A/N: GUESS WHAT. nothing.

Heads up: lotza Jen and Rob background story in this first chapter… (haven't seen that really done before in any of the fanfics… probably cuz Jenna tends to be a bit of a errr… bitch? Lol. So perhaps this will explain some of that… Dun't worry though, this chapter does also include a fair share of little Emily and Katie.

Chapter 1: Prelude

I'd like to tell you a story... It start's out with a married couple, Rob and Jenna Fitch, happily in love. They were engaged for a few years before they had a most impressive wedding and moved into a lovely house, of Jenna's choice, on number four, Stenson Avenue, a more posh settlement within Great Britain.

Jenna was raised to always pursue perfection, so when she found Rob, a successful and kind owner over a chain of gyms all across the United Kingdom, she didn't stop until he belonged to her, and only her. Rob wasn't sure exactly what it was about Jenna that captured him, perhaps he admired the way she was able to take control over everything so easily or the way she always knew exactly what she wanted. Either way, Rob's life long dream became to please his wife in any which way he could. It was safe to say, that it was Jenna who was wearing the trousers in their household.

After two years time, most of the couples in the area were at the age where they were starting to grow families. Jenna was never one to fall behind on what ever became the new trend, so one night she let Rob know that the time had come for them to have children of their own. To Jenna, a perfect family included the perfect darling husband who could support his family yet would do as his wife says without complaint, and two perfect, obedient, little children, one boy and one girl; the type of children she would bring to the neighbors and brag over their achievements; achievements that were be expected to be on a much more advanced level than all the other children their age.

To say Rob Fitch was a very happy man for a few weeks would be an understatement, his wife was insistent on getting pregnant, and by the consistent effort, her demands were met shortly after. She was completely elated when she found out she was going to have twins, Rob was overjoyed as well. Although, he knew his wife well enough to know to worry about her getting jealous of the attention of the children they may be having soon, so, he made sure his effort to please her doubled, perhaps even tripled. Jenna's wish for the perfect family was so close to coming true she could feel it…

Things started to go down hill at one of the regular weekly check ups with the doctor during her pregnancy. Rob was sitting beside his wife as the doctor was moving the monitoring device over Jenna's stomach. Both were fully focused on the screen that was displaying moving black-and-white images of the twins inside. The doctor sitting on the swivel chair stopped moving around the small device in her hand and looked to Jenna and Rob with a smile, "Would you like to know the genders?"

Rob looked to his wife, willing to comply with whatever she answered, although secretly wishing she would say yes. He could swear he loved his wife ten times more the second his prayers were answered and Jenna decided, "Yes; that would be wonderful."

The doctor resumed moving around the device and stared at the screen a moment before returning back to them, "Congratulations, you have two little girls… there still is possibility for me to be wrong until they are actually born, however the odds of that happening are very unlikely."

Now this is the point where anyone who knew about Jenna's plans for a perfect family, one boy and one girl, would raise their fist to their mouth and mutter "Oh, shit." But, Rob's hands were both currently confined within the grasp of Jenna's own, which he was beginning to regret, considering the way her grip was tightening. (There was no kind of work-out that could prep you for a death-grip from Jenna.)

Despite the disappointing news, no, that's another understatement, despite the world crumbling news… Jenna maintained her smile to the friendly doctor who didn't notice any reason to be concerned. Rob too, was careful to make sure he was still smiling, even if he knew he probably looked stupid the way he was simultaneously biting the inside of his lip to distract himself from the pain coming from his hands.

"How… wonderful." Jenna said, easily hiding the wrath she'd probably take out on Rob later, when they weren't among the eyes of the public. Rob had no idea exactly what to expect from his wife though, he had spent the past months decorating the two nurseries for their children, one in shades of blue for the expected boy, and one in shades of pink for the expected girl, (Jenna was a complete traditionalist). They had even gone out and bought all the toys they thought were 'gender appropriate', dolls for the girl and trains for the boy. (It didn't matter that they wouldn't be able to play with them for awhile… It was all about making arrangements for their perfect family and their perfect future.)

Just as expected, the car ride home was certainly not a happy one… neither were the next few months until the little twin girls were born.

Six years later, Jenna was still very much the same woman and Rob was very much the same man, although perhaps more fearful and obedient towards his wife. Fortunately for Rob, he was no longer the item on which she took out the majority of her vicious words, now all her anger was reserved for one Fitch alone, the younger of the twins, Emily Fitch.

During the early years of their childhood, nothing would have really seemed unusual to anyone visiting their home. You may have noticed that Jenna mostly only paid attention to the elder Fitch twin, Katie, while Rob took care of Emily whenever he wasn't at Jenna's side, but you would just assume that each parent had their favorite or found it easier to split the responsibilities, each taking care of one.

