The world will come tumbling down around me when what I think is reality is very different than what it actually is.

Dreams are where I hide. Until the morning comes and pulls me from the shadows of peace and happiness. Then I'm forced back into the harsh reality that is my life. This morning is no different. I woke up to the sound of loud silence that seeps out from all the rooms in the house. A silence that I would never break for the life of me. I got ready as I usually did. Dressing in my black skinny jeans, black and purple checkered hoody, and black high tops. It was one of my usual outfits, my style being one of the many particular things about me. I looked in the mirror finding myself staring into a familiar pare of emotionless ice eyes and blinked once, making sure I was still alive. I was, unfortunately. My long boney fingers reached out and wrapped around the liner that was lying next to my brush on my dresser. Drawing thick lines around my eyes, I hid any emotions that leeked through my skin. Sizing up the affect that it had on my face, I shrugged, unsatisfied but then again, it was as good as it was going to get. Without a second thought I left my room, unstartled by what lay before me. Decorating the hall floor that was lined with doors was shattered glass that had yet to be cleaned up from the night before when my mom had slammed her empty beer bottle on the floor. Shaking my head slightly, I pressed on, breaking the glass into meer shards with my converse. Entering the living room, I was met with yet another familiar site. The air was littered with the smell of whiskey. My mom was passed out on the couch, burried in her mass of red hair. To any normal person, it would be a horrifying scene. To someone who has lived here their whole life, speaking from experience, you get used to it. Still, all around, it was nothing less than pathetic. Quietly I made my way to the front door and stepped into the outside world with no relief in leaving the place I was forced to call home, knowing that eventually I would have to return.

My house looked welcoming and homey on the outside. That was one of its many tricks to lure people in their before it releashes its wrath on the poor unsuspecting. I pulled my hood over my head and walked down street after street with my hands in my pockets. There was nobody out that I could see which was strange because it was at least eleven. Though I didn't mind the silence and the air was clean. There was no smoke coming from anybody's houses or cigarettes, no trails of car engine gas streaking the streets. It is almost peaceful. After a while, I finally made it to the park. My park. It was old and rusted so nobody ever went near it, seeing it as a danger zone. It only has a few swings, a couple twisted slides and a jungle gym with monkey bars that had a few bars missing. I went over and sat on one of the three swings. There was no wind and clouds filled the sky, blocking out the sun that kept threatining to peek out. I looked at the swing to the left of me and a tear theatened to fall from my eye. That was Lily's swing. I remember when we were fourteen and we found this place. She called it our park since it was damaged but still valuable to some. I rember when we first sat on these swings and I loved having a twin sister. We made our lives bareable for each other. Never ever could you seperate us. Until a year after that on our fifteenth birthday, I woke up and ran over to her bed to pounce on her only to find that she wasn't there. I searched for her everywhere and I didn't find her. I didn't give up hope. Lily would never want me to. After three weeks, I was still looking, desperately needing my best friend. After a month had passed, I had completely given up. All my hope was gone. All the hope that had stayed with me while she was around, had vanished.

I kept staring and I imagined her there, her blue eyes lit ablaze with wonder. She always seemed to be more free in her state of mind, her hope holding her up higher than me. She turned to me. "Don't worry Violet. We'll be free someday. I'm sure of it" she said, her voice light and believable as always. Everyday we would come here and she would say that. I blinked twice, holding back tears as her image faded away. I couldn't help but wonder if she had gotten away. If she had ran away instead of being kidnapped or worse. But then I thought, if she had, why hadn't she come back for me? Streams started to pour down my face, uncontrollably. I felt a gust of icy wind snipe my back and I shivered. I felt a little on edge for some reason. It was like there was a presence that was unfamiliar. There was a whisper on the wind that I almost hadn't caught. "Shh, don't cry. All will be well soon." The voice was soothing but I was anything but calm. Right at that moment, needles were being pushed into my neck, I bit my lip to keep myself from crying out in pain and the next thing I new, darkness sorounded me.

Violet