Having a rough childhood can scar a person for life. You feel as if you have no reason to live. In the small town of Amity, Oregon, everything was peaceful, calm, and serene. Abuse was not common in Amity, but when a four year old girl went to church with cuts and bruises covering her body, it started to raise some suspicion among the townspeople. Unfortunately, nobody ever did anything about it. Growing up was not always easy for Erica Swanson. Her mother was an emotional rollercoaster, who was drunk almost every moment of everyday. Erica grew up without a father. He left her and her mother when she was only a small baby. Her mother had always told her that it was for the best because her father was mentally unstable. Erica didn’t know the exact location of where her father was at that point in time, but her mother told her that he was in jail for attempted homicide of his two neighbors.

At fourteen years old, Erica was her own person. She didn’t care what anybody thought of her, and she was very independent. She was different; some people would say that she was different in a good way, while other people despised the way that she acted and looked. She had long blonde hair with black and pink streaks. She had mysterious green eyes that were empty; you could tell that there was no feeling inside of her. She only had one good friend that knew everything about her and that didn’t judge her because of her past. She only felt loved by her boyfriend who happened to be her best friend’s brother. Trevor Leighton was everything to Erica. She loved him more than life itself and she felt as though she would die if she ever lost him. Trevor had short, black, and spiky hair, and beautiful baby blue eyes. He was a bad boy; drawing graffiti on the walls in the hallways of the school, mouthing off to teachers, and he threatened anybody who questioned his authority as the “bad boy.” Trevor was controlling. Erica was not allowed to do anything, or go anywhere without his approval. Erica was not allowed to talk to anybody that Trevor did not care for. To Erica, this was normal. She didn’t feel as though he was controlling, she felt as though he loved her enough to care about her.

The only friend that Trevor approved of for Erica was his sister, Shanna Leighton. This was okay with Erica because Shanna was her best friend. Shanna was the only girl at her school who didn’t judge her, or her style. Shanna was very similar to Erica. She had shoulder length black hair and misty blue eyes. Shanna and Erica were alike in many ways. Shanna dressed in the same type of clothes that Erica dressed in, and she wore her hair in the same style that Erica did. The experience that they had in common was that they both endured pain. Shanna was abused by her father, raped, and mentally brainwashed. Shanna cut herself for three years to try to get over the pain. Nothing ever worked for her, and that was a period in her lifetime that she would never forget. Erica understood her past, and Shanna understood Erica’s past.

Everyday after school Erica would go over to Trevor and Shanna’s house. This was mostly because Erica wasn’t in the mood to get screamed at by her drunken mother. Everyday was the same. Erica would go over to Trevor and Shanna’s house, play poker, smoke some cigarettes, throw a TV dinner in the microwave, and turn on the television and watch MTV. Erica basically lived at the Leighton house. She was considered part of the family. Erica never had a family; this was all new to her. Once she got back to her real house, Erica was once again screamed at for being a horrible daughter, and for not taking care of her mom.
“You’re pathetic! You don’t care about anybody but yourself!” her mother screamed.

Erica stared off into the distance, not caring what her mother had to say.

“Wow! I can’t believe you! You think you’re little Ms. Perfect don’t you? Hmmmm? Let me tell you something sweetie, you are a nobody and you are going nowhere with your life! Are you listening to me?”

“Why would I listen to you? You’re drunk! Nothing you say affects me, or matters.” Erica fired back.

“You think you can mouth off to me? You think you’re some tough girl for standing up for yourself don’t you? You got something else coming to you if that’s what you think.”

A couple of beer bottles thrown and a slap in the face later, the night was over for Erica.

The next day was a repeat of every other day at school. A couple of people asked Erica about the cut on her face. Erica didn’t know that she had a cut until she went to the girl’s bathroom and saw where her mother had dug her nails in the night before. Teachers wondered and asked, but nobody could get Erica to admit that anything was wrong.

