• There was a knock on the door as they all drank to Cody's toast. I was a little embarassed because I wasn't used to being praised, so I silently excused myself from the festivities to answer the door. To my utter surprise, there stood another of my best friends: Katie G., whom I hadn't seen since my 17th birthday in August.

    "OMG Ayla!! WTF happened to you?" She gasped when she saw the finger-shaped bruises on my neck. I shook my head to indicate it was nothing, because, like most of my friends, she didn't understand sign language.

    "I should have come sooner. I knew you'd get hurt. I don't know how I knew, but I did."She wailed. Then she glomped me, nearly knocking me off of my feet. I made a wooshing sound as she hit one of my broken ribs.

    "Oh, Im so sorry! Did I hurt you."

    "You only hit a broken rib. I doubt that she's in a lot of pain." Sean said sarcastacly. He was Ian's twin brother. For some reason, he had been in a foul mood the whole trip. I turned my head and glared at him. He just gave a small smile.

    "It's O.K. Keke. It don't hurt too bad." I croaked. It was barely louder than a whisper, but I was able to talk. I did a little dance in my head. Now I could speak without an interpreter.

    "Who did this to her?" Keke demanded, glaring at Andrew.

    "Not me, if that's what you think. It was her dead boyfriend."

    "Dead? Nicolai is dead?" She said, shocked.

    "Yes."

    "Who killed him?"

    "My dog." I answered.

    "Why? What did he ever do to you that caused murder?"

    "He nearly killed her, is what. He beat her, raped her and isolated her for a year. I think he deserved what he got, don't you?" Ian snarled, coming out of the hallway.

    "Well, yeah, I guess. But how do you know what he did to her while they were alone?" Keke asked, suspicious.

    "Because he kept a journal. He wrote everything down. Even the way he did it. That b*****d was a sick one. He and Shawna had actually planned to kill her." Ian said, looking somewhat guilty. He probably hadn't planned on telling me these things. I suppose that he wanted to protect my heart from more hurt than it had already received.

    "Come, Keke, I'll show you to your room." I whispered. I had to dress anyways. And I needed a shower. The nastiness was starting to get to me. No way would I have ever have survived with him. I knew that, but I was still hurt that he wanted me dead.

    I showed Keke to her room, which had been prepared yesterday and went into the bathroom. I locked the door behind me just as the tears started falling. I thought that I had had no more tears to shed, but I did. These were over what my poor Isabella had had to do.

    And for the child growing inside of me.