!! Introduction !!

I woke up to the sound of arguing, or more like snarling. I sighed and sat up yawning, I didn't even want to think about what time it was, but now that I was up I could smell something delicious and figured it just might be worth getting up and seeing what it was. That is if Ericka was the one making it, otherwise I would have to be cautious as to what my father did to it. I threw the purple covers off of me and jumped off of my twin bed grabbing some jeans and a light green t-shirt with white stripes as I did so. I walked out of my small messy room and made my way to the bathroom that was three doors down the long hallway. I walked up to it and was suprised to notice it was locked as I turned the knob. I stared at the white painted door and tried again, if father was up then who'd be in here, yet no luck it was still locked. I heard a familiar voice, it was Mathews and sighed, just how many people were up here at my fathers already? Was there some special date happening? Oh shoot, did I forget it was his birthday again? I ran into my room, throwing the door open and rushing up to my bulliten board where I kept important things and checked the calender. I breathed a sigh of relief and yawned, thinking about how I'd felt so sluggish in the past few days. I hadn't done anything extraordinary though, maybe it was the fact that finals had just passed and this was the start of winter break, perhaps I was just excited about it. I decided to change in my room as the bathroom was occupied and I could wash up later that evening either way. I changed from my flannel pajamas into the jeans and green t-shirt I'd grabbed from earlier and put on a black belt around my waist, then tied my tennis shoes. Once I was fully dressed and had brushed my long black hair as best as I could in my room, it didn't have a mirror, I walked out of my bedroom and walked into the direction the arguing was, which wasn't hard to track. I knew it was down the stairs which was around the corner of my bedroom that led into the wide open living room, which was where I walked up to my father who turned as I did so and caused Andrew to stop their argument immedietly. I looked around the room at the t.v. in the right hand corner, the empty wall with a few dusty or marked spots where mother's pictures had once hung, the oak table in the middle of the room with a beije leather couch in front of it that was touching the back wall of the room and finally stopped at the window that was in the left wall. I realized it was a great big window that took up almost all of the top half of the wall, though their wasn't much room to start with and that the windows in the kitchen, which was also connected with the living room, were much smaller. I yawned and thought again about why I was tired, I didn't need that much yawning, even if it was early in the morning.

"Oh, did we wake you up, dear?" Father asked glancing at the clock and noticing it was seven in the morning, which meant that yes he had, " Oh, sorry, love."

"Can I ask what's so important that I had to be woken this early in the morning?" I asked him anxiously and with a tired look on my face, though I didn't have to try to put on that look.

"Do you feel strange, Alicia?" Andrew asked turning to me with his usual deep blue eyes staring at me as if into my soul, alwayas giving me the shivers.

"Strange, you ask? Do you mean sleep deprieved?" I asked trying to put the guilt on them and using a cocky tone.

"No, just ignore it. You go on and eat breakfast. Ericka's in the kitchen." my father stated and noticed me wince, " You'll warm up to her soon dear."

"Uh-huh.." I said and noticed Andrew has also rolled his eyes, he didn't like my father's latest choice in girlfriends much more than I did, possibly even less than I minded.

I put on a brave face and walked into the kitchen. I walked over to the small mahogany table that sat beneath the windows and had three chair around it, pulling out the one closest to me and taking a seat. I turned to see the walls lined with cuboards that had always been full of things. Food, cups, plates, other things of that sort, but they'd all been empty as two people took less space and since mother wasn't around anymore they didn't invite friends over, so they had had no need for those extra plates. The refigerator was in the back end of the left hand corner, where the cuboards finally ended, that to was emptier. Ericka turned from where she was pulling muffins out of the oven and smiled much to happily at me. Her blond hair flowing around her in curly locks and a dimple around her super shiny white teeth as she smiled at me, even her bright yellow dress seemed to be teasing my current depressedmood.. I tried not to gag at such a make believe smile and merely tried to smile back, something about her painfully reminded me of my mother and there was no way she could ever be that. I would never let her become the one person that meant the most to me, that I loved dearest, she didn't deserve it. She was okay looking, but her body was much to skinny, at least to me it was, but I was told that I was always overly critizing things. She took out the muffins from the muffin pans and put them on a plate, putting two on the side and handing them to me on a napkin. I wanted to shove them in her mouth and make her gain weight, heck make her eat all those muffins, I knew she could use it. I never saw her eat when she was around us, not even when we went out for dinner as a 'family', she always got her's to go, and once I swear, I saw her feed it to her dog. I say family with quotations because she is not and never will be considered family. Family is dear, loved, beloved. Family was...somehow diffrent from what I imagined with her.

