I sat up looking into Prince's face. He looked concerned and I glanced around, realizing that I was in Prince's elegant room. It was bigger than mine and more extravagant. Slowly a small smile was breaking past his lips while I was still trying to figure out what was going on. I remember listening in on them talking about me, darkness, and then her hands in my nightmares. What did she want from me?

She finally broke me, how can she possibly make me feel lower than I already feel?

"I got you some water." Prince handed me the glass, which I promptly dropped and shattered on the floor.

"Shit. I'll go get something to deal with that."

"Wait!" I grabbed his wrist but couldn't bring myself to say anything else. He seemed to understand and just went to grab some gloves out of his bathroom and a wastebasket to put the broken glass in. He made quick work of the broken pieces and soon threw the gloves in with the rest of the trash and grabbed my hand to sit beside me on the bed.

"So what happened? Why are you like this?"

"It's my job to be like this..." I trailed off, completely ignoring the first question in the process. Prince can't know about this. I don't want anyone else to suffer this pain for me, not to mention the fact that Prince doesn't like me. He's part of the reason I'm broken. He sent her to me. It's really his fault, isn't it? No, not really. If I really have to place the blame somewhere, I'd say it belongs to me. It's my fault I'm broken. It's my fault that I'm having difficulty breathing through my bruised lungs. It's my fault.

"Yeah, I mean I know. King of all things dreary and worrisome and all that. But Anni, you couldn't have done this to yourself. You've got a cut under your eye and there's silver dust coming out of the wound. Your breathing isn't normal and you haven't tried to argue with me once. What's going on? Tell me now, before I make you tell me." Prince threatened.

"You can't make me do anything!" I growled up at him, suddenly feeling looked down upon from my position on the ground. Prince stormed to his door and locked it. Why would he lock it? What was he planning?

"I'll give you one more chance to tell me what's happening. Tell me by the time I get to zero or you will regret withholding this from me. 10..." I couldn't possibly tell him. "9..."

"I'm not a child Prince!" I shouted, his stern look told me he would beg to differ.

"8..." I glanced around the room, looking for an escape. There was a door that led out to a balcony. That could work. "7..." Slowly I stood up but Prince grabbed my wrist before I could try for the window. "I wouldn't try that if I were you. Tick Tock, tell me. 6..."

"I said no. I refuse." suddenly there was a knock at the door. Prince seemed to be getting rather peeved at me at the present.

"5..."

"Hey, I brought some of the emotions just like you said so if you could just let me in that would be much appreciated." Dad called through the door. Maybe he brought Sadness. I was about to call for help when Prince put a hand over my mouth.

"4..."

"Prince! I know you're in there. I hear you counting down... Wait, why are you counting down? What's going on in there?"

"3..."

"Mmm!" I screamed into Prince's hand.

"Let me in right now Prince." Dad demanded through the door.

"2..." I finally got the hand off my mouth and whimpered. I was beginning to become very aware of my breathing. It was a step below hyperventilating, but a step above normal breathing.

"1." I gave no indication of incoming speech so Prince slapped me with all his might. I fell backwards into the bed's frame before I sunk to the floor. Prince's eyes widened, just now realizing what he had become and what he had done. It was too late. I tried to blink back the tears as I stood up and walked to his door, pushing past Prince. I opened it and saw Dad. His jaw dropped open at the hand print on my cheek. I turned back, starting to break in the open doorway.

"You wanna know who hurt me Prince?" I paused, "You did." I ran down the halls and into my room. I felt the tears streaking down my face and was finally happy when I was once again enveloped in the darkness of my life. It was a couple minutes before I heard movement outside of my door. Then there was a soft patterned knock on the wood. Without any hesitancy I quickly opened the door, pulled Sadness in and shut the door in the others faces, locking it as I went. I couldn't help it, I started to sob incoherently on Sadness's shoulder. She has pale skin and brown hair, freckles, and somehow manages to be happy with who she is despite being Sadness incarnate.

"Is it really Prince's fault?" Sadness asked, her voice smooth like butter spread onto a fresh stack of pancakes.

"Kinda." I responded softly, trying to get back my composure.

"What does 'kinda' mean?"

"It's not really his fault..."

"Then whose fault is it?"

"Mine."

"You know that's not true."

"It is true. If I hadn't been making Thomas anxious, than Prince wouldn't have had an issue with my behavior. Than he wouldn't have had Thomas go to get his anxiety managed. Than Management wouldn't have destroyed me and then I wouldn't have had to defy Prince, and then Prince wouldn't have slapped me and then.... and then..." I couldn't help it. I broke down sobbing once more.

"Anx, listen to me. You have some fault in this, but you are not worthless and you did not deserve to be beat up or hit in any way by anyone, got that?" I nodded slowly, refusing to meet her gaze. "If I wasn't your best friend, I'd have no clue how to read you." I didn't crack my normal smile and instead continued to look at the floor. She moved over to the pieces of paper in the middle of my floor. They represented the four of us. All pristine, except mine, except me.

