Misty morning by the lake ((anyone))

[ashley]

Alarice awoke to the wafted scent of a stale fire, presumably from the common room below. The sun had begun to rise but was already covered in a veil of thunder clouds and a light drizzle was beginning to splatter the windows. Beside her, in the next bed over, Alarice's roomate, Kelley was once again snoring. Long, loud, rumbling snores. Alarice glanced over at her other roomates, Violet Indigo and Ruby Kenway. How could they sleep through this? Alarice thought, deciding that she could no longer stand the noise, and to get up. She slipped out of bed and into a pair of her favorite, old, ripped jeans, a light blue tank top, and a black hooded jumper. She brushed her long straight, sandy blond hair and lined her hazel eyes in smokey grey eyeliner. Ready to start her Saturday, she bounded out of the dorm and into the Gryffindor common room. It was empty. She climed through the portrait hole, into the coridoor, and decided to take a walk out on the grounds before a storm hit. It was oddly chilly out as she sat down beside the lake and lazily watched the giant squid surface in the murky green water. There was a peacful calmness in the air as she glanced through the dimness up at the castle. Tiny brightly glowing yellow specs shone through the fog, that Alarice new were the many windows of Hogwarts.
A rustle in the bushes, coming from the forest, brought Alarice out of her reverie. She turned to glance over for the source of the sound, but just as her eyes locked with the bush, all was once again stilll and quiet. It must've just been a bird or something. Alarice cocluded, turning to gaze back at the lake.
But she had a strange feeling inside her chest that told her something was wrong. Something wasnt quite right.

[Maryn Livley]

Maryn was lost in a sea of memories. It didn't matter how hard she tried to forget. She couldn't erase the memory. It was placed stationary in her mind destined to be locked there forever. Maryn's whole life had been a tailspin of pain and that moment wasn't an exception. She jolted up right in her bed. Her breathing was heavy and her heart was pounding. Maryn couldn't escape the feeling of illness. She wasn't really ill just emotionally. Maryn had relived the memory so many times in a week period. She thought that would help her, but it made her worse. Now, the memory stayed in her mind unlike the many years before. Maryn felt the hot air approach her as she stayed in her upright position. After a while, she could bear it no longer. Maryn crept past her best friend Elisabeth, as she searched through her dresser. She found her new jeans and legendary red tank top and flip flops and threw them on. She didn't care what she looked like. Maryn knew she probably looked dreadful, but she kept getting dressed. She was usually so obsessed with looking perfect, but now she needed to get out. Out of the dorm, the tower, the castle, and everywhere else. Maryn couldn't take the pressure any more. The memory was haunting her and she needed to be far away from those who brought it to her. Maryn then ran out of the dorm. She couldn't stop her emotions and she didn't know what she was doing. She just moved on action and not thoughts.

Maryn ran through the hall hitting the walls and items left and right, but she didn't care. She had to get away from it all and the castle wouldn't help her. Maryn ran and ran down the halls. She didn't know how she was going to get out. Her thoughts were gone. If anyone saw her then they would think she was stoned or drunk. The thirteen year old was none of those things. Her condition was probably worse. Maryn's eyes were red and underneath them was almost black. Her face was pure white and she looked like a ghost. Maryn's lips were no longer rose pink but pale beige. But, she couldn't see that. All she saw was the flashes of the memories and that made her keep going. Finally, she made her way outside. Maryn couldn't see anyone around. Which was good news for her. She didn't know how to get out so she ran to the forest. Right then, she couldn't remember that it was forbidden. She was gasping for air, but she didn't dare stop. Maryn finally froze in the woods as a voice rang in her mind. I wouldn't want you to do that. It wasn't your fault. Your safe, keep it safe along with you. A voice said gently. Maryn knew who the voice was and she couldn't bare it any longer. Maryn fell to the ground crying. Her emotions all came to the surface and she couldn't stop them. Maryn poured them out onto the ground. She didn't have anything else to loose. Maryn heard a noise not too far from her, but she didn't care. Maryn just wanted to get away from it all.

