She never thought it'd go this far. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined it would come to this. Back before she was dating a rock star; before she hit the big time; before her life got complicated; she never thought something like this could happen to her. "Somebody call an ambulance!" someone screamed from what seemed like a great distance. Her world slowly crashed, fading to black.
XXXX
3 Years Earlier—Sept. 07
"Oh…mien…gott…" Leah McAllister stood horrified before what was now her new home. There were big houses in Wisconsin, but this was too big! A wave of nausea swept through her as she drank it all in; the three story marble pillars that served no other purpose than to create an illusion of elegance; the immense closed-in landing leading up the steps to the front door, which seemed far more intimidating than welcoming; the rising towers that seemed to touch the very sky itself; the list could go on and on.
"You don't mean to tell me that this is our new house, do you?" Leah questioned her stepfather, James Carlton.
"I do. Got a problem with that?" he snapped back. He, being an FBI agent and frequently traveling, always seemed to have a chip on his shoulder, and Leah usually felt the brunt of it. Today was no different.
As James brushed past her, she couldn't help but think to herself, "If mama were here, she'd have a problem with it." Ever since her mother had committed suicide a year back, Leah and her stepfather had grown even further apart than ever. "Just don't say anything, Leah. He's not worth it," she thought to herself for the millionth time.
"Go on and start to unload your stuff," Jim, as Leah preferred to call him, gruffly called back to her. "It's going to be a long day."
XXXX
Later that night, laying on her newly made bed, surrounded by unopened boxes of all her belongings, Leah fought hard to fall asleep. Insomnia plagued her ever since she discovered her mother that fateful night, over a year ago. There wasn't a day that went by where Leah didn't lie awake for hours, thinking and contemplating her mother's death. The images of the grotesque scene she stumbled upon that night replayed over and over in her mind; her brain screamed in frustration and disgust, unable to forget the horrors of what she had seen.
Convinced she wasn't going to fall asleep anytime soon, Leah reluctantly dragged herself out of bed and made her way to the doors of her balcony. While exploring the immense house with Jim earlier that day, she insisted upon having this room; she'd always wanted a balcony, and she immediately fell in love with its simple elegance. Gently pushing the glass doors open, Leah quietly stepped out into the open air. She sighed deeply, pulled out her pack of Menthols and lighter from her pajama pants pocket, lit up, drew a deep drag, and slowly let it out. Smoking at sixteen years old was never part of her master plan, but with all of the stress thrown on her during the past year, she had picked it up along the way. Jim didn't seem to mind, him being a heavy smoker himself, so the thought of quitting rarely ever occurred to her. Of course, being an aspiring singer and musician, she was somewhat concerned with how the cancer sticks would affect her vocals, but she always dashed the thoughts from her mind no sooner than they entered it.
Leaning against the railing, Leah scanned her surroundings. The moonlight cast a blue shadow on everything that night. After a few minutes, Leah finished her first cigarette. She started to pull out a second, when she noticed some rustling in the bushes a few yards from the house. Seeing as there was no wind that night, Leah was curious as to what could be hiding in the bush.
She cleared her throat. "Um, hello?" she gently called out. The rustling stopped. Cocking her eyebrow, Leah set down her cigarette, leaned over the railing, and called out once more.
"I know there's someone there. You might as well come out." She waited silently for a response. Straining her eyes to further adjust to the darkness surrounding her, she thought she saw someone, or something quickly dash away, into the night.
"Well then," she sighed. "Pennsylvania is far stranger than I ever expected…" With that, she picked her cigarette back up, lit it, and smoked the rest of the night away.
XXXX
"Leah, wake up," a rough voice sounded in Leah's ears. "You're going to be late." Slowly and reluctantly, she opened her eyes to the towering figure of Jim, hovering over her with a sour expression plastered on his face. It had only been a week since they moved from Wisconsin, but to Leah, it felt like an eternity. The last thing she wanted to do was go to a new school full of Pennsylvania hicks.
"You better get moving if you want to make it to school on time," Jim growled as he made his way to the door. "I'll be leaving to go on my assignment around noon, so I won't be here when you come back." The thought of Jim leaving for two weeks filled Leah with indescribable joy. Whenever he got called on government trips, or assignments as he liked to call them, Leah was left to fend for herself, which she rather enjoyed. Her time alone was precious to her, and she would take all the time she could get.
"Anything I should do before you come back?" she sleepily asked while sitting up in bed.
Jim curtly replied, "Just don't burn the house down."
XXXX
"Ready, set, go, it's time to run! The sky is changing, we are one! Together we can make it while the world is crashing down. Don't you turn around…" Tokio Hotel blasted through the radio of Leah's GranTurismo coupe Maserati as she pulled into the parking lot of her own personal hell; Samuel Hemmingway Sr. High School. What could only be described as insurmountable dread gripped her heart as she pulled they key from the ignition after parking in the closest spot she could find.
"And so begins the worst day of my life," Leah mumbled as she slid out of her car. Walking up the steps to the massive building, she swallowed the lump forming in her throat, took a deep breath, and entered her educational home for the remainder of her high school career.
The first half of her day was hectic and stressful, as Leah expected. She got to her first class late because she had trouble finding her locker, she was nearly run over by a group of senior boys on the way to her third class, and by the time lunch rolled around, she had decided that life as she now knew it was going to be filled with nothing but stress. Scanning the cafeteria for an empty table (she really just wanted to be alone), Leah aimlessly wandered a few feet, not seeing the two students headed towards her with loaded trays. The collision was enough to alert the entire cafeteria, sending everyone into hysterics.
"Oh mien gott, I am SO sorry!" Leah gasped as she attempted to collect the spilled contents of all of their trays that had crashed to the floor.
"Let me help you with that," the male student laughed as he picked her up off of the floor. Their eyes instantly connected, and Leah felt her blood run cold. "My god, he's gorgeous!" she thought as he let go of her. "I'm Colden Mitchell," the boy explained and reached out his hand. Leah absentmindedly shook it as she desperately grasped for words. "This is my sister, Stevie."
The girl, whom Leah initially crashed into, had already gathered the trays and stood waiting for her older brother to help her with them. "Hi!" she smiled at Leah. "Nice to meet you," she laughed as she handed a tray to Colden. "Well, not meeting you like this, but you know what I mean."
Leah didn't know what to think. Back home, if she so much as looked at another student without reason, fists would be flying. Contemplating the siblings' kindness, she managed, "I'm Leah McAllister."
"Well, Leah," Colden started. "Why don't we take care of this mess, and then we can get to know each other better!" He smiled and handed her a tray. She blushed as she stole another glance into his icy blue eyes. He followed Stevie to the trash cans and motioned for Leah to come join them.
"Well," thought Leah. "This might turn out to be a good day after all!" And with that, she followed the duo to an empty table.