Stitch Heart--Chapter 1

This is the beginning of my new story, Stitch Heart! This is about a girl name Euphemia 'Mia' Irving where her life begins to change by a parasite and she begins to feast only on ghouls and other monsters. And as a bonus, Mia has a stalker with a tragic, dark past. Please enjoy, thank you! --KatDon 

Chapter 1: Birth of a Ghoul Eater

Long ago; it was summer and everyone was having a good time at the beach: Swimming, sunbathing, and other great activities. Then, it all turned to horror on that day. One of the college students came out after her feet were dipped in the shallow waters of the beach. She emerged from the ocean to say, "Guys? There's something wrong with this beach." To prove her point; the skin of her feet was melted off and her bony toes were exposed. Worst, the salty water was burning and kids cried at how painful it was. Parents comfort their children but they are horrified when they discovered the burn against their skin. It all became chaos: People screamed, their arms thrashing as there was melted flesh, bleeding stumps of where hands and arms used to be, and bones were exposed. The medics arrived but they didn't look like any medics, they took all those with damaged bodies and others who didn't suffer the same effects. The people with no damaged skin try to escape but they were knocked unconscious. Inside, it was a horror scene: A man was in pain as metal bars against his chest yelled out and grimaced. A woman was screaming and blabbering something incoherently as needles were being injected into her. A room was filled with large portions of skin and muscle. Lungs, hearts, and other organs scattered the floor. Rib cages ripped open and seen with maggots feasting on the meaty matter of the body. In another window of a room; A female scientist bent over and picked up a hand saw from the left side of where she was sitting. She held it in front of her, showing it to the observers. Then, she placed the jagged blade on the side of the patient's cheek. Slowly, she began slicing into the patient's right cheek. Blood drizzled down the patient's neck as the scientist did it. The side of her teeth began to show after about ten seconds. As the saw went lower on the patient's face, more of her teeth began to show on the side. Blood covered almost the entire right side of her face. She eventually got to the bottom of her jaw bone, and sawed a tiny piece off of it too. Her cheek fell to the ground with a small thud, and the scientist put the saw in her lap and looked emotionless. Then, the poor patient screamed in extreme pain. She screamed, and put her hands over her now absent cheek. She continued to scream in agony for about ten seconds. She pushed the patient back on the autopsy table as the scientist then raised the saw up to her right shoulder, and began cutting just as slowly as last time. And so, this was the birth of the ghouls. These monster who were corporeally un-dead.

Modern day in Sunshine Town; 21 year old Euphemia Irving, her friends called her 'Mia', is a high school graduate is destined to be a writer. She's a gifted at writing as she has complete sentences as well as amazing words. She used commas, exclamation points and other things to end sentences of her stories. She was talented, but her stories were dark. Lately, she had been working on he ninth volume to her blog called Stitch Heart Online Journal. The story she's been working on is called 'Sky Agents'. Mia has dark ash blond hair, dark brown eyes, olive skin, petite and she was beautiful. She has a fit but buxom figure, which explains the large breasts and doesn't think of her looks too much but wants to look young and pretty for the rest of her life. She has two sisters, Isabella and Elwyna, and two brothers, Roland and Thomas. Thomas is 22 years old as Roland is in his teen years. Thomas and Mia don't get along! Roland is sick of them fighting with one another, like a bunch of babies. In her life; Mia's older sister, Elwyna Irving is engaged to her fiance name Aubrey Pericles. Aubrey was a pretty nice guy, cute, and he had a job. Except there was one problem, Aubrey's parents was the cause! Jocasta and Laertes, those were the names! Jocasta was utterly self-oriented, self absorbed woman. She projects herself an unrealistic image of herself. She lacks empathy for others. And she will never compromise. She hates Elwyna's mother ever since she met her, Jocasta wasn't afraid to tell her. She'll try to turn Elwyna and Aubrey against her, making sure they don't visit her for long periods of time. Jocasta is abusive, critical, she will verbally pounce on Elwyna for any mistake and milk it for all its worth. Jocasta enjoys making Elwyna--as well as other people--feel uncomfortable, she will ensure that Elwyna or her family will not feel welcomed. Jocasta is also disappoving, mean-spirited, fault finding, finger pointing, and malicious gossiper! She cannot accept that her son is an adult now, refuses to be second place in her son's life, and regards Elwyna as an intruder. She continuously tells Aubrey that he would be better off without her. It's all about Jocasta, she is totally obsessed with herself! She will attempt to consumed everyone into her world, draining Elwyna or her mother of self-esteem and confidence until no one can do anything without her approval. For example, Jocasta criticized on Elwyna's weight and think she's a 'fat cow'. She bullies her into plus-size wedding dresses. Then, she complains that Elwyna and Aubrey's wedding should be a baseball theme, which is the worst and hideous idea ever! Imagine, the newlyweds in baseball hats, uniforms, and baseball bats. What was going on in this woman's head is beyond anyone's guess. Another example would be: Jocasta was throwing herself a big party and has gone to a lot of trouble to send out hand written invitations. Elwyna's invitation says “Dear Aubrey” and does not mention her. Elwyna and Aubrey planning your wedding! You have invited your bridesmaids, mother, father, and in-laws around to talk about it. Jocasta says she wants the wedding held at a particular venue. When Elwyna suggest another venue; Jocasta stiffens and walks away shaking her head. On the weekend; the two couple are looking forward to spending a relaxing day at home with when the phone rings. 

