The day started off like any other day. I woke up and dreaded getting out of bed. I never knew why it's so hard for me to get out of bed. I know I should get out of bed and get ready but my bed is so warm. I turn over in my bed hoping sleep will take over me once again. But then I remembered that it was the day of my friend Scar's wedding. I never really understood how someone could commit so hard to one person. Let them be your everything but if they leave you or die it would be the worst heartache of your life. I slowly get out of bed and hop inside the shower to wash my hair. The heat of the water pouring from the shower head relaxed my tensed muscles. 

"Come on Annabeth hurry up were going to be late to the wedding!!" A deep booming voice was heard from downstairs. I poke my head from the shower, realizing that I've been in the shower for way too long. 

"Just give me a few more minutes Theo." I was rushing to get my outfit I laid out the night before on. My clothes were sticking to my damp skin making it harder to put on. I stumble over piles of clothes that I haven't folded yet as I slip my heels onto my feet. 

"We don't have even a minute!" 

"Well make one!" I said rushing throughout my room to find my phone. "I swore I put it on my bed" I mumbled. Sheets went flying till I finally found my phone under my pillows. I grab it and start rushing out of the room. I stop all movement when I look at my night stand seeing the silver chain with a ring. I decide to grab it and clasp it around my neck. I give myself one more once over in the mirror.

When the migraine struck, I was it's prisoner, quite helpless in the cage of pain. I was blinded with flashing colorful spots and craved darkness, quite, and stillness. Often the nausea would overwhelm me and I would vomit. Pain would throb so violently around my skull that I wondered why it didn't crack open. This incident was one of those days. I rushed to the bathroom once again, but this time empty the remains in my stomach. 

 Once my stomach settles down and I stopped gagging, I brush my teeth quickly. I smooth down my maroon dress, and tucking any stray hairs behind my ear. I rush out of my room and down the stairs. I round the corner till I see Theo by the front door. 

"Woah..." He swallows deeply. His eyes were wide and he was at loss for words. 

"What? You've seen me in a dress before you dork." I walk up to him and jokingly punch his shoulder.

"Hey don't wrinkle the suit, you jerk. It took forever to iron this." He snickers as we walk outside to the car. We slowly get inside the car. We aimlessly drive down multiple streets. The road felt like it was going on forever. 

I look over at Theo, just looking at him in this moment...

Him at the wheel of the 1996 Porsche and me in the passenger side cruising down abandoned roads of where we stole it. The headlights of the car and the full moon that night were the only thing lighting up the roads that night. That was the night I found out what Theo really was. Those creatures that go bump in the night, the ones parents told their children about out night to get them to eat their vegetables. I never knew that there were people like him. I've heard stories about them but never really believed anyone till that night. While we were driving that night a giant beast jumped out in front of us. Theo tried not to hit the creature but ended up losing control of the car making the car go into the ditch. At some point the car ended up flipping... I don't remember much after the car started flipping. All I could hear was Theo telling me to hold on. I woke up a few days later almost completely unharmed. I thought it was a complete miracle that I did not die that day. Theo ended up having to explain why he was not even scratched after the crash. He is a demon and that creature that ended up jumping in front of the car was a hellhound. The hellhound that he's been taking care of. 

I haven't seen one of those beasts since that night. Theo tries to keep it locked up when he's not home. 

"Hey." Theo shook my shoulder. I just realized that the car was parked and that we made it to the venue. We weren't teenagers anymore. We couldn't go out and party like we use to. After all, one of us is getting married. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I just spaced out that's all." I gave him a reassuring smile to prove my point. 

"Ok. Well we're here so we should probably head inside. We wouldn't want Scar to yell at us for being late again." We get out of the car and start heading inside.

"It wouldn't be the worst thing to happen." I jokingly say.

"Yeah, I mean we could all be murdered here. Painting all of our beautiful outfits red." 

"That's not even remotely funny." My mind wondered off, thinking what would happened if we all did die? Would I be laying on the ground with a knife in my chest? I regret going out today I should have listened to Theo about dying. But all is well, well not really. I'm dead on the floor. It's weird seeing yourself from this perspective. The mans body is hunched over mine. His knife jabbing in and out of my bloodied chest. His hand reaches into my chest pulling out my heart. It'd be the weirdest feeling if I was alive at this moment, but sadly I am not. He raises my heart up towards the cascading light above as to examine it. He then slowly brings the heart towards his face taking a slow bite.

"It was kinda funny." He chuckles when I give him a glare. We headed inside, and the venue was absolutely beautiful. White flowers with light pink roses to give it a little color were everywhere. We slowly made our way to the third row, greeting others as we walked. Archie was already at the front of the room waiting for the ceremony to start. His best man Charles was standing next to him. They were both in the generic black suits and black tie. Archie saw us sit down and gave us a nervous smile. He kept fidgeting with his tie and doing all kinds of unnecessary things to keep himself busy. 

"Do you think he's ready for this?" Theo whispered in my ear motioning to Archie. 

"I hope he is or Scar is going to kill him." I laugh grabbing Theo's shoulder when I turn to look at the door. I watched as more people piled into the room. The room felt more cramped then it already was.

"Damn right she is." A chuckle came from deep within his throat. 

The organ started to play and we all stood. We all turned towards the door to watch as the little flower girl and ring bearer walked through the doors. A little pixie girl was the flower girl she couldn't look more than the age of 6. She had the most beautiful light blue dress on. Her pigtails bounced as she walked down the aisle. She looked like she was having the time of her life as she tossed the flower pedals onto the ground. The ring bearer was Archie's little brother, and he looked identical to his brother. If I didn't know Archie's brother I would mistaken him for his son. A few seconds later, Scar was entering the room. She was not accompanied by anyone walking her down the aisle. Her hoven feet clicked against the marble floor. She looked as elegant as always, her short haircut framed she face perfectly. The horns on top of her head were partly covered in flowers. Everyone gasped as she walked through into the room because of how beautiful she was. Cameras started flashing to capture this once in a lifetime moment. The traditionally white mermaid cut dress contrasted with her red skin perfectly. The dress was more perfect then anything I could imagine. I turn to look at Archie, he had tears in his eyes while Charles was rubbing his back. The gesture seemed so simple yet it showed how close their friendship was. 

"Look at Archie." I nudge Theo with my shoulder. Theo turns his head to look at me and I nod my in the direction of the alter. 

"I don't think there's a doubt in his mind that the wants to marry her." 

"It's so sweet, I'm gonna be sick to my stomach." I jokingly say and Theo chuckles.

When Scar finally made it to the alter everyone simultaneously sat down. I could see Archie whisper to Scar that she was absolutely stunning. It made my heart swell with happiness. Hoping that one day I'll have love like they do. The one that's unbreakable. The one that can withstand anything life throws at it.  

"Dearly beloved we are gathered here today to join these to creatures in eternal matrimony..." The preacher drones on and I completely space out. My eyes slowly look around the room taking in every detail embedding it in my mind. My mind slowly floats to when Archie and Scar first started dating. He was so awkward around her and didn't know the right thing to say. She had a problem with rubbing others the wrong way. So when she tried to say something sarcastic, others thought she was being extremely rude. But somehow they both ended up together. My attention snaps back to the alter when Scar starts talking. 

"I, Scarlet take you, Archie for better or worse. I will live with you forever till the day someone kills one of us. Hopefully that won't be for a long while after centuries together. So with this ring I take you for the rest of my mortal life and eternal life." They both have tears falling from their eyes. Scar slowly puts the golden, polish band onto Archie's ring finger. Archie grabs Scar's left hand and starts talking.

"I, Archie take you, Scarlet for my eternal life. Even if I truly die I will find a way back to you no matter what. I love you, I truly do and I would've scoured the entire earth to find you. The one person who completes me." Tears were now pouring down each partners face as the band was slid upon her finger. Tears were even being shed within the crowd. 

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." The preacher exclaims gesturing Archie towards Scar. 

"Don't mind if I do."Archie grabs Scar by the waist and dramatically dips her. Cheering was erupting throughout the room as they kissed. More flashes from the camera were heard and seen. 

"I'm so happy for them!" I exclaim shaking Theo excitedly. The newly weds slowly separate and start to walk down the aisle hand and hand. Everyone starts to follow them out the door and down the hall. Theo, Charles, and I stayed back for a little bit.

"I'm so happy for them. It took them a while to get together." Charles said walking towards me and Theo. 

"Tell me about it." I chuckle while messing with my necklace. 

"You miss him, don't you?"

"Huh?" I look up at him, and having to strain my neck to do so.

"Your brother. I noticed that you were wearing his ring again." Charles pointed to my hand fidgeting with the necklace.

My heart breaks a little more each time he gets brung up in a conversation. It looks like I have to fix it again. It hurts too much to think of how much it has emotionally damaged me. I do not know if I can love another human being without opening that wound, making those broken pieces bigger. I can not look anyone in the eye when having a conversation because maybe then they will be able to see those broken pieces. It makes me want to scream and cry to tell them how broken I am. But that will only show how much it has effected me. It shows how much power they have over me. The worst part about all of this is that I still have feelings for them. I miss the way they looked at me. But now I feel uncomfortable when they look at me now. I can feel the broken parts become larger and cut deeper. I wish this feeling would just go away. I wish it was easier to pick up these broken pieces and put myself together again. I wish I did not feel so...broken.

"Oh, yeah I do. I didn't want him to miss something this monumental. He was Scar's best friend after all. It's been a little over three years now since he died. It's been hard without him." I let out a sigh. "But enough with the me. It's a wedding we should be celebrating! Come on, we don't want to be missing the party now do we?"

"No way." They both answer. 

We walked down the hall and push open the door that has a sign for the wedding upon it. The door leads into a giant ballroom. The ceiling was super tall most likely for Charles and all of the flying creatures here. A giant chandler was hanging from the ceiling, and had the most polished crystals I've ever seen on it. The ballroom floor looked so clean that you could see your reflection. I was more in awe from the ballroom than the actual wedding. The ballroom also have white and light pink rose bouquets all around the room. I'm surprised that they both wanted an extravagant wedding since they were both such down to earth people. 

The room buzzed with excited chatter and children ran between the tables in a good natures game of tag. Then the bride and groom entered, applause spread across the room. There was the scraping of chairs as folks got up for a standing ovation and the happy couple made their way to the head table, smiling and holding hands. They sat in front of a bouquet of baby pink roses and the groom leaned in for a kiss. There were cheers and someone whooped. AFTER A FEW MOMENTS the toastmaster rose from his chair and everyone else sat down. The sound of his teaspoon rapping on the side of his wineglass signaled everyone to silence, except the children who were shushed by their parents. He went on wish his long boring speech about how he grew up with the groom and multiple embarrassing stories were brought up. He droned on for what felt like hours.

"Marriage isn't a ring worn or a paper signed. It is not something endured but savored. It is the unicorn of two hearts beating as one, each that would sacrifice for the other's happiness and well being. Marriage is something so beautiful that natural world it would be an opening rose, always with radiant petals left to unfurl to a warm sun. Perhaps that is why we give roses to those we love and often have them at our sacred unions. Marriage is the blessing we give to one another, an eternal bond of soul-mates."

"Annabeth!" I heard someone call my name over the music that was playing after the toast finished. My eyes stop looking around the room, and try to look for the person that called my name. My eyes finally see Scar waving her hand in the air trying to get my attention. I start walking over to her and the closer I got the more excited she got. 

"Congratulations Scar." I squeal giving her a hug.

"Oh my goodness thank you Anna."

"So are you ready from the honeymoon?"

"Well I'm a little nervous. Becoming a vampire is a big deal and I know I want to do it. it's just all kind of emotions hat I don't know how to deal with."

"Hey hey- calm down. Never mind what I said. Just enjoy your wedding." I cut her off. I grab her upper arms and rub them soothingly.

"Yeah you're right. I can not believe that I'm married. More or less having someone like me back."

"Well with a dress like that it would be a waste if he didn't marry you." 

"I know right." She did a little twirl to show off the dress. 

"There's my beautiful wife. I thought you ditched the party." Archie wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her right shoulder. He placed a kiss on her cheek after he finished talking.

