This chapter is yet another cliffhanger. I'm so mean, aren't I? But it's really shocking, and somewhat depressing. I was just in that tragic mood when I wrote this :P

Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon or any of its characters. I DO own Bella Wilkens, as she is a figment of my imagination.

FORWARD MARCH!

Bella Wilkens

That morning, I shyly walked into the Animal Shop, grasping my camera. It was Saturday, so Mirabelle wasn't behind the counter. Luckily, she was home, though.

"Hi, Mirabelle," I said meekly.

"Hello, Chelsea!" she said smiling. "Is there anything you need?"

"Um..." I muttered, thinking of what to say. "I was in East Town last night, and I saw one of the faded old signs... I tried to read, but couldn't. So, I took a picture of it and tried to read it at home. I eventually read it, and it said Bella Wilkens's."

Mirabelle's face fell, and was drained of all its colour.

"I was just wondering..." I said quietly. "If she was your sister..." I looked up at her.

Mirabelle was rubbing her head. "Yes..." she sighed. "Bella was my sister. She lived on this island before she got married..."

"Is Bella Vaughn's mother?" I asked.

Mirabelle nodded solemnly. "He doesn't know she lived here," she said. "Please don't tell him. I don't know what he'd do."

"Ok," I said. "I won't tell him."

"What are you guys talking about?" Julia entered the room, carrying a rather large cookbook.

"Aunt Bella," Mirabelle said.

"Oh," Julia said. "Why?"

"Chelsea found her old house," Mirabelle told her daughter.

"Really?" Julia looked at me. "I wonder what it looks like inside? Mom, can we go look?"

Mirabelle sighed. "Fine, whatever..." she mumbled. "Just be careful! It could be unstable!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Julia called as she dragged me out of the shop.

"Where was her house?" Julia asked me, and I led the way. We ran all the way to East Town, and to Bella Wilkens's old house.

"Whoa!" Julia gasped. "Cool!" she scrambled over and under the boards that crossed the door. "Chelsea!" she screamed out one of the windows. "You GOTTA get in here! It's so cool!"

I crawled through one of the windows, and landed face first on the floor.

We were inside a big, two-floor house. A dusty, mouth-eaten couch was resting against one wall, facing an empty TV stand. A cabinet was on another wall, with noting in it. There was a small kitchen, and a dining table with two chairs. A dirty rug was strewn across the rotting floor, along with various kitchen appliances like pots and pans.

Julia ran up the stairs, and I followed her slowly. Dirty pictures were hanging on the walls of the staircase, including one of a small girl and an older girl who looked a lot like Mirabelle.

"Look!" Julia took the picture of the wall. "This is Aunt Bella," she pointed to the younger girl. "And this is my mom!" she pointed to the older one. "I think she was twelve when this was taken," Julia said, hanging the picture back up.

We continued up the staircase, where a picture of two little boys was hanging. Julia also took that one off, but this time took the picture out of the frame. She cleaned it of dust, and we both stared in awe at the picture. A little boy of about three was sitting behind a little baby. The three-year-old had short silver hair and light purple eyes. The baby also had purple eyes, but his hair was brown.

"That's Vaughn," Julia gasped, pointing at the three-year-old.

"But Mirabelle said that Bella lived here BEFORE she got married and had kids," I said. "How would this picture get here?"

Julia shrugged.

"Maybe it's not Vaughn," I said. "Maybe one of them is his dad or uncle."

Julia flipped the picture over. In messy writing, the words Vaughn, 3-years old and Jonathon, 6-months old were written on the back. Julia looked at me. "Jonathon was Vaughn's little brother's name," she said.

I grabbed the picture and read the names over and over again. I then pulled out my camera and snapped a front and back photo of the picture. I shoved the picture back into the frame, and hung it back up.

Julia and I continued up the stairs until we were on the top floor. A dirty old bed was lying in one corner, with a bedside table beside it. Another filthy rug was thrown across the floor, and a small armchair was in another corner.

Julia walked over to the bedside table and opened up the drawer. It was empty, except for a spider web and a huge spider. Julia screamed and slammed the drawer shut.

We wandered around the bedroom for a while, before deciding to go back downstairs. As we were about to walk onto the first step, a huge crack sound filled the room. We both looked up, and saw a huge crack had formed in the ceiling.

I stared at Julia and she stared at me. We both darted down the stairs, running as fast as we could. The crack got bigger, and the ceiling collapsed onto the second floor. We had made it down the stairs, but as we were clambering out the windows, the second floor collapsed onto the first.

Dust sprang up everywhere, and I began coughing furiously. I rubbed my eyes and looked around. Somehow, I had managed to escape the falling ceiling. Rubble was everywhere, and I walked around looking for Julia. Sparks flew from wires that had been cut, and the furniture was in pieces.

I walked around as much as I could, but I couldn't find Julia anywhere.

"Julia!" I called out in a hoarse voice. "Julia, where are you!"

A muffled cry erupted from the debris. I ran over to where it was coming from and began digging through the broken ceiling.

After a while I found Julia, crushed beneath the ruins of the house. She had gone unconscious, and I yanked her out of her little hovel.

"Julia?" I asked quietly. "Julia, wake up! Wake up, Julia! Wake up!" I began shaking her, trying to get to wake up. I felt for her pulse, and to my relief, found one. It was faint and dying, but she was alive.

The sparks from the wires had created a huge fire, which was now raging all around me. I looked around desperately for an exit, but there was none.

"Help!" I screamed. "Help! Please!" It was getting hot, and Julia's pulse was fading. "Help!" I screamed, tears running down my dust and ash covered face. "Help me!"

I buried my face into my hands, and rested my head on my dying friend.

"Please..." I whispered.

Me: Hello, and welcome to Ruins Talk Show!

Witch Princess: Hello.

Me: That chapter was depressing, was it not?

WP: Sure, whatever. *eats grape*

Me: Ok... So, do you like the story?

WP: Yiope.

Me: Um... What do you think will happen next?

WP: *shrugs* Don't know, don't care.

Me: *glares* GET OFF MY LAND! GO ON, GIET!

WP: *narrows eyes* Fine! *steals grapes and runs*

Me: :'( She stole my grapes. (as you can tell, I've been eating sugar: peanut M&M's!) Please review!