Hope you like the story so far! Here is chapter three and please review when done reading!

-Flashback-

I always thought she was beautiful, even when she was crying. Her wet eyes were with the clumped lashes, she had the slightly red cheeks and her fully, pouting lips.

Yet, at the same time, I couldn't stand to see her crying. For, most of the time, she was not shedding tears of joy, but those of pain. Even more, half of the time, it was him causing the pain to her. Not to say that he was always the cause of her tears, for many other people that she came in contact with had hurt her much, much more. But, he also hurt her often, and I couldn't admit either, that I didn't always realize it at the moment of its effect.

Sometimes it took awhile; until the first tear ran down her cheek, until she began to bite her lower lip, or until her voice began to quiver and crack. No matter how beautiful she seemed to me when she was pouting, giving me the excuse to be extra sweet to her. I couldn't stand it. I loved my mother much more when she was smiling that smile she claimed was only for me. I looked at her, and the way her eyebrows bent down towards her nose as she sniffed. What could do I do, as a daughter, to make it better this time?

My step-father didn't always love her as he should, and I knew this. But, my father was only a man, and every man was bound to mess up nearly all the time when it came to the woman they loved the most. He didn't want to hurt her anymore though. He never wanted to see those tears of sorrow ever again. Yes, he said that every time she cried, and each time he made her cry more.

But, this time, I was serious. I needed to help my mother realize there was no reason to cry. Never, ever again would my step-father find a reason to make her tear up; he has to try his hardest from now on. I reached out, touching a clump of the hair covering her face, touched her cheek, and wiped away her tears with the back of my hand. I reached out, and with one arm, drew her slimming body towards me, and pulled her tightly to my petite chest, my grip getting tighter with each choked sob that came from her mouth.

No, not one more day would pass where she would cry on my account.

My mother brought her head down, staring down in her big, amethyst eyes, another tear somehow finding its way out from her ducts. I swore by it, for I loved my mother more than life itself; she was my goddess; my best friend, and most of all, my mother. As I hugged my mother tighter, her sobbing died down as she relaxed into my embrace.

"Mother, please don't cry. You know he hasn't meant any harm. No matter how much of a jerk he is," I stressed 'jerk' with more of a disgusted tone, "he is married to you, and only you. He can't hurt you or me."

She wiped her tears, and broke our embrace. Leaning to give me a peck on my cheek, she left the room we were presently in. I sighed deeply, before sinking into the sofa seat. My step-father had never shown my mother the love and care she needed. Especially after all she had been through; the least thing he could have done was give my mom a rose, or present her with a romantic card. Not even those are brought to my mother by my step-father.

Because of this and more, I had never liked my step-father. Even though my mother knew he was despised by my former friends and even me, she had no other choice than to marry him. Being threatened that I would be killed if my mother didn't marry him, my mother married him exactly a week after he proposed-more like threaten- to her. Regardless of them being married, no one would have guessed that they were husband and wife. He had always left on 'business trips' and left my mother alone with me and my step-sister. My step-sister got along quite well with my mom and me, and we acted as if we were blood related sisters.

I was about to close my eyes when I heard a scream, directly from the kitchen. I immediately ran without hesitation, and gasped in horror once I reached the kitchen. There laid my mother, on the floor, with a knife thrust in the area of where her heart is. Her eyes were rolled back, and her regular skin color had turned pale. I looked up to find my step-father standing there proudly, with my step-sister at his side.

I gasped when I figured out why he wanted to marry my mother. He needed her powers, and as soon as he found out her powers were gone, he killed her. I let a wild cry before plunging myself at him, but I landed on the ground. Turning around, I glared at him, and hissed, "Why did you kill her Slade! What harm did she do to you?"

He just casually smiled before taking the knife out of my mother's chest. "She didn't have the necessities I needed, my dear. What's the use of having her, when she can't help me?"

"You sick, mad man," I roared intensely, "You just wanted to marry my mother because of her powers, didn't you? Now that she's dead, what will you do to me?"

My step-sister said, instead of her father, "We're sorry, Rachel. No wait, he isn't but I am sorry. I didn't want to do this, but he—"she was interrupted when our father clasped his hand on her mouth to prevent her from talking anymore.

He talked instead, "Why would I be sorry if I had a powerful demon right in front of me?"

I instantly backed away slowly from my step-father when I knew he was going to use my powers. "Being the daughter of the demon, Trigon, and the Azarathian, Arella Roth, you have much resourcefulness that can help me with my mission, and there is nothing you can do about it."

