Harmony

Chapter One: Ashlyne

Ashlyne walked into her mom's room, only to see the hammer crushing her heart. The reason her parents yell and scream at each other... Ashlyne's mom, Crystal, tied the rope tightly around her arm. She took the neddle and injected the drug directly into her blood stream. Ashlyne's heart broke. Crystal took the razor blade, and cut for lines of coke. One after another, each line representing what was taken away from Ashlyne's heart. She wanted to tell her mom that her addictions were tearing their little family apart. She wanted to stop it all, but she never could.

Ashlyne awoke from her dream to find herself wrapped up in her blankets. It wasn't a dream, more like a memory... Crystal died that night due to an overdose. Ashlyne was only six years old. "Dad, time to get up." Ashlyne knocked on her wall to awake her dad in the next room. She walked to her dresser to find her brush. Her room matched her whole house; It was missing something...Photos. Pictures of her mother, friends, or a family portrait. She heard her dad's door open and closed, fallowed by the bathroom door.

She looked at the clock that flashed 6:30 AM in big red letters like it always did. She showered, blow-dried her hair, brushed it straight back, brushed her teeth, and got dressed for school. By 7:15 AM she was ready for school. She walked to the street corner to see a familiar face.

"Maricella!" Ashlyne waved to her best and only friend. "Hey." Maricella responded. Maricella was an illegal immigrant. They ran away from the deppression that they had left in Mexico-they were going to start over in America... That's what Maricella's mom had told her, anyway. Ashlyne was the only one who knew Maricella's secret, and Maricella was the only one that knew about Ashlyne's. Nothing could seperate these two victims of fate.

Not once had they ever fought. They were like sisters. They each had no brothers or sisters. It was just Maricella and her mom, and Ashlyne and her dad. Nothing more. Maricella's dad was killed in the war. From that point on, it all went down-hill for Maricella and her little broken family. Her mother was pregnant, but her would-have-been-baby-brother died due to a frail heart.

The two girls walked to school. After school, Ahslyne checked the mail. There was an orange-yellow tellagram for her dad. She set the note on his desk, and turned the T.V. on. It was just the news. Nothing all that new, however. Gas prices were rising, scientests were making another re-call... Same old, same old... So she decided to turn off the T.V. and do some of her home work. She had to do a report on the World War II.

A few hours passed by, and the digital clock on the counter flashed 5:30 PM. "Time to start dinner." Ashlyne told herself as she closed her books and cleared off the table. She turned on the radio-she was traumatized by silence... It was all she ever heard for months after her mother had died... Within that silence there was always a faded whimper... A broken heart. A crying man, longing for his wife.

The radio cut through the silence. "This is a song by a new band, they were once just a cover band but they're working on it. This is The Embers by Undertones of Hatred..."

My heart is racing.
The bruises are my past.
Even though the pain is my present.
Will I get a future?

Ashlyne began to peel the potatoes.

You take a sip. My heart begins to chip. You make a swing.
In a place with no light, there is no control.
Fear is the base of my life.
Was I supposed to remember?
Was I supposed to forget?
I see the embers.
What have I done to feel this fret?

She cut the potatoes into sixths, and began to cook the corn.

In this corner, I lie still
(Don't provoke him.)
In my heart, things are ill.
(Why is there such a sin?)
woahoo
The bruises are my past.
The pain is my present.
Where is my future?
You take a sip. My Heart begins to chip. You make a swing.
(I loose everything)

She put the chopped potatoes into the pot of boiling water, and began to cover the chicken legs in seasoned flour.

Was I supposed to remember?
Was I supposed to forget?
I can see the embers.
Now do you regret?
All the years of suffering.
My scars and bruises.
My lies and uses.
All because of YOU.
I see the embers.
I feel the pain.
I don't want to remember.
There's nothing left to loose...
BUT EVERYTHING TO GAIN.

She put the chicken legs in the skillet set on fire that was set on medium low.

I see the embers.
I feel the pain.
I don't want to remember.
There's nothing left to loose
But everything to gain.

She set the table for just her and her father.

I see the embers,
I feel the pain.
I don't want to remember.
The sky pours gasoline rain.
The flames consume my air.
Turning my skin to ash.

After the corn had finished cooking, she put the corn in a bowel, and set them in the center of the table.

I see the embers...
I feel the pain...
I don't want to remember.
Let me forget.
Have you no regret?
I don't want to remember.
Oh God, please let me forget.
I can see the embers.
Have you no regret?
You take a sip...My heart begins to Chip...You make a swing...

She drained the water from the potatoes that she had boiled. Ashlyne put the peices of chopped and boiled potatoes into a bowl and added salt, pepper, and butter. She took out the mixer, plugged it in, and turned it on power level 3/10. She put the mixer into the bowl, and allowed the blades to mash the potatoes. She added milk to the greese left over from the chicken, and made it into gravy. She popped the rolls into the oven and set it for 325° ferinheit for 15 minutes.

Dinner was done by six o'clock, and just in time. Her father had walked in the door from work. He was a hotel manager, working at a Super Motel 8. Nothing special, but it was better than what most people had as jobs-sales clerk, cashier, trash boy at a resturant, dish washer, etc, etc. He used to be a soldier in the war a few years back.

Ashlyne welcomed her father, and sat him at his usual spot. She gave him a glass of milk, as he prefferd for dinner, and sat acrosed from him to eat. They talked about their day, told stories and jokes as they ate. Ashlyne had a perfect relationship with her father. But in a world so cruel, it was too perfect.

Before going to bed, Ashlyne remembered the tellogram. "Oh, dad. There's a letter for you. I left it on your desk." she told him. "Okay." he responded. Ashlyne went off to bed.

That night, David held the yellow piece of paper in a fist, crying.

"Ashlyne..."

The next morning, Ashlyne woke up to find that her dad was already awake.

"Sup Dad. You're up early."
"Hello." David's voice was raspy.
"Dad, are you okay?"
David sniffled.
"Dad...What's wrong?" 'The letter...What did it say?'