"As if, there's a chocolate fountain. I'm not going anywhere. Plus I'll never get use to you calling me that." She giggle as she looked back at him and he rolled his eyes. A slight smirk adorned itself on his face with one eyebrow raised. 

"Well you two have fun. Scar save me a dance." I point at her and she nods. "I'm gonna go find Theo, where ever he is." I turn around to leave and bump into what felt like a wall. I slowly step back, and look up seeing that it was not a wall but a man. Well you could say it was a man but more like a 10'3'' hairy man. 

"Sorry Sasquatch. I didn't see you there." I tuck a stray hair back behind my ear and look at the ground.

"Hey it's no trouble at all Annabeth." Charles chuckles. 

"Have you seen Theo? I was going to find him before I ran into you." I kept tucking the stray hair behind my ear. Wishing that it would stay behind me ear. Charles raises his head and scans the room. His eyes light up and then looks down at me.

"He's over at the bar right now. He looks pretty lonely too." Charles gives me a sly wink and walks over to Archie and starts a conversation with him. They start gives me sly glances and ones towards where Theo was located. I slowly walk towards the bar glancing behind me at Archie and Charles giving them weird glances. 

"What is up with them?" Theo asked, randomly appearing next to me. He had a glass in both of his hands.

"Jesus!" I jump in my spot and put my hand over my heart.

"Nope, I'm Theo." He passes me one of the glasses and I greatly accept it. I take a few sips as Theo downs the rest of his glass.

"No need to use that tone with me mister." I jab my pointer finger into his chest. 

"Ow, rude." He rubs his chest.

"That's what you get for scaring me half to death."

"Sorry Princess. I didn't know you scared so easily."

"Whatever" I rolled my eyes. I looked back at where Charles and Archie once were. "Where the hell did they go?" My eyes scan around the room not seeing them anywhere.

"I have no idea. Where could a freaking Sasquatch go? He's freaking huge!" We both chuckle.

"I don't know. But I did not like the looks they were giving me earlier." I dramatically shiver while thinking about it. 

"Yeah I have no idea what their problem is. They have been acting super sketchy all day."

"Still-" My eyes stop scanning around the room. My eyes settle on one person in the crowd. He as standing in the open doorway his black suit hung perfectly around him. His tie was undone and just hanging around his neck. He was casually leaning against the door frame a glass of a brown liquid in the glass. My brain could not process what was being seen by my eyes. I kept blinking, wondering if I was just imagining him. My hand reaches from the necklace around my neck. The man in the doorway he raises his glass in the motion of a toast. 

"Annabeth." Scar's voice pulls me away from the doorway. "Who are you looking at?" She looks in the direction of my staring. I look back at the doorway seeing someone completely different standing there. 

"Did you not see him?" I ask a single tear falls from my left eye. 

"Who Annabeth? No one was standing there till just now." Scar looks at me worryingly. She places the back of her hand against my forehead. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I don't think so. I think it might be time for me to go home." My face feels flush as I put my glass down on one of the many tables that were scattered around the room.

"You probably should before you get sick. Just go home and get better that's all I ask of you." 

"O-ok." I slowly make my way out of the door, saying my goodbyes as I left. I slowly make it out to my car, my hands clutch the end of the car. My eyes looking in the window of the car looking at my reflection. 

"Pull it together Annabeth." My hand grabs the handle pulling open the car door. Once I open my door I hear people talking. I look around the parking lot seeing Archie a couple of stalls down. His back was facing towards me, so I couldn't tell what her was doing. 

"Hey Arch-" I stop talking once I saw him grab a women's waist and kiss her. Her hair flowed perfectly in the wind as they locked their lips. "Oh my god..." I fall back against my car with a thump my left hand raised to cover my mouth. My eyes were still trained upon the two bodies which were now looking at me. They both had wide eyes and kept exchanging glances towards each other. 

"Annabeth it's not what it looks like." Archie started walking faster and faster towards me. I hurry to get into my car. I lock the car door just a second before Archie grabs my door handle. He starts furiously shaking the door handle hoping it will open. "Just open the door and we will talk about this."

"I don't think so Archie." I put my car into reverse and high tailed it out of my parking spot. I furiously put the car into drive and speed my way out of the parking lot.I could see him in the rear view mirror. He chased my car till I made it to the end of the parking lot. He stood there watching me pull off. I watched him open his mouth, letting out a scream. 

My hands gripped the steering wheel so hard that my knuckles were turning white. I could feel the pain of the leather steering wheel cover leaving marks in my skin. Trees were zooming past me but I did not bother to look how fast I was going. The flashes of what I had just witnessed was playing over and over inside my head. It was like watching your favorite movie over and over till you can memorize every word they say. My whole body felt tense and the flashes of light coming from outside were making a major headache grow. The car rounds a corner and my foot immediately slams onto the brake. The lonely figure was in front of the car, are my eyes deceiving me? It could not be him... Once my car makes it to a stop I put it into park. I take a deep breath and rest my head against the steering wheel. I look at my rear view mirror and not see him on the ground or anything. It was almost he just dissipated like in the doorway. 

"What is happening to me?" I massage both my temples. Trying to suppress the raging headache that is hitting me at full swing now. I take one more deep breath starting my car again. I drive at a much slower pace than earlier. I drive all the way home without seeing him at all. My tired legs grudgingly take my into my home and upstairs to my room. Once inside my room I take off my toe binding heels and I feel instant relief. I flop onto my bed squirming deeper into my blankets. Letting them engulf me like the sea during perfect summer days.

"You use to do that when you were little." A deep voice commented making me scream. I hurry to get out of my sheets to see who it was. Once I'm able to see who it was I could not believe it for the third time tonight.

"Brother?" I spoke softly almost as if I spoke too loud he would disappear into thin air again. I racked my brain trying to remember his name, but I could not come up with anything. It hurt trying to think.

"Who else is this handsome?"

"How- how are you here?" 

"That is what I was wondering. One moment I was being tortured in the depths of hell the next I'm here on earth only being tethered to you. Every time I tried to walk away from you I'd reappear in your line of sight." His body just stood there on the other side of the room. His chest never rose to take a breath, but I guess there is really no use in breathing when your already dead.

"You've been dead for 3 years."

"But look at the amazing women you have become since I left the mortal world. I mean you don't look a day over 1,000." He gestured to me. My hand does the exact same motion that he does. I hurriedly put my hand back down. My hand felt tingly after the abrupt movement. He stared at my hand for a moment, just staring at it. 

"Stop being such an ass kisser." I roll my eyes and he chuckles, it sounded fainter than before. I look back to where he was standing and not seeing him anymore. I shake my head and start to get ready for bed, since it somehow became dark all of a sudden. Once my body hit the comfort of my bed I instantly fell asleep. My dreams get filled with memories and questions...

I take my painful memories and place them in a box; I put them there with photographs, rings and cuff links. The box is their coffin and I set them to rest with the same reverence as a beloved one passed o. This funeral comes with tears and trauma no less than a real death and now that they have been buried, the wake comes next. It is the waking the of my inner self, the one with the power to heal and be the person I a was destined to be.

I turned every moment we spent together into painful memories. They are sharp, and cut right through me every time I think about that time. Even the sweet good moments we had are now turned into a knife that kills my already broken heart. You pierced my soul; you made me skeptical about people and love. And I hate you. I f'ing hate you for that. You turned me into this broken mess, and even if I won't see you again, your touch will be with me for years, or maybe for the rest of my life, who knows. You f'ed up my confidence, and I remember every single word you said, I remember how you made me feel like a waste of space. And now the voice that puts me down inside it's not mine anymore, but your voice telling me again how I will never be enough for anything. 

My dream changes...

The most beautiful of memories are the worst, cutting my insides as if they were shards of glass. This town was once my refuge, a place of guaranteed warmth even on the coldest of days. Just being here fills me a sadness I'll never fully shake.

I couldn't escape them, or hide from them; they were the worst kind of monster. 

I was scared of what her past held, all the memories that seemed to never escape me. They were pin point needles, piercing my skin. I couldn't scream or fight back, I had to just endure the pain as the picture of his face flashed through my mind. 

I had experienced pain before. 

But nothing amounted to this. 

I could neither hide or run or fight them. My memories were indeed my worst enemy and the thing that would most likely destroy me.

Pulling my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around my shins; if I could just curl up into a ball, I wouldn't have to face real life, I'd be protected from everything around me.

3 weeks after the wedding

The blaring of my alarm going off jolted me out of my deep slumber. I tap the snooze button of my phone wishing that I didn't have to get out bed. I unlock my phone my eyes being blinded by the light of my phone. My eyes slowly adjust to the brightness seeing multiple messages from the group chat. 

Scar texted the group chat. Party. My house. 7. Better show up or I will personally find you and bring you. I bought a keg.

Charles texted back. I'm down. If there is alcohol involved you know I'll be there.

There were more answers of yes after that.

Scar messaged. What bout you Annabeth? You coming?

I sit there in thought for a second but m fingers move on their own account. Definitely. If I don't then I'm probably dead.

My hand puts my phone back down on my nightstand. I take a deep breath before rolling out of my bed and onto the floor. 

"I mean it's progress." I mumble to myself. My head perks up when my phone dings on my nightstand. I bend my arm back searching for it. My hand bumps and the phone falls to the floor. "Great. This day is starting off perfectly." I sigh and roll onto my back and sit up. The blankets are getting more and more twisted around my legs every time I move. I grab my phone off the floor and see a text message from the Scar saying that she is excited that I'm getting out of my house and actually socializing. I roll eyes and decide that it was a good time to actually start my day. I start to unravel my legs from their confines of the multitude of blankets. Once I was freed, I stood up and walked downstairs to make myself some breakfast. I looked at the oven debating if I wanted to make eggs. But I realized on the oven the clock said that it was already noon. 

"Well I guess I won't be having breakfast after all." I mumble to myself. I rub the sleep from my eyes as I let out a big yawn. I look inside of my fridge scanning the multitude of leftovers inside. "Well I better eat this pizza before it goes bad in like 2 weeks since I bought it yesterday." I grab the box of pizza and throw a couple of slices onto a plate. I then put that plate in the microwave. My stomach growls as I have to wait for the timer to finally ding to notify me that it was done cooking. Waiting is he worst part of making food. I start to do weird things while waiting. I try to balance my phone on my nose. I start doing yoga in the middle of the kitchen. I randomly start to dance to music in my head. When I was doing a spin the microwave dings signaling that my pizza was done cooking.

"Thank god." I shovel a slice of pizza into my mouth. I take mouthfuls at a time until I completely clear my plate. "Why am I still hungry?" I grab more pizza from the box and decide just to eat it cold. I eat slice after slice till the entire 12 inch pizza was gone. "I feel a little better now." I walk back upstairs into my room to change out of my pajamas. I change in out of clothes until I find the perfect outfit for the party.

 I walk into the bathroom seeing myself in the mirror. My eyes were completely blood shot and there were dark circles under my eyes. I lead closer to the mirror my eyes scanning my face. I look myself in the eyes, staring deeply into my pupils. My pupils expand beyond belief until the black of my eye was the only thing there. I fall onto the floor out of freight. My hands were clutching the hair on the top of my head. 

"What the hell is going on with me" Silent tears fall down my face. "I'm gonna be sick." I hurriedly sit up and throw myself towards the toilet. My hands fumble to put up the toilet seat and finally get it up just in time. The whole box of pizza is now in the toilet. My stomach churns so much that it causes me pain. When my my stomach empties itself inside of the toilet. I tumble to my right my hands grasp the tub next to me. I pull myself up to rest my forehead against the tub. The cool surface feels like heaven against my pounding head. I lean against the tub for what felt like hours. I fell asleep a couple of times. 

I was abruptly woken by my phone ringing. I groan at the noise waking my from my slumber. I opened my eyes seeing that I was now in my living room. I look down to see that my boots were now on my feet and were completely muddy. 

"The hell?" I grab my phone from my jean pocket realizing that my phone stopped ringing. I look at the screen saying that I had 6 missed calls from Scar. I click on her name and raise the phone up to my ear. It rings once... twice...

"The hell Annabeth! We thought something terrible had happened to you." 

