The Broken - Part 1 - Shattering Reality

All I needed to see was my Father's face to know. As soon as I walked through my front door that sunny day and had taken a glance at his tear streaked face, the information had crashed into my brain. Maybe I didn't want to know that information. But it was written all over his face, frighteningly inescapable. And I knew what had happened. I knew that my Mother had died. And to reassure my thoughts my Father had spoken those words, the words I won't ever forget. "She died last night.... while she was asleep. But it's all going to be alright, Kimberly." Those were the last words I ever heard him say to me.1

Because I ran.2

Clutching the gold crucifix around my neck. My legs moving rhythmically. It seemed as though they would never stop. And, honestly, I didn't care if they never stopped. I would have no problem with my legs moving forever. I couldn't feel it anyway, my whole body was numb. Maybe, if I run far enough, I could run back in time. Possibly be proactive and find the cure to cancer before it could ever eat away at anyone, like it did my Mother. Or maybe even find a witch or a wizard that everyone talked and read about. Get a bottle from them, something that would make my Mother immortal. If only those types of things existed... if only there were such things as very tales and happily ever afters…3

I don't know how long I ran, how far, how fast, or even where I ran to. I was in a forest and shadows were starting to crawl out from hiding as the sun set. I must have been running for quite some time. But now I finally slowed down, and let the pain envelope me. Let the tears fall, let myself shriek from the violent sobs, let the memories come back. I let myself remember what my Father had said to me. "She died last night.... while she was asleep. But it's all going to be alright, Kimberly." Yeah. Everything was defiantly alright. Fine. Peachy keen. If everything is so "alright" then why can't I breathe? Why can't I think straight? Why am I on the ground at my knees shrieking from my intense sobs? Why am I being tormented on the inside? Why not the outside? Why do I feel so... so cracked? Like I was dropped, not broken, but close to almost brake? Why is there such a thing as cancer? Why did the cancer eat away at my Mother's body until she couldn't fight anymore? Why? Why, why, why, WHY?!4

I was screaming, everything it seemed like, in my head. But I didn't realize that the words were actually escaping my mouth, past my lips and out into the open. Where anyone can here them.Or anything.It wasn't very long after my sobs had become whimpers and my tears starting to dry when I heard a rustling in bushes nearby. I gasped, startled, and hugged my knees to my chest. Clutching the crucifix still around my neck I asked aloud, "Who's there? Stop scaring me! Whoever is in there better come out!" I sounded weak. I tried to sound strong, unafraid. But I couldn't keep my voice from breaking and cracking when I spoke. Anyone, or in this case anything, could tell I was weak, full of sorrow, afraid. And that's what it was craving. 5

Later, I didn't learn it wasn't just an it. It was a they. There were many, to my surprise. 6

Very many.7

Something thrust itself out of the bush and on top of me. It was the size of a large rodent. But it looked nothing like a rodent. As I struggled to tear the creature off of me I noticed that it was black, pure black. It seemed like it was smoking. Wisps of black, like tentacles, grabbing at the air and fading. The creature seemed to have claws and it sliced at me, cutting in my arms and shoulders, grabbing onto my shirt. On instinct I tried to tear the little monster off. But what I was really paying attention to was its eyes. They were a dark violet. The way they were set on its face, slightly tilted downward at the inside corner, made it look angry. I tore my eyes away from it's violet ones and focused on its sharp claws. I finally kicked the thing off and it went flying back into the bush. But more came out, all identical to one another. They jumped and clawed at me until I was tackled to the ground and the creatures pinned me down by my arms and legs. I squirmed and screamed and cried but the only thing that did was waste energy. I started to calm down a little bit and try to fight them off, systematically.8

My calm feeling completely shattered when two large -what seemed like men- stepped into my sight. They were muscular and had the same characteristics -wispy black smoke trailing off of them, violet eyes, claws- as the small monsters. I screamed till my throat felt like it was cut and bleeding. It didn't help. The two men still walked towards me and now stood over me. Bending down, one stared at me, scanning my face. He inhaled, a strong sound, he seemed to savor the sent for a moment and then breathe out slowly as if the breath was a luxury.9