When Elwyna answers it, it's Jocasta who says: “Is Aubrey there?” and does not greeting Elwyna. Elwyna replied, "He's busy. Sorry Jocasta." Jocasta sounded annoyed, "I might have known you’d be inside sitting next to the phone. Put Aubrey on. He probably needs a break from whatever you’ve got him doing." "Look, he's busy getting ready because we're going out. Why don't you leave a message and we'll get back to you?" said Elwyna. Then she says, "Why don't you drop dead and divorce my son while he still has life left in him." And then, she hungs up. Another time was when Elwyna and Mia are looking at retirement villages for their frail grandfather and left the brochure on the coffee table at home. Jocasta pops around’ to see Aubrey, spots the brochure and picks up the brochure, rips it up into pieces, throws them at Elwyna and says menacingly, “Do you really think you can get rid of me that easily?” And left! When Elwyna's car breaks down and you are stranded for two hours by the roadside as she calls for help. As Jocasta heard about this, she laughs and says she wishes she’d been there to see her. Now Jocasta has really screwed herself with Elwyna and Aubrey this time! She has become reliant, valetudinarian, and she has appeaed to be incompetent but she's really self-centered who's being such a good actress for a crummy mother-in-law. She is attempting to dominte their lives every day, she only craves attention from Elwyna and Aubrey. The only thing she likes better that she's taking up the residence than the soon-to-be newlyweds are. If she doesn't get the attention, she will use emotional blackmail to make Elwyna feel guilty by saying things like: "You neglected me!" or "You abandoned me!" Once she has Elwyna at her beck and command; Jocasta will use her as a maid to cook her food, clean up things around the house, and other things like that. Be her errand runner! And when she's not being so needy; she's the 'pain the ass' achiever! She gets praise from every person, she takes her accomplishments to stride, and assumes that there is no such thing as failure. Jocasta is so high up on the pedestal that her skills are mountaining won't help Elwyna come up to her level. And she's pretending to be nice to Elwyna to use her in a way to bring her down. What's worse is Jocasta is a scandalmonger too! She's interfering, always snooping, and has relentless gossip. She is the fly on the wall in Elwyna and Aubrey's life and seems to know everything is going on before anyone else does! She is an intrusive presence, nobody can hide or shut her out of any daily goings, nor any humiliating little secrets from prying eyes. Jocasta will use an personal information to manipulate everyone else's life--even Elwyna's too. Now, she wants the wedding to speed up quickly! Why? She wants to be a grandmother soon for she is impatient, insensitive to Elwyna's lack of fertility issues. Jocasta is also baby-obsessed and possible an interfering, possessive future grandparent. She aims in life to be a grandparent and looks at Elwyna as she views her as her incubator. She ignores Elwyna and Aubrey's career goals, pesters poor Elwyna relentlessly and once the child is born; she wants to take over and dominate the child rearing process. So in general, Jocasta is nothing but a pain in the ass, interfering cow who makes Elwyna's life miserable. She's a nasty piece of work who goes out of her way to be sneakily horrible. She is unable to accept that her 'baby boy' has grown up and sees his fiance as an intruder in her relationship with her son. And constantly at her for Elwyna's imperfections, hygiene levels and lack of action in producing a grandchild for her. 

