Technically, I'm not much of a favorite to anyone. Nor am I really useful, I just get in the way of most things... At least, that's what I was told.

I used to live in a pretty normal family, but I was never addressed by my name, so I don't have a name to be honest. Well... used to, but out of that, I don't think anything was really out of the ordinary. My mother was a beautiful redhead with complementing light brown eyes, while my father looked rather plain and had blonde hair with green eyes. From both of their genes, I came out to see myself as a plain girl with orange hair and green eyes.

I wasn't the only child though. There was my older half-sister from my mom's former partner-ship. Sara, my half-sister, was a brown brunette with our mother's light brown eyes. She never liked me though. I tried getting along with her, but it never went well. She held a grudge against me, she said I was the reason her father and mother couldn't be together and I was just a mistake.

She said those words everyday and would try and kill me when mother and father were gone. She said if she made my death look like an accident, her life would be back to normal. Then, I began to hate everything about her. I hated the look in her eyes as she glared at me, even when mother was around. I hated the scowl on her face. I hated her voice. I just... I hated her with every fiber of my being.

Then that day happened... The family picnic... Mother and father were talking to grandma and grandpa while I was sitting on a log and looking at the lake. The lake was clear, like a tear drop and was full of large and beautiful fish. The flowers that grew around the lake were also calming; this is why I loved this place so much. I closed my eyes and took the scent in and then I was pushed.

I fell to the ground with a thud. I opened my eyes and turned to see my furious half-sister. She held a knife in her left and jumped on me. "We are going to finish this once and for all," she held the knife to my neck as she explained, "When it's time to go... I'll be with mother and that repulsive guy you call a father... But they become distressed, they can't find you anywhere. I tell them I saw you at the lake... and then we come searching, but you are nowhere to be found."

I was in terror and enraged as I looked into her cold eyes. "You'll be out of the way... and everyone thinks you were kidnapped. I bet they'll call off the search looking for you, after all, you are so useles-"

I cut her off and struggled, elbowing her in the chin. I grabbed the knife that fell and threw it in the lake. Sara was distraught and furious. She came at me and we tumbled down to the edge of the lake. I hated her. She needed to die. I turned over and pushed her head in the lake, my hands firmly latched around her neck as I sat on her stomach with cold eyes. She struggled and gasped for air, but I never gave her that chance. I was still younger and my eyes were chilled from the water, but locked in place. She gasped once more and then stopped. She closed her eyes and I let go of her neck, but kept my place and didn't move.

As I sat, a dark portal formed behind me. Something black grabbed my shoulders, along with lines of darkness and began to pull me in. I struggled to get away but it was to no avail. "Don't worry... Everything will be fine, please relax and I won't have to go through more guilt for doing this to you," the black creature said, almost with a sad expression on its face.

I turned away and tears came down my face. Good bye mother... father... I'll miss you both... I'm sorry...

I was pulled into the dark portal and it closed. I was floating on my back and stared up into nothing. "Where am I exactly?" I asked.

"You're going to your new home..." I got a reply.

"New home?" I questioned.

"Yes..."

The shadow creature I had seen before appeared in front of my face and my eyes followed it. My head raised and it started to talk again. "We are known as heartless."

"Heartless?" I asked.

He nodded. "We used to be humans until we did something that caused our hearts to be taken away."

"I see..." I said, "And I'm going to become one?"

"... Yes..." he reached and my heart came from within my body and was in his hands.

I looked back up and my eyes were half-closed but turning into a yellowish color. My hair and skin color turned pure black. I curled up and began to shrink. My hair became shorter until it disappeared and antenna formed. My eyes opened and I was in a large dark room. The colors were mainly the color red, dark pink, purple, and black. "Another addition Maleficent," the heartless I met said.

He was now a little taller than me and still holding onto my heart in his hands. I looked up and saw a woman with an angry and evil scowl on her face. "She doesn't look too special," she said coldly, "You can hand he heart over and I'll put it with the others."

He hugged the heart. "No... I want to keep this one."

"Are you going to defy me?" she snapped.

"No, but I want to keep this heart."

She scoffed. "Very well, don't press your luck though, Jiji."

He bowed and left. "Since you're the newest, here's the deal: You listen and obey me and you sleep outside on the ground," she said in a demanding voice.

I nodded and looked away from her eyes. "Good, now get out of my sight!"

I ran out and came into a room filled with darkness and was full of heartless. I guess this is what I am now... I thought and then walked into the crowd.

The next few days were really sad and upsetting. I felt like crying most of the time from Maleficent's demands. Then, the day I felt like my heart was split in half was when Jiji left and never came back on a mission and Vivi left too, so I was beside myself and alone. I also felt torn apart because Jiji literally had my human heart. The closer I was, the more I felt whole, but now...

Then she forced me to invade Twilight Town with the other heartless because she hadn't gotten back from Vivi. And with that, we were sent off. The others listened and started to attack anyone that came by, but I stayed still in the alley, just wanting things to end. And through that... I met a kind human that gave me a name of my own... Ai... and that means love...

But, a few days later, I had to take his heart away reluctantly. I didn't really know him, nor did I like or love him, but I felt sorry that his life came to an end just because of me. I covered my small body with a leaf and closed my eyes. Heartless like me are useless...

Ai, the Heartless