Chapter One

I wake up in a cold sweat, nearly suffocating. The stuffy air in my room is becoming too much to handle. I lift my head up from the History textbook on my desk and search around my room in a frenzy as if I need to stop a timer before a bomb sets off in my room.

I can't believe I let myself fall asleep again.

I jerk my head up sluggishly and squint my eyes at the clock on my wall. I can barely make out the time before I give myself a headache.

"Christ, seven o'clock already?"

Man, and to think today I promised I'd turn my life around. There I was, first period History, yet another test I failed to pass. Mr. Mabel handed me back my test with a big fat "F" on it, and then it dawned on me: maybe if I actually put in effort… Maybe if I go home, start on homework, make it a habit, I'll finally be able to achieve something at school. I'm going to get organized, I'm going to get my life straight.

Yep, and here I am eleven hours later asleep on my desk with nothing written on this worksheet due Wednesday.

I turn my desk upside down before I find my glasses miraculously uncrushed under my textbook. I plop them back on my face and roll my desk chair closer to my calendar.

"Ah… Still Monday." I murmur to myself under my breath.

I tend to lose my sense of time after I fall asleep.

I've still got until Wednesday to turn this in, and I've let my nap get in the way of my study time, so oh darn, I guess I won't be able to study today! I get a sudden boost of adrenaline as I decide to not study, and run to open my blinds. The sound of thunder slightly throws me aback. It's raining. For once.

It's dark out, I wonder if the guys are up for a little adventure around the town. I hurriedly open my dresser and throw on my bomber jacket as well as my duckbill hat. I put my hat on backward and dash out the front door. Raindrops slide down from the roof onto the hard concrete ground in front of me as I walk out. As I make my way up the stairs, I hold on to the railing as to make sure I don't slip. The wind is blowing particularly rough this time of year. As I finally reach the outdoor second floor, I turn back around and admire the scenery. Clotheslines stretching one corner of the complex to the other, broken bicycles and other miscellaneous toys scattered around the plaza, kids playhouses that haven't been touched in ages, an empty pool with leafs and piles of garbage. What a beautiful sight to behold. I turn back around and face Ignacio's door. I slam my fist on the door and shout.

"Ignacio!"

The curtains behind the windows to his house peer open slightly, but I can't make out whose face it is. Several locks open before the door finally creaks open slowly.

"Francisco?" the voice asks me. The person behind the door is Jonathan, pitching his voice in a sorry attempt to sound more feminine.

"Gee, is that Ignacio's girlfriend? Finally speaking? It's about time! When did this epiphany occur?" I ask.

"Ehh… You are confusing me with big words" he replies.

I roll my eyes.

"Jonathan, open the door before I stomp on you like a cockroach, it's freezing out here" I demand.

The door opens fully and I peer into the room ahead.

"Jonathan? Where did you go? I just heard you a second ago here at the door!"

Jonathan jabs me in the stomach and I laugh.

"How's it going, guys?" I announce.

Ignacio pops his head out of the kitchen to peek at me. He quickly walks up to me and firmly shakes my hand.

"What's up, Francisco?"

"Nothin' much, thought I would stop by to join the study party," I reply.

He scoffs.

"Yep, look around, nothing but a hardcore study session going on here."

I take a look to my right at the living room to check for any available seating.

The only two chairs in the living room are being hogged up by Xavier and Christopher, who are playing cards. The only other seats available in this entire apartment are in the kitchen, but I'd rather sit on a chair made of rusty nails than sit next to Ignacio's girlfriend, Teresa. She never interacts with anyone unless it's to criticize and insult them. To top it off, she's radically different from us all in terms of looks. She's pale, has white hair and blue eyes. She probably thinks that makes her special. All of us are dark skinned, dark brown hair, brown eyes… All except for me. I have green eyes, and that's all that differentiates me from everyone else.

Ignacio really hit the jackpot on this lady.

"Guess I'm sitting on the floor today, aren't I?"

Ignacio laughs.

"Yeah, sorry, these idiots have been sitting their asses here since they got back from school," he says.

"No kidding? Hey, how's that doctorate coming along, soon to be Dr. Ignacio Villacruz?"

He shoves me jokingly.

"Yeah shut up, Francisco, don't make me kick you back out into the rain like I did with Oscar just an hour ago."

Ignacio is the oldest of my friend group. He's nineteen and dropped out of school last year for reasons none of us really know about. Something about crystals. He also works a part-time job at the bar down the street, but we aren't allowed to go there. It's honestly a shame he didn't do any better in school. I would think he'd want to improve his life and get us out of this hell hole. That's what motivates me to at least put some effort in school. I'm passing with straight C's, but hey, it's passing.

I walk up to Xavier and Christopher to greet them, but they're too busy in a catfight over cheating in their card game.

I take a seat on the coffee table adjacent to the two in order to get front row seats to the argument.

