This is the first chapter since the ones of series five I write completely without having made a summary first. So… it'll be interesting to see how this goes. Anyway, I've checked a few scenes from 'going home' and Elektra's page on the TBR- wiki. So now I think I should have everything… 'crosses fingers'

AS SOON AS THIS CHAPTER IS PUT UP THERE WILL BE A POLL ON MY PROFILE ABOUT WHO I SHOULD DO NEXT. AND THIS TIME IT'S BETWEEN TYLER, LIZANNE, KITTY AND RICK.

Mandy "Elektra" Perkins

Ten year old Mandy Perkins was sick and tired!

No, not like you were when you had the flu or a cold. But sick and tired of everything, no. Not like you were when you were sick and tired of some food and couldn't eat or even think about it without feeling sick. Or like of a song that you had listened so many times at last it wasn't good anymore.

But she was sick and tired of absolutely everything! Mostly her mum, her dad and her sister Melissa. Of fighting with them at absolutely all times. Of people telling her she was playing the victim whenever she spoke her mind during yet another argument. Of people telling her she was only self- pitying whenever she didn't think something was absolutely perfect.

But most of all, Mandy Perkins was just sick and tired of life.

Mandy Perkins was ten years old, and just last night she had been sitting with a knife in her hands. And all that it would take, was just one move. And then it would all be over. Right then and there it had all just seemed so simple. One move and she would never have to worry about neither her parents nor her sister again.

But she couldn't do it. One part of her was saying that this was all what it would take for everything to be over. But another part, a big part of her. Told that this wasn't the right path to take. That she had after all she was only ten years old. And she would have so many more years to live. So many new things to experience. So many new people to love… Maybe even someone special. Someone very special.

Maybe even someone like Charlotte in her class.

Mandy had heard what her parents had said about something they called being homo. About girls that fell in love with girls and boys who fell in love with boys. That it was a sin, and the ones who performed it would burn in hell. And she had understood it well enough that if her parents knew who she had fallen in love with. Her parents would not be happy.

Mandy had even heard her parents saying something about if one of their daughters ever would 'come out' and tell them they were homo. Then themselves- Maryl and Bernard wouldn't be their parents anymore. And that was why Mandy didn't dare to tell them who she was really in love with. And if anyone asked, she just said she was in love with a boy she knew named Axl.

Axl wasn't a common name. Opposite of that! Mandy herself didn't even known anyone named Axl. And even if she did. There probably wouldn't have been a risk her parents would meet him too and start some embarrassing talk between the four of them.

And Mandy was sick and tired of everything about her parents and what they did. She hated what they did! Every little piece of what she did! Just like they'd hate what she did- they hadn't told her that. But she knew it was like that and she could see the way they looked at her whenever they found her in her room writing, or she didn't want to eat dinner because she wanted to be a vegetarian and meat was murder!

"And for dinner today" One day, somewhere in between January the first and December the last Mr. Bernard Perkins put a big kettle with soup on the kitchen table. "Chicken soup." Mandy suppressed a moan, but still Bernard couldn't fail to hear her. "And you better eat it too Mands. I worked really hard on this." Without another word he grabbed his youngest daughter's plate and put a way too big portion of the soup on it, with as many pieces of chicken as it was possible. "And you're not going to leave this table before you've eaten it all."

Mandy looked down into the bowl of colorful vegetables and chicken. She slightly touched the chicken with her spoon and only seeing the way it bounced under the touch made her stomach churn. But she knew that when Bernard said something his word was law. And during the whole afternoon she sat there by the table, she was chewing on vegetables and pushing down small pieces of chicken down into her napkin to make it look like she had been eating. And at last, when the others had left the table since long. She ate the last piece of potato and threw the napkin with the chicken in it into the compost bin- mission completed!

While Mandy put her plate in the dishes she noticed some weird noises coming to the bathroom. And even though the door was closed and it was forced silent, she only had to look at the clock to realize that it was only a little while until Melissa would be forced to a rehearsal with that goddamn choir again. Because she had to go there, nothing else would be accepted from the side of Maryl's. And both Melissa and Mandy knew it. But still Mandy couldn't help but hating Maryl to the only person that ever seemed to be dare for herself. When it was just hurting Melissa so badly.

