I'm just going to let the story tell itself. Would greatly appreciate it if you could REVIEW and give me all the feedback you can give as a WORK IN PROGRESS. Of course I don't own none of the characters from Glee. And this story does or will have disturbing themes and graphic imagery. Apologies ahead of time of any grammatical errors but other than that... Enjoy!

CHAPTER ONE

Saturday, January 23, 2011

Wind roared as rain violently tapped against the window. Flashes of lightening lit up the dark room in sudden brightness, the booming thunder followed in not too long after. The two tiny trees that were planted in front of the Evan's house swayed viciously and for a moment, as Sam looked out into the dark outside, they seemed as if they might break and blow off to somewhere. The news called for a severe thunderstorm that would carry on through the night which forced his mother to turn off all electricity before she left for work not long ago, leaving him alone in the dark and the sound of the rain beating against the house.

His mother was an ER nurse so her schedule was out of control. She could get called in for work whenever she was needed which could be at any time of the day, any second, leaving him to take care of his younger twin siblings, Stacy and Stevie most of the time. He didn't mind taking care of them because they were such joy to be around but he rarely got to hang out with his friends or spend alone time with his girlfriend.

"Sammy," he heard a soft whine and turned his head over his shoulder to see his younger sister, Stacy, rounding the corner into the living room. He glanced up at the clock. 10:23. "I can't sleep," she continued, as she rubbed her eyes. A few moments later, Stevie came around the corner as well.

Sam turned fully around from the window, flipping his guitar over to his back. He knew Stacy must not have slept well because hair was all over the place and her strawberry shortcake pj's was twisted in all directions. Stevie didn't look as bad in his batman pj's which lead him to believe that Stacy must have woke him up. Sam got up from the sofa and walked over to his little sister and brother, kneeling down to look at them at eyelevel. "Is it because of the storm?"

Stacy nodded and more curly blond hair fell into her tired eyes. Sam gently smiled and pulled the hair back from her face. "Well," he grunted as he wrapped one of his arm around Stacy and his other arm around Stevie and picked them up. "I'm here now."

"We know that Sam but Stacy can't sleep and sh-sh-she keeps waking me up so I can't sleep," Stevie protested.

"What do you want me to do?" Sam asked, as he walked down the hallway, nearing their room.

There was a pause before Stacy answered sleepily. "Can you sing to us like daddy use to sing please?'

A pain shot in his chest as he set his siblings down on each of their beds and instantly they sauntered back under the covers. He would never be able to sing like their dad did but he would certainly try. "Sure Stace. What do you want to hear?" Sam asked after tucking in Stevie and then Stacy.

There was an earsplitting crack as lightening flashed again. Stacy winced, sinking further under her Strawberry shortcake covers. "Something please."

"Okay. Try to fall asleep." Sam glanced up too check on Stevie and saw that he was fast asleep with his mouth wide open. Sam quietly laughed and shook his head.

"Ok," Stacy whispered. Sam rubbed her hair back and bent down to kiss her forehead. "Love you Sammy."

"Love you too Stace." Sam went to the foot of her bed sat down. The storm sounded angrier and Sam hoped it wouldn't be this way for a long time. The truth was, he was kind of scared of storms too-not that he would mention that out loud to a single soul-but in a way, he would be singing to comfort himself as well. He pulled his guitar back in front of him and took a deep breath before he began plucking the strings.

She's my kind of rain

He softly began to sing.

Like love in a drunken sky
She's confetti falling down all night
She sits quietly there
Like water in a jar
Says…Stacy why you trembling like you are

Stacy twisted in the bed when another flash of lightening streaked the room white and Sam began strumming louder. He didn't like it when his sister was scared. Since he was the older brother, he knew that he was to protect not only her but Stevie as well and to keep them happy but recently, that sense grew stronger and it felt more as a responsibility than just a thing.

So I wait and I try
I confess like a child
She's my kind of rain
Like love from a drunken sky
Confetti falling down all night
She's my kind of rain

He felt sleep gradually take him in its clutch. He eyes began to feel heavy-as a matter of fact- everything felt heavy but he kept playing and he would keep playing until he was for sure Stacy was well asleep.

