FASH: I just read the Second Child by John Saul, that book made me cry. -.-U Anyways, I wrote this fic because I felt like it, I don't care if you don't like it or don't review.

Disclaimer: D'Arcy and Melissa aren't my characters, they belong to the wonder, marvelous John Saul.

D'Arcy, my guardian, mother thinks she's my imaginary friend, but she's real, I see her in the shadows, when mama comes in with the straps, mad at me. D'Arcy's always there for when I cry out, she tells me to go to sleep, and I do, I allow myself to become lost in a black void as D'Arcy takes my punishment for me, although I don't know, or remember, if she gets hurt.

When I sleepwalk, I know it's because of D'Arcy, after all, she takes over for me when the pain becomes to much, like when I 'insulted' the children of mama's friends, she ripped apart the dress and hit me. But after it all went black and I woke up, the dress was all re mended, I know it was D'Arcy, because I can't sew.

She's my best friend, along with Tag and Blackie, and I know whenever I cry she'll be there to comfort me and whenever mama gets angry for no reason she'll be there to let the blessed darkness come back. I know when I'm in a regular sleep compared to when I sleep when D'Arcy is protecting me. Normally I dream, horrible dreams about leering faces, fingers pointing at me, and laughing, people laughing so loud and so high pitched I'm sure my eardrums would break. But with D'Arcy protecting me, everything is black, I have no sense of time, only of the gracious black void around me.

I can hear the angry footsteps of my mother coming up the stairs, I wish papa was here, he loves me and protects me, but not nearly as much as D'Arcy, I can already see a familiar shadow in the corner, she's always watching over me, the thought makes me want to smile, but as the door opens and I see mama's enraged face, I shrink back, she has the straps in her hand, and a furious look in her eye, what did I do wrong? She hits me again and again, I call out in my mind to D'Arcy, who answers back like she always does.

"Sleep, I am here now, sleep."

Then I fall into blackness as mama ties the restraints on, they're incase I ever sleepwalk, although the only reason I sleepwalk was because of D'Arcy, and the only time D'Arcy comes to me to take over my body, was when mama was mad, papa didn't know about them, since he was away most of the week.

I am surrounded by black, my wounds don't hurt, D'Arcy is taking care of me, and her voice softly whispers to me, lulling me even deeper into the black void of sleep that I sometimes never want to leave, because here I'm protected, here I'm safe.

Here, I'm free.

FASH: I hope if anyone read this, you enjoyed it, and if you haven't read the book and have no clue what I'm talking about, you should read it! Teri and Phyllis are EVIL.