Feathers and Rose Petals

                                                                                                   Chapter One


"Hey, Nick!"
         The mention of his name distracted him, but not nearly as bad as the little bits of candy being tossed at his head every few moments by his friend. Nicholas and Jimmy were on their way home from an impromptu road trip to God knows where, but had landed them at some sleazy hotel with equally sleazy girls. Hey, girls were girls and being two horny teenagers, who were they to complain as long as the chicks were hot, and oh man, they certainly were. Nicholas lost himself in the haze of last night and was only brought out again by the loser in the passenger seat, rambling on about something or other. "...Dude, you have no freaking idea. Seriously, like it was mind blowing and she totally..."
         Jimmy may or may not also be slightly drunk at the moment, or at least pretty out of it. Nick, however, was fully sober and doing his best to pay attention to the road in front of him. That was why he was practically ignoring everything being said. That was proving to be impossible though, with Jimmy and the radio up almost full blast. He swears he only looked over for a split second, but next thing he knows, there's tires squealing and the smell of burnt rubber. The sickening sound of glass shattering inward, stinging from where it hits him. Warm, red, running down down his body, or maybe up since the car still seems to be rolling. The world has turned to chaos around them, and Nicholas can't hear anything from Jimmy. He tries to turn his head and check but soon realizes he can't move anything. Panic rises within him along with the urge to vomit, his throat burning at the sensation. The next thing Nick smells is gasoline, apparently leaking from the tank, then it's all over for both him and his best friend.
         Police arrived at the scene along with an ambulance and a coroner, pronouncing the two young men dead, and the other driver is rushed into the ambulance with severe head trauma. The families are notified of the accident and the policemen have to watch with regret and tears in their eyes as parents and siblings fall apart in front of them, knowing nothing they say will make a difference. Nothing they could ever say will take away the pain of losing a son, a brother, a friend. No words will bring them back.

         The worst part though, really, was that Nicholas was watching from afar, unable to relieve his family's suffering. Jimmy was gone, but for some inexplicable reason, his own soul remained attached to this world. He felt tears burn his eyes as his mother wept, crying out his name in disbelief. Calling back was useless, but that didn't stop him from trying. There was a distracting ache in his
back, between his shoulder blades, but that didn't worry Nick too much. He was more focused of his family right now, he didn't want to let anything keep him from them, and he attempted to reach
out hastily blinking away the tears blurring his vision. His fingertips brushed over his mother's arm, his dad's shoulder, his little sister's cheek, damp from crying. Of course, they felt nothing.

                                                                                                   ----------

         Juliette's head snapped up from the book she was reading as there was the sound of glass shattering in the living room. This wasn't a strange occurrence, not in the slightest, but she never managed to keep calm in moments like this. In the end, that was always her downfall. Next was her father bellowing in anger, and then noisy footsteps. Sure enough, Juliette didn't have time to move from her computer chair before her dad threw open the door, face flushed red with uncontrollable rage. He stormed into the room, grabbing her by her hair and next thing she knew, her ribcage was smashed against her bed frame, knocking the wind from her lungs and causing her eyes to sting. Gasping for air that wouldn't come, she attempted to crawl away from her attacker, to no avail. There was the vague feeling of warmth running down her side, obviously blood. With no chance to escape, she was pulled back up to her feet. Juliette cried out in pain as her dad wailed on her, letting his anger out in a process that lasted hours before he was spent. As always, when he was done, he left without a word. He would just walk out of the room, leaving his only daughter in a pool of her own blood, coughing up even more. Her mother never offered help, only looked on, a silent spectator.
         Her side throbbed, sending new shocks of pain every few seconds. Juliette lay there on the floor, having lost the will to fight, to even get up. Sometimes she wondered what it would be like if she never got up again. Wasn't she supposed to be the perfect girl? That was what her friends assumed, with her glowing, smooth, and clear skin; her shiny, dark brown hair that flowed in curls all the way down her back, perfectly straight, white teeth and toned, golden tan body. Juliette was the kind of girl people passed and they either wanted to be her, just plainly wanted her, or hated her for whatever reason. Regardless, she didn't deserve the hate. It wasn't like she was conceited, in fact, this girl was exactly the opposite. Juliette was a hard worker, dedicated to her studies, reading and writing, and overall just being a good person. Now all this is coming from another person, as none of this would ever cross her mind. No, Juliette was probably the only person
she had ever come across - besides her parents - who would think she deserved every bit of pain she got.

                                                                                                   ----------

         The next day at school, no one even noticed the way she walked, avoiding coming to contact with anything or anyone. No one noticed how she shied away from the touch of others, not even her friends. Just because Juliette seemed extremely popular, doesn't mean that was really the case. It's more like... She has to be nice to everyone she sees, out of instinct. The truth is, Juliette feels pretty much isolated from the kids at school, her friends included. There's no one to hang out with outside of classes, no one cares enough to miss her. Her friends don't invite her to hang out, and ever since the break up, her entire world was upside down. It was times like this that Juliette wished for a reprieve from her life at home, but now there was no one to run to, nothing to save her. She and her boyfriend, Tristan, had been together for nearly three years. It hadn't been exactly a healthy relationship, but Juliette had been devastated when it ended. It felt like her entire world had come crashing down around her, suffocating her with a loneliness she had only thought she'd known before. Little did she know, however, it was nothing compared to what she would soon face. There was literally no one there for her now.
         Tristan was the kind of guy who would make you feel like the luckiest girl in the world. He would make you feel beautiful, like you could conquer the world and he would be there beside you, holding your hand and whispering in your ear just how much he loved you, how proud of you he was. In mere minutes it could turn ugly. Juliette would say one thing and suddenly it was "I can't trust you anymore." Or "I feel like I can't make you happy anymore, you deserve better." Sometimes even "I don't understand why I'm with you anymore. You're lucky I'm still around, bitch." Unfortunately, it was like that more often than not. He would become so angry, he would squeeze her hand hard enough to nearly break it, even when she tried to pull away, even when she cried because of the pain. He was so much taller than Juliette was, so she had a heck of a time trying to defend herself. Her friends saw Tristan drag her through the halls every day, but never said a word. That was how it went. Every single day it was either pure heaven or just plain hell. It was like Juliette's body wasn't even her own. If she wore a skirt that was cut above her knees, she was called a whore. Once, she got the cartilage in he right ear pierced, and he called her a slut, told her all she was trying to do was get attention from other guys, which was completely untrue.