A/N: Okay, prepare for this intense, emotional story.

Enjoy, read and review if you like.

Chapter 1

A Feud Between The Past and The Present

"Go faster! Hurry! They're gaining on us!" My best friend of two years squealed, clapping her hands together in thrilled excitement. I grinned widely, and sped up by ten MPH. The eerie sirens of the cop cars were behind us, wailing a warning to everyone around.

The moon was high in the sky now, glimmering against the street lights and basking the roads in glorious florescent lights. My red Corvette Z06 raced ahead of the cops, towards a dead end. This was my favorite part. I'd had my baby modified the year before, thanks to Ellyria's brother, Maximillion. I was at 198 MPH now. The large brick wall of the apartment complex came into view and Elly squealed in delight again.

Flashing lights popped into my rearview mirror and just a few yards from the guardrails and brick construction, I swung the wheel in a full three-sixty degree circle. I pressed on the breaks, hearing the screech of complaint from my baby. It came to a stop, and Elly and I watched as the three cop cars stopped in front of us. Their front doors all opened, and each cop was holding a gun in their hands.

They wouldn't shoot. They never did. I rolled my window down just a couple inches, so I could hear the front cop speak into his loudspeaker. His voice echoed through the vacant night.

"Please step out of the car with your hands up!" he ordered.

I gave an ignorant whistle, and then turned up my radio so loud that it made my ears ring. The song, "Breathe Into Me" by Red was on, and I couldn't help but smirk.

The cop repeated himself. One of the braver men began walking towards my car. I leaned over to Elly so she could hear me over the music. "Are you ready?" I asked, loud and clear. She turned and gave me a thumbs-up and a sheepish grin.

I turned back to the road with a triumphant grin on my face. I tapped my fingers on the wheel and waited just seconds until the brave man was meters from my car. I suddenly became glad for tinted windows and duct tape over license plates.

"Go!" Elly shouted. I spun the wheel all the way to the left, away from the man beside my car, and then slammed my foot on the gas pedal. Elly rolled down her window as we ripped out of the dead end and between two of the cop cars. The cops shouted in surprise, jumping out of the way to avoid being hit. Elly stuck her hand out the window, flipping the police a birdie.

My car was going well over 200 MPH, but I didn't slow down until we reached the highway to my house. Or, the highway to my hell, to be exact. I turned down the music and began laughing. Elly was clutching her sides and nearly in tears as she giggled and choked on her laughs.

"Oh God! That is so much fun! I'll never get enough of that! It's always different cops, too!" she snickered. I smiled over at her and raised my eyebrows.

"Yeah, remember Officer Don? I think I ran over his foot that last time."

Elly chuckled some more. "Avanni Maddox, you are a cruel woman." she joked. I gave an evil laugh.

"Yes, and you, Ellyria Schneider, are the only one who knows of my evil intentions!"

Elly snorted. "Well, unless you include Max…" she trailed off and winked at me. I kept my eyes on the highway, watchful of the other few cars driving at this time of night.

"Oh please, Maximillion only helps with boosting my baby's speed. He has nothing to do with my evil intentions." I stuck my nose in the air with a small smile adorning my face.

"I'm actually pretty sure he's part of your sinister intentions, Ava."

I shrugged. "He's cute and all, but too obsessed with his cars and video games." I told her, pulling onto an exit. Elly eyed me from the corner of her eye.

"He likes you a lot though."

"Yes, and he's also a year younger then me." I reminded her, raising an eyebrow as if to question her almost-non-existent stupidity.

"No he's not! He's four months younger! He'll be seventeen in February!"

I smiled at her and chose to drop the subject. "I'm going to get one hell of a scolding when I get home." I muttered dryly. Elly rolled her eyes.

"You always get away with it though. I guess that's the luck with having an dad who is a sheriff and a mom who is the principal of our school." Elly reminded me. I drove into her driveway, where Max was sitting on the front porch, sucking on a lollipop and playing his DS. I shared a glance with Elly as he looked up and waved to me through the window.

"Should he be up at midnight?" I asked curiously. Elly gave a short laugh as she climbed out of my car.

"Of course not. Thanks for the amazing ride! See you tomorrow!" she said, and I bid her a goodbye as she shut the door. Max sent one last smile my direction, before him and Elly entered their two-story, light blue house.

I sighed heavily and pulled out of their driveway. My house was only a few blocks away. Elly had said I was lucky to have two supportive parents.

But they were foster parents.

Not even Elly knew that I had been molested and abused by my real father. My biological mother had died at birth with me, and I grew up for twelve years, dealing with the brutal and vindictive father until finally I did something about it.

