Music to my Soul

My life had always been the same. Ever since I could remember, it was always the same. My mom was always a great mother, doing what she could even though it was extremely hard. My dad, though, was a horrible, horrible person. Yes, I loved him. But I hated what he became. When I was about six, he got into drinking. He already had a horrible temper, and mixed with the alcohol, it wasn???t pretty.

He found fun in beating my mom and I, causing us pain and plenty of injuries that we always covered up as something else. I became known as the klutz to my friends and teachers at school, always having a new place I had hurt many times a week. And what really bugged me was we still went to church, and he acted like he truly loved God, when to us, it was obvious he didn???t. He was just faking the Christian life.

I stuck it out and smiled, just for my mom. She loved my dad, and didn???t want to tear our family apart. But it was too late. Our family was already torn apart. Over the years, my dad just got worse. The injuries weren???t just bruises anymore. I was getting broken bones.

By the time I turned sixteen, my mom couldn???t take it anymore. She contacted one of those safe houses for families with abusive men, and made arrangements to be moved. Believe me, I was rather happy to get out of this life. I could actually have friends again, and my dad wouldn???t, couldn???t really, refuse to let me see them. I could even have a boyfriend! Excitement was in the air. We were going to move on! We were going to start over! Were.

It???s probably a duh it didn???t go as planned, but I???ll stop ranting now and let you find out for yourself. Welcome to the life of me, Mina Nichole Shindler.

-

Another day of school. Yay.

I really didn???t like school. I really, really didn???t. Public school sucked. Especially when I had to dump all my friends and tell them we couldn???t hang out anymore, yet not give them a good reason why. Needless to say, I turned a lot of people against me. They said I just thought I was too good for them, and stupid things like that. Which definitely wasn???t true. I wanted to hang out with them. I wanted to have my friends back. But my dad wouldn???t let me have any fun.

The only fun I actually had was acting. I loved acting. So much. It was a time after school where I didn???t have to be me. I could be the part in the play, and escape from my life. It was an amazing and thrilling thing for me.

I still have no idea how my mom talked by dad into it. He was always afraid that if we socialized too much, we would tell someone what he did, and get him locked up. He didn???t want that. But what he didn???t know was that people already knew. We would be leaving sometime soon. He had a business trip he had to go on for work, so we were going to leave after he left. Boy would he be in for a surprise when he got home.

We were already getting ready to move, too. He was leaving tonight, so then we could get packing and be out of here! It was exciting to think about, for me.

My walk home was uneventful. At least, compared to normal, anyways. I had to dodge the stray black lab mix that had taken up at the Ashford???s house that greeted just about everyone, including me, as they came into the neighborhood. Once I actually managed to get the very hyper dog off of me, I continued on my trek.

Instead of walking all the way around and following the road to get to my house, I cut through the Emerson???s garden with permission, loving the fresh smell of plants and flowers. Sometimes if Mrs. Emerson was out in the yard when I went by, she would give me some flowers to take home for the house, but today wasn???t one of those days. Mr. and Mrs. Emerson had just had their first child a few months before, so neither of them were out gardening much anymore. So for today, I just walked through, only pausing to pet their tabby cat that was lounging in the sun, before heading through the small patch of trees, and into my back yard.

Coming into my backyard, I heard the familiar sounds of my parents arguing. Already. I wasn???t even that close to the house. It made me wonder why my dad thought no one knew. We were almost positive our neighbors knew. Especially Mrs. Emerson. Her and my mom were rather close, even though Mrs. Emerson was her in mid twenties, and my mom was in her mid forties. I guess Mrs. Emerson really looked up to my mom. I know I did. She was an incredible person. After all her and I had gone through, there was hardly a moment when she wasn???t smiling. And there was hardly ever a complaint from her, either. She was a very strong woman. I hoped to be like her one day. But I didn???t plan on going through something as hard as this ever again.