How does Mia know this? She's been observing it all and does not like how Jocasta handled things. She then witnessed as Elwyna & Aubrey returning but Jocasta waited for them. Instead of happily greeting them and asking if they had a good time, she said something rude. "Sounds like quite an evening. Wish I could have been there." remarked Jocasta. "You know we asked." Aubrey said. "I know you did, Mr. Irving told me." said Jocasta, then she saw earrings on Elwyna and glared at her as if she wants to yank them off her ear lobes. "Where did you get these?" She demanded. "They're fake." claimed Elwyna, clutching her earring. Jocasta snorted in disgust, "Could've fooled me." She said. She was about to take off Elwyna's jacket but Elwyna stopped her, "I can do it!" She answered politely. As Elwyna steps away; Jocasta responds back smugly, "He must have been by your side all night showing you off." Elwyna looked at her in shock, "What?" She asked. Jocasta turns away, looking all snooty. "Nothing." She said, smirking. Elwyna asked again, "What?" "Nothing." snapped Jocasta. She looked bored and saw Mia in the doorway, "Are you trying to look unattractive?" Jocasta asked. Mia faked a smile, "Yes." She remarked. "Well, congratulations. You've succeeded admirably." Jocasta replied sarcastically. Life was boring for Mia and wish for a change for awhile. One day; Mia and her best friend, Helena were laughing together when her cell phone rings. She picks it up and answers it. Mia looked at the posters but then, she heard commotion as she saw Helena walking into the street, still talking on her phone as a car is coming at her. "Oh shit!" Mia thought. She rushed over as she then thought to herself: "No, get away!" Mia called out her name, "HELENA!" She pushed her friend out of the way as the car was edging close to Mia but stopped abruptly. People surround her as Mia had blood matted her face and hair. Everything went black but before she passes out, Mia could see a boy, another one, and a girl watching her. Their faces look gloomy and sad. The girl has tears streaming down her face. "What...why are they looking at me that way?" She thought and then, the darkness enveloped her. It was so dark that a voice called out: "Hey, girl!  WAKE UP!" Mia woke up with a start, she was surrounded by doctors and scientists who then begin to experiment her body. She try to get away but they pinned her to the table as she screamed, she cried, and thrashed for a bit. Just then, Mia discovers that she has some sort of parasite inside her! The scientists assured her that her parasite wasn't harmful but yet, it was changing her. Mia begged them to take it out of her. They refused, telling her that it was 'safe to wait awhile'. Mia did wait, wait in that dark room as she swore she heard screams of pain from the other rooms. She couldn't sleep and she could not even close her eyes. All those people, who were they and why were they screaming their heads off? She had no idea what was going on, it was scaring her. She must have fallen asleep because she woke up to hear the door creaked open and saw the doctors in the doorway, "Are you ready?" Moments later, Mia was lying on the autopsy table of the surgery, the surgeons told her that they were going to keep her awake. They were cutting into her and then, they pulled out the parasite in front of her! Ignoring all the beeping and flashes from the machines, Mia became dizzy and she fainted. When she woke up, Mia was shocked to see monsters clawing at her and she managed to push them off! But then, she discovers that she can eat the flesh of these monsters, which she found out that they were called 'ghouls'. However if Mia eats human flesh; the skin she consumed will make her vomit. So she is destined to eat ghoul's flesh. 

She continues to eat the flesh of the ghouls. That's when she discovers another ability: She can absorb the memories of these ghouls and was sicken by the torture they've been through! All these victims begged for mercy, but to no avail as they were slowly and painfully becoming these corporal undead monsters that crave human flesh like a zombie would! This was madness, Mia didn't know what was going on and she begins to write all the memories in her mind inside a journal to keep track! Maybe she can someone she trusts the truth. However, she never told her family or her friends--She could never jeopardize their lives with hers of what was going on. Soon, it was over the news! The lifeless bodies of ghouls being half eaten! Sometimes organs or bones would be left. It was disgusting, but yet surreal. Some people praised this as they believe 'a savior' was among them. Others found that ghouls were not heroes and they were dangers among society. One girl was scared and curious about this! Her name was Elissa Learmont, A 19 or 20 year old young lady with blonde hair and Robin's egg blue eyes. Her skin tanned and glowing. She was doing errands when she ran into a neighbor name Mr. Ervin as he talked to about the 'creature who eats ghouls'. Elissa listened and her neighbor noticed she looked uneasy. "You startled so easily Miss Learmont?" asked Mr. Ervin with a smile. Elissa looked uneasy as she smiled, "Not really, sir." She said. Later while driving back to headquarters; Elissa's car breaks down in front of an ominous-looking path into the forest. It looked eerie and Elissa wants to get back. She decided to look at the car and saw it had a flat tire, Elissa sighed. She tried her cell phone but there was no reception. "Great! Now, what do I do?" Elissa muttered to herself. She ended up trying everything, but nothing works. She ends up walking down the eerie path of the woods, Elissa walked and couldn't