That night after school would change Erica and Trevor’s relationship forever. Erica was watching TV in Trevor’s room waiting for him to get done in the bathroom. Erica waited for almost twenty minutes. Trevor finally appeared, and made his way toward her. When Trevor reached Erica, he grabbed her tightly and started kissing her passionately. Erica liked the attention and didn’t mind, until she felt him undo her blouse. Startled, she retreated and refastened her blouse.

“What are you doing?” Erica questioned.

“I’m just having some fun babe. It’s part of being in a relationship,” Trevor smirked.

“We’re only fourteen. I’m not going to let you see or touch my body.”

“Come on Erica, quit being a loser. Everybody is doing it.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m not like everybody else.”

“If you love me, you will.”
Trevor knew at that very moment that he was going to get exactly what he wanted. He had Erica wrapped around his finger.

“I do love you. I guess it wouldn’t hurt.”

“If anything, it will bring us closer,” Trevor explained.

Erica woke up in Trevor’s bed the next morning unsure of what happened the night before.

“Rise and shine sleeping beauty! We’re going to be late for school if you don’t get up and get your butt dressed,” exclaimed Shanna.

On the car ride to school, it was quiet and awkward. Erica tried to make conversation with Trevor, but he wouldn’t even look at her. That day at school went by extremely slow for Erica. She found herself craving foods that she normally wouldn’t touch, she was cranky, and she was sick to her stomach for most of the day. Erica went to the nurse’s office after throwing up in biology. The nurse did some tests and checked to see if she was running a fever. Erica was healthy, she had normal temperature, and everything seemed to be just fine. Nurse Freeman had a feeling of what might be wrong with Erica, but she took some more tests to make sure. Nurse Freeman was heartbroken when the results came back positive. Nurse Freeman walked out into the hallway where Erica was sitting and she told her that she was pregnant. As soon as Erica heard that terrifying news, she ran as fast as she could out of there. Trying to catch her breath in the hallway, she had a mixture of emotions running throughout her body.

“Should I be happy or sad, excited or terrified, calm or deathly afraid?” she thought to herself. “Trevor wouldn’t even look at me today, how am I supposed to tell him that I’m pregnant with his kid?”

The ride home from school was better than the ride there. Erica, Shanna, and Trevor laughed and joked all the way home. Erica was nervous about telling Trevor of her recent news. After watching an episode of MTV Cribs on MTV, everybody was tired.

“Well, I’m pooped. I’m going to bed, night,” yawned Shanna.

“Good night,” Erica and Trevor said in unison.
“With Shanna going to bed, we’re all alone,’ thought Erica, ‘Trevor, there’s something that I have to tell you, and I’m not sure how you’re going to take it.”

Trevor sat down next to her and put his arm around her.
“Yeah what’s up?”
“I, uh, uh, I’m, I’m sort of pregnant.”

Trevor thought long and hard about the words that came out of Erica’s mouth. He paced back and forth without saying a single word. Erica couldn’t take it anymore; she finally broke the silence.

“Say something, anything, please,” she begged. Nothing. She was on the verge of crying.

“I guess that makes me the father, doesn’t it?” asked Trevor.

“Please don’t be mad at me!” she shrieked.

She exploded in tears. She thought everything was her fault and she started to hit herself. Trevor grabbed her, and he held her tightly.

“This isn’t your fault. I’m going to be the best father that I can be, okay?”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

Days passed, eventually weeks, and
weeks turned into months. Erica and Trevor were closer than ever. Getting pregnant might have been the best thing to happen to them. Trevor was overly excited about being a dad and Erica always wondered if his feelings were true, or if they were all part of an act. She never said anything to him or questioned him about it because she didn’t want what they had going to end.