"You know you're gonna have to face them right? And honestly, I think it may be time to tell them. This isn't healthy, Anx. And I'm not even talking about Thomas. She was worse than she's been in the past. I can't see a part of you that's not wounded. I bet if I pull up your sleeve, your wrist will say 100 by now, won't it? She'll have visited you over a hundred times."

"99 actually." I whispered, my voice hoarse.

"Come on Anx. They care about you and they may be the only ones to help. You need to tell them soon or nobody will be able to save you anymore, not even me."

"But they hate me. Prince and the others were talking about me behind my back and Prince hurt me."

"What was their conversation about earlier?"

"I don't know. I think it started with Prince asking if he was too hard on me and Logan saying hardly..."

"Well, he's a jerk on any day but the others seem like they were having a decent discussion about you. There's nothing wrong with others showing concern for you behind your back. As for Prince hurting you, I think it's not about the contact. I think you actually like the spoilt royal. If it had been Logan or Dad or anyone besides her, you would have attacked them back. But it was Prince, so you fled. Own up to it Anx. You like him and it's time you told them all what's inside your dark heart or you may never have them in your corner." Before she could leave, I grabbed the fabric edge of her shirt. She stopped her movement and turned back towards me.

"Help me?" I asked.

"I'll bring them here, the rest is on you." She said with a nod.

"Wait, when?" I asked, in anxious nerves.

"Now." She responded in a visible command.

"Okay..." I trailed off as she left to go get the others. They were coming to hear me. I was going to tell them about Management. I was going to reveal more weakness about why I was broken. My breathing began to accelerate. Slowly my vision at the edges went a little fuzzy. My eyes landed on the pieces of paper in the center of my floor and I couldn't breath. They terrified me. I didn't want to grow any weaker than I already had in their eyes. Then my eyes landed on his name. The loopy scrawl had taken me hours and it still didn't do him justice. I started talking to myself, hoping it would calm me down some.

"Nobody's gonna leave you. No matter what they think, it's not like they can leave you. Unless they send her on you again and you fade into non-existence.... Okay, not helping. What should I do to distract myself." Without my consent my mouth fell open and I began to hum before a tune came out of me.

"Head under water

And they tell me to breath easy for awhile

The breathing gets harder, even I know that" I heard something from the door to my

room but I didn't care about that at the moment. Right now, all that I could sense was myself and the song.

"You made room for me but it's too soon to see

If I'm happy in your hands

I'm unusually hard to hold on to..." I blinked back the tears dripping down my face as I looked over his name on the paper.

"Blank stares at blank pages

No easy way to say this

You mean well, but you make this hard on me" My eyes drifted to my own sheet of paper before I stood up and moved over to my bed. When I turned around I nearly fell off of the bed to see the others staring at me.

"That was not what I was expecting." Logic started. I sat frozen, even when Sadness walked through the door, dragging Prince behind her. His eyes were averted and he wouldn't look at me.

"Come on, Anx. Tell them." Sadness started. I jumped when she spoke, my head darting to look at her.

"Wha...?" I couldn't speak. Couldn't think. My mind went blank. Sadness came over and placed a hand on my shoulder, I flinched under her touch.

"I can't do this for you. You have to tell them. I don't want to see a 100 on your arm." I turned my gaze to the floor.

"Right..." I got off the bed and the room darkened. "Sit somewhere." I commanded the others.

"Got it." Dad said, sitting on the bed next to Logic. Prince leaned against the wall, still refusing to look at me.

"Well, so ummm.... I know you're all wondering why I'm injured and stuff..."

"Is it really my fault?" Prince asked suddenly, making such fierce eye contact with me that I couldn't look away.

"Kinda..." I trailed off. Why was this so hard? Why can't I just spit it out? Any of the others would be able to do this, so why can't I? I'm sure I resembled a fish as I tried to come up with what to say. "It's more my fault. I angered you and then ... ummm... you told Thomas that he might want to start getting help for it again. That is for me again. When Thomas tries to fix me with therapy or medication, she comes. Her name is Management. She has beat me 99 times and this time I think she broke me. I'm not whole anymore. If I see her again, I fear I'll fade entirely from Thomas's subconscious mind."

"How do you know it's been 99 times?" Logic asked. Cautiously, I pulled off my hoodie and black tank top. On my upper right arm, next to cuts and bruises, sat the image of a red and black inked number 99 scratched into my skin.

I finally glanced up to see Logic glaring at Prince, Dad crying into his elbow, and Prince a step away from sobbing. My thoughts went darker and with it, went the brightness of the room. It snuffed out like a candle that's just been blown out by a strong gust of wind. Sadness gripped my wrist before I could try to dash away.

Suddenly, I felt the building start to shift and I heard the call. What was going on? Who was calling Management? My eyes grew darker and my breathing became erratic.

*As a side note, bold and slanted/italicized words are sung/songs.*