(a/n: Chapter Five, here I come. Thank you all my reviewers (I was going
to say Loyal Reviewers, but who would I be kidding, other than myself?)
Well . . . anyway. I think I'd like to 'specially thank Icebox, because
you've reviewed every single chapter, and you're so nice about it! THANK
YOU! Because I'm in a really good mood (I just saw The Green Mile and
cried for a half hour, you've gotta see that movie, peeps) I'm going to
dedicate this chapter to three people: Icebox, 'cause you're that special
=), My best-friend Jackie Hotaru Hunt, LYLAS gurl! And lastly to my other
best friend Bryan Tomas, who is currently in his gazillionth surgery to try
to remove another tumor that he got in addition to his leukemia. I love
you, Bryan Tomas. Get better!
(And peace, love, and everything to everyone, especially those who have lost loved ones)
Chapter 5.
Artemis was ready to kill Riley within a half hour. He was driving her crazy. He was saying exactly the right things, he had a sense of humor (strange as it was, it was there), and he was being the perfect date, and Artemis was going flat-out insane. She'd rather have his stuttering, holding her hand in his sweaty palm, and have him being shy. As if he actually liked her. But rather, he was being like the usual jock. Overconfident and demanding. Every jock is created this way, but it just made Artemis mad that he was doing something like that on a date.
But she wasn't going to say anything. Just because he was as annoying as all Hell, she wasn't going to make him mad. She was still scared of that slimy attitude.
The two had gone to see a movie and out for something to eat. It was well near midnight, and well past curfew when the two started to head back. By that time, Artemis only had one good memory of the evening. She told him that she joined the JV hockey team, and he started choking on his French fries. It was a golden moment. Artemis wished that she brought a camera.
But when he finished choking, he just stuttered that he was glad for her. He was a bit less than convincing for Art. But it didn't matter. She hoped that he wouldn't want to go out with her anymore because of that.
When the two got out to the parking lot, neither Riley nor Artemis left the car quickly. Artemis was waiting for Riley, and Riley didn't want to leave. He leaned over and tried to kiss Artemis (a/n: with a hefty 'Yuck!' from me), but she quickly turned her head and he ended up kissing her cheek. Artemis randomly felt around behind her for the door handle. She tumbled out of the door backwards, her purse falling, and opening, its contents scattering everywhere.
"Great. Just great." She muttered sarcastically and began to pick up what she could reach without moving and replacing in the purse. She finished everything within arms' reach, but when she stretched out for a pen, all of her fingers extended out to their fullest, someone stomped a shoe on them. A heavy dress shore. "Ow." Artemis said, her fingers were throbbing with pain. She could barely stand it.
The shoe wearer ground his foot into her hand. Artemis dropped the pen from in between her index and middle fingers and began trying to pull her hand back. "Leave me alone." She pleaded, her vision was blurring with tears.
"Get off of her." Came Riley's voice in a harsh command. Suddenly the shoe's pressure was gone. Riley had tackled the wearer of the shoe. 'Point One for Riley.' Artemis thought to herself, and turned her attention to Riley and the shoe wearer. They were apparently trying to punch each other while not getting hit, and neither was doing very well.
They were both punching very well, but they were also being hit very badly. If it wasn't such a serious situation, Artemis would be laughing at their poor abilities. She was a black belt for a reason. She reached down with her good hand, and squeezed Riley's shoulder, telling him to get up. He did so after a moment, and then so did the shoe wearer. But Artemis wanted to see his face. She wanted to see who tried to break her fingers (and/or ruthlessly crush them into the ground).
The man now had a fat lip, with blood on it. His left eye was starting to swell with a bruise. But through that all, there was something very familiar about him to Artemis. Then it just came fully. "Mr. Vew?" Artemis asked, shocked.
Their next-door neighbor, from when Artemis lived with Kenny and her mother. Mr. Vew was good friends with Kenny, and he liked Artemis's mother enough, but Kenny always told Mr. Vew how bad a child Artemis was, so he didn't like her. "Mr. Vew, what are you doing in Minnesota?"
"Yer Daddy wants you to come back." Mr. Vew answered, his strange accent twisted even more by his fat lip.
"Never. I'm not going back. And you can tell Kenny that." Artemis said fear choking her, making the words all the harder to say.
"I'm not to go back withoutcha." Mr. Vew answered.
"What's going on?" Riley asked.
"Get in the car." Artemis answered, and then she followed her own advice. "Now drive." She ordered when Riley jumped in. The doors locked, and suddenly Artemis felt a bit better about Rick Riley. "Thanks for your help out there."
"Yeah, but who's 'Mr. Vew?' And why was he on our school campus. And why did he attack you?" Riley asked, and he pulled the car out of the parking lot.
"Old next door neighbor." Artemis answered. "I don't know why he was on our school campus. It seems that Kenny wants me to go back home, and Mr. Vew is just a violent person."
"Who's Kenny?"
"Stepfather." Artemis answered.
"You're going to make these questions very hard to get answers to, aren't you."
"Probably." Artemis admitted. "Can we just go back now? Mr. Vew is probably gone, and I'm exhausted." Rick nodded back, and he drove off. When they got back into the parking lot "Mr. Vew" was definitely gone, and it was very quiet. Rick leaned over, and landed a kiss on Artemis cheek before he got out of the car. Artemis followed him out, and they split ways in an odd silence.
~~
When Artemis got to her dorm, she was shocked to find Connie and Julie awake, and several of the guys over. "Hi." She greeted with a slight wave. All turned to her and waved back or greeted her. They were all engrossed in a movie, and Artemis smothered a chuckle at that. She headed for the bathroom, so she could more easily inspect her hand.
