Part One

3 years ago

Seventeen year old Emma stood under the large oak tree by the schools courtyard, surrounding her was her circle of friends who had all did but giggle as she took on the spotlight making a total fool of herself as she cracked a joke they barely understood all because of her broken bred of British and modern day English accent. She casted a glance at each loving faces, starting from the very head like an analog clock stood Madilda Karp - a girl who transferred a year ago from the island Pompeii her age but a few months younger - had her face all red from all her laughing, the dark shade of her curly ebony hair swaying with the wind.

Working her way clockwise to her right she met the beautiful face of Agatha Hezwic, she was fair skinned whose features showed her Australian heritage, she looked at Emma with condescending yet loving eyes as if to say, if she were a stranger she would have thought this girl was crazy.

Then next up was the twin besties, Edward and Lucas Taylor, the two were amongst her closest of friends, at least closest male friends of course who despite their same birthdate and last names, had lots of things contradictory amongst each other yet made them a good tandem to complement one another like fire and ice. Lucas with his advantageous height and complexion contradictory to Edwards tanned and spectacles of existence.

Next came Anna Moroe she wasn't sure at that moment she remembered where she was from or at least her familiar heritage was but she knew her existence came out as an utterly snowy white figure, flawless as an Asian model's and charms even far brilliant with her suppressed chuckle, almost princess like.

Finally last but not the least, her gaze fell upon Vincent Lauren. He was a fairly tall lad between Edward and Lucas's height most features if the three men were put side by side he would have been thought to be the middleman, all his neutral aspects complimenting a contrast between the two men and unlike the two who had managed a gentlemanly stance. He freely let himself tumble back as he held his stomach down from uncontrollable laughter. But of course there was still a few more to go on the circle, she had just stopped there, her gaze almost instantly falling upon some of the lingering students behind him by the opposite oak tree a few feet away.

A group of boys herded around the opposing oak tree, bright faces varying from all shapes and sizes, she could recognize all lurking around campus, some even being her classmates on previous elective classes, but her gaze unmistakably landed on one of them and almost rested at that one person from quite some time. She didn't know why but she just did, because there was something weird about him, weird in a good way he was staring at her and she stared back unsure whether her scrutiny was offensive or plainly humorous to the point others thought she was having one of her "episodes" of mind lapse.

He was really tall, taller than Lucas his hair worn long shoulder length and ruffled to each side of his neck, soft and as black as ink. His eyes were chinky and features were definitely set as probably a K-Pop idol, or a manga character jumping out of the page of an otome comic book.

"Is it me or Emma's stare is as intense as a laser gazing at that guy over there." Snickered Vincent, Emma hadn't realized he was so close to her until she had brought her gaze back at him, their faces nearly touching and their lips would have met, except it didn't and she wished it wouldn't. She leapt back, falling on her bosom, her bottom half screaming in pain by the sudden electrical shock it gave the moment it hit hard against the roots and rocky ground below. Her cheeks flushed as she stared at her friend's amused faces, they had all begun to break into loud laughter, huddling closer and not bothering to help her, she groaned, aiding herself up on her feet and brushed the back of her jeans for any sight of dirt.

"How rude" She whaled, her British accent definitely lingering on the last vowel, sounding much like "th" with her short tongue, and lest did they hinted a stop. She peered a glance at the direction where the boy had stood he had dropped his gaze from hers, and shook his head mildly with a grin, almost like a disapproving "tsk". She didn't know why he did so, and soon a sudden tap on her shoulder drew her attention away from him, her friends had stepped away, creating their own circle, and she stood face to face with a familiar she wished not to associate her time with at that moment. She knew him fairly well, and she would never forget a face, it was like looking on mirror of your conscience, reflecting your worst fear, of course, he wasn't her fear at first, in fact, he was something far more of an impact in her life. His name was Nate Feller, a senior of their school, and admittedly, a guy she respected and previously liked for more than a year. He was cute and sweet, carrying all the feats she looked in a guy, smart, gentlemanly, and easy to talk to not to mention his beauty, but this all changed in a blink of an eye.

"Hey Emily," Nate says flashing her that crooked grin she knew too well it scared her, "wanna meet up after school?"

Emma averted her graze, body suddenly tensed, "uhm, I'm sorry Nate; I'm um busy, maybe next time?"

Nate's expression went grim, utterly disappointed, and surprisingly not pleased "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Emma assured mustering the courage to look at her despite the pain throbbing in her chest, "next time. I promise."

Nate flashed a wry grin, stepping closer to press a kiss on her cheek, and the moment it made contact with her skin, she couldn't help but shudder. Goose bumps prickling against her skin, and as he left, black and white memories like a movie film had gone down pouring at her, painful memories like a series of flashbacks she wished she would hopefully keep with her even in her grave.

