“Please, no!” Copeland screamed. “Why are you doing this?” the auburn haired little girl asked with tears pouring from her bright green eyes. “I’m so sorry, Copeland,” whispered the black haired boy who was her best friend. The apology in his strange purple eyes was sincere. But it didn’t matter.
“AHHHH!” Copeland woke up gasping for breathe. Her vivid red hair in tangles around her heart shaped face. “Please, stop!” she begged the air around her. She slowly slid from the bed and began her robotic routine. Shower, breakfast, call dad in England, tell him he’s missed, get dressed, fix hair, try to cover up the freckles, put a smile on, and walk to school. Next began her day; blend into the wall even looking like rainbow puke, go to class, eat lunch, keep head down. It was pathetic but by 17, she had her pattern. And now her dad was far away, too far to make her break it. The small British girl didn’t like America, or being alone in it, but she couldn’t go home. Copeland practically crawled to the entrance as the bell rang. She was almost out the doors when she saw a boy about her age starring at her. With weird black cloths, long black hair, pale skin, and skinny, she shrugged him off as just another “goth” kid who was interested in her for her unwanted label as outcast. Copeland walked home utterly bored. “Home sweet home,” she sighed to her empty apartment. She stomped right into her bedroom, flung herself on the bed, and fell asleep.
“MOMMY!”
“Ugh!” Copeland opened her eyes and bit her pillow. When would the nightmares end? She groaned as she realized it was pitch black outside. “What a crazy Friday night for the senior,” she thought. She walked into the living room and froze at the site of dozens of lit candles. Then she spotted the goth guy who’d been starring at her. Only this time he was starring from her couch. “WHO,,,,” she began but was cut off by the boys deep voice. “Hi Landi, howya coping?” Her eyes flew to his and she saw the dark purple. “Kellin?” she choked out. He smiled. “It’s been a while, nine years actually. When I saw you today, I wasn’t even sure it was you at first.” He stood and she was overwhelmed by his height. At 5’4 she’d never felt really short but he was almost a foot taller. This boy who’d haunted her dreams for nine years was no longer a boy; he was much more menacing. Her mind was racing, urging her to do something, anything, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t talk, move, or even breathe properly. He moved to stand right in front of her and touched the ends of her hair. “What’s wrong, Copeland,” he asked almost lovingly. “Nothing to say?” Silent tears streaked her cheeks. “Why?” she asked eyes closed. His hands, so gentle at first, turned vicious as he wrapped his fingers around her roots and pulled her to him. She was expected to be hit, perhaps even stabbed. She had not expected to be kissed or his sigh of relief when he hugged her tightly. “Oh, Copeland, I’ve been looking for so long.” In confusion she looked up at him. “What?” Kellin moved away from her and sat on the table. “I didn’t do it,” he stated simply. “I saw you!” she snarled. “No!” he cried, “You don’t understand. I did NOT kill your mother. Copeland,,, I love you, always have. I would never do anything that would hurt you.” Copeland was sure she was dreaming. She turned away but Kellin lunged up and grabbed her to him. Well, Copeland was wrong and she had been before, so it wasn’t a total surprise when she realized there was no chance she was dreaming. She knew she wasn’t imagining him and didn’t know if she was happy about that or not. She didn’t trust him and he could tell. Nine years of bitterness could not dissipate in just a few minutes, but maybe, just maybe, she would eventually trust him again. She turned her to face him but fell to his knees. “That day,” he began but changed his mind. “I was 9! How do you think I could have overpowered a grown woman, especially one like your mom? My family did this, to her, you, me, to us! I don’t know why but they did. What you saw, that was my attempt to save you, to protect you. Trust me when I say they could have killed you too.” “Why?” she screamed again, feeling far to familiar with the word. Then she felt the back of her head explode in pain and everything went black. She woke later with a throbbing pain. “Owww,” she whined out loud. The ringing in her ears stopped and she heard the screaming sounding very close. “WE HAD A DEAL!” The response was too low to be understood. The door banged open. Too frightened to fain sleep, she just starred at the three people in front of her. She recognized all three of them; Kellin, his black haired mother, Malina, and his 20 year old albino brother, Castor. Copeland held her breath, unsure what was going to happen to her. “Forget it,” Kellin said reaching behind him and pulling an object from his jeans. What happened next was too fast to comprehend. All Copeland knew was that at the end of the day, she regained her trust and lost her fear. She starred blankly at the three body bags that the police had taken out of the collapsing mansion. They hadn’t yet zipped up Malina’s bag. Her blank eyes looked at nothing. Castor’s white/blonde hair was showing through his. Finally she rested her sight on the third and tears sprung to her eyes. She felt a light squeeze on her shoulder. Kellin stood next to her. His posture and expression were calm but his purple pupils stood out from the red around them from crying. She couldn’t even move herself to say she was sorry about his family or that she was glad he wasn’t being prosecuted. Instead she just rattled on about how she felt horrible about the security guard who had heard the shots and lost his life. She wasn’t sure if he was listening. Finally she took a deep breath and murmured, “I love you.” Copeland now held his full attention. From the corner of her eyes she saw him smile. Still looking straight he replied, “I love you too.” Copeland Vic hugged Kellin Quinne, for the first time feeling relief and love in place of fear and betrayal.