Chapter 1 ~
My head hung low as I passed through the halls of the school, narrowly stepping around someone’s outstretched foot trying to trip me. ‘Everybody hates me, and I am completely and utterly alone in the world. No one will stick up for me, no one will stop the bullying, they all join in, like it’s some sick joke. My mom died when I was younger and my dad blames me for it. He is a drunk, and if I don’t do what he says, he beats me. His beatings are very, very brutal. So much, that it has caused me to cut myself. It doesn’t hurt as much as I do on the inside. No one can save me, I’ve gone too far over the edge. Maybe, if someone were to stick up for me, I wouldn’t be writing this note. So goodbye everyone, goodbye world. I may miss you, but I know you won’t miss me.’ I took one last look over the note, and set it down on my bedside table. I listened carefully and heard that my father wasn’t home. I climbed out my window and onto the roof. I braced myself to jump. I silently counted to 3 in my head, and jumped. Surprisingly, (and unintentionally) I landed on the neighbors trampoline. I live on the top floor of an apartment building, next to a house. Someone must’ve called the cops, because as soon as I landed I was taken to the hospital and checked over. My father was arrested because they had found the note I left. I now have no where to go. They’re putting me in a foster home, but I still am going to the same school. I’m being sent to a mental hospital for a month. Wonderful (notice my lack of enthusiasm).
*1 Month Later*
Today is my first day back at school. Surprisingly, no one has said a word, or even looked in my direction. At least I’m not being bullied. Yet. I walked into my first class, wearing my black skinny jeans, my black scene style hair, eyeliner, Sleeping With Sirens sweater, knee-high converse, a Pierce the Veil top, and mascara. Lots of mascara. People were staring at me, with apologetic smiles, and I handed my teacher the note that said why I was late. She nodded solemnly and said I could sit where ever I liked. I chose an open seat in the back by the windows. I didn’t pay attention or hear anything the teachers said all through my next classes. I just stared out the windows, with silent tears going down my face. No one noticed of course, since I was wearing water-proof makeup. That and the fact that I was being silent. Pretty soon it was lunch time. I paid for my lunch and went outside since we were allowed to eat out there. I sat on the ground leaning on a tree, eating my pizza and drinking water silently and of course, absolutely alone. That is, until a boy that didn’t look familiar came and sat by me. “Mind if I sit here?” The unknown boy said. I just looked at him, and nodded slowly and uncertainly. “Who are you?” I asked. That’s the first thing I’ve said to anyone in 2 years. I didn’t even say anything to my father when he was beating me. The mysterious boy looked shocked that I didn’t know who he was. “You really don’t know who I am?” he asked. I shook my head. Still with a shocked look on his face, he said “I’m new, and it seems like every girl keeps talking about me. My name is Shadow Nyxon Sage, what’s yours?” he asked. “My name is Azzrealla Rose Johnson.” I replied with a smile. That’s the first time I’ve smiled in a very long time. A genuine smile at least. He seemed to take notice of my smile, which faded quickly when the cheerleaders came up to us. They were the worst when I was bullied. They bullied me the most and the cruelest. My skin got paler, which is kind of hard to do since I’m already extremely pale. Shadow was in front of me, so he didn’t notice the girls. I signaled for him not to turn around. “Hey Azzrealla, we just wanted to say that we’re sorry for bullying you.” the head cheerleader, Stephanie said. Her voice was sickly sweet, and she had a hard glint in her eyes, so I knew she didn’t mean it. “You don’t mean it. You never will. You hate me for no reason. What did I ever do to you that made you hate me so much, that you would bully me to the point of suicide Stephanie?” I responded. Shadow looked at me shocked, and almost turned around, but I stopped him. Stephanie glared hardly at me. “You know what? You’re right. I do hate you, and I didn’t mean a word I just said to you. But what are you gonna do about it? Huh? I mean, you don’t even have any friends do you? Besides, Shadow here is Violet’s younger brother. So he is our property. Don’t even think about making friends with him.” She said. “Who’s Violet? I don’t know anyone at this school named Violet.” I said. Just then, a girl with deep dark purple scene style hair walked up. I-I’m Violet.” She had sort of a terrified look in her eyes, telling me that she didn’t like Stephanie much, she more feared her. “Well Violet, do you mind if I talk to you for a moment,” I looked around. “Alone?” She nodded uncertainly. The cheerleaders walked away with a menacing aura around them. But just as Shadow was about to stand up, I grabbed his arm pulling him back down lightly. He gave me a questioning look, but I just shook my head. “Y-yes?” she asked hesitantly. “I’m not going to scream at you or hurt you.” I said slowly, “I