Hey everyone kind enough to read this. The first few chapters were the one in Couldn't think a title yet. I decided to put them together with the new chapters cuz now they actually have a title lol. Sorry if there's no action yet but I'll get to a lot of that later.

Please read it and comment on what you think.

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Prologue

Summer was rolling by, my head has been pounding all night, and the door is almost off its hinges.

I leaned against the far side of the room, gripping at my bleeding and possibly broken arm as it went numb and felt the kind of rush you only get when you know there are other places you'd rather be and would never get there. I only hoped that I bought my friends enough time to get as far away as possible to get a decent reception. Damn swindling phone companies can't even extend their network coverage.

A piercing howl echoed from the forest and I held my breath, hoping I hadn't just sent them to their deaths as well. The door finally broke from its hinges and broke into splinters as it slammed against the wall, barely missing me. I felt sharp stings as some of the splinters tore into the left side of my body.

I gazed into the fiery eyes - dark as the shadows around us.



Chapter 1

Tick tock tick tock.
I sat sleepily through the final class of the day and more importantly, of my high school life. The only thing remaining was finals next week and possibly all the graduation practices that the school was going to cram down our senior throats. As if we need to practice walking up the stage and getting our diplomas. And as usual, the teacher took his sweet time outlining all the good times we had in class and all the good we'll do in the world.

A scrunched up ball of paper soared through the air and landed stealthily on my table. I already knew who threw it. Only Dinah used paper dark enough that you'd have to squint and focus to even get a glimpse of what's written - probably with the our teachers in mind. She was what she'd like to call colorgoth - Goth without all the black. Occult stuff interested her, but not enough to dye her naturally blonde hair or wear completely black attire or even wear dark contacts to cover her bright blue eyes despite some of the other Goths' persuasion. You wouldn't even realize she was Goth until you saw her notebook and all the stuff that's written on it. She was petite, small enough that I could easily lift her in a fireman's carry. To prove she was Goth despite her abundance of color, she cut her hair short that the one's on the side only hung until her chin and only got shorter until it reached the back, at which point it was sufficiently spiky. I only had this one class with her but she was a really good friend, I guess. One of the few who stayed my friend through high school.

The paper only had one line, which she'd thoughtfully written in white this time - "Annie's after?" The popular neighborhood hangout that would probably be full by then in our small town.

The bell rang - finally signaling the end of class. It seemed like hell broke loose at school. Students started jumping up and down, screaming until all I could hear was...well, I couldn't really distinguish the sounds anymore. The teacher eyes were wet as he tried to scream how much he'd miss us as loud as his lungs would let him.

I felt Dinah grab my arm and haul me out the classroom. I thought she was going to stop once we got out the hall but she just kept dragging me through the cramped hall which was just as noisy, with seniors running up to each other, hugging, trading high fives, and some were even sobbing despite the closed quarters. Whose bright idea was it to cram all the seniors' classes in one hallway?

Alex was waiting for us at the end of the hallway, obviously uncomfortable with all the intimacy that everyone was engaging in. Several girls stopped by and waved at him, with one being bold enough to give him a hug which he returned by freezing and staring at her with one eyebrow raised. The girl finally broke the hug and blew a kiss at him as she rejoined her pack.

Dinah was snickering when we reached Alex who was still perplexed from the girl's assault.

"What a stud," she said in a mockingly flowery tone. "That girl wasn't even a senior."
"She wasn't?" he said with a skeptical tone.
"As oblivious as always" I added.

As clichéd as it may sound, most of the people at school have categorized him under tall, dark, and nice-looking. This was probably true on account of how we got to know each other - Dinah asking me to go talk to him for her. Thankfully, she got over it once we got to know him better otherwise it would always be awkward talking with them. I'm not saying getting to know him was a turn off. Where others saw yummy, Dinah and I now only see 6'2", medium build, dark artistically ruffled hair, dark eyes, and advanced fashion sense.