I walked into my house skillfully quiet, sneaking around the bend of stairs to avoid my father's harsh, unforgiving eyes. The TV was on in the next room and I knew he was watching it; sitting on the couch and awaiting for my entrance. I stepped up the first stair, wincing when it creaked underneath my twelve-year-old weight. I paused a moment, waiting for the scratchy voice of my father.

Nothing. I sucked in a deep breath and went to lope up the rest of them quickly, so I could succeed in getting to my room and lock the door behind me.

But my next steps never made it. A powerful hand latched onto my arm and jerked me off the stairs and onto the floor. I cried out in shock, seeing the bloodshot eyes of my angry father.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" he said angrily, and reached down to grab my by the shoulders. He lifted me up off the ground and shook me as if trying to knock the answers out of my brain.

"Nothing!" I sobbed, tears dripping to the floor as they slid down my cheeks one after another. "I-I'm sorry! I just had to go to the bathroom!"

"And you can't even greet your goddamn father?" he snarled in my face. I was thrown back to the floor, this time sliding into the wall. My feet hit the small cupboard against the wall, shaking it. An antique plate slipped off of it and shattered against the hardwood floor. My dad roared in anger. "That was your mothers! What do you take me for? I raised you! I fed you! I gave you a roof to live under, and this is how you treat me?"

I was crying so hard I couldn't even open my mouth to reply. He leaned down and grabbed my cheek, forcing me to look at him. His hand touched the top of my collarbone as he suddenly smirked at me.

"Did I hurt you, honey?" he asked softly, caressing my cheek. Before I could say anything, his hand on my cheek pulled back swiftly and slapped me across the face. I cried out again, my head snapping to the side.

There, I noticed the sharp shard of the porcelain plate. Out of the corner of my eye, my father raised his hand again. Before I rethought my actions, I grabbed the shard and flung my arm blindly towards the man that was my dad. Everything went silent then, and I heard the sickening sound of the sharp end of the porcelain stabbing into my fathers stomach.

I could hear cops in the background, as my father choked blood up on me.

The memories were cold and always made me shiver. I would never forget the day I had finally stood up to him; my young mind having taking on the defense. To this day, he was alive and in jail.

My foster parents, Joshua and Rebecca, had taken good care of me since then. They put me into self-defense classes and even a karate class. I was a black-belt, and half the students at our school were afraid shitless of me. But it wasn't just because of my five years of training in those courses, it was because…

I was a rebelling, chaotic teenager who had a problem with authority and constantly got into trouble.

Tonight was just one of those very many things I did to have some fun. I wasn't an immature, stupid teen who threw eggs at people's houses and cars and drew all over the school walls. Nope. I was the one who told the teachers off when I needed to, lit the bathroom on fire a couple times, locked the doors of the school to keep the teachers from coming in, and even sneaking out every other night to meet up with my friends to have the usual party.

The greatest thing I enjoyed was out-driving the cops. It was like showing off at the same time.

Want to know how I avoided them calling more on me? Tinted windows and duct tape on the license plates. I was sure I had broken the law a few times in the past month or two, but hell, it was worth it.

It took my mind off of my father.

I didn't want to be a sissy and hide in my bedroom, writing constantly in a diary and crying as to why God made it like this. No, I took drastic measures -all the damn time.

I finally arrived at my house and climbed out of my car. Before the lights went on in the house, I quickly tore off the duct tape covering my plates, and then threw it all into the garbage before entering my house. I walked past the living room with a heavy sigh, and then down the hall to my room.

"Uh-uh, you better stop right there, missy." Becca's voice ordered from behind me. Instantly, the living room light flashed on and I looked back in annoyance. My foster mother and father were sitting on the long couch, giving me intent stares.

"How are you guys on this fine night?" I greeted, waving a hand and then turning to continue to my room. They both gave an annoyed groan.

"Avanni Lane Maddox, stop right now!" Joshua said in a stern voice. I stopped walking, but refused to turn back. "Pray tell me you have not been running from my men again."

I smirked, but it went unseen by them. "Running? Oh please, I went driving." I laughed. Then I opened my door. "G'night, see you in the morn'." I said, cutting off any of their replies. I shut my door behind me and quickly dressed into pajamas, before crawling under my dark violet comforter. I glanced out my window, at the high moon centered in the sky… and then fell asleep without a second thought.

