Rosalie blinked back tears as she packed her backpack. In her haste, books were spilling out over her bed, some landing on the floor. She took a breath and leant down, shovelling the heavy objects into her backpack. Now was not the best time to have a group assignment due the next day, there were dark circles under her puffy eyes and she was sure that her make-up was a mess, her dark brown waves caught up in tangles on the top of her head.

'Sadie should be here soon honey- what's wrong?' Her mother appeared in the doorway, a concerned look on her face, which was framed by similar dark brown hair to Rosalie's.

'Nothing mom' Rosalie lied, slinging her backpack over her shoulder at the distant sound of the doorbell.

'Did you and Christopher have a fight?' Her mother queried but her daughter ignored her question, pressing a kiss to her cheek and walking past her.

'Remember to be home by seven!' Rosalie heard her mother call after her.

Rosalie passed her little sisters room, stopping for a moment to peer into the room. Mackenzie was on the floor, dolls in her hands as she spoke incoherently to them. The four year old looked up and smiled a big toothy grin at her sister before focussing her valuable attention on the dolls that resided in her tiny hands.

Rosalie ran down the stairs and opened the door, but behind it was not her blonde best friend like she was expecting, but her boyfriend. Well, as of that morning, Ex-Boyfriend.

Chris's tall stature was an intimidating presence and she refrained from opening the door more than she had to, half her body still protected by the wood, separating her from the clearly upset boy.

'What are you doing here Chris? I told you I didn't want to see you anymore' she said harshly, the tears were well gone from her eyes and the anger and betrayal from that morning was starting to pool once more in the bottom of her stomach.

'Why are you doing this Rosy? Let me in and we can talk' Christopher said, smiling a completely fake smile at her. His eyes were teary, and his words were desperate.

'No Chris, I am done, we' she gestured between them, 'are done'

Christopher's face hardened, 'We aren't done until I say we are done'

His words and the severity of his tone sent shivers up Rosalie's spine and she was half expecting him to smile after a few seconds and tell her that he was sorry, but it didn't come, his expression stayed tense and angry.

Rosalie could barely recognise the boy she had been dating for over a year. When she had first met Christopher, they were both starting their sophomore year, and Christopher had been a shy guy. He wore only dark clothes and his black hair was grown out and covered his eyes whenever there was a light breeze. The boy was tall and thin, seemingly blending into the crowd. He was quiet, anti-social, and distant from the other students, but Rosalie couldn't stand to see someone in distress. Recognizing his need for friends, the brunette had practically skipped over to the boy, a huge smile on her face and asked him if he wanted to sit with her and her friends at lunch. As they say, the rest is history.

Now, the boy had changed, not only was his hair shorter, he had finally grown into that lanky body of his, some muscles forming under his dark shirt. He had a troubled life, a junkie dad and the only reason that he was attending school in Jacksonville, Arkansas, AKA, the middle of nowhere, where his grandmother lived. Rosalie had helped her boyfriend overcome the demons of his past, but now, looking into the angry, fiery eyes of Christopher, she couldn't help but wonder whether she was as much help as she thought.

'I need space Christopher, please' she said, gently, wanting to calm the monster she could see rising in front of her.

Christopher's anger problems were known, but they were never bad around Rosalie, still, she didn't like to take the chance.

'I love you Rosy, you love me too, I know it, just let me in and we can talk about this' his words, if spoken softly and gently would have inspired some positive emotions in Rosalie, but the words were spoken with a finality and harshness that scared her to the core. This was a dark side of the boy she once loved, of the boy she had trusted up until that morning.

He took her silence as permission and tried to walk past her into the house. Rosalie was much shorter and lighter than him, so knowing her own weight wouldn't stop him, she tried to close the door.

Christopher saw the action immediately, grabbing her wrist in an effort to stop her. Rosalie cried out, pain spreading through her arm.

'You are not allowed to break up with me'

The words were whispered in her ear, the low, dark sound of his voice making her blood freeze in her veins as her body froze in fear. He pressed an ice cold kiss to her cheek and when she tried to recoil from his touch, he only tightened his grip on her arm.

