Darkness - to hide the dancers

Silence - to provide privacy.

And no witnesses - no distractions.

Perfect.

The stage was set, and the dance had begun.

Begin count - 1-2-3-1-2-3-

Embrace-Twirl-Stab

Twist-Scream-Slice

Twirl - and - Release

End count.

And scene.

Another horrible vision, though it seemed like more of a nightmare. Mary Alice Brandon was plagued with them. In this nightmare she'd once again seen her mother being murdered by a man alone in a dark alley. It scared her, and made her feel like a monster for the sheer fact that she repeatedly envisioned her mother's death… There were multiple way in which the murder was committed, all of which Mary preferred not to think about…Though no matter how much she tried to ignore it, the scene of her mother's last moments as well as the expression of fear and pain were forever emblazoned in her memory. In this particular version, it was always a knife that was used to take her mother's life.

And it was for this reasoning that Mary followed her mother around the house trying desperately to convince the dark-haired woman to stay home yet again. "No. Mom you can't go out tonight… I told you-" Though Mary had nothing but the best of intentions, it was abundantly clear that this lost puppy act was quickly wearing on her mother's patience… "MARY! That's enough already..! You're starting to sound like a broken record. It was cute when you were 7 because you didn't want me to leave you alone.. But you're 17, this 'you're going to die, I've seen it' spiel is getting old. And quite frankly; Mary.. I love you, I really do. Buy sometimes I wonder where I went wrong while raising you… Now be a good girl like your sister and go read a book or something…" That was the end of the conversation, it was proven as the girl's mother turned and went to continue her previous task of getting ready to leave.

In her wake, Mary was left standing alone, and in shock. She was unsure of how to respond to her mother's reaction. Sure she knew that continuously telling her mother that she was going to die was a bit morbid… Okay it was really morbid. But all Mary was trying to do was protect her mother and keep her alive. Was that really so bad…? After another moment, the full impact of what her mother had said seemed to finally click in Mary's mind and she was unable to fight the tears that trailed their way down her porcelain cheeks.

While she was used to getting the short end of the stick when it came to affection, hearing one's own mother say such things was truly devastating to a person. It hurt, as though someone had taken a jagged carving knife and plunged it straight into her chest before proceeding to twist the blade. Clutching at the unseen wound in her chest, the small girl desperately tried to quiet her uneven breathing. Once Mary was able to over come the cold, emptiness that had settled in, she slowly made her way to the little room that she'd claimed as her own.

Now, Mary may seem like any average life-hating cynical teen. But her relationship with her family, or more specifically her parents, wasn't always so strained, in fact, she'd been their pride and joy… Right up until the point that she started having the unnatural visions. Then suddenly, for reasons that Mary didn't understand, her sister Cynthia, became the favorite. At first it was just core family members beginning to distance themselves as they fell into blaming her for all things unnatural. Thus, upon the spread of some not so nice rumors, courtesy of her sister, the townspeople became wary of her. Not that she knew, or understood why at the time of course given that around the time that these rumors started flying, Mary had only been 10... Though she did learn quickly that talking about her visions was never a good idea.

It became so irritating for her father, who disliked anything that could possibly put a dent in his golden reputation, that he barred her from speaking to anyone outside of their family while she was alone. This happened to be something that Cynthia loved to tease Mary for any chance that she could. Thus was why it came as no shock to the 17 year old when she heard the pounding of a fist against her door. With a sigh, Mary marked her place before gently shutting and returning the book to it's proper place on her shelf. Another moment found the petite girl staring at the door intently as she mentally debating on whether she actually wanted to open the door… In the end though, she opened it to come face to face with her 'perfect little angel' of a sister who could do no wrong in her parent's eyes.

"Well it took you long enough loser… What are you; deaf?" Cynthia questioned, a cruel sneer marring her model-like features as she shifted to glance uninterestedly around Mary into the room. Most likely to see if there was anything that she could tell their father about.. "Is there something that you needed..?" Mary asked bluntly, after clearing her throat to bring her sister's attention back on herself. As she stood there, finger lightly drumming against the door frame, oh how she wished that Cynthia would just give her a reason to slam the door in her face already…

In fact, at that moment Mary wanted nothing more than to slam the door on her beloved sister's expensive little nose job. But common sense and rationality kept her from acting on impulse, because she knew that Cynthia would go straight to daddy and be the little tattle tale that she is. And of course, Mary had no doubt that what she would get in trouble for would be a story in which Cynthia was made out to be the fatally injured victim… Go figure..

Wait… Crap.. The wi-Cynthia was talking again… It was probably some non-sense about something that had been said about Mary herself, that much she was sure of.

Yeah, Cynthia was the 'Queen bee' type… You know, the really pretty popular girl who puts on a whole grand production to get everyone under her thumb. When in honesty, the angelic face that you see is really hiding a conniving little she-devil who won't hesitate to sink her claws into anyone and everyone who could bring her more popularity.

Yes. Cynthia was the queen bee of the school, and quite possibly the entire town by now, while Mary was the poor little pauper everyone made sure to stay away from but secretly pitied. Which annoyed her to no end; she didn't want pity. All she really wanted was to be left alone… Okay, well maybe not completely alone, more like she wanted everyone to stop treating her like she was some sort of highly contagious plague that everyone was afraid of…

If only- her thoughts were once again halted, much to her annoyance, by a high pitched whining sound reminiscent of a mix between nails against a chalk board and the wailing of a tea kettle. Apparently Cynthia's nose job had yet to completely heal… That brought a soft giggle from Mary, and a disbelieving stare from her sister.

"You seriously weren't listening…?!" The chestnut blonde screeched as she glared down at her younger sister. "Oh.. Were you talking to me? I'm sorry, I thought you had gotten yourself lost and decided to stop and ask for directions…" Mary mused, she wasn't normally so bold and down right rude to others. Cynthia just happened to be her one exception, because she seemed to be the only one with the ability to make her blood boil hot enough that Mary would actually want to hit her sister… HARD.

"O.M.G. You're such a freak. I said that daddy wants you to start dinner and, like, make sure the house is super clean and stuff since he's going to have company over… I'd, like, totally help you and all… But you're a major loser and I hate cleaning, it's like, super eeew… So, like, have fun."

Mary just stared after her, trying to figure out how they could possibly be related… Seriously, she and Cynthia were on completely different wavelengths on opposite sides of the spectrum.. That was her final thought though, because she really didn't want to think anymore… And lucky for her, cooking and cleaning didn't involve a great deal of thought.

A/N : That marks the end of the first chapter of this story... And I know that this chapter was kind of centered around Mary.. But that's just give insight to what will happen, and the behavior of the characters involved... Jasper's introduction will be the next chapter. I'll alternate between Mary and Jasper up until the point that they meet.. Then the story will progress together naturally.