After a long silence, David spoke. "I've been called out... I have to go to war...I'll be gone before you get out of school..." Ashlyne felt her heart once again crash. The shock of the moment was paralyzing "No..." It was subtle, quiet, and she had used all of her breath to say that one little word. " Y-you can't. Y-you can't leave! You can't go! You have to stay here! You can't go!" she declared, clinging onto her last blood. Tears poured from her eyes, even though they were closed so tightly. "Dad, you can't leave... You promised that you'd never leave me... You can't go... Please, Dad! Don't go..."

Ashlyne looked out of her class room window... She wasn't thinking. Thoughts were too painful. She was just starring. She heard a phrase comming from somewhere in her class "In the eyes of a child, a mother is God" "Your aunt Missy will pick you up after school... You will be staying with her." Her father's subtle words replayed themselfes. The bell rung. Time to go home. "I dont want to leave." Ashlyne whispered, barely audiable.

She walked out infront of the building, looking for her aunt's car. Missy stood, in all black, short curly blonde hair, and waved. Ashlyne walked over to her. She got into her aunt's black sudan.

"Ashlyne, hun...I know it's hard, but don't worry. Even though things are tough, your dad's even tougher!" Missy called to the back of her car, not taking her eyes off the road, trying to re-assure her neice. Ashlyne said nothing. She just stared out her window and watched the trees go by, blocking the sun's rays from shinning into the car through the window every now and then as Missy drove up and around the side of the hill.

Ashlyne sat at the opposite end of her aunt Missy. Missy was resting her chin on her clasped hands as she watched Ashlyne carefully. Ashlyne felt that something was wrong. She took a bite of her steak. "Don't you like them?" Missy said, her bangs covering her eyes. Her voice sounded sinister...Yet, full of virtue. "Like what?" Ashlyne asked, afraid. Something had turned in her stomache, making her feel heavy, and hard to move. "Your peas and carrots. You like them, right Melissa?" Ashlyne was confused. Melissa, her cousin, died when she was nine. She was hit by a drunk driver while she was walking to the library with some friends...

Ashlyne felt scared. She didn't know how to respond. She thought that maybe Missy was just having a moment. Missy's husband, Gerald, had shot himself. A month later, Melissa died. Then Crystal. They hadn't heard from Missy for quite a while. "I..." Ashlyne was almost to afraid to speak. "I don't like peas and carrots-I never really have, Aunt Missy.." Missy had a look of anger and disgust on her face. She stood up and slamed her hands onto the table. The plates and silverware shook. "You're wrong! Melissa does like peas and carrots! She is a good child! She loves all of her vegitables! Even the egg plants!" Ashlyne backed her chair away from the table. "Melissa loves peas and carrots-they are her favorite! And call me 'Mom'! I am your mother, call me mom! Don't call me by my first name, it's disrespectful!" Missy shouted.

Ashlyne stood up from her chair and backed away. Her heart was racing, she felt the adrenalyn rush through her. Her lungs began to work at a afaster and afaster rate.'What is aunt Missy talking about?? I'm not Melissa! I-I'm Ashlyne!' "Aunt Missy, y-your scaring me!" Ashlyne finaly choked out. Missy's eyes widened with shock. "Oh. M-My dear. I-I'm so sorry. I-I don't know what came over me." Missy said, her voice trembling. "Y-you don't have to eat them if you don't want to... I-I'm sorry Ashlyne, Hunny..." Missy sat back down, shakily. "Actually, I'm feeling a bit ill-my head hurts. I-I think I'll go to bed early..." Ashlyne walked up to her room. "I'm waking you up at six o'clock!" Missy shouted up the tall spiral stair case.

Ashlyne locked her bed room door. "What was that all about?" she asked herself. Ashlyne decided to ignore it- that Aunt Missy was still recovering a bit. She brushed her hair and teeth, and went to bed.

A dark figure stood at the foot of Ashlyne's bed. A triangle-like object in it's hands reflected from the moonlight. Ashlyne heard the door close. She quickly shot up and turned the lamp that was by her bed on. She looked around the room. Nothing. "Probobly just the wind-this is a big house on top of an even bigger hill. And an old one at that." Ashlyne tried to re-assure herself. She shut the light off and went back to bed.

Missy opened the door to Melissa's old room, Ashlyne's new room. She sat at the edge of her bed, and placed her hand on Ashlyne's side. Missy shook her as she spoke. "Ashlyne. Ashlyne hun, time to get up." Come on, get ready for school. Ashlyne sat up in her bed, and rubbed her eyes. "It's time to get ready for school." Missy repeaded. "Okay." Ashlyne got out of bed. Missy left the room. Ashlyne brushed her teeth and hair, changed her clothes, and grabbed her back-pack. She walked down the big spiral stair case.

Ashlyne turned the radio on. She took two toaster struddles from the freezer. When she had shut the freezer door, and turned around. She let out a shriek "Aunt Missy! You scared me!" "What are you doing?" Missy asked, her cold-as-ice voice filled with venom, her eyes like darts. "I-Im getting breakfast." Ashlyne responded. "No. Your not eating that. Melissa doesn't like sweet things, remember? She hates them! Especially strawberries. She hates them!" Missy shouted.

Ashlyne got tired of the whole "Melissa does and does not like this and that" routine real fast. "I'm not Melissa!" She spat back. Missy brought her hand back. Ashlyne fell to the ground.

These bruises are my past...

She got onto her knees, shooken.

Even though this pain is my present...

"Do not shout at your mother like that! Don't say such lies!" Ashlyne was on the ground, shaking, her hand covering the big red mark on her left cheek. Missy once again, found herself in shock. "Oh my god! My baby! I'm so sorry, hunny!" Missy got down on her knees and held Ashlyne. "Mommy's sorry sweety! She just doesn't feel like herself. I'm so sorry!" Ashlyne still was on her hands and knees, holding her cheek.

Missy pulled some make-up out of her purse. She took the skin colored blush, and covered Ashlyne's entire face with the colored powder. Ashlyne got into the big black sudan, and they drove off to school. "Good-bye, hunny! Have a good day at school!" Missy waved to her, as she drove off. "Who is that?" Maricella asked, her purple book bag in hand. "My aunt." Ashlyne responded, monotoned. Maricella gave Ashlyne a confused look. "My dad went off to war, so I'm staying with her till he gets back." She explained in that same mono-toned voice.

