moved his checker across the board. “Now, king me! Can't you listen to anything I say?!” I took the checker out, and without thinking, flicked it in his direction. It hit into him, but not where I expected. He grabbed a hold of the right side of his face, above where his eye was, and growled at me. “You bitch! I think you just blinded me!” “I did NOT blind you, you overly dramatic idiot! Come on, let me see it.” I wasn't good with seeing anyone in pain, but with how angry I was with Bailey, maybe it would prove to be for my own self-satisfaction. I leaned over the table and pried his hand away from his face. Between his eye and the top of his nose was a vanishing red mark. His eye was closed shut, but it looked like the checker pawn might have bounced off of the corner of his eye and his nose. “It's not that big of a deal, Bailey,” I mumbled, almost giggling at his pain. “Yes, it is!” he yelled. //Well, now I know his weakness//, I thought. “Alright. Whatever you say,” I mumbled, leaning even closer and kissing his little injury like a mother would. I was about to part from him, but I felt lips against my neck. Before I even knew what I was doing, my lips were against Bailey's, and we were practically sucking on each other's faces. I nearly fell on the table, but Bailey moved the two of us over onto the bed. There we were, kissing each other everywhere we could manage as desperately as we could, and Bailey pinned me down to the bed. What was I doing? This was why I had left him in the first place. Bailey had always only wanted me to violate me, but this time...this time it was different. This time I was kissing him back, too, and I was almost even happy. I listened, uncaring, as the door opened. “Al?” I looked over to the door, where Jett was, gaping at the sight of Bailey and I smooching. “I...I should go.” “Jayson, wait!” I parted my lips from Bailey's cheek and 'gracefully' wrapped my legs around his bottom and kicked him off of me. Bailey sat on the floor, dumbfounded and probably angry, as I sat up and smiled at Jayson. “Jett! What did you come in here for?” “I just wanted to tell you two that Darlene, Fae and Adrienne are here,” he stammered, terrified and still watching the two of us as if we had been putting on a show. Had we been? That had to be it. There was no way I had been locking lips with, Bailey, right? Right? Oh..crap. “Oh, okay then. Um, come on, Bailey. We better go and greet them,” I told him with quite intense nervousness. “Couldn't have read my mind more accurately,” Bailey mumbled. With that, the three of us headed out and towards the kitchen, where Fae and Adrienne were sitting at the counter. “Fae, Adrienne! I'm glad you two were able to come~,” I chimed, kissing Fae on the forehead and patting Adrienne on the shoulder. “A bit friendly for only a little party, eh?” Adrienne mumbled. “Come on, Alissa. Of course we would have come.” “Despite it being mine and you should be telling it to me,” Bailey stated, crossing his arms. “No more paying attention to Alissa.” “Well, what are you all waiting for?” Darlene asked. I looked over to her—she was just entering the room with a smirk across her face—and she tapped her foot impatiently against the floor. “Before Bailey's other //amigos// come along, we need to get the good stuff out of the way! Come on, Alissa, let's choice some music to //bailer// to!” I nodded with determination and the two of us skipped over to Bailey's stereo and box of something that was called CDs. They apparently were popular about 130 years ago. I looked through the whole group of them—there was mostly stuff that I had never heard that was over a hundred years old—and Darlene paused during her selection. “Alissa, Bailey told you, didn't he? About...about our...” “Yeah, yeah. He tells me everything, even if I don't want to know about it.” I sighed. “I'm sorry about what he did to you. I told him that it wasn't right.” //And then I made out with him. But that doesn't matter, right?// “You did?” she asked. Her eyes lit up. “What did he say?” “He told me that it was so Jayson and you could get together,” I answered, quite bluntly. “Stupid, eh?” Darlene blushed. “He did that to make Jay happy? How...sweet. How...//linda//.” She sighed. “But I don't want Jayson.” I heard footsteps. “Al, Bailey asked me to tell you that your mother called. She didn't mind that you were here, especially since I was with you, and, well, she wants you to go home as soon as you can. She asked if you'd be back before ten o'clock.” I looked upwards at Jayson, his mellow yet depressed tone over me. //No//, I thought, //he just heard all of it, didn't he?