(Deep I know, but I think you can handle it.)

[ashley]

Alarice continued to stare out at the giant squid in the lake, a few rumbles of thunder accompanying the light drizzle of rain now. She couldnt erase the odd feeling she had in the pit of her stomach now. She couldnt get rid of her instinct that something was wrong. Terribly wrong. Was there somthing hidden in those bushes?

As if an answer to her question, from the exact same spot that had rustled earlier, came a gasping drawling breathing. It was a horrible sound. It seemed as though someone were in pain. Alarice jumped up from her spot by the lake curiously and tiptoed over to the forest. As she peered behind the bush she saw a girl about her age, dressed in a red tank top and jeans, her hair a matted mess around her face. The girl lay in crumples on the cold forest floor, sobbing, shaking. She looked terrible. Alarice stood frozen a moment panicking, watching her, wondering what she should do. Did the girl want to be bothered? What had happened to her? She looked as though she had been raped or something awful like that. With that thought Alarice decided to tap her on the shoulder lightly to see if she was allright.
"Are-are you okay?"

[Maryn Livley]

Maryn felt the touch on her shoulder, but she didn't wince. She didn't care if anyone saw her. She was too focused on the salty tears falling to the already wet ground. She was like some cutter who only got pleasure with seeing blood. Except, at that moment her pleasure was seeing the tears. Maryn felt guilty and seeing her pain was all that made her close to happy. Suddenly, the tears ended as she heard the same voice in her head. Stand and dry your tears. It commanded sweetly. Look in your heart and you will see that what happened was not your fault. Turn to the girl. She may be able to help. The voice told her. At that moment Maryn realized someone must be behind her. She quickly dried her tears and turned. Even though she wanted to follow the voice she was still going to use her own rules.

Maryn looked at the girl. Her face was vaguely familiar. She seemed to be a third year Gryffindor just like Maryn. The girl has asked if she was okay and Maryn then realized it. Her face was the same, puffy, and red. MAryn felt sick from the tears. "I'm, I'm fine." She muttered. But, Maryn knew even the most ill educated person could tell she was lying. As Maryn stared at her, she then realized how tired she actually was. Maryn continued to stare at her and then the girl seemed to move. maryn watched her with her eyes as she fell to the ground. Maryn's face hit the hard surface, but not too strong. She slowly snapped out of it as she wiped the dirt from her face. "I'm Maryn." She said softly ignoring the pain. Maryn shifted her gaze towards the ground where she was still sitting.

[ashley]

The girl named Maryn claimed she was alright but Alarice was no fool. She could tell that something was wrong with her. It was hard to miss. She had collapsed in the forbidden forest, she was weak, she looked awful, and she had just been sobbing. Yes, something was definately the matter, but Alarice was not one to butt into anyones bussiness. She felt it wasnt her place. As long as this girl wasnt injured or dying or anything like that, she could just leave her be.

But as much as Alarice wanted to leave, no matter how uncomfortable she felt at that very moment, intruding upon a complete stranger having an emotional break down, she wanted to help. She felt drawn to Maryn at that moment. And at that moment Alarice forgot about her uneasiness, forgot that she had never talked to this girl before, and the only thing that felt important was helping her.

"My names Alarice." She said in a friendly voice, trying to play down the awkwardness of the situation. "Erm..do you-do you want to go and sit down by the lake or something? We can talk if you want to." Alarice watched Maryn's reaction to her words intently. If she showed any sign of wanting to be left alone, Alarice would let her. She wanted to help, but she didnt want to impose her company upon anyone if it wasnt wanted.

[Maryn Livley]

Maryn listed as the girl introduced herself as Alarice. The sounds were heard, but the meaning just seemed to slip her mind. Maryn heard the echo of the girl's voice from the nearby mountains. At that exact moment when she heard the echo maryn straighted up. She pulled her hair out of her face, smoothed of the remaining tears, and patted the dirt off her outfit. At that moment Maryn had decided to temporally forget what had just happened, all of it. She decided to put it in the past and when Maryn wanted something she usually got it. She was determined and did her best at everything she could.

