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Description
Melody's hair on the back of her neck tingled as she arose from her sleep. Shivers crept up and down her spine as she felt the sudden suspicion she was being watched. Peering into the darkness that surrounded her, she couldn't see anything and she tried to shake off the feeling by telling herself she was just cold from wearing wet clothes. Her internal clock told her it was nearing sunrise soon and Melody sighed, knowing as soon as the sun came up she would never be able to go back to sleep. The feeling of being watched resurfaced as another set of shivers sped up and down her spine.
"I am just being paranoid," she thought to herself as she sat upright on the bench and stretched out her sore, frail body.
Her pale skin glowed as the now clear sky revealed a full moon and millions of stars overhead, keeping Melody company in the dark of the night. Her hair was no longer wet and she smoothed out the tangles to return it to its straight manner, once more reminding herself to dye her hair. Birds chirped in the canopy of trees as the world began to wake. Just as all fear had left Melody's thoughts a cold, wet hand clamped down tightly on her shoulder. Mortified, she looked down at the hand and to her horror; it was covered in crimson blood.
"Hello sweetheart," a voice from behind her called out.
Melody's body froze up and she slowly looked to the corner of her eye. Only a glimpse of the figure could be seen from the angle it was standing at and darkness provided by the trees shielded his face. Her heartbeat and breathing increased for a moment as adrenaline kicked in, but she calmed her mind and managed to relax in the stressful situation. In the blink of an eye, Melody grabbed the dripping hand and threw the stranger over her head. A gasp of surprise burst from the shadow's lips and then a gasp of pain as he collided with a series of trees. Melody pounced upon the figure, straddling his body with her legs and using her arms to hold them down. Melody grabbed the hair of her unfortunate victim and pulled it up to the light streaming in from overhead. A pair of bloody fangs were before her eyes along with a familiar face.
"I thought you could see the future," Devan gasped as Melody's grip tightened on his body and started to cut off the circulation in his arm.
Melody pushed his body away with surprising force as she leaped away, landing perfectly on her feet while he crashed into more tree trunks. Groaning slightly, Devan used his sharp, glass-like fingernails to pull out bits of bark that had been wedged into his flesh from the impact.
"Why were you following me?" Melody asked monotonously as she picked dried bits of blood off her body and glared at Devan.
"I was worried about you," he said as he walked towards her slowly, "please don't run away again."
Melody had considered running away ages ago, but Devan was too close to her artwork and she refused to leave without it. What could he possibly say or do to help her? Nothing, because Melody did not want help and would not accept it.
"I won't run away," Melody said slowly, "what were you really doing out this late at night?"
"First thing," Devan gasped as he withdrew his fangs, "it is almost morning and not so much night and I have been spending the majority of the night looking for you."
"Sure," Melody said as she rolled her eyes, "and you just happened to get blood all over your body."
"That's not what happened and you know I'm not like that," Devan sighed as a moment from that night replayed in his mind.

Screams echoing in the distance and drunken laughs filled the hostile air as he raced past the trees.
"Scream for me bitch," a voice slurred and was instantly followed by more blood-curling screams.
Devan came upon the scene presently and hid in the safe shadows of the trees. A helpless little girl, only seven year old, stood beneath two power-hungry men, her clothes scattered upon the crimson ground around her and blood spilling from her broken body.
"Sick bastards," Devan mumbled as a sharp point burst on his back and black wings protruded from his back.
They were made of black feathers except for the tips that were crimson red and when Devan needed them to be, the wings could turn razor-sharp. His nails began to grow and soon they shimmered and became as hard as diamonds and grew as sharp as broken glass. His teeth did the same and fangs poked the inside of his mouth. Devan sighed as he became a creature of the night, prone to be a slave for all eternity for the lust of human blood and flesh. Walking silently out of the shadows he tapped the larger of the men on his back. The man spun around; clutching the knife he had been slashing the girl and the girl's clothes with firmly, and faced the creature with fierce, drunken eyes.
"What the hell do you want?" he rasped through a mouthful of vodka, spewing Devan's face with the vile drink.
Anger consumed Devan's mind at the thought of these powerful men raping this harmless, innocent girl and he thrust his fangs into a large vein running up the man's neck, drinking deeply. The other man sobered up rapidly and made a move to flee, but with one quick motion Devan snapped the first man's neck and threw him on the ground. He appeared right in front of the second man, smirking as he grabbed the man and dragged him back to his child victim.
"What the fuck is your problem?" he screamed as he grabbed the knife from the first man and slashed open the second man's chest, "do find some sick sense of pleasure in this?"
The man gasped as blood spewed out the cut in his chest and, judging by the hollow and frantic rasping in the man's chest, Devan guessed he had torn a lung.
The man tried to stutter an apology, but Devan slammed his head mercilessly into a rock and screamed, "Sorry won't undo what you've done!!"