// “Ah, okay. Whatever. At least she's letting me stay longer than 'til eight.” Mother had been rather overprotective over me lately, which was beyond understandable, but she was reasonable enough to realize that she had to let go of me, even if it was slowly. “Yeah.” I could tell that bringing Jayson along was a really bad idea. I could tell that there was a pained expression across his face, even if he looked off into another direction. “She just loves you after all.” “Anyway, I chose a few CDs that we can use. Um, I'm going to let you two talk. Alright?” I found myself nodding and Darlene creeping away from us, her voice disappearing as she called out “Fae!”. “You don't have to hide it, Al,” Jayson murmured sweetly, even though I could hear the malice in his tone. “Bailey chose you over Darlene, and Darlene will always choose Bailey over me. So, who do you choose, Al? The guy that wants to violate you, or the girl that you've been friends with since forever? Come on, girl, the clock is ticking. You have to decide, or else you're just as conceited as those two.” I glared at him. “Shut up, Jayson!” “Don't say anything like “it's hard!” or “but I care about both of them!”, because frankly, it won't work on me. I'm not going to give in to their petty little lies. I want to help you, Al, but you're just making it worse by giving into the wrath of people that you hate. Has there ever been a time when you haven't been deceived by someone that you like?” My face felt warm. “Right now,” I mumbled. With that, I headed back into the guest room, not wanting anything to do with Jayson, Darlene or Bailey. It was a childish way to handle it, but it was //my// way. Cry so hard that you forget about your problems. Go on, do it. Realize how much easier it is when you make yourself feel like everyone else in the world hates you to pieces and that you deserve to be loved. There were very few things that I could see through the eyes of Jayson. He was so strange—the way that he responded, how easily he would snap and want to kill me. Jayson was odd…he had a tendency to render me speechless. We were both quite the connoisseurs with tricks and circus related things, so he had a way to perform and fool with people's minds. However, he had a way to make someone feel horrible beyond compare. “Hell, Fae, all of the guys I've met are really good at getting on Alissa's nerves. Why do you ask, Fae?” I heard Darlene say. “She ran off. Jayson told me.” A sigh. “It's funny how the four of you can't just get along...ever. Bailey's an asshole. Al is crazy. You act like a whore, Darlene, and Jayson...well, he's crazy too. But in another sense.” “Hey! Don't call me that, Fae! //Bruja//!” “It's true. You know it.” They were arguing over something that I was the fault of. I felt guilt raising up into my chest. I burrowed my head into the bed, trying to take away the pain of making others suffer. Was that all I could do? Hurt others and whine about my own pain? Was I that pathetic of a human being? I laid there like a blur on society as—from what it seemed—Bailey's friends entered and starting talking and joking about things. I heard music. “Come on, Al. You're supposed to be the one having fun. Stop whining,” Darlene muttered. She sounded furious at me for some reason. Had Bailey told her about the two of us? Well, that would make sense as to why she was pissed off at me. Hell, I would want to kick me too. She practically slammed the door open, from what I could hear, and walked over to the bed, sitting next to me. “Get up, Al!” I mumbled a muffled refusal. She pried me up and dragged me out of the room. Nope—Bailey must've bragged about how he had made-out with me. That was it. Now she was going to hang me up in a closet and leave me there to bitch and moan until I lost air and died. Oh, what a pleasant way to go...   I opened my eyes, and to my surprise, Darlene was still holding onto my hand and leading me towards Bailey's living room. There were about two dozen people in the hallways and in the rooms from what I gathered, a decent size, and most of them were partnered up or in a small group. It was still hard for me to believe that Bailey could persuade so many people to just hang out in his house. //Of course, he did offer food—no, no, Alissa, stop thinking about it//. The idea of why he could attract so many people tore at me. It was because he could do near anything, which often made me angry and envious. “Oh, someone's knockin' on the door,” I heard Adrienne groan. I looked over at saw him, Fae, and a few others leaning against the wall. “Jayson, go and get it—you're not doing much anyway,” Fae insisted, smiling and yawning as she leaned against Adrienne. “Oh, hey, Alissa!” I responded with a small wave and Darlene went over to dance. However, I was more intrigued with Jayson's reply. “Ah, okay.” Bailey, who was passing by me, paused abruptly, his glance becoming intense as he looked between Jayson and me. “Don't, Jett, I'll get it...” We both knew that Jayson, with his perverse nature, wouldn't do as Bailey told him. He skipped over to the door, but before I could watch, Bailey gripped onto my shirt and pushed me backwards. “Damn it! Not with so many people around! How