"Sorry I fell asleep and forgot to turn on my alarm." 

"Well it's already 8! The party started a while ago!" I look over at the clock on the wall as it starts dinging signifying that it was now 8.  

"Sorry I'm on my way then." I look down at my feet again.

"Ok. see you soon." Scar hangs up the phone. 

"Yeah... Sure." I hold the phone up to my ear for a couple more minutes. Within those minutes I try to remember if I ever even put my shoes on today. But I come up with nothing.  The more I thought about it the more and more my head pounded. I slowly rise from the couch and go to grab my keys by the front door. I look where I normally put my keys but they were not there. I searched all around the house tracking dry mud as walked. Till I finally gave up on looking and walked outside to clear my jumbled mind.

It felt like every other day while the sun was setting. The children on my block were either running or riding their bikes home before the street lights turned on. They did not want their parents to catch them out after dark. Some looked at me as they passed and gave me weird looks. I gave them a small wave and they carried on their way. As the children resided in their homes and the street got quieter. I could hear the familiar sound of a car running. I look over at my driveway and see that it was my car running. I walk towards it and open the driver's side door. The floor boards were caked in mud. I grab the mat that was saving the cloth from getting dirty and tossed it out of my car. 

I get into my car, the left over dirt on my shoes falling upon the cloth foot board. My hands grip the steering wheel as I take a deep breath. The car door was still wide open letting the cold autumn area remind me that I forgot to put a jacket on.  

"There's no point anyways. I'm gonna be going from my car to inside anyways." I close my door and put the car into reverse. I start back out of the driveway as my head starts to pound. It is pounding so hard the my vision was going black. I look into the rear view mirror to get a look at myself only to see my brother's eyes staring right back at me. 

"Sit back and enjoy the ride Annabeth. It's going to be one hell of a ride, I can tell you that."  

"I swear to god brother you better give me back my body."

"Not right now sister. I have some revenge to have." my bod hit the gas and the car started heading down the road. I tried to get control of my body but to no avail.The car went down many windy roads. If I didn't know where he was taking us hen I would of thought he was just going t the woods. But I knew that he was taking me to Scar's house, to the party. We pull into the driveway and I was screaming from my brother to leave them alone. I could see multiple people to the lawn, dancing with red solo cup in their hands. I was screaming so much that a tear fell from my eye. Some people saw me in the driveway and gave me a wave while cheering that I made it.

"You better stop or your gonna make it worse." He was able to make himself sound just like me. He wiped the tear that fell off of my face. He opened the car door and walked up to the front door. My shoes crunched against he gravel of the driveway. People greeted me hat I didn't even know. Someone gave me a cup of some pungent alcohol and I took it down in one gulp. The liquid burned as it fell down my throat. When I made it to the front door, I grabbed the doorknob and opened the door. The music was blasting inside making my head pound. 

"I can't believe your this sensitive to sound. Your head feels like it' going to explode." My brother mumbled. 

"This is why I don't go to parties. Especially Scars', her's are always so loud."

"Aw yes Scar... That little imp was always my favorite to tease her about her height."

"I wouldn't tease her now though."

"And whys that?"

"You'll see" My body meandered through the crowds of people. People were drunkenly dancing everywhere. There were people against walls making out with each other. My body walked everywhere in the house, looking in every room, but not finding any of my friends.

“Where could they be?” My body walk to the backyard. That’s where we found everyone, they were crowded around a small fire pit.

“There you are Annabeth! I thought you were gonna ditch us again.” Scar said waling up to me and putting her left arm around my waist. We walked together up to our group of friends.

“Dang Annabeth you look dead.” Charles pointed out.

"Ha ha ha very funny Charles. Who wants to play a game?"

"Oooo what kind of game?" Scar inquires.

"Man hunt." There were choruses of yeahs. "I'll be it first then. I'll give you till the count of 30, then my hunting will begin."

"Just so you know I'm pretty good at this whole hiding thing." Charles nudges my shoulder with his hand. 

"We'll see about that Charles. 30..." Everyone starts to scatter in different directions. 

"29..." My feet start moving towards the woods.

"28..." I could hear rushed footsteps in the distance. 

"27..." Twigs and leafs were being crushed underneath people's feet.

"26... 25... 24... 23... 22... 21... 20..." There was no more movement signaling that everyone found their hiding spots. The wind started blowing allowing the sound to travel towards me. 

"19... 18... 17... 16... 15..." My hand ran a crossed the tree to my right. 

"14..." The bark was rough upon my fingertips. 

"13..." I crouched next to the tree listening deep within the woods.

"12..." My hand plants itself at the base of the tree tracing a path on the ground. 

"11..." My hand snakes back and forth.

"10..." My hand hits against something cold.

"9..." My pointer finger traces along the cool surface.

"8..." My hand clutches the object, but not taking it from underneath the leaf covered ground.  

"7... 6... 5... 4... 3..." I look up, my eyes train along the horizon. 

"2..." My eyes catch a huge figure dodging trees as it runs. 

"1..." My eyes follow the figure till it ducks behind some thick brush.

"Let the hunting commence!" I shout and take off in the direction of the figure.

"This is going to be fun." The hair that once resided in a bun on top of my head was now ripped from its confines. The hair was now being blown in multiple directions from the running and the wind. My legs slow down the closer I get to the thick brush. 

"Found you!" My hand thrusts through the brush and Charles let out a scream.

"What in the actual f Annabeth?!" He yells holding the cut on his side. "Have you lost it or something?!"

"Well she hasn't but I have."

"What are you talking about Annabeth?" I could feel my brother's hold on me get weaker.

"Run! Run Charles!" I was able to yell before he was able to take control again. "Don't listen to her Charles. Just stay here so I can kill you quicker." My body lunges toward him but Charles was already running. "You're going to pay for this later Annabeth." My legs start sprinting in the direction that Charles was going. 

The moon was the only thing illuminating the woods tonight. The rushed footsteps were echoing through the deep, dark woods. Charles would every once in a while slow down to catch his breath. Every time he did I was right behind him slicing another line upon his skin. Woodland creatures would scurry away at the noise of us run through the woods. We ran what felt like hours upon hours. My body never felt tired from running but I knew I was going to feel it tomorrow. My saving grace from my body being sore tomorrow was when a tree root was sticking high above ground. My eyes zone on that piece of wood trying to get Charles to run in that direction. 

10 yards... We both were breathing hard that our lungs were in extinguish.

5 yards... My mind was thinking of multiple scenarios of what he would do to Charles once he caught him. Obviously it will end up with Charles dying.

"God dammit!" Charles' foot caught the root making his giant body fall to the ground. He hit the forest floor with a grunt. My body lunges on top of his, he freezes with fear.

"Wow Annabeth... Is this what you see on a daily basis?" The mix of black and red emitting from Charles' fear was floating in the air. The knife in my hand drags along Charles' skin, nicking the skin a couple of times making Charles hiss. His skin was littered with cuts and bruises. The knife makes its way to his chest giving it enough pressure to barely nick the skin. "This is for my own death you bastard." My eyelids close for a second letting my brother's eyes to shine through. He opens them and Charles starts to freak out.

"You were dead! We saw your body!" 

"Well not dead enough apparently." The knife plunges into Charles' chest. Splitting the muscle to make way for the intrusion. Splitting ribs making splinters embed themselves in the surrounding tendons. Puncturing his heart, the knife rotates making more damage. One last gasp came from his lungs before his body went limp. I stood up, my eyes train on the lifeless body beneath me. His eyes were already starting to gloss over. "One down, 3 more to go..."

My mind drifted off to when I first met Charles. It was the first day of high school and my first day at school ever. I was walking down the hall trying to find my class when I ran straight into a wall. Well at first I thought it was a wall and got really embarrassed when I found out that wall was actually a person. He ended up introducing me to his friend group. He's the one who introduced me to Archie. I had a thing for him when we first met. Picking Archie was like he was some kind of prize off the shelf at a carnival, like he was a stuffed bear or a box of candy. Picking him was as sure as these summer nights are hot as oven heat. Not knowing that I was going to choose anybody until my eyes saw him at school. All of a sudden, it struck me, I had to pick someone. Someone for my summer. Needing to pick him. And that's what happened. Maybe it was because of his sweet red mouth or his pale blue eyes, eyes he lightness of he watercolors I used to paint with when I was little. Archie had such pale blond hair too, I thought, like a little boy's before it darkens. He looked too sweet almost. It was known that he wasn't my usual type... He really wasn't. But when I found out that he was dating Scar it broke me into a million pieces. I went home and cried to my brother when I found out.

My body turn around walking back to the house. I take off my jacket wiping my hands to rid the blood off of them. I toss the jacket into the smoldering fire once I make it to the house. There were still people inside the house dancing like their life depended on it. I walk inside the house seeing that;s where everyone ended up. 

"Jesus Annabeth!" Theo quickly walked up to me and pulling me into his arms. "We though you got lost out there. We were about to call the police to send a search party."

"I was looking for you guys..." I said looking down at my feet once Theo let go of me.

"It's been over an hour Anna... Where's Charles?" Archie asked.

"When I went out looking for you guys. I got lost and didn't end up finding anyone. I just now found my way back." My brother was always so good at lying through his teeth. Obviously he was still good at it because no one knew it was him talking to them. "He must have got bored and went home."

"Yeah probably." Archie confirmed. "I'll call him in the morning to see if he made it home alright." 

"Speaking of home. I'm gonna head out, it's already past my bedtime." I said backing out towards the door.

"I'll call you in the morning and you better answer this time" Scar joked. 

"You know I will, unless I'm dead asleep." I laughed walking out the door and into my car. He puts the car into reverse and pulls out of the driveway. The car drives down the windy roads and eventually his hold over me slips.

"What the hell?!?" Tears were streaming down my face. His ghost was now sitting in the passenger seat looking smug.

"What?" His feet go to rest on the dashboard.

"You know what?! Why did you just kill one of our closest friends!?" I am now screaming and my throat is starting to hurt. The exhaustion of my body has now taken its toll. All of a sudden I have a wave of pain and exhaustion hit my body. 

"Sleep sister. You will eventually learn the truth." That was the last thing I heard before my eyelids get too heavy to keep open. They felt so heavy, but I kept tossing and turning. My body was restless, almost as if it was bothered by something in the room. I open my eyes looking throughout the dark room. My eyes pace back and forth waiting for something to move in the room. My body all of a sudden gets paralyzed by fear, I couldn't move. I kept staring at the far corner of the room. The figure stares right back at me. It's hand raises to cover its wound, then its hand reaches inside its body. I want to scream, but I can't muster the strength to do so. Outstretches the same hand towards me, now its heart rests in its palm. The heart had a knife sticking straight trough it. It felt like it was trying to give me its heart. Or wanting me to take out the knife and save it.

"C-c-char-rles?" My body musters only one word. The name of the person I just watched die. The one that got ripped from this world, ripped from our lives forever. He nods his before smiling. His body starts to fade into the dark, but he keeps smiling. Then he was gone. 

The terror settles and I can finally move. I sit up and tears start falling down my face. My hands run through my hair over and over. Sweat caked my body making my clothes sick to my body. Once my heart rate slows down, I lay back down on my bed. I lay there for what feels like hours till the sun starts to rise above the horizon. 

The first orange hued rays of sunrise kissed the still dusk laden woods with the same loving care with the recently departed. These soft rays should have brought warmth to a new day only acted to solidify the reality of my loss. In the dark I only had my thoughts to keep me content, but the under the radiating glow of the clouded sky there was no hiding. I wished with all my might that it would sink back down below the horizon so I could have more time to grieve and process my abrupt change in fortune, but I cannot argue with the sun. 

It's been weeks since Charles went 'missing'. I've been wanting to tell everyone, but that stupid ghost that's been taking over my body has been taking over my life. It seems like it's no longer my life but now his. I've tried everything to get rid of him but it seems like he's here to stay. I've started having these 'visions'. They come into my mind at random parts of the day. It feels like my consciousness gets transport to another life time.   

