Monsters & Demons

Rated M

Genre: Drama & Adventure

Summary:

When Tori arrived at Hollywood Arts, she knew that things wouldn't be the same. Little did she know that she and her friends would find themselves wound into more than teenage drama. Jade thought all she had to worry about was her status being threatened. Does Trina finally have a true friend? A trio of newcomers shows up, bringing along more than the gang bargained for. Homework and plays don't sound so bad anymore.

A/N:

These updates are going to fluctuate as I approach each chapter. Some scenes will remain exactly the same while others will be drastically shifted to accommodate the new direction of the story. Thank you and enjoy!


Chapter 2: Tears of a Fallen Angel


"8... 9! 10!" Jade West just stood there, frozen as she stared at the Vega's front door.

She wasn't expecting this; alone at night without her boyfriend - or rather her now ex-boyfriend.

The seconds ticked by as teal trembled before the mahogany door in shock. He didn't come out when she hit '10'. He wasn't standing in front of her to tell her that he was wrong or to save their relationship.

Jade felt a pang of cut deep in her heart as she slowly lifted her hand to the doorknob only to rescind the gesture, not realizing that Beck himself was in the midst of doing the same thing. None of it mattered though as Jade, both wounded and full of pride stormed off down the driveway to her home.

"Forget Beck..." she sniffled quietly, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

She fought them back for the time being, but there was no telling how long she would be able to maintain her struggle against the emotions building within. Reality set in as Jade quickened her pace in hopes of avoiding this unwanted result. Several streets and blocks were traversed before she found herself wandering in some seemingly random cafe. Shouts of orders and coffee machines filled her ears as the scents of various types of beans overwhelmed her nose. It was heaven on earth for the goth and she was in need of an angel.

"What'll it be, miss... Jade?" a friendly voice called out in astonishment, amusing her.

Standing a few feet away from her was a young African-American boy around her age. He had unusually green eyes that matched his dark brown skin perfectly. Judging by how he towered over her, he was at least above 6' even with medium-length locs that were currently tied in an up-do bun. He had a lean, athletic build that showed he was more cut than buff. A light patch of hair sat on his chin, showing that puberty did him well thus far.

The sight of him made Jade want to giggle but, sadly she wasn't in the mood to do so.

"Sup?" she nodded her head at the young man wearing a 'Lava-Bean' apron.

"What're you doing here at this time of night?"

Expectedly, Jade shrugged at his question before letting out a bitter scoff. That subtle expression of emotion didn't go unnoticed by the young man but, he didn't take the bait just yet. Checking over his shoulder, he pulled out his notepad and scribbled something before heading back to the front counter to assist with some of the remaining customers.

Jade took a peek, reading the message:

I'll be back. Need answers.

She chuckled softly as she pocketed the piece of paper before staring out of the window at the near-empty street beyond the store. Her mind took her back to the last half an hour or so when she was seemingly humiliated by her former lover and current object of her hatred, Beck.

"Sorry about the delay," the same young man broke Jade from her brooding before taking a seat across from her. "You know the late-night rush can be hectic at times. Luckily, you came in just as it was wrapping up."

Seeing no discernible comeback from Jade, the guy finally let his grin drop to a more serious look. "Alright, what's going on, Jade?"

"Maybe I came here to enjoy the scenery?" she quipped, pressing her lips together.

"Cut the crap! We both know that you only come here for two things: Straight black coffee heated at 101 degrees precisely with three sugars and advice," He crossed his arms, narrowing emerald-shaded eyes narrowed, concentrating on the pale-skinned girl across from him. "Seeing as you haven't ordered anything, it's safe to assume that you came here for the latter and, judging by the conflicted look on your face, something big happened, didn't it?"

Jade hated how well the guy could read her and yet, she enjoyed it as it proved that she was understood to some extent. Studying him, she took in the subtle details ranging from his physique to the way his nose crinkled whenever he was annoyed, such as at this moment.

Once more, that damnable warmth crept its way to the surface of her cheeks.

Just like before...

