• The moon shone through the leaves and branches of the canopy above our heads, illuminating Angel’s snow white fur. I had to admit, Angel was the most prettiest dog I had ever seen. Her ice blue eyes made her look terrifying if you make her angry. Demon was invisible, blending into the darkness like he was nothing but a ghost, the only thing visible were his fiery orange eyes, which I loved. Both of my gentle giants were different from their own species, just like I was different from mine. We three needed each other, the strange ones, the outcasts from the rest of the world. Angel and Demon may be dogs, but we have our own little language that only we three can understand. I loved my gentle giants.

    I picked my way through ferns and bushes, doing mhy best not to step on the plants below my feet, and smiled. Angel looked at me, and grinned a doggie grin, like Demons. I couldn’t see Demon, he was up ahead, exploring, being our little scout.

    “Hey, guys, did you know what happened in these woods about three hundred years ago?” I asked them.

    I saw Demon’s orange eyes on my right, and Angels on my left, both looking at me, the question deep in their eyes. They knew it was story time.

    “Three hundred years ago, there was a Princess, named Deirdre of the Fallen.” I began. “She wasn’t exactly a princess, but the way everyone respected her made her gain that title without question. The Fallen Angels loved her to death.” I looked at Angels face, to see her expression. Angel hated it when I mentioned Fallen Angels, and I honestly don’t know why.

    She was glaring at me, but she made no comment. I continued on. “Deirdre was a human, a very beautiful human, so beautiful that the Fallen thought that she was an Angel, a kind and gentle Angel that wanted them to feel better about their exile here on Earth.” I paused for a dramatic effect. “But, she wasn’t. She lied to them, saying she was, only so she could get their powers, and their wings, which had magical properties. She wanted to be better than anyone else, more powerful than anything else.” I paused for another dramatic effect. “The Fallen found out about this, and they destroyed her. Her death wasn’t quick and easily, it was torturous and painful.”

    Demon looked at me in alarm, Angel growled softly. I laughed. “Gosh guys, its just a story.” I did a cartwheel, and started running. I loved the night, it made me feel alive, energetic, ready to take on a bull, which, you and I should know by now that could never happen.

    Demon growled and pushed me out of the way. Just then, there was a gunshot, and a bullet flew past my ear. I stared straight ahead for a moment, before turning around and running for my goddamned life. Angel and Demon weren’t far behind me. Another gun shot sounded, and this time I felt it touch my ear. Thank god it didn’t actually hit me.

    I got to the house, opened the door, and Demon and Angel came flying in. I ran in after them, shut the door, and bolted it. Kaylie was sitting at the table, and she got up and hugged me. “Anna! Oh my gosh, I thought you were kidnapped! Dad went to go find you an hour ago, and he hasn’t come back. He took his gun, just incase you were kidnapped.” Kaylie informed me. “Are you alright? It looks like you’ve seen a ghost.”

    A ghost indeed I should have seen. Someone was trying to shoot me, and Harold Oake was looking for me, with his gun in hand. Oh god, my own father tried to kill me! Now I knew how Cayden must have felt, how mom must have felt when dad did the exact same thing to them. “Yeah, I’m fine.” I said to Kaylie numbly. I should tell her, I should tell her what just happened. But I couldn’t, because I knew she wouldn’t believe me. She would come up with some logical explanation, but I would always know what had just happened. I was almost killed by my own father.

    I pretended to yawn. “I’m tired, were gonna go to bed.” I looked at Angel and Demon. “Come on guys, bedtime.” I looked back at Kaylie and did my best to smile. “Night Kaylie, see you in the morning. School! Yay!” I did a bad impression of an excited face for the mention of school. A new school, to be exact.

    Kaylie laughed, seeming to buy my sleepiness. “Night Annie, see you in the morning.”

    I walked up the stairs slowly, pretending to be tired, and into my bedroom. As soon as I got in my room, I shut the door, bolted it, put my chair and dresser in front of it, and put Demon’s and Angel’s dog beds away. They could sleep with me on the bed tonight. I would be too freaked to sleep if they didn’t.

