Chapter 3

Fights, Auditions, and A Bigger Bulge

It had been a week since we all found out Amy was pregnant. I had helped all I could, trying to hide it from her father, who wouldn't approve and through her out. However she didn't look good. Her skin wasn't it's normal caucasian colour but paler and her strawberry blonde hair that always had a glow looked dead. She had dark rings under her eyes and her eyes didn't shine but were dull.

Scot had found us last week, if he hadn't we'd still be sitting around. However today had been like the rest since the news of Amy's pregnancy; fearful, annoying, unexciting, stressful and dreadful. I was becoming tired of it.

We all sat around the old chipped wooden table in the dining room of Fred's house. His father wouldn't be home until 1am today and when he got back we would just head to Amy's or Fred's room. Amy was sitting on one of the longer sides of the table, stuffed elephant in her lap and stacks of cards, she has making into different card houses, in front of her on the table, as well as a bowl of grapes and mango cubs. Fred and Scot were on the other side staring at Scott's laptop as they searched websites that would help keep a female healthy while they were pregnant. If you asked me they look like aliens.

Amy wasn't in the right mind set lately and she knew I knew. The guys hadn't bothered to notice so we made sure not to tell them. However since she wasn't in the right mind set I was writing up things for her to do and wear. I read over the paper to make sure I had everything.

No caffeine, sunbaking, electrical blankets, cold deli meats, soft cheeses, jumping on trampoline, saunas, hot tubs, hot baths, eggs, sushi, unpasteurized juice, and fish. Stay away from them.

No heels or clingy clothes. Wear baggy stuff. I love you so much, baby.

I'm going to help you through this.

~Ivy~

I slipped the note to Amy and smiled as brightly as I could at the moment. "That's all I could come up with for now. Have you found your craving yet?" I watched as Amy went a slight green and jumped up, putting a big bucket in front of her as she threw up. The boys looked up and both looked at Amy miserably before I slapped them over the head and scowled. She didn't need bad emotions, she need bright ones!

Keeping her hair out the way I began to whisper softly to her. "I'll take it as a no..don't worry we'll find something, okay?" I kissed her temple and grabbed the cloth to clean her face up. This wasn't getting any better. Every day she'd get sicker and we didn't know what to do.

"Ivy..I'm going to die, aren't I?" the question wasn't loud, but Scott and Fred had heard as well and everything went silent.

"No. I won't let you die okay? We're going to help you get through this, understand?" I smiled at her but it soon faded when I saw someone standing in the door way.

"Get through what? And why the fuck are there people in my house!?" Fred jumps up fast and spins around as Scott closes his laptop and stands in front of me and Amy. However us girls have something else on our mind and I help Amy as best I can as we pack the cards up.

"Well!?" Fred's father stepped forward and I almost dyed! He smelt horrible! It smelt like he had gotten to work, gotten high, headed to the pub, gotten drunk and then fell into a sewer! His voice was also horrible, raspy and deep, like he couldn't get enough oxygen into his lungs. Obviously I wasn't the only one to notice because Amy clutched at the bucket again and threw up again.

I grabbed a hair tie from around my wrist and tie up her hair in order to keep my hands free. However I was suddenly thrown to the floor and crushed under a weight so heavy it couldn't be anyone but Fred's father. His hands grabbed my neck and squeezed while I bulked and scratched at his hands and face. So far nothing, and my vision was getting blurry.

In the back of my mind I knew Scott and Fred were trying to get him off me but I was more worried about Amy. "AMY! RUN!" At least that's what I tried to say, however it was too late, nothing would leave my mouth. My vision was black and the last thing I heard was thudding and Amy screaming my name.

•••

"Hush, little baby, don't say a word, Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird.

And if that mockingbird don't sing, Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring.

And if that diamond ring turns brass, Mama's gonna buy you a looking glass.

And if that looking glass gets broke, Mama's gonna buy you a billy goat,

And if that billy goat doesn't pull, Mama's gonna buy you a cart and bull.

And if that cart and bull turn over, Mama's gonna buy you a dog named Rover.