The day after Charles was killed, I was so angry at my brother that I was gonna take off his ring I've been wearing. When I tried to take it off it embedded itself into my skin and the harder I tried to get off the farther it went into my skin. The cool metal ripped through layers of my chest and now resides halfway protruding from my skin. They are making people do search parties for him now. I am surprised that they haven't found his body yet. His fur is probably slowly falling from his skin right now. Or his body could be getting torn apart by the beasts of the woods. Half of him could be on the other side of the woods by now. But the one thing that could still be there is that perfect knife. The shiny metal now no longer clean. It has been tarnished by his blood. 

Every time people go searching for the body in the woods they come a crossed a small creature. They creature likes to follow people around. Clawing at them for them to give it attention. Some people stop what they are doing and follow the small creature till it takes them in a circle around the forest. The creature almost looks like a skunk but without the bushy tail. Its sharp teeth snaps at us when we trying to touch it. The clawed paws warn us of the damage it could cause. it has taken a personal attachment to Archie, probably because he's been out there everyday. Looking... Searching for anything that will lead him to his best friend.  

Archie has been out there every day since they pronounced him missing. He has searched every part of those woods with no luck. Just recently Archie finally gave up looking for his best man. He has resorted to looking at the local bar every night. Scar says that he reeks with alcohol and she doesn't know what to do with him. I just wanted to do something, anything to save him from drinking himself to death. But he didn't want any help, he wanted to grieve Charles by himself.

His addiction was such that he cared for nothing else. Everything he had once held dear fell by the wayside, his family, he friends, his career. He would lie, cheat, and steal for it. He became someone else, someone Scar once loved but know feared. They say to love the addict and hate the addiction, but she's ashamed to say that all she loves is the memory of who he was. This addict he is now is like a demon wearing his skin, talking with his voice, crushing her soul. He manipulates her and wheedles into her affections then without conscience he deceives her and extinguishes the hope he had tentatively built up in her. Sometimes, on her blackest days, she wonders what she would feel if the police came and told her he was dead. And she really doesn't know. I guess I should pray she doesn't find out.

What he didn't realize was that we all were grieving. We knew that we weren't grieving has bad as him, he lost he one friend he thought he wouldn't lose for a long time. The colors that emitted off of everyone when we had to bury an empty casket was too overwhelming. I stood there though, throughout all the pain that everyone else was feeling. 

                                                                         * * *

The water droplets fall like the simply cannot think of anything better to do. There is a laziness about them, as if they can barely be bothered to conform to the will of gravity. When I hold by bare arm out off of my porch the droplets splatter on my outstretched fingers made all the dryer by writing in front of the fireplace. They are large and soft, not like the mean driving rain of spring nights at all. I tilt my fingers upwards and watch the remnants of the droplets run downwards like tiny rivers. If this is the way rainy days are here I could get used to it real fast; even the sound on the wind chimes hanging were still comforting. With a half smile I retreat leaving the screen door open, this way I can hear the steady drumming all the louder while I scribble nonsense upon the pages.

But one day he showed up out of the blue. It had been raining ever since the funeral, but today was the worst so far. The temperature had dropped noticeably in the past few days, but the onset of rain and a northern wind had made it icy. With no break in the grayness above the chance of a let up was slim to none. It was going to be a rainy day and no amount of pleading with the gods was going to change that. 

His clothes were soaked and he was shivering. He completely reeked of depression and alcohol. A thick cloud of this grayish green surrounded his whole being. His words were slurred and he couldn't even walk straight. I sat him down in my living room and ran to go get him a glass of water and a fresh pair of clothes. My feet grudgingly walk down the hallway and I start to feel numb. 

A headache starts and I rush to the bathroom. I hurriedly close and lock the bathroom door. I hesitate before looking into the mirror seeing that his eyes are now my eyes. Before my brain can register the sound of breaking glass, my eyes are shut tight and a million new knives fall softly over my exposed skin. I freeze, all but my heart remaining statue-like on the wet tile. When finally I allow my eyelids to flutter open I see that the ground is stained red, the color creeping outward among the shards...

"Nononono. Not again. Not him please - I'm sorry Annabeth it has to be done." I couldn't do anything anymore. My body was now his and I just had to sit back and watch. My hand reached for the drawer, my hand was shaking and stained red. Some shards were still embedded in my tender flesh. My hand finally opens it and reaches deep within it. A small box comes out when my hand draws out. My other hand opens the box showing 3 glass vials and a syringe. The different vials were filled with different colors each. Black smoke surrounded each of the vials.  

My body walks down that hallway. The hallway that someone will die at the end of it. The room that will end up being the last one they see. I'm going to be the last one they see. He's not going to see his wife ever again. His eternal life will be coming to an end. The life he swore he would have with her forever, but he is now going to break that promise. I'm going to be the one who breaks that promise for him. But that promise was broken the day of their wedding, in the parking lot, and with some random girl he probably doesn't remember the name of. He was the promise breaker, not me. I'm just killing him so he doesn't keep lying to her forever. I was trying to convince myself that this was ok. 

I crouch in front of him. He was slumped over on the couch and lightly snoring. My brother was making the right decision. He doesn't deserve Scar. He couldn't go 3 hours after they were married to without cheating on her. My hand reaches for the needle and filling it will all three substances. The colors mixed into one of a dark green. The cloud of smoke covers the needle and part of my hand.  

"Annabeth... What are you doing?" He could barely raise his head to look at me. A cloud of the alcohol on his breathe hit me like a truck.   

"Something that I should of done a long time ago." I grab his arm pulling in towards me. I plunged the needle into his skin. The needle slid into his skin with no resistance. I did not bother me that I missed the vain a couple of times. Archie laid there making zero noise or even moving when I kept adjusting the needle within his arm. Once I finally found the vain I pressed the liquid into his blood stream. 

"I hope whatever you put into me finally lets me die. Did you know I've been trying to do so for the past week? I kept thinking of the worst possible scenarios for why we couldn't find him. My mind is so jumbled that I barely know what's happening anymore. Every single one of you try to help. But I don't need your help because I don't need to be fixed. There's nothing wrong with me." Tears were streaming down his face as he talked. I was finally able to take control of my body again. 

"I killed him by the way. I killed Charles. That day in the woods. His body is somewhere out there decomposing or being eaten. But he is out there wishing to go home. Wishing to see his best friends one last time. Be with him Archie, just let go." I held his hand as tears were pooling in my eyes.

"Tell Scar that she did everything she could. That none of this was her fault. Th-that I l-love her." His breaths were getting shallower and harder to see. "That s-she was t-the best thing in m-my life. Give her t-this." He reaches for his left hand, slipping off his ring, and handing it to me. Once it was in my hand, his body goes limp. I look up at him and blood was falling from his nose and mouth. I stand up and close his eyes. 

"He was going to die anyways." He fixes Archie's hair, almost as if he's trying to make him presentable. 

"Don't touch him." My hand pushes his away. "You're not allowed to touch him anymore. You lost that privilege when you took his life."

"But no one will know that we were the ones who killed him. They just assume that he killed himself. He was already drinking the bar dry. He lost someone very dear to him. All of those points would lead someone to kill themselves." He rounds the couch, coming to sit next to Archie. A silent tear falls down upon my cheek.

"He was our friend... How could you do this? How could you do this to Scar? To me?" My hands shook as I when I grab him up in my arms. 

"Where are you taking him?" 

"Away from here. Some place to make it look like he did it. I don't want to be framed for something you did with my body." I push open the door, struggling to keep Archie in my arms. His body was heavier than I could imagine. He let his body go, he wasn't as heavy as he use to be though. All of the not eating and the constant walking the woods made him practically skin and bones. But my body just couldn't withstand the weight he was putting upon me. 

"He's a lot heavier than he looked. Would you like some help?" 

"What are you going to do to help me?" I'm now walking out the door, trying to keep his weight in my arms. My clothes were now getting drenched in water. The rain seems like it would never let up. Archie's body starts to move, his joints pop and crack. 

"This what I can do." My brother says, but it does not sound like my brother. The voice I'm hearing is Archie's and its terrifying. "I'll take his body behind he bar he likes. I'll lay him down behind some dumpster with a couple of bottles. So it looks like the alcohol told him to do it."

"Why would you do this for me?" He never seemed to care about me for as long as he's been using my body. I only thought he thought of me as an object for his own use. Something that he could dispose of and get a new module when he got bored.  

"I'm your big brother. Plus your the only living body that knows the next two people. Your body is going to help me kill them. Your he body that they know and trust the best." He turns around and walks down the he road. He was being soaked to the brim and yet he didn't seem cold. The freezing droplets ran down his skin. The rain brought a sense of relief to his jumbled thoughts. It seemed as though the rain washed away more than his thoughts. He felt at peace just walking there in the middle of the street. His head lifts upwards facing the sky. The rain rushed down his face as though they were in a race to reach the ground. I kept watching him till he walked out of my sight. 

"AHhhHhHh!" I just screamed. I screamed till my lungs ran out of air. I screamed like no one on my block existed to hear my pain. My nails dung into my palms, leaving small crescent moons embedded into my flash. My sharp nails keep cutting dipper into the skin, letting blood seep out of my fist and to dribble onto the pavement. The blood dripped off of my hand and mixed with the water on the ground. The droplets of water slowly become a red hue. Till the hue becomes the full color. Thick droplets fall from the sky covering everything in its path. It seeps into my clothes making my gray shirt stained by blood. Fatigue fills my body like the rain in the gutters. My eyelids get heavier and heavier till my body starts to sway. Eventually my body can't keep itself upright and I fall to the ground. My body scrapping against the pavement, my head hitting hard that I see stars. 

As the sun rises on a cold November day. I had my comforter wrapped around my body as I meandered through the kitchen. My body begged for me to go back to sleep for just a little while longer. But I knew that little while longer will end up being an eternity. I opened my fridge door, I shielded my eyes from the burning light as I blindly grabbed the container from the fridge. I close the fridge door, letting my eyes go back to the darkness. My feet drag as I make my way to the microwave. My bare feet hit against the cold floor of the marble floors. The door was already open probably from my laziness from the night before. I lazily put the bowl into the microwave, hitting a few buttons, then listen to the crackling of the food inside pop. The timer goes off with loud beeping...

I'm now in a hallway... The hallway I stand in has various doors. The doors lead to what I could become or will become if I choose correctly. Some have happy symbols on them probably for a bright future in which I live a full and fruitful life. Some say WARNING in big red lettering, hoping me to open them to throw the biggest mess possible at me. I pass door after door waiting for the right door to call out to me. But the door at the end of the hallway is the one that fascinates me the most. It's just a simple door, the oak wood looks taken care of, maybe even recently stained and sealed. The door handle looks polished and clean, free from any imperfections it could have. I move towards the door hoping it will be the best future I could choose. I grab the handle but it does not allow me to open the door. I keep jiggling the handle hoping that it will open. Eventually I give up... and walkaway, looking for a different door, hoping that another will call out to me. As I'm walking away a creak is heard behind me. I turn around seeing that the door has opened but is emitting no light. I slowly move towards the door, I push the door open just enough to slip through. The room is dark and it is empty. Utterly empty... I blindly feel around the room, hoping to find some kind of switch for a light, moving farther into the room. I move right, I move left, and still... nothing. I turn to leave but find that there was no light from where the door lead out to the hallway. I was surrounded by darkness... I keep searching until my hand finds another nob, twisting it... 

I'm now on my porch... the sun was setting. Many different shades of orange, red, and pink paint the sky. The clouds almost have a purple hue to them. The children were either running or riding their bikes home before the street lights turned on. They did not want their parents to catch them out after dark. Some looked at me as they passed and gave me weird looks. I gave them a small wave and they carried on their way. As the children resided in their homes and the street got quieter. A lot quieter... I step off of my porch and walk into the street. I face towards the woods and something was looking back at me. The red eyes pierced my soul. till it turned back into the woods. 

