Perspective was everything. What one saw was not what the next had, even if they were staring at the same white wall. One person would notice the tiny cracks and scratches, the imperfections while the other simply saw the blank emptiness and the possibilities it could be filled with. Perhaps another would even find the white to be something of beauty, pure.

As Rene stared at the large three story house, with the perfect manicured lawn and delicate ivory trim, she wondered what Michael saw because all she could think was this was the perfection her mother could never have had with her.

Her head tilted over, trying to get a better perspective, one that didn't make her out as such...well such the problem. In the moment, it really did seem though like she was the one who had held her mother back from all this. She always knew she was a problem, but to be "the problem" was so much worse.

"Raider" Michael's mouth drawing out the unfamiliar name.

"She got remarried." Rene sat down with a thump on the sidewalk, not caring about the disapproving looks from the suburbians out jogging or playing with their kids.

"It appears to be a possibility."

"Please don't make me go in there."

After a second, a weight settled beside her. Michael looked straight ahead, taking in the house and keeping her company on the hard ground. She pulled her knees to her chest, resting her head on them.

"I won't force you to do anything Firecracker, but, for what it's worth, I think you need to face this, face her." He said.

The air was so still, like the building had sucked up the wind. Like this area was a little haven, a utopia she didn't dare step into...a home. She didn't belong in the pretty painted picture in front of her. Rene began arranging pebbles on the sidewalk, creating a little sad face. Michael reached over and pushed them with one finger to flip it to a smile. He grinned at her, patient and waiting. In a way, that made it worse...

Rene scrapped her hand along the cement, brushing away the face. Biting down hard onto her lower lip, she chewed until she could taste blood. She was scared...she was anxious...she was sad...but, where was the anger? This woman had almost bled her out. She had betrayed the trust of a small child whom she had sworn to protect and love. Her mother had tried to kill her angel. Rene hadn't been good enough, despite how hard she had tried.

Don't mistake that mortal's flaws for your own, Fledgling. Karo rumbled her chest with his disapproval. After all you have plenty of your own without taking on hers.

I'm not sure how to take that...

Kai soothed the tension. My brother is right, though perhaps he could have explained better. Humans are by nature flawed. It is what makes them unique from one another.

I know what I said.

I'm merely iterating then.

Rene tuned out their arguing. It was becoming easier to ignore them talking in her head. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. She felt like they were more present in her mind now, always watching and waiting, a constant shadow within her head. However, it made her more aware of how to mentally place them back in the shadows as well.

Perhaps they were right though. Ancient beings probably knew a little something after all...then again they had to be wrong on occasion, despite Karo's insistence.

Her fingers curled, grabbing a hand full of gravel. She popped up and flung it, hard. It arced up and through the air, falling apart from its mass the farther it traveled until just a couple bounced against the door and across the wood porch. It was a beautiful house really. She hoped she had scratched it.

"Well now what?" Michael rose up beside her, rocking on his heels with his hands behind his head. "How 'bout a little ding dong ditch?"

Rene stormed past him, her confidence rising with her anger. If those stupid rocks hadn't done it, she sure as hell was going to make the house imperfect.

A hammer fist pounded repeatedly on the door. Each one hurt her hand more, only serving to fuel her to knock harder and harder.

"Come out you fucking shit-tastic excuse for a damn mother."

Michael's mouth dropped open behind her. He had never heard Rene swear. Rene herself was a bit surprised, but once she started, she found she couldn't stop. She never swore growing up because her mother disliked the words, and even afterwards, the habit had stuck. She had always told herself that she would save her real swearing out loud for something worth it. Apparently, this moment was it, because a string of language spilled out of her mouth, each more hate filled and colorful than the last.

Her hand was most certainly bruised now, so she started kicking the door, screaming incoherently. It was the reason why she lost her balance, stumbling, when the door slowly opened a couple inches.

The first thing she noticed was the flowers.

A small girl in a frilly, flowery dress peeked out from behind the door and for a second she could see it...the perfect angel her mother thought she could be.

"Is...is...is..." She glitched like fool, staring at a life she couldn't have.