help but feel suspicious however she discovers an old hut. The door is ajar, the windows are broken and smashed, it looks abandoned. She was about to turn and walk away from the place but it was behind her! She decided to walk back to the forest, despite it being dangerous. She was pretty afraid however she mustered her courage and remembered she kept a gun at her hip. Though she begin to notice that something was wrong while she walked. There was unfamiliar trees and things that weren't there. Then, she discovers two different paths, as the left was light and the right was darker and looked more ominous than the other one. She took the one on the left. As she walk down that path; she felt paranoia-inducing fear closing in on her. The woods begins to drive her a little mad, she progresses further until she could smell an odd stench so she follows that strange aroma in the air. It turns out to be nothing as she got closer so she shrugs, moves on ahead and tries to find her car. But noticed that there is a beautiful, shimmering area of grass. It was pretty so Elissa decides to look around her. It was so beautiful that she fell asleep and she woke up as she advanced down the path but then, she discovered that the trees look unfamiliar, thinner. At the bottom ahead, there is a large building filled with people. Elissa was relieved and decided to ask them for directions. She walks ahead and then begins to faint, darkness evelops her: "W--what's happening to me?" She thought. When she woke up, she was scared to see that there was being clawed at and the blood was being drank. She pulled away, Elissa felt sick and yelled at them to stop. "Your blood is so good" One of them said, "Even my friend likes it." "I feel dizzy" Elissa said slowly. Just then, a demonic-sounding voice shouted: "LEAVE HER ALONE!!!" Someone stopped them and tackled them to the ground as Elissa witnessed this as she was shocked to discover what happened: It was that 'ghoul eater' but it was a girl! Elissa could not believe her eyes as she saw Mia was devouring the melted flesh. Mia pulled away as her mouth was all smeared with red and licked her lips but she looked up to see Elissa. Mia was shocked but instead of screaming, Elissa was amazed! "I have many questions, first:You find ghouls tasty huh?" And Mia found companionship in this strange girl. It turns out, Elissa was the head of Tirnanog as she had many allies: Daphne, Columbus, Roque,  Helias, Morfydd and Owen, Harry Blynde, Reem and Yvain, Namazu, Enrich, Bata Kale, Freyr, Govannon, Lepus, Ulfarr, Isolde and Tristan Nuada. And, of course, Austin who was her bodyguard. 

One day while investigating; Mia came across two con artists, Lucas and Jasper, cannibalizing a hooker. Mia was shocked to discover it was Pearl Shen, the club singer! Mia was sickened and ran but Lucas and Jasper followed! Just then, Mia bumped into a girl. She fell and clutched her head, "Aww, that's gonna leave a mark." She moaned. Noticing the girl was also in pain, Mia apologized and the girl forgives her. "Hi, do you trust me?" The girl asked after she assured her. Mia looked at her confused, "Huh?" They managed to escape and hide in an alley. Once they got away, the girl exhaled. "Glad I didn't have to go and hurt anyone. You OK?" She asked. Mia caught her breath and smiled, "Yeah, thanks." She said. The girl's name was Karen Woode and Mia introduced herself too. Soon, these girls became the best of friends as Karen begins to express her desires to meet and work for Madame Hulda. Mia was curious, so Karen begins to talk about herself of wht she wants to go to work for someone like her: "I know, I'm so weird. I laugh myself to sleep which is the complete opposite of what most sad people do. The adrenaline rush I get when I'm doing dangerous things makes me feel alive. Is dying enough to be out of the ordinary? It’s boring to do what others expect you to do. I want to do things to the extreme. I want people to push me to edge just to feel alive! Whatever you do, don’t think. I don’t want to be like everyone else. I’d rather be individual and have people call me 'weird' than be like everyone else." Then she smiled and said, "When I meet Madame Hulda, I'll be feeling of appreciating the little things in life and not thinking about complicated things is great. I hope that joy I'm feeling will stay! In this moment, I feel like I'm flying above the clouds and chasing the stars. I will do what ever she can to stay positive, because it'll be just me and Madame Hulda as I will find a place of belonging." She explained, "I wish to have connection with other humans like me. Everyone in life is just getting on with their own life and minding their own business. There is so much going on and so many people around me that I feel insignificant. I'll admit that I have  weaknesses and that I get tired and affected by things as well. Sometimes, we want to escape the hardships we have and wanting to start off fresh. There are times when people feel so emotionally fragile that one more hard blow or disappointment in life would destroy that person. Do you ever feel like you’ve been buried alive and no one can hear you when you talk to them? It’s like a glass box, they see you but don’t hear anything....But Madame Hulda is going to change all that and I will never be rejected again! Abused or even hurt!" Mia was amazed and was pleased to hear, thus the girls bond even closer. Expanding their friendship even more! They had lunch together during a break from work at their jobs. They spend time on the weekends and go to places, it was fun for Mia to have someone who is a friend. One day, Karen was walking and didn't notice Mia coming towards her. 