And if that dog named Rover won't bark, Mama's gonna buy you a horse and cart.

And if that horse and cart fall down, Well you'll still be the sweetest baby in town."

Over and over I heard a familiar voice...It's the voice I had heard when I hid at Fred's house as a child. His mother would use to find me in a closet or under the table and pull my into her lap, along with Fred and a baby Amy. She'd make me feel safe and happy and she dreaded it when they came over to get me, acting like everything was fine when it wasn't. Not for me anyway. Mary Ann had been the only one to believe me when I said my family doesn't love me. My teachers thought I was being stupid and that I lied. The other students would scream at me and ask what was wrong with me for thinking like that.

It wasn't like that with Mary Ann.. I had come over one time and her husband found me. He never had a name to me, just an evil being. He tried to throw me out and nearly hit me, she had stopped it and taken the blow that was meant for me. She then yelled that if he ever touched one of her children again she'd move out, leaving him nothing. He had been shocked and hated me ever since.

"Ivy...Ivy...Come here child, everything is going to be okay. I'll protect you, even when you don't know it.. Hush little baby, don't say a word, Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird...Ivy... Ivy..."

"IVY!" I felt my body being shaken around and I blinked slowly before wincing and closing my eyes again.

"Five more minutes...I'm sleepy..." I gasp as three different people leap on me and hug me tightly.

"You're alive! We thought you were-" Fred's voice was husky and sounded like he had been yelling.

"Holy crap! Sis, warn us when you're going to pass out! We thought the-" Scott's voice on the other hand sounded calm, only I could hear the hint of relief.

"Ivy.. Ivy..Ivy..Ivy..!" I felt someone bury their face into my chest and hair brush against my skin. Knowing it was Amy, I stroked her hair and looked around slowly, keeping my eyes narrow to avoid the pain the light brought to them.

The walls were a soft cream and every piece of furniture was a deep brown colour and most of it was beautiful dark wood. The couch, which I was laying on, was the same deep brown as the carpet and the pillows on the floor, which probably were on the couch before, were the same cream as the walls.

Looking through an open door I could see a bathroom that was baby blue with the touch of pale yellow.

There was an arch way in the wall and looking through it I could see a small kitchen that was a mixture between black and silver with a small round table in the middle of the room that had been painted black in order to fit in, no doubt it was brown beforehand.

Looking around a little more I could see two other doors, one being the front door, obviously because of the peephole, and the other being the door that no doubt lead to a bedroom.

"What's going on? Where are we?" My voice was odd and it hurt to talk but it was clear I was heard because Scott started to laugh.

"What's wrong, Ivy? Don't recognize your own brother's handy work? You're in my apartment! It's neat, right? I did it all myself. Painted it, put in furniture, did the carpet; Everything!" I looked at Scott as he flicked the lights off, leaving a soft, pale, glow from outside come in through the window.

"And for the 'What happened?' question.. Well, my father chocked you. We couldn't get him off until you passed out. We all thought the worst. Ivy did you know that your pulse is too small to locate? I mean seriously! I looked and couldn't find any..." Fred frowned as he thought through it and then just shook his head.

Amy hadn't spoken up the whole time and I was beginning to worry. "Yeah, my pulse has always been weak. Did he touch you, Amy? Fred? Scott?"

Scott grinned and lifted his arms which had huge bruises on them. Fred rolled his shirt up and showed me the cuts and bruises on his stomach. However, Amy remand silent.

"Amy, did he touch you?" I touch the side of her head and she looked up slowly. Her lip was busted, she had a black eye which didn't look good thanks to the rings under them. She also had blood coming out of her nose.

"Hey, Ivy, guess what!?" Amy smiled brightly at me, which looked a little creepy at the moment. "Your phone was ringing so I answered and they said you had an audition for the singing contest you wanted into!"

If it wasn't for the fact of Amy needing help with her nose I think I would have passed out again. "Don't joke around like that, Amy..."

Scott and Fred grinned and helped me sit up while giving Amy a tissue. "She's not lying!" They say in union.

And with that I passed out again.

