Chapter 1

"My life is a horror all its own, but my children, you do not want to hear that story. Why don't we play a board game?" I offered my fifty year old hand towards the game wardrobe.

"Grama, if I play another stupid board game, I will die. And anyway, your story can't be that bad. Tell me." Sammie ordered. My granddaughter was a bit of a bossy person. My grandson, Micheal, was a very quiet young man. I haven't heard his voice in all of the time that I've known him. I met Sammie's fierce gaze with a cold glare that was unlike any look I've given her. She recoiled for a moment, startled by my sudden burst of emotion.

"If you want to hear about how I was hunted like a dog, shot, forced into labour, and tortured for the whole of my life, then so be it. You need to learn respect anyway. My legacy is one that you will remember as long as you live..."

In London, a small child was bundled up in rags, carried by a crying young woman. She glanced over both of her shoulders before continuing on down the street. Her baby was sound asleep, oblivious to the horrible scene occuring. The woman stopped at a random house, knocked on the door, and left the baby there, on the stoop. She ran from the house of her child's new dwellings with a trail of tears. The master of the house, a stout man with an evil aura surrounding him, came out and gave a sweep of the street, and looked down. He called for his misses and she came out, a similar aura with her. They glanced at the bundle and proceeded to have the following conversation.

"Leave it. The little runt will be just another mouth to feed." The old man stated.

"But sweetheart, when it grows older, the rat might be of use. All we have to do is train it. That shouldn't be too hard, am I wrong?" The lady-of-the-house grinned a yellow stained smile at her husband, and he contemplated it. Eventually he caved and they brought her in. They laid her in her bundles of cloth onto the floor to sleep while they also retired for the second time that night. Through the next eight years, her life was filled with misery, sadness, and constant lessons on behaviour always followed with harsh beatings, whether she was right or wrong. Her last day with the groushes was the fifth of December. She was cleaning the laundry in the kitchen because of the frost that covered the ground. Her "master" as he told her to call him, came home in a foul mood, as the misses of the house had just ran out on him with some other man. He gave a harsh glare at the little girl on the floor and decided that she wasn't worth any more of his time. He grabbed a knife from a drawer and ran the darling girl through, just as a policeman barged in. He had a warrant from the court to arrest the master of the house for many scandalous acts, but was met with a grousome scene as he arrived. He quickly drew his gun and shot the horrid bastard, and dragged the child to the hospital. She blacked out after this.

She awoke after three days and was terrified of the strange place surrounding her. Her first thought was to get up, find her way back home, and finish her chores, but her memories of her master's death slowly filled her brain. She wanted to cry over him, but found that she smiled instead. Where is that man that saved her? Where is any one? She finally took the time to glance at her surroundings. She was in a white room, with a window and pretty curtains, there were flowers and a teddy bear were on a table next to her, and the room smelled funny. She reached out to the bear and felt the soft fabric. She really wanted to hold it, but she didn't know if these were for her or someone else. True, there were no other patients in the room, but she was trained to ask before taking. She decided to let the bear go until someone came in. She settled in on the bed and tried to lay her arm on her stomach, but was met with a fierce shock that made her squeal slightly. She lifted her dress and looked at her belly. There were tons of bandages covering it, but blood still showed through. So this is what master did. I think it might be best not to go looking for anyone any time soon.

"Praise the lord!" The kid looked up in surprise and fear towards the door. There stood a nurse that was smiling and laughing. She rushed forward and grabbed the child's hand and was saying how happy she was. She finally got around to asking, "What is your name child?" She stared at the impaled girl in front of her. The young girl slouched and said, "Rat." The nurse jerked back a moment.

"Well, that shouldn't surprise me. Those parents of yours were terrible and probably would name you that. would you like a new name, darling?" Rat looked up at the nurse, contemplating it. If she had a new name, she could start over. The chores and such would all be left in the past, never to be brought up again. She eagerly nodded her head.

"Great! What would you like to be called? Violet, Cassandra, or maybe Hera, after the goddess?" The nurse looked eagerly towards the patient, and was given an answer.