"You're such a damn idiot, Chris! Can't play this game without cheating!" Xavier shouts out before tossing his cards at Christopher and storming off to his room.

Christopher shakes his head, holding back laughter and rubbing his temples.

"That kid loses his temper too easily."

It's silent for a few moments.

The sound of the rain sounds ten times louder in this silence.

It isn't long before the silence is interrupted by everyone's laughter. Xavier walks out and throws his shoe at Christopher, barely missing him.

"Nice aim, stupid" Christopher says before Xavier slams his door.

This is basically everyday life for me. All of us here are orphans. We were abandoned at a young age. Ignacio's parents used to take care of us before they passed away when I was ten. About six years ago. Since then, Ignacio has been looking over us. And I use the phrase "looking over us" very loosely.

It's silent again.

"Boring day, isn't it?"

Everyone agrees.

Ignacio walks out of the kitchen.

"Oh, I forgot to mention that in like two days, I'll have full access to the bar. Owner is gonna be out of town."

"We gonna be able to drink?" Christopher blurts out.

"No. But I do need your guys' help to sneak some of the supply out. Gonna resell it to put some more bread on the table." Ignacio says.

"Why, Ignacio? Why can't you just do this by yourself? You always have to involve us in this crap." Jonathan blurts out from across the room.

"Because I could get in a tiny bit of legal trouble."

"And us being a part of this is gonna… Make it legal?" Jonathan asks.

I stare down at the floor as Ignacio reveals his master plan. Normally I'd feel happy to take part in Ignacio's antics. But for some reason, I don't feel the same today. Is this really all to life there is? Just to mess around.. Hang out with friends with no real directive… I look up at Ignacio as if I'm listening to him speak. Do I really want to end up like him? Being this much of a bum?

"So are you guys down for this?" Ignacio asks.

Everyone excitedly shouts in agreement.

"Yeah…" I reply in a less ecstatic voice than of the rest of my friends.

"Great, just meet me behind the shop at midnight on the 13th" Ignacio states. Couple days from now.

I can't keep living like this.

"Alright fellas, I think I'm gonna head back home."

"Already, Francisco? Still so early." Ignacio asks.

"Cya at school tomorrow, Ignacio," I say with a smirk on my face.

I wave at him, and he waves back as I make my way out of his apartment room.

At seven forty I'm already sitting up the stairs leading to the entrance of the school. It's nothing glorious, really. It's been around for centuries. I've heard an agency known as "Arc Aile" opened and protected schools like these, so Edel Raids and Humans could come to school together. It was an attempt to have them assimilate normally into society since people would obsess over them and their value as weapons. Edel Raids all could be used as weapons when they bonded with one, special, particular human known as a "Pledger." Much of the Edel Raid race is extinct now, but I don't know what happened to all of them… Maybe Isabelle knows something about their whereabouts, I've never really asked her…

As I wait for my friends to show up, I notice a girl behind the wall of the stairs facing towards my direction. At first, I don't think much of it. That is until she decides to wave. I look behind, frantically searching for the person she's directing that towards so I don't make a fool out of myself if I decide to wave back. I can see my antics elate her, as her grin turns to a smile.

She has pale white skin and short, curly, blonde hair with blue eyes. An image of Teresa flashes into my mind. Where are these people coming from? Her outfit is peculiar, too. As if she's wearing some sort of uniform. That's odd. I'm fairly certain our school has never had a dress code before. Since she keeps focusing her eyes on me, I point at myself and mouth the words "me?"

She nods and continues to smile. My encounter with her is ruined by Christopher quickly slamming his hands down on my shoulders, startling me.

"Look who's daydreaming," he says.

"You won't believe it, but hear me out, there's this chick that's totally checking me out right now. She's right over-"

And before I can point to where she was standing, she's gone. Christopher must have startled her as well.

"Over…? Where?" Christopher asks.

"She was just right over there, I swear," I say.

"Francisco, have you been getting enough sleep lately? Think you're starting to hallucinate things."

Before I can answer, the bell rings.

I rub my eyes and get up.

"Yeah, I don't know, man. Where's Xavier?" I ask.

"Xavier? Think he decided to be an Ignacio today and not come to school. He didn't come out of his room all night. That or his alarm didn't ring since he slept over there. I woke up around one in the morning and headed home to sleep."

I shrug.

"Hey, don't you have a crush on that one girl in your seventh period history class? Don't tell me you're eyeing another girl already!"

"She's just a good friend, Chris, you know that."

"Yeah, for now," He laughs at his snide remark.

I glare at him jokingly and smile.

"Whatever, man, I've gotta get to class." He says.

"Alright later," I reply, shaking his hand before he departs to his fifth period class.

As Christopher hurries up the stairs, I look back. I swear there was somebody there… Oddly enough I've never seen her at this school… Maybe she goes to another school? Nonetheless, I walk back to the stairs. I hunch over the wall to get a glimpse of anyone down there. Not a single soul.