Chapter One

It was completely unexplainable...

That was what Lee had thought as he peered at the empty space beside him on the small single bed, her shirt was still there rumpled and strewn partly off the side. He even reached out with his slender fingered hands with the deep slash of a scar across the back of his hand tracing the warmth cover that had once been occupied.

"What the hell" Lee said completely lost for words as he leant over his bed and looked to the empty floor and then even further checked by looking under the bed "I'm high. Louise slipped something in the brownies again that's it I'm high she didn't just disappear" he spoke out to himself trying to explain the weird circumstance that left him alone on his bed

Lee wasn't high though and Louise hadn't put any pot in the brownies like she had for his fourteenth birthday last year, Louise had been there and they'd been kissing. His parents would be furious had they known he'd been skipping school with Louise to make out with her and maybe get much more than just the odd heated kiss. He had too she'd took off her shirt to reveal the lacy black bra with white trim, he'd been all but staring open mouthed at his older girlfriend.

One second she was there the next...Nothing.

Poof.

Gone.

Like she hadn't been there at all, like he hadn't just been burning the image of her shirtless torso into his mind to return to later when he was alone in his bed that night and many nights to come. He knew even though he wanted to pretend that he was high and imagining things, accepting that something not normal had happened just wouldn't sit well. Too much unusual things had been happening to Lee and he was done. He'd told himself months ago that the world was normal and anything that wasn't he wouldn't accept he'd pretend it never happened because he knew logically everything had a scientific explanation. There was no explanation though for a person who had moments ago been lying beside him vanishing though, there wasn't a trap door there was no damn alien beaming up Scotty either. He knew though that Louise Masters his fifteen year old girlfriend had just disappeared before his very eyes.

"Maybe I passed out" he spoke to himself as he sat on his bed his bare back now pressed against the cold metal of his head board while clutching his knees tightly. He didn't even realise the sound of car alarms outside his house or just how silent the house seemed now, how his entire neighbourhood had suddenly gone silent "I saw her amazing rack and I passed out. That's it she thinks I'm a dork she's just in the bathroom to calm herself down from hitting me" he shrugged as if it was plausible, even in a confused panic his mind stopped on the memory again of Louise in just her bra and jeans "God almighty not the time" he groaned shifting uncomfortably and pushing his legs off the side of his bed moving his hands into his dark messy hair gripping tightly and trying to process it again but he couldn't the answer to it all was simple.

Louise had disappeared.

Now you see her, now you don't.

Poof.

Gone.

Lee stood up grabbing up his old band tee from its place across the back of his desk chair and pulled it over his head before moving to the window and looking outside. Lee had always liked the room he was in, it had the perfect escape from his house on the nights his parents refused his pleading to go out on a school night. It had a slight ledge under his window and a guttering pipe down to the ground although it was clear to see that it had grown to be slightly loose over the multiple times he'd snuck out. It was the ledge and the guttering pipe though that caught Lee's attention though it was the car that seemed to have crashed into the neighbour's garage across the street. It hadn't crashed badly but it was clear to see from where he stood that the large garage door had bent inwards from the cars colliding and that the car was still running as the alarm was shrieking. Even when he paid more attention he could see the airbags in the car but there was no one inside it, the door was still shut and even his neighbour's house door was closed. No one seemed to be coming out to check why the alarm was sounding not even the owners, it made no sense nothing seemed to be making much sense.

Lee was about to turn away from his window when he saw little Samantha George walking towards the loud car, she was only about nine years old with knobbly knees and always seemed to have a runny nose. Not that she wasn't an adorable little girl even the kid avoiding Lee had admitted she was sweet but she always seemed to be full of cold. Lee shook his head seeing her walking towards the car and then pushed open the window and looked down the street towards where Carol George lived with her little girl and saw the door wide open but no sign of Samantha's mother following behind her usually very timid and sickly little girl. Lee wrestled with speaking out as he watched the small girl walking around on her own, even though his parents had argued constantly about his lack of maturity or even responsibility Lee felt wrong just letting her continue walking around alone without adult supervision.

"Samantha" Lee called out as Samantha looked around a little jittery her eyes meeting different points but looking back to her own home with hopeful eyes "Samantha up here" Lee yelled again this time Samantha looked up towards Lee hanging partly out of his window and the little girl blushed and bit into her little lip nervously as if she was about to be told off for wondering "shouldn't you be with your mommy?" Lee said nodding his head back down to her house while still looking at her. Samantha answered Lee but her little voice didn't carry to Lee from his place at his bedroom window holding up a hand to his ears she moved her hands to her sides and shouted loud enough for him to hear this time.

"My mommy isn't home she must'a gone out I was looking" Lee smiled at her voice lisping at the usual parts as she shouted up to him she'd grow out of it he was sure it was barely there anymore but it still amused him. It was the uneasy feeling that settled over his stomach like he'd ate some of his mother's day old casserole and was about to pay for it, it churned making him gulp and even flinch to palm his flat stomach.

"She wouldn't have left you alone Samantha did she say where she was going?" Lee asked now while that uneasy feeling seemed to travel up from his stomach and make his chest feel tight and the palms of his hands clammy with building sweat.

"She was on the phone in the kitchen and then she was gone" Lee swallowed, well he tried but suddenly his throat and mouth felt dry as if there was something large stuck in the back of his throat and he couldn't swallow around it. He clamped his eyes tightly shut and gripped the window sill before forcing on a controlled smile, even if it wasn't convincing to someone who was older then little Samantha "The phone was on the floor no one answered though just made a loud noise" she continued then and Lee knew then that just like Louise, Carol George and disappeared too.

While in the middle of a call she'd vanished.

Poof.

Gone.

