Chapter 12: Bad Blood
Dick's POV
"Hey Dick, what's on?" Tim limps towards the couch. His injuries have healed a bit, so now he can move around more.
"Nothing much." I say, casually holding the TV remote. He takes a seat right beside me. I flip through the channels searching for something to watch.
"Wait wait, go back." Tim and I turn our heads to see Chris standing over the couch. I turn my head back and go backwards.
"There." I stop flipping through channels. Apparently she wants to watch the news.
"The news? Why?" I never really liked watching the news.
"One week ago, The Red Hood and his ally," the reporter says as a picture of Phoenix comes up, "known as The Phoenix, a young girl who has chosen to cause carnage along side The Red Hood, has gone on a high speed chase along the freeway with a black van full of terrorists and nine Gotham City Police Department units." A video of a silver car being chased by a black van and police cars pops up.
"Three people were found dead, and four people, who were caught in the crossfire of this chase, were injured." A video of the silver car crashing into the black van comes up. "Around six bodies were found after the explosion, not including The Red Hood and The Phoenix. The GCPD says that they will do anything in their power to catch these two criminals. Meanwhile, The Batman-" The reporter is cut off when Chris puts it on mute. How did she even get the remote?
Tim and I both look back up at Chris.
"Hey I was watching that!" Tim complains.
Chris throws the remote on my lap and starts walking towards the door.
"Where are you going?" I ask out of curiosity.
"I'm going to figure out who this girl is...you two gonna sit around and watch TV or are you gonna help me and dad?" she asks us.
Tim and I glance at each other for a moment, then we both jump off the couch and the three of us walk towards dad's study.
****Break****
"Damn." I hear Chris whisper. Is she swearing now? Holy shit! I may have mistaken...she must've said something else... My little sister doesn't swear! She doesn't even know that many curse words... Yea...she didn't swear...right? Even if she did, at least she's not saying shit or f***. "Have you guys found anything?" She raises her voice.
"Nothing of importance." Tim replies.
"Me neither. Don't worry we'll figure out who she is soon enough." I say, hoping to encourage her, but when she looks at me, I know I did the exact opposite. Her blue eyes, usually filled with joy and happiness is now full of anger and frustration.
"Soon enough..." she repeats quietly to herself, then she raises her head again and comes closer to me. "We need to know who she is now. The sooner we find out, the less innocent lives taken. Got it? Phoenix must be stopped. Red Hood too. They've already done enough damage." Her cold voice makes me feel uneasy. She's never been this...full of hatred...before. I know that she's changed ever since she was adopted by Bruce, but Phoenix has really changed her... I'm worried for my little sister. She's a lot like Bruce, and I'm afraid that her anger will cloud her judgement and she might end up actually killing this girl, maybe even more people. I don't want her to end up like Jason...
"I know Chris..." I reply cautiously. I don't want to accidentally say something that will trigger her again. I don't completely understand why she sees Phoenix as evil, but I know it has something to do with the day we met her. She probably was upset to see her entire family, her only family, all seriously injured and looking as if they would die any second. I know what it feels like to see your family die...
Chris straightens up and says, "Looks like we'll have to go looking for her again..."
"Alright I'll ask Bruce..." Tim says before he heads up the stairs to talk to Bruce.
Chris is about to follow him when I put my hand on her shoulder to stop her.
"We'll find her, ok?"
"Yea sure," she says while rolling her eyes. Why is she rolling her eyes? I was only trying to be encouraging...again. Now that I think about it I should probably stop. She continues, "Stop being so happy-go-lucky and optimistic all the time will ya?" My sister walks up the stairs as I stand there in shock. This is the side of my sister that I have never seen... She's changed so much... I'd better not piss her off anymore...