"Hey Karen!" Mia sang to Karen, who turned to her as she blushed, smiled and accepted her hug. "Hello Mia." Karen said, still blushing and smiling. "Do you want to go with me to the cafe nearby later Karen?" asked Mia. "S-sure." Karen replied, a sheepish grin on her face and childishly, used her hand to rub the back of her neck. "Yeah! Thank you!" you hugged him again before leaving. Karen smiled. Only with a hollow expression. "So Mia, you don't really like me?" Mia was walking with Karen one day. When Mia heard Karen asked this, she stopped in her tracks. "What do you mean? Of course I like you, you are my friend right?" She said. "Okay then..." Karen pouted slightly and you two came at the crossing where you part "Time sure passes by quick when walking with you Mia." Karen remarked. Mia smiled. "Glad you don't find me boring." She said. "I never will!" Karen smiled, "See you tomorrow then." Mia waved back, "Bye!" She said. Mia turned around and started walking to her house. Karen is a good friend, and she was always there for her, always. She knew she was going to be her friend forever. Mia pulled out her headphones and listened to some music. "So she likes music, doesn't she...?" Karen was walking stealthily behind her, behind a lamppost. "I better talk to her about it tomorrow then" She muttered silently and wrote the music in her notebook she carries. "Ah, she's home!" Karen thought, as she saw her turn around and head into her house. "Like I always see, she returns home about 4 o'clock to four-thirty, unless she's practicing music or staying after school, it's that time." She continues to write down everything, "And she is defiantly having curry tonight, her mother cooks curry every Friday" Karen looked at his notebook and smiled slightly "Mia, Mia... your routines are rather boring but-- I love them so much~ but not as I love you~" Karen and placed a carnation on her lips before leaving it at her doorstep "Well, I could almost imagine her face....lovely expressions...so beautiful..." Karen thought and smiled before leaving. Mia raced out of the door. "Good morning Karen." Mia, she  smiled at her who arrived just at her doorstep "Ah! Good morning Mia! We're on the same time again aren't we?" Karen grinned. "Yep, it's nice right." She said. Her heart fluttered when Mia said nice. In other words, Mia enjoyed being with her. So there's gotta be more 'coincidences' for that to happen. She enjoyed being 'nice' to her. Isn't that the most freshest red rose Mia found at her doorstep today? Although it might have been white once. How? Earlier, there was a girl went to the work out gym as she was ambushed by Karen, who knocked her out with a a syringe and tranquilizer and put her in a music case. At midnight, she came back to bring the girl home, pretending to be a young musician returning from a show. She tied the girl up to a pole in her basement. At morning, when she went down, the girl woke up. "Who!? Please, just set me free!" She begged. Karen came out from the shadows and revealed herself. "What did I ever do to you!? What did I do to deserve this!?" The girl yelled. She laughed hysterically. "What did you do!? You did horrible things! You talked bad about Mia! Now, she's going to fail because of you! I hate it! So now, you will never be able to see him, nor your friends, if you have them, again!" Karen said. You started to sob, tears running from your eyes. Karen brought a knife and carved a scar at her cheeks and hands. She would say "Mia is mine, Mia WILL be mine! HAHA!". Now, the girl's days started like this, she never bandaged Karen so after a month and a few days later, she died sadly. It was from blood loss and Karen used her blood to make a red rose. A week later, a boy spotted Karen stalking Mia so he yelled "Stalker!" and everyone looked at him and Karen. Mia didn't looked and Karen got revenge by ambushing the girl. He died with a stab on the throat. To hide the evidence, Karen dumped the boy's corpse, the weapon, the bloody uniform of hers. Then, she activated the incinerator. His body alongside the weapon and uniform were burned to ashes. She also mopped the blood. Although there was still the smell, nobody could find the evidence. 
