Ariel Winter plays Shannon 

 "I need another story, Something to get off my chest, My life gets kinda boring, Need something that I can confess, Til' all my sleeves are stained red, From all the truth that I've said, Come by it honestly I swear, " Secrets~ OneRepublic  

Before I begin your letter, Shannon, I have to think. Think about all the people dying from depression deep inside. It kills me to remember every detail of what I have done to hurt people, and this has only been the tenth letter.

After what I've done to you, I deserve to die.

I'm sorry.

Don't you remember your view of that night? I remember every detail, from the dresses we were wearing to the temperature.

Well here's my story:

I walked out of the house, everything I needed tucked into my bra. My phone, my wallet, and my keys would fit. Also, I had pockets in my dress, thank God for that.

My phone began playing a soft melody from my chest.

"Shannon." I answered the call.

"Hello. Where are you?" Shannon asked, her voice overlapping the incessant beat in the background.

"Uh, I'm almost there." Bernie's house was close to mine, so it was about three blocks away.

"You there yet?" Shannon asked, after a while of silence.

"Yeah?" I panted, jogging up the porch where she was waiting for me.

"Are you ready?" I asked the nervous girl besides me. This was her first time going to a high school party, and I was kind of happy Shannon decided to ask me to accompany her.

Shannon's dress:

Nat's Dress:

I led her to dance floor where the music was the loudest and grinned when I saw Shannon dance like there was no tomorrow.

"What do you want to drink?" I yelled in her ear, swaying to the music.

She grinned, caught up in the song, "Can you get me a, uh, spiked punch?"

I wrinkled my nose but slid out of the dancing teenagers.
I approached the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water and a cup full of spiked punch.

Of course, I knew Bernie's house like the back of my hand and managed to leave the front door and enter toward the back. That way, the punch wouldn't spill that much.

When I reached Shannon, I gave her the spiked punch and she downed it immediately.

Already, she was tipsy. "Sugar how you get so HIGH?" Shannon was shrieking wildly to the currently song playing.

"Hey, Shannon, you want to sit down for awhile?" I knew I should've settled with regular punch.

Shannon nodded numbly while I led her into Bernie's private bathroom. He allowed me to use it anytime, since I begged him countlessly. Also, I threatened to tell his mother, which was my aunt, that he threw parties while she was away on business trips.

I gave Shannon my unopened water. "Drink." I ordered. I didn't want Shannon to stumble home, drunk. My Dad had made sure of that at some of my wildest parties ever.

"Hey, Natalie? Why are doing this? I mean, helping me sober up." Shannon asked, clenching her head.

"Bad memories." I shrugged, remember flashes of my father's violence and hatred for me.

I remembered the nights when my Dad would call me all sorts of names and I'd run away to get wasted.

When I got home, my Dad literally smacked me, not helping my hangover. I didn't know what Shannon was going through and didn't want her to go through that same shit.

"Oh." Shannon turned her head to look at the shower, "I think I should go home."

A grim smiled appeared on my face, "Oh. Alright then. But first, I'm going to pee."

Shannon stepped out and I sat on the toilet to pee.

When I was wiping my ass, I heard a scream.

I quickly pulled on my dress and flushed the toilet, running outside.

Shannon was nowhere to be seen.

Fear gripped my heart. I slipped around closets, rooms, even the attic.

No sign of Shannon. Her phone, however, was left outside of bathroom door, where I supposed she stood while waiting for me.

"Shannon?" I called.

No luck.

Then, I remembered that Bernie had a basement, the only place where I had not checked.

I paled, remembering what was down there.

I saw Bernie, refilling the spiked punch, "Bernie, I'm going down to your basement. If I don't return in ten minutes, you are to go down and help me." Bernie's eyes widened, "Fuck that, I'm coming with you, cousin. Whatever shit you got into now, I'm going in with you too."

I smiled slightly and we raced to the basement.

I held my breath and opened the door slowly.

There were sounds in there.

Bernie leaned over and flickered on the lights.

Was I ever so surprised to see Parker, trying to shove Shannon into the laundry machine that had killed eight people before?

"PARKER!" I bellowed.

The sound echoed.

He looked up, a snarl on his face, "Shannon deserves it, after what shit she did."

Shannon broke free, taking advantage of the distraction, and ran toward us.

Parker made a move to grab her but I stopped him with a glare.

"Parker, I will skin you alive if you don't tell me why." I sneered. Shannon reached us and hid behind Bernie and I, mascara running down her face, her body racking silent sobs.

"She," Parker pointed to the cowering girl behind me, "works at the restaurants I take my dates to and I found out it was her, that kept telling my dates that I was just using them for her body."

I shrugged, adding fuel to the fire, "Can't deny that."

With a roar, Parker jumped onto me and tried to hit me.

I screamed and swung hands, anything to keep Parker from hitting me.

Scratches and bruises began to form on both of us before Bernie could finally knock Parker unconscious.

Shannon was crying, probably still in shock and terrified.

"I'm sorry." I muttered, casting my gaze down. It was my fault Shannon had been dragged into this.

"Hey, let me take you home." I offered as Bernie conforted her.

She nodded numbly and I quickly hugged Bernie, "I owe you everything."

"Of course you do." He teased, worry overtaking his features, "Call me if you run into any trouble."

His gaze landed on Shannon and scribbled something on a post it before giving it to her, "Hey, call me if you get into any trouble."

My eyes widened, but I said nothing. Ever since Bernie broke up with his last girlfriend, he stopped getting his hopes up.

He would claim that they would be "just friends" , but I highly doubted that.

I guided Shannon out and into the night.

"So, where do you live?" I asked, holding her hand.

She tensed up slightly, but didn't pull away, "Near the supermarket." My eyes danced around the serene night. It could been nice, if the Parker thing did not happen.

We walked silently until we reached an apartment near the supermarket.

"Here's where I live." Shannon muttered, and tried to slip away.

"Hey." I called out to her. She turned back, almost annoyed, "What is it, Natalie?"

I grimaced, "Okay, I get it that you might not really like me, but go easy on Bernie. He's hurting too. And if you hurt him like his last girlfriends, I will hunt you down with a knife. Understood?"

She nods, solemnly and I slipped into the night.   

~

Are you with Bernie still, Shannon? You can hate me, curse me, beat me but don't you dare do a thing to him. I will come after you with a knife. 

Hugs and Kisses,

Natalie Palmer

A/N: 

Wow, this chapter's longer than my other letters, and I've added the story scene rather than explaining it. Do you like it better? 

Here is a project I've began to work on: 

After World War IV, Miralara rises out of the ruins of North America. With every great empire, there are rebels. Of course, the Pure Rebels intend to overthrow the power hungry king and rule Miralara with a democracy. The Harrison Rebels want the throne for themselves, claiming that a democracy was useless. Seven girls can just about tip the balance of the rebel's powers. The question is: Will they succeed?

Those covers aren't final, I have a lot more, and I guess I'm going to post covers of projects and see which ones you guys like the best. 

I guess I might not for a while cuz I need to sort my shit out and I also have a lot of crap from school, so yeah. 

~Emily