One X - Chapter One

Feet pounding against the soft grass, the girl glanced behind her, wiping a small trace of blood from her cheek. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and EVERYTHING hurt. Not from the running. She could easily handle the running.  It was simply the knowledge of what was to come. She knew all to well the pain that would be her  punishment for running. But maybe he would get the point - MAYBE he’d stop and leave her alone. But…he hadn’t before. He hadn’t two years ago when this had began.

She groaned, ducking behind a trash can by the disgusting pizza place - the only one the damn town had.

The Girl had a name.
Melody Harrison.
She had an age.
16.
And she had several issues that we’ll eventually cover.

Her name didn’t really suit her appearance if you were to ask her. Her jeans were black and ripped, her lip pierced, her ears pierced, her dark eyes narrowed and her jacket tight - even though it was well over ninety degrees out. She was also very pretty if you looked passed that piercings, and the eyeliner which made her eyes look darker than average. Her skin was flawless, and her hair soft and sleek. All in all if she didn’t wear all the things she could do to impair her beauty, and she wasn’t such a smart ass - she would have been gorgeous.

Unfortunately, as she leaned against the trash can and lit herself a cigarette, she proved that she had many flaws indeed. Growling slightly, she blew the smoke from the side of her mouth and glanced around for any sign of a police officer. Seeing none, she flicked the cigarette onto the ground, took off her jacket to reveal a black anarchy shirt underneath, and ran once more, her legs carrying her father than she had ever expected them to take her.

Why was she running? Well…the answer was both simple, and difficult. A long and short answer. The short would have to do for now. After all, she was in a hurry. If she didn’t…he could find her.

Mel…had a boyfriend. One…that seemed to have made a gradual change that she had become aware of just last year. One that she could do absolutely nothing about…

She ran steadily across the street, narrowly avoiding a speed car that was going at least twice the speed limit, and cursing violently. That was until she skidded into the quiet suburbia. The houses there were more or less the name. It was about ten acres of pure suburbia. Pure innocence.

She stood out.
But then…didn’t she always?

Her feet tapped softly against the ground, and she looked around. Febuary. Her birthday had been the day before. Yet it was still seventy degrees.

Well what’d you expect Harrison? It’s South Texas for Christ’s sake.

She scowled, shaking her head and continuing her way down the street as darkness began to fall. She always preferred it at night though. The night hid the terrible truth that day burned into your memory. Anyway, she never remembered him hurting her at night. It always seemed that she was dragged away during the day, and then gone crawling home at night.

Home.

She frowned, walking down each identical street, passed each identical bungalow, until she stumbled onto a much older…much different street. Where the trees grew crooked, and tall, some literally burrowing into the ground and coming out again feet away from where they’d entered. They were great for climbing. Amazing actually.

It was her favorite thing to do.

She sighed, and stopped right in front of the largest, and oldest House on the Street.

Ingleside Girl’s Orphanage

She sighed, and scrambled up one of the tallest, thickest, and most crooked trees, one that lead straight up to a large room, with cream wallpaper. Wallpaper with water stains that stretched up to the ceilings. A carpet that was peeling. A bed that was small, and could only really fit one person, and various posters of bands pinned to the walls.

None of this mattered though.
What mattered was the small, thin, ill looking girl that was sitting on the bed, and gazed up at Mel with wide, green eyes. She couldn’t have been older than six. “He hurt you again didn’t he?” She mumbled, before coughing gently.

Mel winced, shuffling her feet. “Tia…go back to bed. You’ll get sick again. Then I’ll feel bad for you getting sick, and I’ll end up ditching school for you again.”
“He makes you skip anyway though.” The little girl noted, the smallest of smiles flittering across her pale face. Almost as though she would win something for stating the truth.

“Get out.” Mel stated this coldly, gently taking the small girls arm, as though terrified of breaking her. And she was. Tia…Tia was a very ill little girl. She suffered from an illness that made her bruise easily, and when she was cut she couldn’t stop bleeding. She had to get blood transfusions because of how bad it got at times. IT was a disease that only boys were supposed to get. IT wasn’t’ supposed to happen to her. She was too nice. Too sweet. Too smart to have it happen to her. She was smarter than some children twice her age. But…as if the rest wasn’t enough…she was also going to die. One dose of bad blood had given the girl AIDS. And one dose of bad blood still wasn’t enough to stop Mel from liking her.

“Why? You’re hurt. You just winced. See?”

“Venetia Myhre if you DON’T get back to bed right now I SWEAR to god I’ll drag you there - regardless if I hurt you.”

Tia frowned up at Mel, and sighed. “Okay…okay fine. Yes MA’M. I’ll go back to -” She was cut off by a coughing fit, before she stumbled out, and back to her room.

Mel groaned and slammed the door behind the girl, to fall down onto her bed and bury her face into a pillow.

Yes Mel was hurt. Yes it was because of HIM. And yes…she wanted to get out and run as fast as she could. But there was no getting over that. She couldn’t run. IF she didn’t go to him he’d come to her, and that was twice as bad, Mel knew.

But who was HE?

Well…his name…was Fletcher.
And he wasn’t the kindest face on the planet. At first he had seemed that way. He had swept her off her feet, given her more than she had even imagined…but then…within a month…he became abusive, and within a year, he forced her to do things…forced her to give herself to him almost every time they were together. And when she had last tried to run..to avoid him…he…he had not only taken her back, he had kept her for three days, and allowed a friend of his to join in. He was cruel…he was manipulative…and Mel had no proof of what he did. Because…even though the pain was real…there were no wounds. Even though she was left wincing for days…there were no bruises or cuts on her for evidence…

And the fact that he had gotten her hooked on Ecstasy didn’t help at all. Who would believe her? She had always been the troublemaking freak of her town.