"Ahhhh..." he sighed. “This one will do quite nicely. Smell that fear... I think the King will take a liking to her. This one is Broken. Most I've seen in a quite a while. Take her back... the King will be very pleased." He smiled a sharp toothed grin and I strained my throat, again, to scream. Before I knew it the large man had grabbed me and slung me over his shoulder as if it was no problem lifting a 130 pound, 15 year old, girl. "No! No, please!" I pleaded but it came out raspy. I could barely even hear it. Despite my quiet protests and weak kicks and punches, the large man carried me. The other trailed behind us, kicking off the small rodents when they scurried near him. I finally gave up on fighting after a few minutes of no response and the world went black.10

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Cracked~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~11

I awoke when I was flung off the man's shoulder and held in place to stand. One of my shoulders was held by one man and the other shoulder held by the other man to help me stand up and to restrain me. Not that I needed restraining. I don't think I could even walk out of there without fainting again. My eyelids were heavy. I felt so horrible. Sick, hungry, hurting, and nothing could make it stop. I knew nothing could help me. But I was wrong. Something could take away my pain. But the sacrifice was too much, something I can't afford. But you will soon find out that it wasn't my choice. And the choice that the person made changed my life forever. And I was never the same person again.12

"What is your name?" a voice asked me. It was a soothing voice, somehow. Velvet-like as it sailed through the air. I couldn’t help but be afraid of it. 13

I tried to open my heavy eyelids but I was afraid of what I might see. I kept them shut. 14

"He asked what your name was! Answer your King, girl!" one of the guards yelled at me and shook me violently.15

"That's enough!" the velvet voice scolded the guard. 16

When the guard stopped shaking me I closed my eyes tighter and whimpered. I tried to show that I was strong, tried to hold back the tears, but they wouldn't stop. A cold hand caressed my cheek, wiping the tears away. I couldn't help it, and I needed to find who the owner of the hand was, so I opened my eyes. I was surprised to see that rights in front of my eyes were another pair of eyes. Black eyes. No white, no color. Just black. As I stared into the eyes I had the urge to look away. The urge gnawed away at the inside of me but I couldn't. I couldn't even blink.17

"What is your name?" The velvet voice asked. 18

My lips trembled, another urge. This time the urge was to tell the voice my name. I wanted to but my conscience screamed at me telling me to keep my lips sealed. Screw a conscience. I gave into the voice. "K-K-Kimberly.... my name is Kimberly." I answered. Still, my eyes locked with the black eyes. The eyes were so black that I couldn't even see my own reflection in them. The eyes drifted away from me and I could finally see who they belonged to. It was a man. He had gray skin that stretched over his cheekbones in an unhealthy looking way. Black hair, short but long enough to reach his cheek bones. His eyes still looking into mine seemed to burn their mark in my brain. His clothing was strange, dark, grays and blacks. Not something people wore. But this man was far from a person. He was a thing. I could tell by the angel like black wings that sprouted from his back. He glared at me, his ashen face seeming emotionless. Everything about him scared me, no, it terrified me. He made me angry, made me sad; something inside me even felt some joy. I'm not sure why I felt joy. Maybe it was because I predicted I would die soon, and dying seemed like a wonderful luxury at the moment. Although, all these feelings should have scared me so much into shock or a sobbing fit... it didn't. And I felt a connection to him, a strong one. 19

The guards released my arms and I stumbled under my own weight. I gripped the crucifix necklace around my neck and held one arm over my stomach in a form of protection. I peered up at the man, not quite sure what I was here for or what I should think. I wanted answers and no one was giving me any information so I built up my courage and took a shy step forward. 20

"Who are you?" My voice broke as I spoke. Crap. I wanted to sound brave. Bravery had never been something I really owned. A quality I wish I had, but didn’t. Something in the man's eyes changed and they became less vicious and more curious. 21

"I apologize, My Dear. I didn't mean to cause you boredom, it's just that I was... in shock. You could say that. I've been waiting for you for quite a while." He paused to look me over, eyes moving up and down. I took this time to realize this wasn't a man, it was a boy still. A boy that was my age. I guess he wouldn't be considered a boy to some people since he actually wasn't even human. "To my Fey I am King. But you, Love, may call me Adrian. Kimberly... what a beautiful name..." 22