Maricella was struck with so many emotions. She was a deer trapped by the mezmorizing head lights of a car. Shock. Sarrow. And fear. Both stomaches turned as a silence that said it all took over their worlds...Even for only a minute. In this awkward moment, the silence spoke for them. Neither of them would say a word, for a really long time. Ashlyne, struck with fear, stood. She stared blankley into nothing. Maricella, aslo struck with fear did the same. "Wh-when?" Maricella finaly chocked out. "Yesterday." Ashlyne responded. Maricella was not at school that day. "I-I'm so sorry." Maricella felt that the more she spoke, the worse the moment became. Ashlyne could tell that Maricella had absolutly no clue how to react or what to say. She didn't expect Maricella to always have the answers and always know what to do, so it was okay.

That night, Ashlyne sat up. Praying.

"Hello... Uhm.. I know that... Its been years since Ive done this... But... Uhm... Please... Please let him be safe." Ashlyne was crying immacuratly by now. "And... Just... Dont... Let him die." Her tears only grew bigger, and fell harder. "H-Hes all I have left.. Please, don't take him from me. Dont... Dont make this end now... I... I was happy... Even though mom was gone. Please, keep him safe..."

A month later, they had recieved a tellagram...

"Dear Ms.Robertson,
I am verry sorry to tell you that..."

The words were like poison to Ashlyne's tear ducts... She dropped the hammer that crushed her heart, and ran to her residence of hell.

"We are very sorry. He was a good contribution, and a wonderful soldier."

Tears poured from her eyes like rain fell from the sky. "He was all I had left...Why!? What did I do!?" Ashlyne's mind went blank. She shouted out the same words over and over again, like a broken CD.

Missy was now her legal gaurdian.

A few nights after the funural, Ashlyne was sitting with her aunt at the dinner table... It had been over a month since the incodent with the toaster struddles, and the abnormal behavior only got worse...

"Melissa, dear... You havent touched your sweet potatoes. Whats wrong?" Missy asked. Ashlyne had gotten used to her aunt calling her Melissa. "I'm just not hungry is all." Ashlyne lied. "Melissa...Why are you lying to mommy? Don't you trust her?" Ashlyne didn't know how to respond. Her silence was taken the wrong way. "Melissa, answer mommy! Why don't you trust her!? Melissa!" Ashlyne felt the rush again, her stomache turning, her palms sweating, the feeling in her gut telling her to run, her legs feeling like led... The unwanted sensation was all too familiar... Fear. Ashlyne ran into her room, and locked the door. She heard heavy footsteps walk up the stairs, and down the hall to her room.

The stomps stopped at her door. A shadow blocked the light that was comming from the hallway. Her bedroom door handle turned, then shook. Ashlyne hid in her closet, and prayed that she would be safe. She had not turned the light on, hopping it would help her hide. Ashlyne heard her bedroom door swing open, and maybe even break off a hinge or two. She saw the light pouring in from the crack on the bottom of her closet door. She did her best not to move or make any sound. She heard the footsepts grow closer to the door, she saw the shadow grow darker and bigger...

The door swung open. Missy screamed. She drug Ashlyne out from the closet by the back of her hair. She raised her hand, over and over again. Missy's hands were red, as well as Ashlyne's soon-to-be-bruised body.
It carried on like this for many, many months.

Ashlyne, now known as 'Melissa', and Missy were eating dinner as usual, when Missy suddenly put her fork down. The silence grew more and more into anticipation and suspense, turning the air thick as mud, making it seem like it had some sort of gas or poison that made Ashlyne's stomach turn, her palms sweaty, and her entire body shaking.

"Melissa, dear..." Missy spoke. "Y-yes mom?" Ashlyne did her absolute best to fill the cracks in her voice. "I got a call from your school today." Missy seemed mono-toned as she spoke the words that made Ashlyne's heart drop, and shatter when it hit the cold, cold ground. Ashlyne twiddled her thumbs that were covered by the sweater that was the mask for her bruises. "Wh-What for? Like, what did they say?" Ashlyne swallowed the lump that kept appearing in her throught. No matter how many times she swallowed, that damn frog wouldn't leave. "They told me that you were failing. Daydreaming, falling asleep, or sometimes just plain not doing your work..." Missy's voice became more sinister with each word spoken. Ashlyne bit her lip and closed her eyes. "...But, thats not the worst part..." Ashlyne closed her eyes tighter, keeping the tears inside.

"There's a rumor going around that you've been kissing boys in the locker rooms after school." Ashlyne knew that Missy would not listen to reason, so she left it silent...

"Melissa. Respond. Is this Rumor true?"
"No." Ashlyne spoke the truth.
"Your lying to me."
"Its not true mom."
"Then how did it get around school?"
"I don't know. People like to start rumors."

Missy quickly stood up. She walked over to Ashlyne, who stood still, trying not to provoke her. Missy slapped Ashlyne so hard, she fell out of her chair, and onto the ground. Missy slapped her again and again. Then she started using her fist. She kicked Ashlyne while she was on the ground, crying, coughing up blood. She reached for a knife..

Eternal bleeding in four different areas.

I lie still...

Three fractured ribs.

I see the embers.

A punctured lung.

I feel the pain.

Multiple stab wounds.

I don't want to remember.

One broken heart.

There's nothing left to loose...

Ended this broken soul's life.

But everything to gain.

Chapter Two: Maricella
1.

Maricella held her black umbrella as she watched six men use shovels as spoons to toss the dirt on her best and only friends eternal resting place. Rain poured from the skies. She held her mother's hand. She couldn't bare to watch them burry Ashlyne forever. All that was left was memories... Why is it the happiest memories that end up hurting you the most...? Maricella thought on her way back home. Not once had she spoken since she had heard that her friend was murdered. She should be sentanced to death... Behind bars is the least that she deserves...

When Maricella got home, she set her umbrella on her coffe table and went to her room. Her small tiny apartment was so hard to get around, with all the junk they had lying around. She sat on her bed, and turned the radio on... "This is a song by Linkin Park, haven't heard from them in a while. Requested, here is Hands Held High."

Turn my mike up louder I got to say somethin'
Light weights step to the side when we come in.