dare they?! No..they can't be here...” He was panting, trying to stay composed. Most people saw him, shrugged, and continued with their little fun. “Liss! You have to go out the back door, you hear me?!” He was dragging me, screaming at me, but I couldn't move. “Welcome. Um, why are you here?” I heard Jett ask innocently. The door creaked open. Then there was a grunt, and I was able to pull away from Bailey's grasp long enough in order to see him be pushed back. I was about to see what was going on when something that felt like a shock stung through me, sending my body onto the floor and into compulsions. It felt as if something was trying to make me simply lose control of all of my functions, and let me move to their will. I don't know nor remember how I was able to fight it back, but there I was, trembling and shaking out on the floor. Everyone around me fell defenselessly onto the ground. //Fae..! Adrienne!// my mind screamed. //No, they can't be dead!// I could see the grace in their gentle bodies, and I had a sense that they were still alive. Well, that was good. I had to block out this feeling of shocks, and then I could make my move. The only people, I noticed, that were still standing were Bailey, Jayson, and Darlene. Bailey was standing with his fists clenched, shaking violently as well, and Darlene was on the ground, her head lifted slightly and her face covered in an expression of pain. Jayson, however, seemed to be controlling himself as he wasn't moving as all. He looked scared beyond what I had ever seen him in, but he still was holding up. With that satisfaction, I located who—or what—was at the door. There was a woman with with dark blue color of hair, her eyes yellow and catlike, and her body covered in what I assumed was art. She wore nothing but a black anti-poncho over her breasts and arms, short enough to go above her stomach, and an ebony skirt that fit around her slender figure tightly yet perfectly. She was a woman of divine beauty with a demonic presentation. Her height was something of consideration—rather tall for a normal woman—and her right arm was what seemed to be the end of a forming blade. By saying forming, I mean that things that looked like little metallic threads were wrapping around her hands and weaving into each other, creating what was probably her weapon. She scared me, but not as much as the man that stood next to her. He had blond hair and pale gray eyes, with a similar face structure to that girl Teresa that I had seen earlier. He wore something like a simple leather jacket, long jet black pants, and hunting boots. His expression was that of child-like amusement and the sure sense of his sly demeanor could be felt. He was holding a painted iron rod with a contraption of some sort on top, and despite the lines around his eyes he seemed to be not older than thirty. He swung the contraption around the room, and I felt another shock go through me, knocking me to the ground yet again. I was able to balance myself this time, a headache burrowing into my thoughts and making me nearly unconscious, and I stood up, much to the the woman's amazement. She grinned however as if I had done some work already for her. I was clueless as to what that was. I raised my hand, wishing desperately that I could help the trembling Darlene up and to safety. She looked so pitiful on the floor. Trying to keep my eyes open, I found a dropped phone on the floor. Even with my very unsteady hand, I was able to throw it at the man. It hit him in the leg, making him jolt backwards and send a glare over at me. Immediately, I felt relief in my skull. I quickly realized that they had been talking, and that I had lost control of most of my senses when I was overtaken by that shock. “...We might as well get this over with,” the man muttered. “Don't! If you do, we will be able to overpower you in the long run. If you dare to touch that Jayson boy, then everyone will pay in the end. It'll backfire,” Bailey reassured them. “We could do it the easy way,” the woman hissed, her blade now complete, and she pounced at Jayson. Despite the fear in his eyes, he stood still. There was the feeling of guilt as I stood there motionless. People that I didn't even know were attacking my best friend. Was it an attempt to kill him? I didn't know. In horror, all I could do was burst through the crowd and practically knock the woman aside as I aided Jett and stepped in front of him. The woman unhesitatingly swung her blade-arm at me—at my neck. “DON'T TOUCH HIM!” I yelled, keeping my limbs wrapped around Jett as I faced the predators. The woman sliced at my jacket, the sound of a button falling to the floor echoed in my mind, and paused. “Don't. It would take generations if you harm the boy. Not here,” the man stated. With that, he swung the rod he was holding in our direction and for the first time ever, I felt completely weightless. I had read about people being able to go on rides where they would drop so much and so quickly that they would feel the sensation of weightlessness. I don't know why anyone would ever bother; I was terrified. Then I felt as if I was falling, except there was no where to fall to. Or was there? The floor surrounded my body and concrete wrapped around me as if I wasn't even there. I was too afraid to even scream; was this what death was like? No, no, it was nothingness. You would be swallowed by absolutely nothing. That woman hadn't dug her blade into my heart...right? Before my fall had barely begun, I felt the comfort of solid ground under my feet again. I felt Jett's hand wrap around mine, tensing as the two of us looked up. //Where am I?