She heard the door make a satisfactory click behind her and she sighed in relief. She grabbed the knuckles of her bad hand with her good hand and winced. Mr. Vew wore very painful shoes. Her knuckles were dark with bruises, and they were extremely tender to the touch. Only a dull ache resided when there wasn't any contact with her fingers.
She would live, but the injury in itself was initially a very bad thing. It was her right hand. It would hurt to write. And more importantly for Artemis, it would hurt to draw. And it would be basically impossible to wrap her fingers around a hockey stick, even through her gloves. 'Why do these things always happen to me?' Artemis thought miserably. Blowing on her fingers to try and soothe them some. But it didn't help very much at all. "Oh well." She sighed. She always had Ace© bandage handy, and she set about wrapping up her hand gently.
She jumped about a foot in the air when Connie entered the bathroom, while she was wrapping. "I knocked but no one answered." Connie explained, and Artemis nodded back; she hadn't heard the knock. "Sketch? Hurt again, I see. So, what happened? And where have you been?"
"I might as well tell everyone at once, since you know about as much about my personal life as I do. Why stop now?" Artemis answered. She didn't mean for her words to come out so coldly, but they did. And there wasn't much she could do about it, but apologize, which she did swiftly, with a barely coherent, "I'm sorry."
Connie nodded in understanding. She knew how Artemis felt, the Ducks knew as much about her as she did them. And that alone was virtually everything. She didn't have many secrets, really. She could understand where Artemis was coming from. "Come on, I'll shut off the movie, because I'm that kind of person." She said smiling slightly.
The corners of Artemis's turned up in a wry smile. Connie grabbed Artemis's good hand and led her out into the main room. She walked assuredly, after releasing her hold on Artemis, up to the TV and shut if off, much to the unhappiness of her friends. "Oh, shut up, guys, we're going to intrude on Artemis's personal business again, and I'm sure that we'd all be much pleased if you'd pay attention."
"So much for subtle." Artemis rolled her eyes, and Connie grinned and blushed in agreement. "Okay, here's the story, and if you interrupt me, I'm not going to finish, so if you have anything to say, say it now." Artemis wasn't used to expressing her opinion, and she was actually rather shy of her friends, but she knew if she stopped she wouldn't want to go through it again. "And this is the whole story, so get comfortable while you're at it. If you want your other friends to hear it, they get here now, or you tell them."
The audience she had consisted of: Charlie, Adam, Ken, Russ, Connie, Guy, and Julie. That was about half, and enough for Artemis to know that they could each managed to tell someone, and everyone would know. They all nodded, but none moved to leave. They didn't want to miss her story. Artemis sighed softly in defeat. 'Now or never.' Artemis told herself. It was a phrase that she used to sustain herself with when she wanted to stand up to Kenny, but it hadn't worked for her before. But when her brother took her side, and held her left hand in his, and with the supportive gazes of her friends, she began. "Well, Sun Boy, you might know some of this. Add at the beginning, if you'd like."
~~~~
Four-year-old Artemis grinned at Helios through her cracked fingers. "Peeker!" Helios cried aloud in dismay. "You don't know hide and seek!" Artemis just giggled and shrugged, and walked up to her twin.
"Tag! You're it!" Artemis shot off, Helios quick behind her. They careened down a hallway, and Helios smashed into Artemis when she stopped without warning. He mumbled something about an 'ouchie' but didn't add to that. Mom and Dad were at it again. Mom hurled a plate at her husband in fury, though if one was madder at the other, it was definitely Dad.
"I can't believe this." He said softly and sadly, running a hand through his thinning hair. "But . . .why? Why would you do this to our family? How could you?"
"How could I not?" The voice of Mrs. Banks was full of passionate sorrow. "You're working your life away, my children are always running havoc or playing hockey. No one in the damned house even loves me anymore. Kenny loves me. He does." She added stubbornly at the skeptical look that Mr. Banks gave her.
"I don't care if Ken does love you, which is in itself highly doubtful." Mr. Banks spoke Ken's name sourly, as if it tasted odd in his mouth. "The children all need and love you, and so do I. We both know that you're just running away from responsibility. You always have." Mr. Banks' words ended acidic and he spat them out, as if he desperately wished that they would burn his wife.
"Me? Running from responsibility. You would work your life away at the station if you could!" Mrs. Banks retorted with an accusation of her own. "Just so you wouldn't have to come home and take care of your family, you lying bastard!"
"EXCUSE ME?" Mr. Banks exploded, not literally, but close enough to scare a pair of four-year-olds away without a second thought. Mom and Dad fought constantly. And the pair always somehow got involved in their arguments. Even as young as they were; they knew that they had both done something horribly, horribly wrong, and that they shouldn't ever be forgiven for it. Or, that's how their parents treated them half of the time.
"I didn't mean to." Artemis told Helios, with wide unblinking doe-like eyes. "I promise."
Helios nodded his agreement, and twisted his fingers around each other. "Let's ask Nafen!" Nafen. A.k.a. Nathaniel, Nathan, their older brother, who seemed to have unlimited resources of information about the world. They nearly flew up the stairs to bombard him with questions, but they never got the chance.
Nathan was in his room, lying facedown on his bed, muffled sobbing noises escaping the eight-year-old boy, his entire body shaking with the exertion. He tried to a act normal when the pair entered the room timidly. He tried to never cry in front of them. "Hey brats." He greeted them affectionately, and Artemis stuck our her tongue at him. Helios noticed something wrong, though.
"Nafen? Why are you crying?" Helios asked, both he and his sister were rather articulate for their age.
"Nothing to worry about, little brother, I'm just leaking a little bit." He answered with a small half-grin. "What have you to ask the all-knowing today?" They always approached him nervously when they wanted to know something.
"Are we bad?" Artemis blurted out, and then clamped her own hands over her mouth, her eyes watering up, knowing that she had done something else wrong. Something else for Mom and Dad to yell about.