"Ouch." I stated as I patted my head and removed the object that had hit me on top of it head. My thoughts had been dashed from my memory and thrown out the window, so I turned to notice Mathew. He looked my age, seventeen, but was really twenty-seven or so everyone else said. He had a silly grin on his face, paper waded up in his hand, which he must've smacked me with and his blond hair slicked like usual in the newest teenage fad, overgrown banges sweeping in front of his face. It reminded me of an overgrown lawn that no one wanted to cut down, because they were to lazy, so they just ignored it, though it fit his style. For a seventeen year old, or twenty seven, he was impossibly handsome looking. If it wasn't for the fact he was twenty-seven, acted like my older brother, I would probaly be in love with him like all the other girls in this town. He smiled at me as his deep red eyes seemed to glisten, they always did that when he was happy, he then sat down in the chair that faced the middle of the table and turned to chat with me.

"Moring, dear. Mmmh. Muffin, don't mind if I do." He stated and ate one of my muffins that had been sitting in a napkin in front of me.

"Hey! That was my specially made muffin. Right Ericka?" I said knowing he hated her just as much as I did and watched him wrinkle his nose.

"That's right, honey." she stated feeling a bit proud. Shoot, no matter how upset I was at the moment, she should never, ever, think I was starting to like her.

"Good job. Now she's smiling even more absent mindingly. Besides, they're not that fantastic." Mathew whispered in my ear and I sighed, " These are delicious, Ericka."

"Oh, I have plenty more." she said proudly as she went to grab more for him.

"Oh, well I already ate before I came." Mathew replied narrowly escaping it and looking at me with a sigh of relief.

"Alicia dear, you haven't eaten a bit. Oh, I bought you a present, Alicia dear." she said, I hated her calling me that, I wasn't her daughter, " I know your birthday's tommorrow and all, but I'll unfortunetly be able to make it. So here, take it."

"What a bummer. I really wanted 'you' of all people to be here for it." I stated wiping the smile off of my face before she noticed and then turned to try to act gloomy about it.

"Oh, I know dear. I can try harder to get off of the trip to Toronto if you'll be hurt." she stated as she set the present down in front of me looking concered.

"Oh, goodness no, Ericka. You go on your trip, I'll be fine." I said, I had to be more careful, it's like she set up invisible traps for me.

"Alright. Open it!" she stated much to enthusiasticly.

I nodded though hesitant and noticed Mathew watch much to eagerly, he obviously helped her pick it out. Oh, no. That was a bad sign, I would probably have to wear it, he knew I hated clothes. I unwrapped the paper carefully, taking my time. I saw the box and could hear my heart beating faster. Please, oh, please, don't be that polka dotted shirt, Mathew swore to make me wore. If there's a god, let him be merciful. I'll try to like her harder, honestly. I opened it and gasped. Shoot, god hates me too. I pulled out the polka dotted dress and gasped to notice that it wasn't the shirt. It was much, much, worse. It was a dress, which was something that I hated. I did not and absoulty would not wear dresses, anything that wouldn't give me the freedom of running around in the woods. This was one of them and much less it was very...Very scary to look at. I tried my best to smile and heard Mathew leave, he was trying so hard not to laugh, it looked like he might choke. I suddenly felt really sick and put the dress down. I leaned over clutching my stomach and felt a sharp pain in my stomach.

"Alicia! Are you okay? Jacob! Jacob! Come quickly!" Ericka shouted, but was unfortunatly to late, " Oh dear."

I'd thrown up all over the floor and felt like I still needed too. My father came and wrapped his arms around me, lifting me up effortlessly like always and rushed me to the restroom. I heard Mathew stop laughing and couldn't concentrate. I felt all clammy and suddenly really, really hot. Like a sudden fever had struck me all of a sudden and left me feeling numb. I was getting dizzy and everything seemed blurry, I couldn't see straight. I threw up so much that I lost count and tried to think about other things than the pain in my stomach that felt like it was eating me up from the inside. I finally felt like I didn't need to throw up and leaned against my father, clutching onto his shirt tightly. Like a child desperate for the parent to take away the sickness that left both people feeling helpless and alone. Andrew rushed in and began yelling things, I realized I had a headache too and his yelling made it worse.

"Sto..Stop.. It hurts.." I said and clutched my hands over my ears so tightly that it hurt. The new pain from my ears slightly distracted me from the pain inside of me and from the fact that I couldn't see or think straight.

"You have to change her, Jacob!" I hear Andrew shout, ignoring me.