just want to talk to you. Okay?” I said. She relaxed a bit and nodded while sitting down in the grass next to Shadow. Shadow and Violet are quite similar to me. Me and Shadow could be twins. Same natural black hair in scene style, super pale skin, and dark purple eyes. Violet is kind of similar, but she has dyed violet hair, and her eyes, which I’m assuming she’s named for, are bright, neon violet. She is as pale as me and Shadow, but Shadow is taller and I am shorter than Violet. Shadow is about 5’ 10”, I’m about 5’ 4”, Violet is about 5’ 7”. “Violet, do you even really like Stephanie? Or did she just round you up into her gang without even asking if you wanted to?” I asked. “She just rounded me up into her gang, and said ‘If you even think about not being a cheerleader, you might as well get yourself a one way ticket to humiliation. Understood?’ she just looked so menacing and I couldn’t help but say yes.” Violet looked so scared, that it looked like she was reliving what had happened. I gave her a comforting hug and said “I’m about to go tell off Stephanie, but I’m gonna need some back up. Do you have anymore siblings that could help us?” Shadow and Violet nodded and said “Ash. He’s our older brother. He looks kind of like Shadow except he has more silver hair. It’s not grey, it shines like true silver.” I nodded, signaling that I understood. Violet took out her phone, and then put it back. A few minutes later, someone who I believed to be Ash, considering his hair, walked up next to us. “Hey, Violet told me the situation, and I’m in. Anything to protect my little sister is good enough for me. To us, family means everything.” Ash had a more, powerful aura about him. “Then what are we waiting for? Violet, I will talk for you if you want.” she nodded. “Alright, then it’s settled. let’s go confront Stephanie!” I said. We walked up to Stephanie and her cheerleader gang, and she glared at us, until she saw Ash, then she gave him a flirty smile. He just continued to glare at her, and her smile faded. “What do you want.” she spat. “Can’t you see we’re busy? Violet, there you are, I need you to get me a latte.” Stephanie said. Shadow and Ash bristled, but I put my arm up to stop them. “Violet is not going to run around and be your servant. And if you even try to humiliate her, you will have the rest of us to deal with. Understand?” Stephanie looked shocked at my outburst, as did Shadow, Ash, and Violet. They quickly recovered and Stephanie said, “Do you honestly expect me to believe you? I mean, honestly. Look at yourself, and then look at me. Who would win?” Ash and Shadow rolled their eyes. “Our money is on Azzrealla. At least she wouldn’t hide behind her gang if it came to a fight. Right Azzrealla?” Ash said. I nodded. “Your such a slut, that’s why no one like you anymore Stephanie. Why don’t you go fuck up someone else’s lives. Bye glitter bitch.” I said, and walked off, with Shadow, Ash, and Violet in tow. As soon as we got back to the tree, the three siblings were looking at me in awe. “What?” I asked. “You were amazing! Thank you so much for standing up for me!” Violet said, while squeezing me to death. “Thank you for helping me and my little brother out too. We appreciate it.” Ash said as Shadow nodded. Violet gave Ash a look, that Shadow didn’t seem to catch. Very ninja like I grabbed all of their phones out of their hands and just as they were about to take them back, I programmed my phone number into each of them. “Just in case you guys wanna hang out after school.” I said. “Definitely!” Violet said. And her brothers nodded in agreement. While Shadow was throwing away his lunch garbage, I got the chance to ask Ash and Violet what that look was for. “Hey, can I ask you guys a question?” I said. Ash and Violet nodded and motioned for me to continue. “What was that look you two shared after you thanked me for helping you two out?” Ash got paler, and Violet bit her lip. “Please tell me?” I all but begged. Violet sighed, looked around to make sure Shadow wasn’t coming and began. “Shadow had a twin, but our parents apparently didn’t want four children, so they dropped her on the doorstep of a random house that they knew had a newly wed couple in it. Me and Ash were heart broken, but we will never forget exactly how her eyes looked. She had eyes, that only our family could have. Or more specifically, that Shadow has. Dark purple eyes. Eyes that had mischievous, yet uncertain glint in them.” and with that, Violet stopped talking. Ash and Violet looked at me expectantly as I took all of this in. Wait, so that means, that Shadow and I are twins?” I asked. Ash and Violet nodded slowly. I sat there for a minute, speechless. “Huh, well that explains why we look exactly alike.” I laughed uncertainly. “Our parents soon realized it was a mistake, but it was too late to get you back. We have been searching ever since, and now here you are!” Violet exclaimed. Just then Shadow came back. “Hey guys what did I miss?” Violet motioned for me to tell him. “Shadow, did you ever used to have a twin?” I asked him. His eyes saddened. “Yes I did. Why do you ask?” I smiled. “Because you’re looking at her.” His eyes widened, and I could