She stood by the locker room, alone while P.E. session had already started, a pink slip she had found clipped on the edge of her locker between her delicate fingers, the hint of lavender - her favorite - clinging into the ornately decorated paper. It was Nate's handwriting she had begun to recognize, flawless cursive scrawled within its contents, flowery language confessing his love. She was a sophomore back then, with a never-ending crush on him since the beginning of freshmen year; it was by the time of the Junior Senior prom that he proposed to her to be his date, not as his girlfriend but as his date. There was a difference between a girlfriend and a prom date. She knew he had a girlfriend, a graduate too old to attend such blessed gatherings, but despite this, she helped him hide the sort of relationship they had... if they had any at all for his benefit. She would never have guessed her first prom experience would be the worst, and it was all because she had been stupid to have fallen to such mere tricks of his words. There was no dancing for her or the princess experience she would have imagined it to be like a royal ball, it was all just pain and regret that had showered her with darkness that night.

She could remember it every night, and every night she tried to scrub the memory off in her boiling hot bath the more closely drawn to the brink of insanity she was, closer to death. It was still vividly in her mind staining her purity just thinking about it was like she was being stabbed repeatedly by a pointed knife, not too deep in the vital points for a slower death.

Emma occupied the passenger seat of Nate's open hooded sports car, compared to him she looked more of overly dressed for the occasion while he wore casuals, unusually an odd choice and enough of a warning she had been too dumb to have realized. What tipped her off then was that Nate hadn't driven straight to the route to the prom's venue, despite her nervousness, she had continued to keep calm, and she thought maybe he would have brought her somewhere romantic, right? However, she was wrong. Nate had parked by an abandoned alley on their way, he told her to stay while he had met up with men who if not already mistaken by their looks as hooligans in odd looking puffy trench coats and ski masks. They had huddled at one corner supposedly trying to hide what seemed like smuggled goods shoving it rather hastily at Nate who had returned then with a dismissive smile covering up his act, something he held closely at his chest wrapped in ragged black cloth. They drove a few more blocks far off by a lamppost, parking closely in the lurking darkness to isolate their presence from suspicion and this was where all her fear had now began.

Emma had begun to grow nervous as time ticked by, she had cautiously picked at the lock of her seat belt, but to her shock, it was either malfunctioning or too glued on tightly to prevent her possible escape. He had hovered over her, covering her mouth in any case of her upcoming predicted shriek, him mouthing reassuring hushes and a mixture of death threats. She had whimpered then and his threats had begun to worsen from threatening to kill her to her mother as well. She nodded the arm he had over her lips muffling any sound coming from her, his body pressed tightly against her, and became more of a savage he really was. He had ripped the buttons of her button down shirt pressing carnivorous kisses over her lips and every existence of her skin, his grip on her digging hastily until it bruised and bled against her skin and when he was done, he'd drop her over to a nearby motel. There she would freshen up, and would take hours to scrub herself clean but she knew she wasn't clean enough before be drops her off.

That was not the only time it had happen, he would call her from time to time if not every day, it were weeks and if lucky months. Sometimes he sent personal threats she knew so well from him through their form of subtext and all the time it happened the more she wanted to dig a hole and bury herself alive. Sometimes he would just lightly touch her and force her to drink this drug. She found out then that it was mifepristone, which in her chemistry class she later found out through her research that its chemicals made of C29 H32 NO2, which were better-known reactants as abortion pills. Yet as all this was happening to her poor defenseless self, she has remained quiet about it, even from her friends and family in fear of their life.

"Emma!" It was Anna, blessed her soul to have broken her off from such painful memories with a grip on both of her shoulders shaking her. Emma blinked she hadn't realized the hard trembling she had been doing the whole time, worry set on all of her friends features as they herded around her.

"You should really see a doctor Em's your lapses are getting awfully frequent," continued Edward, and his twin agreed with him, "We thought you were having epilepsy."

Emma brushed it off with the simple wiping of her arm over lip as if she were wiping away the trace of drool slipping off her lips from what seemed to be quite a long day dream. "I'm fine," she reassured them and saved by the resounding ringing of the campuses siren signaling their next roll of class period. Emma with a wry grin for all, parted ways with all of them, exchanging hugs from each and started off to her next class, her gaze coincidentally landing on the same tall framed guy from their early conversations, he too looked as if he had been watching her the whole time, a hint of worry set surprisingly on his features. Emma averted her graze, feeling a little exhausted and stalked off, his gaze as she drifted away following her figure who looked more of an ant catching up with a drifting pool of ants.

"Mother I'm home." Emma sighed, tossing her shoulder bag over the plush lavender couch of their small apartment’s crowded living room. There was no reply from her usually delirious mother, and so she sighed, stalking off to the kitchen to pour herself a drink when she heard a shriek coming from upstairs, she nearly dropped the glass from the cupboard as dashed upstairs to where the shriek came from the only lone bathroom of their house.