    I got my PJs on, climbed into bed, got all cozy, and Demon and Angel jumped on it. Angel was at the foot of my bed, and Demon was on my legs. I didn’t care though. Like I said, I was sincerely scared.
    I fell asleep like that, with Angel and Demon keeping watch for my father.

    I woke up in the morning, 5:30 sharp, because school started at 7:40. I did that normal procedure for school.

    1. Get up.
    2. Shower
    3. Blow-dry hair.
    4. Brush teeth
    5. Take Angel and Demon for a walk.
    6. Refuse breakfast from Kaylie. (Her cooking skills are suckish.)
    7. Insult Marcie behind dads back.
    8. Sadly wait for the bus.
    Kaylie was standing with me, and we were both waiting for MPHS school bus. It came, bus number 34, but when I got on something surprised me.
    Nearly half the bus was full of middleschoolers. There were no high schoolers once-so-ever. Kaylie asked the bus driver, Dave, “Um, is this the bus that goes to MPHS?”

    Dave chuckled, his wig coming off a little. (Yes, our bus driver had a wig. He also looked like he was high) “Yeah, the middlesschoolers get a ride too though. The back half of the bus is all yours.” He said to her.

    I continued on, all the way to the back, and sat in the farthest seat in the back. Kaylie sat in front of me, because someone else was sitting in the other back-back seat.

    Kaylie turned around and stared at him for a few moments, then whispered to me, “Whoa, who the heck is that? He’s cute.” Cute was an understatement, but I wasn’t about to say that in front of him. He had black hair, and nearly black eyes, at least, that was all I could see, since his face was looking out the window.

    I nodded to Kaylie, and out of the corner of my eye I saw him laughing softly. Then he turned and faced us two. Amusement was lighting up his black eyes. At least, his almost black eyes. “Hello, you two must be new.” He said to us in an angelic voice. Wait, what was I thinking?! He just said it in a voice that fit his personality, which I was guessing was dark but humorous.

    Kaylie smiled back. “Yes, we are new. I’m Kaytlin, Kaylie for short, and this is my sister Anna. I’m a senior, and she’s a sophomore.” Kaylie looked at me.

    So did the mysterious stranger. He looked like he came straight from a fairy tale, the Dark Knight, the Queens Assassins, so many potential stories were flying through my mind, just by looking at him, that it was impossible to speak. I just stared at him, and he stared back, a corner of his mouth was tipped up a little. Wait, why was I staring at his mouth?! I looked back at his eyes, a question in them, the same question Angel and Demon usually have. Whats the story about this time Anna?

    “Anna, its polite to say hi.” Kaylie staged-whispered to me.

    I snapped out of it. “Oh, sorry, uh, yeah, hi.” I said quietly, my shyness kicking in. I usually wasn’t that shy, once I got comfortable with people, but unlike Kaylie, unless I was comfortable being around new people, I was quiet.

    The Dark Knight smiled more. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Vlad.” He said to mostly me.

    “So, Vlad, could you show us around the school? At least, the places we should know.” Kaylie laughed. “I think I would be fine, but poor Anna gets lost so easily.”

    I smacked her on the back of the head. “Hey, no making fun of my sense of direction.” I said to her sternly.

    Kaylie rolled her eyes and looked at Vlad. “Could you please help her out? I don’t want my little sister to have to ask people where to go.” I smacked her on the back of the head again. “Stop it!” I whispered to her, my face flaming. I didn’t like having help. It felt weird, I felt stupid for having to have help.

    Vlad chuckled. “Would you like help Anna?” He asked me.

    The Dark Knight, the Queens Assassin, The Rogue, The Outsider, was offering to help me? Oh god, if I refused, then I would get lost, if I didn’t, then I would feel stupid. I would rather get lost. “No, that’s okay, I think I can handle it. Kaylie just likes making fun of me.”