He pulled away, his hand staying put on her arm, and his expression was unlike any other she had seen him wear. Rosalie felt a single tear fall down her cheek.

He opened his mouth again to speak, but a car horn sounded, causing him to let go of her arm.

'You coming Rose!?' was yelled out of the car and Christopher gave Rosalie a dark smile before turning on his heels and walking away.

Rosalie stood still in shock, blood dripping down her arm, where his nails had dug into her skin.

'Rose?' the sound made her jump, but her eyes focussed on Sadie, her friend, who she had assumed, must have gotten out of her car since her best friend hadn't made any effort to move from the doorway.

'Rose? What happened?' The blonde grabbed Rosalie's fragile wrist gently, but Rosalie yanked it out of her grasp.

'Nothing, I don't want to talk about it' she said, fixing the strap on her backpack and closing the door behind her.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

It was seven-thirty and Rosalie was freaking out, her parents were always strict on her, being the eldest child. Sadie was being no help, refusing to go above the speed limit, causing her best friend to ignore her for all of three seconds.

Rosalie tapped her fingers anxiously against her leg as Sadie hummed to the song on the radio next to her. Finally they pulled up to her house. Sadie pulled into the drive way, turning to look at her best friend.

'What happened today? One minute you and Christopher were all lovey-dovey and then you were crying, and this afternoon, your arm, did he do that?'

Rosalie didn't want to worry her friend too much, so she shrugged, 'He cheated, Benjamin caught him yesterday and told me this morning. He was just a little upset this afternoon'

Rosalie knew that she was understating, but she knew that Christopher was just hurt and over time he would be fine. If Sadie knew that Christopher had hurt her, then she would have gotten Parker, Deon and Benjamin to beat him up or something, and Rosalie didn't want to be responsible for something like that.

'Did he hurt you?' Sadie asked gently, her eyes trailing the red marks and small cuts on her friends arm.

'No, it was an accident'

'Ok' Sadie nodded hesitantly.

'I'll see you at school tomorrow' Rosalie smiled and got out of the car. The cold breeze seemed to be going straight to her bones and she tugged her dark jacket around her.

Rosalie waved Sadie goodbye before going into the house. She noticed, even though it was dark out, that her father hadn't turned on the outside lights like he usually would for her.

The house was usually quiet, there were no sounds of her parents talking or the television being on.

Rosalie reached into her pocket for her key before realising that it wasn't needed, the front door was slightly ajar.

Her golden retriever was known to wonder, so the front door was never let open. She opened the door slowly, trying to ignore the uneasy feeling in her stomach and the way her hands quivered slightly with the fear and adrenaline surging through her veins.

She tried to calm herself, opening the door to her two story house slowly, revealing the open planned living room. She placed her back pack at the door and took a few steps into the house. The lighting was dimmed and she could make out most of the room. She took a breath, seeing nothing disturbing, that was until her eyes travelled to the ground.

The hard wood floors looked to be normal, save for the strip of darkened blood which looked like something or someone had been dragged.

Rosalie followed the blood silently, noticing it lead to the storage cupboard. She looked at the doorknob, her hand ghosting over it for a few seconds before grabbing hold of it and turning the knob slowly.

It opened to reveal the small darkened room and when she turned on the light she had to muffle a scream with her hand.

Her golden retriever lay still on the ground, blood spilling out of the now dead animal.

She was terrified now, she knew that something was wrong.

Her mother, father and sister were somewhere in this house, possibly with an intruder.

She grabbed her phone from her back pocket, texting Sadie.

'Intruder in my house - Call the police'

She didn't have time to call them herself, she had to find her family.

Walking through the dimly lit family room she stepped quietly, slowly keeping a watch on her surroundings. She could hear muffled voices, seemingly coming from the kitchen.

The words were too low to make sense, but then someone screamed and Rosalie feared that it was her mother.

She walked to the edge of the kitchen doorway, poking her head around the corner.

She could see a man dressed in black with his back to her, his hooded jacket disturbing any view of him she might have had. Next to him was her mother, red faced and crying, a gun pointed to her head.

Her father was standing next to her mother and from the look of it, they were holding hands. Her father saw her from the corner of her eye and hurried to cover up his frightened look before the man could see it.

