The next day, James arrived at school and saw Serenia waiting for him. He debated on just ignoring her, but it didn't work out that way. For some reason, he could not resist her.
She confronted him. She touched his back, and he yelled in surprise, "What the hell?"
"Your dad beats you." it was not a question, but a statement.
James thought about denying the accusation against his dad, but knew that it was no use. She knew. He sighed as he sat down on a bench right outside the school, and Serenia sat next to him. At first, he refused to meet her eyes, "How did you know."
"Never mind that." Serenia said simply. She sat there awhile, waiting for him to talk.
He wasn't sure if he should say anything, but the silence was unsettling, "He beats me on a weekly basis for the little things."
"Like you having a friend." Serenia finished for him quickly.
James looked at her in shock, "How do you know all this? Come on, you have to tell me. Have you been spying on me."
"No," now it was Serenia's turn to refuse looking into his eyes at first, "I had your experience last night."
James was confused, "What?"
"I had a dream-about you. Your dad was whipping you-hard." Serenia rolled back the bottom of her shirt to show the scratches that were slowly becoming ugly scars.
James looked at Serenia's back, not knowing what to say. Finally, he touched one of them, and Serenia hissed in pain. James looked at her, "These are in the same exact location as mine." He didn't let on, but he had even felt the pain when he touched Serenia's scars.
Neither one of them knew what to say now. They just kept staring at one another. Neither one wanted to say what was on their mind-a connection...a connection not explained.
Serenia's eyes drifted away from James, "We should probably go to class now. We are running late."
James looked at her, "How can you be thinking about school at a time like this?"
"Because...we can't just ditch school. Your dad will beat you again."
James knew that she had a valid point, but still, he knew that he would not be able to concentrate in class, so what was the point in going? He found himself following Serenia anyway.
Serenia entered the classroom, and everyone looked at them. It seemed like everyone was sneering, but Serenia no longer cared. She was more worried about the striped on her back that there were not supposed to be there.
"Oh, how cute! Look at the lovely outcast couple!" someone yelled.
The whole class started laughing. The teacher tried to make them be quiet to no avail.
Serenia hardly heard the commotion, but James heard it all, and his face flushed a deep red. He knew he shouldn't have come to class, but something about Serenia drew him.
He sat down next to her. He noticed that Serenia was staring towards the front of the room, but her mind was elsewhere.
James put his head on his desk, trying to ignore the jeers. Serenia suddenly looked up and around, noticing what was going on for the first time. But instead of being embarrassed, she started to make fun of them one by one, as if she knew all the students.
The classroom was quieted, as they realized that she knew each of their dark pasts, but no one knew how. They had only met her a few days ago. The classroom started to be in an uproar as they surrounded her desk and called her a freak.
The teacher was really at a loss of what to do now, because the kids were beyond controllable. She tried calling the principal, who yelled in the speaker system for the kids to shut up and asked Serenia to come to the office.
Finally, things were settling down and kids were returning to their desks, satisfied, believing that justice was to be served.
Serenia slowly stood up and walked out of the door to the classroom. James was stunned. He had known all the embarrassing details of his classmates, but had always been too afraid to bring them up. How did Serenia know about them?