My eyes started to well with tears as I looked at my lifeless mother. This mad man was going to manipulate me for his dangerous deeds. Maybe if I went along with him for a few months, I could break free from his wrath and save myself and my step-sister. From the look on her face, she had no freedom of choosing what she wanted to do. I put on a false smile, "I will help you."

-End of Flashback-

I was never able to break free from his wrath after a few months. My step-sister and I moved from place to place as he manipulated us to hurt thousands of innocent people. Once we were done our mission, we would move to a new area. That's the reason why I had gone to eight schools in two years. However, recently, I have broken free from my father's wrath, because he was murdered.

He murdered him, and had left the blame to me. I was the only one left at the scene of the murder, and I was arrested for the murder of my step-father. He betrayed me and it resulted in a harmful sham. It turned into pernicious deception. That's why I am in prison right now. Sighing, I flopped back onto my bed, and tried to fall asleep with peaceful thoughts.

I realized that I slept for a few hours, when I woke up by someone calling my name. My eyesight was groggy, and I felt very drowsy. I tried to sit up, but someone pushed me back down.

"Rachel, honey, go back to sleep." The woman was about to stroke my hair, when I whipped her hand away.

By this time, I was sitting up, with full attention. I soon realized who had wakened me up. Gertrude was sitting there baffled by my behavior. My eyes started to glow red, and by this, she backed away slowly from me.

"Don't…you…ever…call…me…Rachel…again!" I hesitated after each word to put extra emphasis on each of the words.

"Honey, but, I thought that was your name," Gertrude looked like a lost puppy that had been abandoned by their owner. I tried to stay calm, but I couldn't. Rachel reminded me too much of my first father. He was the person who made my mother's life miserable.

"Rachel," I hesitated for a long time, staring into space, before continuing, "was the name my father gave me."

Gertrude looked puzzled at me, before asking, "Why would make it bad to say your name?"

At first, I looked at this woman as if she was crazy. How could she have not known how much my mother suffered when she was with my father? I realized that Gertrude hadn't known. "My father was a mad man. He was an alcoholic, however, my mother couldn't see past his horrible nature. She had me before they even married. In fact, they didn't even get married. The only reason my father wanted me was for my powers." Gertrude had known about my past and powers, but not a great deal of about my parents. "Rachel is the name he wanted for me. My mother wanted Rochelle. That's why I loath Rachel and prefer Rochelle as a name."

"Honey, I'm so sorry. I didn't even know." She apologized sincerely as she lowered her head in shame.

"After that, my mother couldn't live with my father. She had moved to another part of Azarath to escape his torture. After that, my mother had been helping the needy and healing them, while I was growing up. Soon, after receiving a threat from Trigon, my father, I was sent to Earth in hopes of finding a new start and a new life. There I met my friends, but soon after my father found me. I, however, had killed him, and was victorious. I thought I had it all; great friends, a safe home, and a new life.

Nevertheless, it all changed when I lost control of my powers. An incident that happened that day that eternally will change my life forever and that's why I ran to my mother. My mother and I then moved to Earth once again. There my mother met my step-father and she was forced to marry him. I had known him from my previous life with my friends. We all had loathed him and he was not even a caring soul. My mother and he got married and we became a family. He had a daughter, which I associated with quite well.

My step-father had never loved my mother; he just wanted her powers. When he found out that her powers were eliminated by Trigon, he killed her. Instead, he used me to do his dirty work. That's why our family has moved from place to place rapidly. Once we finish a task, we move on to the other area. We had done that until we arrived again in Jump City. It all changed when I had befriended him and had agreed to help him. In some ways I think it was better to help my step-father than to help him.

"Rochelle, I had never known you had such a tragic past. I am so sorry if I said something to offend you." Gertrude was close to tears when she heard my life story.

"Don't worry its okay. My father and my mother are dead, and now my step-father is de—"Before I knew it, I was slipping from the bed, onto the floor, as tears welled up in my eyes.

Gertrude raced to my side and gave me a tight embrace to comfort me. Even though no one could ever replace my mother, Gertrude was like that second mother, who could listen to everything and help me with my problems. I accepted the hug and wiped the tears from my face. I snuggled into her arms and let her motherly affection help me feel better. As soon as I thought I felt better, I smiled at Gertrude, who in turn smiled back. Getting up from the hug, I asked, "Is it past lunch time?"

Gertrude smiled, before standing up and heading towards the door, "I'll bring some to your room."

Next chapter will introduce him and his gang, so please review! I will only update if I get 28 reviews! Until next time…

Forgiveness is the scent that the rose leaves on the heel that crushes it.

-Rosefire