"Do you have to know me so well?" she half-heartedly teased, silently cursing her inner self.

"Only when you're being a pain in the ass..." he retorted, his complacent grin slowing returning as he tilted back in his seat. "Now, will you please tell me what's going on?"

Given her reputation for keeping her emotions hidden, Jade finally dropped her guard enough to show the pain that dwelt behind her azure orbs. No tears. No sobbing. No crack in her voice. None of that was necessary.

"He broke up with me, Liam..." she muttered, those words pricking her lips. "Beck and I are done."

"How's that any different than any other time before, Jade? Don't you and pretty boy break up and makeup all the time? How's that any different than before?"

Jade simply sniffled softly before dropping her head against her fists.

She proceeded to explain everything from the increased amount of arguments to the game show and finally, the ultimatum; that last part claimed most of Liam's attention as his focused gaze never left the girl until she was finished bringing him up to speed. Many who caught this scene would've done a spit-take at the sheer sight of seeing Jade West spilling her guts to a seemingly random stranger (although stranger things have been done by the goth), however, it was clear that Liam was more than just your average joe, let alone a total stranger.

"So, that's all that happened," Jade let out a pronounced sigh followed by a deep scowl.

"Wait... You almost killed a guy because he wouldn't back down and that was the final straw for him?"

"Something like that," Jade averted her gaze, concealing her pride behind raven hair. "Well... I might've made things worse when I refused to admit I was wrong. We both know that's a flaw that I've been working through."

"Seriously?"

"I was planning on starting that... eventually." Jade rolled her eyes.

"Mhmm. Well, I guess we're going with the usual," Liam rose to his feet, heading back to his station. "Give me a few more minutes and we can head to my place. Luckily my mom's away on a business trip in New Orleans so we'll have the house to ourselves. Lucille should be gone by the time we get there."

She nodded silently before gathering her belongings and following closely behind her friend.

The walk was long and uneventful yet, strangely comfortable as the two just enjoyed the silence until they arrived at a bus stop where they sat until one arrived to pick them up. From there, they just sat and talked about nothing in particular until they reached their destination. By this point, Jade was no longer surrounded by the glamour of the wealthy but the humble surroundings of standard homes that, while not downtrodden, weren't on the level of what many would guess Jade was used to considering her family was pretty well off.

It only took 15 minutes tops but, Jade was tired as evident when the two arrived at Liam's home with her riding comfortably on his back. Entering the house, Liam ushered her inside. The place was rather nice compared to the plain bricks that adorned the outer walls, giving Jade a feel of ease and tranquility as she headed straight for the couch in the living room.

"Give me a moment and I'll get you a blanket and some pillows."

"No problem."

Liam swiftly headed up the stairs to his room, leaving the raven-haired girl to watch some random sitcom about a disgruntled shoe salesman and his annoying wife and children. Making herself comfortable, she failed to notice the pair of amethyst eyes staring back at her from the next room.

"Feel free to change the channel..."

"Whoa!" Jade nearly shot up from her seat, much to the amusement of the slightly older woman. "Dammit, Lucille."

"Sorry. I couldn't help myself, Jade..." she wiped imaginary tears from her eyes as Jade worked to compose herself. "Sometimes it's too easy to mess with you."

Jade simply rolled her eyes but couldn't resist the twitching on the corners of her lips.

The two gingerly embraced each other just as Liam was coming downstairs with the 'supplies' in hand. He slipped by the two and began setting things up for him and Jade. Pumped with curiosity, he noticed how Lucille held the girl gently by the back of the head while finally noticing him. The two mouthed an unheard conversation so that she could make sense of what brought this on.

Trouble again?

Yep... guy trouble.

Not again.

It is what it is...

Be careful, little brother.

That last warning was enough to elicit a silent chuckle from Liam just as Jade tore away.

"Sorry. I guess I lost myself in the moment," she gave a lackluster smile; it's not like she didn't appreciate the moment, however.

To be in a place where she was free to be vulnerable, Jade often wondered if she was under some hex or something. Given her usual habits, such an outrageous claim could be seen as feasible.

