Inspired by Evanescence's album of the same title, Fallen is probably one of the most important fics I will ever write. Each chapter will include a message of love, fear, or some other strong emotion. Each chapter will include the lyrics of the song of the same title at the end for those of you who have never heard the song before.

Going Under

Sam sat in her desk staring at the clock, watching, waiting for the instant school would be released for the weekend. Much contrasting to the other students in her class, she dreaded this final moment of the school week. To Sam, this meant going home, and going home meant seeing her father, the sole reason for her frightful, antagonistic view of the world.

He was a hateful man, always finding some way to hurt Sam or make her cry. Forever scarred by his drunken rages, unintelligible vocal harassment and, mostly, uncontrollable physical abuse, Sam always hid herself under sweatshirts and jeans. Her fear lived deep inside of her, and followed her around in the shadows everywhere she went. Her life had been getting so horrible lately; she no longer had any amount of trust for anyone, not even herself, other than her best friends, Carly and Freddie.

Of course, Sam had never shared her fear or mistreatment with anyone, even Carly or Freddie, and she had no intention to do so. There was no reason to get the police or any other services involved in her problem. Plus, she would much rather have people fearing her for once, which was why she always took advantage of people's weaknesses to overpower them in some shape or form.

All at once, the malignant bell rang, signaling the beginning of two atrocious days in hell. Sam slowly rose from her desk, attempting to enjoy her last few minutes of freedom before walking to the worst possible place in the world. She glanced around the classroom and noticed Freddie and Carly waiting for her at the doorway.

"Come on, Sam!" Carly said, rushing over to the girl and pushing her to the door. "We're going to Groovy Smoothies, and you have to come with us!"

Sam just looked at the floor and back up to the smiling faces of the two best friends any girl could ever wish for. "I can't," she said quietly, wishing that Carly had never invited her to go along.

Freddie tilted his head slightly, seeming confused by Sam's rejection. "Why not?" he asked, taking Sam's hand. "You never turn down an offer to do something with us. Is there something wrong?"

"No, Freddie, there's nothing wrong," Sam said, attempting to smile and put it all off as unimportant. "I've just got some things to do tonight, that's all. And my dad wants them all done right away, so maybe I can do something with you guys tomorrow or Sunday."

Freddie shrugged. "Whatever you say, Sam," he said dismissively. "I guess I'll just have to go with Carly, then. Maybe Spencer will come with us to make it feel more homey."

Sam smiled softly at Freddie's 'homey' comment and said, "I really have to get going. I'll see the two of you later."

"You sure you don't want us to walk you home or something, Sam?" Carly asked. "Because we have all weekend to do whatever we want, but we still don't get to see a lot of you outside of school. Maybe we could come over and help you finish some of those things your dad wants you to do!"

"No!" Sam yelled, instantly regretting it for the pained looks on her friends' faces. "I'm sorry, guys. My dad really wants me to do this by myself. I'll see you guys later." With that, she walked slowly away from the only two in the world that could save her.

"SAMANTHA!" The hateful voice of her father rang throughout the entire house as soon as she stepped in the door. "You never do anything around here, worthless bitch!"

"The swine must be sitting on the couch with his precious whiskey bottle," Sam thought in disgust. "I'm not cleaning up your mess, you can forget it," she shouted to the repulsive man.

Out of nowhere, a figure appeared in the darkened entrance to the living room. "What did you just say to me?" asked the drunken voice of Sam's father. Sam had given him no reaction, causing him to shove her against the wall and repeat himself. "What did you say to me, you useless piece of filth?!"

Sam swallowed, terror taking over her entire body. But she knew she had to remain strong, or else she probably wouldn't make it past tonight. "I said, I'm not cleaning up your stupid mess, so you can forget about it," she said firmly, yet fearfully. She stared back into the glazed, glaring eyes of her father for hope she would be able to predict what might happen next. When he did nothing but growl and shove her harder into the wall, Sam spoke up once more.

"I do everything around here! You're the worthless one! I do all the chores and more. You have no idea! I cry every night. I scream, wishing you away. I lie for you, deceive my own friends for the sake of keeping your stupid alcohol abuse secret! And not to mention all the blood that has been spilt in this house. And you know that not a drop of that blood has been yours. But you don't care, because my dad can't hear me. He can never hear me! I'm sure he's too intoxicated to even remember that today is the third anniversary of the day Mom died!"

