Willow Complex, Prologue

I was told that writing in a journal would help with the emotions I might be feeling in the next few years. I hope to God that they're right, but I'm not quite sure how it'll help. They say I should write down what I think about, but all I ever think about is what happened to Mom and Dad, and I'm...I'm not ready to write about that yet.

I guess I should write about that day, at least.

I was in Geometry, a stupid math class I would never need. My teacher, Ms. Trant, was one of the nicest people I know, as well as one of the shortest. It was fourth period. Halfway through the lesson, the door opened and a woman opened the door.

"Miss Complex," she said. When I stood up and started to walk away, she told me to bring everything. That's when I started worrying.

I thought, oh, God, something happened with Lilac. She's getting bullied, I should have let Mom and Dad send her to boarding school. Or maybe she got lost or something? Maybe she got hurt? Oh, God, she can't be hurt. I promised Mom that I'd keep her safe!!

I followed the woman to the main office, where Lilac sat in a chair. Two police officers were leaning against the wall and I couldn't comprehend that they could be there for me and Lilac. We had done nothing wrong!!

"Lilac!" I called as I ran to her. She jumped up and attached herself to my side.

"Willy, what's going on?" She cried, "They called me out of class and I was having fun and I don't know why and they won't tell me anything!"

"Miss Complex," One of the police officers, a woman, said, "I...I am very sorry."

"What happened?" I asked, "Is my family alright?"

She looked at me sadly, and shook her head only slightly. "I'm sorry. They were killed."

Lilac let out a highpitched mix of a sob and a gasp, and I wanted to collapse right there. God, my family, my whole family is gone...but I couldn't do that. I still have Lilac to take care of.

I don't have my mom anymore, but I need to hold on to that promise I made here this morning. I need to keep Lilac safe.

"Hey, hey, sweetpea, I know it's hard. I know, but...we--we'll be alright," I promised.

I knealt on my knees, letting her hug me and cry on my shoulder, "How, Willy? How?"

"Somehow. We will be fine," I vowed, hoping I could keep the promise.

"I'm sorry," Said the second police officer, "We need to go to the station in order to finish up some things."

"I want to stop by home, first," I said, bottom lip stiff.

 They barely agreed, but they did. we stood in the front lawn, where we had just been that morning. I couldn't believe that the last thing I had done with my mother was fight.

The bright yellow caution tape covered our door, telling us that the seemingly peaceful home held things I would have nightmares about.

I told Lilac that it hadn't changed much, explaining that we couldn't go in because there was bad stuff inside. She was angry, she wanted to say goodbye to everyone. She wanted to find out if Theia was okay.

I wanted to go inside, too. But I couldn't bring myself to even ask them. If I stepped foot inside that house--no, I couldn't. I most definitely canNOT go inside. I would never fall asleep again.

We didn't ask about the horses. We knew that Titan and Hermes would run away, they had probably left as soon as they saw the man, or when they saw the police. It's pretty well known that unicorns exist, but they still avoid people they aren't familiar with. Theia...I hated to think about it, but I knew that Theia was dead. She would've never left without Dad.

We only stood there for a few minutes before they took us to the police station. They called me into a room to talk to me, alone. They didn't think Lilac could handle it, but for some reason they assumed that I could.

They...they told me that the man who had killed them (he was caught hiding in the loft of our barn) claimed to be my real father. They said that he's a well known sociopath who had apparently escaped from a jail far away. He had raped my mother, and I was the product of it. At least, that's what he claimed...

I'm done. At least, I'm done talking about that. I don't care if I'm supposed to use this journal to talk about that kind of stuff. If I do, I'll start freaking out and I can't handle that. My Dad is my daddy, no matter who my biological father is.

Anyway, they found my grandma. She's the last known living relative that I have, although there is no father listed on my mom's birth certificate, so he could be alive, still. Her name is Primrose, and I remember Great Uncle Briar talking about her. He's her brother, and he didn't even have many nice things to say about her. She's a well known doctor by now, extremely successful with apparently no other children and she's never been married.

Doesn't sound so successful to me, if you ask me.

I also know that she abandoned my mother, and I can't help but wonder if she's even capable of loving anybody. How could she love Lilac and I, if she didn't even love her own daughter?

I convinced Lilac that she would love us, because I had never known anyone who didn't love Lilac. I doubted that she'd be able to love me, though. I'm the child that shouldn't have existed. I heard about how angry she was that Mom had gotten pregnant as a teen. I bet she felt differently, once she found out that Mom was raped. Or maybe not...

She doesn't seem like one for family life, either. Her house barely constitutes as a home, almost entirely surrounded by windows. The whole house doesn't have many rooms, either. In all, there's the loft upstairs that she uses as a bedroom with a small dressing corner, the office/library, a bathroom, our bedroom, and the main area.

The fancy foyer has a wall the splits the entrance from the carport to the rest of the house, and a wall that splits the rest of the main room from the foyer. The only thing in the main room is a large kitchen and an empty area. Not even a sofa! The only bathroom is next to the kitchen, creating the wall that the counter, stove, and fridge is on.

Our bedroom consists of a small corner that we can get dressed in without others seeing us, two beds, and two dressers. The room has black walls and white flooring, like the rest of the house, and large curtains that we can close if we want to. The only thing that seems like an attempt to make the room a girls' room is that one of the dressers holds a kitty-shaped ipod dock and CD player.

 The library/ office has her home office set up, with a computer that I'm not supposed to use without her consent, bookshelves that don't seem to be needed, and a tiny corner--hidden by the bookshelves--for me. There's nothing for Lilac in there, just a sofa to read on or just chat on, an eisle for art, and a telescope. She says that there's more things upstairs, including a little mini gym and a chess table, but I can't go up there without her.

Outside, she has a car port large enough for two cars(one good thing is that she says she'll teach me to drive) She also has this really strange building in the back. There are no windows facing the front and it's set up so there's no way you can see inside the building unless you go to the back. That's where the horses are. No, she's not an animal person, but when the unicorns ran away from home, they found Grandma Prim.

I talk to Titan and Hermes a lot. And yes, they can answer back. They're unicorns, for Christ's sake! They most definitely have plenty of magical powers.

When I'm sitting here, I can't help but think about how much life has changed in the past two weeks. I used to share a small room with Lilac in the home in Appaloosa Plains. It was perfect, just the right size for a family of five and two unicorns and a dog, with a large back yard and anything that anyone could ever want.

All I had ever wanted was to keep my family happy. And now, some man--who had the nerve to claim that he's my father--shattered my entire life, leaving me with little remnants of my old life. My entire family, save for my sister and the unicorns, is gone.

He killed three of the four most important people in my life, not to mention my favorite dog. The horses don't need me, Titan is older than any living member of my family, and Hermes was born just around the time that Grandma was born. They're old, powerful, creatures. But Lilac, she needs me, and I need her. She's my life now, literally I think I would be dead now if it weren't for her.

I need to go. Lilac needs me.