Chris's POV
Damn. Why did Dad have to be such a joykill and say that Tim and I couldn't go and track down Phoenix? Now I'm bored. I'm done with all my homework. I don't have school tomorrow because of some stupid holiday that I have never heard of. I'm not in the mood to talk to Dick...why is that his name anyway? Haha...dick... Tim is so smart it's annoying. Bruce is in his study...doing God knows what. I'm not in the mood to prank anyone with Damian, and I'm pretty sure everyone would be more pissed than usual if they found their room covered in bubble wrap or something like that, so I'm just hanging out in the cave, punching a few dummies, playing an old game on the BatComputer that I recently discovered was on there...I wonder how that got there... I'm staring up at the giant t-rex replica, thinking that now would be the perfect time to climb it (ever since I laid eyes on it I just knew that I had to climb it, but no one would ever let me), when I hear a beep from the computer. I rush over there (damn...there goes my chance to climb the t-rex) and look up at the screen. A map of the east side of Gotham pops up. Apparently there's a drug ring going on in an abandoned warehouse in the center of the map. Red Hood's territory. He'll probably be there, and so will Phoenix, since according to the information this isn't his drug ring...probably Black Mask's. Man that guy is hella ugly. I stare at the map and remember the location of the drug ring. I don't exactly trust my near-photographic memory, so I take a picture with my personalized BatPhone and test to see if my phone will successfully project a holographic image of the map plus my location on it. It works. I know I'm supposed to never go out alone, and I'm supposed to notify Bruce or Dick about this, but screw them. I can take care of myself. I don't need some sort of a babysitter while I go and beat the crap out of two more criminals. Who am I kidding...I know that I'll probably die. Oh well...other than this whole "Phoenix" mystery, nothing really interesting has been happening lately. Besides, I might find something out about her, maybe even unmask her...now I'm just getting my hopes up...
"Suit up." I say to myself while giggling. Haha...HIMYM. Why am I so giggly all of a sudden? Oh yea, which reminds me, I need to ask Dick about his name. Haha...dick... Oh God what is going on? I'm going happy-go lucky! Man, I really am Dick's sister... Haha dick... SHUT UP!
Pushing that weirdness out of my head, I go put on my Nightingale outfit and gather all of my gadgets. I head over to my motorcycle (I don't have a name for it since "Night Cycle" is already taken...thanks Dick!) and I think about whether or not I should leave a note. Nah... they'll know where I am because.
1) They have a tracking device on me,
2) I left the page with the map and the drug ring information on the BatComputer, and
3) My dad is Batman. He always has a way of finding his "lost birdies."
I'm basically leading them to me. They're gonna come down here in a few minutes to get ready for patrol, they'll notice I'm not there, freak out for a bit, then realize where I am. I'm probably gonna get in trouble but other than that, I'm sure I'll be fine...
I hop onto the motorcycle I designed myself. Obviously, it's mostly black, but there are thick streaks of blue and purple that intertwine on the sides of my cycle. At the end of the motorcycle, the streaks combine to make my emblem. When I saw my motorcycle at first, it felt kinda generic, so I put a panda sticker on the side of the motorcycle near the handles (as you have probably guessed, I like pandas. Pandas are awesome). I revv up the engine and put on my blue and purple helmet. I exit the Batcave with the wind in my face, making my hair fly in the wind. I feel totally badass, well I am... and this girl is about to mess with these bitches.
****Break****
The abandoned warehouse is seriously creepy. Boarded windows, walls falling apart, a door that is slightly ajar that leads to what seems like complete darkness...this is just like a scene from a horror movie, except I'm not stupid like all of those girly-girls with their sleepovers and pillow fights and all that stuff. Obviously most of them are blondes. I look up at the towering building and notice that among the dark boarded up windows, there is one window that looks like it has light coming out of it. Should I sneak in, or should I just burst in through the window. So...a surprise attack like a ninja (well I am a ninja...) or an awesome and badass entrance...hm... The choice is made for me when I hear yelling and gunshots in the upper room. Badass entrance it is. I grab my grapple gun and shoot it up into the air. I cling onto the roof and I allow it to pull me up. Yay I'm flying! What the hell is going on in my head? I really am going insane... I just hope the edge of the roof doesn't crumble or I'll end up falling to my death. Falling like my parents did, the parents I never knew but my brother had grown up with for eight years until Zucco killed them... I'm just happy I have a brother...
Third floor. Fourth floor. Here we go! Fifth floor. (Dammit I'm being cheery again! Really bad timing...) I swing myself backwards and when I swing forwards, my feet collide with the wood and I burst into the room. I'm surprised I don't hear screams, but then I immediately realize why. My feet land in a puddle of blood. The puddle is coming from a guy with his face burned off. I look around me and 6 men are dead on the floor with burned-off faces. Phoenix... A few feet away from me stands Phoenix burning some guy's face off with her hands. That makes seven. He's already dead, so there's no use trying to save him. The man drops to the ground and Phoenix steps over his limp body, smirking at him, then smirking at me. Her eyes are masked but why do I feel that under the mask are insane wide eyes?