Blood lust consumed his body and with one last deep breath, he plunged his fangs into the second man's neck and tasted the sweet liquid that kept him alive. The girl's screams still filled the area as she watched in grotesque fascination at the new creature she had to fear and the old horror stories about vampires that had filled her childhood came to life in front of her eyes. Squirming helplessly like a fish out of water beneath Devan's firm grasp, the second man slowly stopped moving as the loss of blood kicked in. With a sharp gasp, Devan reared up from the man's body and, fingering the knife passionately, he slashed his flesh open, causing more blood to flow up and splatter all over Devan's body. Eventually, Devan returned to reality and turned to face the girl in grave condition.
"Are you okay?" he whispered in a concerned voice as he edged closer.
The blood-covered child twisted slightly as she attempted to get away from the monster in front of her, but she had lost too much blood and energy from fighting her rapists and she slowly slipped away from the living world before Devan could help.
Devan looked at his body in shame, withdrawing his wings and fangs, and he walked away from the scene with blood dripping down his hands as he whispered quietly to the girl, "I'm sorry I couldn't save you."

Devan shook his head forcefully as he tried to push these memories away and he said, "You don't understand what happened and you know that's not how I am."
"Really," Melody said through a dry laugh, "how do I know you don't just say you kill the sinners and that you don't really kill the innocent?"
"The same way I know that you don't use your abilities as a dark angel to harm people," Devan said, "we have to trust each. We agreed to always trust each other when we first met. Now will you please trust me enough to let me help you?"
Melody's eyes narrowed slightly as she clinched her fingernails into her palms; a trick she had learned at the mental hospital to keep her urge to harm herself at a minimal. "Why does everyone think I need help?" she thought in her head "Is it because my way of dealing with the pain inside of me is so different and "wrong" that the only explanation is that something must be "wrong" with me and that I need help? Do they want me to keep all my emotions and feeling bottled up inside of my soul until I reach the breaking point?"
Melody pulled out of her thoughts as Devan pleaded, "At least talk to me."
Melody sighed and said calmly, "I can't deal with this right now, but I promise that we will talk later. I can't promise all the answers to your questions though."
"Why not now?" Devan asked.
"Because I need to get home and deal with my mother before she figures out you checked me out illegally," Melody smirked, "and it is coming close to sunrise and I just thought it would be awkward for you to walk around covered in blood."
Devan weakly smiled and said, "I guess that's true, but at least let me walk you home. You never know what kind of monsters are out there."
Melody laughed, surprised that she could actually laugh and smile so much, and she whimpered in an obviously fake miserable face, "Fine."
Devan laughed and picked up Melody's duffel bag, careful to not squish its precious contents and he strolled silently out of the park with her. Their feet shuffled on the sidewalk as the sky gradually began to light up and beams of red, pink, and orange painted the sky in specks and the vibrant blue of the sky returned. It was a strange thing to miss, a simple sunrise and the daytime sky, but Melody stared in fascination at the wonder in ahead of her and couldn't believe that she had almost forgotten what a sunrise was like early in the morning when the rest of the world was asleep. In the mental hospital they seemed to live in their own world and a beautiful thing like a sunrise didn't exist. Freedom was such a wonderful gift to posses and not many people were thankful for it and now that Melody was free from that place, she promised herself that she would never go back. Melody's house appeared presently and it was easy to recognize. Melody lived in a neighborhood that valued perfection and a good appearance, so their houses and lawns reflected that with every family having beautiful gardens, flowers always in bloom, precisely trimmed lawns, and such a majestic and ideal feeling to the outside of their house that a person would feel like they were passing by a perfect family's house. Of course, Melody's family was not perfect and their lawn accurately represented that. The lawn was overgrown with weeds, all flowers had withered and died, paint was peeling off the filthy walls, and the car parked outside looked as if it could break apart any second. All of these things combined made the house look like a disgrace and that it was owned by scum. Melody sighed at her mother's laziness and turned to face Devan.
"Thanks for walking me home," she whispered as she peered around for any of the neighbor's wandering eyes, "and I'm sorry I hurt you."
Devan rubbed the places the trees had impacted him, making a mental note to never sneak up on Melody ever again, and he said, "It's alright and I'm sorry for upsetting you earlier. I just wanted to know the truth about why you were taken away."
Melody nodded her head as she pushed a strand of her hair behind her ears and said, "I can't really say sorry for leaving, but I'm sorry for over-reacting and running away from you. It's hard for me to express my feelings to other people."
"I know," Devan said, "call me when you are ready to talk."
He turned and walked away from her front door and out into the alleys, disappearing into darkness and fading from Melody's sight. Sighing softly, knowing the hell she was about to go through, Melody opened the front door, wincing at the creaking sound the rusty hinges made, and walked into the house. It looked just like the day she had left almost, except it looked like she had never lived there. The few pictures of her that had been on the mantel over the fireplace had disappeared mysteriously and had been replaced with pictures of her mother. She had been disowned from the family, if it could even be called that, but it didn't bother her so much since this was not her real mother. From as long as Melody could remember she had been shipped around from foster home to foster home and the only difference about this lady was that she had actually put up with her with some desperate hope she could save the forsaken teenager. Melody strolled over to the pictures and stared at her "mother". Her name was Myra and she was what appeared to be a perfect mom, but Melody knew better. Myra had perfectly straight, beach blonde hair that was cut off a little below her shoulders and she had bright blue eyes that shined like diamonds. Her face was the most perfect shape and she always managed to apply pink eye-shadow, pink lip-gloss, and pink blush and make it go with everything she wore. A long chain hung from the wall nearby and a silver cross swung freely in the air. Myra was very religious and always dragged Melody off to church to be "saved" and helped, but Melody used her fake happiness act there as well to get them to leave her alone. Myra was nothing but a hypocrite, always saying how good and Christian she was when she was, in fact, one of the biggest sinners Melody had ever seen. Perhaps it was Myra's religion and feeling that it was her duty to help her, but she had kept Melody for the longest out of her foster parents and Melody feared that adoption was nearing rapidly.