"You should head on back home Samantha. Just for when your mommy comes home" because they had to come back he was pleading internally people didn't just vanish forever without an explanation on what was going on "Just be a good girl. Maybe get one of your treats and do some colouring for your mommy until she gets home then she'll be really proud of how grown up you acted" Lee said in a croaked and strained voice all while pleading for Samantha to walk back to her house so he could close his window and panic. He may be able to pretend right now and try his best to put a brave face on for the little girl who lived down the street but now he knew too much was happening all at once to be a coincidence. Louise, the driver of the car and now Carol George all had simply vanished from sight, Lee had known though that something strange was happening in Perdido Beach long before this but he'd promised himself normal. Normal had just made like Tom and cruised though.

Lee sighed loudly relieved when he watched Samantha smile up at him and then move back towards her house, he watched though as she made every step back to her home. Hoping even praying for her mother to rush out of the open door in a frantic panic to see her daughter, it never happened though as little Samantha moved into her house and then closed the door behind her. Lee span then away from his open window not bothering to close it behind him as he moved to his drawers and pulled his phone from the speaker dock. His chest pushed out with each deep breath he took trying to keep himself calm but it was hard not to panic, especially in times like these. Lee's thumb hit the touch screen of his phone harder then intended as he scrolled down his contact list and then rang his father's office just outside of Perdido Beach. His father owned a small estate agency that sold the condos on the outskirts of town, they were new builds but hadn't been as popular as his father Frank had hoped. Lee had heard more from his father these past months over the phone then he'd seen him in person and he knew his mother was probably more okay with that then any wife should, neither parent openly said it but Lee wasn't stupid he knew his parents were struggling at the moment. He'd heard those familiar words separation and time apart all too many times when they argued when his father was home, that was why he called him now because if Lee could get hold of his rarely around father now the world wasn't falling completely apart.

"Come on. Come on" Lee spoke through gritted teeth as he paced around his room the agitation and worry sitting like a heavy weight over his chest that made him unsure if he needed to stop moving or get outside and breath in some fresh air "if you were ever going to answer now would be the time dad" he grumbled but then instead of the usual ringing sound that he would have expected there was nothing, nothing but the loud dial tone as if he'd been disconnected or called the wrong number. Not even the sound of the female voice of the answering machine to tell him to leave a message after the beep, there wasn't anything. So Lee cancelled the call and tried again and waited and then when it failed he tried again calling his father, suddenly Lee understood that Albert Einstein quote that Mr Suarez had on the poster to the right of the blackboard now.

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Lee understood it better than he ever thought he would as he finally gave up on his father's number shaking his head before calming his breathing and then trying his mother's phone. He waited... nothing again and he couldn't help but choke out a cough as if it would help him try and clear the lump in his throat but he knew enough to know that it was part of being upset. The house suddenly felt even more daunting then as he stood in his room knowing only he was around, too many people seemed to be unavailable it couldn't be a coincidence now. Lee bolted into his bathroom and span the cold tap quickly and stuck his hand under the water splashing it over his face to calm him or wake him up. He held his hands over his face as he blew out a breath water spraying out from between his fingers as he peeked at himself through the mirror that sat above the sink. Lee could feel that odd feeling in the tips of his fingers as he allowed himself to panic now completely alone and pushed his hands under the water.

"Stupid it isn't real it's all just..." he stopped though because there wasn't anything he had in his knowledge to explain anything to do with all of the weird things he'd seen. Something big had just happened maybe people didn't look to Lee because of his intelligence but his gut was telling him something big had happened and right now he knew there was only one place he needed to go. Lee pulled his hands from out of under the water relaxing as the strange tingling sensation had subsided and left his room wiping off his hands on his jeans. He didn't take any time as he ran out of his house and grabbed his bike, his eyes cast up and down the street of his neighbourhood one last time. Nothing had changed from his first glance no one came to inspect the alarms that were going off and he knew if anyone was in the houses, especially adults they would have come out by now to check. Something was very wrong and Lee knew that. He just hoped that when he arrived at the school the only thing he would find was angry teachers expecting and explanation on why he'd skipped the first half of the day, he'd be pleased to take any lengthy time in detention though now. Lee wanted normal. Normal and explainable.

Normal wasn't what he'd find though because normal was...

Poof.

Gone.

Okay then I hope you guys will all tell me what you think of it so far I'm really looking forward to moving this story ahead. Yes this story is an SYOC so I'll be looking for people to PM me character's that I can incorporate into my story. I would like to point out I am looking for both Normal's and Freaks, also I am going to need have two or maybe three close friends to Lee's character they can be male or female but it be best they were the same age as him. I would also like to point out that any character's submitted I may change in small ways to fit them into the story in a way that'll help me but I will talk with the creator of said character about any changes. Please do not submit sheets by Review keep it to PM please I'd much prefer the reviews telling me what you think of my writing and how I can improve or what you're looking forward too. The sooner I have character's submitted and people ready to read I'll start with the next chapter I don't plan on waiting around so updates will be as frequently as I can write.

Bellow is the sheet:

Name:

Gender:

Age: (you all know the ages for this)

Appearance: (give me a good description the more your character stands out the more likely they will feature more in the story)

Personality: (I want character's who are diverse but please remember they are teenagers and kids they aren't adults they won't be extremely mature some might but not all. As you saw with Lee lol)

Coates or Perdido: (you should know that Coates kids won't all come in straight away in the story I plan to take this story in a different way)

Freak or Normal: (as I said above I need both probably more normal then freaks and remember if freak to state the power and the bar level not everyone can have 4 it's rare I'd like to have it that way in this story too)

Brief History:

Extra: (any ideas you have for the way your character could maybe be introduce or how they know Lee if you want them to be one of the character's that are his close friends)