~*~Chapter Seventeen : Picture Perfect~*~

Todd stared at Marty when she walked into the master bedroom. He dropped the pillow and tried to leave the room, but she was in his way.

Her eyes looked at him sadly as she blocked his escape. "I used to think that you were protecting me from the darkness, but I learned today that I was wrong," she said. She was more than disappointed in the entire situation and in Todd. She couldn't even face him right now.

"Todd, you ARE the darkness," she said.

"No, Marty, I'm not. I'M NOT!" he cried.

"Please believe me! I love you! Sooo much!" Todd said in a sob. "Don't leave me, baby. Please. I need you to stay."

"Its too late," she said sadly. "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" She screamed at the top of her lungs so loudly it made the walls shake.

Todd had no other choice. He began to fade. He disappeared, crying out in anguish.

Marty let out a sigh of relief. She looked at her mother with sad eyes. She didn't want her parents to leave her behind, but how was she supposed to go with them? How was she going to get them to find her dead body? They needed to know, but with each day that passed, she struggled to continue to communicate with them.

During the days that followed, Dr. Saybrooke began packing up all their belongings. He had everything in boxes. He was waiting for the movers to come and take it all away.

Marty watched sadly as her father was gathering up all their items. "No, don't go!" she called out. How was she going to make them find her before they left? She tried to think.

When her dad passed by the TV which was still hooked up, she made it come on. She forced it to flip through all the channels. It settled on a news channel. The reporter on the screen was talking about a young girl who had been harmed in her home. The parents found the girl's body in the basement after her friends and the school said she hadn't been showing up. "Just like like me... please find me," Marty silently begged.

Dr. Saybrooke was freaked out when the TV came on all by itself. He listened to the news program about the young girl who was killed in her house. Later, the girl's body was found hidden in the basement. Looking down at the floor, Dr. Saybrooke began to tremble. Huge tears filled up his eyes. "Ohhh my God," he gasped.

Marty waited hopefully. "Please, Daddy... You have to find me. Please," Marty tried to call out to him.

She needed her parents to find her. She didn't know how they would react, but it was best that they found her before they left. She could not stay here. This house... was full of BAD things and she needed to get away from it.

The picture perfect ideal Marty had of her life had now crumbled. There was only blackness and ugliness that remained. Todd, the one she had loved, had betrayed her.