see that he made the connection. He pounced on me and so did Violet and Ash. We pretty much had a giant group hug in the middle of the out door lunch area. People kept giving us strange looks, and then the bell rang. “Azzrealla, do you want to go meet your true parents? Unless of course, you want to keep your current ones…” Violet trailed off. “Did you read the paper about to months ago? About the girl who jumped off the top of an apartment building, but landed on a trampoline, and her only parent was arrested?” she nodded slowly. “That was umm, me. My mother died when I was young, my father was abusive ever since, and I was constantly bullied here. I’m currently living in a foster home.” Violet grabbed my arm, and pulled me to the office. The only lady in there looked at all four of us weirdly. “Can I help you?” She said in a bored tone. “Yes we are leaving the building.” Violet said. I noticed her eyes dilated and changed a bit while she said that. The secretary got a blank look on her face and nodded. “If anyone asks where we are, just tell them we got sick. Understood?” Violet said. The secretary nodded. We walked out of the building and they led me to a black Volkswagen Bug with a convertible top. I ran to it and gave the car a hug. “I love your car!” I practically screamed. They laughed at me and pulled both front seats back. I stuck my tongue out at them, after me and Shadow were literally thrown in the back and strapped in. The front seats were pushed back, and Violet started driving down the road. I didn’t recognize this part of town until I realized we were going up to the Boarding House upstate. Once we parked in the long driveway, the front door opened revealing a Cherry red haired girl, a black haired woman, and a black haired man. Once Ash, Violet, and Shadow got out of the car, the people at the door smiled, until Violet pulled back the other front seat, and pulled me out. Then, the people at the door got a shocked look on their faces and ran down to meet us. “Can it really be you?” the black haired woman asked. Violet nodded and made Shadow stand next to me. They three people gasped. “It really is you!” The black haired woman exclaimed. “I’m your mother, Arabella. This is your father, Victor. And this is your younger sister, Ashlynne. I smiled at all of them. But then I remembered the orphanage. My smile faded as quickly as it had come. Everyone seemed to noticed that something was wrong. I couldn’t hear them, or see them anymore soon. I was having a flash back from the beatings. Pretty soon I was in a pool of darkness, but I could feel myself falling. Until someone caught me. I woke up moments later, inside a house with Shadow carrying me. He didn’t seem to notice that I was awake. I poked him and he smiled at me. “SHE’S AWAKE!” he yelled throughout the house. Everyone came rushing towards us and I motioned for Shadow to put me down. He reluctantly did so but kept his arm firmly around my waist. “What happened outside?!” everyone demanded. I sighed. “I was having a flash back. After my mother died, he became a drunk and beat me. I must’ve fainted. It’s alright everyone, I’m fine.” I just realized that Shadow kept his arm around my waist, because he was afraid I would faint again. I went to put my hair up, using a hair tie I found in my pocket, when everyone gasped. I realized that my sweatshirt sleeves had fallen down, revealing scars. I quickly put my arms down and my sweatshirt sleeves went back where they were supposed to. But not fast enough for them to not figure out what was on my arms. “Why?” is the only thing anyone said. “I couldn’t take it. The pain of being bullied and beaten by your own father was too much. I know I already told this to Violet, Shadow and Ash, but do you know the girl who tried committing suicide a couple months ago?” I said while pointing at myself. They all hugged me for what seemed like hours. And for once, I felt truly and utterly happy. I didn’t feel like I was alone anymore. I felt loved. Later that day Arabella, Victor, Ash, Violet, Shadow, Me, and Ashlynne went back to the orphanage and picked up my stuff. I am now officially Azzrealla Rose Sage. I learned that Shadow was older than me by 1 minute. Pretty soon, Ash was in his senior year, Violet was in her junior year, me and Shadow were in our sophmore year, and Ashlynne was in her freshman year. It’s only been a year, but it feels like I’ve known everyone forever. I’ve adapted to calling Arabella and Victor: mom and dad. They were overjoyed when I first started calling them that. My room at the boarding house is a dark purple color with black and white accents. I have all of my favorite clothes, and I am allowed to go on shopping sprees with Violet and Ashlynne to Hot Topic. I learned that me, Shadow, Ashlynne, Violet and Ash all have the same taste in music and like some of the same bands. I now have more Sleeping With Sirens, Of Mice & Men, Pierce The Veil, Black Veil Brides, Escape The Fate, etc. stuff. Its awesome, it’s the family I’ve always wanted, but could never have. Never give up hope. Hope is a symbol of strength. I’ve just learned this. I finally have a family, and I’m loved. But I’m still alone.
