The Artist

"Freak."

It was a dark and stormy night... vicious rain poured down on a helpless little girl, lying alone on the sidewalk. Shadowy figures towered over her with threatening glances.

Well at least in my painting they did.

"Well that's unsettling." I mumbled.

Todays piece scared me a little, I hate rain.
As I stared at it I wondered where this emotion came from. I wasn't feeling particularly gloomy tonight. But I wasn't happy either. I just felt... meh. Like I had eaten an expired candy and it had left a weird taste in my mouth. And no matter what I tried, the taste just didn't go away.

I wouldn't have guessed that weird-tasting-expired-candy would have looked so scary.

But something inside me said there was more to it. Maybe my heart knew something I didn't. I sat up from my overly used desk chair and walked over to the food-themed calendar.

I love food.

The month of June was pinned up revealing the burgers of July.

I scanned my fingers along the dates until my eyes landed on the one circled in bright red.

July 7.

Well that explained the horror movie on my canvas.

I stepped away from the calendar and walked over to my bed. I leapt onto my newly washed sheets and breathed in the smell of freshness. There is nothing better than clean sheets.

From my bed, I glanced up at the little girl in my painting and let out a long sigh, along with a few tears. I remember that night so clearly.

8 years on this day

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey.."

I sang the familiar lullaby as I danced with my doll in light sprinkling rain. I looked towards the sky and smiled.

Rainy days were always my favorite.

"Ari!" My gaze shifted away from the sky and onto my best friend who was accompanied by some of his older brothers. I frowned at this, seeing as they were incredibly rude jerks. But I smiled once my eyes landed on Ricky.

"Hi Ricky!" We ran to each other with wide smiles, both excited to see the other.

"Awww, look at the little lovebirds." This was said by 13-year-old, Jack, who was by far the most annoying person I had ever met.

"Shut up Jack!" I winced at Ricky's use of, at the time, crude words.

"Whatever," Jack walked over to me, "Whatcha got there Ariiii?" Another brother, Mark I think, said my name teasingly as he pointed at my doll.

I smiled down at her. "This is Bella."

"Can I play with Bella?" He asked in a sickly sweet voice.

I, too young to see through the façade, really thought he just wanted to play with me. "Sure!"

I should've known better. Maybe then things would have turned out differently. Maybe then I would still have a home..

He grabbed the doll from me and threw it to Jack. Then Ricky threw it back to Mark, and so on. I saw that they were playing catch with her and got upset. Ricky looked as though he wanted to help but wasn't sure what to do.

"Stop! She doesn't like that!"

"No, I think she does. In fact, I think my friend Bella would like to go for a swim!" Jack smiled wickedly at Mark as they both looked at the deep, muddy puddle in the grass.

"NO!" I ran over to Jack and tried, to no avail, to get Bella out of his grasp.

"Please! Give her back! Ricky! Help me!" He looked up at the shout of his name and then glanced at his brothers who stared him down. He looked back to me and shook his head.

"Sorry," He mumbled.

His brothers chuckled and Jack threw Bella to Mark who then tossed her into the puddle.

Time seemed to stop as I watched Bella land hopelessly in the brown, murky water.

I felt deep sadness, but more than anything, I felt pure anger that burned in my soul. I screamed as I felt something I never had. Power. It coursed through me until I felt it exit my body in the form of bright red shards that looked sharp enough to pierce straight through a person.

And they did exactly that.

I watched as all five of the shards landed in Mark, immediately bringing his life to a sudden halt. His body dropped to the concrete ground with a silent thud. What have I done?

Ricky and Jack both screamed when they realized what had just happened.

"What did you do!" This was Ricky. I could see in his teary eyes that he was angry, and afraid.

"You monster!" Jack came closer to me with even more anger in his eyes and I could tell he wanted to hurt me.

"I-I didn't mean to.. I'm so sorry..." I looked down at Mark's lifeless body that was now leaking crimson.

"You're sorry! My brother is dead because of you! And you're gonna pay." He brought his fist back and landed a rough blow onto my jaw that was followed by a crack. I tried fighting back, but the power I once felt was nowhere to be found. How convenient.

I screamed in pain and begged for him to stop, but he didn't. He beat me until every bone in my body felt broken and I'm sure my face was beyond recognition.

How I didn't die that day is a mystery to me. I wish I did. Every day.. I wish I did.

I pleaded for Ricky to help me but he just laid there by his dead brother, and held him, still in shock. I'm not sure if he even heard me, but if he did, he must've hated me enough to want his brother to kill me.

Once Jack was done he spat on me and with hate in his voice he said, "Monster."

With one more kick he was convinced I was dead and walked away from me and called for Ricky.

Ricky looked up from Mark's body, fresh tears in his eyes, and glanced up at Jack. Jack grabbed Ricky by the hand and began to walk away. When Ricky looked back at my body on the ground, his eyes filled with panic and he tried to run to me but Jack roughly picked him up and kept on walking.

"She got what she deserved."