Everything Under The Covers (Plastic Wrappers)

From Rags to Riches

Sometime in the Past...

Allison

I was the youngest member of a girlgroup called the A-List, Comprising of six "perfect" blonde, skinny all american girls, undergoing rigorous training, we excelled as a group, quickly becoming popular which our signature icy exterior and barbie doll aesthetics.

I was scouted at a local rodeo in texas in which my had mother worked for. After selling off what she could. She surrendered our family house and left Virginia. After compensating the staff whom she had fired, not much money was left. And with the little that remained, she bought a small car, fiilled it with all what it could carry and quickly left town before daddy's family would change their minds and lay a claim to me. Growing up, consisted of living on the road; constantly moving from one location to the next. My mother struggled financially ofcourse and desperately tried to keep her head above water. She'd been a highshool dropout and with no discernible skills, apart from modeling, she settled for jobs, waitressing at various restaurants. This led to numerous conflicts between her and male customers, many whom would crossed the line, leading to confrontations that frequently got her fired. She was still sa beautiful woman, and some men unfortunately wanted to take advantage of her.

I saw our constant bmovement as an adventure. I was young and She was my whole world. Although, we moved from state to state, as long as I was with my mama, i was genuinely happy. Singing along with her on the road in our red junk car, All I could remember feeling was pure joy. But, No matter where we settled, and on how good the job was, we always ended up leaving. We finally reached a southern texan town of Old road, where eventually my mother got in contact with an old school mate of hers who ran the rodeo in town.

"We looking for a performer for our band, someone to get those boys riled up"he pleaded, "You're a really good singer Sandie, Why don't you try it out" he asked

"No thank you, Adam. You know the rodeo 'aint an acceptable place to raise a child. Especially a girl one. Allie's almost five now. She needs a stable environment where she can start schooling and make friends" she chided

" Give it a chance darling. Now, I know you aint implying that my establishment aint respectable enough for her royal highness". He stated mockingly "As far as I see, it's a good deal. We got some permanent staff like our foreman pauly and his wife's, Ashley's who's the secretary. They've got three kids and they manage okay" he moved closer and pleaded

"I know much you loved to be on stage and folks still remember you from them pageant days, wi...with your presence here, you could draw in more capital. It'd be very profitable and I'd make it worth your while" he promised.

So, mama began performing there and immediately became the rodeo's main attraction. With her flamboyant outfits and electric performances; she became the start attraction. A born performer, she always blew the crowd away. I loved watching her on stage and sometimes even joined her during weekends and holidays to sing duets with her. I quickly became a part of her act; the mama- daughter duo and raked in lots of viewerships for each finale performances together. With all that hype, We managed to make a decent living for ourselves.

A video of me performing a rock song solo went viral and my mum immediately got contacted by a talent scout..."Call me 'Mr Scheiber' little girl" my first impression of him, was of a bald orange man with blue tinted glasses and light brown suit. He looked and acted strange. Spoke with a different accent, and was thrown out from our trailer by my mother immediately he introduced himself. It took three weeks of constant harassment and even a police report, before she finally agreed to meet with him and hear his case. She'd wanted to refuse immediately, until she heard the contract stipulations. They were from a big record company. They were planning to assemble the next global supetstars and wanted to make me a singer.

After the meeting, my mother and I sat down at the kichenette counter. She stared dreamily at me holding the proposed contract with the figure they were willing to pay to sign me. She sighed, probably remembering her own dreams of stardom and fame; with the usual bittersweet glint in her eyes.

"Allie swan...this seems too good to be true, do you...do you want to give this a try. To be famous?" she enquired " What does being famous mean mama?" I'd asked innocently.

She paused and gave me an Earnest look " It means millions of people knowing who you are, wanting to be yours and wanting to own you baby..."I was too young to understand, all I'd wanted Naively was to continue having fun singing and dancing on stage

"Is that a good thing?" She hesitated for a bit " It means having people adore you and hate you so much at the same time... it's not for everyone"

"Can i get famous from performing at crowds like you on stage mama?"