I sat in the corner of the dark abyss. Well... it felt like the dark abyss but it was really my room. I felt numb. I was sitting there for what felt like hours. I just stared off into nothingness. Into that gaping hole that is my life."Have I finally lost it?" I asked myself. My words were too loud for my own ears. My hands tried run through my tangled hair, getting caught on a few strands. I look across the room. Looking at what I've become. My reflection stared back at me, mocking me. The red streaks on my face haunted me. Showing me what I've become. My gaze shifted to the right of my reflection seeing the pile of cold lifeless bodies next to it. I wish I was one of those bodies. I want to become that body and I will. I wish I can take back from what I've done. My hand reached for that 'weapon'. I don't really like that word... its too negative for my taste. I slowly raise it towards my head and now I'll finally feel something. So maybe I have finally lost it.

"What are you doing!?!" The weapon flies from my grasp and skids a crossed the floor.

"Something, Anything to get rid of the pain!" I collapse against the ground. I weep on the ground till my body goes numb. 

The day of the funeral...

"I love you", she blurted as she woke. She found her bed to be cold and lonely. She missed his muscular arm as she dreamt was wrapped around her as much as she missed the smell of him. Her room was filled with flowers, but their scent had turned to nothing since she got the call that they found him...

The one that completely broke the most spirited heart I knew. She stayed strong when they first discovered his body behind the bar. The needle was still stuck in his arm. She didn't look phased at all. But deep down I knew she was broken on the inside. Her whole life came crumbing down for him. His body was bloodied and beaten behind that grimy bar. His body looked worse from the last time I saw him.  

I was blind those days before he died, everyone was. I couldn't see what he was trying to tell me with his eyes. I look back on it today, all the time. I couldn't see the pleading in his eyes. He just wanted someone to help him through the pain. The overwhelming guilt hits me every time I think of him. I wish I could go back to when I met him so I can avoid ever seeing those eyes again. Those eyes the ones that pierced my soul and left a mark there forever. It's barely visible but holds a story that will last a lifetime even though I wish it wouldn't. 

But seeing him in that casket is much more real than seeing him dead. That cherry wood tomb that his will body will stay in for whoever knows how long. She didn't want to believe it the first time, but now it was true. His body was dressed in the suit they got married in. The ring he once wore to symbolize their souls conjoining was now adoring her right thumb. That sparkling silver was now a reminder of what once was. The reminder that he couldn't take the pain of living without soul that he misses. But now they're on the other side raising hell together. 

There she sat on the park bench her feet gently grazing the concrete ground. Her hands clutched the book she had been reading. The pages have shown the abuse and how many times it has been read. It showed how she felt on the inside beaten and torn in so many was it was almost it would be better just throw her away. Her eyes scanned the pages like she was reading it for the first time. Getting so lost in the pages that she didn't know what time it was. She was so immersed that she didn't hear or see someone sit next to her on the bench. Her eyebrows slowly knitted together when she heard someone clear their throat next to her. Her head slowly rose to glance next to her when she realized that it was a women. The women's gentle features and kind eyes stood out the most to the book worm. She immediately averted her gaze to the book in her hands. The women slid a paper in front of her book it said "Hello beautiful" with a winky face afterwards. Her heart started beating rapidly tears started to well up in her eyes. Images started to pop up in her mind of what happened last time. She doesn't want last time to happen again. The flashes of bloodied hands and fire made tears stream down her face. The one image that broke her into sobs was seeing her past love laying lifeless on the road. The women sitting next to her pulled into a hug and kept whispering sorry. And all she could do was cry and reminisce of those days that she was in love and being in love scared her.

Standing here, watching another friend getting buried and the vision fades. Watching as their casket get covered in layers upon layers of dirt. Seeing that the two friends were now buried next to each other. Six feet under us. 

The words Loving Husband and Friend written on his gravestone. It almost felt like a lie putting it on there. How could we put that on there? Where he was the one who chose to leave us. But I'm the only one who knows the truth. How I was the one who put that toxic needle in his arm. The one who injected him with the poison that killed him. 

"Wish I could feel something Annabeth." Scar walks up next to me. Her hand grabs mine and gives it a hearty squeeze. Then just as quickly as she held my hand she let go. She walked till she was right next to Archie's tombstone.

"What do you mean?" I take a few steps in her direction. Stopping once I was only a few feet away from her. 

"I lost my other half. There is no other pain greater than this. But as I'm standing here looking at both people we had to bury this month. I feel... nothing." Her eyes were blood shot and could not weep anymore tears. Her hand places itself on the tombstone next to her. 

"How are you feeling right now?"

"Right now?"

"Yeah, right now." My eyes train on her figure. Her hands clutched her purse with a tight grasp. She was wearing a long sleeved black dress. The dressed hugged her every curve in the most flattering way. She kept tugging down the dress trying to keep more of her skin from showing.

"Lost, I guess and sort of empty."

"Empty?"

"Yeah, I don't feel anything... I don't care anymore."

"You don't care about what?"

"About anything... school, myself, the people here, my parents."

"Your parents?" I asked intrigued as my eyebrows knit together. Scar pauses for a second and I hear her take in a shaky breath. She hasn't ever spoken about them. 

"I need everything to stop. People, life."

"Life?"

"One thing on top of another and it ends up breaking a person." Scar reaches into her handbag and pulls out a gun. 

"Scar... please don't..." She raises it to her head. I take another step towards her.

"Don't try to save me. It would have been so much easier for me to let go. No more guilt. No regrets." She takes a step backwards. Trying to keep me away from her.

"Why don't you give yourself a chance to discover who you are now?"

"Because I think that means..." She pauses for a couple of seconds trying to find the right words. "...leaving."

"In what world is ending this the answer to your problems?"

"I'm doing it for you..."

"Don't you dare say this is about me! This has nothing to do with me!" Anger. That's was the emotion coming from me. The red hot ribbon emitting from my body in droves.  

"Be honest what future do I have?" And coming from her... nothing. No sadness, no regret, absolute utter nothingness.  

It felt like looking into a mirror. Just wanting to die... Wanting to leave this world for a better life. But that mirror is not helpful. my mind physically smashes the glass into many broken pieces. Showing that the pieces even show how we feel. Utterly broken.   

"I don't know. But put down the gun and we'll figure this out together." Now I was only two feet away from her.

"I'll be fine Annabeth, just let me pull the trigger."

"I don't believe you. I mean you are so concerned about ending it today, without a hint of how others will feel tomorrow."

"It's just gonna get worse. Okay I didn't even think there was a worse than Charles dying. But now with my first love is dead and buried six feet under. I don't know what else to do. I hurts so bad I can't breathe. I just need the pain to be gone. I can't allow myself to live knowing everyone that everyone is thinking that I'm the one who drove him to killing himself. That he died because of me." 

"Trust me, I know grief. And I tried. But every time I let it sink in that... I'm never going to see him again. I feel like I'm going to die."

"I can't move on. I can't. I can't. I can't handle him... I can't handle him being gone. If that makes me weak then fine I'm weak, but... I can't handle feeling like this anymore. I can't do this anymore. I'm going crazy. I have to go." She then pulls the trigger. Her body going limp as the bullet goes straight through her skull and out the other side. Her body falls to the ground, and the gun falling from her grasp. It fell right in front of me, hitting my right foot. 

"Journeys don’t end. Not if you love someone. They don’t end at all." I mumble as people start screaming for help, hoping someone will hear them. Others call for an ambulance but its no use. She's dead. Dead forever.

Another body hits the ground. Three down, one more to go. The voice echoes in my mind. The last person's face flashes before my eyes. Why does he have to be the last one? He's going to be the one who will hurt the most when he does die.

                                                                        * * *

The foundation of the dead and memoir for the living. No matter how hard the wind blew, or how heavy the rain fell, it stood. No fire could tear it down so easily. The representation of the immortality that the soul expresses. Painted and engraved with numbers, and R.I.P.'s. The holder of love, sadness, and anger. Arising each day rapid numbers as the war of disease, emotion, and greed wages on. The final resting place, the first tragedy. Stones of death, for those alive.

The gravestones added to the grey. In the fog, in the light was cast dim by the promised storm, as if the colors had been stolen away. The monochrome suited me, for in my heart, in my mind and soul, there were no pinks or greens, no blues or vivid yellows. How often I had passed this place as a child and it had meant nothing to me? No longer. Now it was the resting place of a fragment of myself, the part that my brother took when he departed. Maybe it was safe down there with him in the earth like a seed ready to grow in another lifetime. I touched the stone, the pillow of granite that bore his name but none of who he was. He was never gray or cold; he was the sunshine and the flowing river, the laughter and the sparkle of frost. He was the beauty that made life good and made my heart beat happily in my chest.

                                                                        * * *

I look at her body and it brings me back to when we were younger. Me and her running through the woods like there was nothing wrong with the world. Back to a much happier time in our lives. 

"People f up. I guess you don’t get that, you don’t really get it until you f up. Really f up." I toss the rose into her grave. 

There were lines of pictures of her from different points of her life. Ones when she was just a toddler learning how to walk...

When she had her first sleep over... I was there that day. She didn't know what to do during sleepovers. So we ended up building a blanket fort in her basement. That room... the one her father always told us to stay out of. Even though I knew that I was told not to go in there. I felt like it was calling to me. The oak wood door was smooth to the touch all of its imperfections were sanded to nothing. The scary part was the sign that hung above it. The sign was paint a blood red color with bright white letters saying do not enter. Sometimes when I pass by that door I feel like someone is in there listening to me. Like it is waiting for me to open that door and be free from the dark abyss. So whenever I  went over I stood in front of that door. My hand gently playing with the door knob. It was ice cold from not being touched in a while. I never dared to ever open the door though.

When we went walking down the highway when her broke down in the middle of no where... There she was frozen in time. We were just seniors in high school when it happened. It was probably when we came home from a late night party that we weren't invited to. Her face solemn as she walked the side of the road, slowly put one foot in front of the other. Where was she going, but more importantly where did she come from. Her special heels hung in her grasp from her calves hurting from wearing them. She was barely wearing anything, the only thing covering her was the single cocktail dress. 

Graduation... None of us knew how we made it through Senior year. There was so many nights where we thought we couldn't make it to tomorrow. But it was about the journey together. Life gave us a series of twists and turns, with exciting discoveries around each bend.

Our night out... We were just college students at the time. Our group decided we needed a calming night in. It was our first movie night in months. We were all so caught up in finals and planning for our future that we were neglecting ourselves. We haven't slept well for however long. Our bodies were going to shut down at any minute. So we decided to have a relaxing night. We laid out on couches and Charles was sprawled out on the floor. 

The Wedding... It was one of the happiest days of their life. Every good relationship, especially marriage, is based on respect.If it's not based on respect, nothing that appears to be goo will last very long. Romance couldn't keep their marriage alive. One couldn't live with the other, and one could live without. 

"When we die we turn into stories. And every time someone tells one of those stories, its like we're still here for them. We're all stories in the end." I mumble to myself. I slowly walk away from the graves. Theo was waiting for me at the car. He didn't want me to be alone. 

"I was all the things, all the familiar things. I was stressed and excited and content and motivated and concerned and exhausted and annoyed. And grounded and nervous and creative and proud and all of the things. But all those colors, they’re all gone now, Theo. And there’s only one left. I’m scared. That’s all I am. There’s nothing else. I’m only scared." He gathered me into his arms, holding me tight. Tight enough that so I wouldn't disappear like everyone else did.

"I wish to see them again too, Annabeth. Even just a glimpse of their ghosts." Theo mumbled.

"A ghost can be a lot of things. A memory, a daydream, a secret. Grief, anger, guilt. But in my experience, most times they’re just what we want to see."

"We'll fix each other. Lets promise each other that. It’s people like us who’ve been through more than other people. We’re tougher than other people. We’re great builders. We make ourselves really safe. And no one ever will get in." We separated from each other to get into the car. We drove, don't daring to go home. Almost as if one of us did, the other would die. 

She sat in the back seat, just watching us sit there in silence. I could feel her there with us.

"Remember, I will still be here, as long as you hold me, in your memory. Remember, when your dreams have ended, time can be transcended, just remember me. I am the one star that keeps burning, so brightly, it is the last light, to fade into the rising sun. I'm with you, whenever you tell my story, for I am all I've done. Remember, I will still be here, as long as you hold me in your memory. Remember me... I am that one voice in the old wind, that whispers and if you listen you'll hear me call across the sky. As long as I can still reach out and touch you. Then I will never die. Remember, I'll never leave you. If you only, remember me. Remember me..." Her presences stays a little while longer. Her calming essence relaxes me. All tension I was holding on to slips through my fingers. Then she fades away into the dark...