Feel it in your chest the syllables get pumpin'
People on the street they panic and start runnin'.

Words on loose leaf sheet complete coming.
I jump in my mind and summon the rhyme I'm dumpin'.

Healing the blind, I promise to let the sun in.
Sick of the dark ways we march to the drum and,

Jump when they tell us that they wanna see jumping.
Fuck that I wanna see some fists pumpin'.

Ashlyne would always say what was on her mind, and stick up for those who didn't stick up for themselfes...

Risk something, take back what's yours.
Say something that you know they might attack you for.

Even though she always knew it would get her into some sort of trouble...

Cause I'm sick of being treated like I have before.
Like it's stupid standing for what I'm standing for.

One of the only ways to make her mad was to underestimate her, or mistreat her...

Like this war's really just a different brand of war.
Like it doesn't cater the rich and abandon poor.

Like they understand you in the back of the jet,
When you can't put gas in your tank.

These fuckers are laughing their way to the bank and cashing the check.
Asking you to have compassion and have some respect.

She's understood the way the world works; the more money you have, the more power you have... Regardless if you were a good person or not. She always understood that human beings are selfish, sinful, disgusting creatures...

For a leader so nervous in an obvious way.
Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay.

And the rest of the world watching at the end of the day,
In their living room laughing like "what did he say?"

She always hated it when the people who had no clue what they were doing were the ones in charge.When people made the wrong decisions.

Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen

In my living room watching but I am not laughin',
'cause when it gets tense I know what might happen.

Maricella bit at her lip, trying to prevent the tears from falling... I wont cry...

World is cold the bold men take action.
Have to react or get blown into fractions.

Ten years old it's something to see;
Another kid my age, drugged under a jeep.

Taken and bound and found later under a tree.
I wonder if he had thought the next one could be me.
Do you see the soldiers? They're out today.
They brush the dust from bullet proof vests away.

It's ironic; at times like this you pray
But a bomb blew the mosque up yesterday.

There's bombs in the buses, bikes, roads.
Inside your market, your shops, your clothes.

My dad he's got a lot of fear, I know.
But enough pride inside not to let that show.

My brother had a book he would hold with pride;
A little red cover with a broken spine.

On the back, he hand-wrote a quote inside:
"When the rich wage war it's the poor who die."

Meanwhile, the leader just talks away,
stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay.

And the rest of the world watching at the end of the day
both scared and angry like "what did he say?"

Maricella allowed the lyrics of the song to pour into her, but refused to let the tears pour from her eyes like the fountains they are.

Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen

With hands held high into the sky so blue,
As the ocean opens up to swallow you.

(Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen)

With hands held high into the sky so blue,
As the ocean opens up to swallow you.

(Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen)

With hands held high into the sky so blue,
As the ocean opens up to swallow you.

(Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen)

With hands held high into the sky so blue,
As the ocean opens up to swallow you.

(Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen)

With hands held high into the sky so blue,
As the ocean opens up to swallow you.

(Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen)

With hands held high into the sky so blue,
As the ocean opens up to swallow you.

The lyrics reminded her of her father, who was a U.S. citizen. He left, and didn't take his family with him. They still loved him. He was going to come back, take them to the United States. They were supposed to live a happy life together... Supposed to... A tear fell from Maricella's rich brown eyes. Fallowed by another... Each drop of liquified pain made its way into a stream.

All of a suden, her life started pouring out from her eyes. Not once since her dad had left them did she cry. Tonight was too much to stuff into that little bottle, and the cork came off with more force than a bottle of shaken up champaign. She sat in the corner of her room, crying, kicking, screaming... "Nooo!" "No!" "Noooooo!" Was all the poor girl could say.

Memories came pouring in all at once...Memories of her father...Memories of Ashlyne. Memories, that were like poison tipped arrows shot straight through her heart. She remembers waking up one day, to her mother crying on the couch. She ventured the small hut to find that her father had been gone... A letter was wadded up on the ground...

"He ido a los Estados a convertirse en un ciudadano. Voy a ir a la guerra. Volveré por ti. Y vamos a vivir en los estados juntos, como una verdadera familia. Hasta entonces, tenga cuidado de las cosas. Te amo."

Translated:

"I've gone to the States to become a citizen. I will go to war. I will come back for you. And we will live in the states together, as a true family. Until then, take care of things. I love you."

Tears had fallen from her mother's eyes. A year later, María was diagnosed with lung cancer, and arthritis...Maricella decided to be the strong one; that her mom needed some one to be there more than she herself did. No tears fell from her eyes...Until now... No...Not even now... Even now, as her tears were crashing, she still did her best to keep them in-trying not to let her mom see her in such a state... Fighting on wether it was okay for her to cry or not, her subconscious mind and her simple thoughts were at a war...

Why am I always the one to be strong? Why can't I cry for once?

No, mother needs to know that Im still here, that Im not going to cry... I have to stay strong... Don't cry-for mother...F-F...For...mother... Y-You've held it in for so long... D-Don't...D-Don't...

Maricella gave up... Finaly, she allowed the dam to break, and drown away the town that held onto her sarrow... It had been five years since she had cried. No longer had she held it in. Not one bit.

A week went by, and Maricella once again found herself in the corner of her room, the lights off, sulking. She went to her bed, and lifted her mattress. She grabbed the avaraged sized angel-covered hard-back book. Inside was a prayer:

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the lord my soul to take.

Maricella looked at at the clock on her wall. It's only six thirty... The days seemed to be getting longer and longer as they went by. Maricella got underneath her covers, and rested her head on her pillow. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't cry. Her tearducts were all dried out. She held onto her diary, written in english so her mother wouldn't be able to tell what it said if she ever found it.

Suddenly, she heard a vehicle parking outside of her house. She lifted her blinds to see. A green van... That same instant, she heard her mom shouting for her. "Maricella! Maricella! Hurry, we have to hide! Hide!" Maricella quickly got out from underneath her blankets. She heard doors opening and lots of stomping. Maricella quietly opened her window, just enough for her to barely slip out of her room. She still held onto the little red book.