Serenia laid on her bed and tried to sleep, but all she got were nightmares-almost like flashbacks. She got pictures of girls falling through ice into the lake, their thoughts as they were dying ringing in her head.
"I wish I could have said goodbye..."
"It's so cold...it's true what they say about a thousand needles in freezing water..."
"Please, mom...please, dad, don't cry when I'm gone..."
Then, it all changed to Serenia seeing  a boy, but not just any boy, James.
Serenia lightly struggled to wake up, but it was like she was frozen where she was. James didn't have his shirt on, and there were several scars on his back. Serenia didn't have to wait long to find out why.
His dad came out, carrying a whip. He did not look happy. In fact, he looked angry. The first time that he slapped James' back, Serenia felt the sting on her own back and squealed in surprise. The second time hurt worse. Three...four...Finally, she woke up screaming as if someone was torturing her.
Her father did not hesitate to run into her room and run his hand against her forehead, which was wet with sweat, "Sweetheart, it's okay. It's just a nightmare," but then seeing the blood on the bed, he wasn't so sure, "What happened?"
Serenia looked away, "Nothing." something within her wanted to keep this to herself.
Paul looked at his young daughter worriedly. She had never kept secrets from him before, and he knew that some of them were just a part of growing up. However, this was too serious of a secret to keep from him, "Serenia, turn around and pull up your shirt."
Serenia's eyes shot up, "Dad! I'm sixteen!" she protested vigorously.
But Paul only shook his head, "If you will not tell me what's going on, I have to find out for myself."
Serenia was confused, but slowly turned and showed him her back. There were several deep cuts on her back. Paul lightly touched one of them, and Serenia hissed in pain.
"Who did this to you?!" Paul was angry that anyone would lay a hand on his baby girl.
"No one, dad, it's okay." Serenia pulled her shirt down.
"I want to know!" her dad stood up angrily and looked at her.
Serenia never felt so afraid in her life. It wasn't possible that the last part of her nightmare happened in real life, was it? No, this must be an addition to the nightmare, but it definitely didn't feel like it.
Her dad was still standing in front of her, awaiting a response, "I honestly don't know, dad. One minute, I was asleep, the next, I wake up in pain. I know that it doesn't make sense, but that's what happened.
Paul was taken aback. He never suspected that Serenia had blackouts, but now he had to think about that.
What should he do-call a shrink? He never, in his lifetime, thought he would resort to something like this, but he was desperate for answers, and maybe this was the only way to get them.
Paul walked over to the phone and picked it up. He looked back at Serenia, who looked like she was in a daze. He walked to his computer and looked up the numbers for a psychologist, and got her scheduled for the day after tomorrow after school.
Paul sighed and realized that he didn't know how to relay the news to his daughter, or how she'd react. Well, I do know how she'll react, he thought to himself, Which is why I don't want to tell her.
Just as he expected, Serenia did not take the news well, "You think I'm a nutcase! I am telling you the truth, and you won't listen to me!"
"Isn't it possible that you blacked out?" Paul asked calmly.
"No." there was no hesitation in her voice, and that worried Paul even more.
Paul left her room without another word. He didn't know what to do. He had sworn to always be there for his young daughter, especially after her mother left. And he had kept his word, but this was the worst trial by far. It seemed like a ghost was hurting Serenia, and worse, he felt powerless to stop it.
Somehow, he knew the psychiatrist probably wouldn't be much help and would only think that Serenia was insane. On top of that, they would make her pop pills to make her even crazier, giving her the excuse to still see them.
On this last part, Paul believed that he was exaggerating a little,but the consequences would be the same. Child services and the psychiatrist would suggest her staying in therapy until adulthood.
This thinking was almost enough to take him to the phone and cancel the appointment, but he also knew that the stress of the situation was not allowing him to think correctly.
Paul sighed and sat in his easy chair, realizing that Serenia hadn't come out of her room in four hours...

Serenia went home, still thinking about what James was going through. She knew that the way his father was treating him wasn't right, but there wasn't anything that she could do, and it upset her.
She accidentally slammed the door, and her dad ran to the foyer and saw Serenia's face, "What's wrong, hunny?" he was really concerned about her, but Serenia wasn't sure she should tell him.
"Nothing." she tried to move past him, but Paul stopped her."
"Is it drugs?" he asked, saying the first thing that came to his mind.
"What?! No!" Serenia was shocked.
Paul shrugged his shoulders, "I'm just worried."
Serenia sighed impatiently, "Dad, honestly, it's nothing."
Paul felt powerless and was upset that Serenia didn't feel like she could talk to him. At the same time, Paul knew that Serenia was growing up, and maybe this was her time to make an adult decision. Paul just needed to lay back and pray that she made the right decision...

James had never felt so embarrassed in his life. Why did his dad always do this to him? This was one of the reasons that he became an outcast. His dad started to say that she was not good for him, but that left little room for comfort. After all, how was his dad supposed to know what was best for him? He was just a good-for-nothing drunk, not that he'd have the guts to say that to his father's face.
It was not hard to tell that his dad had been drinking, right before coming to pick him up-like always. James decided to ignore his father and look out the window.
His father was quiet for a long time. James didn't care. He also knew that his father wanted him to follow him in his footsteps, but that was not going to happen.
"You're too good for that whore." his father said for what seemed like the millionth time.
"Yeah, you always say that." James said simply, not looking at his dad.
His dad looked at him guiltily, but James knew that it would not last long. When they get home, his father was going to be mad...

The next day, Serenia had to wake up early for the school bus. There was only four other kids on the bus, and she was already feeling nervous for school. She twisted her hair around her finger, a nervous habit that she had developed and hardly even noticed.

She sat in the very back of the bus, like all the new kids did at her old school. She felt like everyone was staring at her and snickering. Serenia's face was flushed with embarrassment as she stared out the window.

It only took five minutes to get to the school. She stepped off the bus, and the first thing she noticed was how small the school was. Now she knew that she was probably the talk of the whole school.