Her mother, as beautiful as she was, was sprawled awkwardly on the floor, leaning against the bathtub as a support, hugging the waterproof drapes against her and biting her nails to the core, wide eyed and shifting left and right with much of alert cautiousness. Her gaze fell upon her daughter, and she immediately scuttled towards her, wrapping her long lanky arms around the girl who in contrast was much more slim and fragile like a fly. Emma let her hug her, crush her with all her strength as she pulled their similarly given light auburn tresses down.

"Mom," she sighed but her tone at the same time still soothing, "what happened?"

"He's going to get me Emily! I'm scared, don't give me to him!" She sobbed and gave into the urge of a scream once more, it was short lived but enough to shatter the eardrums kind of shriek.

Emma patted her mother's back, rubbing circles to calm the woman whose hair had looked like birds had begun to build a nest on her head, her auburn tresses all over the place sticking out awkwardly like dark twigs. "Mom, he's not going to get you, I won't let him." She reassured and her mother had slowly calmed down snot she could hear bubbling down her nose, and she pulled back, drawing a handkerchief to her face and urging her mother to let it all out. The woman did, like a child almost completely pacified, whimpering with a hint of bubbly hiccups. Emma ran a finger across her mother's beautiful eyes, catching them before they had all streaked down into a waterfall.

"Don't leave me Emma." She whimpered her eyes pleading as she held her daughter's fingers tightly against hers and Emma nodded, her palms now wrapped ever so tightly over her mother’s small soft trembling hands,

"I won't, I promise."

A flashback

Seventeen years ago, the beautiful maiden Susan Kemp was only thirteen. She was a girl regarded of her wild beauty, a natural born leader with brains and looks making many men in various ages’ shapes and sizes fall heads over heels for and flock around her everywhere she went. She was Caucasian, a Scott-British descent, graced with a tall petite frame and rosy complexion that made her freckles stand out but match her fitting beauty perfectly. She always had a graceful stride radiating confidence, always so sure of herself as she flashed one of her prized half smiles showing parts of her pearly white teeth, each bone shiny and chipped to perfection. When it came to her upbringing, many would describe her as someone whose parents brought her up fairly well. Simply dressed and not too flashy, manners too were her scoring points amongst the elders. Not only was Susan smart maintaining the spot of Valedictorian of her class all year round, she was a well-rounded student body member, joining every extracurricular activities she could, even sports events which she would most likely win a superlative for most talented, sporty, and most likely to rule the world.

However, the simple yet honorable life she had led would soon change the moment she had stepped into the class of one teacher. This man was quite handsome no older than thirty and a well brought up lad whose descent traced back from the late British-Irish heritage, a respectable man whose knowledge was far beyond electrical and biological science. This teacher seemed to be quite a challenge for the notorious Susan, for she never seems to pass this man's course. It had all began when he had recommended she'd stay after class for extra lessons, and at first it was nothing more, in fact this man was quite a gentleman and an easy air to get along with.

It was a rainy day in San Diego, quite unusual during that summer, she could still remember, Susan still in her plain white uniform and skirt overalls had gone home on foot, drenching herself with acid rain, her auburn hair nearly bleach to dull brown plastered all over her face. Exams were finally over, and all was preparing for a summer to remember, but what awaited her was something else. She was a few blocks away from the next street to her house, and Melvin " that was the name of her science teacher " had caught up to her then. His rusty doom buggy honking at her front behind, she looked back, relieved that he had offered her a ride, and once she had gotten in, it was the biggest mistake of her life.

From time to time Melvin would cast a glance over the rear view mirror tilted slightly at her direction those dark hazel irises of his regarding her in a way she hasn't seen before. It was something so inhumane, animal-like and torturous she later found even until this day, and little did she realized they had passed her stop, passing a curb and stop in front of a large apartment. Her body tensed and soon she was fumbling her way trying to get the lock of the passenger door open, sadly it was locked from the outside.

Darkness and her muted screams devoured them, all she kept remembering was being treated sickly like an animal, molested and deprived from her youth, forced into something she didn't want at a young age, dragged into a dark apartment and continued to be violated until nothing was left of her but her own bloody ragged clothing. He stashed her away tied and spared up front of her own home, soaked in rain until her neighbors and parents heard her screams and silent sobbing.

Nine months after being medically condemned to rehabilitate from her trauma and moving states away, the fruits of her hatred had blossomed, sometimes she wandered whether she should have killed the child for it had always reminded her of her painful experience, but something also told her she shouldn't the child was innocent after all. She knew it had nothing to do to what her devil of a father had done to her, and instead of pouring all of that hate on the child Susan had jarred her bitterness and little by little moving on. Nevertheless, at the same time little by little in the brink of insanity, for like the saying goes, the past would always come to haunt you.