Dark. Everything was pitch black. I couldn't see a thing. I wasn't even sure where I stood or why I was there. But I knew I wasn't alone. I could feel someone's hot breath on the back of my neck, sending chills down my spine. The sound of laughter and screams rang in my ears. I closed my eyes hoping that this was just a dream.

"I'm coming for you, Sammi." a sinister voice whispered, "You can't hide from me, Sammi." The figure grabbed me, shaking me violently. I kicked and screamed.

"Sammi wake up!" A soft spoken voice caused me to open my eyes. A pair of bright blue eyes met mine. My best friend, Maria, sat on the end of my bed. She had long brown hair that she always wore in a ponytail, she had beautiful tan skin, and she was curvy. She mostly wore dresses, skirts, heels, and bright/pastel colors. She moved from Hawaii to South Korea when she was 5. We met in the 7th grade. Since no one wanted to be friends with the foreigner I decided to take a chance and befriend her. Now we're so close we know each other better than ourselves.

"Good morning Sleeping Beauty."

"What are you doing here?" I sat up, yawning. She always came to my house to walk to school with me but it was the first day of summer.

"Well I figured since it's the first day of summer we could go to the amusement park." She loved going to the amusement park, especially for the rollercoasters.

"Right now? It's only..." I looked at the clock beside my bed. 3:20 PM? "Really? 3:20?"

"Yea you probably just went to sleep late. Like you do almost every night." I was that girl that would stay up reading fanfictions, watching random videos, and just doing stupid things to entertain myself. That was one of the reasons why Maria had to come to my house everyday before school.

"Good point. I'll get ready and meet you downstairs then we'll go get breakfast." I said slowly getting out of bed.

"Ok but hurry." She rushed out of my room as I made my way to the bathroom. Every morning I do the same thing. I take a minute to examine myself and see the features my parents passed on to me. I had my mother's caramel colored eyes, her thin lips, and her long dark hark. The things I got from my dad were mostly personality traits. My grandmother always told me I had my father's curiosity, cleverness, and kindness. My mother was a strong, feisty woman and I ended up with those traits as well.

After staring at myself I brushed my teeth, took a quick shower, fixed my hair and put on a random outfit. I wore a red and black plaid shirt with a black tank top underneath, some shorts, and some red sneakers. I wasn't much of a fashionista and I never cared what anyone said. I just wore what was comfortable to me.

I made my way downstairs and Mari and I made our way to our local café. As we walked, Maria talked about the things she planned for us for the summer. The moment she started complaining about her parents not letting her go to any parties I thought of how lucky she was to have her parents. I would love to have parents to tell me I can't go to any parties or ground me when I disobey them or a dad to protect me from any boy that even looked at me. But sadly I don't have that and I never will. My parents are long gone and I now live with my grandparents. I have to take care of them instead. I've had to grow up fast and learn harsh life lessons at a young age. I'm only 16 but my grandfather says I think like a grown woman who has been though nothing but pain all her life.

"Oh, did you hear about the murder that happened last night?" Maria said pulling me out if my thoughts, "It's all over the news."

"Murder?" I asked. I didn't even realize that we had made it to the café. We went inside, ordered some coffee, and sat at a table by the window.

"Yea, it happened right here in Seoul. A 18 year old girl named Park Eun Kyung. She was murder in her home. My mom says the scene was gruesome. She says this is her worst case in Korea."

Maria's mom is a detective. She always told us about the cases she worked on and the criminals she caught. I only wished she would catch the man who took my family away from me but he could be long gone by now.

"That poor girl's family. I can't imagine the pain they must be feeling knowing that their little girl is gone."

"I can." I said, "I know exactly how they would feel." Mari grabbed my hand running her thumb over it. She was one of the two only people I told about what happened to my parents. Every detail.

"I'm sorry Sam."

As if on cue my boyfriend, Jackson, walked right through the front door. I met Jackson when he moved here from Hong Kong, a whole year after me and Mari became friends. Jackson had beautiful brown eyes, soft black hair, and always wore a big adorable smile on his face. He wore mostly baggy clothes and snapbacks.

"Hey" He sat beside me, kissing my cheek. "What's up?"

"Well we were talking about the murder that recently happened." Mari said.

"That's just depressing." He pouted slightly. I rolled my eyes. The waiter finally came to our table and gave us our drinks.

"You know what's not depressing?"

"Amusement Parks?" I swear these two could be secretly related.

"Exactly."

 

Now I love rides, candies, and ridiculous games with giant stuffed animals as much as anybody else but my mind would hardly focus on having fun. Somehow, someway, I would always think about the day my childhood was over. At 7 years old I lost two of the most important people in my life. My parents. It was exactly 4 months before my birthday, my parents had just finished telling me an old folktale like they always did when I went to sleep. Just as I was drifting off I heard loud yelling. My dad was telling someone to get out of our house. Being a very curious little girl, I tip-toed downstairs to find my dad's lifeless body on the floor. My walked in screaming like a teenage girl in a corny horror movie. I hid behind the wall where they couldn't see me, my mind racing. I never got a good look at the man's face but he was tall and slender. He stepped closer to my mother as she backed farther away. Before she could make a run for the phone he grabbed her arm and held her in place. Tears fell down her face like mini waterfalls. I was too paralyzed and scared to take action. Without any warning he took a small pocket knife and brought it to her right eye. My heart stopped. He took both of her eyes and dropped her body. He looked around, putting the eyes in his pocket. And for a spilt second it felt like we made eye contact. Silently he made his way out of the door as if nothing happened. I waited for a few moments until I felt safe. Walking cautiously over to the two, my breathing was slow and rough. The image of the two eyeless, motionless bodies still stuck in the back of my mind to this very day.

"Sammi!" Jackson shook my shoulders lightly. "You alright?"

"Yea I'm fine. Let's just have some fun. Okay?"

But little did I know the fun was about to begin that day.