A/N: Hey guys! This is my first Holes fanfic, so I'd appreciate honesty. I like writing dark stories, so here's a warning that this chick is dark and if you don't like dark stories then I suggest you hit the back button on your browser right now! This isn't a threat...If you read, you MUST review! It takes like one whole minute to do! And I love feedback! Okay, I'm done rambling...Enjoy!

Breaking Through

Chapter One: Crime and Punishment

I don't know what the big deal was. It was just a guy. And a...knife. I had good reason, too. Confused? Let me explain.

I was "normal" before it happened. "Normal" as in good grades, plenty of friends, great family, good makeup (as in no black makeup/polish), all that fluffy stuff. And then it happened. Kyle was his name. And I can't believe I loved the man. I wasn't his first victim, Julie was. Julie is...was...my best friend. I miss her so. We were like sisters. Until...

I don't remember everything that happened...I didn't witness the actual crime. Well I did, but I lie. You would, too, if you saw the death of your best friend happening right in front of you. What a clever man he was. Simple death with no trace of evidence. We were at the lake in the summertime, somewhere Kyle and I went often. It was a beautiful day. The three of us were holding hands, walking down to the lake. He jumped in, freaking the both of us out. We laughed at his tricks and jumped in after him.

He kissed me, long and slow and peaceful, the way I love it...Or used to. I hate him now. Anyway...After the kiss, I turned around...I don't know why, but I did. Big mistake, Ari! Big mistake! I curse myself for that now. Great, now I'm crying. But I have to go on or this will be pointless. So I turn around and apparently he thought it was a great opportunity to "make his move." I turn back around and there they are. Kissing each other. In front of me. My boyfriend and best friend kissing. It broke my heart. Next thing I know, he lets go of her and she sinks to the bottom of the lake like a ship anchor.

We both wait a moment, but she doesn't appear. I panic and go with my first instinct. I dive to the bottom and find her lifeless. I immediately pull her to shore and attempt to perform CPR. Thank God for that class. But no matter how hard I tried, she wouldn't come back. He had kissed to kill. Sweet on the outside, bitter on the inside - just like his father. He'd left her unable to breathe, killing her slowly like poison. And he'd just walked away. I didn't see him for a week. On the one week anniversary of Julianna Margaret Greene's death, I became a victim.

It was getting cooler, nearing the end of the summer heat. I stayed at the cemetery sitting at Julie's grave. I talked to her all day about absolutely nothing that made sense. Like we used to do. Then he came. He'd touched my shoulder and simply said, "I miss her so." I hate that voice. I wish he had never come. I wish I had never spoke to him that day. But I did.

"Then why did you kill her?" I asked in a cold voice.

"I didn't mean to," he'd responded. Nobody ever means to do anything, they just do it.

"Sure, nobody means to kill anyone, do they? Why'd you do it? You wanted to hurt me didn't you?"

"No, Ari, I'd never hurt you."

"Well you did, you bastard!"

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry isn't going to cut it, Kyle."

"It's the best I can do."

"I don't care what you can do. I don't care about you. I hope you burn in hell for what you did, Kyle Landry." I started to walk away, but he gripped my arm so hard to stop me that I winced. He'd never done this before. But then again he'd never killed anyone before Julie. He dragged me to his car as I desperately tried to pull from his grasp. He'd just tightened it harder. He put me in the passenger seat of his car and drove us to his home. I stared at him, completely bewildered.

Once inside his home he took me to his room and shoved me on the bed.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Doing what I've wanted to do since the day we began dating."

"And that would be...?"

"Take off your clothes," he said simply.

"Uh...How about no?"

"Fine then." He turned on some music, a soft rock beat. "Strip for me."

"No! Kyle, what is wrong with you?!"

"Nothing. I'm perfectly fine." He slapped me hard across the face. "Dance for me. Or you'll wish we'd never met."

"I already do." He slapped me again. I instantly stripped for him to the beat of the harsh music. Once I was naked, he stripped and instantly was inside me, so fast it made my head spin. He'd stuffed a cloth in my mouth to stifle the screams he knew would come. I blacked out after that and woke up in his bed naked, and he was gone.

I dressed and went straight to the graveyard, finding Kyle at Julie's grave. I snuck up behind him, trying to be as quiet as possible. I took out a knife I'd been keeping with me for self-defense purposes and stabbed him twice in the back. He was dead instantly. I must have been drunk or something, because I then did one of the dumbest things anyone could ever do other than killing someone. I cleaned my knife, stuffed him in the trunk of my car, and dumped him in the lake that we were swimming in just hours before.

On the one week anniversary of Julie's death, I, Ariella Josephine Dawson, became a victim. On the one week anniversary of Julie's death, I became a murderer.

The next day I was sent to Camp Greenlake, embarking on a journey I would never forget.