I have nothing left now...(Chapter 1)

My eyes were wide, the brown reflected back in his because that’s where they came from. Our brown was the same, as well as the thick and black hair that just barely brushed his forehead. I struggled to scream, lift his constricting hands off my throat but the chubby fingers simply got tighter. The delighted smirk on his thin mouth was torture for my spinning world. I couldn’t breathe and my lungs burned like hell fire to get the delicious air I had taken in not moments before. I kicked desperately, my long thin legs one barely concealed by the way my dress hiked up. I wanted him to experience the pain he was unleashing on me. I successfully got a whiff of air but his hands clamped down on my fingers and I couldn’t even squeal. Our eyes locked and the sick, happy look in his brown was some of the last images I could see. My own brother, barely half my age, was killing me in my own bed! I was set to be married soon, to let a man take my hand but I could feel the weight of him pressing down on my suffocated lungs. The bed was creaking underneath our combined weight and I tried to gasp, tried to breath in some way and it wasn’t going to work. My head was drifting off of my shoulders, my eyes drooping closed as my struggles became unbearable. I couldn’t move my arms off of him, couldn’t force them to push against him any longer. I could feel my eyes roll to the back of my head and could hear my heart stop beating. I could feel nothing, and it was like I was simply watching him laugh horrifically into my ear. I knew it was no longer an option to open my eyes and breathe, or know the joys of being alive. I could feel no heartbeat now, and I let out an incredibly loud scream at the agony that had blossomed in my heart and head…

~

I opened my eyes, sitting up and breathing hard as I looked around. It was dark, and it smelled…damp. I looked around, blinking slowly and hating the way I could feel no beat in my chest that exposed I had a heart. I screamed, storming up the old wooden stairs and ready to rip my brother to pieces. I stopped short, turning around rapidly. This was not my papa’s plantation house! No, no it was not! I walked through what looked like a kitchen, considering the fact of the swinging door that led to a pantry and the long counter and the…stove? It seemed to be but the shape was odd... and still I did not dwell and instead shook my head and turned away.

I took my thick skirts up into my hands, floating forward with a frown. The windows were large, and looked out over the vast lands my father had inherited, that his slaves had worked and built the fortune my family had once had. I sighed, going through the wide open door and gasping. I wondered where the porch went, where the beauty of extravagancy has gone. This was so…wooden and pathetic because there were no grand pillars or stone walkways! Where were the horses and the training yards or the gardens? Where was my home!?

I heard a long rumble and turned around with another wide eyed look. It was….completely unknown to me but the large metal thing was dragging a…wagon is what I thought it was because it was shaped like a carriage of some sort. I floated forward, the steps creaking beneath me as I approached the machine. When a door opened I stepped back with wide eyes.

I saw a woman emerge and I frowned, taking another step away. She was much taller than me, her hair pinned up in an awfully sloppy bun, and there was no style to it. How could no one have their hair styled? I mean, my mother had always had it in thick curls before she had died giving birth to my bastard of a brother. I shivered with rage, but when the woman lifted a baby out of the back door, an oddly shaped door, I smiled. I looked over the baby’s sprung up red hair, laughing quietly as she screamed at the sight of me. I fluffed up my long straight locks, going forward and racing a cold finger along her cheek. The baby squealed again, reaching her chubby hands out for me.

I giggled, shaking my head and stepping away. The mother shivered, frowning around and gnawing unattractively on her lower lip. I looked over as a man stepped out, a sack over his shoulder. He was attractive, with thick hair the same color as my own and it was closely cut to his head. I looked up, gasping at the brown eyes of my brother but filled with different emotions.

His eyes were warm and inviting but I still glared, my own brown eyes alight with fire. I saw a boy, the exact image of his father but probably only about 10, step around him and race toward the stairs. I sighed, going to turn away when a high pitched voice rang out. It sounded as mine had once been, which was young and naïve.

“Daddy? Are we staring here now? Please?” the voice asked and I flipped around with wide eyes.

She had dark brown hair with light blue eyes, the eyes the size of saucers and her plump young mouth showing two missing front teeth. I stared closely at her, my eyes wide at the way she moved gracefully forward till she caught sight of me.

The little girl stepped back, frowning and turning around.

“Daddy? Daddy who is that girl?” she had questioned as she clung to his leg. I frowned, floating forward as the father simply stared at his daughter in surprise.  "What girl baby?" he asked, confused.

She simply pointed at me, casting her eyes up to him and blinking slowly. He frowned in confusion, trying to work through what his daughter was saying.

“What is your name?” I asked, smiling welcomingly as I bent to the young girl’s level.