Nathan looked at her gloomily, though. "Of course not, who said you were?"
"Mommy." Helios answered for her, though. Nathan sat back at this, a troubled look on his face.
"Come here, Artemis, Helios." He motioned toward his bed. The two were a bit fearful, now. He never called them by their real names unless they were in trouble, or something serious was going on. They both leaped on the bed, hopping on it a few times, before receiving a look of warning from Nathan. "I didn't want to be the one to tell you guys this, but I have to. Mom and Dad . . . Mom and Dad are getting a divorce. Do you know what that is?" Both four-year-olds shook their heads at him, curious. "Well, that means that they aren't going to live together anymore. Mom is moving away. With Ken. And I think that one of you are going to go with her."
"But . . . we don't wanna be alone wif no-one else." Helios objected, Artemis nodding firmly behind him, her eyes watering with tears at the thought.
"I know, but I have to stay here with dad." Nathan answered, though he evidently wanted the twins to remain together just as much as they did. "Don't worry, you guys will be okay, I promise."
"Okay." Artemis answered, and Helios was the one to nod then.
~~
It took a year and a half before the divorce was finalized. Artemis and Helios had turned six, and they had realized exactly what was going on. The two grew closer together, and away from everything else, except their skating. Helios was playing hockey, under Nathan's watchful eye, and Artemis was working on perfecting the smooth grace that she had mastered on the ice. They had also grown to despise Kenny, completely. They both refused to be anywhere near the man, especially alone.
Helios had been decided to stay with Mr. Banks (butchered English language there), and Artemis to go with Kenny. Helios begged that they were switched. He knew it, heart and soul, that if Artemis went with him, something horrible would happen to her. Her innocence would be gone forever, and she would be just a shell of herself. When she wasn't skating, or with her brothers, her eyes turned dead as it was. But their parents wouldn't be swayed. They both knew exactly where they had to go, no choice whatsoever.
So, they split up. Artemis went with her mother and Kenny, while Helios and Nathaniel stayed with their father.
~~
At first it wasn't so bad, Artemis went to stay with her biological father every other weekend, and she and her two siblings talked on the phone a lot of the time. Artemis and Helios even went to the same school, so they saw each other and were contented with it.
Slowly, though, things began to change. There were excuses why Artemis couldn't stay with her family, couldn't call because of the phone bill. A new job opening in another part of town, excusing Artemis to go to another school. Soon, there were so many reasons, that Artemis couldn't even e-mail her father or her brothers, at all. Though she knew that they tried to keep in contact with her.
The family of three, Artemis, her mother, and Kenny moved across the country, severing all ties with the rest of the Banks' family except the e- mails that Artemis managed to send to Helios during her study hall.
Yet again, things could only get worse. Kenny began to beat Artemis.
****Okay, I'm going to make this long story a helluva lot shorter, because my computer totally wiped out this file and I don't think I can stand to write the whole thing out all over again from memory. Let's call it the compact version****
Soon, Artemis never saw anyone from a school, the only true ties to the outside world she had. She was home schooled and the only time she really got out of the house was to do some shopping, or cut the yard or when Kenny and her mother were too drunk to notice that she wasn't there, which was actually much more often than it should have been.
Artemis began carrying her sketchpad as if it were the only thing keeping her alive. On her tenth birthday, Kenny nearly beat her to death, and he stabbed her in the stomach. The cut didn't become infected, but if Artemis hadn't known the basic first-aid, she would have died from blood loss.
Two years later, being slashed with a large kitchen knife wasn't even the most severe punishment delivered to Artemis.
Soon after, she met her first true friend. A girl who hung out at the grocery shop while her older sister worked there. Her name was Tammy Duncan. Artemis was too shy to talk to Tammy at first, but Tammy was too stubborn to give up, and Artemis wanted a friend too badly.
~~
"Hello!" A girl with long blond hair swept back into a ponytail smiled brightly. Artemis hid her bruised face behind a veil of her own sandy hair, gathering the girl was talking to someone else. "I said 'Hello.'" The girl spoke again.
"Hi." Artemis whispered back, adjusting the bags in her arms. There wasn't much in the bag, but food was precious rare, and Artemis wouldn't risk even a crumb of it.
"I'm Tammy Duncan and my little brother Tommy's around here somewhere, my older sister, Sarah, works here. Who're you? Are you new? I've never seen you at school or anything before." Tammy spoke in a rushed, excited sort of way. She held out her arms in an offering to help Artemis carry her bags, but Artemis pulled away, eying Tammy warily. "I'm not going to steal your food, I just wanted to help you carry them to your parents' car."
Artemis looked blankly back. "My parents aren't here. I have to go home, now." She spoke into her bags and turned.
"I'll come!" Tammy grinned. "Just let me ask my sister if I can go."
"NO!" Artemis's voice was shrill, and Tammy looked at her in shock, Artemis again tried to hide her face but it didn't work, Tammy had seen the bruise on Artemis's cheek, and she gasped.
"Oh my God!" She spoke in a whisper. "What happened to you? Who did that?!"
"It-it was an accident." Artemis answered, stepping back. "I-I've really gotta go!" She turned and sped off. She crashed, though into a short redheaded boy, and she dropped her bags, spreading the food everywhere, ruining it. "NO!" She cried again. "Oh no, oh no, oh no. What am I going to do now?" Tears began pouring down her cheeks.
"Tommy! Why don't you watch where you're going?" Tammy scolded the boy. "Don't get so upset, I'm sure your parents won't mind. After all, it was my brothers' fault, not yours. Don't cry over spilt milk . . .and eggs, bread, and some vegetables."