From behind the girl's head, sunlight streamed through the house. She could see a dainty decorated entryway with many paintings and an organized, straightly aligned row of shoes. Music drifted through the air, loud and joyful. It was probably why it had taken so long for them to hear her. Her chest...her chest hurt.

"Who is it Angel?"

God, she was going to die.

Floating through the air like a fairy, a woman appeared, flour covering her face and the bright yellow apron she wore. Was it getting stuffy?

The woman was wearing a cheery smile that showed off white shining teeth from between perfectly painted red lips. Her pale face had a smattering of freckles that made her look slightly childish. Long blonde hair, with strands of gray, was twirled into a bun. Most shocking was the ripped jeans and pink t-shirt beneath the apron, not a dress.

The woman blinked and time slowed as a dawning crossed her face. "Rene?"

No no no no nononononononono

Michael swooped. "Hello Miss Sparks or I suppose I should say, Mrs. Raider." His hand shot out, ever the charmer. "My name is Michael. We were in the neighborhood and I was wondering if perhaps we could come in and chat?"

The little girl buried her face in the woman's apron...not the woman, her mother...

The girl was the image of her mother, right down to the brown caramel eyes, while her own green was attributed to her father. She was like a mini of the woman who had ignited the fuse that landed her in the Asylum. Yet, the actual woman in front of her...she was not like her mother and still somehow more so like her. Of course it was her mother, but her mother wasn't this person...not for her anyway.

"I can't...I can't do this." Rene took a step back only to trip down the steps and land on her butt.

The woman came out from the house, her shadow falling over Rene. The smile had slipped from her face. Her hand reached out.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!"

Gravel slide and scattered as Rene scrambled away from the woman...from her mother. All she could hear resonating in her head.

I'll make you perfect again.

She tore through the street, tears streaming down her face. Her feet slapped the pavement harder and faster in an attempt to drown out the words.

That should have been her home.

That should have been her mom.

That should have been her.

Kai and Karo pressed at the corners of her mind, their words starting to form when she stifled them. She didn't want their pity, not when they had been part of the cause.

Through the blur of tears, she couldn't tell where she was going and she didn't want to know. She wanted to become lost. She wanted to disappear into the road. Imagined it raising from the ground, a great beast to swallow her whole.

They were all wrong. This was a terrible idea. She wasn't ready...she'd never be ready to face that.

She ran and ran, her legs aching and her lungs rasping desperately for more oxygen to fuel them. Night fell and still her feet carried her through streets and alleyways, past buildings and playgrounds. Every passing object a reminder of the life that was not hers to claim. Eventually the town fell away and she found herself running through a cornfield, though to be honest she wasn't sure when the transition had happened. Exhausted, she collapsed on the side of the road, into the shallow ditch and tall grass.

Crickets chirped and hopped through the corn, pushing down and crackling the stocks. Rene sobbed a hiccup, her erratic heartbeat trying to find its way back into her chest from where it had rearranged in dread. Perhaps someone would hit her. Unfortunately they would have to swerve off the road first for that to happen, where was a deer or glass when needed?

The stars were so beautiful and bright her. She couldn't seem to get enough of them now that she was out of the Asylum. Her pale hand reached up, looking to grab them. Reach for the moon because even if you fall you may catch a star.

Why couldn't her mother have been some evil stepmother like in the fairy tales? Why was this her life, her burden? Why was she the wicked one that ruined everything?

Lights flew past her, a car speeding down the road. The beam passed over her, nothing but a glimpse of what it was like to be in the light. Just a passing.

Rene sat up, slapping at her cheeks. No she couldn't let her mother get the last...well whatever it was. Her mother couldn't hog the sunshine, the light. She stood up, breathing deeply, when the tears began again. She screamed, frustrated. Why couldn't she just get over this? Crying was stupid. It was useless and a waste of energy. She was supposed to be strong, the ice princess. She covered her mouth, muffling the sounds of despair as though it could prevent further pain. Pretending she could put a lid on it.

Idiot, worthless, flawed

The words swarmed in her head, constricting her throat as she choked on them.

Her knees buckled, dragging her back to the ground with the weight of the world. She curled up on the ground, angry at her own body and mind's betrayal. Darkness pressed around her as the world crushed her.