Alarice said something about going to the lake and talking. Maryn wasn't sure what she would be able to say, but she decided to agree. "Sure." She said politely. Maryn walked towards the lake waiting for Alarice to follow. She turned towards her. "So, how come we are both the same year and house and have never met each other?" She asked as she gave out a small laugh. Maryn was going to disguise it all. Maybe Alarice wouldn't notice. She still made her way to the lake. Maybe, if she told her she would help.

[ashley]

"I know it is odd. But we're talking now arnt we?" Alarice said with a smile. Maryn had just made a joke about how they were in the same house and year and had never spoken before. It was a cover. Alarice knew. She had been hurt to many times not to. Maryn didnt want to talk about it, whatever it was, just yet and Alarice wasnt going to badger her. She would just have to be patient. Maybe just maybe Maryn would open up to her. Maybe then Alarice would be able to help her. She got up and followed Maryn to the lake. The drizzle had stopped now and left behind chilly morning air and the promise of a storm in a few hours. Shivering, Alarice zipped up her sweater, and plopped down in the spot she had sat at when she had first heard Maryn rustling in the bushes.
"So, I havnt really seen you around much this year. Who is it that you normally hang with? I'm practically attatched to my best friend Kelley Shipman." Alarice said, trying to bring up friendly conversation. She gazed out at the lake, the giant squid now invisable in the murky green water, waiting for a response.

[Maryn Livley]

Maryn laughed as Alarice asked her question. "Well, I have so many they are hard to keep up with! Let's see, Piper, Elisabeth, Rosaliz, Alyson, Flo, Mandi, Kadan, Aedan, Illiya, and Emma. They are a handfull, but I love them to peices. Sometimes I have to get away ya know? It's like they are my life and sometimes I have to leave it all. The friends, the fun, the happiness, and even the pain." Maryn took a deep breath as she said it all. She loved her friends alot, but they confused her.

"I have a hard time handling it all. All of it. The good and the bad." She said softly. Maryn felt the feeling come over her again. She felt like she need to get away again, but she held in her urge. Maryn had a feeling that Alarice could help. "Who knows, one day we could be friends and I might have to get away from you too." Maryn said with a fun smile on her face. She let out a little giggle as she spoke.

[ashley]

Alarice smiled at Maryn's last words. "No you wouldnt be able to get enough of me." She joked. "But I know what you mean about not being able to handle it all. There's so much drama with all of my friends. It can be quite annoying" Alarice began, deciding that if she wanted Maryn to open up to her, that she would have to do the same. "But you know, I just recently lost one of my good friends...that's some drama I really wish never happened." For a moment, Alarice lost herself in thought, remembering Emily's smiling face, remebering the hard times she had had while getting over the murder. But then a rumble of thunder brought her back to reality, and she chose not to dwell on it. That was what she had concluded in doing the past few months and so far it had worked, though Alarice had an uncanny feeling that it would soon catch up with her.
"Anyways," said Alarice changing topic at top speed, though she could think of nothing to say, which was odd for Alarice because she always had things to say. She decided to wait in silence for Maryn to say something instead.

[Maryn Livley]

"Oh, I'm sorry." Maryn said as Alarice stated that she had just lost one of her good friends. "This summer we almost lost Rosaliz. I'm so glad she's alright. I feel so bad for her some times. Her parents are gone all she has is herself and that big house." Maryn explained. "Sometimes, I wish I was her. So, she could be normal for just a day." Maryn replied and it was true. On several occasions she found herself wishing she was other people. Not for her benefit, but for theirs. Maryn wanted to help people because if she did, she would know she was alive for a reason.

A feeling of sadness overcame Maryn at that moment and she decided she had to let it out. "Have you ever thought why you were alive?" Maryn asked. "I mean have you ever really though about it or regretted that you were. Sometimes, I do and it never seems to leave." Maryn said looking at the ground. There was so many time that she wished she had died and not her grand-parents. But, she couldn't change what had happed that night or the secret that she had to keep.

