Chapter I: Dreaming of Broken Pieces

Mary-Lynette sat in her room watching the small television screen with total disinterest. Her covers were wrapped around her, giving the illusion that she was warm. But inside she felt colder than she ever had before. The phone rang but she didn't pick it up. She knew who was calling. Well, vaguely who was calling. She knew it was one of the sisters… she didn't want to talk to any of them. There was a slight chance that it was her brother Mark but not a big enough chance to make her answer the phone. No one else was in the house. The phone just rang and rang. Finally it went to voice mail. The cheerful sound of her stepmother's voice, asking the caller to leave a message, came on. Shortly followed by a message from who else but Jade… Mary-Lynette was glad she didn't pick up the phone.

"Hey Mare… umm… it's me Jade. Where are you? Haven't heard from you in a while. Starting to get worried." Jade said, concern in her voice. Sure you're worried, Mary-Lynette thought bitterly. It's your fault I'm like this, your fault I'm miserable. You and your disappearing act of a brother, "Anyways I know things have been rough for you lately but we really would like to see you…" She didn't want to hear the rest. She clicked the message off quickly. Things hadn't been that rough for her lately actually.Mary-Lynette couldn't wait to go back to Yale, to college with her new friends. The thought of getting out of this town again, the thought of not having to think about vampires and werewolves and witches, made her long for the small dinky dorm room and her annoying and conceded roommate, Caroline. God, Mary-Lynette never thought she would miss her. Though Christmas with her family was a fine, she didn't want to stick around any longer. But Mark had insisted and it was true that she missed him. But not them… no, she didn't miss them at all.

Mary-Lynette heard the door open and close downstairs. The noise snapped her out of her daze. She blinked multiple times and found that she was watching Jersey Shore. She was horrified and reached for the remote but just as she was about to change the channel, the door opened. Mark was standing in the doorway. She looked up at him, slight annoyance showed on her face. She taped three times on the side of her bed.

"It's called knocking." Mary-Lynette said, "You should try it sometime." The corners of Mark's mouth moved up into a grin. He rolled his eyes and went to sit next to her. She looked at him skeptically, "What do you want?" He ignored her question.

"Since when do you watch this show?" He teased, his gaze fixing on the television screen.

"I don't." She said and turned the TV off with a click of the remote, "Now tell me what you want Mark." She demanded. His attention returned to her. He didn't say anything for a minute, looking down at his hands awkwardly.

"Jade umm… said you didn't answer her call. We knew you were home." He finally spit out. He intertwined his hands in different positions, "She wants to know if you'll come over so you can talk face to face, with all of them." He paused again, "They're really worried about you. They think you hate them."

"They're not that far off base." She said bitterly.

"Mare!" Mark exclaimed. She got up off her bed and went over to the window. Looking up at the night sky. The stars were clouded over. Only the moons shone through they're cover. Typical, she thought to herself, even the stars are hiding. Mary-Lynette's output on life was pretty damn bleak right now. Being back. It's not where she wanted to be. She wanted to be in college. She wanted to forget this place even existed. She wanted to forget the Night World and all the trouble it had caused her. All the pain it had brought. For the first time in her life she wanted to be normal, more than anything. Was that so wrong? Couldn't she just live her life without a constant reminder of a world she shouldn't know about? She didn't want to know about. It's better to have loved and to have lost, then to have never loved at all. Whoever said that didn't know what it felt like to have a soulmate. Nor would she ever want to inflict that on anyone.

A long silence had passed without saying anything. Mark was getting very uncomfortable. He was angry about his sister's behavior but most of all he was sad. Sad that she didn't understand that it wasn't Jade, Kestrel or Rowan's fault that Ash had left. He had to point this out to her. He couldn't stop himself anymore.

"It's not their fault you know." Mark said, breaking the silence. Mary-Lynette knew exactly what he was talking about. She turned to look at him sharply.

"I know Mark, it's my fault. But that doesn't mean I'm going to act all buddy-buddy with the girls personally responsible for my fucked up life." She said angrily. Mark flinched.