Apparently Tammy's words provided no comfort to Artemis, who continued to mutter to herself. "I don't have anymore money. Oh no! Kenny will kill me!"
Tammy jumped up, as an idea struck her. "Come with me!" She demanded, and grabbed Artemis's hand and pulled her inside. "Sarah!" She spoke to the cashier, who looked upon her younger sibling in interest. "Tommy ruined all of her food, but she doesn't have any money for more, could we giver her a hand?"
"Tommy, you should be more careful. I get a discount, no problem-o. Tammy, you can help her find her food. As for you, Tommy, go sit down, consider yourself grounded." Sarah spoke clearly, and shooed all three of the children away.
"Come on . . .wait, what's your name again?" Tammy asked curiously.
"Ar-Artemis." Artemis responded shyly, and Tammy nodded approval before she began the escapade of finding food.
~~
Artemis walked out of the store holding more food than she usually bought in a month. Sarah paid for it all, without even considering how much she spent, thought for most anyone but Artemis, it truly wasn't that much. Only twenty-five dollars, with the discount. Sarah made much more than in a paycheck. "Thank you, so much." She told Tammy, bowing her head again to shield her face. Tammy nodded and shrugged.
"Well, it wouldn't have happened if Tommy hadn't spilt all your food. Are you sure that you don't want me to help you carry that home?"
"Oh! I'm so late! I'll see you later, Tams, I have to go!"
"What did you call me?" Tammy asked, surprised.
"Tams. I'm sorry, it was just kind of easier to say."
"That's okay, I don't mind in the least." Tammy smiled and waved as Artemis jogged off, holding her food, her arms overflowing.
~~
Tammy and Artemis became the best of friends, and Artemis had more opportunities to leave the house, with Kenny and her mother passing out nearly every day from too much alcohol or their drugs. Tammy began to re- teach Artemis about everything she knew about ice-skating. Tammy knew what was going on at Artemis's house, as did Tommy, and the Duncan's nearly adopted Artemis; she was at their house so much. They gave her a key of her own, in case she ever had to get in the house to hide from an impending 'accident' (a.k.a. Kenny).
Despite the actually bruises that Artemis sported, there was no evidence to actually set a trial up against Kenny, but that didn't stop any suspicions. The one time that the Duncan's actually tried to approach Kenny and the once Mrs. Banks, the next time they saw Artemis, she was heavily bruised, and she had several marks of dried blood, that had to have come from another punishment that had to have come from the knife.
They never tried speaking to Kenny or Artemis's mother again.
~~
Two years later, with Tammy and Artemis closer than ever, Kenny had had enough. Artemis was on her own. He kicked her out of 'his' home with not even a change of clothes. Artemis was glad to be free from his punishments. Now fifteen, she had nothing to loose, but nothing to gain. She headed straight for he only haven of the Duncan's house. They immediately took her in, and she stayed with Tammy in her room.
~~
"Art, what are you going to do now?" Tammy asked, with an arm wrapped around her best friends' shoulders.
"I think I'm going to try to find my father, my biological father. I'm going to try and stay with him, I guess. I hope he hasn't moved. I don't know another way to catch up with him." Artemis whispered back, her knees to her chin, and looking at her old worn-in sneakers.
"Who's your father? Oh, that's weird; you told me where he lives, or lived, maybe. I used to live around there, but I don't remember anyone with the last name Janine." Tammy spoke.
"That's because Janine isn't my last name. I have two middle names. My whole name is Artemis Lana Janine . . .Banks." Artemis whispered. "I'm so sorry I lied, I didn't even really think of it as lying at the time! I always tell people my name is Artemis Lana Janine, and then we became best friends, and I didn't see a real reason to tell you differently. I didn't think that it was that important."
"Banks?" Tammy asked. "As in your twin is Adam Banks, from team USA? The one who was on the Hawks, but then became a Duck on a technicality."
"Yep, he's my twin, my other half. But his name isn't Adam Banks. His name is Helios Adam Bryan Banks."
"No way! I knew him! And he hasn't moved. Someone would've told me by now."
Artemis shrugged. "Good. I'll call him, now, can I?"
"Of course."
~~~~
"After that, Dad sent me the ticket at Tammy's house and since he didn't really want me at home, he sent me here with Heli—I mean—Adam. I'm really not going to get used to calling him that." Artemis finished. The Ducks were all staring silently at her in shock and awe. "Do I have something on my face?" She asked dryly.
"So, what happened to your hand?" Connie asked, eyeing the bandaged limb.
"A friend of Kenny's, Mr. Vew, was here. Riley kind of tricked me into a date. He choked on a French fry; you should've been there. It was great. When we got back here in the parking lot, he tried to kiss me, so I pulled the car door open, and more or less toppled out. Everything in my purse spilled everywhere, and while I was getting on Mr. Vew stomped on my hand and ground it into the ground. That's what happened to my hand. Something probably would have broken if it weren't for Riley. He saved my hand, and maybe my life. Mr. Vew was going on and on about how Kenny wanted me to get back home.
"If Riley weren't there, God only knows he would've kidnapped me, and brought be back. He said that he wasn't to leave without me, or something to that extent. Anything else you want to know? I'm past exhausted, and I really, really want to get some sleep."
No one said a word, but the guys filed out silently, Adam only after hugging his twin tightly and the rest after saying some comforting words. She only believed one of them, because he spoke with confidence, as if he knew. "Artemis, I don't know if it will be okay, in all honesty, but we'll pull through. You'll see. You're a Duck now, you always have been, I can tell. Good night." Ken whispered it all in her ear, and she hugged him, too, and then he left, leaving the three girls alone.
After yet another few hugs, each headed to bed, to think of what had happened.