"What are you doing here?" a voice cried out from behind her, a high-pitched voice that could only belong to her Myra, and Melody spun around to face her.
"I'm back," she shrugged casually, taking delight in Myra's frightened expression. "I am healed of my sickness," she said sarcastically as she walked closer to Myra, hoping she would move so Melody could get to her room.
"You know I could call child services and they could take your ungrateful ass away," Myra said as she moved in the middle of the hallway to block Melody's way, "I'm sure they would enjoy to learn about your problems."
"Then who would you have to do all of your work," Melody snapped as Myra's boney hand collided with her check. The force of the impact threw Melody over the couch and sent her sprawling onto the wooden floor and scraping off patches of her skin.
"Don't you talk back to me," Myra threatened smugly as she waved a finger over Melody's collapsed figure, "I could just as easily send you back off to that run-down orphanage house I found you in. You should be grateful I accepted you into my family, but you just bitch about every little thing I ask of you to do." Pacing around the room, Myra stopped to finger her blessed cross on the wall before saying, "I am off to church to lead a prayer group for troubled youth and I want this house spotless by the time I come home. We have guests coming over tonight and I want you to behave your best or else."
Myra causally stepped over Melody's limp figure and left the house while giving one last threatening glare at Melody, showing that she was serious. Melody sighed and pulled herself off the ground, examining the scraped skin on her elbows. She pressed a finger briefly and felt the pain ripple up and down her arm. Savoring the tingling feeling, Melody knew she had been lucky to catch Myra in a good mood when she hadn't been drinking. "Why do I keep on living here if it is a living hell?" Melody thought to herself, "because I can't go back to the orphanage which is far worse than here." This had been the one place that she had lived in that Melody had made friends and the orphanage was just like the mental hospital, a prison. If worse came to worse then she could always run away from Myra's house. Suddenly remembering something, Melody grabbed her duffel bag and ran down the hall to her room. Opening the door she looked around and cursed, Myra had gone through all of her stuff. Melody quickly inspected all of her stuff and found nothing of great importance to be missing. All of her CDs, artwork, and other valuables were safely hidden away. Melody reached into the darkness of her closet and lifted up a loose floorboard, placing it carefully beside her body, and took out a box. It had been a gift from her first foster parent, Eva. Melody traced the fine lines and swirls that embroidered the box, the flowers and stars that had been so perfectly embellished, and her name at the very top. Melody had wanted to live with Eva so bad. She had been like a mother to Melody, loving her unconditionally and treating her like her very own child. Eva had made Melody forget why she had to have a foster mother in the first place and she had made her feel happy once again, like nothing could go wrong in the world.

Melody came panting into Eva's room, jumping on her fluffy bead, and she hugged the figure underneath the sheets.
"Get up mama," she said as she continued jumping on the bed, her French-braided, and then blonde, hair waving wildly around in the air.
Melody had always called her Mama, wishing that Eva could have been her real mother when she had been growing up and thinking that if she called her Mama that maybe Eva would adopt her and become her mother. Eva moved under the sheets slightly and Melody stopped jumping to watch intently for her to get up. Suddenly, Eva pounced from under the blankets and tackled Melody on the bed.
"What do you think you are doing," she said as she gave the squealing child butterfly kisses and tickled her.
"Stop it," Melody giggled and crawled desperately off the bed, "let's go to the park mama."
Eva shook her head and said slowly, "I just need to sleep."
"You've slept the whole day away though," Melody whined.
"That's because I can never sleep at night," Eva sighed and turned herself over and wrapped the blue and turquoise blanket tighter around her shivering body.
"What's wrong mama?" Melody said as she crawled under the blanket with Eva, "you've been acting funny."
Looking into Melody's innocent, blue eyes that were so full of life, Eva forced a smile and lied, "Nothing is wrong baby."
Melody looked at Eva and knew she was lying to her, having been lied to millions of times in her life at the orphanage when visiting families had promised to adopt her. "You're lying to me," Melody said softly, "you said that we didn't keep anything from each other and that there were no secrets."
Eva looked out the full-length window and the curtains billowing in the breeze and at the almost bare room around her before saying, "I just don't think I've been the best mother for you."
"No, you are the best mother in the world," Melody said as her eyes widened frightfully.
Eva shook her head, placing her frail hands on her head as if trying to hold the pieces of her life together, and she said, "No, you deserve someone so much better than me. You need someone who can give you the best possible life and give you the love you deserve."
"Do you not love me?" Melody said as her lip trembled slightly and tears rose to her eyes.