"You used to be friends with them. What changed?" He said coldly. After all this was his soulmate and her sisters Mary-Lynette was talking about. What changed? Mary-Lynette screamed in her head. They are the reason I now have this huge secret that I can't tell anyone about. They are the reason I almost got killed. They are the reason my heart feels like it has been smashed into a thousand little pieces and only one person in the world can pick them up. Mary-Lynette stopped herself. She had almost allowed herself to think about him. She wouldn't go back there, she just couldn't.

"I wish they had never moved here." She said. Her voice was like ice. It cut through the air and pierced Mark's heart. His eyes widened. Sure, it had been 3 years now since Ash left. That's a lot of days. But he didn't think she had gotten to the point of hatred. The resentfulness had been building up higher and higher in Marry-Lynette's heart. She blamed them for everything except Ash leaving. She blamed herself for that. It didn't help that she couldn't be convinced otherwise. That she was an infuriatingly stubborn person. That once she had made up her mind about something or someone she never changed it. There was only one exception to this but he knew better than to bring Ash up now.

"I'll tell them that you're just too busy to come over tonight." Mark said curtly and turned to leave the room.

"You can tell them whatever you want." She called after him, "It doesn't change anything. I'm not going to see them." Mark stopped for a moment in the doorway. He considered saying something else to her but thought better of it and walked off. There was no point arguing with her now.

Mary-Lynette sat on her windowsill and let the tears drip down her cheeks. It had been a while since she had cried. She felt stupid and immediately wiped the tears away. There was no point in crying, crying wasn't going to bring him back, wasn't going to fix the broken friendship. Not that she wanted to fix it. The resentment she felt when it came to the sisters was too strong. Care had turned to bitterness a long time ago. After a year had passed. That's when it started, while she was still in high school even. She didn't even flinch when she applied for a school far away from this desolate place. Somewhere where she could start over. But it hadn't worked. As long as she had her memories she couldn't escape. As desperately as she tried she couldn't wake up from this dreaded nightmare. Mary-Lynette looked up at the cloudy night sky. For once she was glad that the stars had remained out of sight. The last time she had looked up at the stars she had thought that destiny would bring her and him together again. But she was wrong. And though she couldn't admit it to herself… she was broken because of it.

That night Mary-Lynette dreamt. It wasn't the normal blackness of sleep she had gotten so used to. Sleeping pills had dismissed her dreams and replaced them with the peace she wanted. But she had forgotten the pills at Yale, which left her mind open to all kinds of fantasies or nightmares. She couldn't decide in which category to classify her recurring dreams featuring one prominent character.

"Mary-Lynette?" It was Ash. Of course it was Ash. The joy and rush of excitement that she got from seeing him again coursed through her body. She began to run to him. He was leaning against a lamppost at the end of a long road, smiling a little but the smile soon faded as she came towards him. He didn't extend his arms to greet her as she stood in front of him. She looked down at her clothing suddenly; she was wearing a white dress. It was knee length and flowed around her. She looked back up at him. He was scrutinizing her and her dress, and then laughed bitterly. He brought a beer to his lips and took a swig.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"I'm here to be with you." The answer moved to her lips before thinking about the words. He laughed again in the same manner as before.

"Why?" His indifference made her take a step back.

"Because you're my soulmate and we're meant to be together." Mary-Lynette said. She believed it with all her heart. Ash scoffed.

"If I wanted to be with you, don't you think I would have come back by now?" He was smiling while he said it, "Or maybe even called you or written you a letter of some sort." Mary-Lynette opened her mouth to say something but he cut her off, "I didn't thought did I? Why do you think that is?"

"I- I don't know." Tears brimmed her eyes. Ash took no notice of them though, he continued.

"Because I've realized exactly what I would be missing if I stayed with you. And trust me, no one is worth that." The dream was slipping away slowly, "So why should I come back? I've got everything I ever wanted." Ash laughed then looked her over, "Everything." He repeated. Mary-Lynette shot up in bed.