Chapter 1

Don't do it, Damia. Don't do it, I thought harshly. You chose to come outside, now you deal with the consequences. Control yourself. Fight.

I heard the rustling of leaves from the other side of my family's property gate again. Trespassers were rare on our property, but not unheard of. And I suppose they technically weren't on our property yet, but that didn't matter to me. They were close enough.

"I think we're almost there," a male voice said. He seemed to be about twenty or thirty feet away.

"I don't like this. These people have to have a ton of security. Maybe we should go back," another voice said, this time female. They were getting closer.

"No way, we've come this far. I'm going to see this mansion. Besides, we'd be long gone by the time they'd notice any alarms going off. What else could they do to us?"

You have no idea. If you value your lives, run while you still have a chance. Run. Please. Make this easy for me.

"Do you think they'll have guards?"

"Doubt it."

My body was screaming at me to move, to find them, to finish them. Not only were they intending to trespass, they could possibly be a danger to myself or my family. Yet another part of me wanted to leave them alone, or just ask them politely to leave. That part didn't want any trouble; it didn't want to fight. It was telling me that these people had done no wrong, they just wanted to look at my house. Could I really blame them? It was a mansion.

Although I wanted to listen to the passive side of me, the violent side was so much more unbearably irresistible. It was as if I couldn't hold back the urge if my life depended upon it. I had reached an impasse within myself, and all I could do at the moment was stand still. I supposed it was better than tearing the two other people limb from limb.

At least find the strength to go inside. You must be tough enough to do that. Inside is safe; it protects you and them. Everyone wins.

Except I still didn't move. The two people were getting closer; I could hear them more clearly now. They were only about ten feet from the gate, but I couldn't quite see them yet. Our property line stopped right in the middle of a small forest. Trees were blocking my view. Lucky them.

Leave. Before this gets worse.

I just barely managed to take a small step backwards. Since I hadn't been looking down, my foot landed on a fallen branch and it broke with a snap. I sucked in a sharp breath and held it, staying silent and still.

"Did you hear that?" the male asked.

"Hear what?"

"I thought I heard someone."

"Who could it be? We saw both of them leave this morning. They don't have a kid, do they?"

"I've never seen one."

"Must've been an animal then."

I closed my eyes. Of course they'd never seen me. No one had seen me for a long time; I wasn't allowed out of my house. But today had just been too beautiful. The sky was a stunning shade of blue without a cloud in sight. And for a fall day, it was surprisingly warm. How could I not go outside after my parents had left for work? It was too big of a temptation for me.

Was it worth this? You're killing yourself thinking about it. Make up your mind already. Go inside or give in.

"I think I see the gate..."

Too late now.

I was just about to spring into action when an unexpected sound made me gasp. I could hear a car coming up my driveway, which could only mean one thing. My parents were home.

This was enough to turn me around and send me racing back toward my house. I couldn't let them catch me disobeying their number one rule.

I sprinted through the woods until my house came into view. I walked inside through the front door and closed it just as I heard my parents walking in through our garage door.

"Damia?" my father called.

"I'm right here," I said, trying to force down my hysteria. I hoped my eyes didn't look too wild.

My father smiled when he walked into the room. "We finally made it home. How was your day?"

"Same old, same old," I lied.

My mother walked in. "What are you doing in the kitchen? As I recall, you're not much of a cook."

"I was just...grabbing a snack."

My mother pulled me to her for a hug. "No snack now, dear. We'll have dinner in a few minutes. What would you like?"

"Anything's fine with me."

"How about pasta?" my father suggested, and I nodded in agreement.

My mother smiled. "I'll get right on it."

"Do you need any help?" I offered.

"I'll think I'll be able to handle it."

I nodded and left the room.

By the time dinner was over, the sun had started to set. I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the two people I had almost encountered today. Now that I was alone with my parents and without anything clouding my mind, I was glad that they had arrived home when they had. I shuddered just thinking about what would've happened otherwise. I had done a good job proving just how unstable that I was.

I followed my usual routine the rest of the day, and I ended up in my room, as always. I turned up the volume on my Ipod as I heard footsteps coming down the hallway. I thought about pretending to be asleep, but decided against it. I continued playing hearts on the laptop I had gotten for my birthday two years ago.

We were a rich family, owing to a large family owned business that almost never hit a rough spot. My father had taken over the business, a successful chain of restaurants that were located all over the United States, and the company brought in millions each year. Not to mention that when my grandfather died, my dad being the only child, got the billions of dollars from his will. A family inheritance was what fueled a large portion of my life.