The girl sighed, and slipped under the covers…terrified to even take off her clothes.
She closed her eyes…and fell asleep, dreading the day that was going to come.



THREE WEEKS LATER

Mel woke to a different smell. Instead of the smell of blood…it was a light…earthy smell. She frowned, not opening her eyes. Gently, she reached under the blankets and pinched her thigh.

“OW!” She yelped, sitting up and opening her eyes.

Nothing different. Her room. Same room. Just nicer today. Why? She didn’t know. But something…just wasn’t right.

She glanced at her alarm clock and swore bitterly. She’d missed the bus again. She’d screwed up again. She was probably going to be expelled today because of her horrible attendance record. Oh, and on top of all that - Tia was sick again. She frowned, and climbed out the window, still dressed in the clothes she’d worn yesterday, and sitting back in her tree, thinking carefully.

It had happened again yesterday. Only this had been different. She’d been sitting in this very tree, waiting. What for she didn’t know. Just waiting. And…a woman had approached the house. Gosh she’d been pretty. And a bit snooty too. An adorable kitten and decided to rat Mel out. Of course she’d had no choice but to speak to the woman, and of course she was rude. What else could she do? What kind of weirdo just randomly approaches an orphanage.

But this was worse. The woman had gone inside HER house. Her place of dwelling had been broken into by some weird red-head, and the temperature had dropped by twenty degrees out of nowhere. Something which made her scowl horribly. Even worse was that just moments later Fletcher had decided to arrive…demanding what he usually demanded…without verbally demanding it. He had simply kissed her…and forced some weird drug down her throat that had made her completely out of it. She didn’t remember much, just the sudden pain that had corsed through her body, and realizing what was happening again.

But again…it was different. That night…she’d had a dream…about…the red head…and about…a man. A man with deep blue eyes, and black hair. He was…well…he was attractive, but in his mid-twenties at least. This was different…because Melody had never had a dream. And this was different…

Because the man was making his way up the street to where she sat in her tree.

She stared down at him, her eyes wide. At first…from a distance he’d almost looked like Fletcher. But then she saw his blue eyes…and suddenly understood. Fletcher’s eyes were actually a deep dark color…almost red in a certain light. But these were blue, and even though she was safely hidden, they were gazing directly at her. She stared at the extremely tall man as he slowly made his way towards where she sat in the tree, and rocked back on his heals.

“You know I can see you…right?” His voice was soft, English, and there was the smallest of smirks on his face.

“Umm…” Mel frowned, and climbed down slowly from the tree, staring at him.

“Don’t ask, just pack your things. We’re going to have to get going soon.” He stated as soon as her feet touched the ground. She stared at him.

“Wait…what?”

He sighed irritably, and pushed her into the empty decaying house, up the stairs, and into her room. “Can you multi-task?” He asked, raising an eyebrow and running a hand through his black hair.

She stared, still slightly dazed, wondering why the hell she was trusting this complete stranger. But…there was something about him. Something that was different. Something that reminded her of her.

She frowned, tugging at one of her small, abnormally pointy ears, and picking up an few clothes in her hands, “umm…I guess so. Wait - hold up. Who the hell are you? Who do you think you are, storming in here and demanding that I pack up my shit because you want me to come with you. I’m not going to jump just cause you say so captain ego-trip.” And thus began the sacred task of allowing her mouth to run off without her.

But instead of hitting her, as so many others had done, the man simply laughed, and shook his head. “I’m family Mel.” His voice was soft, and he examined her closely, “distant family…but family all the same. I’ve been tracking you down for months now…and damn it - I want to get you away from that bloody maniac that you keep bending over for.”

Mel winced, and obediently began packing, listening to him speak.

“You’re…you’re not Normal Mel. I’m sure you’ve figured that out by now. And…you’ve been pushed around by Fletcher for two years now…even he knows that you’re special. You’re…you’re not…you’re not human.”

That last bit caught Mel’s attention, and she stared at him. “Are you high or something dude?” She snapped, throwing a shirt into her trunk. “What the hell do you mean - I’m not human?”

The man sighed, and grabbed her arm. “Screw your luggage, I’ll get her to buy you something nice when we get there.”

“What!? Who? How? Where?” Mel stared at the man, struggling against his tight, firm grip…before suddenly a strange ripping sensation took place inside of her, as though she was being forced through a very small, very tight tube. She gasped, finding it almost impossible to breath as she clutched at the stranger’s arm, her dark eyes widening before suddenly…it all stopped, and she clung on tightly to whoever he was for support, whimpering.

“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?” What would have been a yell faded into a stage whisper as he let her go, and she fell down.

“Melody Harrison…open your eyes…and look around you. This…should be proof…”

Mel frowned, realizing that she had her eyes closed, and opening them slowly to take in the area around her. She was laying on a soft, cream carpet, her dark eyes barely managing to take in her surroundings. The walls were a rich, warm blue, with a pretty pattern on them, and to her left was the man, leaning against the wall next to a door.

1313

She stared at the number, blinking, and attempted to stand, using the doorknob for support.

“Who…are you?”

“Ebberon.” He mumbled, taking out a key from his apartment, and pausing to stare at the door. After several seconds he knocked steadily, and yawned, grabbing Mel’s arm and tearing her away from the door. Before the girl could even say anything, he kicked it open, and smirked.

“And this…is number 1313 Dark Day Suites, London, England. And you’re new home…”