"Hello Carter. Whoops, no names in the field, I almost forgot." She chuckles as she kicks away the dead body.
"Phoenix." I growl. My voice is harsher and colder than I expect it to be.
She smiles. "Yes? Why are you looking for me?" She says as if it's merely a game. She's grinning, but I can still feel that anger radiating around her.
"Because I want to know who you are. You know who I am. Speaking of which...how do you know me?"
She shrugs. "Oh don't worry, Hood would never sell you out...any of you. I simply...figured it out on my own." She scoffs
I'd better not waste my time. Who knows when Batman will get here. "Whatever. You still haven't answered my question..." I growl, "Who. The. HELL. Are. You?"
"I told your brother, I'm nobody… SO F*** OFF," she snarls unhumanly.
"Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not leaving until I get some answers." I narrow my eyes at her.
Fire lights the strands of her dark hair. "You have two options, one, you go home to your daddy without satisfaction, but you can keep your life. Or two, you get your answers as I burn you to death. You're choice."
"How about three, I beat the hell out of you and I get what I came for."
She chuckles. "Good option...but the thing is, that it 'aint possible." She gets into her fighting stance. Why is she suddenly talking like a...a street kid? Slip of the tongue?
"And why is that? Is your big brother keeping you from revealing some secrets?" I get into my fighting stance as well.
I see her narrow her eyes at me. "No, no, he never decides for me. Unless, I agree with the decision he has made for me."
"So where is your brother? He is your brother, right?"
"I told your brother...the dickhead. Jason's...a friend, he's somethin' like a brother." She smiles a bit as she glares at me. "He's at home."
"Sure..." I say while rolling my eyes underneath my mask. He could be hiding in the shadows or something... "And nobody calls my brother a dickhead but me, okay?" I snarl.
She runs towards me while smiling. I jump up, but she jumps up and kicks my face. Great, she's made the first move. We land on the wood; I punch, she blocks, she aims to kick my head but I duck. Phoenix bows and somehow...she kicks my head. Then she stands up and back flips and kicks my face at the same time. I hold my jaw and grunt as she stands right across from me, mocking me. I run towards her, and I land a kick on her jaw. She punches my stomach and suddenly takes hold of my hands and makes me turn around. She elbows my back and lets go as I fall on the wood.
She smiles as I spit out some blood. Shit, she's holding back. I stand up and she kicks my chest, but I recover and force myself to stand up. She punches but I block and crouch down. I slide my foot on the floor to make her fall, but she simply back flips, and lands on her feet. GAAH, here we go again.
I punch but she sidesteps, and I kick her stomach and she flies back towards the wall. I smile, maybe the tables have turned. She gets up and runs towards me with her hand balled up into a fist, but what's really disturbing...is that sinister smile plastered across her face.
She punches, I side step, she overhead kicks and I duck. I punch, but she blocks. I grab her into a choke hold, she frowns and narrows her eyes. Why do I get the feeling she's frowning not because I have her? She grabs my arm and flips me over, and I crash into the wall and into the next room. Dammit! She was calculating! I get up as she walks through the human-sized hole in the wall.
Damn it's dark, and I mean creepy dark. I punch her as I clench my teeth but she dodges and sidesteps. I kick and punch and I flip over before she can land another heavy punch. I punch her stomach and kick her head and I swiftly back away.
"Interesting," she states and walks towards me.
She lands a punch on my chest and stomach. Then she elbows my neck and swipes my legs off the ground when she kicks my knees. I sit up holding my head.
"I asked you if maybe we couldn't have another bloody fight." She says.
"You turned it bloody when you hurt my family. " I stand up, jump, and kick her forehead. She stumbles backwards and leans on the wall. I run towards her and punch her stomach and chest as fast as I can. I have her now.
Then she grabs my hand and the white lenses of her mask stare into mine. Her face has suddenly gotten darker with that sinister smile of hers. My eyes widen and she twists my body and holds my hand behind my back. She kicks my back and lets go. I crash into the wooden wall.
She suddenly runs towards me, clenching her teeth while narrowing her eyes as bright flames surround her. I pissed her off. She punches my face and my jaw. She kicks my stomach as I try to block. I can feel the horrible burns on my body... I punch her face, but she swipes my hand away, and punches my face instead.
