If there was one thing I hated, it was cheaters. No, not the ones who spend all day playing video games in their rooms. I'm talking about the human kind. They make me sick just thinking about them. They say they love you, but then start seeing some other girl behind your back. That leaves your best friend to tell you the horrible secret. At first, you don't believe her, but then...you see it for yourself. You see the two of them at his car, making out and touching each other. He just so happens to see you watching and tries to say that the other girl was making him kiss her. You don't believe him because he's always been a bad liar. You go up to him, slap him hard across the face before running off, tears streaming down your face.

I've had two cheaters in my life. One was my boyfriend. It was a typical thing to expect. I could see why he would want someone else. I wasn't exactly a popular person and most people found me to be strange. For one thing, I was never really happy. I didn't smile as much as most people, which left half the school thinking I had depression. I didn't. I just felt that I didn't need to show my feelings around others. I liked it like that. Another thing, I had piercings and wore dark make up. I wasn't scene or emo or goth...I just thought that black looked better on me than pink or light blue and the piercings looked nice on me too. However, most people didn't see it that way and that's what made me a target of bullying.

The second person to cheat was my stepfather, Ben. I always thought he was there for us. When my real dad died when I was ten, my mom was devastated. Then, when she found Ben, the light went back to her and she was smiling again. I had never seen my mom so happy. She loved Ben and the daughter he had with him. We were just like every other family and I didn't think anything would happen. At least, until I found Ben with someone else.

I was walking home from school, completely miserable. My bullies had yet again beat the shit out of me after school. I was covered in bruises and cuts and was sore all over. All I wanted to do was get upstairs, take a hot shower and sleep. At least the good thing was that it was friday. I smiled at the thought as I neared my house, but stopped when I saw an unfamiliar car in the driveway. It was red. We didn't have a red car. I slowly walked forward and looked at the house. The curtains were closed, which was strange. The curtains were always opened. Something's not right.

I always had a feeling that Ben was up to something. I never really liked him in the first place. I only tolerated him because he made my mom happy and as long as she was happy, that was all that mattered. I walked inside and knew that a woman was the owner of the red car outside. How did I know? There was a pair of red stilettos by the door and they weren't my moms. She stopped wearing heels when she was a teenager because she broke her ankles wearing them. They weren't my stepsisters either. Yes, Julie had a thing for shoes, but she kept all her shoes in her room. Another thing that set off the woman was the absence of my dogs. It was kind of strange, but it was like they knew things. When my ex tried to apologize, my dogs growled and snapped at him until he left. It was like they knew he broke my heart. I looked out the back door and saw my dogs in their run. They only went in there when they were in trouble.

I started to head towards the stairs, which were in the kitchen too...and saw a bunch of beer bottles. I groaned, knowing that meant that Ben was drunk, and he wasn't a very nice one. When he was drunk, he did things he wouldn't normally do. One such thing is beat me. I have scars on my body from him beating me too hard. I looked away from the bottles and heard voices. They weren't chatty voices, more like sexual voices. I had hoped that my thoughts were wrong and that a friend of Ben's was over, but hearing the voices only confirmed my thoughts. Ben was cheating on my mother with another woman.

Anger welled up inside me, extreme anger. Bastard! I couldn't believe that Ben was with another woman...and he had the nerve to bring her to our house. A strange feeling consumed me, but it wasn't something I wasn't used to. I've had this feeling before. It's what got me into trouble at school a few times. The feeling this time though...was stronger. I really wanted to hurt Ben.

I stormed up the stairs and straight to the master bedroom. I heard moans and whispers, but from the sound, they hadn't gotten that far. They were warming up. I opened the door fast and was met by gasps. Just like I thought, Ben was with some other woman and from the smell of the room, they were both drunk as fuck. I stared daggers at Ben.

"YOU BASTARD! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO MY MOM!? AND YOU EVEN HAD THE NERVE TO BRING THAT BITCH HERE!"

Ben looked at me, drunk confusion on his face. "D-Danielle? W-What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be home. You're supposed to be at school."

"SCHOOL GOT OUT AND WHAT ABOUT YOU!? YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HOME! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE AT WORK! INSTEAD, YOU'RE HERE FUCKING SOME SLUT IN MY MOTHER'S BED!"

Before I could stop myself, I ran up to Ben and slapped him hard across the face. My mom always told me to never strike a drunk, especially one that was a mean drunk...and that was exactly what I did. Ben looked furious, angry fire burning in his eyes. I felt a spark of fear because I had never seen that look in Ben's eyes before. Quickly, I turned around and booked it down the stairs. I had this feeling that I needed to tell my mom about what Ben was doing. I ran out of the house and ran straight into the woods. It was a shortcut into town that I usually took. I was a good runner and could run for miles if I wanted to. But Ben was also a runner. He sometimes went for a run around town and sometimes participated in marathons. I didn't really care. I just needed to get to my mom.

I crashed through the woods, bushes and twigs snagging at my clothes, leaving cuts and scrapes on my skin. I heard Ben crashing behind me and that only made me run faster. I didn't even dare to look behind me. I knew it would only slow me down.

Tears started to stream down my face. I was probably in the middle of the woods when something crashed into me. I knew it was Ben and struggled to get away. I've heard that adrenaline can make people stronger and I was hyped up on adrenaline. I struggled and strained, but Ben was stronger. He pinned my arms to the ground and struck me hard across the face. My cheek stung badly and I cried out. Unfortunately, I knew it was no use. No was going to hear me. I struggled a little, hoping for some miracle. Ben just sat on me, glaring daggers.