I sighed softly, not even wanting to think about going into the house right now. I simply let my backpack fall off my shoulders and dragged it across the yard to our patio swing. I sat down there, put my ipod head phones in my ears and cranked up my favorite Christian rock music, and got to work.

The homework took me maybe a few hours to do, which wasn???t too bad, I thought. Usually I was working on it much later in the day. So I was happy to get done when I did. And it wasn???t like I had to do it. We were moving that week, so.

Since I was done early, I thought I could help mom with dinner, so I pulled my head phones out of my ear and placed the ipod back in my bag with my school books, flung it over my shoulder, and started towards the house.

But as I began walking, I heard my mom scream. It wasn???t a usual scream. This was one of those screams from something of a horror movie, when it wasn???t cheap and it actually sounded like the person was terrified.

I didn???t like the sound of that scream.

I dropped my bag right then and there and ran around to the back door, yanking it open. My feet pushed me as fast as they could into the kitchen, where my eyes went huge. My mom was laying on the floor in a pool of blood, my dad standing over her with a bloody knife. My gaze met my dad???s as he turned to look at me, the anger in his eyes filling me with chills.

As I turned to run, I heard the sound of the knife falling to the ground, and the foot steps of him following me. My heart pounded as I heard him gaining on me, and I knew if I could just get outside, I could scream and alert someone.

Knowing it would take too long to run around the couch, I jumped and launched myself over it, making it to and out the door finally. I stumbled as I landed, losing my balance, which was just what my dad needed. He caught me and grabbed me, putting his hand over my mouth so I couldn???t scream. It was funny that he thought that would stop me, though. I sunk my teeth into his hand, smirking to myself when I heard him yelp as he let go of my mouth.

???Someone, help!??? I screamed at the top of my lungs, before I felt a sudden pain in my back as I lost my breath. I couldn???t move from the pain, and he took advantage of that, grabbing my head and slamming it into the ground. Then my world went black.

-

I moaned softly, my mind coming back to consciousness. Even though I wasn???t completely with it yet, I waited for the pain to hit. But it never came. That confused me. No pain? Wow. For a second I thought my dad had been nice to me, but why? Why would he be nice to me when I was trying to alert someone that he attacked my mom?

My mom. The image of her laying on the ground in her blood flashed through my mind, and I whimpered softly. Did she make it? Was she ok? I honestly hoped so, but I didn???t see how. There was too much blood. I hoped and prayed that I alerted someone fast enough, and they called 911.

My mind raced as it started to clear, and I thought about what might have happened. Was my dad arrested? Did my mom get to the hospital in time? Was I sent to the hospital? I would have kept going, but a voice spoke, making me snap out of my little world and realize I wasn???t alone???wherever I was. I hadn???t even opened my eyes yet. I didn???t want to. I wasn???t sure I could actually face what had just happened to me. I was good with just thinking about it at the moment.

???Mina? Can you hear me, Mina???? The voice asked softly, clearly female. I had never heard it before in my life.

Huh. Weird. Maybe it was a nurse? But wouldn???t they call me ma???am? I don???t know. But I was surely confused.

???Mina???? The female asked again, and finally, I cracked open my eyes. I looked up to see a young female that looked maybe eighteen. She smiled when she looked into my eyes, and gently brushed a strand of her light brown hair behind her ear. I could tell she was kind, just by her eyes. They were a beautiful blue green, and full of caring compassion. Was she my nurse? Her outfit was definitely not a nurses outfit. She was wearing a yellow jacket over a white shirt, as well as blue jeans. She was kind of young to me a nurse, too. Man, I was confused.

???How are you feeling???? She asked me, smiling even more though I was frowning now.

???Confused, and full of questions, really?????? I mumbled softly, starting to sit up in the bed I was in. The female helped me, and I took the chance to take a look around the room.