•••

I remember as I child when seeing the doctors. They would always say that I was silly, dreaming of such a thing as fame. They did tests on me, giving me other things to play with and turn into dreams. However I always came back to dreaming of fame. For as long as I can remember it was fame that I wanted. Nothing else.

Maybe that's why I'm treated the way I am...Nah! It couldn't be..right?

Anyway, the first time I heard of the singing contests that were around I had flipped! I sung my lungs out and sent videos of me singing out. I never got as far as an audition but I never stopped. I had become the lead singer in a band that had come and gone. I sung for the school at special events. All kinds of things!

"What are you dreaming of, child? Being famous like the mistress singer you remember from the hospital? I'm sure if you try you can. Never give up, stay with your dreams! What's this? Your family? Don't worry about them, my darling Fred and beautiful Amy will take care of your needs. Your brother, Scott, shall become your hearts needs. With them you're whole. Search for fame as long as you can...Angel from the Goddesses themselves."

Goddess? Angel? No..That was a dream! A dream when I was a child. Those words had come to me in complete darkness, they were a dream.

"Were they?"

I woke with a start and sit up fast, almost falling off the couch. It was a dream, right? It had to be! Mary Ann, Fred and Amy's mother, had died almost four years ago... I wasn't crazy, but was there a chance I was being haunted and words that were from a dream, weren't really a dream?

"Ivy, you have to be hungry! You keep passing out." Pouting, Amy walked in and handed me her plate of uneaten rice and chicken with, what looked like, cream sauce. "Scott's making me eat. He must think I'm an elephant with how much he's trying to feed me!"

I pointed to her stuffed elephant and spoke with a mouth full of rice. "You hurt her feelings. Go say sorry.." I swallowed and grinned as Amy giggled hard.

She looked so much better than before. The rings under her eyes weren't so dark, even with the one black eye. Her skin was starting to go back to its normal colour and her hair didn't look as dead as before. Bright blue eyes looked at me excitedly and for a while I forgot she was pregnant. The bloody nose she had wasn't bleeding anymore and her busted lip wasn't looking bad either.

"So, where are the boys? It's too quiet!" Placing the plate aside, I wrapped an arm around her and smiled.

"Scott went to get more food. He said me and Fred could stay here a while as long as we stay in school. Fred said he would be outside waiting for you. He said it was important.." She held her hand out and wiggled her small fingers. "Can I have the cards? I saw you slip them in your pocket before dad tried to kill you."

Oh! So that's what is stabbing me! Pulling out the cards, I hand them to her and watch for a while as she moves to the coffee table and starts making card houses again. Her baby must have been growing fast 'cause her bulge was slightly bigger. We wouldn't get rid of the child, we were kids and we couldn't kill an innocent child. Abortion, that was, is, killing to us. After knowing she'd stay there for a while I silently stood up and walked to the door.

Once outside I noticed that we were on the second story of a huge building. Obviously it was apartment housing but I've never been higher than the ground, so being two stories high got me excited!

I skipped to Fred, who had been sitting on the rail in front of the door, and joined him. We sat in silence for a while and I was about to say something when he spoke up. "Explain the bruises to me. Don't lie. Don't cry. Don't hide inside yourself. Tell me as if it's not you."

I look up at him and then at the sky, it was getting dark. I'd have to go soon or get Scott to call my parents and tell them I was with him tonight. I guess, I also owed Fred an answer. We had been friends for yours, closer and closer with each passing year. He had been with me when I needed him, no questions back. I think it was time to return the favor in a different way.

I told Fred what had happened that night three months ago. The first time they beat me.


Okay, had trouble putting this chapter up but I hope you enjoy it!

I won't be able to update it until.. I think in two days? Maybe three? Joys of being kidnapped by my favorite cousins! XD

Sorry if spelling is a little wrong, I tried to fix it up but I know there are some mistakes. No one helped reread this XD Sorry if it's a little shorts too!

So I'll update in two or three days, sorry and don't kill me! And Yes, CLIFF HANGER! *evil laugh*

Love you all! ;)

Magena Storm