I don't remember the last time I slept. Every time I close my eyes I see flashes of my friends dying. Charles' body being torn piece by piece by wolves where no one will find his body. Archie's body laying behind that filthy bar with a lethal drug flowing through his veins. Last and the newest image that was embedded in my mind... Scar.. Her brains blown out by that cursed gun in her hand. The bullet that pierced her with the love she missed. 

But now people keep asking if I'm doing ok. But I don't answer anymore, it's not worth their time. I've been visiting their graves a lot lately. It helps me think. Sometimes I think they're right there next to me. Every time I sit by their tombs my brother isn't there to pester me. It's like they are still taking care of me. Trying to keep me away from the pain. 

Today was like every other day... Sitting in front of their graves and just talking to them. 

"I've taken up a new hobby as well. I've been writing about how my day has gone. Hoping one day you guys will come back to read what I've done." A silent tear falls down my face while my eyes train on the writing on the tombstones. "I found this online and it expressed how I'm feeling for you guys, here I'll read it out loud." I pull out a crumpled sheet of paper from my coat pocket. My fingers fumble to unfold the paper. "I hope that you're good... genuinely good, since you've been gone it has not been easy, but I wanna say thank you. Even though it broke me into a million pieces when you left... I want to say thank you... even though I miss you every day I want to say thank you... thank you for inspiring me... inspiring me to face my fears, you make me wanna be better... you make me want to work on myself... and even though doing this without you by my side is one of the hardest things that I've ever had to do... I'm doing it, and I wish you could see me... I wish you could be here to see me transform into this new person, but you're not here and I just hope you're proud of me. I'm in pain, but what's the sun without a little rain right?" It start to sprinkle. The sensation of individual rain drops hitting my skin felt amazing. The droplets hit the paper and they start to smear the ink of the page. "Whatever success I'm celebrating I will always think of you first, because you're my biggest inspiration, and I want you to be proud of me. No matter what happens, no matter where you are in the world, and no matter where I am... I will always love you, and that will never change... maybe I am the sun, and you are the moon, but even they can be seen together in the same sky sometimes. Until we meet again take care... and trust me, you'll see me, very soon..." I crumple the paper in my hand.

I start to walk out of the cemetery. My mind was thinking of why it was a decision to leave this holy place. The only place where he leaves me alone. The one place where I get to be in control of my own body. But once I cross out of the cemetery he's right there. Watching, talking, and possessing my body to do terrible things. Every time he possess my body it feels like my brain is being torn apart and put together again. It makes me feel weak that I can't do anything to stop him. I try not to let him get under my skin but it hard when he's constantly there. His presence use to be so comforting but now it feels like a distant memory. The memory that you can only remember bits and pieces of. 

So as I take my last step out of freedom from him. I walk back into the pain and torture my life has become. 

"There you are Annabeth. I thought you were going to stay in there forever." He laughs as if this is some kind of game.

"Just leave me alone." I walk faster, ducking my head so I didn't have to look at him.

"You're no fun Annabeth. Maybe I should get in your brain just to see have another emotion on your face besides hate. Maybe I could let your brain rip its self apart so much that it kills you. Then when you die you'll be forced to stay with me forever."

"Over my dead body."

"That can be arranged." He laughs and I continue walking. People must think I'm crazy for talking to myself. That I've lost everything. They wouldn't be wrong. I've lost all sense of what's real and what he has put in my brain. I don't even know if this is real. Maybe if he lets go of me, I'll finally be able to see what I want to see. That time won't slip through my fingers and I'll be able to spend every second of the day doing what I want. But that's just fantasy talk, there is no escaping his grasp. 

I didn't even realize that I made it home already. I grab my keys from my pocket and slid the house key into the lock. I twist the handle, letting myself inside. Dust covered every bit of every room. It was almost like no one lived there anymore. My boots hit the wooden floor with small thumps as I walked. I rest upon the couch, a cloud of dust rises off the couch and into the air. I pull out another sheet of paper from my pocket and start writing.

Dear Diary,

I made it through the day. I must have said 'I'm fine, thanks' and 'I'm fine, thank you' at least 37 times. And I didn't mean it once... the worst day of loving someone... is the day you lose them... 

I feel hopeless... depressed... angry... but most of all... I'm scared. Part of me just wants to end it, but then I think of Theo. I'm all that he has left. 

When we lose someone. When someone dies. They're gone! Forever! And there is nothing, there is... nothing! Nothing that we can do that is going to bring them back! 

I can't... I can't do this... I can't!

The worst feeling is the moment that you realize you've lost yourself... 

I'm feeling things that I don't... I don't want to feel... And I'm becoming someone... someone I don't wanna be... I don't think I'm gonna survive this...

When you lose somebody... Every candle... Every prayer... is not gonna make up for the fact that the only thing that you have left... is a hole in your life.... Where that somebody that you cared about used to be!

One moment I think I'm fine

The next minute I feel like I'm dying...

"What are you doing?" A voice says from behind me.

"What does it look like Theo?" I fold up the paper before he gets a good look at it. "What are you doing in my house?"

"Listen I'm your best friend. I just want to make sure that you're ok" Theo said.

"Theo I'm ok. I'm ok! I swear the next person who asks me if I'm ok I'm gonna start throwing punches" I said falling to the floor tears falling from my eyes. "I can take care of myself, thanks."

"No you can't, and you know what? You're the only one that thinks you have to. You don't have to handle this on you own, Anna no one can."

"If you bring up his death."

"Stop! Please Anna, it's killing you. Please."

"And maybe I want die! Did you ever think of that? We've lost so many friends over the past month, than I have in my entire life!"

"No one can save you if you don't want to be saved Annabeth."

"There is no forgetting. There is no making it better, Theo! I feel like I'm dying from the inside out! You know those headaches that I've been having?" He nods. "They've gotten worse... so much worse. It feels like my brain is going to give up any second from the pain!"

"We'll go get tests done to help you. Just let me help you. Please..." His right hand was holding my arm pleadingly. 

"You see a light at the end of this ugly ass tunnel. I don't. I'm gonna die and that's it." I shift in my seat so he's not touching me anymore.

"You want to die... You don't think you deserve to be saved..." he comes to the realization.

"I don't matter!" I wearily stand up, my hand flying back, putting a hole in the wall.

"If you really mean that then fine. I'm going to stop trying to help you." He walks to the bathroom and slams the door shut.

"Ahhhhhh!!! Why am I so broken?!?!" I start grabbing object and throwing them. Vases went flying across the room and shattering against the wall or floor. I fall to my knees when I grab a picture frame in my hand. There they were frozen in time when we were all alive. When we were all happy. I pull the picture to my chest as tears finally fall from my eyes. 

"Annabeth what is this?" Theo was walking down the hallway holding my bodied clothes, and the vial that held the liquid that killed Archie. 

"Theo... I can explain..."

"I don't want to hear your excuses!" He moved quickly towards me, throwing the clothes in front of me. "Whose blood is this?"

"It doesn't matter what I say. You already know whose blood that is..." I set down the picture frame on top of the clothing. My fingers gently run over the glass, then go to rest on my lap. 

"I do. But I want to know why... It's not like you to kill someone. You'd barely hurt a fly." He kneeled down in front of me. He placed the vial on top of Archie in the photo.

"I had no choice. I couldn't stop him. I couldn't... I'm not strong enough..." 

"Hey, hey its ok. We'll figure this out together."

"No, no. He'll hurt you too. I can't- I won't allow you to get hurt." Tears were the only thing that felt real. The one thing I could control. My eyes glance behind Theo seeing him standing there. "No! Please! I beg of you not him! I-I won't resist anymore a-as long as you d-don't h-hurt him!"

"I'm sorry little sis... He's the last one. I didn't have the gratitude of killing Scar. But now with Theo so close this is my only shot. It's time to kill the son of a bitch." He body disappears into thin air and the pain erupts inside my brain.

"The-eo run. Please go! I can't lose you too!" I grasp my hair in my hands, pulling at it. 

"I'm not going anywhere." Theo holds my arms, rubbing them comforting. "You're stronger than him and I know it. Just concentrate on my voice. Expel him from your body and come back to me. I know you can..."

"It h-hurts!"

"I know it does Anna, but you can do it..." 

"Stop lying to the poor girl, Theo." My heads raises to look Theo in the eyes. A smile was adorn on my face. 

"You should be dead..."

"I've been getting that a lot lately. But you know what? It feels damn good to feel something again." My arms spread out wide as my head tilts to the ceiling. I take a deep breath that fills my lungs.

"You leave her alone. She has nothing to do with this."

"Oh that's where you're wrong. You're the ones who took her from me!" I poked his chest harshly. "You were able to watch her grow up!" Another jab. "I didn't!" Jab. "But now me and her can be together forever."

"You're killing her by doing it."

"Well that is one of the side effects. But when she does die we'll spend the rest of eternity together."

"Not on my watch! Annabeth listen to me... You're strong than him... I believe in you..." My body convulses and I fall to the ground. "Annabeth!" My eyes slowly open and my hand raises to stroke Theo's cheek.

"Theo? Oh my god! I think he's finally gone!" I wrap my arms around his neck. The shard of pottery glistening in my hand. My eyes inspect the sharp, lean piece of my favorite vase.

"I told you that you could do it... I told you..." He spoke into the crook in my neck.

"But I'm sorry... for this..." I spear his perfect skin with that shard. I push it farther and farther into his watching in seep into his skin till I cannot see it anymore. 

"Annabeth?"

"Nope guess again." A sinister chuckle comes from me. I push his body away so it falls to the ground. He falls down upon his back "You thought it would be that easy to get rid of me? You have to be one of the dumbest people that I've ever known."

"Just let her know that I'll always believe in her."

"Ugh ew. I don't want to hear this. You can tell her yourself." My eyes roll back into my head revealing my own. "T-Theo n-no. I told you not to stay." My heart broke seeing the blood start to leave his face.

"You knew I couldn't have left my best girl. She doesn't deserve to be abandon. She doesn't need to feel any more pain after this. Take this." He slips a sheet of paper into my hand. "Make sure he doesn't see it. Promise me, I beg of you." Blood was now seeping to the carpet. It kept spreading like the sea during high tide. 

"Anything." His final memory will be of me. It made my heart skip a beat when his stopped beating. It skipped that beat because it could not fathom beating without him. It wanted to stop with his. But it wasn't allowed to. It wanted to keep beating to carry on his memory. To tell his story so it doesn't die like many more before him. It didn't want to forget because if it starts forgetting, than what’s worth beating? When it's other half is on the other side of life waiting patiently to be together again. Waiting for that moment of finally feeling alive again. But who knows how long that'll be. How long will my heart break till it can be put back together again?

I caress his face one last time before dragging his body out the door. I threw his corpse in the back of my car and just drove. Driving down back roads, and avoiding potholes just to make the ride more pleasant. For him and for me.  

"What are we going to do with the body Annabeth?" My brother asked from the passenger side.

"I'm! Going to bury him with every other friend YOU killed!" I look over at him with tears running down my face. The car was slightly drifting towards oncoming traffic every time I looked over at him. People aggressively honking their horns to get my attention back to the road. 

"He was just getting in the way of your real potential, Annabeth"

"No he was not! He was going to fix me!" I look back at his body. He looked so peaceful laying there.  

"You know you don't need to be fixed Annabeth..."

"Yes, yes I do. I realize that now. He was going to free me from you!" My foot slams on the break and forcibly put the car into park. I unlock my seat belt and storm out of the car.

"Where do you think you're going?" He gets out of the car too. His body phasing through the metal door as if it wasn't in his way. 

"Away from you! Somewhere I won't be bothered by you." I round to the trunk of the car. Grabbing the handle and pulling the door above my head. The shocks holding up the weight of the door as I pull Theo's body from the car. His shoe covered feet hit the ground with a thump. They are becoming more and more scuffed as I drag him. Those shoes that have felt so many memories, ones that walked so many paths through the woods at night. The ones that hung out with friends late at night just for the hell of it. But now they are going to be the ones he's going to be buried in. 

