AN: Yup. My bad. I really screwed the pooch on this one, didn't I? Honestly, I never thought it would take me so long to update, I was fully prepared to continue updating after winter break (I went on vacation and wifi wasn't always available), but I guess time sure does fly when you're depressed, huh? Welp, good news is that I basically have this whole story mapped out in my head, now I just need to write it! I got all the kinks figured out and plotted out all the drama in future chapters so it -hopefully- makes sense. Would you guys prefer waiting a long time for longer chapters, or having me update more often but the chapters are shorter? Personally, I think I prefer the latter but it's up to you guys I guess.

By the way, Sophia's backstory is going to be divided into about 2 or 3 chapters, I haven't decided yet.

Chapter 9

Sophia POV

~About 5 years ago~

My hands were pressed against the window of the bus we were in, staring at more snow than I'd ever seen before.

"Are we going to live in South Park from now on?" I asked my mom nervously and she sighed as she scrolled through her phone.

"I don't know, okay? Just sit down and be quiet." I could tell she was irritated so I sat back down and buckled my seat belt, swinging my legs back and forth. It wasn't uncommon for us to move around, I've already done it more times than there are fingers on one of my hands, so the prospect of being able to stay in one place for a long time really made me nervous. Apparently the houses here were really cheap, so cheap that even my mom could afford to pay one off with her meager salary.

The bus passed through the city and pretty soon we were going through a smaller town. There seemed to be a few big stores, but besides that there were only small shops. I pulled along my suitcase and slung on my backpack as i followed mom, huffing a little as I tried to catch up with her longer strides. It was really cold here, colder than I was used to, but in a way it felt nice. I breathed deeply and the cold Colorado air filled my lungs. The air here felt clean and really crisp compared to other places we've lived in, but the cold air kind of hurt my nose.

"Are we almost there?" We seemed to be getting away from the shops and we now walked through some residential streets. All the houses looked the same; two floors and a front yard, probably a back yard, and almost all of them had a car in their driveway. There were a few kids playing on the street and they stared at me as I walked by. I tried waving but they turned around and ignored me. They could probably tell i wasn't from around here, but that's okay, I'll have time to meet them later.

Pretty soon, we were getting closer to some train tracks and just as we walked over them, the mood shifted. There were a few homeless people around and some rundown shops that look like a few of the popular ones hipsters used to frequent a few years ago. The first house I saw had tattered curtains in the windows, a rundown car in the driveway, and a few crates in the front yard along with a broken bike. The houses here didn't have two floors and looked a little bit longer, but it was nicer than a few of the other places I've been. We suddenly stopped in front of a gray colored house. There were a few broken windows, someone sprayed graffiti on the side, the small gate leading to the backyard was hanging on its hinges, and the front yard had some trash thrown on it, but it was ours and hopefully we'd be living here for a long time.

"I like it." I said softly, a warm hopefulness filling my chest.

"Just get inside." Mom sighed and opened the door.

I guess the last people who lived here didn't take all their furniture. There was an old couch with a weird stain -that I hoped wasn't blood- in the living room, and a dented microwave in the kitchen. I peeked into the other rooms and found a really dirty bathroom, two bedrooms, and a closet. I let out a small shriek when I opened the closet door because a few rats ran out as soon as the afternoon light hit them. I walked over to another door and opened it but softly gasped as I saw what was there, or lack thereof. All I could see were a steps leading down into a pitch black room that seemed like the entrance to a different dimension or something. I lightly shook my head to clear it before closing the door and walking back out to the living room, seeing mom sprawled on the floor. She had her eyes closed, but I could tell she wasn't asleep by the way her eyebrows were pinched together and the forceful way she was breathing. Quietly moving around her, I walked toward the back door and walked out to see the backyard. There was some garbage strewn around along with a few flat tires and plenty of weeds popping out of the soil. It would take a whole day's worth of hard work but I was sure I could clean up the backyard nicely. Maybe I could even get a pet! I walked back inside and looked around the kitchen. There wasn't anything edible in the refrigerator, just a lump of something that looked like it'd been rotting for a long time. I connected the fridge's plug into the wall and heard it start humming softly as it turned on.

"Uh, mom?" I called out into the living room and heard a loud sigh.

"What?" She called back irritably.

"There's no food." I walked into the living room and she opened her eyes to glare at me.

"I'm tired." She stood up and grabbed her bag, walking into the bigger of the two rooms and slamming the door behind her. I sighed and grabbed my own things, walking to my room.

The walls were a faded white and there was some graffiti in the corner, but it was mine, my own room. I put my things down and sat in the middle of the room; there wasn't a bed, and I wasn't brave enough to check if there was anything behind the closed closet doors. There was an old dresser that looked ready to fall apart, but it was better than nothing. I put my things down and sat on my suitcase as I unpacked my backpack, taking out a small bag of peanuts that i had begun eating on the trip here. As soon as I was finished with my snack i walked around the house checking to see what worked and what didn't. There was electricity and the water worked just fine -although I had to let it run for a few minutes so it could come out clean- but the air conditioning system, both hot and cold, wouldn't turn on meaning it was probably broken. I finally plucked up the courage to check the closets and cupboards and was relieved to only find a few spiders.

Mom was asleep the whole time, so I wandered out to the backyard, kind of bored of the inside of the house. I kicked a bit of snow around and sat on an old tire, thinking about how long it would take me to clean up the backyard.

