Chapter 1: The Hellhound and The Unwanted Help

I walked down the street, looking around fervently. I was making sure no one was following me. For the past few days, I had gotten the feeling that I'd been followedd. This was one of those times. My family (me and my mom) moved to New York just a few days ago, and then I'd gotten the sense that I was being followed.

I decided to go into an alley, so that I might be able to confront whoever was following me, but that was probably the worst mistake I'd ever made. Once I was in the alley, safely out of sight from whoever might help me, I turned around, awaiting whoever was going to try to rob me, or whatever.

But, instead of finding a mugger, or a rapist, I was facing the largest black dog I'd ever seen. It had huge, red eyes, and long white fangs that seemed to just be waiting to rip me apart. I'd wondered what was following me, but I hadn't expected this. If I'd known that a huge dog was going to try and kill me, I would have stayed at home today.

Luckily, I was skilled in martial arts - all of them - and could take care of myself. I had thought that my old gym teacher's nonstop training would never come in handy, but I was starting to thank him or it. I felt myself wondering if my gym teacher had known this day would come.

I faced the dog, and assumed a fighting stance, making sure my legs were positioned evenly apart, and that I was perfeclty balanced. My eyes darted around the alley, looking for something to use as a sword, or whatever, even a rod would have done good, but there was nothing, so it was just the good old hands and feet.

Rafter - the dog (I'd named him) - was about to attack when he just crumbled into dust, relvealing a kid with brown hair and blue eyes just like mine holding a glowing sword in his hand. The boy and me looked so alike we could have been brother and sister.

Behind the boy was a few more kids holding lethal looking weapons. Obviously, they were here to "help" me, but who would trust some random kids who appear in front of you and are holding weapons that could be used against you? I wouldn't. I had been trained from young never to trust anyone. Especially not teenage kids holding swords and wearing armor.

I kicked into full protection mode, using variations of karate, tai chi, and other martial arts. I disarmed the kids in less than a minute, leaving them stunned, and non-moving, since I pushed their presure points, making them unable to move at all. One boy, dressed all in black was still trying to move, so as a precaution, I grabbed him by the neck, and moved into the pressure points under the jaw that could kill someone if pushed to hard, and knocked out if not.

The boy gasped, and said in a choked voice, "Were... on... your... side..."

I stared at him, my mouth open in an o shape. On my side? Then... oh god! I had just beat up some kids who were trying to help me! I dropped the boy, and ran right out of the alley, leaving the kids dazed and just starting to get the feling in their limbs back.

I ran right out into the street, not looking where I was going, and ran - smack! - into a post, knocking myself unconcious.