My mother knocked and poked her head in my room. She waited until I waved her in before completely stepping through the door. I paused my music, looking at her expectantly.

"Your Aunt Stephanie called earlier today," my mother informed me.

I sighed, knowing where this was headed, but I asked anyway. "So?"

"We arranged for you to take a car ride with her tomorrow."

I groaned, closed my eyes, and leaned back against my headboard. "Can't we just go to her house?"

My mother cringed and rubbed her temples. "No, darling. She's having friends over later tomorrow evening, and she says she needs her house to be in the best shape."

"Well, what does she think I'd do? Tear the house apart?" I said with my voice slightly raised. My mother winced at my ferocity, and I immediately felt guilty.

"Darling, you know you can be…unpredictable. I just don't think she wants to take any chances," my mother practically whispered this, probably for fear of setting me off.

"Can't you cancel?" I pleaded.

This was one of the only topics where my mother was firm. "No, you're going. End of story." She then proceeded to leave my room, shutting my door behind her. When I heard her walking down the hall I groaned again. I loved my aunt, but taking car rides with her was something that I had always hated. It was mentally exhausting and utterly pointless.

When I heard more footsteps walking my way, I was hoping it wasn't my mother again, thought I doubted it because I assumed that she had gone to her bedroom.

This time, it was my father who opened the door, but he just walked right in with a small smile on his face. I had to say, my father trusted me much more than my mother did. He acted like nothing was wrong with me at all, which I enjoyed.

"Damia, would you please help me clean up the kitchen?" he asked.

"Sure," I replied and slid off my bed, leaving my Ipod. I followed my father downstairs.

All we had to do was clean up the mess from dinner. My father did the dishes while I cleared the table, put all of our leftover food in the fridge, and wiped down all of the counters. While we could afford a maid without a problem, my parents never hired one, and I didn't mind. All of the extra chores gave me something to do since I practically never left the house. My parents forbade it, and I know they felt sorry for me, but there really was anything else they could do, and I knew it.

My father pat my back when we were finished and left to join my mother in their bedroom on the second floor. The second floor was for the bedrooms, which included all of the guest rooms, my parents', and mine. Mine luckily had a huge walk-in closet and a gigantic bathroom all to myself as well. I loved living in a large house, especially since my parents took it upon themselves to put as many things for entertainment inside the house as possible, all for me.

We had an indoor pool and hot tub, an exercise room, an actual arcade, and a library, with a big, flat screen TV in all of the rooms except for the library. Our family room was just like a movie theater, except with couches instead of individual seats. We even had a concession stand in the back, based off an actual movie theater, with all the snacks you could think of. Our dining room could seat our family times ten at the table. We literally lived in the most modern mansion you could think of. We lived in Michigan too, which wasn't exactly the state known for rich mansions, but I loved the state and never planned on moving.

My mother had even added in a bowling alley in the house, but that was more for my father. Yes, my parents overindulged me, but I couldn't exactly say I didn't like it. At least I wasn't one of those people who let it go to my head; I was actually very down to earth.

Before going back to my bedroom, I stopped by the room also on the first floor that was like a candy shop. It was a present I had received on my sixth birthday. That was the problem with my parents, they thought materialistic things could make up for my screwed up life, when they really didn't. Sure, they were great and all, and I appreciated them, but a candy store didn't make up for never leaving my house.

I grabbed some chocolate, and then headed up the glass spiral staircase to my room. When I was about to open my door, my mother called me from my parents' room down the hall. I sighed and walked that way.

I stepped inside, and my mother was messing with her wallet, while my father was reading a book. My mother managed to pull out a twenty dollar bill from the wad of money in her wallet, and she held it out to me.

I took it but gave her a confused look. "What's this for?"

"Your father said you helped him clean up the kitchen."

I laughed. "Well, yeah, but I don't need twenty dollars for that, it's fine." I tried to hand her the money back, but she refused to take it.

"You always get paid when you do a chore. It's your allowance."

I rolled my eyes. Allowance, yet another thing I didn't really need. "Really, it's alright."

My mother shook her head, settling the matter. You could never argue with her after that; it wasn't worth it.

My dad peered over his glasses. "You keep pouring money all over her, she's going to turn out spoiled rotten." He then laughed good naturedly and took a sip of tea that he had made. Although he appeared to be joking, I knew he did stand by what he said.