"Hey!" I heard a slightly high pitched voice call. I turned around and saw a little girl with brown hair in pigtails.

"Um, hi." I slowly stood up from the tire and she smiled at me.

"Are you our new neighbor?" She asked sweetly and I nodded.

"Yeah, I just moved in today." I smiled and walked closer to the fence she was peeking over. Just as she was about to say something else, I heard a voice shout from inside the house.

"Sophia! Where the hell are you?" Mom shouted and I sighed.

"I guess I'd better go back inside, it was nice meeting you though." I waved at the little girl before running inside. "I'm here mom." She crossed her arms and sighed loudly.

"Come on, we're going to the store." She pulled on her jacket and picked up the house keys from the counter. I nodded and ran inside my room to grab the jacket I left in there. It was kind of late when we walked out, the sun wasn't setting yet, but it was pretty low in the sky. We walked for about twenty minutes to a local grocery store and got a shopping cart before going inside. I stayed close to my mom and walked quietly beside her, letting her pick out what she wanted in peace. While she was busy picking out some vegetables, I looked around and noticed a few other families in the store. Some of them turned to whisper about us and others didn't bother to keep their voices down.

"There's that new family."

"Is it just them two?"

"Yeah, that lady's a single mom."

"The girl has some weird eyes."

"Yeah, wonder if there's anything else wrong with her."

"I heard they moved in to the houses near where Sodosopa used to be, across the train tracks."

"You mean where all those poor and homeless people are?"

"Yeah, gross."

I looked up nervously at mom, I could tell she was angry as she left the cart in the middle of the isle and walked back towards the entrance. Struggling to keep up, I jogged to stay next to her as she muttered angrily to herself. One of the reasons we moved away from the city was because she couldn't it stand it once the neighbors found out more about us and began talking; but I guess in a town as small as this word travels a lot faster.

"Um, mom, where are-"

"Shut up." I bit my lip and quickly shut my mouth, recognizing her tone. We walked for a few more minutes before I could see a liquor store in the distance. My eyebrows furrowed as I slowed down my steps, watching her practically stomp inside. Already a few yards behind her, I could see her bump into someone and continue as if nothing happened towards the back where the cheap beer probably was.

"Oh no." I muttered softly, nothing good ever happened when she bought stuff from there.

3rd POV

Michael and Firkle hung back near the entrance of the liquor store in case there needed to be a hasty escape, Firkle holding a bag full of drinks and snacks they had just bought that would be later eaten at the cemetery. A hasty escape might be needed because, currently, Pete and Henrietta were trying to smooth talk the cashier into selling them cigarettes, weaving together a story about how they didn't have their IDs on them and they had a rare disease that made them look younger than they actually were. Usually the group of goths didn't have a problem getting cigarettes, but the old man who used to sell them to them at the other liquor store closer to the center of town suddenly died; the guy who replaced him was an asshole who said that if he was going to sell cigarettes to minors, they'd have to give him a little extra to make it worth his while. This was fine and dandy, but eventually the guy started enjoying the smell of his own farts a bit too much and began demanding that they pay him more; naturally, they told him to go fuck himself, which brings them to their current situation.
While they waited, out of nowhere, some lady practically slammed open the door. It hit Firkle in the shoulder and made him stumble into Michael while simultaneously dropping all the snacks on the floor. The lady didn't even acknowledge them as she practically ran to the back of the store.

"I hope you die you conformist bitch!" Michael yelled after her as he bent down to help Firkle pick up the packets of junk food. They could hear the door open again from behind them, albeit this time more slowly.

"I'm sorry about her; here, let me help." A thin girl with black hair suddenly knelt down next to the small goth and began picking up the snacks, gently placing them in the plastic bag before standing up. Michael scowled at the girl as Firkle wordlessly accepted the bag full of snacks.

"We didn't need your-" He cut himself off as she turned toward him.

Weirdly enough, the only thing he could think of was that she looked kind of like Wednesday Addams.

Her skin was pale, like alabaster, and her nose was thin and long, but in an elegant sort of way; it reminded him about the fancy women he saw in a book about the Black Plague. Her eyebrows were dark and thicker than Henrietta's, and her eyes were framed by equally as dark lashes.

He swallowed hard as he stared at those eyes; they practically wailed nonconformity at him. One, an almost black dark brown, the other, a lighter purple that glittered like a jewel at him.

Their staring contest was broken by something slamming on a countered and a muffled grunt. The three of them looked over and saw that the same woman from before shoved Pete onto Henrietta and slammed her case of beer on the counter. The girl next to them flinched and sighed tiredly.

"I really am sorry about her." She repeated softly as the woman completed her transaction with a handful of wadded up bills. Without even looking at the girl, she began walking out of the liquor store, the girl biting her lip nervously as she did. "Well, uh, I guess I'll see you around." She ended awkwardly as she walked out of the store, the motion sensor by the door chiming annoyingly as she did.

"Who was that?" Henrietta crossed her arms as Pete grabbed the cigarettes the guy at the counter finally sold them.

"Who knows?" Firkle began walking out and the rest followed his lead. Cigarettes were passed around and they began their trek to the cemetery, a head of curly hair quickly dismissing the girl from the liquor store, he'd probably never even speak to her again, so there was no point dwelling.