Summer days winter snows
She's all things to behold

He paused for a moment and yawned. He could hear Stacey softly snore and his whole body slumped with exhaustion. With a sigh he sang the chorus drowsily…

She's my kind of rain
Like love from a drunken sky
Confetti falling down all night
She's my kind of rain

Until he couldn't sing anymore. Slowly, he unstrapped his guitar from around his chest and leaned it against Stacy's bed. With a large yawn, he fell back on the bed and closed his eyes, letting sleep finally take him under it's the darkness.

-/-

Sam woke up suddenly from his nightmare breathing heavy, his shirt caked to his body from the sweat. He sat up slowly, realizing it was just a dream and raked his fingers through his blonde hair with relief. He glanced at the red numbers blinking on the digital clock that sat on the end table separating Stevie and Stacie's twin beds. 1:45 it read. He hadn't even slept for that long but yet he felt fully rested and energized like he could take on the day without stopping for one second. He would need all the energy he could get anyway. Today he planned on taking his siblings to the park while at the same time try to have an "okay" date with girlfriend. She's been hanging on for as long as she could but Sam feared he was slowly losing his grip on her. Right now his family needed him more than ever and Sam needed for her to understand that.

There was an empty growl and Sam realized the sound was coming from his stomach. With a grunt, he got up from the bed and rambled down the hallway towards the kitchen. He paused by his mother's room. Her door was open and the room was dark and empty which meant that she was still at the hospital working. Ever since their dad died a month ago, he barely got to see his mother. She was either working, sleeping or eating and he rarely saw her eat at the house. Sam felt like it was only him and his siblings living there and that there mother was just some guest. With a heavy sigh, Sam hauled himself away from her doorframe and continued down the hallway.

He didn't have a clue what he was going do for the rest of the morning. Maybe he would lie down and try to steal back some sleep but he highly doubted that would happen. He was more awake then he'll ever be. Then he heard something that stopped him dead in his tracks. There was loud screaming coming from outside. It sound like a female's voice and a deep male's voice. Curiously, Sam walked over to the window. Who the hell is rude enough to be yelling at this time of day, he thought.

He got on the couch and slightly parted the blinds, looking out the window. The storm had lightened up a bit but between the rain and the dark outside, his vision was distorted and he couldn't clearly see what was happening. He knew that an African American family moved in the house in front of him a couple of days ago but he never really met them and from what he could tell, they moved in with some serious issues because a man was pointing a gun at a girl that looked to be not that much older than himself.

Mercedes didn't care about her weave getting wet anymore. She was sick and tired of this man constantly puttinghis hands on her mother! And for her mother to lash out at her for trying to stick up for her, made her even angrier. All she wanted to do was drive away and never comeback but she couldn't leave her mother. No matter how much she hated her decisions-marrying this fat pig was one of those decisions-she would always love her mother. "Are you really choosing this low down dog over me, ma?" She yelled through the rain at the teary eyed woman who had an expression between fear and confusion. "The one who beats you and treats you like crap!"

"Watch your mouth you little piece of…shit," Marcus sluggishly spat than started laughing like something was hilariously funny.

Marcus had come home late, drunker than ever. Mercedes was up watching TV, minding her own business like she always does when he's drunk. Then he started complaining and yelling about how this house would be the death of him, and how Mercedes was just wasting space and how she should move out and live on her own… Mercedes gave up listening to his slurred rants after a while and went back to watching TV. He disappeared upstairs and for a few moments it was nothing but the TV sounding through the air until she heard her mother cry out. That's when all hell broke loose.

"Marcus, please…" Her mother took a step closer and tried to console Marcus but he jerked his arm away from her, his glare full of hate and annoyance.

"Get your damn hands off of me!" He pushed her and she stumbled, falling onto the cement.

"Don't you dare touch my mother like that you BASTARD!" Mercedes yelled as she rushed to her mother's side.

"Oh and what you gonna do about it. You and your mother ain't shit but dumb tricks and bitches," he grinned.

But that was it. All of her contained anger, hurt , confusion and betrayal shot out of her and she could no longer see clearly. Her vision turned a scary red, her heart pounded furiously and her breathing was one of a furious bull about to charge. She quickly got up. Her mother called out to her and tried to stop her but Mercedes was unrelenting. Without thinking, she slapped that drunken grin off his face. "Call me and my mother that name again and I swear on my grandma's grave that will be the last thing you do," She growled. For a brief moment, Marcus stared at her with complete surprise then all of a sudden started shaking his head laughing. He turned around heading back into the house muttering something in between his laughs.

