The Murder that Gave New Life

Vivica (POV) Dear Diary, Today is the first day of my new life. My name is Vivica Elena Billings, I'm seventeen and I have just graduated from high school. I have decided that instead of college after the summer I'm going to travel for a year or two first. I just really rather do it while I'm young and can really enjoy and experience everything there is out there. My first stop on my adventure, I have to make it through telling my folks my decision, which won't be easy as my parents are a very famous power couple-lawyers, Victor and Veronica Billings. It's the last class of high school life and everyone is anticipating the last bell as this is the official signal of the start of summer break, and if you're from around here, that entails lots of parties, bonfires, alcohol, and all the fun any seventeen-year old could want. I'm chatting with Alica Mckay, my best friend, about our plans after school. I have the absolute hottest best friend ever. She is 5 '6 curvy with green eyes, pastel blue hair in a pixie cut, with her lips pierced and a giant back tattoo that I'm super jealous of. She got it for her eighteenth birthday a few months ago. It's two beautiful goddesses in silver and gold clothing and thunder and lighting all around them. If you haven't guessed, I have a crush on my best friend and no, she doesn't know. I didn't want to ruin our friendship, so I kept my feelings buried. P.S. I might ask her to come with me!!! -End Entry- Alica says, aren't your parents throwing a graduation party tomorrow? Yes, I replied, I believe it's set to start by 6pm. ohhmygod we have to go shopping for something super hot to wear. I've seen your closet. This is a girl must. Do you trust me? she says excitedly. Oh, of course, I trust you. If not you, then who would I tell my secrets to? I laugh out loud as I reply. The final bell rings as we are making final plans to meet up at the mall at 4pm with Alexis, Michelle, Everly, and the twins Belle and Giselle. Alexis, Seventeen is the bold one of our group. She has black and neon green hair with silver eyes, stands at 5 '5 and is always wearing the most revealing clothes. She has also been my neighbor for the last 8 years. Michelle, seventeen, is the joker of the group, always trying to get a laugh out of us. She has blonde hair and blue eyes. She is the perfect picture model on every boy's wall, the perfect girl next door. Everly, sixteen is a beautiful genius. She has silver hair and golden brown eyes. She is the youngest in our group and for good reason she jumped two grades when she moved here 6 yrs ago. Belle and Giselle, Seventeen, are identical twins with brown hair and eyes but their fashion sense and personalities are completely opposite each other. Belle prefers darker clothing and is a night owl with tons of piercings, and Giselle prefers bright girly clothing and is more of a morning person with the most natural features. She doesn't even wear make-up. They have also been there since day one and are my cousins. As I pull into the driveway of my childhood home, I get an eerie feeling that something is wrong. I quickly get out of my convertible and rushed to the door. I burst through the door and immediately froze in my place. A bloody scene in front of me shreking as uncontrollable tears flowed down my face. On the couch and recliner are my parents' lifeless bodies with their heads removed and placed on the table with their hearts in their laps. Alexis must have heard me screaming because she was standing next to me in what felt like seconds, still frozen, unable to calm down even a little bit. She rushes out of the house and then, a few minutes later, she and Drake, her older brother, return. She is on her cell phone telling the police what's going on as she points to me and then I'm lifted in the air being carried out of my house. Alexis (POV) I just got inside and sat in the kitchen waiting for my snack too, ding in the microwave scrolling through my phone, then I heard a death-curdling scream coming from Vivica's house. I immediately jumped and ran as fast as I could, which was pretty fast since I am a Hybrid, half human and half wolf, meaning I have a wolf but we can't shift. When I get there and see this picture of my friend's perfect family broken and bloody in their living room, I begin to rage as I use this to my advantage. I quickly went to grab my brother as I explained what was going on to the police dispatch officer. I nodded at my brother and pointed to Vivica, telling my brother to get her out of there. When the police arrived they took everyone's statements and then asked Vivica if she had somewhere else she could stay as they wouldn't be able to let her in the house until they were done processing the scene of the crime. She started crying and I immediately said yes officer, she can stay with us with no problem. I have a feeling we won't be making it to the mall. I will need to let everyone know what happened. Drake(POV) I lifted Vivica up and carried her outside of this house of nightmares as fast as I could. I couldn't believe what I saw in this house. Was it some horrible client that didn't like the outcome of their case? It looked like it was very personal for whoever was sick enough to do something this brutal. After talking to the police and my sister agreeing to allow Vivica to stay at our house, I immediately panicked. How would I be able to let Derik run if I couldn't even shift due to a stranger now staying in my private sanctuary? Derik growls in my head, followed by" You're a selfish bastard." Do you know that drake? Dear Diary, I'm seventeen and in a few days it is my eighteenth birthday. I'm not in high school. I graduated last year and have been working to support my sister and myself. Even though I have a wolf and can shift already, I can't