[ashley]

Maryn's last words startled Alarice. She hadnt really been expecting it, but Maryn had touched upon something Alarice thought about a lot. Maryn had asked Alarice if she had ever wondered why she was alive. And then she had asked if Alarice ever regretted living.

"I feel guilty," Alarice said after a long time. "that I'm still here, perfectly fine, when Emily, someone completely innocent, is dead." There was a long pause, in which Alarice took a deep breath and continued. "But you know, everyone is here for a purpose, even if its not a huge purpose. Just by being a good friend to someone, like you must be to Rosaliz, is fufilling a purpose." Without thinking, Alarice asked the next question on her mind. "When I found you earlier, in the forest, was something--well--is everything, okay with you?"

[Maryn Livley]

Maryn nodded as Alarice talked and then she listened to her last words. Her breathing slowed and her body went frigid, but Maryn knew that she should explain it. She had only ever told one person before. "I was like that because I wanted to get out. I just wanted to leave the castle. I was searching for an exit." Maryn paused as she said those words. She then focused on the giant squid and not Alarice. "Lately, I have been having nightmares about what happened so many years ago. Umm, when I was like three I was at my grandparents house. I remember I loved being there because they understood me more than my parent ever will."

Maryn paused again. "Then, some people with dark hoods came in and my grandparents pushed me in a closet. The hooded people kept asking them where it was and killed them." Tears were now in her eyes. "I saw and heard the whole thing through a crack in the door. I know I was only like three, but I'll never forget it. And I'll never let them have what they wanted." Maryn said. She didn't think she could tell Alarice about the thing they were after. It was to dangerous.

[ashley]

"Oh." Said Alarice softly as she listened to Maryn's story about her grandparents. "Wow, I'm really sorry. That must be so hard to deal with. I mean, I've never-I never had to-to see what happened to Emily, though I must say, that was hard enough." Alarice couldnt relate exactly to what Maryn was feeling, but she did know how it felt to lose someone you loved. She felt terrible, knowing that someone else was going through some of the same feelings she had felt over the past few months. Those had most definately been the darkest days of her life. Maryn had tears in her eyes now, but Alarice could not bring herself to comfort her. She knew that if she did, she would break down. It was beginning to wash over her that she would never get over the death of Emily, no matter how hard she tried to ignore it. Maryn still had the memories of what happened to her grandparents, and she had only been three. Alarice ripped the thoughts of Emily out of her head. She would deal with it later, but now she was here to help Maryn. Alarice thought about what she had just said. The people who had killed her grandparents had wanted something. Something that Maryn had now. But Alarice decided it best not to ask. That would be invading not only Maryn's privacy, but her familys as well. Alarice couldnt help but feel curious however. What had those people wanted so badly. So badly that they were willing to kill for it?
"I'm sorry that you've been having nightmares about what happedned. That must be horrible." Said Alarice, gazing out at the giant squid who had just resurfaced in the calm waters out in front of them.

[Maryn Livley]

"Well, it wasn't a fun thing to witness." Maryn answered as she managed to give out a small laugh. She quickly dried the new tear that sat on her cheek. "It's weird, I have been avoiding it for so many years and now the memory is finally back. I don't know how to deal with it." Maryn told her. She had avoided the memory for year, but one day the subjects of death came up with a Ravenclaw and she had to voice her opinions. It wasn't like Maryn to hold something in so she told the girl her thoughts on death, but nothing else. That was the first day Maryn talked about death since a few years after it happened.

Maryn got worse when she talked about it to Alyson. Alyson had been through alot too, but hers was different. Her situation brought life to a person that had been forgotten. Maryn's brought death to something that was gone. Maryn looked at Alarice. "You must think I'm some depressed person." She said giving a smile. "I'm usually so annoying and cheerful." She said with a smile still on her face.