"I've always liked Veronica." the newly instated Veronica said. The nurse smiled and walked out of the room, writing something down in a file. Veronica glanced around one last time before realizing that she had forgotten to ask about the bear. She called out for the nurse, but there was no answer. She eventually gave in to temptation and gently lifted the bear off of the table. The fabric that created the white, fluffy thing was the softest type of, well, anything she had ever felt. The purple, crinoline bow tied around it's neck scratched her fingers lightly, reminding her of the wool blanket she had been using all of her life. Her mouth tightened into a thin line and she untied the ribbon. She threw the harsh reminder on the floor, and snuggled up against the plush animal. Her mouth curved lightly, letting her new life and name flow into her, absorbing all of the good fortune she hoped would come with them. Veronica awoke to someone brushing hair over her ear and cooing her name softly. She opened her eyes and glanced up.

"Why is it so dark?" She asked, but no one was there to answer her. She wasn't with her teddy bear anymore, She was sitting on some type of glass, or a very reflective piece of marble. She stood up and glanced around. All around her there was just, darkness. No lights were on, no people were around, but she could see where she was and some one must have woken her, right?

"Hello? Is anyone around? Hello!?" She wanted to be back with her teddy bear, holding it and squishing it. Maybe this is a dream. I could go out the way I came in! She laid down on the floor again, but it wasn't long before she heard her name again. She kept her eyes closed and the voice got a little more furious. The whisper turned into a talk, the talk became a cry, and the cry became a wail. She whimpered but still wouldn't open her eyes. If she opened her eyes, the darkness would be back, and the voice would leave. The voice would leave! She snapped open her eyes and... nothing happened. The voice continued to wail her name, and she grew terrified. She covered her ears in order to escape the sound, but her frail hands were almost like paper, and did nothing for her. The voice grew louder and more constant, until it was shaking the floor beneath her. She finally broke.

"Stop it! Please just shut up!" The voice grew silent and she removed her hands. Veronica opened her eyes to find herself in the bed, tangled in sheets. The nurse was standing in the doorway with a tray that carried delicious foods that Veronica had never even heard of. The bear was on the floor, next to its bow, and the nurse finally leapt into action. The tray went on the table beside the flowers, and her hand flew to Veronica's cheek.

"Are you alright darling?"

"Yes, but were you yelling my name?"

"No, I wasn't. I walked in here and you suddenly burst out telling some one to shut up."

"I'm sorry ma'am. I must've had a nightmare." She slid back in her bed, trying to forget about the voice calling for her.

"There's no need to apologize Vv. I guess I'll just have to lower the dose of painkillers we give you. That may mean more sleep, but it will also result in you being uncomfortable."

"Please don't do that. I don't care about the nightmares, but I don't want to feel this constantly." She gestured to her wound.

"Well, alright, but if it gets too bad, tell me and I'll make sure they don't come back."

"Thank you miss. When do you think I can move?"

"I'd say not for a few days, and even then you'll be supervised." She grabbed the bear off the floor and handed it to her. She took it eagerly and sat up for breakfast. After eating, Veronica found herself itching to explore her new environment. She knew what the nurse said, but she still felt like getting up and moving. How could one trip around the room hurt? Then again, she was hooked up to an I.V., so without pulling that out, how could she move? She'll have to imagine moving, instead of actually doing it. There was an odd little box across from her bed that she had seen before, but never used. Her master and mistress had used it and funny pictures would flash on the screen with sound playing too. They had a littler box that they would use to change the picture, and it was covered with buttons. They had to have one here too, or else the patients couldn't watch the picture boxes. She looked around the room for the third time, this time she had a reason for it.

She found the little device on the table with her breakfast. That kind of reminded her of a book she had started to read once. 'Alice in Wonderland' if she remembered correctly. She had only reached the part where the vial appeared on the table before the master took it and ordered her to do more chores, but it was enough to relate to her situation. The master often pushed the red button before a picture would start, so that was the first thing she did. The television started up instantly, and a face appeared on screen. This face was bloody, bruised, and looked like it was already dead, but it said something softly. Veronica leaned in, and the head said it again. She recognized the voice, but she didn't know just where she had heard it. The head repeated it, louder each time, until she could understand it.