Erica was four months along in her pregnancy and it was nearing her fifteenth birthday. Shanna promised to take her to an amusement park for her sixteenth birthday. Since Erica was pregnant, and the baby was going to be Shanna’s niece/ nephew, she decided to take her a year earlier. On June twenty-third, Erica, Shanna, and Trevor ventured down to a local amusement park. Erica had never been that happy in her life! They rode rollercoaster’s, played prize winning games, and they stuffed their faces with all of the junk food that they could get heir hands on. Unfortunately, Trevor had to leave early to get to work.

“I don’t want to leave, but we have to start saving money for they baby.”

“That’s okay. Good bye, I love you,” Erica replied with a kiss.

“I love you too.”

Before Erica and Shanna left, Erica wanted to go on one last ride, the spinning teacups. The teacups were her favorite ride, and have been since she was a little girl. She loved the rush of spinning as fast as she could, then running over to the garbage can to throw up.

They started spinning the tea-cups, and they were having a blast until something caught Erica’s eye. There was a tall, scrawny man wearing all black staring at her. She couldn’t see his face because he had his hood up, but she could see his secretive baby blue eyes. She was in a trance; his eyes were mesmerizing. She was suddenly brought back to Earth when Shanna nudged her arm.

“Erica…Erica?”

“What?”

“The ride is over. We can get off now.”

“Oh yeah, lets go.”

When Erica looked back over where she was looking before, the man had disappeared. On the walk home, Erica and Shanna giggled at random jokes and talked about whatever came to mind. Erica was having a great time until she saw the man that was by the teacups standing in front of them. Erica blinked and he was gone.

“Are you alright?” asked Shanna.

“Yeah, I’m uh, I’m fine,” stuttered Erica.

At every corner they walked by, Erica saw the same man. Erica knew it was her mind playing tricks on her. Something scary and unexpected happened that changed her mind. Rounding the last corner before they got to their street, Erica was jumped by the mystery man. She was thrown to the ground with full force, punched in her face, bitten on all parts of her body, and she was kicked numerous times in the stomach. She screamed for help, but Shanna just watched and laughed. Erica was in pain, she was helpless, and she could not move. Erica looked up at then man, and when she did, she saw a sharp serrated knife in his hands.

“NO! No please! Please, please no!” she sobbed.

The man had stuck the serrated knife into Erica’s stomach. She began bleeding immediately. Erica fell unconscious to the sound of ambulance sirens.

The next morning, she woke up lying in a hospital bed attached to IV’s and medicines. She had purplish/ yellowish bruises, cuts and bite marks all over her body.

“You’re awake. That’s a surprise, doctors said you wouldn’t make it through the night,” said Shanna.

“How come you didn’t help me last night?” asked Erica.

“You lost a good amount of blood and you are in critical condition. Doctors don’t know if you’ll make it.”

“Answer my question Shanna!” Erica said as her voice was getting louder.

“Oh and your baby died. That stab to your stomach killed it instantly,” smirked Shanna.

Erica burst out into tears. This was all too much for her to handle.

“Why are you smirking? Some best friend you are! Now answer my question!”

“Let’s just say that I always support my family and their choices.”


Erica was getting weaker and weaker by the minute.


“What are you talking about?”

“You honestly think that my brother wanted to be a dad?”


Erica wanted to fight back, but she had no more fight left in her. She died that very second.

That wasn’t the last of Erica Swanson. Her spirit was back and ready for revenge.

“How dare he lie to me? He never loved me; he never cared!”

A couple of days later Shanna walked into her house to find a disturbing sight. Trevor Leighton was hung from their staircase covered in blood. He had been stabbed seventeen times in the chest area. Directly underneath where he was hanging was a pool of dark red blood. Written on the wall behind him in blood read, “You killed my baby, now I killed you. Love always Erica. Who’s next?” Shanna read the wall and booked it right out of there. Nobody knew what happened to Shanna after that. Some say that she committed suicide, while others say she ended up in a mental hospital. Wherever she was, she would never forget her best friend Erica Swanson, and neither would the small town of Amity, Oregon.