"No, I love you more than life itself," Eva gasped and pulled her into a tight embrace, "but I just can't go on anymore."
Melody couldn't understand what she was saying, but she could feel the pain in Eva's voice and she began to cry.
"Just stay here with me for tonight," Eva said as she stroked Melody's pale face and looked out at the sunset from the window, "just don't leave me alone."
Melody nodded her head rapidly and held the only mother she knew close to her body, never wanting to let her go. Melody woke up a few hours later around midnight and felt disturbed by the unevenness in the air. A strange peace filled the air along with an almost deafening silence that frightened Melody.
Reaching over to tap Eva, she whispered, "Mama, are you awake?"
Her skin was cold and seemed empty of life.
"Mama?" Melody gasped as panic began to take over her.
Pulling the body to face her, Melody saw empty, lifeless eyes staring into hers, seeming to pierce her soul, and not a movement coming from her mama's limp body.
"Wake up mommy," she cried as she tried to shake her as she had done earlier that day.
A bottle of pills were sprawled across the bed-side table next to the telephone and Melody remembered to call 911 in case she needed help.
"Hello 911," the voice on the other end said cheerfully.
"Help me please," Melody cried into the receiver, "it's my mommy. She won't wake up."
"Hold on," the operator said panicky, "where do you live?"
Melody stammered out the address she had memorized when she had hoped that it would someday be her address and the operator said for her to stay on the line and that someone was on their way.
"Will they fix my mommy?" Melody sobbed in the speaker.
"I'm afraid she's dead," the voice tried to say as nicely as they could, but the realization hit Melody hard and caused her drop the phone.
"Wake up mommy," she sobbed as she shook her even more until she collapsed next to her mama's body on the bed.
The tears had stopped flowing and Melody finally realized that it was just like what had happened with her real mother and that Eva was not going to wake up. It was back to the orphanage for her where all the other kids made fun of her and she might never have another home again. Melody looked out at the billowing curtains and the window that Eva had warned her against playing near so many times. The night was so calming, almost like out-stretching a hand and inviting her to join it. Melody stumbled weakly over to the window and undid the locks with trembling fingers, pulling the window up to her full height. Looking down at the long drop below her and the rocks that lay waiting, Melody spread her arms out slightly.
"Look mommy, I'm your little angel," she whispered to Eva, remembering that Eva had always called her an angel.
Would this take Melody to her mother and Eva and would everything be better? Melody didn't have a chance to find out as a startled gasp broke the silence and the hands of a paramedic grasped her body, pulling her away from the window.
"No, mommy," Melody cried as she reached out a hand to Eva and the paramedic pulled her away out of the room.

Melody's body shook as she fingered the box and opened it. The glitter of various sharp objects caught the light coming in from the sun outside and calmed Melody. She grabbed her favorite razorblade and pulled down her pants to reveal her heavily scarred thighs. She laughed bitterly at Dr. Carter for thinking that his useless words could keep her from her destructive behavior.
Tears rolling down her eyes, Melody's voice wavered as she sang softly, "Watch me fault her. You're living like a disaster. She said kill me faster with strawberry gashes all over."
A familiar prick tingled on her skin as blood rose to the surface and painted her pale white skin like it was a canvas. Crimson rolled down her leg and with it all of Melody's built up pain and distress from the long time encaged in the prison. Digging deeper into her soul, Melody watched all feeling roll away and collect on her floor as her head began to feel light. What would Eva think of her now and what Melody had resorted to in order to keep herself alive? Melody snapped out of her trance and pressed her fingers against the profusely bleeding wound. She frantically grabbed a tissue from nearby and pressed it over the cut, not knowing when Myra would come home or how long it would take her to clean the house. Blood soon leaked through the tissue and Melody grabbed a new one as she began cleaning up the mess she had made on the wooden floor. Wrapping gauze quickly around the wound, Melody finished her clean-up job on the floor, but left the blood to dry against her skin. Melody grabbed her iPod from the hole in the floor she had saved her money up for ages to get and she quickly turned on the calming tunes of her music. Artwork was also jammed into the hole along with money that Melody had collected in case she ever needed to run. Other objects were in there as well, but Melody did not have the time to look through everything if she wanted Myra to leave her alone that night. Melody quickly cleaned the house to make it suitable for guests. Melody returned to her room, straightening it out from where Myra had messed it up, and placed the board back over her secret hole. Looking up into her closet, Melody picked out a dark red corset top with black strings going across it on the sides and small black flowers in the top right corner. She then picked out a pair of black pants with cargo pockets on the sides and red outlining the edges. Picking out a handful of black and red bracelets, she put them on each arm to hide the scars. Melody then grabbed her long silver earrings that had a small dice and a few stars dangling and put them in, thankful she could still put her favorite earrings in after not having worn any earrings at the mental hospital because they were "hazardous." After quickly applying black eyeliner and brushing her hair, she deemed herself ready to meet her Myra's guests. Myra probably wouldn't like how Melody looked, but that would be her problem. If she thought that sending her to the crazy house would change her into the perfect daughter she longed for then Myra must have been crazy.