"You'll have to leave that cemetery at some point Annabeth!!" 

"And when I do, I hope you're not here." I pass that barrier of peace. I keeping dragging his body till were by three other graves. The ones he should be buried by so they can be together forever. I start digging and digging till the moon was high in the sky. I pull his arm till he falls into the deep hole with me. His body hits the bottom with a loud thump. I make my way out of his tomb. Looking down at him makes my heart ache. I throw in the paper I wrote for him.

"For the memories..." A layer of dirt covers him. "The crazy parties..." Another. "For the late night walks in the woods. The magically wedding we went to." I look over at the other tombstones. My heart feels like it has broken for the last time. Once his body was completely covered in dirt as I sit down in front of all four of them. I pull out the paper that Theo gave me that night. 

Dear Annabeth,

If I gave you this letter that means I died. I hope you realize that it was not your fault. But now that I am dead a hellhound will be hunting you. Well, not you but more specifically your brother. The only way to survive the hellhound from killing you is to keep your brother in as many different bodies as much as possible. If you go to the witch in the woods she'll tell you more. To help you understand...

Love, Theo

I can feel his presence beside me.

"I don't know how to do this without you..." I whisper, not allowing myself to look at him. He places his hand on my right shoulder.

"There's no without. I am not gone. I am scattered into so many pieces... sprinkled on your life like snow. I loved you completely and you loved me the same." His hand lifts off of my shoulder and I feel more presences in the air. Every single one of them, then they were gone...

But I'd still have to live with myself, with the wretched memories swirling around in my head. My eyes, already red and puffy from crying, squeezed shut to push more tears out. I let my head fall down to my knees, and I pulled my legs closer to me.
No matter what I did, there was no where I could hide from the thoughts in my head.
I like to think back when the tender breath we shared was all but my own. What a stale mist it is within my mouth nowadays. You flourished in life with such a young heart. There was nothing ever to be changed. You had figured your heart long before I could ever set my own. I knew from the moment I met you my life would become a blur. No longer would I be able to count the days which I wasn’t happy. You would become my beacon, my love, my laughter, my life. How I long for your lips, the teasing chime of your laughter, the gentle breath of sweet nothings in my ear. Lavender, the scent of those wild flowers which you never failed to carry, something that would spur tears within my eyes long after your death. If only you knew how simply broken I am without you.

The witch in the woods... That witch hasn't been seen in years! I've asked everywhere and no one knows what I'm talking about. I've been collecting bodies for years, trying to keep the hellhound at bay. He hasn't come around yet, so I'm thankful for that. 

Now I'm in my car speeding down some back rounds that lead into the woods. My hair was absentmindedly throw up into a bun on top of my head. A small blue crystal glows on my dashboard. The deeper the roads take me into the woods the narrower the roads get.

The forest is the orchestra of my mind, playing one enchanting symphony after another. Her leaves dance to an unheard beat, whispering their song to the wind. In ere, sheltered by the mighty trees, is every kind of life, from the humble beetle to the enchanting birds of every color. My hand reaches out of the car, letting the ray that seeped through the trees touch me with their warmth.

Soon the paved road turns into dirt, making dirt fly behind the wheels. The crystal glows brighter the closer I get to my destination.  

"This is a bad idea, Annabeth. We don't know what she is going to do to you when we do find her." My brother says from the seat beside me.

"Go away." And he does. He's stopped pestering me after Theo died. He comes around to say some sarcastic comment then leaves. 

Once the cottage was coming into view the ring in my chest embeds itself further into my chest. I slam on the breaks as the pain got too immense for me to bare. The closer I got the building the blurrier my vision got.

"Help! Please, Anyone!" I called out as my body became limp. I fell to the ground hurting my wrist as I did so. Before my vision goes completely dark I see someone walk out of the cottage. Their body barely half way out the door then everything goes black. 

                                                                      * * *

"Damn my chest hurts." I try to rise my hands but I realize that something is holding me down. My eyes slowly open but close them immediately because of the bright light in the room. 

"Sorry about that. I couldn't tell if you were still alive." An unfamiliar voice says from in front of me. It was a feminine voice but it sounded too sweet for my liking. I try to open my eyes again and this time there was no bright light. Now I can see the lady talking to me. She has long dark hair to compliment her mocha skin tone. Her hair was down below her waist with flowers and leaves woven in it. She had some small braids in her hair here and there. She has major curves but somehow still had a small waist. She was fiddling with vials and plants on the other side of the room. 

"You know you took a hard hit when you fell. I was surprised you only had a sprained wrist after that." She turned to look at me and I finally got a good look at her face. She had the most dazzling forest green eyes. Freckles were adorned all over her face especially on her nose and cheeks. "So what brings you this deep into the forest?"

"I was looking for you actually."

"Me? Why were you looking for me?" She inquired, purple was emitting off of her. The color of fear. Why was she so scared? 

"You're a witch aren't you?" She stopped all movement and looked over at me. 

"Who told you? Who are you working for?" A pressure was being forced upon my throat. I gasp for air but she keeps putting more pressure on me.

"C-calm down." My eyes glow light blue and the pressure loosens. I gasp and let lots of air into my lungs. 

"H-how did you do that?"

"If you want that information, witch. You need to help me first." She nods, studying my every move. "My friend told me in a letter to come find you. He said that you'd help me."

"Can you tell me the name of said person?"

"Theo."

"If Theo said to come to me, why isn't here with you?" 

"He- he died 2 years ago." Her eyes fell to the floor as a small tear fell down my cheek. "It took me longer than expected to find you."

"Well any friend of Theo's, is a friend of mine. So what do you need, sweetie?" She slid a chair in front of me and plopped herself down on it. 

"I need to know what happened to my brother. How he died doesn't seem possible."

"What do you mean?"

"The police said that he committed suicide but he left me a note that our friends killed him. I just want to know the truth." I lied straight through my teeth but she didn't seem to pick up on it. 

"That shouldn't be that hard to figure out. All I need to do is to get in that pretty little head of yours. I'll just give you a little taste of the pain to see if you can handle it. OK?"

"Yeah." She put her fingertips on my temples and it felt like a small prick when she got into my mind.

"Was it bad?"

"I've felt worse." 

"Ok. How long ago did he die? I need to know how far back to go." 

"When I was 354 years old." She raised her eyebrow at me. "Don't ask. Just another perks of living forever." I joked and she shrugged her shoulders. 

"Ok. Here we go." She put her hands back up to my temples and the prick came back. It took her a couple of minutes to find the right memory.  "Wait was is this? This is interesting." 

"What is it?"

"Someone seems to have changed your memory. And they covered it up with a fake one. This may hurt." She pressed harder into my temples and the pain got stronger and more uncomfortable. Eventually the pain resided and my mind felt lighter. "There. Now lets look at the real memory..."

All of us were in a convertible. Archie, my brother, Scar, Theo, me, Charles, and another friend of ours Toni. The top was down because it was a nice sunny, clear day. My brother, Michael... I remembered his name. Well Michael realized that today would be the best day to go to the beach. Archie recently go this license and wanted to go somewhere special. Everyone ended up agreeing and we all piled up into the car and drove. 

When we made it to the beach it was completely empty. We all were completely excited because then there would be no one to judge how we look. 

Everyone decided to go jump off the dock except me. I didn't know how to swim so I stayed on the shore building sand castle. At some point I decided to enjoy a book I've been trying to finish for a while. 

Everyone was having the best time in the ocean. Well except Charles once he jumped in he go too heavy to hold himself up. So he went to sit on shore to sun bathe for the rest of the time. 

"So, Toni if you could die at any moment where would you like to die?" Michael asks.

"Probably here. It's just so peaceful." the sun was setting. It was casting out every shade of orange and yellow a crossed the sky. Everyone was now huddled around my sand castle after the exasperating fun they had in the water. They were eating from the picnic basket they packed in the morning.

"That can be arranged..." Michael pulled a knife from the basket. Michael chucked the knife at Toni. It embedded itself in the left side of his chest. Trails of blood poured from Toni's mouth and nose. 

"What the hell Michael?!?!" Archie yelled pushing me towards Theo. Theo grab me into his arms before I could get a look at what happened. 

"He was getting on my nerves anyways."

"That is no reason to kill the man!" Archie pushed Michael onto his back and held him down. "Theo call the dog."

"What! NO!" Theo sputtered.

"You know he's not going to stop killing people. Now call the dog." Scar said putting a hand on Theo's shoulder. "Now give her to me." Theo lets go of me and Scar takes me the other side of the beach.  

Phreeeeeeeeeeeeet. A whistle was heard. I cover me ears from the abrupt high pitched noise. It echoed for what felt like miles. A few seconds later a loud howl was heard in the distance almost as if it was responding back.  

The sun was setting, Charles and Archie were burying Toni's body in the sand. Theo was in charge of keeping Michael sitting in the middle of the beach. Scar and I were standing by the car, waiting to leave.

"Come here, Annabeth." Michael whispers. I look around at everyone on the beach. "Its fine they're not paying attention." My small body walks towards him and sits down right in front of him. "Take this." He slips off his ring and I put out my hand, he places it there when Theo turns around seeing us near each other.

"Annabeth get away from him!" Theo screams grabbing me by my arm. Everyone now is looking at us. He pulls till I'm near the dock and sits me down on the hard wood. "Stay here till someone comes and gets you. Keep your eyes closed no matter what you hear, got it?" My head nods as my eyes close.  It felt like 30 minutes before I felt someone come near me.

"Can I open my eyes now?" No answer. I open my eyes to see who was by me seeing an abnormally large dog. My eyes train down to its feet seeing large feet that had sharp metal claws coming from them. Its feet charred the ground as it walked. When I looked up I could tell it stood a little shorter than Charles, but was tall none the less. It hair was pitch black, in some spots it had patches of hair missing. Where it was missing, there were giant gashes that you could see bone through. I look it in the eyes seeing that they are blood red. A black aura was seen around the horrific beast. It brought its snout to my neck and took a big whiff of me. It started snarling at me.

"Hey big guy not her!" The dog turn its head toward Theo. "Him!" He points toward Michael. 

The creature charges for Michael. You watched as the ground beneath its feet burnt the ground as it ran. Once it made it to the sand, the sand melts and becomes glass. Fire looks like it is coming out of it's eyes as it zero in on Michael. Once Michael sees he creature coming after him he gets up and starts running. The beast was far too quick for Michael to outrun it. 

Theo runs past the beast and towards me. He grabs me again and holds me against his chest so I cannot see anything. He covers my ears with his ears when the beast catches up to Michael. The screams were muffled by Theo's hands but I could still hear them. 

Theo lets go of me once the screams have stopped. He walks me over to everyone else is in the corner of my eye I could see his body lying dead on the sand. Blood was seeping from every one of his wounds and into the sand. Theo puts me in front of Archie.

"Everything will be ok, Annabeth. He can't hurt you or anyone else anymore."  Scar reassures me. 

"Annabeth, I want you to listen to me very carefully ok?" Archie says crouching down to my height. 

"Ok, Archie." I give him my full attention by looking him in the eyes. 

"Today never happen. You were home all day and only Michael decided to go to the beach today. Police officers came to your door telling you that your brother committed suicide after he killed Toni. They gave you his ring to remember him by. You are going to mourn him for a couple of weeks and come talk to us when you feel extra sad. But now I want you to be really tired."

"Guys I'm really tired can you take me home?"

"Anything for you, Annabeth." Archie says.

The witch slowly leaves my mind.

"That was intense. I see why you wanted to know the truth." She said taking her hands off of me and sitting back in her chair. She starts to tweaking the herbs in her hair. 

"One last thing before I leave." 

"Ok?" She looks at me. 

"I need to know how to get rid of my brother."

"What do you mean? He is already dead. Your memory obviously shows you that."

"He's been possessing me for a while now. He's made me do terrible things."

"Do you mean he's back?" The purple was radiating from her again. 

"Yes."

"I'm sorry I need you to leave. Leave right now." She starts to pull me up and out of the chair. 

"I'm not going anywhere till you tell me how to get rid of him." I pant my feet so she can't push me anymore.  

