Chapter One

A Chapter by Brittany

That night was bloody. It was horrid. It was unexplainable.

I watched my best friend, my only best friend, get murdered.

I watched my best friend, my only best friend, get murdered…by my sister…

I stared out the rain-splattered window, watching the little water droplets race down the glass. I traced one with my finger, then the droplet disappeared and I let my hand drop. There was nothing entertaining and fun to do in this car.

It was almost a two-hour drive from Sacramento, California to where we lived. My mother was up front driving, trying not to talk a whole bunch �" which I was very grateful for. I was also grateful that she wasn’t playing her annoying country music she loved so dearly. Ugh. We weren’t very close, my mom and I. Actually, to tell you the truth, I wasn’t close with any of my family except for my older brother. He always knew how to make me happy, to make me laugh, and to cheer me up when I was in one of my depressing moods �" and trust me, I had them a lot.

My heart leaped as I thought of him. I hadn’t seen him in a whole, solid year. I couldn’t wait to just hug him and have my worries disappear for at least only one second.

I watched as tall, dark green evergreens and pine trees passed us as a blur. The sky was dark gray, warning that more rain was to come. This was what it was usually like up where we lived. Sometimes I don’t mind it, and sometimes it just reminds me that it’s the reason I went psycho in the first place.

“Dawn? Are you alright? You haven’t said a word since leaving Sacramento…”

I didn’t avert my gaze from the window to acknowledge her. I was pretty sure she had been staring at me ever since I first sat down. It was making me feel claustrophobic.

Any other day she would be talking to me, I would put my headphones on and blast my iPod.

But today wasn’t like any other day, so I just nodded and sighed. “I’m just thinking…” I said barely audible.

She laughed a little, and I glared at how musical it sounded. “I understand…”

No, you don’t!! How could you possibly understand what I’m going through?! I wanted to yell at her. Instead I stayed quiet.

I knew I was right though. She never, ever knew what I was going through. And frankly, I didn’t think she even wanted to know. I know I wouldn’t want to if I was her (which, I’m so glad I’m not her. I’d rather be my own screw-up self than her…)

This is another reason, why my brother and I were very close. He understood me. Actually, truly, understood me.

I ignored my mom as she talked about what they had changed about the house and the property since I’d been gone.

The rain kept trailing down the window, now a little faster. I hoped that it wouldn’t be pouring once we got home. I didn’t want to stay cooped up inside.

The road curved around a large pond and I smiled, remembering all the time my brother and I swam in it around summertime. Ah, good times. Our house was only about a mile or two away from the pond.

I sat up straighter, a little nervous.

As the road turned to dirt and gravel, I stared out the window. Dark green trees arched over our long driveway and dripped with rain water as it poured down.

Then I saw it. I caught my breath as our two-story, white Victorian house with a wrap around porch, and second-story balcony came into view. The green, lush lawn was perfectly mowed, and the forest surrounding it came about twenty feet to the house.

Everything looked picture-perfect like it could go on a postcard.

“Welcome home…” my mother said as she pulled up to the house.

If you couldn’t tell before, our house was literally in the middle of nowhere. The narrow road we were just on wasn’t visible on the map, and the closest town was a couple miles away. We didn’t even have neighbors.

Sometimes I didn’t mind living so far away, but at other times, it’s another reason why I went crazy. Just like the weather.

The front door opened and suddenly I grinned. Only one thing can actually make me smile, and that’s my brother. He came out, tall and muscular, with black shaggy hair, running through the rain towards our car. I flung the door open �"not even bothering to shut it �" and he picked me up easily, spinning me around. I would comment on how he should stop working out so much, but then I remembered how skinny I had gotten over the past year. Better not mention it.

“Hey D!!” he hugged me tight as I smiled at my nickname he had given me when we were little. Simple and easy.

“I missed you so much, Danny.” I muttered into his shoulder, not caring that we both were getting soaked. I could stand in the rain for hours if I was with my brother.

Danny laughed low and deep, setting me down. “Let’s get inside. I don’t want you catching a cold on the first day you come back.” He got my backpack from the car and led me inside.

I took off my jacket, staying close to Danny as my mom shut the door behind us. She hung up her coat up, and then glanced at me. “Your dad will be home tonight.”

I watched her leave and walk to the kitchen, then grabbed my backpack from Danny and walked up the stairs to my room. They had changed almost all the wallpaper to a brighter and more pastel color. Ugh. Pictures of us hung on the wall and I noticed that there weren’t any recent pictures of me. I was really a camera person.

I walked into my room and threw my backpack on the floor. They had totally changed my room around. The walls were white instead of the dark blue I loved, and they had taken all of my posters and pictures down. My bedding was soft lavender instead of jet black.

Danny walked in behind me, laughing a little. “I told them they shouldn’t touch your room…but you know how they are…” he stretched out on my bed.

“Yeah…they really out-did themselves.” It looked like a guest bedroom, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I found out that it was used as one.

I opened my closet doors and groaned. “My clothes!” Of course, they had replaced all my black, emo clothes with nice, girly and bright ones. At least they had given me a couple pairs of regular jeans. Gee, thanks mom.

Danny winced. “Ah, yeah, that also.”

I sighed, disappointed and disgusted. “Everything is so colorful. It gives me a headache.”

I sat on my bed, crossing my legs and looking at Danny.

Time for the talk. (No, not that kind of talk. Sheesh.)

“How are you doing?” he asked concern in his voice.

I stared at the blanket, picking at a thread. “Better.” Danny waited for more detail and I sighed long. “They gave me pills but I threw them away before mom saw.”

“Threw them away?! Are you crazy?!”

I gave him a look, then we both burst out laughing.

Of course I was crazy. I had just gotten back from the psychiatric ward, right? I was in that horrible place for a year. It was supposed to help me, but it didn’t. It just made me trap up my feelings inside even more. My mom and dad didn’t come visit me once, and Danny wasn’t allowed to come see me because my parents wouldn’t let him. They thought that it would be better if I recovered on my own.

Ahahaha. Funny.

I was actually surprised when I saw my mom pull up and pick me up from the ward. I expected either Danny to come, or I had to get a taxi.

“Seeing anything lately?”

I glanced up at him as I was pulled away from my thoughts. Taking a deep breath, I shook my head a little. “No…”

Danny smiled. “Awesome.” He stood up and kissed the top of my head. “I’m glad your back, sis.”

“Me too…” I mumbled, watching him leave and shut the door behind him.

Truthfully and honestly, I had been seeing things still. Any my weird dreams weren’t helping any.

I fell back on my bed and stretched out, putting my hands behind my head, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Before leaving the ward, the doctors had talked to me for a while in my room about Cassie.

Cassie was my twin sister. She had murdered my best friend right in front of me, and I had gone crazy…psycho. They put me in the Sacramento psych ward, while Cassie went to Los Angeles to a more secure one. We hadn’t talked since. I hated her. Completely hated her. Besides my brother, my best friend was really the closest person to me.

I got out after one year in the ward, and the doctors told me to saying nothing about Cassie. Fine with me.

But still…I wondered why...

“DAWN! Dinner!!”

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