Description
Melody's hair on the back of her neck tingled as she arose from her sleep. Shivers crept up and down her spine as she felt the sudden suspicion she was being watched. Peering into the darkness that surrounded her, she couldn't see anything and she tried to shake off the feeling by telling herself she was just cold from wearing wet clothes. Her internal clock told her it was nearing sunrise soon and Melody sighed, knowing as soon as the sun came up she would never be able to go back to sleep. The feeling of being watched resurfaced as another set of shivers sped up and down her spine.
"I am just being paranoid," she thought to herself as she sat upright on the bench and stretched out her sore, frail body.
Her pale skin glowed as the now clear sky revealed a full moon and millions of stars overhead, keeping Melody company in the dark of the night. Her hair was no longer wet and she smoothed out the tangles to return it to its straight manner, once more reminding herself to dye her hair. Birds chirped in the canopy of trees as the world began to wake. Just as all fear had left Melody's thoughts a cold, wet hand clamped down tightly on her shoulder. Mortified, she looked down at the hand and to her horror; it was covered in crimson blood.
"Hello sweetheart," a voice from behind her called out.
Melody's body froze up and she slowly looked to the corner of her eye. Only a glimpse of the figure could be seen from the angle it was standing at and darkness provided by the trees shielded his face. Her heartbeat and breathing increased for a moment as adrenaline kicked in, but she calmed her mind and managed to relax in the stressful situation. In the blink of an eye, Melody grabbed the dripping hand and threw the stranger over her head. A gasp of surprise burst from the shadow's lips and then a gasp of pain as he collided with a series of trees. Melody pounced upon the figure, straddling his body with her legs and using her arms to hold them down. Melody grabbed the hair of her unfortunate victim and pulled it up to the light streaming in from overhead. A pair of bloody fangs were before her eyes along with a familiar face.
"I thought you could see the future," Devan gasped as Melody's grip tightened on his body and started to cut off the circulation in his arm.
Melody pushed his body away with surprising force as she leaped away, landing perfectly on her feet while he crashed into more tree trunks. Groaning slightly, Devan used his sharp, glass-like fingernails to pull out bits of bark that had been wedged into his flesh from the impact.
"Why were you following me?" Melody asked monotonously as she picked dried bits of blood off her body and glared at Devan.
"I was worried about you," he said as he walked towards her slowly, "please don't run away again."
Melody had considered running away ages ago, but Devan was too close to her artwork and she refused to leave without it. What could he possibly say or do to help her? Nothing, because Melody did not want help and would not accept it.
"I won't run away," Melody said slowly, "what were you really doing out this late at night?"
"First thing," Devan gasped as he withdrew his fangs, "it is almost morning and not so much night and I have been spending the majority of the night looking for you."
"Sure," Melody said as she rolled her eyes, "and you just happened to get blood all over your body."
"That's not what happened and you know I'm not like that," Devan sighed as a moment from that night replayed in his mind.

Screams echoing in the distance and drunken laughs filled the hostile air as he raced past the trees.
"Scream for me bitch," a voice slurred and was instantly followed by more blood-curling screams.
Devan came upon the scene presently and hid in the safe shadows of the trees. A helpless little girl, only seven year old, stood beneath two power-hungry men, her clothes scattered upon the crimson ground around her and blood spilling from her broken body.
"Sick bastards," Devan mumbled as a sharp point burst on his back and black wings protruded from his back.
They were made of black feathers except for the tips that were crimson red and when Devan needed them to be, the wings could turn razor-sharp. His nails began to grow and soon they shimmered and became as hard as diamonds and grew as sharp as broken glass. His teeth did the same and fangs poked the inside of his mouth. Devan sighed as he became a creature of the night, prone to be a slave for all eternity for the lust of human blood and flesh. Walking silently out of the shadows he tapped the larger of the men on his back. The man spun around; clutching the knife he had been slashing the girl and the girl's clothes with firmly, and faced the creature with fierce, drunken eyes.
"What the hell do you want?" he rasped through a mouthful of vodka, spewing Devan's face with the vile drink.
Anger consumed Devan's mind at the thought of these powerful men raping this harmless, innocent girl and he thrust his fangs into a large vein running up the man's neck, drinking deeply. The other man sobered up rapidly and made a move to flee, but with one quick motion Devan snapped the first man's neck and threw him on the ground. He appeared right in front of the second man, smirking as he grabbed the man and dragged him back to his child victim.
"What the fuck is your problem?" he screamed as he grabbed the knife from the first man and slashed open the second man's chest, "do find some sick sense of pleasure in this?"
The man gasped as blood spewed out the cut in his chest and, judging by the hollow and frantic rasping in the man's chest, Devan guessed he had torn a lung.
The man tried to stutter an apology, but Devan slammed his head mercilessly into a rock and screamed, "Sorry won't undo what you've done!!"
