We lived in a small town. No one new really came to our town and no one ever seemed to leave so it was kept isolated from the rest of the world. My parents had a great deal of money and had investments in almost all of the farms and stores in town. We had money, power, beauty, even parades; we had everything that was glamorous. Everyone in town seemed to love my parents but me. No one knew what I knew.
Beneath the surface of gold lay nothing but a tarnished piece of metal. My family was held together, not with love but by greed. I grew up with the rule: children are to be seen and not heard. I knew my top priority was not to have fun but to play the part of a perfect child in a perfect family in a perfect world. If I ever screwed up a line I would be locked in a dark, barren room with no food for a day. At the end of the day my mother's husband would hit me a few times before he let me out. As I grew older I started to realize that this is not normal. I came to the realization that my mother married her husband for the money and power and he married her for her beauty only. He knew it would bring him more fame in his little town. They knew that by having a baby they would become so loved by the town's people they would practically become the king and queen of the town.
As I started to have these epiphanies I tried to share them with my best friend, Anna. I don't think she believed me though. If she did she didn't seem to care. I think she was only friends with me because of the family I belonged to. But I needed companionship so she remained my friend for several years.
I remember the day Jade came into town well. It was the seventh of September. He was 18, and I, 16. He came from a big city so all the adults hated him. They referred to him as the "outsider" and blamed him for every "moral injustice," and, of course, it was my parents who led the hate crusade. I, on the other hand took a different approach to him. When I discovered he was from a big city on the out side he seemed new and exciting. I ended up talking to him all day about the outside world. We meet each other everyday and just talked. We talked about our towns, then our families and eventually ourselves. As our conversations became more intimate so did we. As we became more intimate my family became more hateful.
We started to realize that we were in love. So Jade and I tried making it well known throughout the town. My mother refused to talk about it and her husband did everything in his power to conceal it. He yelled and screamed at me, he hit me, he forbade me to see Jade and he even tried to lock me up. But nothing he did could keep the two of us apart.
The day finally came when Jade and I decided to get married. My parents grossly protested it. I can still hear my mother's husband saying, "Katrina, if you marry this rapscallion you will not be a part of this family!" My mother was to weak to do anything. I didn't listen and married Jade anyway. My parents were not at the wedding. They refused to talk to me anytime I tried to contact them. However, I did talk to my mother once while her husband was away. She told me that she was sorry for everything that had happened and I would be welcomed back if I ever decided to change my mind and get rid of that husband of mine.
It happened exactly one month after Jade and I were married. I was gone for three days, studying with my mentor. I came home around ten at night. I felt strange as I walked up to the door of my house. The front door was open. I took one step over the threshold and felt my stomach drop. I called out for Jade a few times before looking around. I soon found him in the middle of the living room floor. He was lying in a pool of blood and the stench of decay seemed to be emanating from his body. As I ran over to him I tried to scream but no sound would come. My body collapsed over his, I felt his cold, stiff body falling apart under me. The only warmth in the room emerged from the warm tears that rolled off my cheeks. I laid my body next to his and mine seemed as dead as his. I lied there for an eternity or perhaps a few seconds before my mother walked in. She invited me to come stay with her for awhile. Something felt wrong but I thought I would feel better with someone else around so I agreed.
The next day I went to find someone to bury Jade. I spent the entire day asking everyone in town, I ended up begging and pleading with anyone who would listen but everyone refused to help. Not even Anna, my own best friend, would help me. I gave up as the sun went down and retired to my parent's house. Early the next day I went to my house and started digging a large hole in the backyard, right in the center of the flower garden. I spent the entire day digging, as the sun went down I retired to my parent's house once again.
On the third day I went to my house once again and carried Jade's body from the living room to the backyard. I dropped it into the grave and started to cover his body with earth. A little after I finished the sun set. I was feeling more and more uneasy each day so I went to the kitchen and took a knife to slip under my pillow. Then I retired to my parent's house for the night. When I awoke I felt a little better so I went to talk to my mother, and discovered I had slept through an entire day. My mother and I talked for a long time about my sorrows and soon the sun was setting once more so I retired to bed.
As the night neared it's end I awoke to a warm breath upon my neck. I then heard the words that I will never forget fall softly upon my ears, "I killed him." Before I had a chance to think I felt the knife in my hand plunging into flesh and blood and the word, "murderer" falling from my lips. I looked over to see my mother falling to the floor with a knife protruding from her chest. Blood slowly fell from her chest to the floor. My heart started sinking as I ran to my mother's husband's room. It seemed as if I would never get there. When I finally found myself in his room I woke him from his rest and tried to tell him what happened, but I was out of breath and the words escaped me. All I managed to get out was "murderer" about three times before I got out "mother."
"Oh," he said nonchalantly, "I see you finally discovered your mother killed that roguish husband of yours."
"Why?" seemed to be the only word I could manage.
"I told her to. At first she was reluctant but eventually she came to her senses."
"Why?"
"You belong to the richest, most powerful family in this town. This town depends on us for it's survival, so it is our obligation to keep everything in this town good and pure. He brought in dirt and filth. You should have wanted to eradicate him not marry him. You had no right to..."
I felt my body leap into the air. As I descended onto my mother's husband I felt a sting in my stomach. I fell to the ground and was astonished to see blood pouring from a hole in my stomach. I looked up to see my father holding a bloody knife. I ran towards him and knocked him over before he could stab me again. I wrestled the knife out of his hands and started to stab him over and over again. I stabbed him for every hateful and murderous thing he ever did. By the time I stopped myself he hardly looked human. I did the only thing I knew to do after that. I went to Anna's house. When I got to the door I was hitting it as hard as I could and was yelling, "Anna, Anna!" The door opened and I fell into her arms. When I awoke I was cleaned up and my wound was patched. Anna asked what had happened. I was so exhausted I could barely speak but I managed to tell her everything. When I finished my story she told me to sleep and I did. I woke to the sound of mumbling and many footsteps. I jumped out of Anna's bed and looked out the window to see an angry mob of people coming to the house. I knew they coming for me so I ran through the door and out of the house. As they noticed my escape they began yelling at me. All I managed to pick up was, "Murderer!" and "Kill her!" As I ran the voices became faint. I did not dare look back until the voices had faded completely. The people were nowhere to be seen but I kept running. I ran until my body gave out and I fell to the ground, unable to move. I was in a forest miles from my home so I slept there for the night. The next day I walked to a nearby city to start a new life.
As I walked through this I town I heard stories of a small town. A girl had killed her parents. Since the family was so loved by the town's people the two victims were buried the moment they were found. I was told to look out for this girl because she was thought to be dangerous and should be killed on sight. Every time I heard one of these stories I felt queasy and I knew I could never go back. I was losing all hope.
When I was in this town I found a piece of paper in my pocket that would give me the strength to live. It was in Jade's hand writing. I recognized it to be a letter he wrote me a few months before we got married. It read:
Katrina,
I love you so very much. I know we were made for each other, we belong together. Though for some reason there is a force composed of all things hateful and evil that is trying to keep us apart. No matter what happens, whether we stay together or fall apart, I want you to know I will always love you and my heart and spirit will be with you forever. I promise. Please never give up. If you ever feel weak, think of me and I will be there to guide you. Never give up, never, if not for yourself at least do it for me. I love you now and forever.
--Jade.