"Not a problem, Jade." Lucille smiled warmly before making her way out of the door. "I have to head out for work but, we can catch up later if you're still here this weekend. Feel free to use my body wash and shampoo, unless you want to smell like this guy for the day."

"Duly noted," Jade giggled while her friend rolled his eyes in response.

With that, the older woman took her exit, leaving both Liam & Jade to their own devices.

The latter found herself being handed a small pile of clothes to change into before making her way up the stairs. Entering the room, she carefully stripped out of the black dress and leggings before throwing on the oversized wolf t-shirt and black/grey camo pajama pants. She didn't waste any time putting her clothes neatly on the foot of Liam's bed neatly before returning downstairs.

What followed was a night of watching television and laughing at each other's stories. The two snuggled under the massive blanket and proceeded to just savor the moment. The soft laughter and calm ambiance were enough to make Jade forget about the earlier event that led to this and yet, there was something still gnawing at her.

"Jade," in spite of the harsh look, his tone was gentle. "You're thinking about that Beck guy again, aren't you?"

"N-no..."

"Don't lie to me. We've been friends for far too long for you to think that you can fool me."

"It's NOT him... Well, not completely."

Liam immediately noticed the shift in his companion and grabbed the remote, turning the television off. Instinctively, she flinched as the screen turned to black, feeling the dread begin to slither around her heart.

"Come on, Jade..."

"I'm serious! Between the breakup, having to be partners with that stupid guy at school, and the stupid game show, it's a lot to handle right now. I mean, I was a front runner for 'Heaven's Embrace, Hell's Kiss' and now it's been ripped away from me because..."

"...You decided to give some random guy a facial courtesy of your brand new scissors?"

"See? You get it!" she pointed, completely missing the look of disapproval.

"And this Beck situation?"

"I mean, I don't know what else I was supposed to do. I mean, I have insecurities but who doesn't? He's so good looking and all the girls desire him so, how could I not feel a little jealous? Even Vega couldn't keep her hands off of him when they first met. Meanwhile, I don't get a lot of guys pursuing me except a couple of weirdos who make me want to slam my head in a car door," she admitted, not realizing the pain pouring out with each hateful word that left her lips. "I'm just a hopeless gank."

At that moment, her display of self-loathing came to an abrupt halt once she felt a pair of hands pull her into a clinch.

The tears that she labored with abruptly streamed out freely, her warfare with the salt-filled drops now officially lost as she trembled in her friend's arms, hushed sobs soaking his own t-shirt in the process. He didn't care though as he stroked her back, allowing her to let out every ounce of what was hurting her. Soft hushes filled her ears until she could only light whimpers accompanying her tears.

"It's okay," he rested his chin gently on top of her head. "You're not a hopeless gank, Jade. You're more like the 'Evil Queen'; you can be a little difficult, but that's because you're really complicated. Very few can comprehend you because you're not like every other girl. Only the strong can handle what you have to offer and that's one of your best qualities. Besides, if you were hopeless then we wouldn't be best friends for over ten years, would we?"

Jade pulled away just enough to see the crooked smile from her best friend.

That's right, Jade West had a legitimate best friend. She and Liam had known each other in less than typical circumstances but, it was the foundation for their solid friendship that remained a fixture in both of their lives to this day. Blue-green steadily lit up as her mind began to fill with memories of the two's adventures and growth in life. As she rested her head on the boy's shoulder, there was something else that was eating away at Jade.

"I'm sorry..."

"Huh?"

"...For not spending as much time with you as we used to. I know I only come around when things are bad. Whether it's about Beck or just complaining about something, I would always come to you. You deserve better and I'm going to make it up to you."

"That's not really necessary."

Jade shook her head, much to his confusion.

"It's settled. You're more than just some emotional safety net, Liam. You've been there for me whenever I needed you and I appreciate you. I'm going to start showing you how much you truly mean to me."

