Chapter 1—The Beginning

My entire world was turned upside down one day.

I was going as fast as I could on my skateboard to San Campion High School so that I wouldn't be late when I heard a blood-curdling scream emanate from a store I was right about to pass by. I should've just kept going, but my curiosity drove me to see what was going on. I stopped and picked up my skateboard and slowly eased the door open to look inside and got the surprise of my life.

I saw a werewolf. That's right. I'm talking about a giant, hairy wolf that's walking on its hind legs. It was digging through a pile of snack food kept on the checkout counted when I looked in.

I slowly tried to close the door again and back away, but I must have opened the door too far or something, because when I tried to close it I ended up ringing a bell.

A loud bell.

Needless to say, the wolf heard it and looked at me.

Giving up any act of trying to sneak out I ran as fast as I could, jumping onto my skateboard once I had enough room and going at full speed. I could hear the shop window break behind me and heard screams as the wolf thing gave chase, running after me.

Seeking a shortcut, I cut into an alleyway that would get me to the school faster, but the creature was faster than me and knocked me off my skateboard, sending me against the wall.

When I opened my eyes the creature was standing about ten feet away from me, getting ready to pounce. I held up my hands to try and protect myself and the wolf froze.

I lowered my hands to get a better look at what was going on, but it began to pounce again so I lifted my hands a second time.

Again, he froze.

I stayed like that for over a minute, waiting for somebody to notice. Finally, I heard people round the corner at the far end of the alley, but I was too scared to look, especially when I heard another growl.

The next thing I heard was "Get it, Squeaky!" before a large, dark purple…thing attacked the wolf, turning it into a bunch of leaves that dissipated.

I stood there in terror for a couple seconds longer before my body remembered how to work.

I grabbed my skateboard and took off, yelling "Thank you!" over my shoulder unknown savior. Once I rounded the corner I jumped back onto my skateboard to go to school.

I barely managed to make it to school before the bell, but the teachers are pretty used to seeing that from me.

I was nervous and jumpy during every class that day, constantly replaying the scene over and over in my head. If the teachers noticed that I was acting differently than I usually do, they didn't comment.

During lunch I sat by myself, as usual, so I had even more time to think about it. Eventually I just pulled out my sketchpad and started drawing whatever came to mind. I doo it whenever I'm stress or can't focus on homework, and it usually works.

This time, though, every picture was either the wolf-thing that attacked me that morning or the creature that destroyed it. Eventually, I began thinking about the voice I heard commanding the second creature. It definitely sounded young and female, but beyond that I couldn't tell you anything.

At the end of school I tossed my homework into my messenger bag, which fortunately escaped the attack unscathed, made sure my beanie was on comfortably, and grabbed my skateboard from my locker before closing it and walking out of the building to go home.

"You're welcome, you know," a very similar voice said from behind me right as I passed a lamppost.

It was the voice from the alley.

I froze in my tracks, paralyzed by fear. I slowly turned around and faced the speaker. She's in her early 20's, not tall but not short, and was dressed in purple and black clothes.

"Um…" I said, not sure what to do or say.

"I'm Allie," she told me, holding out her hand.

I slowly reached out my hand and shook hers. "Jake," I replied, keeping my eyes out for the creature.

"Oh, she's not here," she told me, noticing my nervous glances. "I need you to come with me. Now," she added, her laid-back appearance becoming completely serious.

I was considering making a run for it, but she must have realized it and added, "If I have to, I'll summon Squeaky and have her take you with me," while pulling on a strange black glove that turned purple.

"O-okay, I'll go with you," I stuttered.

"Excellent," she said, grin appearing on her face.

Soon we began walking through the streets of San Campion to…who knows where?

A few minutes later the woman, Allie, asked me, "What do you know of the creature that attacked you this morning?"

"Nothing," I replied. "What was it? It looked like a werewolf."

"They are often confused as werewolves," Allie said. "I'll explain more when we arrive."

"Arrive where?" I demanded.

"Here," she replied, stopping outside a martial arts dojo.

We walked inside and past a martial arts class to an office in the back.

Sitting at the desk was an elderly Chinese man with a kind smile and a lot of green clothing.

"Hello there, Master Underhill!" he said cheerily to Allie.

"Oh, you know you can just call me 'Allie'," she reminded him. "I have a new acolyte," she added, gesturing to me.

The man just nodded and pressed a button on the desk. The next thing I knew, I was being ushered down a staircase located behind the mirror!