The grip of the man on Sam loosened slightly, but she found out it was not to let her down; he had thrown her to the floor, most likely just to watch her suffer. "You bring up that day again, and you'll wish you'd never been born," the wicked man growled, throwing his empty bottle on the floor next to Sam's head. A few shards of glass escaped and cut her face.

"Too late," she muttered, rising from the floor, trace amounts of blood falling from her face. "I've wished I'd never been born since…that day… And maybe, just maybe, if that were the case, I'd finally wake up from this nightmare. Not tormented by you everyday, not at the bottom, like I am right now. You know what? I probably am dying here. I'm sure you'll be glad to see me gone."

The wicked eyes of the man became hard as he rushed toward Sam and pinned her against the wall one more time. "You little brat! I feed you, house you, and put the clothes on your back! Now you think you can talk to me like this? You know what I think? I think I'm just going to–"

"Going to what?" came the cool voice of a police officer as he threw open the door and stepped in, followed closely by Freddie and Carly, all three with hateful and worried looks on their faces. "You're not going to do anything to that girl, Jonathan Puckett, other than put her down."

"Officer, I can explain," Jonathan said, releasing Sam. "You see–"

"Nothing you can possibly say can save you now, Puckett," the officer said, roughly taking the man's hands and cuffing them behind his back. "You are under arrest for the physical and mental abuse of a sixteen-year-old girl among other charges. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law…"

"Just get him away from me," Sam said quietly, tears of hate and fear falling from her eyes as she pressed herself into the wall to get as far away from the man that called himself her father as possible. "I never want to see his disgusting face again…"

The officer nodded and began pushing Jonathan out the door. "I'd like for you to come see me at the station later so we can go over some things, Sam. You can bring Freddie and Carly if you want." He paused for a moment. "You're lucky to have such good friends." He left the house, shoved Puckett into the back of his car, and drove off.

"Sam!" Freddie cried, rushing over to take the girl into his arms. "Are you ok? Your face is all cut up! Oh, Sam, what did he do to you?"

Sam put a finger to Freddie's lips and hugged him close. "I'm fine, Freddie, it's just a few scratches. What I want to know is how you guys knew to call the police."

"We followed you home," Carly said, nonchalantly leaning against the door. "We knew it was a bad thing to do, but we probably ended up saving your life."

"Thanks, guys," Sam said, more tears falling as she continued to lean into Freddie. "There's just one problem; now I have no adult to live with."

Carly smiled and waved her hand in Sam's direction. "Already have it taken care of. Spencer said you could live with us, and if they don't let you, we'll take it to court."

"You're all too good to me," Sam whispered, love and appreciation for her friends taking over the anger and hate she felt toward her father. "But my stupid father…he can just go on and scream, because I'll be so far away from him forever."

"You won't be broken again," Freddie said before kissing Sam's forehead. "You'll never be lost under the shadow of your father's hate anymore."

"Not as long as we're around!" Carly added, opening the door so that they could all get out of the cursed house.

"Why don't we go get those smoothies now to celebrate my freedom?" Sam asked, pulling Freddie toward the door.

"Yeah, let's go!" Carly and Freddie said in unison. And with that, the three best friends walked out the door and into a new life.

There you have it. Sam's alive because Carly and Freddie happened to follow her home that fateful Friday night after school. Without them, it is quite possible that Sam could have eventually been killed. Now that's what I call good friends. I'd like to know what you guys thought of this, so please review.

Evanescence - Going Under

Now I will tell you what I've done for you

Fifty thousand tears I've cried

Screaming deceiving and bleeding for you

And you still won't hear me

Don't want your hand this time I'll save myself

Maybe I'll wake up for once

Not tormented daily defeated by you

Just when I thought I'd reached the bottom

I'm dying again

I'm going under

Drowning in you

I'm falling forever

I've got to break through

I'm going under

Blurring and stirring the truth and the lies

So I don't know what's real and what's not

Always confusing the thoughts in my head

So I can't trust myself anymore

I'm dying again

I'm going under

Drowning in you

I'm falling forever

I've got to break through

I'm going under

So go on and scream

Scream at me I'm so far away

I won't be broken again

I've got to breathe I can't keep going under