He watched as Jade separated herself from his grasp, tears, and mascara trailing her face now. Her heart was still heavy but, the weight of her hardships seemed to have lightened a bit. Either way, it was more than enough for her to get through this ordeal. "Just promise me one thing..."

Skepticism washed over her face as she wiped the streaks with the shirt's sleeve. "Um... sure? What's that?"

"Promise me that, under no circumstance will you give up on yourself. Okay?"

She rolled her eyes playfully when an interesting idea crossed her mind.

"Fine. But only if you promise me something as well."

"I'm not going to do that crazy dance that you made me do when we were seven, Jade."

"No, idiot!" she giggled rather loudly, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. "I want you to do something that'll help us both out."

"And what would that be?" caution dripping from every syllable possible.

True to his thoughts, Jade was plotting something, all the truer when her smirk started to resemble that of the Grinch himself. He wanted to back away from this but, chose to see things through, a 'flaw' that both knew Jade loved to exploit, though usually for fun rather than anything ill-fated.

"I want you to try out for Hollywood Arts."


It had been about a few weeks since the first day of school, and the halls of Hollywood were abuzz with various exchanges when Travis and Ahrya stepped through the front door.

It was still surreal for them both as they made their way to their lockers. It would've been more satisfying had Ahrya not spent the entire ride berating him about getting in trouble earlier prior. Now he was practically trudging as she droned on and on about 'fixing his perspective' and 'shaping up'. To his solace, they arrived at their destination, yet only to find a crowd of students was surrounding the spot where their lockers.

"What the hell is this all about?" Travis bemoaned while pushing his way through the crowd to a tearful image. "Trina?"

Before he could ask the reason for her plight, his eyes trailed upwards to see the words "slut" and "Whore" adorning her locker.

Alongside the hurtful words, Liam could see lewd photos of her from the previous day in the abandoned theatre room. His blood boiled as his eyes scanned down the many pictures of his new friend from various unflattering angles. The chorus of laughs from his classmates combined with Trina's sobs was enough to set him off. His blood boiled as he ripped the pictures off like a madman.

Instinctively, the students began to scramble back as he turned his glare toward them. Soon, only a tense Ahrya stayed, watching her brother squat down next to the whimpering girl.

"Are you okay, Trina?" his calm voice contrasting his nearly feral attitude earlier.

She remained turtled up.

"They're all gone."

Despite her instincts, Trina dared to open an eye. The truth lay before her as the halls were nearly empty, leaving only his friendly face and opened arms. Ahrya was there as well, but she appeared to be preoccupied with something.

However, Trina wouldn't return the gesture and simply pushed him away, running off down the hallway and leaving a confused Liam and Ahrya behind. As the two tried to make sense of things, the siblings were unaware of someone watching them with rising interest.

They continued watching until the pair disappeared, lurking behind another set of lockers with a scowl.

"This one may be troublesome..."

Meanwhile, Trina continued running until she was in the Black Box.

To her relief, it was currently empty.

Thank God I have a free period... Trina panted, folding some tufts of hair behind her ear.

She sat with knees pressed firmly against her chest as she silently wept. She wasn't upset about what the other kids did. No. She was so emotional because of what Liam did.

"Why did I refuse his kindness?" she whispered as her eyes were fixated on the hardwood base of the stage. "Why couldn't you keep things simple and turn out like everyone else?"

She couldn't fathom why anybody, let alone someone as sweet as him would risk establishing their reputation in the school for her. Trina Vega, the talentless whore. Her mind went back to all the times she was called 'untalented', 'waste of space', and of course failing with each attempt to prove everyone wrong only cemented their affirmations within her core.

As if that wasn't bad enough, things only got worse when her younger sister arrived at Hollywood Arts by complete accident. She then became known as the 'other Vega' who couldn't even pass as her shadow.

Soon she would feel the weight of everything pushing her further into her pit of misery as her own inner demons began to plague her.

Whore...

Slut.

The voices began to sound so familiar, each one morphing into her own. She buried her face in her knees. It was happening again...

Nobody likes you.

That last one had the voice of Jade West.

