Everyone wants the good girl to win.

And that is why you never see the bad guys win, no one wants to show you the little victories evil has every day.

But someone has to educate you. And that might as well be me.

Ella turned, and with one last tear, she was gone. She whispered "I'll miss you more than you know, but now I must leave." And with the swish of a black cloak, she did as promised.

She was scared of Alana. Sure she was, and why shouldn't she be? But running away for Alana's sake? You had to question her sanity. Which was exactly what she was doing. It all came back to one thing:

She was scared of Alana.

When you're scared of someone, you do what they say for fear of what would happen if you didn't. Ella was more than familiar with fear, it always overcame her. Her life had always been severely restricted by all the "What if?"s she always asked herself. And, of course, she hated that. She hated herself for that.

But after all of it she was still coming back to Alana.

Maybe she liked her more than she thought. Maybe, somewhere in her subconscious, Ella thought Alana was a friend. She shoved that thought out of her head immediately. She knew how dangerous Alana was. And above all, she knew Alana was using her. For what? Maybe a stepping stone in her "plan", which she often referred to. Maybe for her own amusement. But most likely for something so evil Ella couldn't even fathom it.

And that was what scared her most.

Sure, you can be scared about all the "What if?"s in life, and you can be scared of what might happen to you, but it's far scarier to think about what you don't know.

Because, even if they say otherwise, what you don't know hurts you so much worse than ANYTHING you know.

Think about it, do you know all of the worst evils in the world? Nope. And Ella knew this. And that is why she was so scared. She had to shove all thought out of her head to walk along the path to meet Alana. So many times she came close to running away…

And let me let you in on a little secret. She should have.

So from here on, I'll show you that. What DID happen, and what would have.

Just to torture you.

So without further ado…

Each and every hole in the brush was more conspicuous to Ella. Everywhere she turned a new escape seemed to pop up. It was only a matter of time until she took one…

So she did. There was this hole in the hedges surrounding her path. There were lots, actually. Ella guessed that it wasn't well kept… but that doesn't matter. What matters is that she slipped right through that hedge, deciding against meeting Alana. She smiled, wondering how long before one of Alana's minions caught her.

She had a guess. A long time.

She would make sure of it. Her life depended on this very thing… running. Running away. Running away fast. And when Ella's life depended on something, she usually got it. Without your life you are NOTHING, and Ella wasn't going to go for that. She would rather die.

And that is what is so misguided about your heros. They never have a choice. If someone saves themselves from the bad guy, how is this extraordinary about someone who stays alive? You do it every day, don't you? And what, exactly is so special about you? Hmmm? Oh, don't even look hurt. You know you are nothing more than a human being, and a primitive one at that. I admire those that rise above their bad qualities, rise above to become something great. And then you call them bad. "Evil". You say there is something wrong with their minds. When the real truth is that they, and only they, use their brains to their full power. You should admire and respect them, when instead you hope that your "hero", a normal person (aside from their huge ego), will stop them. It makes me sick.

But I'm rambling, now. You want to hear of your beloved hero's triumphs. You want to hear tales of happiness and dancing and singing. You want to win the battle between good and evil. You want so much, but I am afraid not much of it will happen for you.

What about Ella? What does she want?

She wants everything to be normal. She wants all her mistakes to be ignored. Is it fair to give her what she wants?

The same goes for you and the entire human race. Forgiveness is too good for you. Many may forgive you, but if even your own kind sometimes cannot, what does that say of you?

Her thoughts were nothing like mine. Ella was practically walking on air, simply because she had not come willingly. I'm so impressed. She was thinking thoughts of her homecoming, which she could not wait for. To see the smile on her family's faces! To wrap her younger sister in a big hug! Too see her friends again, and explain everything, with the hope that they could forgive her for the months she'd ignored her. She'd tell them it'd all been Alana's fault, and they'd love her again. They could be the fabulous five again. It would happen! Of course it would! She grinned.

And then the smile faded off her face. Where was she? And more importantly, just where was home? She was quite simply in a forest, using the term lightly. All it seemed to be was the occasional tree. "Must beware the trees, they feel not but still have needs…" reciting the short poem calmed her nerves, though the particular poem should have increased her anxiety. Funny how the mind works in odd situations, isn't it? You tend to focus on something that amuses you and tune out your problems. Sadly, they DO come back, and you have a good cry about how everything happens to you, when in reality if you'd dealt with it earlier you'd be fine.

So Ella is tromping about among these trees singing a warning poem and paying absolutely no heed to it.