find my mate until my eighteenth birthday. Since the loss of my parents, I have been looking forward to that day, to have someone to share my life with , to love and cherish the most beautiful being I will ever lay eyes on. To explain a few things, even though everyone close to us assumes we are brother and sister, Alexis and I actually are not related but we are family to each other. We both have no family and are technically rogue, meaning we don't belong to a pack. -End Entry- Vivica(POV) I'm lost and exhausted. Today was supposed to be the first day of the rest of my life. I was going to have a fun night with all of my friends and party like there was no tomorrow before I had to sit my parents down and convince them why allowing me to travel this summer and next year before starting college. I had it all planned but now I'm lost. I have no fun night, no home to go back to, and no parents to convince. I am completely alone in this world now. Two weeks later, Dear Diary, My parents didn't want a big funeral, they wanted to be cremated with a small viewing for close family to say goodbye and that is exactly what they were given. I'm still sad all the time, but I have been feeling less lonely these days. I've moved into Alexis's house permanently and Drake has been shockingly sweet the past week, making sure i eat and making me smile and laugh to forget why myself'm sad for a little bit. I decided to put off my travel plans until next week while I figure out how to tell Alexis that I still plan to go. P.S. I plan on asking all of my friends and Drake to join me for the first two weeks of my travel plans to say thank you for helping me through this tough time. The first week is going to be in France!!! -End Entry- Alica(POV) Dear Diary, It's been two weeks since summer started, and it's been two weeks since my best friend Vivica's world was turned upside down. I have visited every day as well as the rest of our group; Michelle, Everly, Belle and Giselle. Alexis has opened her home to Vivica, which I have been feeling very jealous about lately, but I understand why. It helps that every time we visit she is smiling and laughing thanks to drake. I have always thought he was so sweet. Everyone else kind of put him on the off-limits list since he is Alexis's brother, but I never did because I knew a secret that no one else did. P.S. I think I have a crush developing on two people at the same time and I don't know if that makes me a bad person or not? I mean one I knew was for sure thing. I just had to figure out how to tell this person without any bad s**t happening. - End Entry- I looked up at the clock and it read half passed 5pm and hurriedly rushed upstairs to get dressed. I can't believe that I am going to be late for this random dinner that Vivica asked all of us to attend. As soon as I was dressed and ready, it was 5:45 pm and I quickly sent Vivica a text letting her know that I had a late start and that I was leaving the house now. She responded within the next minute, saying," that is fine, dinner will be done in about an hour and a half, so you will still get here before it is ready. I smiled as I replied, Thank God I love your food. It's to die for! I then proceeded to drive to Alexis and Drakes' house for dinner, arriving in record time. Michelle(POV) Dear Diary, So, I was left with no option. I will be leaving tomorrow to start my first year internship at the corporate office of Lewis and Co., which is my family's company. Five generations of my family have done their first year internship here, followed by their fall semester of business finance and corporate management degree. I really wish my dad would understand that I'm not interested in the business side but the fashion side of this company, but he just won't hear it and I'm over fighting with him about it. I figure I will double major so that I can do both and show my father that I am worth the investment. P.S. I guess tonight will be the night that I say goodbye to my friends until the fall break of my first semester of college. I will say this though I am surprised about this surprise dinner Vivica has invited us to tonight. Hopefully, everything is okay, that girl can't handle anymore bad s**t happening in her life. -End Entry- When I arrived at Alexis and Drake's house I wasn't shocked to see that Alica had already arrived. I don't know how she does not see that she has a crush, at least on Vivica, but who am I to push it? What I didn't expect to see was that I was actually the last one to arrive. I thought I surely would have beaten Belle and Giselle. I knew there was no way I was beating Everly. She only lived five minutes down the road compared to my forty-five minute drive with no traffic. Hey everyone I'm sorry I'm late, I said as I entered the dining room. Vivica responded no you're not late at all" You're actually on time." The food" was just now coming out of the oven. Please go find a place to sit. I'm almost done sending all the food to the table now. I find a seat and notice that across the table is a smiling red cheeked Alica looking right at Drake who's sitting right next to her leaning in close to her ear whispering something I could only imagine would make his sister's head spin had she ever been paying attention. She was on her phone watching some video, so I decided it was not my place and looked around the room at everyone. Alica and Drake sat across the table from me, followed by Alexis at one of the ends, then Michelle was next to me, followed by Belle, then Giselle at the other end, with an empty spot that could only be for Vivica. Speak of the devil and she shall appear. Just as I looked at the empty seat, in walked Vivica, dressed with the last plate of food in her hands and a smile on her face. So what is the big deal with the last minute dinner? Is