As she stood at the bedroom doorway, with the edges of the glass cutting into her already throbbing hand, she thought about how much better it felt to hit something back after being the one taking all the hits. Her eyes landed on the volleyball and, with a resolute smirk, she picked it up and cradled it in one arm. As she tightened her grip on the shard, feeling it cut deeper into her palm, a feeling of euphoria swept over her. 'Is this what power feels like?' Leana thought as she poised her hand, arm raised over the blood spattered ball securely gripped in her other arm. It did make her feel powerful, being able to take something from him, after all that he'd taken from her. But as the glass came down hard, repeatedly piercing the ball as it deflated in her grasp, that feeling of power deflated with it. 'This isn't enough,' she thought almost sadly as she dropped the ball to her feet and leaned on the doorpost, 'nothing is enough to fix me. To return the favor of every punch, every late night romp session forced on me, every insult that didn't even get an apology.'

'That's because you're a coward who's too afraid to leave.'

Just as Leana was about to argue with the taunting voice in her head, she heard the sound of a key turning the lock in her front door, and then Adam pushing it open, drunkenly stumbling into the apartment with a blonde woman in tow. Leana stared at him blankly as he nor the blonde, took no notice of her and, pinned against the now closed front door, began to make out heavily. Leana could smell the alcohol, as she listened to the wet smacking sounds they were making, and gagged inwardly while taking a step closer to them. As drunk as he was, Adam must've sensed movement behind him because he stopped and turned quickly, spotting her standing just a few steps away staring at him and the unknown blonde with a cold, blank look. "B-Babe," he slurred slightly as she took another step towards them, and the blonde gasped, her small red painted mouth smudged. "I'm glad you're here! I looked everywhere for you at the party, why didn't you tell me you were leaving?" Leana just stared at him, silently for a moment, before her eyes fixed on the blonde standing behind him in an white parka and a silver sequin dress that barely covered her thighs.

"N-Now babe, I know how this looks, but trust me this is as much for you as it is for me!" Adam stammered a little, as he tried to gain control of the situation, "I thought we could try something different this new year..." he trailed off as her gaze shot back to him and grew colder.

"Really?" Leana said in a cold and, to her surprise, measured tone.

"Yeah," he said raising his chin arrogantly, as if to show that her unusual lack of emotion didn't unnerve him, "I thought adding one more person to our New Year's tradition would spice things up bit. Besides, if it's anything like last year" he continued in a slightly harsher tone, "You'll probably just cry and complain again."

Leana felt her insides drop at the statement, and watched in disgust as he began to mimic her cries of pain, and mocked her protests to being intimate with him, as the blonde behind him giggled as if it were all one big joke. Then, something...snapped. Her mind, along with her vision, went blank for a moment, but she didn't know how long that moment was. Nothing registered to her brain. When she began to become aware of her surroundings again though, the first thing she realized was that there was no noise.

No laughter.

No mocking.

Silence.

Then the strong, metallic scent of blood. And then the two bodies at her feet, and the now bloody shard of glass still tightly clutched in her hand. The shard that she had never put down after mutilating Adam's ball.

Adam.

The name resounded in her mind like an echo, as she looked down at his face. Pale white, with red blood smeared where he tried to hold his now slit throat. The hand he tried to hold it with, laying lifeless now, and covered in his own blood, and his gaze wide, unseeing, and void. The blonde's silver dress stained in the same red color, where she now laid dead, with a deep gash in the side of her neck. The flow of red seemed to be slowing down now, as her eyes now sit lifeless in their sockets, looking up at Leana blankly. At first she couldn't move, for fear that if she did, then it would all become more real. But after a long moment, she slowly took a step back, and then another. Next thing she knew she was back out on the sidewalk and walking aimlessly, with the shard of glass in her pocket, and a giant hole in her stomach that seemed to be getting bigger with each step. She didn't know where her feet were taking her until she got there, and she didn't care, what was the point? Where she didn't expect to be was outside of a 24-hour diner with bright purple neon sign that read 'Richie's Diner' and underneath in yellow, 'Open 24-hrs'. For reasons unknown to her at the time, she let her feet carry her up the steps and into the small restaurant before she could think twice about it.

