• It was a cold winter night. Icy air blew around her face as she stepped outside her house. Her long brown hair danced on her back and her black and gray stripped scarf flapped in the wind. She tugged at the edge of her coat and wrapped it tighter over her. She turned back around to look at her house. It was a small one story with a one-car garage. The grass had weeds and the yard was not taken care of. Even though the house looked rotten, it didn’t stand out in the small old neighborhood she lived in. She moved onward down the stained driveway and to the sidewalk. The moon seemed especially full that night. She shivered as a fog of her breath escaped her mouth.

    She continued for a while walking in silence as insects sang songs and animals scurried for garbage. She was walking slow as heavy thoughts were on her mind distracting her from her midnight walk. She wanted a peaceful life. She didn’t want what she saw in her dreams.

    A boy lay on top of his roof. He was tired but refused to sleep. His army pants were torn and dirty as well as his long sleeve black shirt and biker gloves. He was gazing at the stars as he rubbed his fingers across the frozen shingles. He was having a rough time right now in his life. He brushed through his knotted black hair with his free hand as if to relieve his headache. He closed his eyes as he tried to forget his parents arguing and his father beating his mother right in front of him. He regretted doing nothing at the time but was content as his mother was sleeping silently. He wanted revenge on his father. All he ever felt for him was hatred.

    He opened his eyes and sat up. He looked down and saw a girl walking leisurely by past his house. She seemed calm and relaxed compared to him. The world appeared to dawdle as he watched her pass idly by, step by step.

    He watched her until she turned the corner and was out of sight then jumped off the roof. He stood for a moment looking in her direction as if he could still see her then wondered off back into his house to sleep.

    The next morning.

    Daniel woke to the sound of a loud bang.

    “What the hell is wrong with you?” his father yelled from the other room. Daniel got up slowly and quietly as he removed his old bed sheets from atop of him. His room was dark. He took a quick glance out the window to see the moon still out. It was still early. He didn’t get much sleep. He moved closer to the door and placed his ear against it to hear better.

    “I’m sorry, honey, I didn’t mean -” His mother pleaded.

    “You’re sorry? Sorry doesn’t cut it! What is this?” More yelling from his father.

    “It was an accident, I swear. It will never happen again.” Her voice cracked as she began to cry.

    “You’re damn right this won’t ever happen again, and I’ll make sure of that!” His father screamed insanely.

    Suddenly, there was a howl of pain that sounded like his mother. Daniel freaked and ripped open the door to discover his father, a true mad man, had struck his precious mother with a knife right there in the middle of the kitchen. Daniel burst out of his room and ran straight to his mother who lay on the floor, blood dripping down her once beautiful white robe. Her silky black hair was in tatters after being pulled and torn. The knife was sticking out of her upper chest. Daniel looked up at his father's bloody right hand and a half-empty beer bottle in the left. He was drunk and shaking.

    “Look at what she made me do,” His father said softly. “Look at what she made me do, Danny-boy.” Daniel’s eyes were fixed on his mother’s corpse. Tears of sadness and anger were building up. The hatred for his father had never been so high.

    “What did she do this time, dad?” Daniel spoke strongly and calmly. “Did she burn your toast? Get you milk instead of juice? Was she just too perfect of a wife for you?” He said in a more mocking tone. He took at threatening step towards his father. It was crazy. He was crazy. Daniel couldn’t fathom anyone being so abusive to their loved ones. That was the last and final straw. It had to end there. “You were never going to stop, were you? No matter how many times you told her you would, you never have. And now look, look what you’ve done. You killed the one person in this house that kept this family together. The one person in my life that kept me happy.” He paused for a moment. His thoughts were adding more fuel to the fire.

    “b*****d.” His father was shocked. “You b*****d!” Daniel roared and ran at his father and shoved him to the ground.

    “Son, pl- please, think of what your dear mother would say. Look at her, such a pretty lady,” His father begged as he leaned on his elbow on the tile. He was delusional. He then looked down at his chest to discover burn marks on his skin. “You, you burned me?” He glanced up at Daniel innocently. “How could you burn your own father?” Daniel stood over him watching and listening to him begging for his life. “I’ve cared for you, son. I’ve been here, I’ve loved you.” He cracked a smile. Daniel glared and stayed silent for a moment before saying one final thing.

    “When were you there for her?” Daniel’s voice was quiet and harsh. His father tipped his head towards his dead wife and tears began to flow from his eyes. “When did you love her?” Daniel shrieked. His father cringed. Daniel screamed as his father stumbled up to stand. His father was watching his son’s hands for fear of being touched by them. Daniel jumped on his father knocking him back to the ground. Daniel’s fury flowed throughout him and his hands blasted fire out at his father and jumped around the room slowly growing out of control. His father cried and wailed of the intense pain of his burning skin.

    Flames consumed his father as Daniel hopped back and stood by his dead mother. Time slowed down as he looked down at her calm relaxed face and leaned down. Memories of her love and kindness enshrouded him with sadness as he wrapped his arms around her, picked her up and held her tightly to his chest as he carried her lifeless body outside the burning house and to the yard.

    People that saw the house aflame had called for help and soon enough fire-trucks, ambulances, and police cars drove up lighting up the early morning with red and blue. Daniel stumbled towards the edge of the yard, as far away from the house as he could possibly get while carrying his deceased mother, exhausted he collapsed to the ground. People in uniforms dashed around him as firefighters tried their best to douse the blaze. Policemen covered and blocked off the area from other innocent by-passers. Medics made their way to him and his mother just as the sun reached its perch upon the horizon with its rays stretching across the sky lighting up a sad, new day.