When the twins were three years old, it started to become a little more obvious to Emily that Jenna did not love her as much as Katie, perhaps not at all. She was even slowly starting to learn that it was not her father who was making any of the important decisions. She watched as Katie was always showered with attention by all the neighbors at block parties, while she was generally forgotten and left to play in a sandbox by herself, still expected to be on her best behavior. (Whether Jenna liked it or not, Emily had Fitch attached to her name, so by default she was expected to meet her mother's high standard whether her efforts would be appreciated or not.)

Emily understood that her mother expected nothing short of perfection, which was why she would always try and be her best. In pre-school she was quick to learn her alphabet, always going to sleep during nap-time, never giving the teachers a hard time, unlike her twin Katie. Despite her best attempts, there was nothing Emily could do to make Jenna care for her or even give her the same affectionate smiles her mother gave Katie.

Somehow, in a twisted way, Emily had been taught to be grateful for what little she was given. Sure, she was beginning to grow gradual resentment but at the same time, yet she was sure not to allow herself to ever show it, knowing the severity of the consequences, (threats often made), were not worth displaying any defiance.

Instead of seeing the broom closet beneath the rickety staircase as a prison, especially considering the way it was locked with a key from the outside every night, she would imagine it as a place to keep herself safe, a place to hide away from Jenna. She would spend much of her time in there when she wasn't doing her chores, either wasting away time by sleeping on the cot which she was only able to fit on because of her small frame and height, or by playing with the few toys she found abandoned at parks that she kept on a shelf meant for cleaning supplies. (All within the closet...)

When Emily was four, she had learned that hope was a lost cause and waste of emotion. At one of her parents' house parties, thrown in attempt to show off the way they renovated their house with some pricey, over-the-top designer, she had heard news that she assumed to be life changing, for the better. Her mother was surrounded by a crowd of women her age, all probably almost as equally into out-doing their 'friends' as Jenna was, when she broke the life-changing news. "I'm having a baby boy!"

Emily smiled something she rarely did; she was even going to ask her mother when he was coming, not understanding where babies came from yet… But, she decided to stay away from the party and not ask because that would be pushing it, as her mother had been debating locking her up in the broom closet without dinner that night in the first place (not for any particular reason other than having been born...).

So Emily quietly celebrated by herself for the next five months until her little brother, Britney, was born. She had thought that surely her mother would be able to be happy with her now that she had the boy Jenna had originally wanted, instead of her. But, as usual, lesson quickly learned, her mother was no nicer, rather, even meaner than before. Things quickly worsened, because as she grew up, she not only had Jenna being mean to her, but she also had to deal with Katie and Britney who also grew fond of tormenting her.

The next happiest moment Emily felt, (if you consider her one 'first' legitimate, even though it turned out badly…), was on her sixth birthday. Katie had gotten up earlier than she regularly did that morning, pausing on her way down the staircase to stomp right above Emily's head. "WAKE UP, LOSER! IT'S MY BIRTHDAY TODAY, AND I WANT CHOCOLATE CHIP PANCAKES FOR BREAKFAST!" Katie had continued running down the steps and into the kitchen, banging the broom closet door with her hands as she passed it.

Dust fell into Emily's eyes from beneath the steps above her head, which she tried to rub away before getting out of the broom closet. That was only after Britney too had stomped down the steps, followed by Jenna who had unlocked the closet and allowed Emily out. However, before Jenna allowed Emily to go into the kitchen and make them all breakfast, (one of the chores expected of her, despite how little she was to even be handling heavy iron pans around the hot cooker), she pulled the little girl aside.

"Now Emily, do you know what today is?"

"It's Katie's birthday." Emily knew enough to leave out the fact that it was her own birthday too, being that of Katie's twin...

"Correct, so today is all about your sister, and making her happy, of course. So when all her friends come over for her birthday party I want you to disappear, understood? I don't want you taking any attention away from Katie on her special day."

"Yes M'am." Emily said, looking to the floor sadly.

"Do I sense ungratefulness?"

"No M'am."

"Good, let's keep it that way. Maybe if you behave and do as you're told, I'll allow you to have your present."

"You got me a present?" Emily couldn't help herself from acting like the child she really was; she looked up into Jenna's eyes with excitement, too happy to be shocked by the unusual resemblance of kindness.

"Yes. So you better not screw up or I'll have bought it for nothing."

A shout from the other room ended the conversation between Emily and Jenna, "I WANT PANCAKES! EMILY? EMILY? WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?"

Jenna left Emily after giving her a stern look to get into the kitchen and start making those pancakes. "Now Katie, what did I tell you about swearing…"

"Sorry, Mum." Katie muttered insincerely, rolling her eyes. She always got away with everything no matter how unacceptable… it was easier for Jenna to overlook and lightly correct Katie's mistakes than to admit that her child isn't as perfect as she had intended.