She pressed herself to the exterior walls of her apartment and skimmed along the side, hoping to get to the back yard safely-and make a run for it. She was only a few quiet steps from her goal. One...Two... Three... Crack. "Check behind the house." She heard on of the men say. Run. She ran almost to the neighbors' back yard. Then, she noticed it. There was something wrong. Where were they? No one was behind her. Maricella stopped. She turned around to see if they were comming, but no one was there. I made it. She turned around, and not even a step later, she ran into a man in brown pants and a lima bean green shirt. She tried to run away, but there was another man behind her. He grabbed her, and Maricella screamed. He force-fully picked her up, and threw her into the van-diary and all.

There, she saw many other immagrants, including her mother. "maricella!" her mother called. Maricella rusehd to her mother's comforting arms. The van drove for a days. Every now and then they stopped for gas. But one stop, they made the biggest mistake ever. One of the men went into the gas station. There was one of those men watching the van. He decided that the other man was taking to long, and went into the station. Bad move. Maricella's mother got up. "¿Qué haces?" Maricella asked her mother what she was doing. "Tranquilo, Maricella." María told her daughter to be quiet. María quietly sneaked into the driver's seat. Little did she know, Maricella was fallowing her. Maricella got into the passenger's seat. "Mamá, ¿qué estás haciendo?" Maricella asked her mother what she was doing in a loud whisper. "Me ha llevado a salir de aquí-we're no volver." María said that she was getting the out of there-that they weren't going back.

The idiots left the keys in the ignition. María started the car. Maricella's heart pumped, and saw that one of the men who took them saw the car start. "Mamá, mamá! Ven con nosotros!" Maricella shouted that they saw them. María pushed on the gas peddle, and drove off. "¿Lo que está mal con usted?" Maricella asked her motehr what was wrong with her. Meanwhile, everyone else in the back of the van cheered. "Escuchen todos! No podemos volver a nuestras viejas casas porque saben donde vivimos. Vamos a viajar más lejos en el norte." María told everyone that they couldn't go back to their old homes because the INS knew where they lived, and that they would travel farther up north.

María traveled for hours. Everyone in the van was asleep except for Maricella and her mother. Maricella decided that the silence was killing her, so she turned on the radio.

Turn my mike up louder I got to say somethin'
Light weights step to the side when we come in.

Maricella looked out her window, and saw a girl in a maroon pull-over hoodie, torn jeans, old shoes, with brown hair that was just two inches from her shoulders that curved up along the sides of her bottom jaw, holding a pink and brown back-pack.

Feel it in your chest the syllables get pumpin'
People on the street they panic and start runnin'.

When the girl's blue eyes met Maricella's rich brown eyes, they knew they had the same connection. They both knew the other was running away.

Words on loose leaf sheet complete coming.
I jump in my mind and summon the rhyme I'm dumpin'.

A little while later, María began to drive up a hill.

My brother had a book he would hold with pride;
A little red cover with a broken spine.

They saw two headlights at the top of the hill, moving from right to left. "Mama que el hombre es swerving." Maricella told her mother that the person in the car ahead of them was swerving. "Veo, Maricella." María told her daughter that she sees.

On the back, he hand-wrote a quote inside:
"When the rich wage war it's the poor who die."

The man was also going at a fast rate.

Meanwhile, the leader just talks away,
stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay.

He was driving on the wrong side of the road.

And the rest of the world watching at the end of the day
both scared and angry like "what did he say?"

The music began to fade. All Maricella heard was the screaching of the tires against the asphault and her mother screaming.
A late night.
A drunk driver.

(Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen)

With hands held high into the sky so blue,
As the ocean opens up to swallow you.

Chapter Three: Naveah

The girl with long smokey blue hair who was wearing a black sweater underneath a dark half-cut jean jacket with a red bleeding rose on the back of it, a black peticoat, red and black stockings, and a pair of Doc Martens turned on her raidio. "By request, this is Young by Hollywood Undead."

We are young,
but we have heart.
Born in this world as it all falls apart.
We are strong,
but we don`t belong.
Born in this world as it all falls apart.

I see the children in the rain.
Like the parade before the pain.
I see the love, I see the hate.
I see this world that we can make.
I see the life, I see the sky.
Give it all to see you fly.
Yes, we wave this flag of hatred
but you`re the ones who made it.
Watch the beauty of all our lives
passing right before my eyes.
I hear the hate in all your words.
All the words to make us hurt.
We get so sick, oh so sick.
We never wanted all this.
Medication for the kids with no reason to live.

So we march to the drums of the dammed as we come.
Watch it burn in the sun.
We are numb.

We are young,
but we have heart.
Born in this world as it all falls apart
We are strong,
but we don`t belong.
Born in this world as it all falls apart.

As we walk among these shadows,
in the streets these fields of battle.
Take it up we wear the mantle.
Raise your hands with burning candles.
Hear us whisper in the dark.
In the rain, you see the spark.
Feel the beating of our hearts.
Fleeting hope as we depart.
All together walk alone
against all we've ever known.
All we've ever really wanted
was a place to call our home.
But you take all we are-
the innocence of our hearts.
Made to kneel before the altar as you tear us apart.

So we march to the drums of the dammed as we come.
Watch it burn in the sun.
We are numb.

We are young,
but we have heart.
Born in this world as it all falls apart
We are strong,
but we don`t belong.
Born in this world as it all falls apart.

We will fight,
or we will fall,
till the angels save us all.

We will fight,
Or we will fall,
till the angels save us all.

We will fight,
or we will fall,
till the angels save us all.

We will fight,
or we will fall,
till the angels save us all.

We are young,
but we have heart.
Born in this world as it all falls apart.
We are strong,
but we don`t belong.
Born in this world as it all falls apart.

We are young,
but we have heart.
Born in this world as it all falls apart.
We are strong,
but we don`t belong.
Born in this world as it all falls apart.

She'd always loose herself in that song. The tears would always try to make their ways out of her tear ducts. Sometimes they would, but that was rare. She learned the hard way not to cry. But it was when she didn't cry that felt like there was something in her heart, eating the beating muscle from the inside out. Leaving it empty, and full of pain.