Her smile was fresh lemonade on a gruesome and groggy day. “Elizabeth! I’m Elizabeth! What about you?” she asked, and I enjoyed the way she giggled. I looked up, seeing the conclusion in her father’s eyes. It was as if he had spoken the words, that his daughter who so alone now had an imaginary friend to understand her.

“My name is Aria Denport, and how old are you Elizabeth?” I asked as I reached out to brush away a bit of grass on her cheek. She shivered, frowning as she touched her cheek.

“I'm almost 8 now! What about you Aria?” she asked, her grin returning. I loved the way it settled on her young, unblemished face.

“I was very close to my 16^th birthday, and it was sure to be a big party.” I said with a sad voice. I missed my life, and had dreamed of those parties I had been sure to have often. She saw my frown and reached out, touching my cold cheek and brushing it across before letting her hand drop. I took her hand, smiling once more as I stood up and let her up the stairs. Her feet creaked, but mine no longer did.

“I can show you my room!” she said, suddenly full of energy as she pulled me forward.

I followed her to her room, blinking at the bright space she had claimed as her own. It was painted pink, light and airy with large windows and many different toys sprinkled around. She had a little table with dolls, and many little blonde dolls that looked similar but each were dressed up.

“These are my Barbie’s!” she said, pointing to the blonde dolls. I raised an eyebrow as she picked up one and showed me before dropping it to the floor. I picked it up, placing it back and frowning .It was a crude doll, and I didn’t favor it. I smiled as she went to a little…kitchen thing in the corner. I laughed as she flung open a chest full of stuffed animals and even a few dress-up clothes.

I looked at a door in the corner, frowning as I went forward. I opened it, smiling easily as the rows of clothing. She had a closet in her wall? How…odd. I had many armoires and dressers but never a closet in the wall. She had captured my attention once more as she bounced on her bed and eagerly gestured for me to join her. It was a very plain bed, no wood carvings, or four posters or anything. I went forward, stroking the metal headboard and raising an eyebrow. How interesting really. Maybe the times had changed, and I was sure they had for the many difference. I looked up at her, smiling.

“Maybe you can clean up my room for me! Then I wouldn’t ever have to stop playing!” she said excitedly. I nodded, watching her race out and went to follow her. The boy ran past and right through me, and then stopped and shivered. He turned, looking down the hallway and right past me. He could not see me. Still, I could see him and I turned to purposefully slam his sisters door. He jumped, and I smirked after him as he raced away with a frightened look. I laughed easily and went toward a room with a crying child. I saw the mother tiredly rocking the squalling child. I went forward and the wind I disturbed made the rocker move.

The mother looked over in surprise, seemingly coming to her senses as I watched her from the dark corner. I smirked as she slowed and saw the hairs on her arms raise. I went forward, looking at the baby and shushing quietly. The squalling infant immediately quieted down, and reached out towards me. The mother stepped from my space and I turned, making the door creak closed behind me. I heard the mother gasp a little, clearly terrified now. I giggled a little, looking around and grinning. I had scared the mother, the boy, made the girl trust me and hushed a baby.

I went out the wide open front door, passing through just as the man carried in a box. I looked at it before shaking my head in confusion. I went forward, looking at the open and metal back of the carriage like thing hooked up to the mechanical machine. I saw Elizabeth race out ahead of her father, giggling.

“Daddy let’s take out the truck!” she said, clapping. He, in a breathless response that made me growl, said “Sometime after I take off the trailer honey.”

I blinked, now knowing the words of the two unknown objects. I looked around, not breathing because I had lost that ability the night my brother murdered me. I went around, drifting through the woods before hearing Elizabeth crash after me and her father call after her.

I went forward till I saw an odd clearing that tickled the edge of my consciousness. I looked around, frowning and squinting as to remember when my eyes caught a tombstone. I went forward, my eyes wide as I read the name of my mother and father, shaking my head in surprise. I looked around, finding mine not 5 feet from theirs and falling to my knees. The date of my parents was not more than a year after my own death.

I immediately lurched to my feet, scanning around before I found his tombstone. Little Thomas, my brother who was a sick sadistic bastard who stole my life! His large hands had incased my thin throat completely and squeezed my air ways until I couldn’t breathe any longer! Even now! I screamed a the year he died, an old age he did not deserve. I screamed, gripping my hair and letting out a shrill sound I heard Elizabeth gasp and cover her ears at. I spun around, my eyes on fire and power pulsing through me with the cold air of a winter wind. I locked eyes with the father and his breath caught, and I realized he could see me. He could see me…