Rose

Early Childhood

   Alright, I guess I'll start from the beginning. My name is Rose Montenegro, and I was born in a small town called Paradise Valley. It's about thirty minutes away from San Diego in California (if you really wanted to know). I've got an older brother, Thorn, and a younger sister, Amy. I'm about sixteen, I think, and I should probably start the actual story now.

   Like I said, I was born in Paradise Valley. It's named for the fact that the entire town is contained in a green and grassy valley. It does have a few things like restaurants and hotels, but it isn't as big as other towns close by. All of this made my early childhood kinda boring. I mean, I had fun and all, but looking back, it was... I don't know... so normal (which is weird for me). But everything changed one day when I was about nine years old.

   It seemed like a normal day at the time, I was riding the bus with my best friend Zoey *no relation to irl Zoey just a coincidence* talking about something dumb, maybe dinosaurs or something. Thorn was talking with his best friend Tony, who was also Zoey's older brother, about how much homework they had been given that day. Amy was by herself reading a book when we all got off at our stop. We got off at the usual spot about a block from our house, telling each other what happened today at school. We were so caught up in talking, we didn't realize that the door was locked and all of the windows were up with the curtains drawn. (which never happened. Usually, the door was unlocked and mom or dad was waiting for us in the living room, but we were so distracted we didn't even notice. Looking back, I want to punch myself in the face for not paying attention and noticing something was wrong.) 

   Thorn opened the door with the set of keys he had on his lanyard that mom had given him for when he came home from track meets late. When we entered the room, it seemed like every light in the house had been turned off, leaving us alone in our pitch black living room. (again, I should have known something was up, but no, I'm an idiot) Amy turned on the light to reveal something that will be a part of my nightmares until the day I die, the still bleeding bodies of my parents.

   At first, none of us noticed, we just saw a black shape curve around the couch. When Thorn went to investigate, he screamed bloody murder (haha very funny) and Amy and I ran to see what was wrong. Looking back, it could have been a lot worse than it turmed out to be. They were on the floor holding hands with their eyes closed with large, bloody stains on their shirts. They didn't have guts or brains hanging out, and they still had their body parts intact, but it was the worst thing I had seen in my life. (until that point at least)

   I was frozen in place while I stared for what seemed like forever. Thorn eventually stopped screaming and started crying. Amy was surprisingly quiet through the whole thing, simply staring and not saying a word, not even crying. Once I had had enough, i broke down in tears, falling to my knees until I thought I could never cry again.