"NO!!" I heard my father yell in a familiar snarl.

The one from this morning. I'd never heard my father sound so angry, but when he looked down at me all the frustrated anger left his face and sorrow filled in it's place. I realized I was sobbing now from the pain and trying to figure out what was happening. He nodded to Andrew agreeing with him and looked back down at me filled with guilt and shame. I wanted to cry out to him. It felt like I was drowning, going deeper and deeper underwater, until you almost couldn't see the light breaking at the surface. Clawing to push against the current, fighting with everything you had, but knowing the inevitable would happen. That someone else had to save you or you would die. I felt like all the pressure of the water was pushing down on me, crushing me and couldn't breath. I blacked out shortly after that and awoke again, still in my fathers arms. He was crying now and Andrew was looking at him with pity, so much of it I wanted to hurt him for it. I couldn't stand to see my father who was never weak be looked at like that when he finally showed his weakness.

"Alright. Alright. I'm so sorry, Alicia Marie..So sorry." he said and set me down in Andrew's arms.

"Daddy?" I asked calling for him blindly, calling me with my middle name meant something regretfull was about to happen, like when he left me for a month when I was ten. I felt abandoned and so alone, I needed him right now, I wanted my daddy. Just for once in my life I wanted to give him my responsiblity and rely on him.

" Daddy don't leave me. Eehh..." The pain sunk back in and left me numb again, I stopped trying.

"Don't make this harder on him, Alicia. He just wanted what's best for you, he couldn't deal with your death." I heard Andrew say, though it was hard to hear, my head throbbed so loudly.

"Harder... on.. him?..." I felt hurt, like it didn't matter that I felt like I was dying right now, then it hit me, " De..ath..?"

Before, he could respond he had his teeth up to my neck. His dark brown hair caressing my clammy and feverish face. I could feel his hot breath on my neck and tried to concentrate on that, but the pain caused me to recoil. He backed up and held me better as I tried to squirm away from him, I probably looked so helpless. Lying there in his arms, yet trying to crawl away, while I grasped for breath and squinted to see. He looked like he was in a lot of pain when I looked in his eyes. His usually handsome twenty year old face looked disorentied and I wanted to see him laugh, his usual whole hearty laugh that shook the whole couch or left the room bubbling with happiness. I didn't want his sadness and despair, much less his pain. I turned away and winced at the feel of moving my tired and sore body. Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my neck and screamed out from it. My own voice scaring me as the pain didn't dissapear. It felt like something was draining my life away, slowly, hungrily and painfully. I wanted to scream again, but more pain entered my body and I felt my body go numb. A burning rushed through my body, in through my viens and I smeared pain on the floor. I saw Andrew lay me down and wipe blood from his lips. He looked terrifying now, different, changed, and hungry. I wanted to run, run away from him, but at the same time caress his face. He stood up and looked at me. I had rolled up into a ball then and was hugging my knees to my chest, screaming and crying. His usually deep blue eyes were crimson red. Mathew rushed in and picked me up. I heard him shout something and hug me close, I anticipated it to feel welcoming, but I ached all over and it wracked my body with pain.

"Damn it! Did you even ask HER!" he shouted and stormed out of the room, setting me in my bed and holding my hand.

Mathew wrapped the covers around me and sighed. Not looking at me, but uttering nonsense about how the pain would leave soon. There seemed to be no hope that this pain would ever leave my body and if it did, the memory would forever be etched on my memory. He muttered something about lasting three days and feeling better after that. I didn't have any hope in my body that I would last another hour of this. Soon time passed by and I feel in and out of conciousness. The pain settling in and forgetting what it felt like to not hurt or be happy. I couldn't even remember the words Ericka spoke to me last, had it been something about muffins? I tried to concentrate on other things when I wasn't sleeping. Dreaming about nightmares didn't do me good either, I was running and constantly out of breath. I felt like that when I awoke too and was at least a little relieved that I had someone care for me as everyone else had left my side. My father had abondened me yet again and Andrew had only made me feel worse, it felt like hell was inside of me. Burning everything and carving pain on my heart. Finally I felt something leave my body and Mathew squeezed my hand tightly. He gave me a warm smile and I sighed out relief.

"Is...it... over...?" I asked cautsiously as if one hopeful word could cause it to come crashing back.

"Yes, Alicia." he said and stroked my hair back, out of my face and looked relieved, " Get some rest. You'll need it..."

I nodded not feeling like arguing and I was exhausted. More than that if it was possible." I'm hungry.." I stated before falling asleep and I swear I heard him chuckle.