// I thought. Still, I noticed the frightening faces of the two hunters, and heard Bailey's yelling. “You can't take them here! They have nothing to do with our conflicts!” Bailey stated. “Oh, but they do, our young, refugee of an Plarian prince. You see, they're our ticket to grabs in this rather pitiful planet, Terra, and then we can move on to yours. How exciting!” the woman chimed. “We could simply kill you all and get it over with, but there would undoubtedly be too much after-work involved in it. After all, the only one that we can really find useful is Mr. Tate-Traces, but we also have a duty to bring you back for a ransom notice, dear little rebellious prince. And as for Miss Alliance...” He paused, turning back to me. His eyes widened with a sickening sense of cheerfulness and he tilted his head. “There's no use for her...” “If you touch her, who will hide the mistakes of the Matter of the Constellations, hm? She is the only one capable of protecting Tate-Traces, to be honest, and her death will only follow with your misery,” Bailey explained to them, shaking his head. “But it is an outrage!” the blue-haired woman yelled. “She is capable of things that could make it very unsuccessful! She has the power to...” She sighed. “Either way, we're going to be taking you, Vega, and our profits will supply us. Oh, just a heads-up~.” Then, the black mist that had surrounded us spread out and I could see the skies, and then the light lit up the ground. We were all in a field of some sort. I cringed, not knowing what to even think about this. They were planning on taking away Bailey. Why, and how? And what about him being a prince? In fact, what had they been saying about me? Matter of the Constellations? Too many questions, few to none answers. Bailey waved the two of us away with the single word “RUN!” and we did as we were told. Jayson was naturally faster than everyone and could outrun nearly anything if he felt up to it, which proved to be an advantage against these strangers. Jayson tugged me along, only stopping to check our location. “Jayson, this just doesn't make sense!” I sobbed. “These things aren't supposed to happen in real life! I don't even know where I am or why!” “We're all in a small farming field just south of a city!” he explained. “I thought you knew already..!” “How would I know?! I've never been here!” “Can't you see it all day? Aren't you able to see into the field when you're in Bailey's basement?!” “No! Why, am I supposed to?!” Jayson never ended up responding. He seemed to almost sulk about his discovery afterwards. “They're coming, I can sense it,” he told me. “We can't go into the city. If we did, we would be killed. We don't technically belong here.” With that, he stopped, turning around and watching. “It's a trap. See that tree oh-so far away? We started near it. That means that they should be returning... Oh, lookie there.” He pointed to Bailey who was holding up rather well against the strangers. He managed to defend himself, but he was getting tired. “We might as well go over there and help him out. It's either die here or there at this point, anyway.” He smiled devilishly and I nodded. What did I have to lose, anyway? Just my life, no biggie. We crept towards them as gracefully as we could, but obviously Jayson and I were no match. The man caught us and quickly took the staff and slammed it against Jayson's stomach, hurling him backwards against the tree. I stepped towards him to help him, but the man tilted his head, expressionless, and the rod slowly morphed into a sword. I was speechless at this move. The fear of death overwhelmed me. I gaped at him for a moment before someone shoved me backwards and yelled in some foreign language. It clicked. It was the same language that the people had said back in the forest earlier, the man and the woman...   “So, you've learned to curse in our language, prince, hm?” the man said with a laugh. “Well, Vega, it will take a lot more than swears to bring yourself back to life. They had said dead or alive, after all. As long as it is 'accidental'.” I watched as the man raised the sword. Still, Bailey was determined to fight. No longer did I think it was because he loved me that he protected me; it was for his own cover-up. It was to protect this world that they spoke of and use me in it. I didn't know if I was happy or upset at this realization, but it no longer mattered. A high pitched scream sounded and Darlene pounced out of the tree and darted towards Bailey. “Don't kill him! I love him!” she cried, and I was about to go and pull her away. At least, that was my plan. //Not her too.// As I was standing up again the man smacked Darlene on the forehead and across the field. She lost her balance, but she managed to get up, starting back over there. “Don't do it, Darlene! Leave her out of this!” Bailey yelled. I was mid-step in my attempt to save her innocent soul as I watched as the woman swiftly swung her blade it Darlene. I could see in Darlene's expression that she had made a mistake. The woman's blade dove into Darlene's chest before I could reach her, and Darlene burst into another scream. “Alissa! Alissa, help me! Al!” I was helplessly as the woman withdrew her blade and Darlene's chest was covered in blood. There she was, one of my best friends crumpling to the ground from the pain and sobbing for me to help her as blood rushed from her lips. I reached her after what seemed like a millennium and toppled over onto her, covered up her face with my hair as I endeavored to move her into a seating position. Just like that I heard a laugh. It was the sound of a blade through flesh. This time, it was Bailey. “You silly prince!” The woman laughed obnoxiously. “You fell in love with a mere human?! How absurd and simply stupid! Might it be because she is the reincarnation of Lady Vega, from what I've gathered? Nevertheless, it is such a humorous sight!” I consoled Darlene, who was paler than ever and weaker than a feather, and tried to come to terms with the fact that she was dying. My best friend no-more. She tried to show emotion but all she could do with her face was open her mouth slightly to let blood leak through. Such a gruesome sight to watch, especially since I loved her so much. I wanted this to be a nightmare. They were supposed to be while I was simply sleeping, though. At last Darlene looked up at me, a small smile across her face. “I'm dying, Alissa. I'm dying. I wanted to get married, and have a child, and...and...” She started crying. “I can't feel anything, Alissa...it doesn't hurt anymore. Alas...//adiós//.” With that, Darlene's eyelids flitted slightly until she passed out. I held her against my chest, allowing her blood to soak into my clothes—it didn't matter anymore—and I slowly rocked her into an eternal sleep. She looked so peaceful then that I didn't ever want to move her. It had barely sunk in that she was dead...   I moved her still and cold corpse off of my and stood up, tall and angry, knowing that I had to take it all out on these people, no, //creatures//, that had destroyed Darlene. She hadn't deserved that. We didn't even know who they were! “How dare you...,” I muttered. “How dare you kill her...” I heard Bailey, who was now being tied in ropes, cringe at the word. “I'll avenge her,” I whispered. “Go ahead, but you would only be going against everything you have ever believed in,” the woman said with a hissing laugh. “Your Universe won't ever forgive you for putting its own existence in jeopardy,” she added. I blinked, not knowing what she meant. “Now, now, it's time for us to gather the body and bring it make to where it belongs. What do you say, pitiful prince?” the cunning man asked, tapping Bailey over the head with the dull side of the blade. Bailey glared at him through his pain. “You want to start a war. You're doing this willingly so that my people will attack you, and you'll start out a full-fledged war across the trickling planets in the constellations. Is it simply for fun?” he mumbled. “Oh, fun it will be, but our intentions differ from your childish concepts.” The woman pointed over at Jayson. “We shall collect him, as well, correct? There's no need to drag it out any longer.” I looked over at Jett. I had practically forgotten about him. He was alive, but he appeared to be in severe pain. He kept on gazing from Darlene, to the woman, then to me. Then, all of my fears were confirmed. Not only was Bailey going to be taken away, Darlene was dead, and life itself had collapsed on me, but Jayson—of all people—was going to be taken away and possibly tortured by the people that had called the word child in the forest, then knocked everyone else to the ground in the house, and they even took the life of darling Darlene...   For the first time in all of my life, I wished to be back to the nightmares in which I would watch as my older sister Sara walked away from me, because no matter how selfish this sounds, they would have been better than my current reality.
 * Author Note:** Chapter One is Finished! I know, you are all thinking, “ That ’ s it? ” but believe me, it ’ s a big accomplishment.