"Yes dear, even more so...but you're just so young, I'm worried, that you wouldn't be able to cope. But this opportunity, It's to big to pass up"

"People are always so happy when we sing for them mama, I wanna make everybody around the world cheer my name just like they do yours" I beamed

"Is that what you feel?"

" Yes mama I wanna be famous"

My mum called the agent the next day, and I was scouted. We moved to California after the end of the negotiations and I officially signed as a trainee. Six months later I debuted as the main vocalist and youngest member of a teenage pop group. I had just turned eight.

Lucky for her, Mama remarried a year later.

Once upon a time...

Strange men fell from the sky. They had skin like silver and eyes like lighting. The stories of these beings, bringing with them the colours of the night, descending with strange beasts from hell, settling on their lands and having contact with the native population, were passed down from generation to generation. The "outworlders" integrated themselves into the native territories and stayed hidden from the rest of the world and ofcourse began to procreate with the people of that land.

As the world went through industrialization, many of their lands remain undiscovered for thousands of years, Until Expeditions by European colonists caused them to unlock the secrets of the hidden civilization. The explorers, although had heard stories, tales of a race filled with magic, they had truly been terrified to have stumbled across the people they had scoffed at as being folklore.

The villagers were strange looking Hybrids that had human features but strangely an unnatural aura around them. Isolation of their species had meant they flourished undisturbed for several years undisturbed. The explorers soon discovered, that these people had special skills and carried out amazing abilities.

Though the original settlers had long since passed, their progeny retained their various telekinetic and psychic abilities Impressed by this strange type of people whose bodies pulsed with energy, the west quickly began trading with them trying to conquer this lost civilization. They also seemed in possession of strange technology, technology that was so impossible ad that time. They could only be described by the word "ALIEN". Eventually the colonists tried to exploit for them for their own gain, but failed as Bthese people had their own government. Their rulers were autocratic and were ruthless after the stopped tolerating, the infiltration of strangers into their land. They controlled the skies and earth around them. Riding on flying dragon like Ziev beasts, these giant fangtooth winged monsters rained down hellfire on their enemies and could only be flown by rulers of pureblood whom control them .

Due to their isolation, inbreeding had been rampant, making half their royal bloodline to be cursed with madness and undiluted power. Their bloodlines. had been strife with betrayal and bloodlust, intrigue and legends; Characterized by their pale eyes and characteristic power weiding, shape shifting abilities. The West was rightly terrified of them.The outworlders had borne children, special, by nature with powers and abilities that defied nlogic. So powerful they could control minds and wield the basic elements. It was incredible, nothing the world had witnessed before. And because they largely stayed out of the world's sight, they developed secretly as a great civilization of warriors and wielders.

A strange land in Euroneasia, that was called Abian by their neighbors. Several attempts were made by the Europeans to invade and unsuccessfully try to colonise the citizens, wars broke out. Which led to castastrophic deaths on both sides. A peace accord was brokered to prevent any more hostile taking of land, resources or people. This caused large scale trading with the industrial countries as they slowly became wealthy as a nation. As the world changed and America became the world power. The countries of the world had learned to accept them.

Until, King Mareu, a conqueror by nature, insulted with the high-handedness of the world's powers began another great war. This time, he invaded America, flying with his soldiers, destroying major cities in a bid to gain control. The Americans responded with firepower. Maureu whom wielded the element of water caused a tsunami by raising the ocean to its highest peak consuming the whole western sea board. He summoned his war chiefs and successfully invaded the states one by one, turning them to Abian colonies.

Although, the USA had nuclear power and atomic bombs, they couldn't fight against high powered mutants that rode on fiery firery ZIEV beasts, no matter how sophisticated their weapons were. Their soildiers razed whomever opposed them to the ground. The government eventually surrendered and America Officially lost the war, and the rest of the world was next for Mareu's taking.