Serenia slowly walked to her locker. Someone tripped her, and her backpack fell to the floor, its contents all over the place. Serenia felt tears smarting her eyes as she slowly started picking up all her stuff. She did not want them to see her cry, but it was so hard being the new girl in a small town.

A hand joined hers in picking up her stuff, and she looked up, seeing the strange boy. It was not long before they got all of her school supplies in her backpack, "Thanks." she murmured, avoiding eye contact.

"My name is James, by the way." the boy said, not allowing her to make as quick of an escape as she wanted to. 

"Um....my name is Serenia." she said, studying him.

He seemed to be studying her also. Serenia could see through James' green eyes that he had seen too much. Serenia wanted to ask him what he had been through, but they had not known each other long enough for James to answer her prying questions.

Before they could talk further, the second bell rang and they headed to their class.

Serenia had a hard time paying attention to the teacher, who was speaking in a monotone. Apparently, she was bored with the topic as well.

Serenia found herself doodling James' name over and over again absent-minded. She lightly blushed as she hid the paper in her notebook and slammed it shut.

A few heads turned towards her to see what the noise was, but luckily, the teacher seemed to not hear the sound and continued with her monotonous lecture.

It seemed to take several years, rather than several seconds, for the bell to ring.

Serenia sighed deeply as she lifted her heavy backpack over her shoulder.

She walked out of the classroom last, because every single kid seemed to push her out of the way in their rush to get to the escape route. She nearly fell twice.

It took her a few minutes before she realized that James had been pushed to the back of the line, too.

They slowly walked to where the bus was, but an old pickup truck smashed into the curb, and a man was screaming out of the window, "Well, are you coming or not, lousy kid?" the guy was looking at her and James. 

She looked at James, who blushed and looked away. He ran to his truck without so much as a goodbye. Right before he got into the truck, Serenia could hear the man say, "Hurry up! We don't have all day!"

Chapter 2
He knew that his son was hiding something. That boy was no good, and he knew that as soon as the bastard came out.
The kid was going to have to learn the ropes around here, so James could take over once he was no longer here on this earth, and he was going to make sure of that!

When Serenia got home, her father was in the kitchen, trying to be both a mother and a father. Her mother had left them two years ago. It did not take Serenia long to find out that this sudden stranger had left her family for a younger guy and moved to Vegas.
Her father, Paul, turned to smile at her, "Hello, sweetie, how was practice?"
Serenia sighed and looked away, "I suck."
Paul stopped what he was doing and walked to his daughter, "You do not. Everything takes practice. If you have enough passion for it, you will do better."
Serenia slowly nodded and then sniffed, "Is something burning?"
Her father jumped back into reality, "My brownies!" he ran to the stove, and a bunch of smoke came out of it.
Serenia looked from the stove to her dad, "Are they still alive?" she lightly laughed. Even though her dad was pretty good at playing both parents, he was a terrible cook.
"Ow, ow, ow!" Paul said as he put the brownie crisps on the stove.
Serenia looked at him, "I think I'm going to my room now." She slowly walked up the stairs and put her skates in the closet. She laid on her bed and stared at the ceiling, still thinking about the weird boy at the lake.
She wondered if the boy might be telling the truth about her being in danger, regardless of whether or not she knew anyone.
Serenia sighed, realizing that things were only getting stranger and stranger. First, her mother leaves her family to go to Vegas with a younger man, then her dad moves the out to the middle of nowhere, and now a young stranger is warning her that her life is in danger.
Serenia slowly got ready for bed and wondered what other strange even was going to happen. She did not have to wait long to find out...

James went home and sighed as he saw his father laying on the couch, snoring and drunk. He walked up to his room, and he didn't have to wait long before his dad woke up and tried to walk up the stairs. "James..." he said in a drunken stupor.
James closed his eyes, not wanting to deal with his dad at the present moment, but knowing that there was never going to be a good time, he opened the door.
His dad was half way up the stairs, looking up at him, "Where have you been?"
James looked at his dad, knowing that he could not tell him the truth. The stripes from a couple days ago was still burning on his back.
"Answer me." his father roared angrily, and James cowered.
"I went...out...walking." James stuttered.
"Lies..." his father hissed.
"Look, I just wanted to take a walk, so I did."
His dad punched his face-hard. James' nose started bleeding, "Don't sass me, boy!"
Tears smarted James' eyes, but he wouldn't let them fall down his cheek. His father hated weakness, and that's what tears were-a sign of weakness.
His father looked at him in disdain and slowly started walking down the stairs, yelling over his shoulder, "I know where you were, boy. The pond. Probably warning some girl that she is in danger, like you did the last one."
James did not admit or deny the accusation. He simply did not say anything.
James' father was insecure about himself. The big scar that started from one side of his face to the other did not help. He never talked about how he got it, but he had it before James was even born.
James laid down and flinched against the pain on his back. He thought about the young girl on the lake. She was definitely not graceful, but he knew that she would get there. He thought about her beautiful auburn hair and bright green eyes. He sighed and slowly closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep...