"That's alright dear. I'll let it go, today's your birthday."

"That's right, Mum. Where are my presents? I want my presents, NOW." Katie shouted while sat at the table, next to her, Britney was playing some video game on his PSP he whined his way into Rob buying for him a few days ago.

"Katie, love, don't you think we should wait until after breakfast to open them?" Rob entered the kitchen and gave the older twin a hug and kiss on the top of her head, despite her resistance to do so in return. (He passed Emily without so much as a nod of the head in acknowledgement…)

"NO! I want my presents, NOW! And there better be loads of them or I'm moving out."

"Don't be rash love, you're only turning six." Rob chuckled.

"Rob, stop teasing Katie and get our daughter her presents." Jenna scolded.

"Of course, anything for my family." He left the room taking the cup of coffee Emily had poured him before, in hand, before he returned with an empty cup and a large, filled rubbish bag.

"YOU GOT ME RUBBISH? MUM, tell me Daddy didn't get me rubbish for my birthday!" Katie yelled while Emily tried to hold back a snicker as she made the pancakes, obviously a lot smarter than her sister, knowing that what was inside the bag was definitely not rubbish.

"No, Katiekins, it's full of presents. Rob, why did you put them in a rubbish bag?" Jenna inquired her husband sternly.

"So it would be easier to carry them all, love… there are a lot of them and I don't have enough space in my arms…" He said, placing the bag beside Katie who rushed to open it with Britney looking over her shoulder curiously.

"Yes, but you made our daughter think that her parents don't love her and were giving her trash. We are great parents who love their children very much, we don't want them thinking otherwise. That was just stupid, Robert. I didn't believe you could do something so horrible."

Emily rolled her eyes, it's only trash bags, give him a fucking break…

Jenna's anger at Rob turned all too soon toward Emily, effectively removing any sympathy that Emily felt for the guy. "EMILY, hurry up with those pancakes, you should've gotten up earlier so we could have them right away! Already misbehaving…" Emily nodded apologetically and said sorry, trying hard to hurry up, burning her fingers a bit on the pan in the process… She didn't bother telling them though, because they would just tell her she's stupid and it's her fault for getting burnt, so instead she just did her best to get the cooking over with. She didn't even bring up the fact that she couldn't have gotten up earlier to make them breakfast even if she wanted to, because they lock her in the closet at night until she's let out when everyone else wakes up in the morning...

The little girl finished the pancakes off and set them on a platter, placing it in the center of the four-seater table. Of course, there was no room for her at the table because she wasn't included in their perfect-family-foursome. So she just left them to get their place settings, set it up for them, and left them alone again.

She remembered to thank Jenna when her mother said she could have one of the pancakes and eat it in her 'room', to let them have their breakfast in peace… She kept reminding herself not to be jealous of Katie who was having a party and getting all those presents because Jenna had said if she behaved she would get one present, which was enough to satisfy Emily.

When she was through eating, Emily left her closet to dispose of her paper plate and clean up the four-seater table of the rest of the family's breakfast. They were all long gone, probably out to buy Katie some more toys. She wasn't surprised when she saw a note on the table with a list of chores for her to do before the party, expected to be finished by the time they returned from the mall.

Her morning was spent by cleaning all the ripped wrapping paper that had been thrown onto the floor and by putting away Katie's toys into the bin of things that Emily wasn't allowed to play with. She then vacuumed and swept the rest of the house, wiped the windows, watered the plants, (one of the only chores she enjoyed), and set up the plastic ware on the picnic tables outside, on the porch for the birthday party.

Finding spare time, she spent it with one of the books she stole from Katie's bookcase, knowing her twin wouldn't notice because Katie never actually read anything other than fashion magazines that they were probably too young for anyway, and read it outside in the sun on one of the swings on their backyard swing-set.

She was able to hear the Fitch car pulling up in the front of the house and quickly ran back inside to hide the book inside her closet and run back into the kitchen to pretend to be still wiping the already wiped counters.

Jenna came strutting in with a tight-lipped smile on her face, "Emily, you did as you were told… so I'm going to reward you and let you come to the party… if and only if, you stay out of the way... When we went shopping I bought a new dress for you to wear." Jenna pulled out an ugly looking pink dress, something she knew Katie probably insisted on her wearing to make herself look better. Emily forgot her manners and frowned at the dress on the hanger. "You don't like it? Ungrateful children could always stay in their 'room' for the rest of the day."

"No, sorry, I love it! Thank you so much for getting it for me, even though you didn't have to. I really don't deserve it." Emily forced herself to smile and take it in faked gratefulness, from her mother.