I can see that she's trying to stop a scream of rage. She kicks the side of my neck and hits my side. She strikes my hip and grabs my hair and knees me in the gut before pulling me into a head butt and aggressively pushes me away.
My back hits the wall and I fall on my hands and knees. I stand up and lean on the wall. I can feel wetness on my hair and dripping down my forehead. I look at her through the strands of black hair in my face and there's blood dripping down her nose and mouth. I grunt as I force myself to get into a fighting stance. She narrows her eyes at me. Then she pulls out a gun from its holster. I drop my fighting stance and lean on the wall.
"You...you think you can just...waltz into this city, hurt innocent people...hurt the people I love...and get away with it?" My voice is rough. I'm having a little bit of trouble breathing.
She scoffs. "Bitch please." I sense her roll her eyes as she swings the gun. "I don't hurt innocent people...I protect them...I destroy the ones that hurt the innocent!" She scowls and lowers her head and suddenly her face gets darker somehow...like a ghost living in light.
"Really? Because to me it seems like you and your...partner...just kill anyone who gets in your way, even if they're just collateral damage."
"Exactly!" She yells. "We destroy anyone that gets in our way! You know...at first I didn't understand it...of course I was still so damn naive then. But then I realized...everyone that gets in my way is not innocent, because it's what I do...I protect the innocent, and anyone that tries to stop me is simply trying to hurt the innocent themselves." She growls
"So, I'm in your way. My entire family is in your way. And apparently we, the protectors of Gotham, are trying to hurt the innocent because we are trying to stop you and Red Hood, whom the people see as criminals, from doing your "job?"
She swings the gun, but it's still pointed at my head. "Indirectly, you are hurting the innocent." I narrow my eyes. What the hell is she talking about? "The 'Protectors of Gotham' simply throw these...criminals...in Arkham, when you all know damn well that Arkham has revolving doors. You say you stop crime, but you are simply delaying it. But after some time, these criminals will break out and kill more innocent people. If you don't put these scumbags away for good and let them kill even more people...then you yourselves are hurting the innocent. You all have the power to put them away forever, but you don't use it. None of you understand, Hood told Batman this before, I quote, 'You can't stop crime!' So you are hurting the people of Gotham and you are in my way. All of you s***heads. So I have a question for you, Carter. Are you against the criminals of Gotham? Or are you with them?" She snarls with wide insane eyes under her mask.
I stay silent and just glare at her. I decide not to answer her question, but I carry on the conversation. "You don't get to ask the questions." I pause, take a deep breath, and continue. "Well...since we are in your way, are you gonna start with killing me first and sending a message to my family?" I growl at her.
Her eyes widen even more, like an insane person "Death...is something quick, it would be so simple to just pull the trigger and kill you right now."
"Then what's stopping you?"
Her eyes are no longer so wide. "Who…" My eyes widen. "Jason's request…" She looks down and lowers the gun a bit.
"But I thought he never cared?"
Her head shoots up at me, with wider eyes than last time. I can see rage written all over her face. "What? You really think he's that evil? That he's as insane as I am? Don't you ever wonder if he asks the questions: "How are they?" or "Are they still alive?" Do you really think that he doesn't care about any of you? What kind of a family…" she trails away and looks down. Then back at me. "Of course he cares...that house that you live in right now...that locked door down the hallway... That was his, and your home now, was his home...you don't know how much he misses it. I know he misses it; I know that he misses his family." Her eyes fill with more rage. (I didn't even think that's possible!) "But...DO ANY OF YOU MISS HIM?" Her face hardens.
Maybe Jason really is her brother, since she's protecting him...but I don't even have any proof, and what if she's just some kid who learned to care for Jason after some time. Well, she is his partner in crime.
As her rage takes over her, mine washes away.
"Look...I can't really speak for my family on this one, but I've never really known Jason. I do know, however, that he's the brother that I wish I knew. I wish he would come back to his family, so that our family would be whole. Ever since the day I heard about him, I felt sad for him. I knew that he probably missed his home, and I've always wanted to meet him...he's my brother too, you know. And I bet Bruce would take him back in if he just admitted that he wanted to come home..." She tenses.
