Melanie Angelica-Love in decaying hearts

*This story is underneath my folder titled “Love in decaying hearts”. Gacha Club character designs are under this forum: https://www.youngwriterssociety.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=116005&start=1305. Enjoy!*

Ten year old Melanie Angelica sat curled up on the couch, writing a story. It was about a sixteen year old girl named Mysteria, all caught up in a world of darkness and strangeness. Somewhere along the lines, Mysteria would meet a lonely vampire and fall in love with him. They’d fight monsters and discover new things about themselves, strengthening the bond they had with one another. It was all perfectly planned out, except…

Except for the ending. Melanie was not sure if she wanted Mysteria to marry the vampire or have the vampire murder her. Both endings sounded like happy ones to her. The first one was obvious, because they’d be married and live happily ever after. But it was too perfect. If the vampire killed her, then Mysteria would be a ghost. In death, she wouldn’t have to worry about going to school. She wouldn’t have to worry about getting a job. She wouldn’t have to worry about being bullied by people who didn’t understand her and in the same vein, she wouldn’t have to worry about people not understanding her writing.

Mysteria wouldn’t have to worry about anything because she would be dead. Because she would be killed by the one she loved and would stay with him forever. Melanie liked that ending, but she still wasn’t sure if she wanted to use it. She needed more time to think about it.

Sometimes, Melanie wondered what it would be like if she was dead. Because if she were dead, then she’d be a ghost. As a ghost, she would get to go on so many adventures and would make friends with other ghosts, too. She’d have a lot more fun exploring places and hiding in shadows than writing all by herself.

Well, not quite all by herself. She showed her work to her only friend, Skylar, who always appreciated her stories. Sometimes she posted on the writing site she was on in the living room computer. But that was only sometimes. Most of the time, people online didn’t like her work. She could be proud of something she made and it wouldn’t be good enough. It was either too much, too little, or it didn’t make sense at all. Reading comments on her stories was kind of like when Twilight from school made fun of her. She didn’t understand what she had done to deserve it or exactly why they hated her. They just did. The only difference was that Melanie could pretend that she was somebody cooler with her username. Nobody online would ever know everything about her. There was some power in that.

But still, she didn’t want to share the story of Mysteria online. Melanie was proud of what she made and anything that she was proud of was hated the most. She was going to work on the story in her journal any time that she was free.

Which was why she was writing the story during the eighth birthday party of her little sister, Angie Angelica. On the couch a few feet from her was Angie, excitedly waiting for more birthday presents. She had already opened up quite a number of them, but according to their parents, there was just one more thing she needed.

Melanie knew what her family thought of her writing. She knew that they were mad at her for not spending more time with them. They didn’t understand. She had to write, her characters were calling to her, begging to be written. Who was she to deny them? They were like friends who knew her more than Skylar knew her, more than she knew herself. They would always be there for her, because she created them. Her creations would never, ever be upset with her. They loved her more than any human ever could.

As her pencil stitched together words, she thought that she could hear running down the hall. It couldn’t be running, though, because the running sounded like a creature and creatures didn’t exist. It didn’t sound like it had two legs, which could only mean one thing-

“We wanted to give it to you in a box but it ran away from us.”

At the sound of Mom’s voice, Melanie looked up from her journal and saw just what she feared. A dog. A brown, scruffy dog that would be too noisy and too messy and would need attention all the time.

“That’s alright, he’s here now. He’s a boy, right?” Angie asked as she pet the dog.

Melanie wasn’t going to pet it. She wasn’t going to go near it and she hoped that the dog would do the same, because she didn’t want it coming into her room and ruining her stuff.

“Yes, he’s a boy.” Dad smiled.

Their parents each took a seat next to Angie as she petted her dog. Melanie brought her legs closer to her chest as she scribbled in the journal. They all probably wanted her to pet the dog, but she wouldn’t do it. She wouldn’t give in.

She was going to write her story. One day, she’d get it published and then people all around the world would like it. She’d probably get it turned into a movie and then, she’d marry a guy who was like a vampire and live in a gothic mansion with him and their kids.

But for the time being, she was just a quiet, strange, and not altogether sweet girl with a dream.