This story belongs to me—you still I am SO on your ass and I don’t really feel like making enemies so PLEASE be on your best behavior and PLEASE stay behind the velvet ropes.

Engel

Book One: Wei

She scuffled her feet along the side of the road, her shoes were collecting the dust she kicked up. She had just started her senior year at a specialty school that her parents sent her what seemed like ages ago. She wore a short jacket and a plaid vest and a long skirt to her bandaged knees and carried a leather sack held together by an old, worn belt. She walked up the stairs to her mother’s apartment. Her parents went to splits Ville when she was only a few years’ young. She opened the door and dropped her bag to her feet. Her cat, Pumpkin, came running to the sound of her calm, calling voice.

“Come here, Pumpkin.” She knelt down as the large cat slowly waddled over to her. She stroked his head softly, “Mom still hasn’t come home yet, bet you are hungry.”

She walked to the kitchen with Pumpkin following close at her feet. Taking out a can of cat food she noticed the answering machine blinking. ‘You have three voice messages, first message—

“—Hi Alice, just wanted to tell you I’m running late, your father and I had some business to settle.”

She set the cat food down on the floor next to Pumpkin who practically inhaled it. For all of the nineteen years of her life, her parents were always trying to stretch her between them. It was a constant battle and she abhorred being in the middle of it.

‘Second message—’

“Hello Honey, your mother will be running late as I am sure you had assumed. Don’t worry about it, she will be home soon—the sooner the better and I don’t have to deal with her—Good night sweetie.”

Her parents were constantly at each other’s throats and the only time they were ever truly civil was when she was around, although dinner was extremely uncomfortable.

‘ Alice, could you please tell your mother to pass the potatoes?’

‘Tell your father I will pass the potatoes when he quits seeing that tramp!’

Alice’s father had remarried, the woman, who her mother so lovingly refers to as the tramp, as at least ten years younger than him; this infuriated Alice’s mother.

‘Third message—’

The third message was made up of muffles and a constant shuffling noise. The voice, though muffled, and undistinguishable sounded panicked—and after a few loud ripping noise the yelling finally stopped and the dial tone took the place of the muffled screams.

Alice sat still on the floor, her face was pale and the color from her lips was gone, ‘What was that?’ she thought to herself as she got up to replay the message. However, before she could get to the answering machine the doorbell rang in urgency.

She stumbled to the door and flung it open to reveal an older man with grey hair and a pure white beard. He was wearing a blue uniform, resembling that of a police officer’s. Alice looked up at him in wary.

“Are you Alice T. Knox?” The man questioned, as he looked down at a small notepad in his unsteady hand.

“Yes.”

The policeman walked in past her and into the kitchen. “I am afraid I have some bad news Alice.”

She followed him into the kitchen clutching her shoulders, the hair on her arms rose in anticipation. She sat down at her kitchen table with Pumpkin at her feet.

“There has been an accident, your parents have been killed.” He began sorting through his little memo pad. Alice blinked and stared down at her bandaged knees.

“We still have a lot of investigating to do—,” he pulled out a few polaroids, “something had caused your father to lose control of the car and crash into the side of a cliff.”

Alice glanced at the pictures for a minute or two.

“As soon as the car hit the cliff it was engulfed in flames.” He set out a few more pictures. “ These are all the evidence we have; this is leading us to believe that the fire had incinerated most of your mother’s body and most if not all of your father’s body. We found portions of your mother’s body, mainly the torso and the car, though scorched, is drenched in blood and body fluid belonging to your father.”

Alice took one of the photos in her hands and stared down at it. It was her mother’s back. It was black and blistered, the darkest part of her back was along her shoulder blades, as if someone had slashed her.

“What are those?” She asked pointing to the slash marks on her mothers severed body. The police officer squinted his eyes looking down at the photo.

“It just seems to be emphasis of burned bone I would assume, her skin was burned off, of course her shoulder blades would protrude.” He said as he took the photos from her hand.

Alice blinked. “And my father?”

“We didn’t recover any pieces his body; but the amount of blood and body fluids we found are just cause of death.” He reached in his pocket for something. “No one can survive so much blood loss.”

Alice clutched her shoulders and hung her head down trying to hide the streaming tears from the police officer.

“I’m sorry Alice, we are continuing an investigation, if I find out anymore information I will get in touch with you.”

Alice took a deep breath and nodded. “Have a good evening officer.”

--

Alice shut off the kitchen light and continued up the stairs with Pumpkin at her feet, it was almost as if he knew something was wrong. She flicked on her light and shut the door. The clock was blaring midnight and sat down on her bed and held her head in her hands. She could feel her head throbbing, she felt as if her whole body was being pulled in every direction. She reached her hands up and began to rub her back.

“My shoulders are sore.” She mumbled to herself reaching down her back. She felt a sharp pain up her spine to her shoulders. She clenched her teeth and shut her eyes.

“What the hell!” She remembered the pictures she had seen only a few hours earlier. Those marks on her mothers back, on her shoulder blades; Alice sprawled herself out on the bed still holding her shoulders.

“What the hell is this--sympathy pain?”

To Be Continued in Chapter 2: Pure

Are these pains Alice is feeling really sympathy pains? Meanwhile her second day of school, trouble brews and she ends up in detention—where she is about to make an unlikely friend.