"You can wish...you can feel sad...you can wonder...you can want..." she whispers, "but...life isn't fair...if it was, then it wouldn't be called life at all." She bows her head a bit. "Things, aren't as easy as that Christine. We don't live in some jacked up fairy tale...things...take time." She says, sounding more calm. Then her head shoots back at me.
I stare at her. "Maybe we can help...maybe we can fix things."
She shakes her head as I continue. "There could still be hope..." I feel like a child wondering if Santa Claus is real. "For Jason and you. If he just comes home... If you tell us who you are, maybe we can help both of you..." She tenses, then her eyes narrow and she grips the gun even tighter.
"Hope…" she mumbles. "You don't understand Carter."
I feel the cold air return and I stand up straight "Why? Why did you choose this path? What drove you into this life?"
Her eyes widen even more. "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" She yells at my face. "You don't know what I've been through! YOU DON'T KNOW PAIN!" It's as if a volcano just erupted inside of her.
I'm not following what she's saying, but I answer anyways. "I know what pain is Phoenix..."
"NO! NO YOU DON'T!" I stay silent. "I know who you are, your past. You're parents died-" I tense and suddenly it feels like all hell just broke loose inside of me.
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" I yell, but she doesn't.
"They died, but not right in front of you...you weren't traumatized like your brother was...you didn't hold your parents' dead bodies close to you. You were safely taken to an goddamned orphanage as a baby...you were taken care of! Then you were adopted by a man that actually cared about you! He took you in! And you had a family, you still do up until now! You were, and still are happy. I on the other hand grew up alone...I didn't have a family like you did. I had no one, you had everything!" she spits. "If you had gone through what I have… GODDAMMIT! You would have turned out the same!" Her eyes narrow.
"YOU DONT KNOW THAT! YOU DONT KNOW ANYTHING! SURE I WAS TAKEN CARE OF BUT I WAS IN A FRICKIN ORPHANAGE, A PLACE THAT CONSTANTLY REMINDS KIDS THAT THEY AREN'T LOVED...THAT THEY ARE ALONE IN THE WORLD! THATS HOW I FELT EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE IN THAT PRISON! I ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT MY PARENTS HAD ABANDONED ME! THE PAIN THAT BRINGS TO A CHILD IS...OVERWHELMING...AT LEAST YOU HAD A FATHER AND A MOTHER!"
"GODDAMNIT CARTER! YOU HAVE NO IDEA! MY MOTHER NEVER EVEN LOVED ME! I THOUGHT MY FATHER DIDN'T LOVE ME EITHER, BUT HE DID, BUT BEFORE HE EVEN TOLD ME THAT, HE DIED, RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME! AND AFTER THAT...THE ONE PERSON THAT I THOUGHT THAT ACTUALLY CARED FOR ME TOLD ME THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF THE WORDS I LOVE YOU! RIGHT TO MY FACE! THEY ALL DIED, THE PEOPLE I LOVED, THE PEOPLE I CARED FOR...THEY'RE GONE, FOREVER, THEY TOLD ME THAT THEY WEREN'T GOING ANYWHERE, BUT THEY LIED, AND LEFT. I WAS ALONE! YOU WERE NEVER ALONE, NEVER ON YOUR OWN! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW COLD IT IS TO LIVE WITHOUT SOMEONE TO EVEN GLANCE A CONCERNED LOOK AT YOU! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW IT'S LIKE TO BURN IN HELL...YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH! YOU THINK YOU WEREN'T LOVED? THEN YOU'RE BLIND! HOW COULD YOU NOT SEE IT?!" She looks at me in disgust. "Look at your damn family...you have Bruce, a father...Richard and Timothy, two older brothers...Damian, a younger brother. AND YOU SAY THAT YOU WEREN'T LOVED!? HOW CAN YOU BE SO BLIND!?" She screams.
Now...now I think I understand...I'm stunned... "You're jealous...jealous of me...aren't you?"
She glares at me. "I am jealous, of all of you...even Jason. You all had a family, and still do…you were all loved, even for one time...and you were all able to keep that love...I wasn't..."
I...I don't really know what to say... I was never the best at consoling people…much less an insane girl...
She glares at me. "Now tell me...are you still going to ask me, why? Why I chose that path? Why I chose darkness over light? Why I'm insane?"
I mutter, "no," but I'm not sure if she heard me. "But we can help you...we can guide you on a different path. We can bring you back... You just need to let me...to let us help you. You want to be loved? Just have Jason come back to the family."
