Ivy was born to a poor family, the environment they lived in was practically toxic, so it was almost no surprise when she was born with black veins all over her body. Due to this defect, her parents named her Ivy, after the plant, because they thought the black lines on her skin resembled the vines.

At first, she was just a normal girl, except for the black veins of course, but they didn't seem to affect her, it was just part of her body. She was, of course, bullied at school, but that was to be expected, plus, it wasn't that bad. But then it started to get bad, really bad, the taunting, pushing, punching, grabbing, kicking, of the other kids started to escalate. Until one day, one boy went too far, and because the society we live in knows only to follow those who appear to have power, her other classmates joined in on the fun.

"Freak!"

"Psycho!"

"Moster!"

"Demon!"

The boy marched over and pushed her down, her palms started to bleed, bleed black. The veins on her skin started to move faster, in a frenzied way, swarming faster and faster on her body. The boy knelt to eye level, a smug smirk on his face, bathing in his victory.

"Hear that? You're a freak, and freaks don't belong here, why don't you just go kill your self? No one wants you here anyway."

He taunted. Those words spun in her mind, etching themselves into her very soul, carved into her mind. She started to cry, he laughed at her, and all her so-called friends did the same. The boy stood up and started to kick her, she fell to her side, her tears and blood mixing as they ran down her face and dripped onto the hard concrete. Then, she raised her hand as if to shield herself, and grabbed onto the boy's leg. The black in her veins seemed to seep out of her skin, turning into smokey tendrils that snaked across her arm and around the boy's leg.

"Hey what are you doing-Ah! Stop! That hurts! Let go!"

The boy's smug expression turned into one of pain and agony, his entire body twisting in her grip, trying to getaway. The classmates that had collected in a circle to watch all had the same look of horror on their faces, a few ran inside to call for help. A few moments later, a herd of teachers ran out of the building, tearing the boy out of Ivy's grasp. The shadows retreated into Ivy's skin, and as soon as they disappeared, Ivy let out a heart-wrenching shriek.

The teachers couldn't calm her down and when a teacher tried to comfort her by placing his hand on her shoulder, as soon as his fingertips brushed against her skin, the shadowy tendrils shot out of her skin and wrapped them self around his fingers, curling around his hand and his arm. He immediately recoiled and stumbled back, clutching his arm. The students and staff could only watch as Ivy writhed in agony on the floor, tears streaming down her face.

Her parents arrived soon after, running to her and kneeling beside her. Her father reached a hand to touch her, all the people around them shouted at them to not touch her, but it was too late, the father groaned and retracted his hand.

"Papa, please, it hurts, it really hurts, I-I can't-it hurts, make it stop."

She pleaded, her mother and father shared a look. The mother tried her best to comfort her while the father and the teachers discussed what to do, after a few minutes, a teacher ran out with a sedative. The father passed the syringe to the mother and she eyed it warily, before taking it gingerly. She slowly injected the liquid into her daughter's neck, who barely noticed the intrusion through all the pain she was feeling. Within five seconds, she was passed out, the black in her veins slowed down, she was able to be carried to a transport vehicle with only minimal pain to anyone who touched her.

When she woke up, she was in a hospital bed, dozens of tubes and wires attached to her, she could barely think, the numerous pain killers they drugged her with making her sluggish and lethargic. The doctors ran a bunch of tests on her, trying to figure out her ailment, or as some described it, her curse, but none of their explanations made sense, the curse didn't make sense. There was no logical explanation to her suffering, so after a week, they sent Ivy home to her parents, loaded with an assortment of different painkillers and sedatives. When her parents received her, they were careful not to touch any part of her, fearful of her curse.

She was in pain, the meds could only do so much, they made her numb, she could barely walk straight, but the pain was always there, only a dull throbbing until the pain killers wore off, then she was completely incapacitated until the next dose. Her parents couldn't even help her get through the day, scared to even get near her. And a good night sleep was completely out of the question. At night, the only way she could sleep was because of the sedatives, but even when she slept, she was plagued by nightmares, and pain, so much pain. She dreamt of that day, the boy's screaming and begging, the pain in his eyes, the horrified look on her classmate's faces. She would always wake up screaming, her throat raw and her cheeks wet with tears, then the cycle repeated.

For a while, she lived like that, but she wasn't really alive. Sure, her heart was pumping her cursed black blood to her brain, muscles, and organs, but her mind of completely dead, like all her emotions had died. Years passed, all a blur, she started to get stronger, getting used to the pain, but as soon as she did, the pain grew stronger, and so it was time for new, stronger pain killers.

Her parents went to all the doctors they could afford, and all of them said the same thing, that her condition was incurable, that this was hopeless, that they should just give up. And eventually, her parents started to believe them, and they started to neglect their daughter more and more, leaving to her own devices, even when she was screaming in pain, her parents, so sick and tired of taking care of their bothersome child, would turn a blind eye, leaving Ivy by herself. She learned to take the pain killers and the sedatives by herself, learning how to walk to the kitchen to feed herself and to the bathroom to clean herself.

Soon, Ivy was turning 16, and on that day, she and her parents received news of a girl, like her, but different, she made others felt pleasure at her touch, but in turn, she felt pain. There started to be hope for Ivy, hope that maybe they could help each other. She barely knew anything about this girl, but it was all she had, the only thing that kept her mind from finally drowning in the sea of madness. So one day, she finally set out, to find her, to find the girl named Blair Cassava.