everything okay, Michelle asks as Vivica sits down and motions everyone to dig in. Vivica says calmly but excitedly that she has been in a sad place since school ended and wanted to thank all of us with a special gift for being with her for this time. I smiled because this is just like Vivica always finding a reason to express her love to her friends and one of the reasons I'm glad she is one of my friends. This time she had outdone herself, with a food line-up of steak, potatoes, green bean casserole, pea salad, some corn on the cob and dinner rolls. I moaned out against my will as I took a bite of each course. If food could give you an O-xpirence it would be anything this chick touches in the kitchen. I swear she is a witch or something. Everyone burst out laughing and I was completely confused. What was so funny? Did I miss something while I was lost imagining s*x with this amazing food? Then Belle leaned in to me and whispered," babe". I don't think you meant to say that out loud. I was as red as a tomato, then we all started to laugh until none of us could breathe anymore. Belle(POV) Everyone is finishing the last of their food, I proceed to stand up and collect plates to take back to the kitchen. Vivica joins in with washing the dishes while Belle Dries and Alica put them away. Back in the dining room, Alexis and Michelle are wiping down the table while Everly gets up to start getting everyone a drink as we all finish our group cleaning up and migrate to the movie room to enjoy the rest of the night hanging out and enjoying each other's company. Everly(POV) After everyone crowded into the movie room, everyone decided to watch a movie called American Teen: Senior year. It had just come out in theaters and none of us had seen it yet. Giselle decided that since Vivica cooked and helped clean as well, that it was her and Belle's job to get popcorn for everyone while the previews were rolling. With popcorn in tow, Belle and Giselle walk back in as the last preview is starting. They sat down next to me on the L-shaped sectional that I had decided I would not leave for the remainder of the night. Next to them was Michelle, then Alexis, followed by Alica, Drake, and Vivica were on the small additional loveseat that sat right next to the sectional. This is new. Drake normally doesn't stay to hangout with us. He is usually gone before any of us get here, but for the last week he has not left Vivica's side from what I have seen. He is pretty close to Alica, which I hate to say might lead to some very bad drama for our group. I really hoped for a drama-free summer after ours started. Giselle(POV) When the movie was over, I stretched and yawned as Vivica shut off the TV. Everyone but Vivica, Drake and Michelle fell asleep from an overly full belly. I was about to tell everyone that I had to leave to start packing for my trip back to California to see my father before it was time to start college. I wasn't too happy about having to give up my summer for this, but unfortunately I really had to as it would probably be the last time I got the chance, as he was dying. He and my mom divorced after they realized it was healthier for us girls to see them happy apart from being sad together. Belle and I were twelve when they separated. Belle and I already knew about Vivica's surprise last night when we came over to stay the night to say goodbye early, but with everything we had going on, it was just impossible for us to accept her invitation. We didn't want to ruin everyone's celebrations, so we made our way to the door telling everyone goodbye with promises to meet up later in the future. Vivica(POV) Soon after Belle and Giselle said goodbye and took their leave, everyone sat back down and started chatting, but before they got too engrossed in their conversation, I quickly grabbed my glass of tequila on the rocks, because why the hell not, right? Then I continue to gain everyone's attention by carefully tapping the key around my neck on the side of the glass and everyone looks in my direction. I cleared the lump in my throat, and then started my speech by thanking them for helping me through the last couple weeks and then I told them that I had made the decision to continue with my plans that I had for my future and that I would be leaving for the first stop on my adventure next week. I took a quick pause as I looked at everyone as I noticed their facial expressions changed between happy, sad and then happiness again. I was so grateful to those people I'm surrounded by seriously. Then I ended my speech with," I would also like it if all of you could join me in these first two weeks on my dime as a more special thank you from me. Everyone was quiet for longer than I expected, then Drake and Alicia and Alexis all at once said "I'm in, hell yall", "best surprise ever", "Yessssss, girl". I noticed that Michelle and Everly had not said anything and were now frowning like a child who had lost his favorite toy. Michelle began by saying" I really appreciate the thought of including me, but she unfortunately had to decline as she was planning on telling everyone that she would be leaving for my internship tomorrow night and would not be returning until after the fall semester, to which I nodded and said it's okay I will miss you everyday and you better call us every day deal? Deal, she agreed with a newly emerged smile. Everly, then she started with she really wished she could, but she had to take care of her sister while her mom was away on business And I again nodded and then told her to let me know when her mom was back and we could possibly meet up another time. She nodded in agreement and then everyone said goodbye as Michelle and Everly left for the night, while Alica decided that, since she was coming with us, that she would stay there until we left for our trip.