"It's okay Mel." Mandy run a cloth under the crane and kneeled by her sister heaving over the toilet bowl and put the wet cloth against her clammy neck. "It's alright." Mandy sat down on her knees by Melissa and laid her palm towards her sister's back. Rubbing it slightly as Maryl had always done when the sisters were ill when they were little even though they had to take care of themselves now when they were older.

"Why do you even keep on doing this?" Mandy asked when Melissa at last finished and flushed the toilet and then sat down on the floor and leaned her back against the tub. "You need to start sticking up for yourself against mum. I guess we both do but… especially you! And you hate that choir so… just tell mum you don't want to go there."

Melissa shook her head and supported towards the edge of the tub while she stood up on shaky legs. "What do you say? Pretend it never happened and leave dad to clean it all up? I'm sure that if you come with us and sit in church benches and wait and listen. Then we can stop for ice cream later." Mandy bit her lip, spend one hour in a hard wooden bench didn't sound too well to spend a Sunday afternoon. But she couldn't resist the urge to clean this up after them. Especially with his fear of bacteria. And with that Mandy stood up too and followed Melissa and Maryl out of the house and to the car.

During the whole twenty- minute ride to the big, old church right downtown Mandy sat silent. Actually both Melissa and Maryl were silent too. Melissa was in a bad mood about just having to go to that goddamn choir. But hadn't given a thought to standing up to her mum. And Maryl didn't say anything when the girls didn't And still in silence they walked into the church, Melissa walked up the choir in the front. While Maryl and Mandy sat down and just as Melissa and the others started singing. Something just turned up in Mandy's mind.

Suddenly it all just seemed so clear. When you got sick and tired of some dish you wouldn't eat it for a while. Of a song then you would hold up a while before you listened to it again. And now she was sick and tired of her family and her life. Her life she couldn't exactly take a break from, and she couldn't end it for all in the world. But her family… Maybe she could. And maybe with that, she'd create a whole new identity to herself.

She needed to run away. To somewhere nobody knew her and from the start have an attitude. Not like to Maryl, Bernard and Melissa who already knew her and knew that she would go with anything that they wanted and said.

Mandy needed to run away. But knowing that Maryl and Bernard would never accept something like that she couldn't let them know it. She couldn't even spend loads of time planning because they were going to know something was up and sooner or later find out what she was doing and it would never happen anyway.

Mandy Perkins needed to run away. And make herself a new identity without her parents knowing or noticing. her parents and Melissa were still sleeping. And all she'd leave was a letter so they wouldn't come looking for her and destroy the whole thing. That was the last thing Mandy needed or wanted. She needed to run away- tonight!

"Mum." Mandy whispered to Maryl where they sat side by side in that church bench. "I saw a nice dress the other day but haven't got any money on me. Can I have some from you? The store's not very far away so I'll be back before we have to go home." Maryl nodded and Mandy's plan worked. Maryl always wanted her girls to wear pretty dresses so that would have worked any time and Mandy reached for her backpack while Maryl pulled up some cash from her handbag and Mandy stuffed them in the pocket on the side of the dress she was wearing and walked out of the big church as fast as she dared without being caught by everyone's- including Maryl's attention.

It only took Mandy five minutes to walk from the major church to the mall. But she didn't stop in the clothes store that had all kinds of dresses and instead continued up two sets of stairs until she stood at the highest floor and the town's only second hand store. She needed things cheap, and she needed them now. So what would be better than this?

Without trying the clothes on Mandy collected two pairs of ripped jeans, one pair of boots, three shirts in blue and grey. And then went to pay for it all before continuing down the stairs and went into the kiosk downstairs and bought some snacks in form of several bags of Reese's butter cups, three Fanta's, and one pack of crackers to have for tonight. At last she pushed down everything into her backpack, and walked back to the church where the choir rehearsal was just ending.

"So. Ice cream was it?"

"Actually, mum." Mandy acted like she wasn't feeling too well. "My tummy hurts. Can't we just go back home?" Maryl frowned, and then nodded. And while they were in the car home, Mandy discreetly signed to Melissa that she was only pretending. Melissa didn't seem to mind though, and at home Maryl sent Mandy up to lay down and Melissa promised to keep Maryl and Bernard away from their room. And so Mandy sat down on her bed, took her notebook and a pen and wrote what she wanted to tell them while running away. All the time listening and when someone came into the room she lied down and pretended to be asleep.