My mother didn't even smile. "I'll spoil her if I want to," she mumbled.

My father grinned. "Well, I think she needs to be put in her place."

I smiled knowingly. "Oh, really? How do you plan on doing that?"

He leaned back and pushed up his glasses. "Did you know that both your mother and I will be home tomorrow?"

"I did not." It wasn't expected for even one of my parents to be hom for the entire day. Usually we would only get to eat a late dinner together, like tonight.

"You really should give it up; she's too good," my mother mumbled.

My father ignored her. "Well, now you know. You up for a game?"

I smirked. Bowling. My father's favorite pass time.

"What about my ride with Aunt Stephanie?" I asked. I looked to my mother in the hope that this would be a good enough reason for her to cancel with my aunt. Family bonding was important, after all.

My mother shook her head. "You're not getting out of it that easy."

"We can always play before you leave," my father suggested.

"I would've thought you'd want the extra practice time," I said.

"Don't need it," my father answered, and my mother rolled her eyes.

I laughed. "Of course not."

My father turned to my mother. "Are you going to join us, dear?"

"Not against you two. You're much too good for me," my mother said.

"You could still be our referee. In case this one," he gestured toward me, "tries to cheat, which we all know she does."

"You're just saying that because you've never won against me," I shot back.

"Ah, but tomorrow morning my vow will be fulfilled."

I laughed again. A few years ago my father had vowed that he would never stop bowling until he could beat me. "We'll see about that. You sure you don't want to watch this, mom?"

My mother nodded. "I'm sure. But after you get home from being with your aunt I might like to do something together, since I so rarely get enough time to spend with you."

"Something like what?"

"How about we get a head start on our preparations for April first?" my mother said, and she winked.

I burst out laughing and my father cringed. "Isn't planning months ahead a bit unfair? By the time April actually comes around, you'll have something too devious planned," my father complained.

"No such thing, dad."

"Maybe not for you two cruel women."

I know that it was out of the ordinary, but my mother and I loved April Fool's day. Most people didn't celebrate the holiday, but my mother and I couldn't get enough of it. My father, being one of the most gullible people on the planet, was always the target of our pranks ever since I was little. Although I couldn't help out with the actual execution of the scheme, I always had a large say with the planning.

We also always got my dad through his restaurants somehow. Since my father was mostly connected with the restaurant he owned that wasn't far from where we lived, that was where we always struck.

The last holiday we had asked all of the workers for their help, and luckily they all came through. On the first of April my father had woken up to have about thirty five resignation emails. The year previous to that my mother had given a few customers free gift cards for their help. She had them send back their food with complaints of the dead bugs she had slipped onto their plates, and my father had many threats of reporting the restaurant.

My poor father, but my mother and I couldn't help it. It was our own fun tradition.

I nodded to my mom before bidding them both a good night, heading back to my room.

Since it was getting dark I closed the shades on my over-sized bedroom windows. I hated leaving them open when it was dark and my lights were on, knowing someone could look in and see me perfectly.

I put my earphones back in and started up my music again. I took small bites of the chocolate I had grabbed as I headed over to my nightstand. I opened the drawer, took out my wallet, and stuffed the twenty in there with the rest of the money I had earned either by doing chores or as a gift. I made a mental note to myself to ask my parents to make me a bank account, I was tired of having all of my money in my wallet. I didn't need it at the moment anyway, so I'd rather just keep it safely in a bank.

An unspoken fact that everyone in my family knew was not having to worry about burglars. Sure, we had a locked gate surrounding the property and the appropriate amount of alarms set throughout the house. But with me in the house, thieves didn't stand a chance, and they were lucky if they were to escape with their life.

I played games on my laptop for another hour or so before I decided to get ready for bed. I walked into my closet and changed into a pair of sweats and a tank top for pajamas, and then I walked into my bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. When I was done I shut all of my lights off, and made sure my alarm clock wasn't set to go off. That was another perk that came with my life, I could wake up whenever I wanted too, and generally, I liked staying up late and sleeping in. I don't even know why I had an alarm clock, since I had never used it to wake up once in my life.

I shut off my laptop and put it on top of my nightstand. I then walked over to my windows, and opened my shades again. With my large windows covering most of that wall, I almost always had a great view of the moon. Tonight it was a full moon, which was even more beautiful. The moonlight lit up my room in a silvery glow, and I sighed happily.

I climbed into bed, and it was hard for me to take my eyes off of the moon. It was staring off at that sight that I comfortably drifted off into sleep.