"There is no way. Now leave." She pushes me and I nearly tip over. She mutters something and I'm out the door. Before the door closes I hear her mutter "Incendio". 

The whole house goes up in flames with her inside. Smoldering, fire licked the bottom of the wooden house like a hungry kitten with a saucer of milk, crackling, playful, gentle at first, fire flickered, flared, leaped, spat, shower of sparks like a fountain, plumes of black grey smoke, wound itself around the post like a great hungry serpent, devoured everything in it's path, choking clouds of noxious smoke, inferno, blazing, out of control, ash floating to the ground like great dirty flakes of snow, showering onto everything, sprinkling onto the ground. But in never ventured farther then the house. Almost as if it was only tethered to that one object. None of the surroundings seemed to even be touched by the flames. 

"GOD DAMMIT!!!! My one chance to save myself and it literally goes up in flames!" My fist repeatedly hits the ground in shear anger. 

                                                                      * * *

I paced the room, walking back and forth, looking down at my feet. My bare feet scraped the rough ground of the old floor boards. Every once in a while my foot or toe would catch a splinter in the wood. I don't even feel the pain of the wood embedding itself into my skin. I just keep walking, breaking the skin of my feet. Bloody footprints stain the wooden floor, leaving an imprint in the wood. My jeans are rolled up to my calf, leaving my skin exposed. The shirt I was wearing wasn't even mine. It was engulfing my small frame like the sea. The shirt was slipping off of me, leaving my right shoulder exposed to the world. The shirt reminded me of him. The one person I hoped I'd never hurt. But I did. Now he's buried with everyone else in that god forsaken cemetery. I haven't bothered washing my hair or even really taking care of myself. The thoughts were drowning me, they are too much for me to bare. 

The dried blood on my arms. The new cuts that were barely healing. The old wound that now show how bad your hurting. The white lines that tell a story of how you felt. Those little white lines that haunt you. They bring back the memories of them. i don't want to forget the memories. So I cut, and I cut till their face is engraved in my skin.  

People always want to know what it feels like, so I'll tell you: there's a sting when you first slice, and then your heart speeds up when you see the blood, because you know you've done something you shouldn't have. Yet you've gotten away with it. Then you sort of go into a trance, because it's truly dazzling. That bright red line, like a highway route on a map that you want to follow to see where it leads. And- God- the sweet release, that's the best part. It's like a balloon that's tied to a little kid's hand, which somehow breaks free and floats into the sky. You just know that balloon is thinking, Ha, I don't belong to you after all; and at the same time, Do they have any idea how beautiful the view is from up here? And then the balloon remembers, after the fact, that it has a wicked fear of heights. When reality kicks in, you grab some toilet paper or a paper towel and you press hard against the cut. You can feel your embarrassment; it's the back-beat underneath your pulse. Whatever relief there was a minute ago congeals, like cold gravy, into a fist in the pit of your stomach. You literally make yourself sick, because you promised yourself last time would be the last time, and once again, you've let yourself down. So you hide the evidence of your weakness under layers of clothes long enough to cover the cuts, even if it's summertime and no one is wearing jeans or long sleeves. You throw the bloody tissues into the toilet and watch the water go pink before you flush them into oblivion, and you wish it were that easy.

The addiction.. the unsatisfied itch.. It started off with me sitting in my room. Just sitting there. Doing nothing... Staring at the blank wall in front of me. That's how I felt... Completely and utterly blank. How does one feel emotion? I tried everything to feel something... anything. I've tried and I've tried but still to no avail. The pretty little white lines are my only way to feel something. 

The suffering.. the unbelievable pain he has caused me. I sit here letting it consume every part of my being. 

I've poured warmth into you for so long and you love it, I know you do. Then you turn on the cold to shut me down. It hurts. Every time is a new wound, a new scar to add to the collection. You know it never stops me loving you, but I need you to try real hard, try not to go cold in that way. The hurt covers me like a cloak I never wanted, bonding to my skin when all I ever wanted was the sunshine. That's why I act like I do for several days afterwards, it takes time to shed something like that.
I would rather you took a knife to my skin that speak those words so cold. You speak to me as if I were a stranger when for the past few nights we've been as close as it is possible for two people to be. You strike out as if I have crossed some invisible line in the sand. You look into my eyes and say whatever will hurt the most, and knowing me as you do that isn't hard to come by. Am I less human because my mother never loved me but yours doted on you? Am I less because my beginnings were so much worse than yours? Perhaps you will take the one thing I am most proud of and shatter it with glee. In those moments I don't know who you are and I wonder if you know yourself. Don't you know what you're doing? Can't you stop?

My mind feels like it has gone to mush. Like someone has put my brain in a blender and set it to puree. 

The constant visions haunt me sometimes they're good sometimes they feel like walking nightmares. Ready to consume me whole like its first dinner in an eternity. I can't tell whats real or not. This could be some kind of trick my mind is playing on me. But when I wake... will I like whats waiting for me when my eyes finally open?

They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. But what if I never open them again? Letting no one see what is truly wrong with me. Seeing all of my broken pieces, every death has caused. Letting them see once I finally open up the windows. Letting the light shine into my soul. But the light isn't there anymore. A thick cloud of fog in which you can't see your hand right in front of my face hangs around me.   

Hanging... One step more before my neck gets caught off from the air. Gasping, trying to get anything inside of my lungs. But your lungs will quit trying to help you. You swing there with a rope pulled taught around your neck. Your face is turning purple for the lack of oxygen. Eyes bulging from their sockets, waiting to pop out of your skull. 

I'm not hanging though... I'm just standing here looking down at the scars. My heart jumps when I cut another line into the skin. Never actually hitting a vein but it always bleeds the same amount each time. 

"I couldn't save Charles... I couldn't save Scar... I can't even save my best friend..." My head hang low with only my hands supporting it. I was getting dizzy from walking, so I sat down in the one lonely chair in the room. The little sharp object in my hand traces more lines into my skin. Going farther up my arm, so that it was no longer visible to the outside world. 

"That's because I was going to kill them. You're not strong enough to defeat me." He was sitting on the arm of the chair I was sitting on. "But good effort though for the last one. I though you were gonna end up saving him." He patted me on the back. 

"Why do I even bother with you?" Another line gets cut into my skin. 

"So your just gonna give up? I mean you're just gonna lie down and die?" My brother asked. His hand grabs mine, holding my hand still from cutting more. 

"If that's how this is going to end, then yes. I will hang myself if I have to." I jerk my hand away from his. 

"You know killing yourself won't end my torment on you. It'll just last longer cause we'll both be dead."

"Go burn in hell."

"Already did. Wasn't as fun as I thought it would be. I mean not to dis on hell or anything but it's very bland down there. The torture is fun but not as fun as torturing something that can actually feel pain. So when I found out that you were wearing my ring again I high tailed it out of there. So thanks to you I can be here with you."

"So you're saying it's because of the ring your here?" My hand reaches for my chest. My fingers drag over the scar that was protruding from my skin. The circular scar I had because of him. The scar that reminds me of how they all died. 

"Yeah, why do you ask?" His eyebrows knit together, he has a questioning tone to his voice. 

"So if I take out this ring you'll leave me alone?" My nails scratch at the scar, making red marks trail after my nails. I stand up, my feet taking my towards the small kitchen in the corner.  

"That's not what I said." His footsteps follow me to the kitchen.  

"Yes it was." I reach for the knife of the counter, holding it towards the ring in my chest.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you..." It was as if he was warning me. 

'Why not? huh?" He goes silent, I could see the gears turning in his mind. A few seconds pass before he says something...

"Fine. Go head. You don't have the balls to do it anyways." He turns around and walks back to the chair. He flops own on it as a cloud of dust jumps off the chair and then floats back down. 

"Well obviously because I am a girl." I press the knife to my chest and feel the ring move a little further inside of me. "Oh God!"

"I told you so." His right hand gestures to me. 

"You know what I don't need your smart as remarks. GO away!"

"Fine then. If you want to kill yourself, I don't want to be here when you do it." He dissolves into the air. The room felt emptier once he left. His presence was the only thing left. I don't feel anything, not even the slight chill of the night air. 

"I will get you out, you damn ring! Even if it does kill me!" The knife pressed a little deeper into my skin. A little trail of blood drained from the wound. It fell down my skin and seeps into the cotton t-shirt. Each slash from the knife gets me one step closer to freedom or one step closer to seeing my friends again. Either one at this point would work. 

The knife digs and carves into my skin. Ripping the flesh. Letting myself be free from the pain. The knife cuts and cuts tearing through the layer of skin. The thick, red liquid falls from my body like rain. Seeping into my over sized clothes, making them droop lower because of the weight. Cutting and cutting, getting closer to the metal. Tears fall from he eyes from the pain. The pain will be worth it in the end. 

Every time I feel the knife nick the metal, it moves farther into me. Almost as if I need to chase it, if I want my freedom. But I will find the way out. The way out of this cage I live in. Kicking and screaming if I have to.  

Cutting and cutting is the motion that my hand continues to do. Carving deeper and deeper into the cavern that is my chest. Hoping and willing for new life. The new life that was never promised to me in the first place. 

My mind goes into the trance again. Cutting deeper till there's metal to metal. The ring will be in my grasp once again. My hand reaches for the circular metal in my chest. my mind is getting fuzzy as my shirt is completely drenched down the front. My eyelids get heavy as I look at the ring in my sight. 

My fingers slip the first couple of tries. Poking and prodding till my finger latches onto the treasure. I rip the band from within me, I sigh in relief of finally having it back in the hand.

Less and less blood pours from me. The rain is more like a sprinkle now. I feel like with one wrong move my heart will fall out of my chest. 

The pain that once burned like a fire had faded away to an icy numbness. Black filled the edges of my vision and the only thing I could hear was my own heartbeat. My breath came in ragged, shallow gasps. Seconds passed as I lay there, then, I heard voices. People swarmed all over me, trying to help me, I realized. They wanted to save me. If I could have, I would of laughed. Surely they could tell that it was far too late for me to be saved, yet they were like children, naive to the darkness of the real world. The despair and suffering of the world that took everyone I loved away from me. I would be joining them soon though. I closed my eyes, I could die happily now. My fragile, human heart beat one last time.

Looking at my body, it almost looked like I was sleeping. My eyes were closed peacefully like I was having a wonderful dream. My eyes trained on my body taking in every detail of myself. My heart was visible from the outside. One wrong move earlier and I would have pierced straight through my compassion. 

The ring had rolled towards the chair Micheal had just earlier resided in. He said I would see him more after I died, but he was no where to be found. I slowly walk out the room and into the street. Leaving my lifeless body behind for someone to eventually find and bury. Hopefully my funeral will be nice. I wonder how many people will actually show up to the girl who talks to herself's funeral. 

I keep walking till I pass the the barrier of the sacred land. The grass in which I was able to leave my tormentor behind. I pass by many different people and creatures of the night. Never seeing the ones who I've been waiting to see since I buried Theo. I eyes look and look not paying any attention to where I was going. My body hits another large n and I fall down.

"Sorry I wasn't watching where I was going." 

"Funny how you still can't recognize me after running into me so many times." I know that voice. I look up and seeing the hairy man before me.

"Charles!" I scurried to get up. My body launching itself into his arms. "I can't believe its really you." 

"Everyone else has been waiting for you."

"What do you mean everyone else?" His body moves off to the side exposing the people behind him. Tears of joy stain my face as they surround me in a group hug. 

It was with bittersweet joy that I watched my dreams get shattered. It was done, it was over. But I had lost a part of me I’ll never regain. Memories began to flood me, washing over my heart, as I saw images of joy, sadness, patience, and love fly before my eyes. Memories can be so sweet, like the first budding flower in spring. But the emotions they awake, the remembrance of joyful times long ago, makes me feel hollow inside. Not a day goes by that I don’t miss that part of me I lost. Not a minute flies past without my heart crying softly for what was. I miss her, I do. I’ll sing and dance with joy, but it will never be the same joy, my smile will never hold the same completeness. I ache, my dear. I can’t tell you how loud my heart moans with every beat, how every day I try to move on but my memories refuse to let me forget.