The Leader Gave Me Hope: The First Book of the Freeformers Series

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Faline closed the locker, fixing her hair over the marks on her jaw as she hefted her schoolbooks into her arms and walked through the high school halls, eyes down and shoulders hunched in her ever-present communication of 'I don't want any trouble, just let me get out of this hell in one piece'. Pairs of feet passed her in the opposite direction, fellow seniors headed toward one of the jocks' end-of-highschool party.

With all the raves Connor liked to hold in their living room, Faline figured she'd experienced enough parties.

With the lack of any social life, she figured she wouldn't consider attending even if her brother somehow miraculously turned into a model figure.

She rehearsed a phrase in her head, shuffling through the different languages she knew.

Mi hermano es un pene.

Mon frère est un queue.

Watashi no ani wa dikkudesu.

My brother is a dick.

Her head swirled with thoughts of exasperation: if she'd be able to study for the upcoming Physics exam, when she would need to wake up for work tomorrow, whether Connor be there when she arrived home, sharing a joint with his other stupid drugee friends.

She shoved through the front doors, watching long shadows seeping from the bases of the buildings in the afternoon sun, elongating by the minute to engulf more of the streets in shade. Faline's blue eyes shifted constantly, watching as she walked in and out of the sunlight, counting aimlessly the number of times she was blinded momentarily when a ray of light caught her off guard. 

It had become a habit over the years to pick out the oddest things in the everyday world to focus on. It not only helped her forget her worries as she became enthralled in the observations; she could almost imagine herself strolling through the shadows thrown by palm trees on the California coast, or sauntering down a South American path, shaded by the leaves of the Amazon rainforest. The little things in life let her imagine herself living another one, much different than this life - this experience she'd become trapped in.

Interesting, how a few blinding rays of sun could make Faline believe she wasn't Faline.

She was so wrapped up in her own head, she nearly failed to notice the other shadows.

Not shadows persay, but the men's clothing covered them entirely, and their masked faces blended into the darkness leaking out of abandoned alleys.

She didn't bother to wonder whether anyone  else noticed them. She'd gotten used to living in a neighborhood with crackheads, weirdos and creeps. They probably regarded the dark trio as yet another addition to the Houston Street Freak Show.

The men blocked the direct path to her apartment, staring at her through crimson visors. They remained still, rigid, their heads turned in the direction of the blonde. Faline screeched to a stop, eyeing the group warily before looking away and taking a sharp turn down another alley, figuring it was worth the ten minute loss to avoid running into those strangers.

Her eyes drifted up to the sky, blue blotted out by billowing clouds beginning to form, the foreshadowing of more stormy weather. Her gaze flicked to the tops of the warehouses she now walked between, monotonous brick wall patterns broken by a splotch of graffiti every now and then. Faline finally shifted her eyes back to the street.

The three black-clothed figures had been joined by two more, masks obscuring their features, gloved hands clutching the hilt of steely swords. Faline's head whipped right back around, concentrating on the path ahead, until she spotted the additional 'shadows' that awaited mere feet from the dead end she'd mistakenly been heading toward.