Blood lust consumed his body and with one last deep breath, he plunged his fangs into the second man's neck and tasted the sweet liquid that kept him alive. The girl's screams still filled the area as she watched in grotesque fascination at the new creature she had to fear and the old horror stories about vampires that had filled her childhood came to life in front of her eyes. Squirming helplessly like a fish out of water beneath Devan's firm grasp, the second man slowly stopped moving as the loss of blood kicked in. With a sharp gasp, Devan reared up from the man's body and, fingering the knife passionately, he slashed his flesh open, causing more blood to flow up and splatter all over Devan's body. Eventually, Devan returned to reality and turned to face the girl in grave condition.
"Are you okay?" he whispered in a concerned voice as he edged closer.
The blood-covered child twisted slightly as she attempted to get away from the monster in front of her, but she had lost too much blood and energy from fighting her rapists and she slowly slipped away from the living world before Devan could help.
Devan looked at his body in shame, withdrawing his wings and fangs, and he walked away from the scene with blood dripping down his hands as he whispered quietly to the girl, "I'm sorry I couldn't save you."

Devan shook his head forcefully as he tried to push these memories away and he said, "You don't understand what happened and you know that's not how I am."
"Really," Melody said through a dry laugh, "how do I know you don't just say you kill the sinners and that you don't really kill the innocent?"
"The same way I know that you don't use your abilities as a dark angel to harm people," Devan said, "we have to trust each. We agreed to always trust each other when we first met. Now will you please trust me enough to let me help you?"
Melody's eyes narrowed slightly as she clinched her fingernails into her palms; a trick she had learned at the mental hospital to keep her urge to harm herself at a minimal. "Why does everyone think I need help?" she thought in her head "Is it because my way of dealing with the pain inside of me is so different and "wrong" that the only explanation is that something must be "wrong" with me and that I need help? Do they want me to keep all my emotions and feeling bottled up inside of my soul until I reach the breaking point?"
Melody pulled out of her thoughts as Devan pleaded, "At least talk to me."
Melody sighed and said calmly, "I can't deal with this right now, but I promise that we will talk later. I can't promise all the answers to your questions though."
"Why not now?" Devan asked.
"Because I need to get home and deal with my mother before she figures out you checked me out illegally," Melody smirked, "and it is coming close to sunrise and I just thought it would be awkward for you to walk around covered in blood."
Devan weakly smiled and said, "I guess that's true, but at least let me walk you home. You never know what kind of monsters are out there."
Melody laughed, surprised that she could actually laugh and smile so much, and she whimpered in an obviously fake miserable face, "Fine."
Devan laughed and picked up Melody's duffel bag, careful to not squish its precious contents and he strolled silently out of the park with her. Their feet shuffled on the sidewalk as the sky gradually began to light up and beams of red, pink, and orange painted the sky in specks and the vibrant blue of the sky returned. It was a strange thing to miss, a simple sunrise and the daytime sky, but Melody stared in fascination at the wonder in ahead of her and couldn't believe that she had almost forgotten what a sunrise was like early in the morning when the rest of the world was asleep. In the mental hospital they seemed to live in their own world and a beautiful thing like a sunrise didn't exist. Freedom was such a wonderful gift to posses and not many people were thankful for it and now that Melody was free from that place, she promised herself that she would never go back. Melody's house appeared presently and it was easy to recognize. Melody lived in a neighborhood that valued perfection and a good appearance, so their houses and lawns reflected that with every family having beautiful gardens, flowers always in bloom, precisely trimmed lawns, and such a majestic and ideal feeling to the outside of their house that a person would feel like they were passing by a perfect family's house. Of course, Melody's family was not perfect and their lawn accurately represented that. The lawn was overgrown with weeds, all flowers had withered and died, paint was peeling off the filthy walls, and the car parked outside looked as if it could break apart any second. All of these things combined made the house look like a disgrace and that it was owned by scum. Melody sighed at her mother's laziness and turned to face Devan.
"Thanks for walking me home," she whispered as she peered around for any of the neighbor's wandering eyes, "and I'm sorry I hurt you."
Devan rubbed the places the trees had impacted him, making a mental note to never sneak up on Melody ever again, and he said, "It's alright and I'm sorry for upsetting you earlier. I just wanted to know the truth about why you were taken away."
Melody nodded her head as she pushed a strand of her hair behind her ears and said, "I can't really say sorry for leaving, but I'm sorry for over-reacting and running away from you. It's hard for me to express my feelings to other people."
"I know," Devan said, "call me when you are ready to talk."
He turned and walked away from her front door and out into the alleys, disappearing into darkness and fading from Melody's sight. Sighing softly, knowing the hell she was about to go through, Melody opened the front door, wincing at the creaking sound the rusty hinges made, and walked into the house. It looked just like the day she had left almost, except it looked like she had never lived there. The few pictures of her that had been on the mantel over the fireplace had disappeared mysteriously and had been replaced with pictures of her mother. She had been disowned from the family, if it could even be called that, but it didn't bother her so much since this was not her real mother. From as long as Melody could remember she had been shipped around from foster home to foster home and the only difference about this lady was that she had actually put up with her with some desperate hope she could save the forsaken teenager. Melody strolled over to the pictures and stared at her "mother". Her name was Myra and she was what appeared to be a perfect mom, but Melody knew better. Myra had perfectly straight, beach blonde hair that was cut off a little below her shoulders and she had bright blue eyes that shined like diamonds. Her face was the most perfect shape and she always managed to apply pink eye-shadow, pink lip-gloss, and pink blush and make it go with everything she wore. A long chain hung from the wall nearby and a silver cross swung freely in the air. Myra was very religious and always dragged Melody off to church to be "saved" and helped, but Melody used her fake happiness act there as well to get them to leave her alone. Myra was nothing but a hypocrite, always saying how good and Christian she was when she was, in fact, one of the biggest sinners Melody had ever seen. Perhaps it was Myra's religion and feeling that it was her duty to help her, but she had kept Melody for the longest out of her foster parents and Melody feared that adoption was nearing rapidly.