After the song, Naveah walked to school. The girl with the fake smile walked down the halls of her school. It was after school hours; no one was there. She remembered her day. The eyes were like daggers shooting straight through her. That's all it ever was. They were all taunting, teasing, ridiculing eyes. Whispers full of lies. It's not like this was anything new-even before her tradgedy, the children still laughted at her. They still used her. They still teased her, and taunted her. The still spread rumors about her. The only thing that's changed is... They've gotten worse.

When the girl finaly had enough, she went to see the school councelor who promised not to say anything to anyone. Adults always lie. The blue haired girl was walking past the councelor, who was talking to another adult. "And she says that she dresses the way she does so no one would try to talk to her; so they could see her as a threat, for, not giving anyone a chance to get close to her, then hurt her, or to see her bruises..." as the councelor made the one mistake in his entire career that would end his pathetic life, they made direct eye contact.

Naveah felt used. She was lied to. Again. The idiot that was supposed to be a proffessional had said that right in the middle of the hallway; for all ears to listen. The next days, as the girl who was painted black-and blue underneath her clothes walked by in the halls, everything grew silent. The whispers were never more particular than what they were then.

In art class, a few boys acted out what they figured her dinner nights with her father were like. One boy was on his knees, his hands covering the back of his head, curled up in a ball pretending to cry and plead for the other boy who was standing above him, pretending to kick him, beat him, and yell and scream at him. The sad part was...

They were right.

Naveah left the room, tears in her eyes. The whole class joined in unison as they laughed and pointed at her.

That night, a storm was awaken...

The next morning, before her dad woke up, she snuck into his room, and opened the drawer. A loud snore escaped the drunk, fallowed by turning to the other side. Naveah took the cold, shiny object, and it's rounds. She put the fully-loaded cold metal into her backpack, and walked to school.

Homeroom. It was time to read a report you were supposed to do on different types of torture used through out history. "Naveah Sterline." the troubled soul's homeroom teacher called her up. She went up to the teacher, 'accidentaly' knocking off a few of his papers. They both reached down to grab the papers. Naveah pulled the gun with the silencer out of her backpack, and whispered. "You never fucking helped me." The teacher's desk blocked the veiw of the gun, and of the student and teacher.

Naveah pulled the trigger. No one heard anything, but they noticed that something was wrong when Mr.Stans never got back up. "Hey-fuking wicken satanist bitch. What the hell did you do to Mr.Stans?" the head of the football team asked. Suddenly, Naveah's heart skipped a beat. A smile slowly painted itself on her lips. The same, sick, twisted smile you'd find in some one whose lost her mind. But she was perfectly sane, more sane than anyone else in her whole school. Just because your fed-up, it doesn't mean you've lost your mind.

"And what's that smell? It smells like some one lit a firework." the captain of the cheerleader's team spoke. "That's the smell of gunpowder." The shcool red-neck answered. Everything stopped. Naveah's class mates' hearts stopped, beated faster, skipped beats, went slower. Everyone went as pale as the girl who held their fate. Josh, the hard-core christian, who was also hard-core redneck, and a total ass stood up. "Everone, shut the hell up, and sit the fuck down. Give me all cell phones, pagers, or anything you have that can contact anyone." Naveah ordered. "We don't have to!" Josh tried to fight back. She pulled out the gun from her backpack. "Yes, you mother fucking do." Josh sat back down.

"Now listen to me. If ANY of you scream, or make ANY sound, or even try to escape, I will make your death slow and painful." she pulled out her pocket knife. "Don't think that I didn't come prepared."

One by one, each of her classmates died. She went to the office and said that there was a fight going on in the girls' bathroom-that Stacey and Sharon had knifes out. Everyone in the office went to the bathroom. When all of the foolish adults were in the girl's bathroom. She shot each one of them, in the head. She then went into the office, and locked all of the doors in the builiding, from the inside and out.

One room at a time, she killed everyone in the school. No one knew because of the silencer. But they did start to smell the gunpowder. She killed them all the same way she killed her homeroom class; pulled the adults out of view, capped their asses, told the students to put all electronical devices on the teacher's desk. Then said that few would servive. It was always a lie. She picked them out one by one.

The last one on her agenda... She pointed the gun to the councelor. One shot in the palm of each of his hands. He stood up, threw a chair at her. He tried to run for the door leaving the room, but she shot him in his shoulderblade, and he fell to the ground. She grabbed the office scissors on his desk, and cut the back of his ankles so he couldn't run. "I was tought in this very school that they would do this to the slaves in the dimond mines in Africa. Funny how things work, isn't Mr.Daniels?" she said with no remourse or hint of sadness in her voice. She shot his dick off, and he screamed. Naveah shot bullets through his elbows, his wrists, and his knees. He was cirtually helpess. She pointed the gun to his head, only inches from his forehead, and he cried. Begged for mercy and forgiveness. He said that he had three children, a wife, and a sick mother at home. "I have nothing." The last bullet was shot.

It was a good thing her dad was a drunken dumbass and always spent the welfare check on more amunition for the gun. Then she exited the building. Right before leaving, she pulled the fire alarm, and went to her small home. It was twelve in the afternoon-her dad wouldn't wake up for another three or four hours. She hit him on the head with a bat, to insure he would not wake up. She tied his fat ass to the bed, and took gallons and gallons of gasoline that she had recently bought from the gas station. She got the money from her dad's wallet while he was taking a piss. She lit her dad's lighter, and threw it on the ground. and hooked up her guitar. She turned on her CD player, and let music fall through.

We are young,
but we have heart.
Born in this world as it all falls apart.
We are strong,
but we don`t belong.
Born in this world as it all falls apart.

So we march to the drums of the dammed as we come.
Watch it burn in the sun.
We are numb.

The fire department, the police, and the ambulance arrived at the tragic snene.

Naveah played her guitar and sang along with the song.

We are young,
but we have heart.
Born in this world as it all falls apart
We are strong,
but we don`t belong.
Born in this world as it all falls apart.

As we walk among these shadows,
in the streets these fields of battle.
Take it up we wear the mantle.
Raise your hands with burning candles.
Hear us whisper in the dark.
In the rain, you see the spark.
Feel the beating of our hearts.
Fleeting hope as we depart.
All together walk alone
against all we've ever known.
All we've ever really wanted
was a place to call our home.
But you take all we are-
the innocence of our hearts.
Made to kneel before the altar as you tear us apart.