-Chapter 1-
Twenty years later, twenty girls later
Serenia looked at the frozen lake, her ice skates hanging over her shoulder. She was not sure if she had the courage to learn this. Her mother had told her horror stories of ice skating. Many girls had died from the ice not being thick of enough, or breaking their skulls from the fall.
This is why her mother had refused to buy her ice skates or allowed her to take the lessons. But Serenia bought   the skates anyway out of her own allowance after her mother left. Her dad though it was good for her to take the lessons.
Now she slowly walked to the lake where her private tutor waited impatiently. She sighed, realizing that she was probably late for her very first lesson. However, one quick glimpse at her watch told her that she was right on time.
He looked at her for a minute and then spoke in a strict German accent, "Now...skate."
Serenia looked at him stupidly, "But Mr...uh...."
"Schwartzoff." he finished for her impatiently.
"Schwartzoff," Serenia copied nervously, "I don't know how to skate."
"You try. I teach off your mistakes." the instructor said in choppy English.
Serenia looked at him nervously before stepping on the thick ice. Her knees buckled, and she fell.
"Again." Mr. Schwartzoff said mercilessly.
Serenia lightly groaned as she stood up. She looked around her surroundings and saw a boy that looked to be about her age, studying her. He quickly hid behind some bushes.
Strange behavior, Serenia thought to herself, but she had just moved to Minnesota, so maybe that was the way people acted around here.
She tried to ice skate again, but once again, fell on her butt.
Mr. Schwartzoff sighed in exasperation and waved his arms  wildly, "Again, again."
Serenia looked at him, not knowing how much of this she was going to be able to handle.
Finally, the instructor stepped onto the ice to show her how it was done, "See...simple."
"Yeah...simple." she murmured as she stepped onto the lake. Her legs quivered at first, but she was now able to stand on the ice without falling.
The German nodded as he slowly skated a circle around her. Serenia looked at her watch, "Hey, Mr. Schwartzoff, I've been here for two hours, and I need to go home to study."
"You want to be big star, you practice." the man said as he slowly got off the ice.
Serenia nodded, wondering what she was thinking. She sighed as she started walking up the hill, towards home.
The same boy that she had noticed earlier stepped out from behind the bushes, where he was hiding.
"What the-" Serenia said, startled. She took a step back and nearly fell down the hill, but the boy caught her arm and stared at her intently.
Serenia noticed that he was handsome with his dark hair and emerald green eyes.
"You should leave." the kid said quite bluntly.
Serenia looked at him in shock, not knowing what to say, "Um...what?"
"You should move. It's not safe here."
Before she could question him further, the boy left. Serenia walked home, confused...

Iced Princess

Hello,
My name is Elisha. I want to start writing my stories online. I would really appreciate it if you would comment, so I can improve on my writing. I will be posting something of my first story every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. I hope you enjoy. :)

Iced Princess

Prologue
Year: 1984  9:49 p.m

He watched her from afar, admiring her graceful movements. She reminded him of a swan, so  peaceful. Finally, he turned away in disgust. She would be perfect as his first victim.
The girl was a brunette...and cheerful...friendly to everyone, but he knew that she would not be friendly to him.
Life and age had not been good to him. He was ugly. There was no other way to put it, and not even surgery could help him now, because there was just too many risks.
He walked towards the ice skating girl. He had his hat low, so no one could see his face, but he could definitely see hers. She turned curious eyes towards him. Blue, he noted, just like his mother's.
He was close to the girl now. She a step back warily. "Dance with me, princess." he whispered.
"What?" the girl was shocked by his behavior and moved further away from him.
This upset him, and he quickly took offense from her quick retreat. He roughly grabbed her and held her close, despite how much she struggled. He danced the best he could with her on the ice.
Finally, he had had enough of her resistance. He threw her down on the ice, only hard enough to stun her. The ice slowly started cracking, and he didn't waste any time reaching the solid ground. The girl, however was doomed. He lifted his hat, so he could watch the show better. The last thing the girl saw before she fell into the water of a thousand needles was his gruesome face...