"Mia, it doesn't really matter if you don't belong to me. So long as you don't belong to anyone else" Karen thought, chuckling. "A cafe right? Why don't he take the napkin she used to wipe her month with him? It has her lovely touch and smell...So why not keep another collection? I want to keep a collection of you Mia...You were so innocent, so cute, so precious... I love you so much...Too much...Your clothes sometimes disappear when you hang them out as well. But sometimes, you'd find a package in your front step with all your clothes that were stolen. But at the edges of the clothing, there is always a letter. With my initials. At least this is a rather happy ending right...? No one's hurt, yes? I hope so." One day, things changed for the worse. The next day, a college student checked her locker after class and realized she had a note. It said: "I would like to talk to you about a problem I have. Please meet me at the rooftop at 4.00 o'clock in the afternoon. --Mysterious Student" The girl believed it easily and went to the rooftop at the exact time. She went to the rooftop but saw nobody. Perhaps they were late, she started to admire the scenery, not noticing a certain girl was behind her, Karen. She pushed her off the rooftop after she screamed. Her bones cracked and her head hit the ground first. She laughed hysterically and left a suicide note. It wrote: "I couldn't bear this anymore! I had too much pressure and my father made me go nuts. I wished I had died, and yeah. Here I am, lying dead on the ground. I hope someone finds me. And buries me. I'll miss the teachers, my friends and my best friend. -I'll miss you all." A teacher found the student's body and also found the suicide note. She decided to tell the others. They reported to the police and they soon found out the student ended her own life. They ended the investigation and went home. That night, Karen went to go visit Mia, and found her on the laptop and giggling. "Mia?" Karen asked. "Hold on Karen, I am on my laptop." Mia said, while still typing away. "Who are you typing to Mia? Who keeps you this busy?" asked Karen, as she peeked over her shoulder "Helena...?" Mia didn't listened as she grinned happily while Karen furrowed her eyebrows. Mia turned and she looked at her with concern, "Karen? You okay?" She asked. "Eh? Ah! Nothing Mia!" Karen turned back and smiled at her, "Nothing!" Mia inquired with concern, "What's the matter? Your expression changed." She noted. "It's nothing... Really! I am just a bit tired, you know!" Karen claimed. "Oh, Okay...?" Mia said, she bit her lip and turned back to messaging Elena. Mia didn't notice Karen's expression turning dark. She didn't notice a missed small blood stained spot on her clothes, she didn't notice a huge collection of scissors in his room. She didn't know the photos he took of her, pinned on a corkboard in Karen's room. Mia was far too innocent. Far too pure. Far too... claimed. Already her from a long time ago. She might have thought she was just her sweetheart but she means a lot more. Karen took a pair of scissors and left the house. "I wonder where does this Helena lives?" Later, what Helena could only see right now was... darkness. How did this happen? She was just taking a peaceful stroll in the park, and the next thing she was talking to a girl she didn't meet before at a empty space in the park before--"Ah....You are awake Helena." A wet voice echoed though out the room she was in. She lifted her head to see a dark figure "Y-You? Why--?" Helena asked. "Don't ask me. Just play along okay?" Karen smiled and came up to her. Helena tried to back away but found herself against a wall. That's when her eyes got used to the dark and saw Karen kneeling in front of you, "What's the matter kitten? Do you want your phone?" Karen smiled larger and handed her the phone. "But-! If you are going to ring someone, I suggest not to. First, whoever you call must be a rival. Second is that... you don't need them anyway. Final reason, there is no network here." She said. "N-no network? How?"gasped Helena. Karen giggled, "I could do anything. Anything. That's for my friend, Mia." She explained. Helena stared at her in horror as Karen threatened to kill her if she doesn't speak to Mia anymore. Helena agrees tearfully, Karen lets her go and turns to go. But before she left, she said: "When humans fight for survival, they can do anything. That includes all kinds of gruesome stuff you can think of. I guess I am the same. I need you, to survive and I will do anything for you." She chuckled and closed the door while saying, "So not to make things too complicated, I have you keep you away from Mia right? It's the easiest way!" Mia was saddened that she and Helena couldn't be friends anymore, much to Karen's delight and Elissa became suspicious about Karen and her motives. 

Moments later; A woman sat there at the main chair with others around the table. There was also many other not so friendly people! The woman said, "I call this meeting into session, the first thing I want to say is this.....The ghoul eater is a girl. So, I have a job for all of you. I want this girl dead. When I say 'dead', I mean seriously DEAD!!! BEATEN!!!! BROKEN!!!!! BACK TO DUST FROM ONCE SHE CAME KIND OF DEAD!!!! DO YOU HEAR ME?!" Another listened to this, she begins to speak out: "So what are we waiting for? Let's take her on. Fortunately, I have a plan! There is a bunch of animatronics so let's watch if she can handle the mayhem!" She said. The main woman was intrigued by this idea, "Hmm...Not bad, she's right...A STORM IS COMING!!!!" That night, Mia sat down after promptly receiving the job and hear a guy on the phone ring in. Turns out these animatronics actually move and might kill her. As she anxiously await in the chair, Mia could no longer sleep in peace, and she could always hear whispering and strange sounds that made her jump. However she needed this job, it was the only one she could get and she was motivated enough to keep the people she loved safe. Sitting in the office she began to twitch and tap her fingers in unease. As usual she was always anticipating something to happen, it was always something. Every jump, every sound made her more afraid and she was beginning to lose herself. With both doors eventually closed when she was reaching the night; Mia began to see something unsightly on the camera, it was the poster it had changed. She quickly looked away in fear but when she turned and saw a terrifying limp machine. She switch the left light and see one of the animatronic. Squealing she flop out of her chair onto the floor unable to reach the door. She again jump up and shiver but yet again slip and fall like the failure she was. By the time she actually are able to reach the button. Soon after she was  unable to achieve her one job one of the animatronics pops in and shakes her violently. Frozen in fear; Mia began to panic screaming and running out of there! She personally were never ready for this kind of job and was terrified like a child. Yet something kept making she come back for more, like a sick obsession, in love with her own nightmares. As she nervously start your night shift you hear one of the animatronics call through the phone making strange noises and screeching she feels sick and terrified slamming both doors closed. After allowing herself to calm; she stands and face them with a tremor in your bones, he stares back at with dead eyes. Violently; Mia was stuffed into a new suit unlike the ones before. She has become one of them. Mia woke up with a start, she gasps for breath and realized it was all a dream. The next night was different, everything was going perfectly well, you had everything down and you were ready for anything. She sits back down and start dozing off as the night shift was screwing up your sleep schedule. She woke up to hear a loud clanging from the hallway and her eyes flash open and let out a squeal as she saw another animatronic howling at her like a lunatic. Without noticing for the first time that same animatronic decided to sneak in and scaring her, the thing took a strong grasp trying to drag her away. But Mia got away as she pulled away the mask and escaped. The next day when her employers arrived for inspection they were very disappointed to see the animatronic without a face, she was sent home with pay in order to keep quiet and to never allowed to return. Good riddance anyway! 