(a/n: Okay, I'm sooooooooooo sorry for the long wait, and that's all for this chapter. Like I said in the middle of the flashback, several of my files were deleted completely. And I've been sooooooooooo busy. I have two exams tomorrow, so soon I should be able to get more up sooner, summers starting in 2 days for me. Then again I'm going to drivers ed., and I'm getting a job. I'll do my best. Okay, please review! PLEASE! **grins** I'm almost pathetic, begging for reviews . . .oh well, please review, though. I love feedback!)
(And peace, love, and everything to everyone, especially those who have lost loved ones)
Chapter 5.
Artemis was ready to kill Riley within a half hour. He was driving her crazy. He was saying exactly the right things, he had a sense of humor (strange as it was, it was there), and he was being the perfect date, and Artemis was going flat-out insane. She'd rather have his stuttering, holding her hand in his sweaty palm, and have him being shy. As if he actually liked her. But rather, he was being like the usual jock. Overconfident and demanding. Every jock is created this way, but it just made Artemis mad that he was doing something like that on a date.
But she wasn't going to say anything. Just because he was as annoying as all Hell, she wasn't going to make him mad. She was still scared of that slimy attitude.
The two had gone to see a movie and out for something to eat. It was well near midnight, and well past curfew when the two started to head back. By that time, Artemis only had one good memory of the evening. She told him that she joined the JV hockey team, and he started choking on his French fries. It was a golden moment. Artemis wished that she brought a camera.
But when he finished choking, he just stuttered that he was glad for her. He was a bit less than convincing for Art. But it didn't matter. She hoped that he wouldn't want to go out with her anymore because of that.
When the two got out to the parking lot, neither Riley nor Artemis left the car quickly. Artemis was waiting for Riley, and Riley didn't want to leave. He leaned over and tried to kiss Artemis (a/n: with a hefty 'Yuck!' from me), but she quickly turned her head and he ended up kissing her cheek. Artemis randomly felt around behind her for the door handle. She tumbled out of the door backwards, her purse falling, and opening, its contents scattering everywhere.
"Great. Just great." She muttered sarcastically and began to pick up what she could reach without moving and replacing in the purse. She finished everything within arms' reach, but when she stretched out for a pen, all of her fingers extended out to their fullest, someone stomped a shoe on them. A heavy dress shore. "Ow." Artemis said, her fingers were throbbing with pain. She could barely stand it.
The shoe wearer ground his foot into her hand. Artemis dropped the pen from in between her index and middle fingers and began trying to pull her hand back. "Leave me alone." She pleaded, her vision was blurring with tears.
"Get off of her." Came Riley's voice in a harsh command. Suddenly the shoe's pressure was gone. Riley had tackled the wearer of the shoe. 'Point One for Riley.' Artemis thought to herself, and turned her attention to Riley and the shoe wearer. They were apparently trying to punch each other while not getting hit, and neither was doing very well.
They were both punching very well, but they were also being hit very badly. If it wasn't such a serious situation, Artemis would be laughing at their poor abilities. She was a black belt for a reason. She reached down with her good hand, and squeezed Riley's shoulder, telling him to get up. He did so after a moment, and then so did the shoe wearer. But Artemis wanted to see his face. She wanted to see who tried to break her fingers (and/or ruthlessly crush them into the ground).
The man now had a fat lip, with blood on it. His left eye was starting to swell with a bruise. But through that all, there was something very familiar about him to Artemis. Then it just came fully. "Mr. Vew?" Artemis asked, shocked.
Their next-door neighbor, from when Artemis lived with Kenny and her mother. Mr. Vew was good friends with Kenny, and he liked Artemis's mother enough, but Kenny always told Mr. Vew how bad a child Artemis was, so he didn't like her. "Mr. Vew, what are you doing in Minnesota?"
"Yer Daddy wants you to come back." Mr. Vew answered, his strange accent twisted even more by his fat lip.
"Never. I'm not going back. And you can tell Kenny that." Artemis said fear choking her, making the words all the harder to say.
"I'm not to go back withoutcha." Mr. Vew answered.
"What's going on?" Riley asked.
"Get in the car." Artemis answered, and then she followed her own advice. "Now drive." She ordered when Riley jumped in. The doors locked, and suddenly Artemis felt a bit better about Rick Riley. "Thanks for your help out there."
"Yeah, but who's 'Mr. Vew?' And why was he on our school campus. And why did he attack you?" Riley asked, and he pulled the car out of the parking lot.
"Old next door neighbor." Artemis answered. "I don't know why he was on our school campus. It seems that Kenny wants me to go back home, and Mr. Vew is just a violent person."
"Who's Kenny?"
"Stepfather." Artemis answered.
"You're going to make these questions very hard to get answers to, aren't you."
"Probably." Artemis admitted. "Can we just go back now? Mr. Vew is probably gone, and I'm exhausted." Rick nodded back, and he drove off. When they got back into the parking lot "Mr. Vew" was definitely gone, and it was very quiet. Rick leaned over, and landed a kiss on Artemis cheek before he got out of the car. Artemis followed him out, and they split ways in an odd silence.
~~
When Artemis got to her dorm, she was shocked to find Connie and Julie awake, and several of the guys over. "Hi." She greeted with a slight wave. All turned to her and waved back or greeted her. They were all engrossed in a movie, and Artemis smothered a chuckle at that. She headed for the bathroom, so she could more easily inspect her hand.
She heard the door make a satisfactory click behind her and she sighed in relief. She grabbed the knuckles of her bad hand with her good hand and winced. Mr. Vew wore very painful shoes. Her knuckles were dark with bruises, and they were extremely tender to the touch. Only a dull ache resided when there wasn't any contact with her fingers.