    The next week.

    The morning mist of the school day covered the faces of unhappy, tired teens as they made their way to class. Kids yawned and moaned like zombies as they dragged their dead bodies to first period. Daniel was among them. It was his first day back at school after the incident. Being under eighteen, he was forced to live with another family member since had lost both his parents that day. He lived with his uncle, a rich old man whom he hardly knew. His uncle always dressed in the finest attire and was up to the latest fashion. He constantly had parties at his mansion-like home. “It makes me feel young,” he would say.

    Daniel wandered through the dimly lit halls of the ancient, sturdy school. The bell had rung a few minutes before and he was in no rush to get into his new class. He had transferred schools to better accommodate his uncle. It was higher class than his old school. Even though it was still in a poor area, it was the best out of the schools around.

    He stood in front of the door labeled 302 English Two and listened for a moment as the teacher lectured. He didn’t want to be there.

    Not like anything happens in school anyway…

    His hand reached for the frozen metal handle, twisted it, and opened the door. The room was small and full of drowsy students attempting to write notes before dawn. Silent glaring eyes watched his every move as he walked towards the teacher to hand her a note. She was tall and thin with curly blond hair and glasses. She wore a white blouse and a long tight black skirt. She smiled as she read the paper then looked at him. Her eyes examined him up and down until she finally aimed them at the class.

    “Class,” she began her voice shrill and giddy. “We have a new student joining us,” She pulled on Daniel’s arm bringing him closer. “His name is Daniel Bennings.” He looked at all the uninterested kids as they impatiently awaited the dismissing bell to ring. One person, rather, one girl, stood out from the rest. She sat in the back of the room and seemed as if she was concentrating very hard on whatever was on her desk. She was different than the rest of them. As he was staring at her, unbeknownst to him, the teacher observed this action and said aloud, “Christa,” the girl next to the other gazed up. “Why don’t you move and sit by Michael?” The girl looked at Michael then back at the teacher and sighed she did what she was told. Daniel glanced at the grinning teacher. “Looks like a new seat has opened up,” she said quietly to Daniel. The teacher moved to stand behind him and whispered in his ear. “Her name is Kimberly.” She gave him a quick nudge before turning around and continuing the lesson.

    Daniel passed others in his row as he made his way to the back of the room. He sat down to find his seat broken and the desk drawn all over. Just the typical high school desk. Throughout what little new excitement he might have brought into the classroom that morning, she, Kimberly, had yet to look up from her desk. What surprised him was the fact that there was nothing there. She was just looking at her desk, deep in thought. He saw her eyebrow twitch and she flipped her head; hair whipping around her face and faced him with a quite angry expression.

    “What are you looking at?” She barked quietly. Daniel was taken aback. Not only was this girl beautiful, but she was the same one that he saw just a week before. He gulped.

    Yup, nothing ever happens in school…

    Later that day; Lunchtime.

    The cafeteria was overloaded with students as they made their way in, stomachs growling and rumbling for food. Tables were soon filled and voices of those once dead zombies echoed lively throughout the room.

    Kimberly wandered the rows, her eyes occasionally looking left and right before spotting her target. Sitting alone near a window was an average looking boy with brown hair and glasses. A slightly over-sized green backpack rested beside him. His navy-blue polo was wrinkled as were his black pants. Kimberly plopped down across from him and watched him pick and poke at his meal.

    “Hey,” Kimberly said.

    “Hey,” he replied. They were silent. Kimberly unhappily gazed down at her wonderful lunch; Old-looking burger, rotting fries, and moldy skim milk all of which seemed as if someone just took them out of the garbage and threw them on a plate.

    “Blech,” she coughed and pushed the meal aside. She then returned her gaze to the boy. She watched in horror and disgust as he managed to, not only get the food in his mouth, chew it, but he even swallowed it. “I’m going to vomit,” she sighed and laid her head down.

    “It’s not so bad,” he began. “You just have to image it as something else.” He grinned just as she flipped him the bird. She sighed.

    If only life was always this easy and carefree.

    “I had that dream again,” Kimberly said solemnly. She peeked just above her arms to see his reaction. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as much as she had hoped. She didn’t really hope for much, maybe some sympathy at least. All she saw was a bit of his cheery glow fade away.

    “Oh,” he said calmer. How sympathetic. She thought.

    “What the hell do I do, Nathan?” She exclaimed as she shot straight up. “I don’t know what to do!” she gasped loudly. Nathan stopped eating. They were both quiet and in thought. They have discussed this before but every time they never reach a conclusion. This time wouldn’t be any different.

    “Kim, I’ve told you before, I don’t have the answers. I can only interpret what you tell me from my opinion,” Nathan explained. “Besides,” he rested his head on his hand staring out the window. “Shouldn’t you be the one with all the answers?” Kimberly’s face fell. Him saying that felt like he stabbed her in the chest. She knew that she should, but she just didn’t.

    “Why me?” Kimberly asked sadly, although she did not expect an answer. Especially not from Nathan. Why would he know? After all, we just met not too long ago. It’s not like we know each other that well. She questioned herself. There was a pause as he took a minute to answer.

    “If not you, Kim, then who else?” he responded. And for her, that response somehow just seemed right.

    Why burden others with this torture when I can serve it perfectly, and deal with it on my own.