The swing creaked incessantly as it rocked back and forth. On its bench- like body, a girl was sprawled, one jean-clad leg hanging over the side and grazing the dirt below. The sunset cast an orange glow over the park, shining on the black t-shirt of the girl, heating it just enough for her to move her leather jacket off her chest. It was still a cold autumn...

Sighing and rising, the girl stood in the suns last rays of the day as a slight breeze blew past her. Birds were giving one last burst of song before roosting for the night. The Atlantic ocean's waves crashed against the cliffside thirty feet below where she stood.

This lone girl had long honey-colored hair that hung straight to her shoulder-blades, from the tips up for five inches was dyed dark crimson. Their sea-green hue glinting in the light, her narrowed eyes stared at the constantly incoming waves. Also glinting was the metal buckle of the leather collar around her neck, but it was only for a brief moment.

If anyone were around to take the time to examine the girl, they would have noticed the long lime-colored stains on her knees down to the shins of her jeans. A few blades of dead tan grass were clinging in her hair. She had recently been in a fight.

Tilting her head, she cracked her neck a little and turned away from the cliff. She wanted to go home. At 22, she was tired of living in boring old Larken, New Jersey. And doing nothing but surviving and getting into trouble everyday, for that matter. She wanted something new! Was that so much to ask for?

Walking out of the park and down the road towards her house, the girl, who was called Tazz, moved with a quick but long gait, her shoulders rounded defensively. She was tired and quite aggravated right now. Along her route home, her head being low, she ran headlong into an old woman, who stumbled a bit. Tazz's head shot up. "Oh!" she cried out in surprise. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" Tazz leaned near to make sure the elderly woman wasn't injured. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

The old woman smiled politely. "Oh no," she replied, the smile causing wrinkles in the corners of her eyes, "I wasn't watching where I was going either. Are you alright, missy?"

Tazz nodded and answered, "Uh, yeah. Thanks." She scratched the back of her head in a slight nervousness.

The aged woman chuckled heartily. "I know you're fine from the bump. A healthy girl like you wouldn't go down that easily." She peered at Tazz. "But are you all right?"

Tazz made a strange face. She laughed a moment. "Well, I guess I just sometimes I wish I were somewhere else," she said, slowly giving a small smirk. "Is it really that obvious that I'm upset?"

The mature female smiled again. "Only to the trained eye, missy, only to the trained eye." She reached into her purse and brought something back out. "Here, keep this with you. Maybe it will bring you to where you want to be." She pressed the object into Tazz's hand, then without so much as a farewell, she walked off on her way.
Tazz blinked a few times, then looked to find a deep blue stone in her palm. "Weird old lady..." she muttered.

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Home was ordinary. A 3-story house she shared with a friend. The entire third story was Tazz's room. As usual, her housemate wasn't home, so everything was silent when Tazz trudged up to her room in the attic. She quickly stripped off her jacket and threw it aside into a pile of dirty clothes in the corner. Collapsing face-first into her bed, she sighed loudly and closed her eyes.

Fighting, troublemaking, outcaste, hated, and in return, hating others. This was no way for someone to live life.

Tazz groaned and succumbed to unconsciousness in her pillow, not realizing the old woman's stone was still in her pocket...

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A tall white candle flared to life in the darkness with the hiss of a match being struck.

"Lost and tortured, loathed and mocked, this is no way for a girl to subsist, Send her off, send her back, in Tortuga she shall now exist..."

---------------

Tazz awoke the next morning with a massive headache. "Ow. Man, what'd I drink last night.? Wait, I didn't. Why the hangover...?" She rolled onto her side, eyes still closed tightly. Her head spun. "Owwie... Okay, note to self: don't move." She winced slightly. "Hey Jen, get me a glass of water, would ya?" she called loudly.

"Would you like some, miss?"

Tazz's eyes shot open. Before her stood a woman dressed in a puffy dress, the bodice removed to reveal quite a bit of cleavage. Her hair was curly and dark red and yet her face was gentle. "You're not Jen..." Tazz stated flatly, still wide-eyed in shock.

"Aye, no I'm not," the woman said, smiling warmly. She had a vaguely English accent, but there was a dialect involved Tazz couldn't place. "My name is Anna. Would you be likin' your glass of water now?"

Tazz could only nod slowly. As the woman Anna left, Tazz sat up and looked around wildly, causing her head to hurt more. This definitely wasn't her room. This room was small with only a bed, nightstand, oil lamp, and a chair positioned near a window. A window! Tazz bolted up and dashed to it. What she saw made her jaw drop.
A sandy beach and palm trees.

There were no palm trees in Jersey.