She would live, but the injury in itself was initially a very bad thing. It was her right hand. It would hurt to write. And more importantly for Artemis, it would hurt to draw. And it would be basically impossible to wrap her fingers around a hockey stick, even through her gloves. 'Why do these things always happen to me?' Artemis thought miserably. Blowing on her fingers to try and soothe them some. But it didn't help very much at all. "Oh well." She sighed. She always had Ace© bandage handy, and she set about wrapping up her hand gently.
She jumped about a foot in the air when Connie entered the bathroom, while she was wrapping. "I knocked but no one answered." Connie explained, and Artemis nodded back; she hadn't heard the knock. "Sketch? Hurt again, I see. So, what happened? And where have you been?"
"I might as well tell everyone at once, since you know about as much about my personal life as I do. Why stop now?" Artemis answered. She didn't mean for her words to come out so coldly, but they did. And there wasn't much she could do about it, but apologize, which she did swiftly, with a barely coherent, "I'm sorry."
Connie nodded in understanding. She knew how Artemis felt, the Ducks knew as much about her as she did them. And that alone was virtually everything. She didn't have many secrets, really. She could understand where Artemis was coming from. "Come on, I'll shut off the movie, because I'm that kind of person." She said smiling slightly.
The corners of Artemis's turned up in a wry smile. Connie grabbed Artemis's good hand and led her out into the main room. She walked assuredly, after releasing her hold on Artemis, up to the TV and shut if off, much to the unhappiness of her friends. "Oh, shut up, guys, we're going to intrude on Artemis's personal business again, and I'm sure that we'd all be much pleased if you'd pay attention."
"So much for subtle." Artemis rolled her eyes, and Connie grinned and blushed in agreement. "Okay, here's the story, and if you interrupt me, I'm not going to finish, so if you have anything to say, say it now." Artemis wasn't used to expressing her opinion, and she was actually rather shy of her friends, but she knew if she stopped she wouldn't want to go through it again. "And this is the whole story, so get comfortable while you're at it. If you want your other friends to hear it, they get here now, or you tell them."
The audience she had consisted of: Charlie, Adam, Ken, Russ, Connie, Guy, and Julie. That was about half, and enough for Artemis to know that they could each managed to tell someone, and everyone would know. They all nodded, but none moved to leave. They didn't want to miss her story. Artemis sighed softly in defeat. 'Now or never.' Artemis told herself. It was a phrase that she used to sustain herself with when she wanted to stand up to Kenny, but it hadn't worked for her before. But when her brother took her side, and held her left hand in his, and with the supportive gazes of her friends, she began. "Well, Sun Boy, you might know some of this. Add at the beginning, if you'd like."
~~~~
Four-year-old Artemis grinned at Helios through her cracked fingers. "Peeker!" Helios cried aloud in dismay. "You don't know hide and seek!" Artemis just giggled and shrugged, and walked up to her twin.
"Tag! You're it!" Artemis shot off, Helios quick behind her. They careened down a hallway, and Helios smashed into Artemis when she stopped without warning. He mumbled something about an 'ouchie' but didn't add to that. Mom and Dad were at it again. Mom hurled a plate at her husband in fury, though if one was madder at the other, it was definitely Dad.
"I can't believe this." He said softly and sadly, running a hand through his thinning hair. "But . . .why? Why would you do this to our family? How could you?"
"How could I not?" The voice of Mrs. Banks was full of passionate sorrow. "You're working your life away, my children are always running havoc or playing hockey. No one in the damned house even loves me anymore. Kenny loves me. He does." She added stubbornly at the skeptical look that Mr. Banks gave her.
"I don't care if Ken does love you, which is in itself highly doubtful." Mr. Banks spoke Ken's name sourly, as if it tasted odd in his mouth. "The children all need and love you, and so do I. We both know that you're just running away from responsibility. You always have." Mr. Banks' words ended acidic and he spat them out, as if he desperately wished that they would burn his wife.
"Me? Running from responsibility. You would work your life away at the station if you could!" Mrs. Banks retorted with an accusation of her own. "Just so you wouldn't have to come home and take care of your family, you lying bastard!"
"EXCUSE ME?" Mr. Banks exploded, not literally, but close enough to scare a pair of four-year-olds away without a second thought. Mom and Dad fought constantly. And the pair always somehow got involved in their arguments. Even as young as they were; they knew that they had both done something horribly, horribly wrong, and that they shouldn't ever be forgiven for it. Or, that's how their parents treated them half of the time.
"I didn't mean to." Artemis told Helios, with wide unblinking doe-like eyes. "I promise."
Helios nodded his agreement, and twisted his fingers around each other. "Let's ask Nafen!" Nafen. A.k.a. Nathaniel, Nathan, their older brother, who seemed to have unlimited resources of information about the world. They nearly flew up the stairs to bombard him with questions, but they never got the chance.
Nathan was in his room, lying facedown on his bed, muffled sobbing noises escaping the eight-year-old boy, his entire body shaking with the exertion. He tried to a act normal when the pair entered the room timidly. He tried to never cry in front of them. "Hey brats." He greeted them affectionately, and Artemis stuck our her tongue at him. Helios noticed something wrong, though.
"Nafen? Why are you crying?" Helios asked, both he and his sister were rather articulate for their age.
"Nothing to worry about, little brother, I'm just leaking a little bit." He answered with a small half-grin. "What have you to ask the all-knowing today?" They always approached him nervously when they wanted to know something.
"Are we bad?" Artemis blurted out, and then clamped her own hands over her mouth, her eyes watering up, knowing that she had done something else wrong. Something else for Mom and Dad to yell about.
Nathan looked at her gloomily, though. "Of course not, who said you were?"
"Mommy." Helios answered for her, though. Nathan sat back at this, a troubled look on his face.