As she sat down at a booth closest to the door, she could feel her hands shaking slightly in her pockets. She pulled them out to look at them, only to see the rusty colored blood, and shoving them, quickly, back into the pockets of her coat.

"You alright, hon?"

Leana jumped at the soft voice of the waitress that she hadn't noticed walking up, how long had she been standing there? Did she see her bloody hands? The waitress, who looked to be in her early 30s, had a slight frown on her lips, and a concerned look in her big, brown eyes as she waited for Leana to reply. "No," Leana said a little bit shakily, not even expecting the truth to come out of her mouth, "can I use your restroom?"

"Yes of course, darlin'. It's around the corner and the women's room is on the right."

She gave what she thought was a grateful smile, though the waitress's concerned look never left her eyes, and she made a beeline for the ladies' room.

Once in there, Leana locked the bathroom door so no one else could come in, and the next thing she did was go to the sink and begin scrubbing her hands, and the bloody piece of glass, with soap that smelled like cheap perfume and water so hot, she thought her hands would come up blistered. It took her a little over 15 minutes to get all the blood off, but when she was done, she felt the hole inside of her close up just a little bit. She stuck the glass back into her pocket, thinking it foolish to throw it away right now, threw some cold water on her face, and checked herself one last time for any remaining specks of blood. Once she was satisfied with her work, she unlocked the door and stepped out of the bathroom, feeling just a little bit better. She didn't notice the guy turning the corner to the restrooms, and bumped headfirst into him, hearing a soft grunt and then the feeling of hands on her shoulders. For a second, Leana flinched, thinking that Adam somehow survived and had already tracked her down, and immediately tried to push away from the hands gripping her. But when she looked up into the face of the owner of said hands, who'd now let go of her and put them up in a sign of surrender, she realized that it wasn't Adam.

The guy in front of her had the same concerned look as the waitress behind him, who'd come to check on her, only his face seemed oddly familiar...but she was sure she didn't know this man. He was handsome, even with a slightly worried and disgruntled look on his face, like he'd just stepped out of the cover of a magazine. His eyes were a hauntingly deep blue color, that seemed almost unreal, and his jet black hair was tousled as if he'd been running his hands through it. But the most uncanny thing about him, was the fact that she recognized him, but couldn't understand how or who he was. Leana thought at first, that she was just worn out from the night's events, but when she looked up at him again after rubbing her eyes, she didn't seem to be alone in this observation, as she could see him giving her the same look.

"Do I know you?" The guy's voice startled her slightly out of her daze as she took in what he was saying. After a long and confused look, she just shook her head at him, staring hard at the familiar face in front of her, that she couldn't recognize. "I don't know," she said close to a whisper, as she took a step aside to go around him, almost instinctively shoving her hands in her pockets ready to walk away. A hand shot out in front of her midsection, and her eyes shot back up to to meet his now frustrated gaze, that seemed to electrify her all at once. 'What is it with this guy?' she thought irately as she glared at him after a moment,

"excuse me." Leana's voice came out low, but a bit clipped, as if to convey that she seriously wasn't in the mood for this. She looked at the woman in the booth closest to them with a grey ballcap covering her fiery looking hair, trying to find some help, but she could feel the blood draining from her face, as she watched the woman watching them both with a wide, almost expectant grin on her face. Leana took a step back as her heart raced and she could hear it in her ears, who was this woman and why did she look familiar to her? She heard the sound of the guy sucking in air, as if a bit more than surprised, but she couldn't take her gaze off of those wide brown eyes, that seemed to hold a glint that scared and intrigued her all at once. The woman opened her mouth to speak, still smiling widely, and what she said made Leana's legs go a bit weak as she reached for the wall to help her stand.

"Hello Maleana. Hello Jackson. Long time, no see eh?"

Leana felt her throat go dry and a pulsing ache in her chest and head, as she heard a weak "what," come from the guy's mouth, and turned to see that he looked like he'd been visibly sucker punched.

"Come sit," the woman said, waving them over nonchalantly, her smile widening, "we have a lot to catch up on."