Dear Journal,

I’m this close to avenging mom and dad. I’ve come all this way and their clues have led me here: Abraham High. The Montcalms are going to be stopped, one way, or another. It's up to me to continue the family legacy. It's up to me to—
“Audrey, come out of your room, you’ll be late for school!” a shout from outside her door interrupted Audrey’s writing.
“Be right there, Ellie!” she shouts back.
She closes her journal, slipping the pen in to mark her page. She lifts her mattress, quickly shoving it under. As she swings her backpack around one shoulder she turns to the full-length mirror that resides in the far corner of her room and smirks. She never thought she'd be living like this. As her smirk fades from her pink lips, she runs a tired hand through her curly, brown-orange locks and walks out of her room with a firm close of the door.
“There you are. I made egg and tomato sandwiches, just the way you like them,” Bonnie says with a smile, nodding towards the plate on the dinning room table.
Audrey takes in the thick smell of the warm, freshly cooked eggs and sighs, setting her backpack down on the ground next to her chair and sitting. She grabs the sandwich with both hands and takes a big bite out of it, chewing thoughtfully, and savoring the taste of the foods that would never compare to preheated cafeteria food.
After finishing her breakfast, she gives Bonnie a hug, long and generous. “Try and make friends this year, okay?”
“Why bother make friends with the population of Neanderthals that are high school students?” she replies.
“Audrey-Blythe, open your mind to the kids. They might mean more to you than you think,” she gave a pursed lip smile.
Audrey returned it and nodded before heading out the door.
“See you...” Bonnie said with an exasperated sigh, taking a well-deserved sip of coffee.

~4 years earlier~

“I’m sorry but, with so many budget cuts, we can’t afford to pay you, Miss…”
“Young. Bonnie Young,” she answered in monotone to her now ex-boss, Mr. Colten.
“Miss Young. Like I said, I—" he was interrupted by a soft hand raised by Bonnie.
“I understand. I’ll have my things collected by this afternoon,” she gets up without another word and leaves.

Walking down the streets of downtown wasn’t what she had in mind. All her things at the office had been thrown out without her consent. She didn’t plan to leave empty handed.
Then again, she didn’t plan to be laid off.
It was raining, which was perfect for the occasion. Luckily, she kept an umbrella in her purse. Her hair would soon frizz and curl; she hated when her hair curled with all the knots and tangles it created. She also hated her boss with all the swearing, and orders he shouted. Nevertheless, it paid the rent.
Suddenly, she stops unknowingly and looks down. A rather short—maybe 5’4—red headed girl in rags was standing in her path. Normally, she would excuse herself and head to work but today was different. The girl’s eyes were two different colors—one as blue as pool water and the other, as green as emerald. It was beautiful how they were the same shade but two very different colors.
She couldn’t just let her live the streets. The poor child was soaked from head to toe, only wearing ratty, old tube socks on her feet. As she took her into her warm embrace and walked her towards her home, she had but one thought: What could have brought such a young child to the streets?


Fitting her keys into the lock, her door opens to a quaint apartment enough for two people. She let the girl roam around, forgetting the fact that it would ruin the couch or the floors or the carpets. Getting her something to drink, Bonnie laid a glass of water on the table. She went to get some towels and dry clothes but when she got back, she noticed the girl had already fallen asleep on her couch. She couldn't wake her up but she couldn’t let her sleep in wet clothing either. As she changed the poor girl's clothes and laid a blanket over her shivering body, she sighed seeing life she was trying to forget. She leisurely walks out onto her balcony, picking up the stray newspaper that lay on the lawn chair with sad eyes. Its cover story read:

FEMALE KILLS FAMILY
February 2005


Canadian at-home mother, Eleanor DeLaune commits manslaughter against her own family, killing her two children, her husband and her father. Neighbors claimed to hear screams coming from the home, which led to neighbor Ted Johnson to calling the police.
"I've never heard such racket!" said 72-year-old Ted, a long time neighbor of DeLaune.
Other anonymous sources claimed to have seen a man in black fleeing the scene of the crime, then seeing a woman in jeans and a green t-shirt running after him. No one could confirm any other characteristics, but if anyone witnesses either suspect contact Crime Watchers at 1-800….

As she took a lighter from a small table next to the chair, she slowly burned the newspaper. She watched as her old life turned to ashes.
"I wish it were that easy…" she sighs to herself with great regret.
How the press can exaggerate about her story is incredible…

~~
Audrey-Blythe couldn't be more determined. All the students turned to shadows and the maze of a school became the simplest puzzle. She knew what was to come, for that was all that was on her mind. She would live as a regular teenager, until he noticed. Until he realized that she was here and ready to pounce. The confidence was oozing from every pour, but she couldn't help but think about the last time they met…

~2007, streets of downtown Toronto, Ontario~

"Your family, and then your friends. That's whom I'll kill next. You make any friends and I'll make you watch as I skin them alive like a pig, you little wench!" Montcalm threw Audrey down by her hair and kicked her stomach, making bile pour from her mouth.
"P-Please just…leave me be…" she coughed, red flecks flying from her lips.
"You're dressed in rags, I see. Do you enjoy living on the street? No one to hold you at night, or to make sure your safe? Only the dead corpses of your traitor mother and murderous father to keep you warm!" he kicked her again, wrenching a loud scream from her. She had enough. She knew she couldn't run forever. She struggled to get up, spit blood from her mouth and moved her red-orange curls from her face.
"If you're looking for a fight, you should at least make it fair."
"I don't fight fair," he goes for a swing, which Audrey dodged. She grabbed his arm and pulled, tripping him. As he fell to the ground, she kicked him in the stomach.
"How does it feel? Tell me! How does it feel to be the one struggling?"
She kept kicking him, repeatedly. Hearing bones crack and feeling his stomach retreat into itself for protection. This man was the root of evil. Just stop and run away, she thought. You don't need to be doing this anymore. Nevertheless, she kept going. She couldn't stop. It felt too good. Too fulfilling.
"You're no different from me."
She stopped; the raspy voice croaked those words just loud enough for her to hear. She backed away, "No…No, I'll never…I can't be like you. You're pure evil!"
"You're blood, Audrey. You're my niece. You're family."
"No! Stop it! I'm nothing like you!"
"Someday you'll know…what it's like to kill your family…"
"NO!" she kicked his jaw, "No, No, No, No, No!" She didn't stop there. She kicked his arm, his leg, his stomach, and ribs. She then fell to her knees and cried, breaking down in front of this evil. He coughed, blood dripping from his lips. She looked at him and closed her eyes. What its like to kill your family…
She opened them and realized she's alone in a dark space. If only everything worked that way. She could close her eyes and when they opened, everything was gone. All the bad memories and blood disappeared.
You're blood…
She hugged herself and lowered her head. Family…
….
"Would Audrey-Blythe Wolfe please come to the office? Audrey-Blythe Wolfe,"
The loud and deep voice brings Audrey back to reality. She recognized the voice; no secretary could pronounce it with that same accent.
Was it time already?