"I know. You should thank your darling sister; she was being extra nice for thinking of you on her birthday and begging us to get it for you. Now go get ready, people will be coming in twenty minutes." Emily's guesses were confirmed, it had indeed been a plan of Katie's to make her more miserable.

Emily had then spent the majority of the party cleaning up trash that Katie's friends were dropping all over the place, probably deliberately for her to clean. She knew Katie's friends also enjoyed giving her a hard time, just as much as Katie did. Eventually, to Emily's relief the eating part was through and all the adults and children were gathering on the fold up chairs that were set up on the grass, to watch the magician that Jenna had ordered for the party.

There was one empty seat in the back that Emily ended up taking, trying to squeeze a peek between two adults who were sitting in front of her. From what she could make out, the magician was definitely for children; all his jokes were very corny, still, something about the magic act fascinated Emily. She knew that there had to be some trick that he did when nobody was looking to make everything work but this was the closest to watching T.V. she had ever gotten so she enjoyed it while she could.

It had only been about ten minutes before Katie started screaming and calling the magician names, the other girls copied her actions. They were bored and Katie could never be satisfied with anything given to her or done for her. So after a few awkward words aside with Rob and a glare from Jenna, who had calmed Katie down, the magician wiped his sweaty brow and looked around the 'audience.'

"Can I have a volunteer?" He called out. Nobody raised their hands, none of the children were interested, only listening because Jenna had begged them too, and because Katie was distracted with some promise for a new toy that Rob had used to quiet her for a bit. Emily started to feel bad for the guy who was obviously starting to get nervous under the pressure, so against her greater feelings telling her not to, she hesitantly raised her hand.

He repeated himself a couple more times, trying to sound more upbeat, before finally catching sight of Emily's waving hand in the back. "You there, in the back, why don't you come here little girl…" Everyone turned in their seats and looked at her; she stood up nervously and started walking towards him, fully aware of the annoyed glare she was getting from her mother. The magician got on one knee so he'd be closer to her height and started talking to her in his stage voice when she was near. "Hello there, what's your name?"

"Um, Emily." She whispered.

"What's that, love? I can't hear you."

"It's Emily." She whispered a little louder.

"You're going to have to be louder than that."

"For christ's sake, Emily, speak up!" Jenna shouted. The magician gave Jenna a weak smile and turned back to Emily.

"My name is Emily." The girl said, loud enough for everyone to hear that time.

"Lovely name, Emily is." She blushed when he complimented her, unused to kind words directed at herself and not her sister instead. "Do you believe in magic, Emily?"

"I don't know."

"Oh, come on! There's no such thing as magic! This is so dumb!" Katie shouted.

"Actually, yes… I think so." Emily changed her answer, ignoring the eye-roll from her sister.

"Let me tell you a secret about magic, Emily," He said, charmed by her sudden interest, although not really whispering, so Emily assumed this wasn't really much of a secret. He leaned in close to her ear, "All you have to say are the magic words to make wonderful things happen… Do you know what those magic words are, Emily?"

"Please and thank you?" She guessed, turning red with embarrassment when everyone laughed at her.

"Well, those words are very special, but not magical. I'm going to tell you the magic words, but you must promise to only use them for good, okay, Emily?"

"Okay." She said, trusting him because she wanted to so badly.

"The magic words are… Abra Kadabra!" He moved his hand away from her ear holding a giant bouquet of flowers which he didn't have before.

"That's stupid!" Katie shouted. All the rest of the kids watched as Katie got up to the magician and grabbed the flowers, kicked him in the balls, and stole his hat then stomped on it.

Emily just watched the magician with wonder as she was being pulled away by none other than the strong grip of Jenna Fitch until she was being shut away in her closet. She could hear the cold voice yelling at her from the opposite side of the door, "You ruined Katie's party! I'm very disappointed in you Emily. I expected much, much better from you. I knew I shouldn't have let you come to Katie's party; of course an ungrateful little brat like you would wreck it for everyone. You just had to be the center of attention, didn't you? You're life is going to be hell from now on, you stupid, stupid, selfish, little, girl, you have my word on that."

Emily heard the sound of the key being twisted in the lock, knowing that she'd be spending the rest of the afternoon and night without being let out when she then heard footsteps fade away. "What about my present?" She asked quietly, so quietly she didn't think anyone heard her. It frightened her when she heard Jenna's voice nearby again, "Naughty girls don't get presents." Jenna disappeared again when Emily banged her fists against the door, freely crying and shouting, "I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE ALL OF YOU! I HATE KATIE! I HATE YOU, JENNA! YOU'RE ALL SO HORRIBLE!"

To be continued. I don't want to tell you what's going to happen next… but I think it will certainly be a surprise. Thanks so much for reading.