_______________________________________________________

Hours blended together in a stream of black. Her only company her own thoughts, darker than the night that embraced her. She had cried in fits. Random bursts as thoughts came crashing down in waves, receding only to be pulled back in.

She was freezing, her sweat making the night air all the more biting. She needed to move. Why couldn't she move?

Kai and Karo had been banished to some deep part of her mind within her panic. She couldn't find them anymore, no matter how many times she called. They were still on her skin at least. She clutched them tighter, imagining there strength flowing through and holding her together...she wasn't really alone. She couldn't forget that.

A tickling shifted her hair and, from among the dark, she saw a blurred thing dance in the air, her vine. It trailed her cheek for a moment before sprouting. Overhead her huddled figure, a giant dome was woven, bringing much needed protection from the elements, even if just a little. Encased in her cocoon, she felt safe. The tight muscles holding her in place slowly released, sinking her into the ground.

Stiff hands were brought to her mouth as she tried to breathe heat back into them.

Rene ticked her foot a couple times, until she finally managed to get the axe to come out. It was barely able to fit within the structure which was a little longer than she was tall. Sparks generated from the axe and Rene started a small fire with long grasses she pulled from around her. She made sure to keep it well away from the walls, unsure of how the vines actually worked in that aspect.

The flames' light flickered across the vines, settling and warming her chills. She was tired, but that didn't seem to be anything new these days. Still, she carefully dug a trench around her small heat source to keep it contained as best she could. Laying back down, she gazed into it until she fell asleep, unable to remain awake any longer.

She woke up to sunlight high overhead, her vines having retreated at some point. Rene sat up, cracking everything to release the kinks. She supposed she should go find Michael.

The feet that had fled so swiftly yesterday, were now sore and swollen. Her journey back to town was a slow and painful process. She stopped at the edge, unsure where to look. Michael surely didn't just stay at that woman's house...crap her mother. She should just get used to saying it, even in her own head it felt wrong.

Her footsteps faltered and she backed up, retracing them to in front of a small coffee house. The smell reminded her of Lora. Without hesitancy, she entered, the bright bell welcoming her with the swing of the door. People paused in their daily lives and enjoyment to give her looks. She was no doubt a sight to behold. Still she glared back, daring them to comment.

Most of the heads jerked back around, leaving her to smile. She strode up to the counter.

"How may I help you?" The teenager oozed boredom, barely blinking at her state.

"One coffee, with lots of cream and sugar."

"That'll be one dollar for the coffee. You can put in the cream and sugar yourself over there."

He moved to pour the rich, intoxicating beverage into a cup and plopping it down in front of her with enough force that some spilled over the sides. She frowned, well that was unnecessary.

"One dollar."

Rene's head bobbed up and down between him and the coffee. A realization dawned upon her. She began patting her pockets, hoping beyond hope that Declan may have gave her some money she forgot about or she had extra from the last time she was in charge of shopping. Why did he insist on being the keeper of everything?

The boy raised an eyebrow, his hand inching forward to steal back her moment of joy when a dark hand slapped down a dollar.

"On me." The woman winked, retreating from the shop like it was nothing.

The glass window showed the generous patron woman outside, continuing her day, confident and smiling.

Yes, this had been a good idea.

Her hands snatched out, wrapping around the heat. She carried it away to a seat in the corner, her back to the wall and able to watch all the judging eyes. She sipped it and made a face, forgetting to have added anything to it. Careful of any seat stealers, she approached the small bar with the creamer and sugar, dumping in as much as she could without overflowing.

Back at her seat, she closed her eyes and drank again. A sense of happiness washed over her. She had been told senses were linked to memories. In that moment it had never been more apparent, because as she sat there, gross and disgusting from a night of panic, all she could think of was Lora believing her and caring about someone who had been thrown away so many times. This would always be her perspective when it came to coffee, it was warmth.

Perspective...she played with the word in her mind, tilting the mangled beat up board game that remained of her life. It was the time for a change of perspective.

Kai and Karo were right. She had enough of her own flaws to deal with.

From the board, her mother was removed andplaced to the side.