Meanwhile; Karen acknowledge her weaknesses and she like to take matters into her own hands. She is independent and misunderstood. She may have good intentions but she fulfills her goals with methods that not everyone would approve of. She remembered what cause her to change so much: Deep in Hoosier Village, which is a small city of old and new places. They don't follow daylight savings, nice people reside there, and there were bumpy roads full of pot holes in them. And cold days on non-winter months to go along with it. In the park, a little girl skip to the swings and sat there just swinging up and down as she enjoyed going higher when she swinged. Just then; a ball came rolling beside her so the girl stopped swinging! A boy her age came to get the ball but stopped and glanced at the girl, who also looked at him. The boy said, "Do you want to play with us?" The girl shrugged, "OK." She said, and then she followed the boy. Surprisingly, the girl was a good at the game of kickball and the other kids who were playing thought she was the coolest girl ever! The boy, who invited to play, was amazed and praised her for her talents. "My name's Orson Ostern, what's your name?" He asked. "Karen, Karen Woode." The girl replied. And so, Karen and Orson became friends since that day. Karen made friends with Orson's friends: Seppo Garuda, Oliver Columbus, Toby Freyr, Fabian Cuward, Festus Hilder, Cesar Morpheus, and Anferney Zaal. Karen also made some female pals too such as Violet Daphnis, Maria Penn, Andrea Vulcan, and Valentina Lyle. Together, Karen and her twelve friends played games at the playground: They played Duck Duck Goose, Green Light-Red Light, and Boys Chase Girls tag. They also go on the slide, the jungle gym, monkey bars, and the merry go-round. They draw with chalk on the ground where the courts were that some kids come to play basketball sometimes but it was empty a lot. Young Karen Woode loved her friends so much!  When she got home; Karen would come to help her mother, Hestia, and wait for her father Lothar to come home. Young Karen was happy to tell her mother about the friends she made. Karen and her parents moved from Paradise Vale, a capital in Hoosier Village, to another capital by the name of Maple Lake. It wasn't like Karen was an outcast nor the most popular person. She was curious, intelligent, and well-behaved little girl at school. But at home, she was creative, bubbly, sweet little girl that everyone adores. Life was perfect for her! Except there was one problem: Lothar had a bad temper, he would hit Karen or Hestia as he then yelled at them, "SEE WHAT YOU MADE ME DO!!!!" Sometimes, he gets upset at the smallest things: If Karen made an accident like a juice spill, leave the fridge door opened, or anything else like that; her father would throw a violent hissy fit and start beating her. Poor Karen would end up crying and she also hated to see her father hurt her mother too. Karen sometimes listen to her parents argue so much that her father would then get violent again and then, Karen could hear an object break while her mother would cry heavily. Karen would also get spanked by her father if she dare talk back to him and the spanking was violent and brutal as she was get bruises and cuts there. Sometimes, when Lothar was on his good side; he talked nonstop about whatever ridiculous conversation. When someone doesn't want to hear it anymore; Lothar would become all sullen and withdrawn from Karen and the others. Lothar was a devoted man of the Holy Giver, he was shown of a smile and smothers her daughter with hugs and kisses. He would say how much he loves Karen but what he only did that occasionally. Lothar was always abusive, heartless, melancholic, and smokes a lot. Lothar puffs cigarettes, he would be affect by the narcotics as he was always forgetful and rambling over what he recalled. This made Young Karen guilty and apologize for no reason why! Karen could see her perfect life was falling apart before her: She begins to cut her hair, wrote cryptic and dark stuff on the walls, annoy other people, and begins to oppress her cousins at family reunions. 

