Warning: This chapter contains cheesy conversations. Proceed with caution.

Enjoy it while it lasts. :) Much love.

I pulled myself up with me elbows as I awoke in the darkness of the night. Ah! I sharp pain went right through my skull and left me dazed. My hand went to the back of my head shaking. I ran my fingers gently through my hair until I felt something odd. Something sticky? Something wet? Blood, I thought to myself as my fingers dabbed at a wound. I gritted my teeth to hold in a screech. My damp fingers went to my dress to be rid of the substance. As my vision adjusted to the night's atmosphere, I stood from the dirt wobbling mildly. I found my grandmother lying on the ground with an open book in her arms. I knelt beside her to check her heartbeat. Nothing.

Carefully, I slipped the book from her hands and stepped away. As I glanced casually to my right I saw the path back to the village. I ran back onto it and set out for home. I did not look back.

When I arrived home, my mother had come running down the stairs with tears interminably streaming from her red, irritated eyes. "Janelle Serafina Marino! Where on earth have you been!" She wrapped me in her arms, and I could feel her eyes probing my tangled hair which was covered with dirt, leaves, and blood. She continued to sob quietly. "Where?"

My grandmother's warning was fresh in my head. I bowed my head as I lied, "I was taking a walk through the forest when I was done praying. I must have stumbled and hit my head." I had never been the best liar, but if I met no one's eyes…

My mother nodded and she began to murmur my forename endlessly. She pushed a pile of hair out of my face and led me to the kitchen where she cleaned my wound as best she could.

The next day I awoke when my twin, Alec knocked on my door. He came in without waiting for a reply. His face wore concern and resentment. The combination was not one I hadn't seen before. I sighed and pulled myself up into a sitting position. "Where were you last night, really?" Alec asked.

"Did mother not tell you?" I asked while being careful not to look at his face.

"Do not try your tricks on me sister! How could you?" he snapped at me with pure venom seeping from his mouth.

"What?" I growled back although I knew exactly what he meant.

"Do you have absolutely no idea how much pain you caused her? Oh, I can doubt that sister," he spat in return. I suddenly felt a shameful pall being cast over me. I looked up into Alec's wounded and exhausted eyes and the cover grew tight.

"My deepest apologies brother," I whispered in a monotone.

"Yes, well, mother asked for you to stay in bed… at least for today," Alec told me. His voice had decreased to a calmer tone and the fury in his eyes had past. I took a breath of relief and look over to the one small window in my bedroom.

I felt a touch upon my shoulder and swiftly looked up into Alec's sad eyes. "I was worried too," he said in a soft voice. He pulled me into a hug.

"I am sorry," I repeated, with emotion now, as I returned his hug. Alec pulled away and nodded, but I could not see his expression. I watched as he stood and left the room. Although Alec and I were the same age, he always was more of a big brother to me.

Later that morning, Mother came up to my room with breakfast. It was transparent that she was straining to seem cheerful. The was a deep pain in her eyes and a permanent lethargy that was entirely impossible to conceal.

I really had not come close to realizing how much I had truly hurt her before. This look in her eyes was déjà vu to me. The last time I had seen it was everyday within the year after Father's death. She appeared so vulnerable.

"I love you," Mother said to me with a sigh. I could make out the tears that were beginning to build in her soft blue eyes.

"Do not worry about me, Mother," I said in a pleading voice.

A small smile played on her lips now. "How am I not to worry about you my dear, my beautiful young girl?"

I grinned back to her and stretched up to hug her. "I love you too, and I am fine… really."

"I know, Janelle. I do. I just… it's hard, you know?" I nodded as Mother sat down on the edge of my bed. "After he… left… If he were still here…" She was choking out the words. Mother closed her eyes and titled her face up toward the wooden ceiling.

I was attempting to fight back my own memories as I listened to her sharp inhalations. She forced herself to continue her words. "If he were here," she wince, "you would be alright." I shook my head hopelessly.

"I would not be. It is not your fault either so would you please stop acting like it is." My voice was hushed, but it was anything but gentle.

"If only I had been there… If I had taken better care of him… If I had been there for you…" she said urging herself on. Mother had never been like this in front of me and my frustration only grew.

It did not help that I was on the verge of tears myself. The memories were violently threatening, and they were clawing at my mind. "Saying 'If I had' does not change a thing!" I shouted in anger. "Stop talking about him! Just stop!"

Mother's mouth was wide open and her eyes as well filled with alarm. She reminded me off a small child that was just told that they couldn't do something they had already done for as long as they could remember. I turned my head away from her and glared at the window. My eyes found Mother again when she closed her own and turned her head as well. The guilt came over me in a sudden attack. What have I done? Again and again, I keep hurting them! Why Janelle? What's wrong with you? "I am sorry." My voice sounded small to my own ears. I felt tiny.

Mother echoed my earlier words, "I am fine… really." She got up and left with a bitterness in her steps. I groaned and stared down at my pillow. When my face met it, I screamed into it until I fell asleep.

Yay! Cheesiness over! For now. O.O

Hehe... I decided to squish all the cheesy conversations that I'd written together into one chapter so you probably won't have to worry about it next chapter.

Please review if you like it! Thank ya!