"Veronica! Veronica! Veronica!" She turned pale, and remembered her nightmare.

"No!" She screamed and threw the blanket over her head. How could this be? How could that monster be something she had dreamed of? And how did it get here. The nurse walked in right around then, and realized what was happening. she switched off the T.V. and ran to the eight year old's side. After she recovered from shock, she explained what had happened. The nurse held her hand, and after a week in the hospital, she was released to an orphanage.

In the orphanage, she was watched over constantly. Whether by a staff member, or by her new roommate. She was a newbie as well, as her mother and father had died in a fire. Her name was Jameson, but to Veronica, she was Mouse. She liked it when she was strong enough to play tag because of her speed and agility. When V was 'it' she could chase her and catch her before too long, and when Mouse was 'it', V could run circles around her, but only until the painkillers wore off. Then she would have to go back to bed. During the time that V wasn't able to play, but was still able to sit up, the girls would sit on the window seat and read the day away. V finally was able to finish 'Alice in Wonderland' and was slightly disappointed in the ending. If there were a world that were mad and that had a magical capability, then wouldn't she want to stay? She could be as free as she cared to be, but she chose the life where you had your life picked out for you. This was not V's cup of tea. She decided that perhaps she could write her own world. One that she could stay in forever, and that would be just for her, and Mouse, of course. She mentioned this idea to her dear friend, and Emmy loved it. They discussed topics varying from romance to macabre, but decided on a dark fantasy story, with bits and pieces of their lives sewn together. This would be their perfect world. They could still feel remorse for their loved ones, but to a lesser extreme, and drowned to near death by the fun and insanity of it all. Perfection at its peak.

The girls started the story in the orphanage garden. There were four tall oak trees, piles of beautiful roses and daisies, and a beautiful sitting area. The table and chairs were painted white and were decorated with a design resembling vines and tropical flowers. They started to plan out their story, but Mouse said something to stop V in her tracks.

"Hey V? Can we not plan anything?"

"What?" V answered, blown away by the idea. "How could we not plan a book? The twists and turns need to seem real, the chapters need to be longer than a page, and so on, so how can we not plan?"

"We can make all of that happen, but I want it to twist like our lives. Don't you remember? We have to tie in as much of our lives as we can in order to make this a good story. Everything we feel has to be real, so we can't plan the story if we don't know what's going to happen." Veronica thought about what she said and realized that she was right. They can't plan their lives, so how can they plan this? She closed her notebook with a snap, which startled Mouse.

"You are completely right M. I guess we had better go get good paper, huh?"

"Don't worry V, I 'll go get it!" She ran into the house to ask the supervisor for some money. After a while, V started to worry. She managed to stand up even though the painkillers were wearing off. With each step her stomach screamed for her to stop and collapse onto the ground, but she had to make sure nothing was wrong. She also needed painkillers, bad. Finally, after what seemed like hours, she reached the door. She was startled by a loud fire of a gun, followed by many more. She rushed in, forgetting the pain. She was met by a terrible scene. Jameson and everyone else were shot to death, and the assailant was running out the door. She screamed as loud as she could, and managed to attract his attention. He turned to face her and shot at her, the bullet landing in her right shoulder, knicking the bone. He ran out the door without a second glance.

Moments later, officials arrived and nearly lost their lunches. V screamed in agony for help, and the largest of the men dragged her to the hospital. For the second time, V passed out in a stranger's arms.