However, Karen realized the abuse of her father's weighed her and her mother down. Her mother was uptight and not her cheerful self as usual. She would go with a friend and drown her sorrows with an alcoholic friend. Despite all the dark times in her life; Karen had the memories of her twelve friends in her life! She stay together with her friends, even as they got older and they still remained their friendship. In the teen years; Karen grew up as a petite young lady, curvy and slim with large breasts. Long black hair and so beautiful! Her child self has grown so much. However, she would always get bullied by other students at school and the staff, the principal, and the teachers couldn't do anything about it. But Karen's friends could; they stood up for Karen and the bullies got so scared that they didn't bother her anymore. As time went by, Karen learned that her father got a little servant boy, his name was  Jean Allen and he became a friend to Karen during her struggle in need. One day, Karen came home to overhear her mother's voice and there was a suitcase nearby. She was speaking to her husband and she had enough of her husband's abuse. She plans on leaving him! That's when, Karen decides to be a writer for novels of anime that she enjoys so much. When Orson and the others heard about this; they encourage her as they begin to tell her of their dreams: Orson wants to be a film director, Violet wants to be an artist, Seppo wants to be a chef, Oliver wants to be a boxer, Maria wants to be a musician, Toby desires to be a detective, Cesar wants to be an engineer, Andrea dreams to be a photographer, Fabian wishes to be a fire fighter, Valentine wants to be a a cosmetics guru, Festus wants to be a comedian, and Anferney wants to be a pianist. In return; Karen became supportive and is glad to have such friends in her life. Years later; it was senior year and the last for the high school class. Karen, Orson, Violet, Seppo, Maria, Oliver, Toby, Andrea, Cesar, Fabian, Anferney, Valentina, and Festus were going to the grad-bash to the coolest action film playing called Dusk Arising. 21 year old Karen was excited as she always wanted to see this movie so much! Now she's going with her friends to see this film for grad-bash before they part ways to their future coming. On that day, Karen and her twelve best friends got to the theater, got their tickets paid, bought snacks and drinks before heading inside the theater. The movie was just as awesome as everyone had said, except the prologue at the beginning; however the story line was great, the dialogue was well written and the scenes were top notched. Karen and her friends were enjoying the movie so much until she noticed Orson and Violet were so snuggled together. Smiling; she was happy for them! Then, the climax of the movie is where someone came in! He wasn't a guard nor a janitor! He was dressed in a black uniform, he pulled out a gun and begin shooting! There was screams and chaos all around. Karen try to escape however she witnessed the horror around her and was too catatonic too move. It turns out, she was hit in the head so hard and fell unconscious but was alive. Finally when was over; the gunman escaped as he heard the police sirens. According to investigators; 56 victims were alive but in the hospital, recovering while there was 12 bodies dead. And those twelve are known as: Orson Ostern, Seppo Garuda, Oliver Columbus, Toby Freyr, Fabian Cuward, Festus Hilder, Cesar Morpheus, Anferney Zaal, Violet Daphnis, Maria Penn, Andrea Vulcan, and Valentina Lyle. Karen was found by police, who question her and she becomes hysterical and flew into a frenzied of tears and screaming constantly like a madwoman before breaking down into tears. 

In the meantime, Mia begins to have memories in her dreams as she slept: A man was in pain as metal bars against his chest yelled out and grimaced. A woman was screaming and blabbering something incoherently as needles were being injected into her. A room was filled with large portions of skin and muscle. Lungs, hearts, and other organs scattered the floor. Rib cages ripped open and seen with maggots feasting on the meaty matter of the body. In another window of a room; A female scientist bent over and picked up a hand saw from the left side of where she was sitting. She held it in front of her, showing it to the observers. Then, she placed the jagged blade on the side of the patient's cheek. Slowly, she began slicing into the patient's right cheek. Blood drizzled down the patient's neck as the scientist did it. The side of her teeth began to show after about ten seconds. As the saw went lower on the patient's face, more of her teeth began to show on the side. Blood covered almost the entire right side of her face. She eventually got to the bottom of her jaw bone, and sawed a tiny piece off of it too. Her cheek fell to the ground with a small thud, and the scientist put the saw in her lap and looked emotionless. Then, the poor patient screamed in extreme pain. She screamed, and put her hands over her now absent cheek. She continued to scream in agony for about ten seconds. She pushed the patient back on the autopsy table as the scientist then raised the saw up to her right shoulder, and began cutting just as slowly as last time. Mia woke up with a start and begins writing them in her journal. And she sighed, "How many more people need to suffer like this?" She thought. Whoever was behind this, they were going to pay dearly for what they did!