    “So, where do you guys come from?” Vlad asked me. I didn’t answer though, I looked out the window and let Kaylie do the talking, like she always has. I closed my eyes, and saw trees…

    A hundred million trees surrounded me, and it looked fantastic, my place to be. I was in a clearing, and nearby was a little stream, that lead to the waterfall that I could hear. There was the perfect tree shaped into a chair to sit on, and sitting on it was a boy. He looked up, but I couldn’t look away from his eyes, and the girl and boy next to him I barely glanced at, then, something flew toward me…

    “Anna, Anna! Wake up!” Someone shook me. “Were at the school!”
    I opened my eyes and saw Kaylie lookng down at me. “Come on sleepy head. Lets get going. Got your class schedule?”

    I nodded, and got out of my seat. I looked at my class schedule, and my first period was Language Arts, my favorite of all classes. My teacher was Mrs. Madelyn. It was building 100, which, when I got off the bus, was right in front of me. I said my goodbyes to Kaylie, and walked into the classroom. I went up to Mrs. Madelyn, and shyly said, “I’m Annabeth Oake, I’m new here.”

    Mrs. Madelyn had blond hair, and twinkling sea green eyes. She looked about 50, with little crows feet at each corner of her eye. She smiled at me, and said, “Welcome Annabeth! Do you prefer to be called Anna?” She asked me.

    I nodded. “Yes, it would be nice if you called me Anna.”

    “Well, you can sit in the back, next to Vlad.” She pointed to the empty seat next to the Dark Knight.

    He was in this class?! Uh oh. I nodded to Mrs. Madelyn. “Thank you.” I said to her. I walked over to my new seat, sat down, and barely glanced at Vlad. I heard him move, a chair squeaking, and I heard him speak.

    “Hello Anna. Didn’t know you had this class.” He said to me.

    “Yeah, me niether.” I mumbled distantly, not really paying any attention. I was figuring out a way to make a poem sound a lot more better than it really was, that my sister had written on a piece of paper. Although, I was only trying to rewrite it, so I didn’t have to make a conversation with the Queens Assasin. Although I was horrible at poetry. The bell rung, and Mrs. Madelyn spoke,

    “Good morning, we have a new student here, her name is Anna. You better be nice to her now.” She said, pretending to have a strict face. Everyone laughed. She smiled and continued, “Free write! And, please be silent this time guys, please?”

    Free write? Yes! I got straight to work, and what seemed like moment later, Mrs. Madelyn called out, “Anna? Would you like to go first?”

    What?! Uh oh. I couldn’t refuse, I would sound rude. So I looked down at my sisters edited poem, and took a deep breath. I sucked at poetry, and I was only rewriting Kaylie’s because it was something to do. But, I was horibble at poetry. “Not right now Mrs. Madelyn.”
    Mrs. Madelyn smiled. “Alright then, anyone else?”

    I didn’t feel the paper with the crappy poem slip from my hand, I didn’t notice Vlad reading it until I looked up and saw him smiling. He rolled his eyes at me and put the paper back on my desk, and I felt warmth from my forehead all the way down to my chin. The class went on as usual, and soon enough, the bell rang. Life in a small town went on as usual.

    By lunch I was dying to see my sister. I needed to complain to her about my math teacher, and my art teacher. When I saw her face, I nearly ran to her.

    “Kaylie!” I hugged her tightly.

    “Cant-breathe-Anna!” She gasped.

    “Oops, sorry.” I let go of her. “I missed you!”

    “Its been what, three hours and you already miss me?” She said, and then she staged-whispered, “My sisters obsessed with me!”

    “Oh, Kaylie, I missed you so!” I mocked the voice of an Italian. “Come, let us go on a romantic candle-lit dinner on a boat in the middle of the Arctic. Alone.”

    “Oh, god, Anna!” Kaylie laughed and waved a hand over at a brunette and redhead. “April, May, Anna, Anna, April, May.” The two girls waved.

    I waved back, and just then, there was a BOOM!