The bed I was on was in the middle of a dark blue room, and it looked like it could be a hospital room, but it would have to be a strange hospital. To my left was a door, along with a few cabinets. The wall across from the bed had a desk and a chair, the desk being covered with several different medical instruments that I didn???t recognize. The last wall to my right had two desks right next to each other, covered with more instruments, as well as vials and what looked like a brewing pot. Definitely weird. But what I really focused on was the man sitting in the chair there. He hadn???t said anything, so I hadn???t noticed him before now. He was tall, I could tell, even though he was sitting down. He had blond hair that was very messy and very in his face, making it hard for me to see his blue eyes. But they were very bright, and almost shined through his hair. Almost.

He continued to stay quiet as I turned my gaze back to the female, who was now frowning.

???I???m sorry to say, but you might be confused for a while?????? She mumbled, which really just confused me even more. I raised an eyebrow, tilting my head softly, feeling my hair brush my shoulder.

???I???m Rebecca, by the way. But you can call me Becca if you would like.??? She said after a short pause in which she glanced towards the male. I saw him nod from the corner of my eyes, but I kept them on her.

???Um???well???I have things to attend to. I???ll come check on you later, ok? Here???s something to eat and drink. I???m sure you must be starving.???

She smiled again and handed me a plate with a sandwich and a glass of water. I smiled back, mumbling a quick thank you. It was killing me not to start asking a million questions, but seeing that sandwich made me realize something. I was starving.

I happily accepted the plate, and as I started to nibble on it, I watched as Rebecca exited the room. So I turned my gaze to the male, millions of questions coming to my head. As soon as I was done with this sandwich, I would be asking. He didn't look busy. I could bother him.

He watched me as I watched him, and finally, he smirked. "Full of questions, eh?" He said, and I nodded, still stuffing my face. It would have been rude to speak now.

"I would be too. You're probably wondering where you are, who I am, and....how your mother is." The man said, getting to his feet now.

I had been nodding, but at the mention of my mother, I stopped. I couldn't chew. I couldn't swallow.

How was she? I wanted to know. So, so badly.

"Finish eating, and I'll tell you." He said, and I nodded, but it was hard. Knowing he knew...it was nearly impossible to continue eating. I wanted to know so badly. So very badly. But I could tell her was serious about me eating first. So I didn't argue, and ate away.

Finally done, I set the plate and glass on my lap, and crossed my arms.

"Ok, I ate. Spill it." I said, and he just looked at me blankly. It was rather annoying. So I add, "Please"

He chuckled, but nodded then. "Ok, ok. I'm 'spilling it'. My name is Vincent Elric. I'm the...I suppose you could say 'president' here. But please, just call me Ven. I hate anything else, ok?"

"Ok, Ven....President of what? Is this a hospital?" I asked, tilting my head. It really didn't look like a hospital. It didn't feel like one, either. There wasn't that nasty smell of antiseptic in the air, either, which lead me to honestly think I was somewhere else. But where?

"No, this isn't a hospital. But this is the hospital wing. It is more of an..organization, though. It's small, but significant enough."

"Organization of what? Why am I here, then?" I asked, getting side tracked by what he was telling me.

"All in due time. I think you were more interested in knowing about what happened...?" Ven asked, and my eyes shot open just about as huge as they possibly could get.

"Yes...?" I asked, frowning at the long silence, in which he closed his eyes.

"I can only tell you what I've heard. I wasn't there, but I do know what happened." He explained, and I nodded once again. This was taking a while, but I wasn't complaining. He was going to tell me what happened to my mother.

"After you screamed, one of your neighbor's called 911. You were taken to the hospital, as well as your mother. The injuries to your head were significant enough that you were put into a coma. That was six months ago."

I didn't know it was possible, but my eyes got even larger.

"I was...in a coma? For six months?" I asked softly, closing my eyes. No way. That couldn't be possible. Was it really six months? It didn't feel like six months ago...

"My mother? What happened to her?" I demanded, my gaze going back to Ven. I had to know now. But the way he was putting it off worried me deeply.

"I'm sorry, but...she was pronounced dead when they reached the hospital."