"What are you doing here?" a voice cried out from behind her, a high-pitched voice that could only belong to her Myra, and Melody spun around to face her.
"I'm back," she shrugged casually, taking delight in Myra's frightened expression. "I am healed of my sickness," she said sarcastically as she walked closer to Myra, hoping she would move so Melody could get to her room.
"You know I could call child services and they could take your ungrateful ass away," Myra said as she moved in the middle of the hallway to block Melody's way, "I'm sure they would enjoy to learn about your problems."
"Then who would you have to do all of your work," Melody snapped as Myra's boney hand collided with her check. The force of the impact threw Melody over the couch and sent her sprawling onto the wooden floor and scraping off patches of her skin.
"Don't you talk back to me," Myra threatened smugly as she waved a finger over Melody's collapsed figure, "I could just as easily send you back off to that run-down orphanage house I found you in. You should be grateful I accepted you into my family, but you just bitch about every little thing I ask of you to do." Pacing around the room, Myra stopped to finger her blessed cross on the wall before saying, "I am off to church to lead a prayer group for troubled youth and I want this house spotless by the time I come home. We have guests coming over tonight and I want you to behave your best or else."
Myra causally stepped over Melody's limp figure and left the house while giving one last threatening glare at Melody, showing that she was serious. Melody sighed and pulled herself off the ground, examining the scraped skin on her elbows. She pressed a finger briefly and felt the pain ripple up and down her arm. Savoring the tingling feeling, Melody knew she had been lucky to catch Myra in a good mood when she hadn't been drinking. "Why do I keep on living here if it is a living hell?" Melody thought to herself, "because I can't go back to the orphanage which is far worse than here." This had been the one place that she had lived in that Melody had made friends and the orphanage was just like the mental hospital, a prison. If worse came to worse then she could always run away from Myra's house. Suddenly remembering something, Melody grabbed her duffel bag and ran down the hall to her room. Opening the door she looked around and cursed, Myra had gone through all of her stuff. Melody quickly inspected all of her stuff and found nothing of great importance to be missing. All of her CDs, artwork, and other valuables were safely hidden away. Melody reached into the darkness of her closet and lifted up a loose floorboard, placing it carefully beside her body, and took out a box. It had been a gift from her first foster parent, Eva. Melody traced the fine lines and swirls that embroidered the box, the flowers and stars that had been so perfectly embellished, and her name at the very top. Melody had wanted to live with Eva so bad. She had been like a mother to Melody, loving her unconditionally and treating her like her very own child. Eva had made Melody forget why she had to have a foster mother in the first place and she had made her feel happy once again, like nothing could go wrong in the world.

Melody came panting into Eva's room, jumping on her fluffy bead, and she hugged the figure underneath the sheets.
"Get up mama," she said as she continued jumping on the bed, her French-braided, and then blonde, hair waving wildly around in the air.
Melody had always called her Mama, wishing that Eva could have been her real mother when she had been growing up and thinking that if she called her Mama that maybe Eva would adopt her and become her mother. Eva moved under the sheets slightly and Melody stopped jumping to watch intently for her to get up. Suddenly, Eva pounced from under the blankets and tackled Melody on the bed.
"What do you think you are doing," she said as she gave the squealing child butterfly kisses and tickled her.
"Stop it," Melody giggled and crawled desperately off the bed, "let's go to the park mama."
Eva shook her head and said slowly, "I just need to sleep."
"You've slept the whole day away though," Melody whined.
"That's because I can never sleep at night," Eva sighed and turned herself over and wrapped the blue and turquoise blanket tighter around her shivering body.
"What's wrong mama?" Melody said as she crawled under the blanket with Eva, "you've been acting funny."
Looking into Melody's innocent, blue eyes that were so full of life, Eva forced a smile and lied, "Nothing is wrong baby."
Melody looked at Eva and knew she was lying to her, having been lied to millions of times in her life at the orphanage when visiting families had promised to adopt her. "You're lying to me," Melody said softly, "you said that we didn't keep anything from each other and that there were no secrets."
Eva looked out the full-length window and the curtains billowing in the breeze and at the almost bare room around her before saying, "I just don't think I've been the best mother for you."
"No, you are the best mother in the world," Melody said as her eyes widened frightfully.
Eva shook her head, placing her frail hands on her head as if trying to hold the pieces of her life together, and she said, "No, you deserve someone so much better than me. You need someone who can give you the best possible life and give you the love you deserve."