After awaking, V found herself in the same hospital as before, clothed in the same type of dress, with another stuffed animal on her table. Did they do this for everyone? The animal was a pink rabbit this time. She lifted her arm and gently lifted the new fluffy bunny off of the table, wondering why she was here. What happened to me now? She removed the ribbon again and placed it on the table, as she tried to recall what had landed her here again. She remembered struggling into the doorway after Mouse ran inside, but then she heard something. What was it? She could tell by her heart rate that she had heard something bad, but what? Her memory cut off right about there. Why couldn't her brain play in colour and sound? It was all black, white, and mute up there, just like always. She glanced around a moment, hoping to see some indication of her charts or such. She saw a notebook sort of thing sitting on the foot of her bed. She reached for it, grabbed it, and started to read about herself.

Her blood type was O+, she was eight, and her name was Veronica. She had blue eyes, black hair, and had been in their care before. She scanned over the information she knew and found a bundle of papers marked, 'Confidential'. Now what could be so secret about an eight year old girl named Rat? She glanced at the clock and realized the time. 3 am! No wonder no one was around. As long as she had time, she may as well get to know herself. She flipped on her light and closed the hospital door and slid the curtains around her bed shut. She undid the string holding the bundle together, and opened the folder.

"A young woman known a Rougue gave birth to a child, but has managed to hide her amongst the normal civilians of today's world. The child, formerly known as 'Rat', may be the spawn of this woman. Rougue was said to have died of heartbreak shortly after, but there are no official records of such thing. Rougue is wanted for many counts of fraud, bigamy, kidnapping, vandalism, burglary, and murder. If this child is Rougue's daughter, she will be used as leverage to find her mother. If not, the child may be sent back to an orphanage.'

After only that paragraph, Veronica felt like her whole world was crumbing. She might be the daughter of a criminal that even the F.B.I. wanted to catch! Her mother was a murderer! She curled up and whimpered slightly. She covered her ears as if someone were screaming at her that her life would be filled with big burly men shoving her around trying to find her mother. Her life would be the epitome of loathing, hate, and wretchedness, and how could it get any worse? She was already doomed to suffer for her mother's crimes even though she never knew her or ever thought she had a family to begin with! How could they do this to her!? Veronica was innocent! She needed to tell everyone that she would not suffer for Rougue's crimes and she will not tolerate any form of disrespect. However, V was not in much of a mood to do anything. she remained curled up until the morning when a doctor came in to check on her. he drew back the curtain and was met with a whimpering little girl and a stack of papers that were never meant to be read. He quickly bundled them up and tried to get her to talk, but she simply started to cry, or rather, howl. She bawled with a sound that resembled a wolf after losing a battle. After the doctor left to find a nurse she turned her cries into actual words.

"I'M INNOCENT! I'M INNOCENT! I DID NOTHING! NOTHING!" She screamed those words until she was given a dose of anesthesia and passed out.

After the incident, V found herself back inside the world in her mind. The reflective ground glimmered in the unseen light. She listened a moment and decided to see if she could talk to the voice.

"Hello? Are you there?" She called out. At first, there was no answer, but after a short pause, the voice responded.

"Hello V. I am here, as always."

"Always? I've never met you before, whoever you are."

"I am your sub-concious state of mind, calling to you."

"Can you take an actual form? It would be easier to trust what you say if you weren't an ominous voice in the dark."

"What do you wish me to be?"

"Well, if you are me, then you should know."

"Very well then. It has been decided." A fog appeared out of no where, and out of that fog, a cat appeared. Its fur was as black as the midnight sky, and was covered in what looked like zodiac animals. The eyes stuck out the most. They were orange, but moving. They resembled the deepest fires of hell and showed V paradise. She drew in a shaky breath.

"So, you are me, but if you only know what I know, then how can you help me? You'll freak out when I do, be clueless when I am, and probably end up in a mental ward with me."

"I am the side of you that is calm and serene. I do not respond the same to situations as you. I also can help you escape any traps set by the government, but only if you listen to me."

"What is your name, stranger?"

"I am Death. The very thing that has stolen what you love."

"What do you mean?"

"You do not remember what happened to Mouse for a reason. I do not wish to tell you or show you what happened, for it might jeopardize or mission."

"What mission?"

"To find your mother, V. To find Rougue."