Everyone stood, tears in their eyes. The police told everyone to search for survivors, and meet up at the office.

We are young,
but we have heart.
Born in this world as it all falls apart
We are strong,
but we don`t belong.
Born in this world as it all falls apart.

No survivors were found.

We will fight,
or we will fall,
till the angels save us all.

The police checked the security camera's. They looked through the profiles, and found her.

We will fight,
Or we will fall,
till the angels save us all.

We will fight,
or we will fall,
till the angels save us all.

The police arrived to the girls house to see it painted in flames. A policeman called for the paramedics and fire department.

We will fight,
or we will fall,
till the angels save us all.

The firemen ran through the burning building, and grabbed the girl whose clothes were almost completely burnt off; revieling her bruises.

We are young,
but we have heart.
Born in this world as it all falls apart.
We are strong,
but we don`t belong.
Born in this world as it all falls apart.

By the time they rushed the bruised painted girl to the hospital, it was already too late.

We are young,
but we have heart.
Born in this world as it all falls apart.
We are strong,
but we don`t belong.
Born in this world as it all falls apart.

Chapter Four: Dianna

"SHOOTER OF SHALLOW SPRINGS MIDDLE SCHOOL BURNED TO DEATH IN FIRE." Dianna read the headline on the newspaper that was on the coffee table. Her digital wrist watch struck 9pm. It was time for bed. Silently, the girl walked to her room. She never said a word. Dianna got underneath her blanket, and turned the lamp on her dresser by her bed off. Not that she was tired or anything, she never was. She remembered to take her pills. She turned the light on, and walked into the bathroom.

She was an insomniac. It was impossible for her to sleep. Everytime she did sleep, she had nightmares. She decided for once that she would listen to something some one told her. She took the capsul with a glass of water, and once again went to bed.

When Dianna was six years old, she found out that George wasn't her real father. Anna, her mother, sent Dianna to live with her father. Carol, her step mother, didn't seem to like Dianna. Carol figured that the girl would get in the way of the will. Steve, Dianna's biological father, was indeed, filthy stinking fucking rich. Steve and Carol had a little girl-Madaline. She was only three years old.

One day, Carol was laying on her bed, having a smoke... She fell asleep. Steve risked his whole life to find Carol, Madline, and Dianna. Steve died, saving his family. Carol didn't care. There was a secret Dianna knew that no one else knew; Carol didn't love Steve. She just wanted money. Carol already had some one; Tom.

The fire destroyed everything. Carol was to spoiled and lazy to get a real job. A few years later, when Dianna was eight, and Madaline was six, Madaline got sick. The doctors diagnosed the little girl with Leukemia. Madaline never got better... On April 15th, she died. Eventually, Tom left Carol, and she became an emotional wreck. The only way Carol could get money was...

Dianna woke up to the sound of moans comming from Carol's room. Dianna put a random CD in her CD player, turned it on shuffel, put the ear plugs in, and did her best to ignore Carol while she was at work.

Pull these scars off my eyes.
Lost from the world,
a child searching for her dad.

You left me there alone
with hime to rape my world.
and I lived through the years a girl
pleading "why?"

In my dreams last night I saw your face.
You held me and washed away my tears.
Then I woke to realize you're gone.
I'm drowning in solitude again.

I thank God for my mother's love.
Through years of broken innocence,
she carried me through the light.

In my dreams last night I saw your face.
You held me and washed away my tears.
Then I woke to realize you're gone.
I'm drowning in solitude again.

When you realize that fate is gone,
just look at me and say goodbye.

So, tell me how you fell.
So, tell me how.

As these years and time go racing by,
I'm drowning in solitude again.

No, this won't kill me.
No, this won't kill me.
No, this won't kill me.
No, this won't kill me.
No, this won't kill me.
No, this won't kill me.

In my dreams last night I saw your face.
You held me and washed away my tears.
Then I woke to realize you're gone.
I'm drowning in solitude again.
In solitude, in solitude again.

This won't kill me.
This won't kill me.
This won't kill me.
This won't kill me.
This won't kill me.
This won't kill me.

Carol was into meth. One working night, Dianna ventured from her room to try to get some water from the kitchen, and she heard Carol and a man arguing.

"Come on, baby. I have the money-do it." the man pleaded.
"No, that is just sick and disgusting. I don't have to."
"Yes you fucking do-It's your job, you're a whore!"

Carol stood up and slapped the man.

"I may be a whore, but I still know whats gross and is not. That is my fucking limit and I said no!"

Carol turned around to walk away, when the man pulled out a gun. Before Dianna had a chance to even gasp, the man pulled the trigger. He shot her in the back of the head. She fell to the ground, dead on the spot.

"Bitch!" he shouted at her before returning the gun in his pants, and began to search the house. In a panic, Dianna grabbed her back pack, stuffed all of her clothes in it, her CD player, and tried to open the window. She struggled. The pain on the wood has melted, sealing the window shut air tight. The man opened her bedroom door. "What the fuck!?" he shouted. He grabbed his gun. Before the man shot at the girl, she jumped out the window.

She landed on the metal emergency stair case that was on the side of the apartment building. The man shot at Dianna. One bullet made a bounced off the metal stairs and hit the man in his right shoulder. "Fuck!" the man shouted. "You fucking bitch!" he continued to shoot at Dianna, who eventually made it to the ground. Dianna ran as fast as she could, to no where. Not to the police station, not the the hospital, but to no where. It had been a good 10 minutes of her running. Eventually, she stopped. Dianna felt like that if she took another step, that she would fall apart.

And that's how she ended up here. She's spent the past week or so just walking. It felt great to leave everything behind. Not that she had anything left. She'd get money by doing odd jobs for the people she met in small towns. She's use places like truck stops to take a shower. She'd find quartes and other coins on the streets. So she'd used the coins to wash her clothes. She never really knew where she was going. She just kept walking. It was like her legs had a mind of their own until her stomache kicked in.

One day, she walked into a small convenient store. She had no money. Dianna couldn't stand the thought of stealing, but she couldn't stand her hunger. She bought a four pack of toilet paper with her money, and stole some beef jerky, a lighter, and lome lighter fluid. The sales clerk was an old woman, who knew that Dianna stole them. But she didn't care. The old woman knew that she was going through times, she could tell by the look in her face. So she payed for it herself.