"You have no right meddling in my business. What I do is for me to know and for you to never tell. I know you were going to tell your mother, but I'm not gonna let you. I've put up with your bullshit for the last time, Danielle. You have put this family through enough with all your damn emo shit and depression crap. I think it would be best if you were gone."

I didn't know what Ben was talking about, but started to scream in fear when Ben pulled out a knife. He looked at the blade and smirked. A dark look came over Ben and I started to thrash again. Ben looked at me, seeming to enjoy my struggling.

"You know, I've noticed that you haven't been smiling as much. Let me help you with that."

Moving his knees to replace his hands on my arms, Ben put the blade of the knife in the corner of my mouth and started to cut. I screamed, the pain agonizing. I felt the warm blood leak down my face. Ben cut into my cheek and stopped about halfway. He did the same to my other cheek. My mouth hurt a lot and I cried and shook.

"S-Stop. P-Please…"

Ben shook his head and then pushed my gloves down. Numerous scars littered my arms from all the cutting I did. It was a way to relieve the stress I got from my bullies. Ben glared at me.

"I thought your mother told you that cutting was bad. Didn't you listen the first time?"

Without another word, Ben started to slash my arms. Blood oozed from my wounds and I started to feel weak. Ben moved from my arms and started to slash my legs. It hurt so much. I felt like I wanted to vomit. Ben moved the knife to my stomach and was about to start slashing when something barreled into him. I looked to see what had knocked Ben off me and saw that my dogs had come to my rescue. They were growling at Ben, ferocious growls that would send a lesser man running. Ben, however, wasn't a lesser man. He faced the dogs, knife ready. One dog lunged, teeth bared and ready to bite. She got a good few bites before Ben stabbed her with the knife. She yelped in pain as the knife went in, hitting her heart. She was gone in seconds. Ben carelessly threw her body to the side. My other dog attacked Ben too. He lasted a little longer and got in some good bites before Ben grabbed his neck and slit his throat. He, too, was tossed aside. Ben glared at me and I looked at him, crying for my dogs. They had tried to protect me and Ben had killed them. Ben came over, rage clearly written all over his face.

"Please…"

I tried to beg for mercy, but Ben only seemed to get angrier. He came over and started to kick me. He wore steel toed boots so the kicks were much worse. I screamed at each kick and I think I felt a few ribs crack. I tried to block the blows, but it was pointless. There was no stopping Ben. After a while, I started to have trouble breathing and started coughing. I really hurt then. Ben seemed to have had enough and walked over. I felt his eyes look over my battered body. I tried to same something, but just coughed up blood instead. Ben seemed satisfied, but had this look like he was thinking of something else to do to me. His eyes lit up and he came over, kneeling beside me. He trailed his knife down my body, looking for a certain spot. I felt the tip and shuddered. I saw Ben smile before letting out a weak scream. Ben had plunged his knife into my chest. I felt my body shudder before everything went dark. The last thing I heard was a sinister and dark laugh as my killer walked away.

Thunder roared outside the house as the storm raged on. The Blackwood family was sleeping, finally coming to terms with the loss of a family member. Mrs. Blackwood was asleep in her daughter's room for the last time. The blankets and pillows still held her scent, making Gina cry. She missed her baby dearly and wasn't ready to let her go. Gina's husband, Ben, was asleep in their room on the other side of the house. Lightning flashed through the windows, illuminating everything in the room. Thunder followed. Ben shot up, disturbed by the storm outside. He panted, his brow covered in sweat. He looked towards the windows, growling at the storm. They always disturbed his sleep. Ben was about to go back to sleep, but a scratching at his door caught his attention.

"What?"

There was no denying that something was scratching the door. The scratching got louder the longer Ben stared at the door. Ben cautiously approached the door, gripping the knob tightly. He yanked the door open...but found nothing. He laughed, thinking that the he was so tired his mind was playing tricks on him. He closed the door and turned to go back to bed, but found two dogs sitting on the floor. Ben jumped back, terrified. It wasn't just the presence of the dogs. It was the dried blood on their coats. The two shepherds looked at Ben curiously, their heads tilted. Ben could only stare at them, or more precisely, at their wounds. One dog had a single stab wound in its chest. The other had its throat sliced open. Ben screamed and quickly opened the door. This time, he nearly fainted when he saw what was blocking his way.

"Hello, Ben. Miss me?"

Danielle smiled, her unnaturally large smile growing wider as she saw the fear flare up in Ben's eyes. Her dogs stood up and walked to her side. They waited for an order from their master. Danielle took in the beautiful sight before pointing at Ben with a fire poker. The top was dripping crimson and it was then that Ben saw the blood that soaked his step daughters clothes. Danielle looked down and laughed a little.

"Oh, I had to visit some other people before I came here. I wanted to save you for last."

Ben backed up more, his heart racing. Danielle smirked before snapping her fingers. Her dogs immediately tackled Ben to the ground, biting into his arms. Ben screamed, earning him more laughs from Danielle. She walked over slowly, fire poker in hand. She looked at the tip and licked off the blood. She then went and stood over Ben. She placed the tip of her poker in the center of Ben's chest. Ben struggled as he knew what was going to happen. Danielle smiled.

"Don't worry. This won't hurt...much."

Screams rang out through the house as Danielle slowly pushed the tip into Ben's chest. She pressed down hard, until finally, she broke through the bone and pierced the heart within. Ben's screams were cut short and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Danielle smiled at her work as she pulled her weapon from the body. She licked the blood as she walked out, her two dogs following behind like nothing happened.