You should quit and do what you're good at.

You're so aggravating...!

Tears began to well up as her breath hitched in her throat. Suddenly, she heard a 'ping' and slowly pulled out her phone. Her eyes widen in shock as she reviewed her notifications. The usual messages went unnoticed as one stuck out... or rather many.

20+ notifications from the same person, each one a compliment that was more flattering than the last.

Trina checked through each one and found that these were spaced out between the night before and early today. From pictures to updates, Trina Vega could feel the shadows beginning to dissipate.

She would scroll down the comments under certain pictures, ignoring the negative ones, and could feel a blush appearing as she read the encouraging ones left by Liam. Some were straightforward compliments, others were responses to negative ones, but one truly caught her attention. Under her picture where she was dressed up for a year-end dance last year, Travis' comment finally broke through the wall of self-loathing.

Aqua is certainly your color. Keep your head up and don't settle for less than what you deserve.

"Why was I so mean to you?" she asked no one in particular.

"I could ask you the same question, Trina."

She shot up to see coal eyes staring down at her.

"We have much to discuss."

She could only quiver as she stood petrified under his watch. His cruel grin shone lustrously despite the mantle of blackness that now enveloped the two. Gone was any semblance of peace as fear took root in her soul. Her mind screamed for her to run but her body wouldn't cooperate. As the terror rose throughout her form, Trina had to admit the dark reality of her situation.

If only I could run...


"Alright, class!" The hyper Sikowitz bursts into the classroom with his usual coconut in hand. "I'm feeling giddy today so, we'll be exploring the inner workings of emotional stability in acting." He watched his students, expecting a hand to be raised in questioning only to find them just gaping at him with either blank stares or looks of confusion on their faces. "Glad you asked my darling palm trees! What this exercise will challenge your ability to maintain whatever emotion you're given. Under no circumstances are you to break that emotional state or else you'll be eliminated."

"So, it's like when you had that challenge back at your- OW!" one Robbie Shapiro yelped as the lower half of Sikowitz's coconut collided with his noggin, courtesy of the unpredictable teacher followed by the uncontrollable laughter of Rex Powers, Robbie's dummy.

"Now then, I'll need Andre, Beck, and... Jade!"

The room grew deathly silent at the grouping decision who was obliviously downing from another coconut that left his students wondering where it even came from.

In only a short time, news of the pair's breakup had reached nearly everyone in Hollywood Arts and even some people out of school. This only made things tenser to the point where Jade outright avoided everyone in her 'circle' in order to ward off having to express her feelings about the situation (not that there were many people eager to do that, mind you).

Oh, kill me now... she lamented inwardly, slogging toward the front stage.

"Perfect! Now, Andre, you are an inconsolably fearful man who is always down on his luck. Beck, you're a rage-filled husband, and Jade, you're his weirdly cheerful wife who can never show any sign of problems with Beck. The scene is marriage counseling where Andre tries to get to the root of your marriage problems while trying not to lose his own mind in the process."

"That's... oddly detailed," Tori loured from her seat at the wacky man.

"'Tis the world of acting! And action!"

"Okay now..." Andre shuffled uncontrollably as Jade and Beck as they took their seats. "Welcome, Mr. and Mrs. Hattwick. I trust that you both know what you're doing here so let us... Cabbage patches!" he jumped out of his chair in terror as if something was flying overhead. "Sorry about that. Now, please tell me why you believe you both are here."

"Clearly, we're here because of my incompetent wife, Jane!" Beck snapped causing Andre to duck and hide behind his imaginary clipboard. "If she'd just do as she was told then we wouldn't have any problems in our marriage!"

Jade wanted nothing more than to go off and let out some pent-up frustration that remained in her heart but, through sheer effort alone, held her luminous yet clumsy smile as Beck and Andre chattered about her 'imperfections' as a wife. This persisted until Andre ultimately shifted his focus to the strained goth.

"Mrs. Hattwick, would you care to give your opinion about the state of your umm... marriage?"