The next morning, I made the normal routine. Shower, blow-dry hair, straighten it, apply eyeliner, and then grab my bag. I never ate breakfast, it was always lunch and dinner. I hopped down the stairs in a cheerful mood thanks to last night -besides the memories of my father-, and greeted my tired foster father. Becca had already gone to the school since she was the principal, but Joshua was eating bacon and eggs and reading the newspaper.

He looked up at me as I skipped into the room, and grabbed a glass of orange juice. His eyes trailed over my outfit and then back to my face with a grimace. "What in the world are you wearing?" he demanded. He must have forgotten about last night.

I looked down at my ripped, black skinny jeans and dark purple shirt with white words, saying, "I Consider Biting Foreplay" along the front of my chest. As I walked past him, finishing off my orange juice with my converse slapping against the tile, I grinned at him. Then I set my empty cup in front of him, turned, and walked to the bathroom to brush my teeth.

It was a habit not to answer when he commented on my clothing. He'd make even a bigger deal about it, and then demand I change. I slipped my bag over my shoulders and yelled my goodbyes to Joshua, before exiting the house and climbing into my car.

I met up with Elly and Max on the way and picked them up. Max sat behind me and Elly was always in the passengers seat. "So how did your night go?" Max asked me, curiosity edging his smooth voice.

Elly and I shared a look. Then I answered, "Well, it went amazing, like always."

Max gave a whine. "When will I be allowed to go?"

"When you turn seventeen."

Elly giggled. "See, Max, you only got a couple months left to go. Just be patient!" she told him, as we drove into our school parking lot. A lot of the student body eyes turned as my pretty Corvette drove into the usual parking spot. I spotted the most annoying girl of the school:

Sienna Murphy. She was the prep of course, and always managed to get the hot guys with that ditzy brain of hers that was no bigger than a walnut. How she succeeded to even pass her classes, I would never know. She gave my way a scowl, before turning back to her several boy toys. We climbed out of the car and approached the school. Elly and Max were chatting to each other about the night before.

School went by quickly, and by the time fifth period came around, after lunch, Elly and I were already tired. Of course, getting to sleep at midnight and having to wake up at five in the morning kind of interrupted the beauty sleep.

We sat down next to each other, talking in awe that none of the teachers had decided to get on my nerves today. When the bell rang, however, the teacher was the first to talk.

"Students! I would like to introduce a new student, a son of the new vice principal. It would be wise to treat him with the utmost respect."

Without turning to get a glance at the new kid, I snorted. Then I looked over as the class went quiet. My jaw nearly dropped to the floor. Standing at the front of the room, staring at me along with everybody else in the room, was the…I didn't even have a word to describe him. He was so handsome and dangerous looking at the same time, that part of me wanted to rape him right then and there, and the other part of me wanted to run away screaming.

But I never ran away from things. The teacher's glare hardened. "Is there something you find amusing, Maddox?" he demanded. I turned my now fiery gaze onto Mr. Butcher with an irritated expression.

"Yes. That being when I first came to the school, that you never said I needed to be treated with the utmost respect. And my mother is the actual principal." I reminded him. Mr. Butcher paled a bit. Before he could open his wrinkly mouth to retort, the new guy intervened.

"Miss Maddox," he began most diligently, in a charming way with a disarming smile, "my grandfather was the founder of this school. My father is good friends with Rebecca Maddox."

I could only stared at him. He had rendered me speechless. How many times had anyone managed to do that? The new guy gave me a small smile, and I suddenly wanted to gauge his soft green eyes out of his pretty head. I scowled at him and then turned away, not wishing to believe he had just embarrassed me.

Mr. butcher finally said, "Anyway… His name is Alexander Darquecaster. Please welcome him. Alexander-"

"Please, just Alec." he interrupted with another charming smile. Mr. Butcher nodded his apology.

"You may sit wherever."

Alec chose to sit on the opposite side of the classroom, just a couple seats back from Sienna. I made a face as I turned to Elly while Mr. Butcher went back to his lectures.

"He is an official asshole." I muttered under my breath. Elly flickered her dreamy gaze onto me. She had a goofy smile on her heart-shaped face. I nearly groaned.

"I think he was sexaaaaayyyyy!" she whispered dramatically. I stared at her, horrified. I loved her so much as a sister, and yet sometimes I wondered how I managed to when she acted like this.

We went back to feigning we were listening to Mr. Butcher. Just once, I looked back to watch Alec for just a couple moments. He was watching the board and taking notes at the same time. Then suddenly, as if he sensed my gaze, he glanced over at me. I gave a curt glare and then went back to doodling in my notebook.

I was going to make his life a living hell.

Little did I know, it was going to be the exact opposite.