Chapter 1

Here's the first chapter. Enjoy. :DDD

Angel of Darkness

 

     I was evil. That's what everyone always said. Hell, that's what Mom said to me everyday. But that never used to be the case. Before Dad died, I used to have a good life. Mom would actually look at me. And smile. And hug me. And love me. But when Dad died, it was if all that love had died, too. Now all she'd do was frown at me. And beat me. And say I was worthless. And hate me. I was used to it now, though. It had been twelve years since Dad died in that car accident. But you know who else was in that car with him? Me.

     'Til this very day I will never know why God let me live instead of my Dad. He was the best dad a five year old girl could have. And me? I was a troublemaker. In everyone's way. I even saw myself as a waste of space. But Dad... He never said that to me. He always encouraged me. Made me believe that I could be someone if I tried hard enough. And I loved him for that. But after the accident, I never thought that ever again.

     The doctor told me that if Dad hadn't shielded me like he had done then he might have still lived, but I would have died. I was young with a weak body, like any kid my age would be. And what Dad did for me broke Mom's heart in half. We haven't exactly been on good terms since the accident.

     Now I'm seventeen. I drink, smoke just about anything, I really don't care what it is, and have been in jail for it all. Mom doesn't care, though. She does the same as me. She's also like a prostitute. Only, she won't admit it. And that's the only thing I refuse to do. I would rather go to Hell than be a prostitute. I mean, Hell can't be very different from my home. But it confuses me. I don't know why I wouldn't be one like her. If it would give me some cash then I was all for it. But I just couldn't do it.

     I guess it was just one of those things I would never really find the answer to. I didn't really care. Where I live, no one cares about anything. Prostitutes walk all the streets, people publicly drink and smoke out in the open. The people I hang with are no exception. I go to our hangout by the river everyday and sometimes, even nights. But that was only if Mom would piss me off to my limit. Which happens a lot, especially recently.

     I have no idea what's going on in that woman's head. She's just been yelling and beating me more lately. Maybe her 'job' as a prostitute is stressing her out. Oh well. Her problem, not mine. Hey, it's what she's said to me since the accident. Wonder how she likes it--

     A cigarette was suddenly shoved in my face so fast, if I hadn't moved away it probably would've burned my nose.

     "Whoops. Sorry, Erica." Todd Allgood said, moving the cigarette away.

     I punched his shoulder hard, "Dude, what the hell?"

     "Ow! I said sorry, and besides, I thought you'd want a puff." Todd shrugged.

     I rolled my eyes and grabbed the cigarette from his hands and took a long drag from it. After, I gave it back and relaxed against the wall. Today, instead of hanging by the river like we normally would, we were in an alley no one really entered. So I guess you could say this was our territory. Every group here had territory. A place only their group could go to. If you were caught on that groups territory then you were as good as dead. I guess you could say we owned the river and this alley.

     "So," Mary Sue, yes, her name was Mary Sue, said, "how's livin' with the she-devil been lately?"

     Even thought it's tempting to make fun of her name, no one should. If anyone ever made fun of her name, well, lets just say they'd be in the hospital. For months.

     I groaned, "Must you remind me? You know, I don't think I'm gonna go home tonight. Can I crash at one of your guys house? Just for tonight"

     "Sure, you can come to mine. Parents won't be home for a while, so I think it'll be fine." Rose Stringer, the only person in the group I actually considered a friend, said.

     I nodded and stood up, "We gonna leave now?"

     "Sure, I was gettin' bored anyway." she smirked.

     I did a small wave as Rose and I left the others behind in the alley and made our way to Rose's place.

     "So, what's up with your parents? Why aren't they home?" I asked when we were nearing her house.

     She shrugged, not looking at me, "How should I know? All they said before they left was that they wouldn't be back for a month or two and that all the bills had been paid so I wouldn't have to worry. And that's it."

     Unlike most parents in this neighborhood, Rose's parents actually cared about Rose's safety. But something about them kept us from really hanging at their house. They were... Different.

     "I'm sure they'll be all right." I did my best to comfort her.

     She wasn't showing it, but she was worried about them.

     She nodded, but didn't say anything else. As we continued to walk down the really rundown streets, we finally arrived at Rose's house. We walked up the porch stairs, but then Rose stopped in front of me.

     "Rose? What's the matter?" I asked, looking over her shoulder to see what made her stop so abruptly.

     When I saw what it was, my eyes widened and I screamed.

     "What the hell is--!" I was screaming until Rose turned and covered my mouth with her hands.

     "Shh! Calm down. We'll think of something, for now let's just take... it inside."

     I nodded and she slowly moved her hands. We moved up the porch and stared down at the ground. There, sprawled on the floor, was a child. Except, there was so much blood and bruises covering their body that it was hard to tell if it was a girl or boy.

     "Come on, let's get it inside."

     We bent down and carefully picked up the child. Then we opened the door and stepped inside. Once we set the child on the couch Rose closed the door. For a minute, we could do nothing but stare.

     "O-okay, I guess I should check if it's still alive." I said.

     I grabbed it's wrist and felt for a pulse. First their was nothing, which freaked us both out. All we need was the cops coming here to pick up a dead kid's body. But after I kept checking, I finally found a small pulse. I sighed in relief.

     "It's still alive."

     "Okay... Let's wash off all this blood so we can see if this is a girl or boy. It freaks me out having to say 'it' when we refer to... it."

     We grabbed some wet washcloths and began gently scrubbing the blood off of the child. After a while, we finished and came to the conclusion. This was a girl, about ten years old. But her hair was so short that she could pass as a boy.

     "Now that all that blood is off her we can finally tell she's a girl." Rose said, feeling her forehead.

     "Well, at least she doesn't feel like she has a fever."

     "Rose, do you have a shirt you can give her? We have to put her clothes in the wash, I mean, just look at them. They're covered in blood. The stains might not come off, but we have to at least try."

     She nodded, "I agree. I'll go look for something, stay here and watch her."

     When she left, I couldn't help but let out a sigh. This girl had scared the crap out of me! I sat down on a chair and shut my eyes.

     "M-miss? W-where a-am I? I-I'm scared..."

     My eyes flew open. I looked back at the girl on the couch to see she was awake and staring at me, her eyes starting to tear up.

     "R-Rose! Get in here!" I called, not knowing what to do.

     "What? Did something--" Rose said, walking back into the room with a shirt, but stopped when she saw the girl.

     "Crap." we said in unison.

     I mean, what the hell were we gonna do now?

Author's Note

Okay, so first chapter's done. Yay! I hope everyone liked it. It took me forever to finish. Lame, I know, but whatever. So, like it? I think it was a bit rushed, but meh. =P

Reviews

[Rae]

Awesome, Gaby-Tan!! ^^ I really want to know what happens next, so hurry with the next chapter, ok? :D

[Dragon]

I think you have a great start. I could feel the emotion in Erica. It seems that you know who she is and just want to experiment. You're not afriad to express who this girl really is. I love it so far. Great work. :)