"Why certainly!" she replied cheerfully in her fake 1940s accent, much to Tori's chagrin. "You see, Harold can be a bit excessive with his temper at times. True, he works long hours at the factory and can be demanding, but, I feel if he were to actually tell me what irritates him, then our marriage would be strengthened and stable."

"I tell you every single day!" Beck viciously cut her off, ignoring her discomfort while she gripped the ends of her black skirt. "If you'd stop and listen to what I say instead of pretending that things revolve around your perfect little world, maybe you'd be able to understand!"

"I don't mean to upset you, Harold. I was just saying that maybe you could show me how much you care rather than..."

That's what I'm talking about, Jane! Did you even hear what I was saying?!" By this point, the atmosphere was growing heavier around the trio on stage and it was far beyond clear to everyone, even Sikowitz himself, that the proverbial 'elephant in the room' was being uncovered for all to see. "You tell me to open up and yet, you can't even follow your own desire. You're always mum when I do ask you about anything that might be bothering you, you just pretend as if it's nothing and you get all passive-aggressive! I can't even take you on a date without you pretending that you're this perfect woman when it's far past clear that you're the furthest thing from that!"

"Whatever do you mean, dear?" she felt her jaw tightening with each passing second. "I'm doing my best to keep you happy."

"Is that why you're so territorial and ready to threaten even the people who make the simplest of mistakes! What about the neighbor who you almost stabbed because he bumped into you?!"

Now it was Jade's turn to retaliate.

"Well, since we're on the subject of emotional stability and honesty, maybe you'd like to share with the good therapist about the real root of your anger? Perhaps if you spent more time pleasuring your wife instead of indulging other women's fantasies of you, then it's possible I wouldn't have to be all passive-aggressive. I mean, since we're talking about perfection, let's talk about how you've gone out of your way to assure every other Mary Sue and Holly Wood who comes your way, but it's an issue when your own wife is in need of it?"

In spite of the growing tension between the two, Jade still managed to keep a chipper and upbeat disposition, never once dropping her smile. As an actor, she was more than capable of handling such menial trials as staying in character, but, this time was different. This time, the rage lacing each and every word from her ex-boyfriend's mouth made her insides tremble as he masterfully mixed his true feelings with the fabricated lines he conjured.

In short, Beck was breaking her.

"This is exactly why our friends hardly invite us to parties and other hangouts!"

"You're saying it's my fault, dear?"

"Yes! That's exactly what I'm saying! You treat everyone around you like you run everything or you scare people off! I can't even have normal friends because they're afraid of what my overly happy wife might do if she found out!"

"They wouldn't have to worry if they stay far away from you, honey..."

"They wouldn't have to worry if my wife wasn't a hypocritical and hyper-sensitive gank!"

Time stood still.

The room held no sign of sound aside from the usual ticking of the clock above the entranceway.

Andre, mere feet away from the former couple, did his best to slink away as he'd lost all will to continue the acting exercise. It was a smart move as with each passing second, Jade's forced smile began to fade while Beck's eyes hid nothing from her. All of his true emotions regarding their relationship were now exposed to the class.

"Is... is that what you really think of me?" her voice cracking as she struggled to get out the simple question."

Beck said nothing; there wasn't anything else he could say that wouldn't make things worse.

"Fine."

Jade stormed out of the room, not even caring that she'd left her backpack behind. For her, all that mattered was that she got as far away from Beck and the others before she completely broke down. Fortunately, she managed to make it past the janitor's closet, taking a detour down a corridor that led to a deserted part of the room.

Jade rushed down as the tears began stinging her eyes, the perfect representation of how she felt when every memory came flooding back one by one as she pushed open a pair of double doors to find herself in a place most would find spooky.

However, it was a home away from home for the gothic girl as she finally allowed the dam to open.

The last year or so now overtook Jade, thankful that she was concealed away from the world, if only temporarily. She didn't have to hide her true feelings taking a seat on the old decrepit stage, staring at the dimly lit seats as she surrendered to her true emotions.

"Fuck my life..."