While she was running, Ella had completely snipped off her entire holiday dress until she was back in her original black outfit and she cut off the ribbon that was holding up her ponytail; her black and blue hair flowed down around her shoulders and down her back as the ribbon gave away. By now, she hadn't realized where she was even going; hot bitter tears were still running down her scarred cheeks. After a while of running, she stopped and looked around to see that she was back in the neighborhood. She sat down on the curb of the cul-de-sac to rest and catch her breath; she stared up at the dark sky, then down at the road shamefully.

"I'm a monster…" She said to herself.

She silently sighed to herself as she guiltily looked down at the pavement below her. Then she noticed the silhouette of a car slowly coming down the road. She looked up and she saw that it looked like a police car. Ella was scared; she thought she was in serious trouble for running away and hurting Ian so she quickly stood up and hurried down the road back to the Kyle house. She unlocked the front door and went inside, only to see the house empty. Then Ian came into the house; he ran all the way from the town square and by now, he was out of breath but relieved to see that she was okay.

"Ella! Thank God I found you!" He cried, gasping and wheezing for air.

Ella turned around and her eyes lit up when she met Ian's gaze. She saw that his right arm was bandaged with a piece of cloth that had a few blood stains from the scratch.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yes. Are you okay?" Ian asked.

She nodded her head slowly, but kept quiet.

"Everyone is out looking for you." Ian explained. "You walked off so fast we didn't know what to think. We thought you were…"

"I'm sorry…"

"No, no. It's okay; it just was just an accident. I know you didn't mean it. It's not as bad as it looks, really. I'll be fine."

Ella shook her head slowly and frowned; she knew better than that. Ian noticed her guilty expression and he felt sympathy for her. He gently lifted her head to look her in the eye.

"Hold me…?" Ian asked, holding his arms open.

Ella reached out her hands to try and hug him, but she hesitated as more tears began to fill up in her big green eyes, her lower lip quivered slightly as she whimpered,

"I can't…"

Ella lowered her head shamefully and closed her eyes as Ian felt a tear run down his face; he had never felt so bad for anyone before.

'Fine. If she won't hug me, I'll just have to hug her.' He thought before pulling Ella into his embrace, wrapping his arms around her, and closing his eyes.

At first, Ella was startled by the boy's sudden action, but as she felt the warm flesh of the boy against her body, she smiled and closed her eyes. As they hugged, a thought suddenly formed in Ella's mind; it was an old memory.

She was back at the castle with the inventor who had created her so long ago. She was lying on a lab table with her eyes shut; her breathing was calm and rhythmic, as if she were in an eternal sleep. But even in her unconscious state, she could hear everything that was going on all around her. There was a long white cloth covering her entire body; through the fabric, she could feel the inventor's shriveled hands caressing her head, chest, and stomach.

"Ella? I know you probably can't hear me right now, but I just wanted to say hello." The inventor kindly whispered to her. "Once you wake up, the three of us can finally be a family. Me, you, and Edward… he's your new father."

'Father? What's a father?' Ella thought, still asleep.

"Edward will care for you, have fun with you, be with you and love you with all his heart. And I can only hope that you will love him just as much."

'Love. I wonder what that is…'

Then she felt the elderly man's wrinkly hands lift away from her body; that was the last time she would ever feel the inventor's touch or hear his gentle voice again. Ella waited and waited for what felt like eons until finally, her eyes fluttered open and she slowly sat up. The cloth fell from her face and she could finally see her surroundings; she was in a very dark room, she could hardly see anything except for one sliver of light coming from her left side. She climbed off of the table, stood up, and tried her best to walk, but her feet didn't follow along with what her brain was telling her to do. She quickly learned how to properly walk, though.

She looked and saw a long staircase going upwards and she wondered where it would lead; she climbed up and up until she reached the attic-like room of the mansion. She was mesmerized by the beautiful night sky and the full moon, but then she remembered the inventor. She decided to go back downstairs to see where he was, hoping he was alright. As she made her way down the staircase down to the lab, she looked at the floor and gasped in shock.

While she was worriedly running down the steps to get a closer look, however, she lost her footing and she screamed as she fell all the way down the stairs and landed on the floor with a loud thud followed by a crash. Even though she was in pain, she managed to shakily get back onto her feet. She limped towards the inventor who was lying on the floor stock still; he wasn't breathing and his face had two large bloody scrapes… and his flesh seemed to be rotting away for some bizarre reason.

She slowly reached out to touch his face only to add two more large gashes on his cheek and forehead. Ella looked at her blades for fingers which were now stained with the inventor's blood. Then she saw part of her reflection in one of the blades; there was a big fresh cut running across her lips and it was still bleeding. Her eyes began to fill up with tears as she down looked at the floor in shame.

Ella suddenly snapped back to reality when she remembered the name Edward. Her eyes flew open in shock.

"Edward." She whispered.

"What?" Ian asked, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Edward." Ella repeated, gazing at Ian with an urgent expression. "My father."

"Your father?" Ian asked, looking her in the eyes.

"I have to find him."