"Come here, Artemis, Helios." He motioned toward his bed. The two were a bit fearful, now. He never called them by their real names unless they were in trouble, or something serious was going on. They both leaped on the bed, hopping on it a few times, before receiving a look of warning from Nathan. "I didn't want to be the one to tell you guys this, but I have to. Mom and Dad . . . Mom and Dad are getting a divorce. Do you know what that is?" Both four-year-olds shook their heads at him, curious. "Well, that means that they aren't going to live together anymore. Mom is moving away. With Ken. And I think that one of you are going to go with her."
"But . . . we don't wanna be alone wif no-one else." Helios objected, Artemis nodding firmly behind him, her eyes watering with tears at the thought.
"I know, but I have to stay here with dad." Nathan answered, though he evidently wanted the twins to remain together just as much as they did. "Don't worry, you guys will be okay, I promise."
"Okay." Artemis answered, and Helios was the one to nod then.
~~
It took a year and a half before the divorce was finalized. Artemis and Helios had turned six, and they had realized exactly what was going on. The two grew closer together, and away from everything else, except their skating. Helios was playing hockey, under Nathan's watchful eye, and Artemis was working on perfecting the smooth grace that she had mastered on the ice. They had also grown to despise Kenny, completely. They both refused to be anywhere near the man, especially alone.
Helios had been decided to stay with Mr. Banks (butchered English language there), and Artemis to go with Kenny. Helios begged that they were switched. He knew it, heart and soul, that if Artemis went with him, something horrible would happen to her. Her innocence would be gone forever, and she would be just a shell of herself. When she wasn't skating, or with her brothers, her eyes turned dead as it was. But their parents wouldn't be swayed. They both knew exactly where they had to go, no choice whatsoever.
So, they split up. Artemis went with her mother and Kenny, while Helios and Nathaniel stayed with their father.
~~
At first it wasn't so bad, Artemis went to stay with her biological father every other weekend, and she and her two siblings talked on the phone a lot of the time. Artemis and Helios even went to the same school, so they saw each other and were contented with it.
Slowly, though, things began to change. There were excuses why Artemis couldn't stay with her family, couldn't call because of the phone bill. A new job opening in another part of town, excusing Artemis to go to another school. Soon, there were so many reasons, that Artemis couldn't even e-mail her father or her brothers, at all. Though she knew that they tried to keep in contact with her.
The family of three, Artemis, her mother, and Kenny moved across the country, severing all ties with the rest of the Banks' family except the e- mails that Artemis managed to send to Helios during her study hall.
Yet again, things could only get worse. Kenny began to beat Artemis.
****Okay, I'm going to make this long story a helluva lot shorter, because my computer totally wiped out this file and I don't think I can stand to write the whole thing out all over again from memory. Let's call it the compact version****
Soon, Artemis never saw anyone from a school, the only true ties to the outside world she had. She was home schooled and the only time she really got out of the house was to do some shopping, or cut the yard or when Kenny and her mother were too drunk to notice that she wasn't there, which was actually much more often than it should have been.
Artemis began carrying her sketchpad as if it were the only thing keeping her alive. On her tenth birthday, Kenny nearly beat her to death, and he stabbed her in the stomach. The cut didn't become infected, but if Artemis hadn't known the basic first-aid, she would have died from blood loss.
Two years later, being slashed with a large kitchen knife wasn't even the most severe punishment delivered to Artemis.
Soon after, she met her first true friend. A girl who hung out at the grocery shop while her older sister worked there. Her name was Tammy Duncan. Artemis was too shy to talk to Tammy at first, but Tammy was too stubborn to give up, and Artemis wanted a friend too badly.
~~
"Hello!" A girl with long blond hair swept back into a ponytail smiled brightly. Artemis hid her bruised face behind a veil of her own sandy hair, gathering the girl was talking to someone else. "I said 'Hello.'" The girl spoke again.
"Hi." Artemis whispered back, adjusting the bags in her arms. There wasn't much in the bag, but food was precious rare, and Artemis wouldn't risk even a crumb of it.
"I'm Tammy Duncan and my little brother Tommy's around here somewhere, my older sister, Sarah, works here. Who're you? Are you new? I've never seen you at school or anything before." Tammy spoke in a rushed, excited sort of way. She held out her arms in an offering to help Artemis carry her bags, but Artemis pulled away, eying Tammy warily. "I'm not going to steal your food, I just wanted to help you carry them to your parents' car."
Artemis looked blankly back. "My parents aren't here. I have to go home, now." She spoke into her bags and turned.
"I'll come!" Tammy grinned. "Just let me ask my sister if I can go."
"NO!" Artemis's voice was shrill, and Tammy looked at her in shock, Artemis again tried to hide her face but it didn't work, Tammy had seen the bruise on Artemis's cheek, and she gasped.
"Oh my God!" She spoke in a whisper. "What happened to you? Who did that?!"
"It-it was an accident." Artemis answered, stepping back. "I-I've really gotta go!" She turned and sped off. She crashed, though into a short redheaded boy, and she dropped her bags, spreading the food everywhere, ruining it. "NO!" She cried again. "Oh no, oh no, oh no. What am I going to do now?" Tears began pouring down her cheeks.
"Tommy! Why don't you watch where you're going?" Tammy scolded the boy. "Don't get so upset, I'm sure your parents won't mind. After all, it was my brothers' fault, not yours. Don't cry over spilt milk . . .and eggs, bread, and some vegetables."
Apparently Tammy's words provided no comfort to Artemis, who continued to mutter to herself. "I don't have anymore money. Oh no! Kenny will kill me!"
Tammy jumped up, as an idea struck her. "Come with me!" She demanded, and grabbed Artemis's hand and pulled her inside. "Sarah!" She spoke to the cashier, who looked upon her younger sibling in interest. "Tommy ruined all of her food, but she doesn't have any money for more, could we giver her a hand?"
