Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Darkest Powers Trilogy. Nor will that ever be the case. All rights belong to Kelley Armstrong.

Chapter One

"Hey dad, I've finally managed to move all my boxes upstairs" I said finally, when really it had only taken me an hour. Perks of being used to moving around I guess,

"That's great Chloe" was the reply that warranted from him, eyes still glued to his blackberry. My dad's been even more absorbed in his work since my mom died three months ago. We've always moved around a lot, but since we lost my mom he couldn't really think about staying in that house anymore. Not that he's ever home anyway; he goes away on business a lot. I can't help but feel as though that's my fault. I know that I remind him of mom, and he probably looks at me and can't help but think of what happened too.

"Okay, guess I'll start unpacking" that barely even got acknowledged. I trudged upstairs to the only room I've ever been allowed to really make my own. My dad's promised that I can carry out my last two years of school at Lyle Academy for the Arts, with the additional promise of not moving house too. The only bright side to moving this time is that he finally agreed to let me attend an art school. Luckily the first day of the school year is tomorrow, so I'm not just appearing midway through the year in the way that I usually do.

Ding dong.

"I'll get it" I called as I got up off my bed. I peeked into the kitchen as I went down the stairs, and surely enough my dad was still glued to the screen of his phone. I opened the door to find four people stood on our front porch.

"Hello, we live next door and we thought we'd welcome you to the neighbourhood," the oldest of the group greeted me while handing me a cake, "I'm Christopher Bae, but please, call me Kit" he appeared to be of Asian heritage, and was only identifiable as older due to the laugh lines round his eyes. Kit was wearing a friendly smile on his face, "this is my son Simon," he gestured to a boy on his left who looked just like him, but minus the laugh lines and with blonde hair opposed to black. However, Simon's smile was just as friendly, if not bigger than his father's,

"Hey" he greeted me, smile growing, not that that really seemed possible.

"This is his sister, Tori" Kit continued, gesturing to the girl tapping away on her phone, she looked up long enough to glare at me as though I was a nuisance before going back to ignoring the rest of the world. She had short, black hair, and seemed tall; although that isn't saying much considering the fact that I don't tower over anyone at five foot nothing.

"She's only my half-sister" Simon interjected, before winking at me,

"And this is my son Derek" Kit completed, gesturing to the boy on his right. I could tell right away that he must've been adopted; either that or he took after his mother. He towered over the rest of his family at what must've been well over six foot tall and looked like a wall of muscle. His black hair fell in front of his eyes; his eyes were the most beautiful shade of green I've ever seen and I was suddenly glad that his hair wasn't longer. Unfortunately he wore a scowl that said he had better things to be doing that welcoming the new neighbours; his hello consisted of a grunt,

"So who might you be?" Simon asked. He was still smiling, which was slightly refreshing considering the deepening scowl on his brother's face,

"I'm Chloe Saunders, my dad Steve is in the kitchen,"

"Wh-"

"Well, it's been nice to meet you Chloe, we should let you carry on with your evening, you're probably busy unpacking, we'll see you around" Kit said, hastily cutting off Simon-s next question. With that they all left, Simon being the only one of the kids to say goodbye. Not that he said anything; he gave a salute and a wink. I waved before shutting the front door and walking into the kitchen to put the cake away,

"Who was that Chloe?" my dad asked, looking up from his blackberry,

"Just our neighbours, they gave us cake," I replied, lifting the box in his direction before putting it in the fridge,

"That's nice" he replied almost robotically before turning back to the screen,

"Yeah" I responded, already making my way up the stairs and entered my claimed bedroom. The biggest one in the three bedroom house, mainly due to the fact that I'm going to be the only one in it half of the time. I collapsed onto the bed, too aggravated to do much else.

In the past three months my mother died and both my dad and my aunt have transferred their grief into their work. It's like losing three important people at once and I don't have anybody to talk to about it.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and did what I've done countless times since I lost her, I phone her old number, and as usual, it went straight to her answer phone message; it's the easiest way to hear her voice,

"Hey mom, it's me again, I keep wondering when they're going to cut this number, but I really miss you. Dad's gotten better, he doesn't cry as much at night anymore, he always thought I was asleep and couldn't hear him. It's hard to sleep anymore though. He blames himself so much mom, but I blame myself too. We've finally moved, he couldn't stay in the house for more than an hour since you've been gone. I'm not holding up well mom, and I have no one to talk to. Dad goes away again in a week; I guess it will be a relief. When he's here he's not really here. I've gotta go now mom, I've got school in the morning, first day and all. He's finally letting me go to an art school. I know, I was shocked when he agreed too. Goodnight mom, I love you."

I wiped my tears away furiously as I hung up. I guess my still talking to my mom is kind of weird, but it makes me feel as if she's still here. I plugged my docking station in and put some music on. The music eventually lulled me into sleep, after I stopped crying that is, not that I registered any of what was playing.