Rosalie stepped back into the hallway, gently banging her head against the wall and covered her mouth with her hand, trying not to let the sobs escape her mouth.

The voices were clearer now.

'We don't know where she is' her father said.

'You do know! You are her parents!'

'She isn't coming home tonight' her mother cried out.

'WHERE IS ROSY!' he man screamed and she knew that voice.

Rosalie tried to comprehend what was happening, that her ex was holding a gun to her parents heads.

*buzz**buzz*

Her phone buzzed in her pocked and Rosalie's heart fell to the floor.

Suddenly a laugh sounded, 'I see you've made your way home Rosy' Christopher's voice crept into her ears and she shook at the amusement in his tone.

Knowing that she was already made, Rosalie stepped into the kitchen hesitantly. She looked around, but didn't see any sign of her sister.

'Run Rose!' Her mother screamed and Christopher took the safety off the gun, silencing her mother.

'C-Chris, what are you doing? Pleas-'

'SHUT UP!' He screamed, placing a hand on his head, as if her words were messing with his brain.

'You can't do this, please Chris' she begged.

'Why did you end it Rosy? We could have had it all! We were so happy'

'We can be happy again' Rosalie realised that she might have to lie her way out of this, 'I still love you Chris!'

'LIAR!' Christopher screamed before pulling the trigger, a bullet piercing her father's chest, causing her mother to scream as her father slid onto the floor clutching at his now blood soaked chest.

'DAD!' Rosalie cried as she ran the few steps towards her father, kneeling down beside him. He was gone already, his eyes shut and his chest as still as can be. Her father's blood covered her jacket as she held onto him, willing her father to breathe again.

Her mother was still standing, shock overcoming her body.

'Look what you made me do!' Christopher screamed, tears running down his face as he placed the gun to her mother's head.

Rosalie let go of her father and stood slowly, 'let her go, please, please Chris'

Christopher suddenly stopped crying and in his eyes grew that fire and anger that Rosalie had only seen once before, when he had hurt her arm.

'If I can't have you, then no-body can have you' he said, pulling the trigger.

For a second Rosalie could only stand there, still and unmoving. Her mother and father were gone and that knowledge hit her like a bullet to her own chest. She only had Mackenzie left.

Mackenzie.

Rosalie ran from the room, the hard footsteps of Christopher following her.

She ran up the steps, almost tripping a few times but managing to steady herself.

'MACK!' she called out as she ran to her sister's room, hoping with all she had that her little sister was alive. If she wasn't then she would let Christopher kill her, she wouldn't care.

'Rose?' A frightened voice came from the closet and Rosalie opened it up to reveal her four year old sister, standing there with a doll in her clutches.

'I had forgotten about this one'

His low, dark, velvety voice came from the doorway, causing Rosalie to look at her Ex. Rosalie pushed her sister behind her, protecting her with her own body.

'Don't you dare hurt her!' She screamed, a sudden burst of defiance running through her veins.

'What about me!' he screamed back, 'How dare you hurt me! I loved you! I loved you with all I had and then you-'

The tell-tale sound of a bullet leaving the barrel sounded and Mackenzie screamed, hugging her sister's legs tighter.  

Rosalie looked at her stomach, blood covered her jacket, and she wondered how she felt no pain. She had been shot hadn't she? Where was the pain? 

Her eyes raised to see Christopher on the ground, blood pouring through his left shoulder as he groaned. A man with a police uniform on stood above him. Other uniformed cops came into the room, one of them saying something about a coroner and a medic.

'Are you alright?' Someone said, but from then on her senses dulled and she felt the need to sit down and run all at the same time.  

Instead of trying to work out her surroundings, she turned around and picked up her sister, cradling her tightly in her arms as the young girl cried and screamed, her tiny arms wrapping around her big sister.

She didn't remember much after that, but the one thing that she did remember was what Christopher said as they were walking him out of the room.

'If I can't have you, then nobody can'

Hey Guys, so this is my new story :) This is my first attempt at writing horror, so any tips will be much appreciated! Make sure to add the story to your library so you'll get a notification when I update this story :)