"Tommy, you should be more careful. I get a discount, no problem-o. Tammy, you can help her find her food. As for you, Tommy, go sit down, consider yourself grounded." Sarah spoke clearly, and shooed all three of the children away.
"Come on . . .wait, what's your name again?" Tammy asked curiously.
"Ar-Artemis." Artemis responded shyly, and Tammy nodded approval before she began the escapade of finding food.
~~
Artemis walked out of the store holding more food than she usually bought in a month. Sarah paid for it all, without even considering how much she spent, thought for most anyone but Artemis, it truly wasn't that much. Only twenty-five dollars, with the discount. Sarah made much more than in a paycheck. "Thank you, so much." She told Tammy, bowing her head again to shield her face. Tammy nodded and shrugged.
"Well, it wouldn't have happened if Tommy hadn't spilt all your food. Are you sure that you don't want me to help you carry that home?"
"Oh! I'm so late! I'll see you later, Tams, I have to go!"
"What did you call me?" Tammy asked, surprised.
"Tams. I'm sorry, it was just kind of easier to say."
"That's okay, I don't mind in the least." Tammy smiled and waved as Artemis jogged off, holding her food, her arms overflowing.
~~
Tammy and Artemis became the best of friends, and Artemis had more opportunities to leave the house, with Kenny and her mother passing out nearly every day from too much alcohol or their drugs. Tammy began to re- teach Artemis about everything she knew about ice-skating. Tammy knew what was going on at Artemis's house, as did Tommy, and the Duncan's nearly adopted Artemis; she was at their house so much. They gave her a key of her own, in case she ever had to get in the house to hide from an impending 'accident' (a.k.a. Kenny).
Despite the actually bruises that Artemis sported, there was no evidence to actually set a trial up against Kenny, but that didn't stop any suspicions. The one time that the Duncan's actually tried to approach Kenny and the once Mrs. Banks, the next time they saw Artemis, she was heavily bruised, and she had several marks of dried blood, that had to have come from another punishment that had to have come from the knife.
They never tried speaking to Kenny or Artemis's mother again.
~~
Two years later, with Tammy and Artemis closer than ever, Kenny had had enough. Artemis was on her own. He kicked her out of 'his' home with not even a change of clothes. Artemis was glad to be free from his punishments. Now fifteen, she had nothing to loose, but nothing to gain. She headed straight for he only haven of the Duncan's house. They immediately took her in, and she stayed with Tammy in her room.
~~
"Art, what are you going to do now?" Tammy asked, with an arm wrapped around her best friends' shoulders.
"I think I'm going to try to find my father, my biological father. I'm going to try and stay with him, I guess. I hope he hasn't moved. I don't know another way to catch up with him." Artemis whispered back, her knees to her chin, and looking at her old worn-in sneakers.
"Who's your father? Oh, that's weird; you told me where he lives, or lived, maybe. I used to live around there, but I don't remember anyone with the last name Janine." Tammy spoke.
"That's because Janine isn't my last name. I have two middle names. My whole name is Artemis Lana Janine . . .Banks." Artemis whispered. "I'm so sorry I lied, I didn't even really think of it as lying at the time! I always tell people my name is Artemis Lana Janine, and then we became best friends, and I didn't see a real reason to tell you differently. I didn't think that it was that important."
"Banks?" Tammy asked. "As in your twin is Adam Banks, from team USA? The one who was on the Hawks, but then became a Duck on a technicality."
"Yep, he's my twin, my other half. But his name isn't Adam Banks. His name is Helios Adam Bryan Banks."
"No way! I knew him! And he hasn't moved. Someone would've told me by now."
Artemis shrugged. "Good. I'll call him, now, can I?"
"Of course."
~~~~
"After that, Dad sent me the ticket at Tammy's house and since he didn't really want me at home, he sent me here with Heli—I mean—Adam. I'm really not going to get used to calling him that." Artemis finished. The Ducks were all staring silently at her in shock and awe. "Do I have something on my face?" She asked dryly.
"So, what happened to your hand?" Connie asked, eyeing the bandaged limb.
"A friend of Kenny's, Mr. Vew, was here. Riley kind of tricked me into a date. He choked on a French fry; you should've been there. It was great. When we got back here in the parking lot, he tried to kiss me, so I pulled the car door open, and more or less toppled out. Everything in my purse spilled everywhere, and while I was getting on Mr. Vew stomped on my hand and ground it into the ground. That's what happened to my hand. Something probably would have broken if it weren't for Riley. He saved my hand, and maybe my life. Mr. Vew was going on and on about how Kenny wanted me to get back home.
"If Riley weren't there, God only knows he would've kidnapped me, and brought be back. He said that he wasn't to leave without me, or something to that extent. Anything else you want to know? I'm past exhausted, and I really, really want to get some sleep."
No one said a word, but the guys filed out silently, Adam only after hugging his twin tightly and the rest after saying some comforting words. She only believed one of them, because he spoke with confidence, as if he knew. "Artemis, I don't know if it will be okay, in all honesty, but we'll pull through. You'll see. You're a Duck now, you always have been, I can tell. Good night." Ken whispered it all in her ear, and she hugged him, too, and then he left, leaving the three girls alone.
After yet another few hugs, each headed to bed, to think of what had happened.
(a/n: Okay, I'm sooooooooooo sorry for the long wait, and that's all for this chapter. Like I said in the middle of the flashback, several of my files were deleted completely. And I've been sooooooooooo busy. I have two exams tomorrow, so soon I should be able to get more up sooner, summers starting in 2 days for me. Then again I'm going to drivers ed., and I'm getting a job. I'll do my best. Okay, please review! PLEASE! **grins** I'm almost pathetic, begging for reviews . . .oh well, please review, though. I love feedback!)