It was late at night, wich was moving time. It was dangerous to sleep at night. Too many wild animals, and the weirdos at night. She slept during the day, and traveled at night. That way was safer. It was scarrier, but it was safer. But darkness is darkness. Dianna kept walking, and walking along the side of the road. A green van passed. She met eye-to-eye with a girl with long dark curly hair, and dark eyes.

When you realize that fate is gone
Just look at me and say goodbye.

The second the girls' eyes met, they both knew that they were running away. A few minutes later, Dianna came across a sight. There were flames everywhere. It was the green van from before. She rushed to the scene, and saw the girl. Half of the van was crushing everything from her lower abdomen and below. Dianna tried to save the girl, tried to help. "No, no." Maricella told her to stop.

Maricella knew that she was going to die, even if she could make it to the hospital. Maricella held a red book in her hands. "Go. I know you don't want them to find you. Go." Maricella tried to get the girl to go away. But she wouldn't leave. "Take it." Maricella used her last breath to let the girl in the maroon tattered pull-over hoodie know. So she could know everything. So she could know why it was pointless to help.

Dianna grabbed the red book. She stood, and cried for a little while. She knew that Maricella was dead. That there was no chance of saving her. Dianna wiped away her tears with her tattered sleeve. She did as she was told by the dying mysterious girl, and walked away. It was hard for her to pretend that she never knew the girl, hard to pretend that it never happened. Especialy when she had evidence; the little red book.

Dianna spent a whole month reading about this girls story. And almost every entry was happy, and normal. Until her mother got sick. Then every page after that made Dianna cry. Dianna knew, that if Maricella were still alive, that they would have been great friends. Maricella, Ashlyne, and Dianna would have been best friends. Dianna could feel it.

One night, while it was pouring rain, Dianna still continued walking. The rain was so thick, you couldn't see two feet infront of you. Hard to walk in, and dangerous, yes, but she couldn't mess up her schedual, or risk of drowning in her sleep. The rain pelted her. Dianna was soaking wet-so wet that even her underwear was dripping. She kept walking. Lightning struck. A tree fell, and some of the branches landed on the girl with the brown hair, blacked out.

Hours later, Dianna awoke. She couldn't exactly make out the things around her. It was dark, damp.

Pull these scars off my eyes.

Dianna remembered a dream she had about her and her father; It was her third birthday and they were at the county state fair, eating cotton candy. Oh how she wished for everything to go back to the way it was.

Lost from the world, a child searching for her dad.

When she realized it was nothing more than a dream, her memories fell from her eyes.

In my dreams last night I saw your face.
You held me and washed away my tears.
Then I woke to realize you're gone.
I'm drowning in solitude again.

Dianna noticed, when she was trying to wipe away her tears with her tattered sleeve, that she had no sleeves. She was changed, and felt such pain on her intestines, liver, lungs, all of her internal organs. They felt like they were all sides. The pain was so much, she cried and screamed. She tried to stand, but fell immediatly, face first into what seemed to be dust. She was chained. Suddenly, she heard a door open, and along with it came light. A man turned the light on. He had this devilish smile. "Suzy's awake, pa!" said the man in the straw hat and over-alls. His dirty face and missing teeth were an eyesore.

The man un-chained Dianna, and carried her upstairs. The whole time, she was kicking and screaming and begging for him to put her down and let her go. The man put her on a bed, and tied her hands and feet to the head and foot of the bed. He put a camera infront of the bed. The Hill-billy fuck looked into the camera after turning it on. "Look, pa! Im ganna have a baby! I can carry on the family name, pa! See, watch!" The man then truned to Dianna, who was trying her best to escape. His laugh sounded like he was mentaly ill.

He took off his over-alls, and got a knife out. He tore her clothes with the knife. Everytime she'd scream or cry, he'd cut her. Eventually her body looked like it was slaughtered; completely covered in her own blood. He hasn't even begun yet. He tore off her clothes; undergarments and all. Her insides were already bruised, what more could he possibly have done? Right?

He slid his knife around her enterance. She screamed and cried. He thrusted in, over and over again, so hard he left bruises after ever thrust. It hurt, the pain was too much for her frail body to handle.

You left me there alone
with hime to rape my world.

She begged for him to stop, and tried to kick him off. Tears fell from her eyes as she could still continuously feel herself bruising from the inside out.

and I lived through the years a girl
pleading "why?"

Slowly, Dianna heard herself grow quiet. She tried to scream, but it only came out as a soft whine. She couldn't move anymore. She was to weak. She felt so cold; so alone.

I'm drowning in solitude again.

Her body was too weak to carry on; loosing too much blood, too many organs bruised and torn.

When you realize that fate is gone
Just look at me and say goodbye.

Dianna's eyes seemed to grow heavy. The bruised girl turned her head, hopping that the sight of the naked man slamming into her wouldn't be the last thing she saw. She saw a calander, all of the days marked with an "X" up until one; the fifteenth.
April 15th..

Her birthday; Madaline's Death Day. She wished that her mother was there; that she never found those documents. That she never found out that Geroge wasn't her real dad. She wished that she was at home,

I thank God for my mother's love.
Through years of broken innocence,
she carried me through the light.

Dianna used her last breath. "Mommy... make it stop..."

So, tell me how you fell.
So, tell me how.

Chapter Five: Jane
1.

I awoke from my dream of the four girls. I held the pain in my heart that they held. I felt the sarrow that they felt. I also, had a story to tell. Years ago, when I was just a little girl, I was kidnapped; taken away from my little family on a farm in a small town called Tamms. I lifted my head off of the sweater that I was using as a pillow.

It was just before day break; dawn. The little gravel road I walked bare foot apon seemed so familiar. The sun rose, and I saw a large field, along with a large house on the field. For once in years, I smiled, and walked up the road, leading to my home.

Do or die, you'll never make me. (We'll carry on)
Because the world will never take my heart. (We'll carry on)
Go and try, you'll never break me. (We'll carry)
We want it all, we wanna play this part. (We'll carry on)

End