"Fey?" I asked. What were Fey?23

"Ah, yes. To you we are fairies, angels, pixies, elves. Anything you can think of. We are not sure what we actually are but we are called Fey. Some sort of fairy tale creature, that’s where all your lore and legends came from. Not exactly beautiful and graceful as some stories depict us.” He smiled and spun slowly around for me to look at his body, which looks as if he came from a nightmare. He looked human, just some kind of human that would be in those scary movies, the zombies. “But I know exactly what we are, we are The Broken. And soon you, Sweet, shall be one of us. One of The Broken." He smiled, not an evil sharp smile that you would expect but a heart stopping smile. A sweet smile. I never saw it coming. But I couldn't be caught up with emotions; I had to focus on what he was saying.24

"I am becoming a... a Broken? What is that?" His smile faded and he looked away. 25

"We are the ones that have been hurt, wounded, cracked. Whatever you prefer to call it. We sought help from anyone or anything that could help us. Later, we did find out that the Dark was willing. It offered to nurture us, heal our wounds. We had to sacrifice something, though. And that was ourselves. Being so cracked, so afraid, we sold ourselves to the Dark. So we gave in and the Darkness held our cracked souls, ever so gently, before squeezing them with all it's might until we all broke. And we became Broken. We became creatures of the night, monsters, any nightmare a child can possibly tremble from is us." As the boy, Adrian, spoke I watched his angelic face drop, become angry and then sorrowful, sometimes even painful. I couldn't help but pity him, though; my right mind did mentally slap me.26

"When some of my Fey found you in the woods you were weeping and weak. You were cracked and still are cracked. You fit just perfect. You are about to become a Broken." His eyes burned into mine once again.27

"What?" I was puzzled. "You just treated it as if it were something horrible! And it is! I don't want to be that! I want to be me! You can't break me; I don't even know what you're talking about. You must be crazy! What you are speaking about is impossible." I yelled at him and gripped the crucifix. Warm tears threatened to spill.28

"Kimberly.... you don't understand. The Dark is hungry. It wants more, it will always want more! It can never have enough! We must satisfy it before it goes for your kind... the kind we used to be. The Broken need a leader, a strong one. I was voted to be the leader. But I can't protect my Broken without a Queen. And you will, soon, shall be my Queen Kimberly. We'll just have to break you first."29

"No! No, no, no, no, NO!" I screamed at him. "I won't let you do anything to me! You can't! I am... I'm me! I'm Kimberly! And I won't let you take that away!"30

"Kimberly... I'm sorry but this is the only way! You will be my Queen! We can't wait any longer and you fit the part perfectly!" 31

"No! I won't let you!"32

He started forward, both fire and sorrow in his eyes. His angelic gray lips pulled down in a frown, he knew he would regret it. His jet black bangs fell in front of his sorrowful eyes. I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. But he was trying to... break... me? I had no clue what that was. I didn't want to find out. But strong, cold hands clung to my arms like magnets before I could even think about escaping. And Adrian was right in front of me. His black eyes, again, were burning into mine. I remember the tears, so warm, falling down my cheeks. That was the last bit of warmth I could remember feeling.33

Adrian reached forward and took the crucifix necklace in his hand, still around my neck, that was the last and only thing I had left of my Mother. 34

"No! Please, please, please, please. Don't do this! Don't take her away from me! I need her! Please!"35

Adrian only peered up at me from under his dark hair with his sorrowful eyes and whispered, "It must be done." And then he tore the necklace right off my neck. 36

I don't remember seeing anything after that. I can only remember the black abyss that he had thrown me into. The magnetic hands released my weak arms and I fell forward where cold arms caught me and the side of my head laid up against a cold chest. I could hear the slow beating of his heart and the fast beating of mine. I listened as the two intertwined, forever were they were intertwined. Never would they be off beat, never apart. We were now a part of each other.37

Over the slow thumping of our hearts I heard Adrian's velvety voice whisper in my ear. "You are Broken." 38

I felt myself fall into an even deeper darkness. A darkness, I learned later, that I could never escape.39