Mercedes eyed him angrily as he disappeared into the house. Once he was out of site, she turned back towards her mother.

"Mercedes…" Her mother's face was grave as she looked at her.

"C'mon Ma. We're leaving." She headed to her car and turned around to see her mother was not following her. She had enough of her stupidity and if she had to force her mother to get away from Marcus, she would. "NOW MA!" She yelled, causing her mother to slightly jump.

"Wait, Mercedes, we can't just…"

"Leave him? " She yelled in disbelief. "Yes, we can and yes, we will." Before she could grab her mother and throw her into the car, Marcus came back out with something in his hand. Mercedes squinted, unable to see what it was through the rain. When he lifted his arm in Mercedes direction, the metal shimmered in his hand and her face widened with fear.

"Not so big and bad are you now, huh?" His voice hummed. She was frozen with fear, unable to talk or try to fight back or to just run. All she could do was stare into the deep black hole of the pistol that was aimed directly at her. Mercedes heard the gun click and she suddenly felt light headed.

Her mother screamed and tried to run over to stop Marcus but she was too late. POW! POW! POW!

Mercedes instantly felt the agonizing pain sear through her body as she fell to the ground. The pain was all over and it was hard to exactly pinpoint where she was shot but she knew she was. Tears formed in her eyes as the world slowly began to turn cold and everything around her felt like it was spinning. Her mother knelt down beside her, shaking her. She heard her mother scream for help but she was quickly cut off by Marcus. Something must have made him panic because he quickly walked over to Mercedes and snatched the keys from her hands.

"Get in the car Erica!" Marcus demanded as he got in the car and started the engine but Mercedes mother was hesitant.

"Hey!"

Mercedes didn't recognize the male's voice but did she care? She didn't know. Her thoughts were running slow and they were still on the fact that she had just been shot and could be, possibly dying.

"GET IN THE DAMN CAR NOW ERICA!" With that, Erica got up and scurried to the passenger side, leaving Mercedes to bleed to death.

Mercedes heard the car change gears and screech off into the night.

Her mother left her for Marcus. Her mother…left her…to die. Unable to control the tears anymore, she began sobbing and as she began sobbing, she began tasting blood. She tried to stop from crying but she couldn't. The pain was too much. The rain fell on her face but it wasn't enough to wash away her wounds.

She felt someone kneel down beside her, touching her throat, checking for a pulse. Mercedes sluggishly opened her eyes, tears still running down them.

"Stay with me. Can you tell me your name?"

She tried to tell speak but all that came out was a guttural sound.

"It's okay. I'm calling 911. Everything is okay."

Mercedes laughed to herself. Nothing about this was clearly okay. She couldn't see the boy's face clearly but she wanted to thank him. Thank him for being there and being hopeful. Was this her guardian angel? It had to be. She tried to move her arm to touch him but winced at the pain.

"Stay still," the boy softly said and grabbed her hand. His voice was slowing down and becoming groggily, like she was gently fading away into a dream. She slowly looked around and saw that people from the neighborhood had formed a circle around her in the rain. Some people were coming forward to help but nothing began to make sense anymore. Her breathing had drastically slowed down and everything was turning dark way too fast.

"Hello. This is a medical emergency. I'm calling because my neighbor just got shot…

She tried to get his attention because she felt that something was seriously wrong but her body did not agree with her and agony shot all through her body. The boy finally looked down at her and he rushed into the phone, "Yes, and right now I think she's..."

and those were the last words she heard before she fell into complete nothingness.

SO HOW YOU LIKE IT SO FAR. SORRY IF ITS SO SADDENING. YOU CAN KIND OF TELL MY MOOD RIGHT NOW BUT THINGS WILL DEFINITELY GET BRIGHTER. DON'T THEY ALWAYS?

The song Sam sings is She's My Kind Of Rain by Tim McGraw. Beautiful song btw.

I would love to hear your comments, concerns, suggestions... ANYTHING!

Until next time...