"Do you not love me?" Melody said as her lip trembled slightly and tears rose to her eyes.
"No, I love you more than life itself," Eva gasped and pulled her into a tight embrace, "but I just can't go on anymore."
Melody couldn't understand what she was saying, but she could feel the pain in Eva's voice and she began to cry.
"Just stay here with me for tonight," Eva said as she stroked Melody's pale face and looked out at the sunset from the window, "just don't leave me alone."
Melody nodded her head rapidly and held the only mother she knew close to her body, never wanting to let her go. Melody woke up a few hours later around midnight and felt disturbed by the unevenness in the air. A strange peace filled the air along with an almost deafening silence that frightened Melody.
Reaching over to tap Eva, she whispered, "Mama, are you awake?"
Her skin was cold and seemed empty of life.
"Mama?" Melody gasped as panic began to take over her.
Pulling the body to face her, Melody saw empty, lifeless eyes staring into hers, seeming to pierce her soul, and not a movement coming from her mama's limp body.
"Wake up mommy," she cried as she tried to shake her as she had done earlier that day.
A bottle of pills were sprawled across the bed-side table next to the telephone and Melody remembered to call 911 in case she needed help.
"Hello 911," the voice on the other end said cheerfully.
"Help me please," Melody cried into the receiver, "it's my mommy. She won't wake up."
"Hold on," the operator said panicky, "where do you live?"
Melody stammered out the address she had memorized when she had hoped that it would someday be her address and the operator said for her to stay on the line and that someone was on their way.
"Will they fix my mommy?" Melody sobbed in the speaker.
"I'm afraid she's dead," the voice tried to say as nicely as they could, but the realization hit Melody hard and caused her drop the phone.
"Wake up mommy," she sobbed as she shook her even more until she collapsed next to her mama's body on the bed.
The tears had stopped flowing and Melody finally realized that it was just like what had happened with her real mother and that Eva was not going to wake up. It was back to the orphanage for her where all the other kids made fun of her and she might never have another home again. Melody looked out at the billowing curtains and the window that Eva had warned her against playing near so many times. The night was so calming, almost like out-stretching a hand and inviting her to join it. Melody stumbled weakly over to the window and undid the locks with trembling fingers, pulling the window up to her full height. Looking down at the long drop below her and the rocks that lay waiting, Melody spread her arms out slightly.
"Look mommy, I'm your little angel," she whispered to Eva, remembering that Eva had always called her an angel.
Would this take Melody to her mother and Eva and would everything be better? Melody didn't have a chance to find out as a startled gasp broke the silence and the hands of a paramedic grasped her body, pulling her away from the window.
"No, mommy," Melody cried as she reached out a hand to Eva and the paramedic pulled her away out of the room.

Melody's body shook as she fingered the box and opened it. The glitter of various sharp objects caught the light coming in from the sun outside and calmed Melody. She grabbed her favorite razorblade and pulled down her pants to reveal her heavily scarred thighs. She laughed bitterly at Dr. Carter for thinking that his useless words could keep her from her destructive behavior.
Tears rolling down her eyes, Melody's voice wavered as she sang softly, "Watch me fault her. You're living like a disaster. She said kill me faster with strawberry gashes all over."
A familiar prick tingled on her skin as blood rose to the surface and painted her pale white skin like it was a canvas. Crimson rolled down her leg and with it all of Melody's built up pain and distress from the long time encaged in the prison. Digging deeper into her soul, Melody watched all feeling roll away and collect on her floor as her head began to feel light. What would Eva think of her now and what Melody had resorted to in order to keep herself alive? Melody snapped out of her trance and pressed her fingers against the profusely bleeding wound. She frantically grabbed a tissue from nearby and pressed it over the cut, not knowing when Myra would come home or how long it would take her to clean the house. Blood soon leaked through the tissue and Melody grabbed a new one as she began cleaning up the mess she had made on the wooden floor. Wrapping gauze quickly around the wound, Melody finished her clean-up job on the floor, but left the blood to dry against her skin. Melody grabbed her iPod from the hole in the floor she had saved her money up for ages to get and she quickly turned on the calming tunes of her music. Artwork was also jammed into the hole along with money that Melody had collected in case she ever needed to run. Other objects were in there as well, but Melody did not have the time to look through everything if she wanted Myra to leave her alone that night. Melody quickly cleaned the house to make it suitable for guests. Melody returned to her room, straightening it out from where Myra had messed it up, and placed the board back over her secret hole. Looking up into her closet, Melody picked out a dark red corset top with black strings going across it on the sides and small black flowers in the top right corner. She then picked out a pair of black pants with cargo pockets on the sides and red outlining the edges. Picking out a handful of black and red bracelets, she put them on each arm to hide the scars. Melody then grabbed her long silver earrings that had a small dice and a few stars dangling and put them in, thankful she could still put her favorite earrings in after not having worn any earrings at the mental hospital because they were "hazardous." After quickly applying black eyeliner and brushing her hair, she deemed herself ready to meet her Myra's guests. Myra probably wouldn't like how Melody looked, but that would be her problem. If she thought that sending her to the crazy house would change her into the perfect daughter she longed for then Myra must have been crazy.