A/N: This is some background information... Alissa Pike was born to Olivia Vertigo and Asa Pike. She is currently 12 1/3 years old and is enrolled in Bone Academy. She can create illusions, just like her mother. However, she does have the wolffish yellow eyes of her father; her hair is electric blue as she had dyed it multiple times. She has a five year old sister named Opal Pike, but Opal does not come into the story much and is unendowed. The story opens in the Pike-Vertigo home as Alissa fawns over a problem.
Chapter 1.
It's what my mum calls a worry, an itching problem that sneaks into your brain and stays there until you fix it. It itches you horribly, and twists into knots. Sometimes it's mild and bearable, but with my luck it was one of the severe cases. When I was little, my mum always solved my worries. If I was sad or mad, she would dress up weirdly and put on a fashion show. If I broke a plate, Mum soothed me and gathered up all the broken shards. I'm 12 now, and old enough to deal with my problems, so my parents would naturally believe that I could figure it out myself.
But this was one that concerned my friends and even my little sister. It was too large, too big, to be fixed by just one person. Multiple people and apologies would have to be made. I wasn't sure if I wanted to do that yet. Here is the story, and what led up to The Problem.
The door creaked open, and my father stood outside it. His hair was messy, and he had the aura of someone who was very annoyed. "Goodbye, Alissa." he said, handing me a square package and pressing it in my left hand incognito-style.
"Um, Dad, what -?" I asked, confusedly. I looked down at it and as I lifted my head I saw that my father had already exited the room. There were no clues whatsoever, and I was confused beyond belief. I didn't even know what it was, and now...The horrible thought of, What if it's poison? blared through my head. I dropped it and I heard a splintery noise, as if it was cracking.
Almost one second later, I heard a gruesome noise from the kitchen. "ARNGNSLAH" is what it sounded like, as if someone was being slaughtered.
I raced downstairs and saw my mother lying on the floor, her yellow-blonde hair spread all around her like a frilled lizard. Opal, my younger sister, was sobbing next to her. "Mum's not hurt," I soothed her. "It'll be alright."
My father ran into the room. "Alissa - room! NOW!" he yelled.
"But, Dad, I-"
"GO TO YOUR ROOM!"
I scrambled to my room hastily and picked up the package gingerly. What was inside it? And worse of all, the thought, My mother's unconscious. I felt as if I was about to cry. I was in charge of a mysterious box and my mum wasn't breathing.
What do I do?