The Heartless

Chapter 1

"Alex! Wait!" A high pitched voice screams after me. Why does Abbey have to be so annoying? "I've been looking for you everywhere! I didn't see you leave school and I wanted to know if you're okay after that. He was pretty harsh on you." Abbey continues despite the annoyed look on my face.

"I'm fine." I say getting more annoyed by the girl. Sometimes I really wish she would go away and stop pestering me with her poofy bows and dipsy attitude.

"Alex are you having one of those moments again? You know you're still human, right? You shouldn't care what other people say." she attempts to cheer me up.

"Abbey, that's enough. I told you already, I'm fine. Please just... drop it." As much as the girl annoys me, I can't be mean to her. She's my only "friend" and the only person who doesn't mistreat me.

Apparently she doesn't take the hint. I can still see the shadows of her frilly bows bouncing as she skips behind me. There's really no use in trying to ditch her, she's like a leech. "Shouldn't you be heading home?" I ask her.

She grins, obviously liking the attention. "Nope, Mom doesn't care where I go as long as I'm safe."

"And she thinks you're safe with me?" I question her.

"Well not really, but I know I'm safe with you, so she doesn't really care." She answers. Yep that sounds like Abbey's mom alright. She's one of the many who ridicule me, "Alex The Heartless." I've learned to deal with it by keeping to myself, and avoiding all other human interaction. Abbey is my friend, sure, but whenever I see her the first thing I notice is her mark, a purple half heart with frilly pink bordering and sparkles. Whenever I see it, I get reminded that I'm not normal, that I'm a mistake. But I do feel bad for the poor sap that has the other half of that purple and pink birthmark...

~

When I get home, I go straight to my hideaway. It's the only place I can be alone and not feel like an outcast. No one but me has ever seen it, not even Abbey. When I arrive at my hideaway, what used to be Buckingham palace's garden, I head straight to my hut, ducking under remnants of hedges, fallen trees, and pieces of the crumbling walls. A while ago, I built this place out of the remnants of a fountain, parts of a greenhouse and some pieces of the palace itself so that I could have somewhere to think in peace. It doesn't look like much, but it's the only thing I own myself. It may be small but at least it's mine. I grab the key from it's hiding place in the bottom of a broken flowerpot and unlock the door. As I step in I'm greeted by a most unwelcome scent of sulfur and burned wood. "Welcome Alex..." a wispy voice greets me, "I've been waiting for you".