Chapter One

Lita

Smoothing her red hair, seventeen year-old Lita pulled open the steel green locker door and put the last of her books inside. Thank God for the man that created weekends, she thought, shutting the door and locking it with the combination lock. She gave it one rotation for good measure. She readjusted her backpack over her left shoulder.

"Hey."

Lita jumped. Turning, her hazel gaze fell on her good friend, Candice Michelle. Candice was riding the edge of the school dress code, wearing a black halter top and a short, frayed denim skirt with knee-high leather boots. She was considered one of the most beautiful women at Stamford High, and it was easy to see why. On this day she wore her long, thick coffee hair in a high ponytail. Her exotic brown eyes were heavily made up, but it looked like there had been no effort involved. Candice always looked beautiful. The only thing that put some people off with her was the purple wand she carried with her.

Candice and Lita had become the best of friends the first day they met, on the first day of eighth grade. In all the time they'd known each other, Lita still didn't know why Candice was carrying a wand, or why it was so important to her. It looked like a cheap dollar store wand with a purple star on top. Lita thought it was ridiculous, but she would never say such a thing to her best friend. Since she liked Candice, she tolerated the fact that a seventeen year-old woman was running around with a wand.

"Wow. Jumpy or what?" Candice teased with a smirk. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Fine," Lita answered. "It's just been a long day."

"Did you see the way Dave Batista was staring at you today?" Candice asked, her eyes wide. Dave Batista was in their history class, a tall mountain of man with dark eyes and even darker hair. "I swear, if he could have drowned in his own drool, he would have!" It was no secret around school that Candice was involved with Shelton Benjamin, the star of the school's track and field team. They had been going steady for several months.

"I didn't notice," Lita replied. The two girls walked through the hallways. Lita gave a quick wave to Mickie James, who was chatting with Ashley Massaro and Victoria. The three of them were like the Three Musketeers at the school. Victoria was already eighteen, a beauty of Russian and Turkish descent with long black hair that she streaked with red. She was intimidating; the men at the school were afraid of her. Mickie was a fireball of energy with light brown hair and brown eyes. She was a tomboy and a star on the school's gymnastics team. Ashley was a punk kid, her blonde hair streaked with pink and black. Lita didn't know them very well, but they had always been nice enough to her. They shared the same physical education class.

"Are you coming out to Torrie's party tonight?" Candice asked her. Torrie Wilson was considered the most beautiful woman in school. Her mother and stepfather had gone on vacation to Mexico, leaving Torrie all by herself. With her parents gone, Torrie decided to throw a winter party to celebrate the impending Christmas vacation.

"I can't," Lita grumbled. "I got grounded."

"What? You never mentioned that last night," Candice replied, her tone shocked. "What happened?"

"Just Eric being an ass," Lita answered. Eric Bischoff, her mother's new boyfriend of the month, had been making Lita's life difficult for months. "He decided my music was two decibels too loud last night and grounded my ass for a week."

"What? He can do that? What did your mom say?"

"Mom's still in that whole 'love-is-blind' stage, so she's willing to go with whatever he says. I'm sure she'd follow him to Timbuktu if he left." Lita's face had taken on an expression of hatred. The two of them walked through the glass doors and down the front concrete steps. It was a steely grey day. There was six inches of snow on the ground, and the news was calling for at least another foot by the end of the weekend.

"Just sneak out," Candice suggested. "Normally I wouldn't recommend you doing such an underhanded thing, but seriously? Eric is a douche."

"That he is," Lita agreed with a laugh. They crossed the parking lot to Lita's car, a used red Chevy that was rundown. Lita loved her car. She couldn't imagine her life without it.

"So just come on out."

"We'll see if I can swing it," Lita promised her. "On top of being grounded, Mr. Michaels just gave me a ton of history homework."

"Okay, well, give me a call if you are. I'll come pick you up." Lita nodded. She got into her car and drove away. Looking in the rear-view mirror, she saw Candice staring at her until Lita turned onto the road.

Lita sat on her bed and watched the clock. In her hand she held her cell phone. Eric and her mother had gone out to see the musical "Cats" at their local theater. Lita shuddered. She remembered when her Drama teacher, Mr. Cool, had shown the class the musical. She hated the play. Throughout the entire video, she wanted to hit the stage with a spray bottle of water. It was a wretched show.

She was happy. The time alone was what she wanted. She didn't have to hear her mother's words of endearment for a man who cared nothing for Lita. With every day that passed, Lita dreaded coming home. She just couldn't handle being around Eric. She wished it was still herself and her mother. Even though she knew it was idealistic, Lita wished things were the way they used to be.

Staring down at the phone, Lita weighed the pros and cons of sneaking out. She'd be grounded for much longer than a week if she got caught sneaking out. But then again, why was she grounded? Because Eric hated her punk bands.

Lita hit a few buttons on her cell phone. "Candice? Yeah, I'm going to come out to Torrie's place. Want to come get me?" She listened to her friend. "Ten minutes. Outside. See you then." Lita hung up the phone and took a moment to savor the feeling of liberation that washed over her. She changed into a pair of blue jeans and a black T-shirt with a violet sheer shirt over top. She quickly brushed her hair until it crackled and applied some electric purple liner to her eyes. Sliding on her running shoes, she left the bedroom and took the steps two at a time, thankful to leave the house.

Twenty minutes later, she was still waiting for Candice, and becoming increasingly more paranoid that Eric was going to get home. She wondered what was taking her friend so long. Torrie was only on the outskirts of town, a ten minute drive. But she was still waiting.

"Lita..."

The tone was unmistakably male. Her face darkened as her eyes scanned the area, searching for what direction the voice had come from. Crossing her arms over her chest, Lita ventured further into the driveway. "Hello?" she called out. There was no answer. "Edge, is that you?" Edge was a nickname for Adam, the star of the football team. He was as arrogant as his good friend, star quarterback Randy Orton. Edge was a running-back, and he was thick as thieves with Randy.

"Lita..."

The voice came from behind her. Before Lita could turn around, everything went black.