1 Chapter 1: September 20, 2001

Milo sat there and blankly stared at the counselor's desk. Thousands of thoughts ran through his head as he unconsciously ignored Mrs. Robinson, the counselor. His thoughts continued to go back to the situation that brought him her. Then he snapped back to reality.

"Sorry, I kinda zoned out there, but anyway, what were you saying?"

Amber Robinson let out a soft sigh before repeating herself.

"I know how hard it is to lose someone that you care about, but would you like to talk about what happened?"

He chewed on his lower lip as his gaze drifted down to the desk. He had hoped that he could have avoided talking about what happened, but it appeared that he would have to jump headfirst into the subject. He let out a sigh before he spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper.

"She fucking killed herself."

He let out another sigh before he pushed the hair from in front of his face and looked back up into Mrs. Robinson's eyes.

"How the fuck are you going to help me make any sense of that?"

She let out a concerned sigh as she both thought of a way to respond and relate to his situation. As she continued to think, she picked up her coffee cup and took a drink of her cold beverage, then placed the cup back down on her desk.

"Milo, I know it's rough, but we need to somehow find a way to work through this. Now, can we talk about the nightmare that you've been having and began to tell me about during our last conversation?"

He took a deep breath and nodded as tears began to form in his eyes.

"It always starts the same fucking way. I walk up to the front door of Sasha's house and it's always wide open."

He paused to take another deep breath and push the hair back out of in front of his face.

"I feel this intense blast of frigid air coming from the house before I even walk inside. It's always dark and kinda warped like some set of fucking horror movie."

He looked back down at the desk as he visualized what he was saying.

"That's when I make my way down the hallway. I see these strangely beautiful, yet disturbing shadow figures from the corner of both of my eyes, but before I can turn they disappear. That's when I get to her bedroom door and it's slightly ajar, letting out a bright yet tiny sliver of light."

He paused again for a moment before he continued.

"For some reason, well I know why, but I always hesitate before I open the door and I'm greeted by the same horrific sight of her hanging there. That's when I wake up."

He looked back up into Mrs. Robinson's eyes as one solitary tear ran down his cheek.

She looked at him with sympathetic eyes as she thought about her response, then a heavy sigh escaped her lips before she spoke.

"I'm sorry that you have to continue to relive that, Milo."

She looked down at her coffee cup then back up at him.

"Would you like something to drink?"

She asked as she stood up and walked around her desk, then placed her hand on his shoulder as she waited for him to respond.

He looked up at her and nodded as he gave her a weak little smile.

"Sure, I'll have a Diet Coke, please."

She smiled at him as she patted on his shoulder.

"Okay, one Diet Coke coming right up."

Then she nodded before she began to make her way out of the office.

He watched her leave the room, as he did, he found himself staring at her ass. Then after she was out of sight, he shook his head and looked down to reach into his backpack. He pulled out a copy of 'The Killing Joke' by Alan Moore. He sat there and read as he waited for Mrs. Robinson to return. He continued to read for approximately a minute, then looked up as he heard her walk back into the office.

She smiled at him as she made her way back to the desk. She sat the can of Diet Coke down as she walked around to her chair, then sat down.

He looked at the can as he put his book down, then looked back up and gave her a weak, forced smile.

"Thank you, Mrs. Robinson."

"You're very welcome, Milo."

She said and watched as he opened the can. She then looked down and opened a manila envelope that contained his student file. She began to read, then pulled out a pen.

"Your full name is Milo Anton Villain, is that correct?"

He nodded as he placed the can back on the desk, then looked up at her as he spoke.

"And my parent's names are Henri Francis Villain and Alicia Inez Villain, her maiden name was Perez."

She nodded as she smiled at him then looked back down at the file.

"Good to see that, that's correct."

Then she read a little bit more.

"Is this your correct date of birth, June 14, 1985?"

"Yeah, that's correct."

He said as he grabbed the can of Diet Coke, then took a drink as he waited for her to ask another question. That's when his thoughts started to drift to his girlfriend, Nemesis. Then he snapped back to reality when Mrs. Robinson spoke again.

"So, what are you reading there, Milo?"

She asked as she pointed at the book that he placed on the desk.

He looked at it.

"Oh, that's 'The Killing Joke' by Alan Moore."

He answered as he picked it up and handed her the graphic novel.

She took it and started to look through it, then smiled.

"Did you Dad get this for you?"

"No, my, um, my Stepmom's brother got it for my birthday."

He said as she handed it back to him. Then he sighed and looked back up at her.

"Can I go use the bathroom?"

She nodded and smiled at him.

"Yes, but come right back here when you're done."

"Thank you."

He said before he stood up and started to walk out of the room.

She bit her lower lip as she found herself checking him out, then as he left the room she shook her head.

"What are you thinking, Amber? He's only sixteen."

She said to herself, then shrugged and smiled to herself.

"But he is hot though."

She mumbled to herself as she went back to his files. As she continued to read, she got to a section that went into how the death of his mother affected him. She closed the file as tears began to well up in her eyes.

"Poor kid."

- - -

He finished at the urinal before he turned and walked over to the sink. Then as he washed his hands, he looked at his reflection in the mirror.

"Fuck, Milo, you look rough."

He said to himself before he looked down and splashed water on his face. He stood up and dried off his hands, then he reached into the pocket of his skinny jeans and pulled out an eyeliner pencil.

"Let's fix that shit."

He said sarcastically to himself as he reached up and fixed his eye makeup. After he finished, he places the eyeliner back in his pocket. Then he looked back up at his reflection in the mirror and nodded. As he turned around and began to walk, he slipped on a puddle that he hadn't noticed when he walked in. He fell backward in what felt like slow-motion, then his vision went black as the back of his head smacked violently against the sink, breaking off a small chunk of porcelain. That's when the end of class bell rang as he laid there, unconscious, in a small poll of blood that had just begun to form.