She looks the other way.
"Bruce can adopt you too, and you'll have another chance at a family..." Her head shoots back at me and the flames get even more intense.
"YOU THINK HE CAN HELP ME?! HE LET THIS HAPPEN! SHIT! I DON'T WANT HIS HELP!"
"What do you mean?"
She looks away. "It doesn't matter... I want Jason to go home, he needs it. I know it. One day...he'll go home. But I'm not coming with him. I can't."
"You won't-"
She shakes her head. "I can't...I just can't..."
"Yes you can."
"No...I don't belong in a family. I can't be loved. As I told you before, Carter, it's not easy. We don't live in some fairy tale, where we ALL live happily ever after with a family, NO. I'm not...sane."
"Everyone's got a bit of sanity left in them, it's just that some people choose to tuck it away somewhere where they think they'll never find it again. But trust me, everyone can find their sanity if they try hard enough."
She chuckles a little. "Can a madman make another madman sane?...I doubt it."
I choose to stay silent.
"Thank you for making me remember something that I nearly forgot." Umm... What the hell is she talking about?
"What?"
"Family...it's just a word, like love. It only exists for the people that have it. But to me, it is just a word," she says so coldly and harshly. My eyes widen.
"That's not-" Batman crashes through the boarded window next to us, cutting me off and causing shards of wood to fly everywhere, some hitting my arm shielding my face. Phoenix puts her gun away and narrows her eyes at the angry Bat right in front of her.
She smiles. "Now is not the time..." she whispers, before she throws a smoke bomb to the ground and disappears. I know Batman wants to go after her, but he doesn't. Instead, he turns to me.
"Nightingale! Are you alright?" Batman's deep voice is full of fear and worry, though he's trying to hide it. I nod in response, still staring at the empty space where Phoenix was standing. I can feel my heart pounding in my chest, then it slows down. My vision starts to blur and everything turns black.
****Break****
I grunt as I open my eyes. I look up and see my entire family surrounding my bed Huh? How'd I get in my room. The last thing I remember is seeing Phoenix, and then she is replaced by Batman. I'm covered in bandages and there's a band aid on my forehead. I grunt and hold my bed as I try to sit up.
"What happened?"
"You tried to fight Phoenix." Bruce says bluntly.
"YOU ALMOST GOT YOURSELF KILLED!" Dick suddenly yells and pulls me into a hug.
"Sorry?" I wince.
Bruce shakes his head. "You are grounded young lady." I don't even have the energy to complain, so I simply nod.
"What did Phoenix tell you?" Damian asks.
I think for a moment. "Nothing...she...she didn't tell me anything."
"You sure?" Tim asks.
"Yeah, I thought that maybe I could find out her identity, but...she didn't give it away. Even if she did, I don't have any proof," I say.
Dick finally lets go. "You should get some rest." he says.
Dick gently pushes my shoulder and I slowly lie down.
"Not that I'm not grateful and all, but why didn't she kill you?" Tim asks.
I look down at my injured body. I'm still dressed as Nightingale. I don't think I have the energy to change into my pjs, so I guess I'm sleeping like this. At least none of them tried to change my clothes...I don't want to think about that. Phoenix is still imprinted in my mind. I can't bring myself to look into anybody's eyes.
"I...I don't know."
Tim sighs and nods, "Okay."
"Just get some rest Chris...we'll discuss this tomorrow." Bruce senses that I'm just tired. Why is he not killing me himself? How does he manage to always keep a straight face and not lash out? I'm too exhausted to think now... I nod in response, still not making eye contact with any of them.
"Good night." Dick says as he walks out and herds my other two brothers out of my room.
Bruce kisses my forehead. "Night Chris."
I look at Bruce. "Good night dad...thanks."
He frowns at me. "Thanks for what? Saving you?"
"That and...for loving me..."
He smiles and walks towards the door and closes it, leaving me alone in the dark with the moonlight illuminating through my slightly open window. It's already cold with the wind blowing in, but the freezing voice of Phoenix somehow makes me feel even colder under all these blankets.
"Family...is just a word." Her cold voice echoes through my mind. "It only exists for the people that have it." I can't imagine life without my family.
A/N: Oh, by the way no offense to blond-haired girls out there. Anyways please review, we wanna know what you guys think about this story so far.