And one of the times, late that night she actually did fall asleep. But only for one hour until her clock rang, and she quickly shut it off before anyone else would awaken by it. And tip- toed out of bed and pulled on a new pair of jeans and one of her new T- shirts.

"And where do you think you're going?" Mandy was tip- toeing through the hallway when the lamp was turned on and she heard her dad's voice. "Oh. And what do we have here?" He didn't wait for an answer before he reached for the latter in Mandy's hands and unfolded it. And standing like this. Mandy regretted that she had written everything- exactly everything in that letter.

Oh crap!

Dear mum and dad

I've been thinking and come to the conclusion that I need to get away from here, at least for just a little while. And I feel like I should tell you so you know that I'm safe and don't have to come looking for me or contact me again before I come back on my own.

No!

I need to put this clearly! I hate living here with you, you're control freaks and you probably couldn't care less about neither me nor Melissa. Have you noticed that every time you make her go to that choir she chucks up right before because she's so f*cking afraid of doing it and hates it so much? Have you noticed that I was down, and for a moment just wanted to end my life?

No, you didn't notice! Because the only things you cared about was yourselves and what you wanted. And what you wanted was perfect children. Melissa might be afraid of standing up to you with her own will so badly she'd rather chuck up once a week than do just that. But I'm not going to take things anymore.

And I'm not going to live your life anymore. I'm going to get out of here and making my own life. And for that I need to get out of this freaking house. So I'm getting out of this house and I don't want any contact with you until if I would come looking for you and contact you ever again. And actually, I doubt that that will ever happen. And that's how much I hate both of you and this freaking house.

And by the way. I'm in love, not with Axl, I don't even know an Axl. I'm in love with Charlotte in my class- Yes that's it! Charlotte, she's a girl! And I'm in love with her. Just thought I'd let you know that before I left.

-Mandy Perkins

Bernard Perkins looked up with the letter still in his hand, and his loud, angry breaths sounded awfully like growling while he stomped over to Mandy and lifted her up in her shirt and held her face only centimeters from his own.

"DYKE!" He suddenly shouted right into her face. "CLITTY LICKER! YOU ARE NO CHILD OF MINE." He let go of Mandy so sudden she fell down hard onto the floor and before she had gotten onto her feet he started kicking and pushing her further and further through the hallway and towards the front door. "YOU'RE NEVER WELCOME HERE AGAIN. No, not even if you want to. YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN FROM NOW ON."

"Dad please."

Mandy could hear that Melissa tried, for once in her life she tried to stand up to Mr. Perkins. But it didn't help. And Mandy didn't want her to, if Melissa continued then they'd both be in trouble. And only Mandy herself was enough.

"So… If you think this house is so… miserable to live in." Bernard pointed towards the door. "Get out! Get out of my house. You're on your own from now on. Get, the hell out of my house."

There was a fire burning in his eyes that Mandy had never seen before and it scared her. So with that she grabbed her bag and didn't let it matter that Melissa was protesting. She just looked right in front of her, threw her bag over one shoulder and left the house. Walked right out into the street ad out into the dark. And from her bag she pulled up that spray bottle with hair color and sprayed it all over her hair.

And with that, Mandy Perkins wasn't Mandy anymore. Because she was Elektra, and Elektra was blue, and strong. And all kinds of cocky. All of the opposites of what Mandy had been and now…

No one could stop her from being who she had to be anymore.

Random fact

To find bad slangs about Lesbians I actually had to use the Internet. Since I am so far from homophobic I haven't even learnt any of those haha. If it's because of that. But anyway, if it hurt some of you then I'm very sorry. I haven't got anything against any kind of LGBT or anything. So I just never mind enough to learn any of those words. And when I did it were the Swedish ones haha.

THE POLL ABOUT THE NEXT FOUR CHAPTERS IS UP ON MY PROFILE. PLEASE GO VOTE. YOU CAN VOTE FOR TWO OF THE CHOICES. VOTE FOR THE ONE YOU WANT TO SEE NEXT.