[ashley]

"No, no, I dont think that. We all have our bad days." Alarice assured Maryn. She definately did not think of Maryn as depressed. "Well, maybe if you, I dont know, are those people, the ones who killed your grandparents, are they still looking for er, whatever they came for in the first place?" said Alarice, trying to think of a way to help Maryn put theses thoughts in the back of her mind. It was unfair that for so long she had had to deal with it all. "I mean, well, I dont want to intrude but, what was the thing that they wanted? You dont have to tell me of course. But maybe, maybe I can help you.."

[Maryn Livley]

Maryn hesitated for a moment, but gave in. She figured she could trust Alarice. "First, you have to know my family is ancient. We can be traced back hundreds of years." She paused. Maryn then reach inside the top of her shirt and pulled out the neckless that was hidden underneath. "The first person ever known to be in my family wore this locket." Maryn explained. She held it between her figures. "This is what they wanted, this locket. Oh course, this is worth thousands of dollars, but that's not why they want it." Maryn looked at Alarice for a moment. "It holds a secret inside it. A family secret, that we have kept for that long. That's what they wanted, I think. I'm not one hundred percent sure, but for years I have thought of why the want it. My mind has gone back and forth. But, I know the secret and somehow the people found out about it and wanted it." Maryn paused again. "I can't tell you the secret. It's too dangerous for me let alone you. I'm not even sure if those people still want it, but I might know who they were." Her head looked towards the ground. "I think they were Death Eaters." She paused almost it tears. The only thing Maryn was afraid of was Death Eaters and she was afraid that one day she would have to battle them for the locket.

[ashley]

Alarice gave Maryn a quick hug of comfort. She was nearly in tears. "Wow.." Alarice whispered. "Your family is ancient?" She gazed at the necklace clutched in the girls hands. A locket. A golden locket. It was hard to beleive that it was more than just a beautiful peice of jewelry. But sure enough, Maryn had just said that this was what her grandparents killers had been after. She suspected..they were death eaters.
"Well, if you ever need help," Alarice began with a reassuring smile. "Protecting that necklace, or if those death eaters ever come back, you can count on me." And she meant it. Alarice was always there to help a friend when needed and she would always stick by their side, no matter what happened. "I hope that's enough to make you feel a bit better." Alarice said with a sad smile. "How many other people know about this?"

[Maryn Livley]

"Yep, ancient." She told her. Maryn listened to what Alarice had to say. "I don't think they are still after it. I mean they might be, but they didn't know I was there or that I had it. I don't even think they know I exist." She said. "The secret isn't just some crazy pride thing." Maryn paused. "It changes my life and my families. It has to do with all the Livleys. Everone of us is weird in a way. We don't have special powers or anything. We are just different." She told her a bit about it, but not much.

Maryn smiled a bit. "Um, only you, Alyson, and my parents." She said. "My parents only know what I saw that day. They don't know my thoughts or anything. Alyson knows alot of it but not as much as you do." She said. It was weird that Maryn had trusted a total stranger.

[ashley]

Alarice was shocked that she was one of the few that knew Maryn's secret, but flattered all the same. And she knew that she would take it to the grave, because trust was something she valued in a friend, and if she expected her friends to be trustworthy, she had to be as well. "Well, that's good that they dont know you exist. Let's keep it that way!" Alarice joked, as a few drops of rain began to decend from the dark cloudy sky. Alarice pulled the hood of her jumper up over her head to sheild her hair. She hated getting her hair wet. "D'you want to go inside then. Maybe get some breakfast?" Alarice asked standing up and holding out her hand to assist her new friend.

[Maryn Livley]

Maryn stood up. "I didn't say that." She shuddered. "They might know who I am. I just don't know it." She said softly. Maryn looked at Alarice for a moment. She seemed nice, but she still wasn't feeling well. She was hungry, but she would rather go to sleep. Or at least, try to sleep. Maryn knew she would probably end up crying or something. She knew herself and her actions too well to think she could last through breakfast. She knew she would crack before then. "Um, no thanks. I'm going to go back to sleep." She said as she started to walk off. "Maybe we could do this again. Without the crying." She laughed a bit. Maryn then ran off as the fresh tears rolled down her face. "She was sick of being that way, but she could change herself. Maryn was the way she was.