How was Alexandra Chase supposed to know that one of the worst things that had ever seen happened to her was to occur on that very day?
Alex smiled as she spotted the black car through the snow-covered window.
A moment later, her best friend was running up to the house and waving wildly at her as thick snowflakes fell from the white sky.
"Hey, Alex!" Katherine greeted when she reached the doorway, immediately pulling her into a hug. "Hello!" Alex responded cheerfully. She had to almost bend down to hug her friend, as Katherine was at least 5 inches shorter, and Alex was fairly tall. That, and Katherine was petite for her age.
They proceeded to confide about just how much they missed one another, while Katherine stepped inside and took off her coat and boots and shook off the snow from her dark hair.
"It seems like so long since I've last seen you," Alex exclaimed.
Katherine laughed. "It's only been like, 3 weeks!"
Alex waved a hand in a 'whatever' gesture. "Then it's been 3 weeks too long, my friend." she declared.
The two girls made their way to the living room, where the TV and piano were.
"So!" Alex plopped down on the sofa. "What do ya want to do first?"
Katherine sat down next to her.
"Hmmm," she muttered in thought. "Ooh! I know!" she jolted up excitedly.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," Katherine responded enthusiastically. "It's snowing."
"Indeed, I have noticed this new development." Alex replied in a posh British accent.
They both chuckled.
"Yeah, so why don't we go to the park? Is it too far from your house?"
"Good idea, and no, it's not. We can go right now, if you want."
"Great. And there's something important I'd really like to tell you."
With that, the girls got permission to head down to the park, which was about a 10-15 minute walk from Alex's house.
They bundled up in their coats, hats, and scarves and boots, and went out the front door.
They started the walk, chatting cheerily as they marched side by side.
Just the usual trivia, like classes, and grades, hot guys, and new TV show episodes they had seen, etc.
But even then, Alex had the feeling that Katherine wasn't really focused on their conversation. She seemed...distracted, somehow.
When they reached the park, Katherine pulled Alex over to the bench.
"Hey. Is now a good time to talk?"
Alex nodded. Might as well get the talk over with so that they could focus more on enjoying one another's company afterwards.
"So, here's the thing." Katherine took a deep breath.
"I...I'm not really sure if you'll think I'm totally insane, but...I...really feel as if I should tell you of all people. You are my best friend, after all."
Alex was touched by this sentiment. If it was this important, she would have thought that Katherine would have already dropped it by her parents.
But then again, they were almost 17. There were some things you felt you just couldn't tell parents, no matter how much you tried. Duh.
"So what's up? Are you in trouble, or something?"
That would have been surprising. Katherine was usually quite well-disciplined compared to Alex's own wild streak every now and then.
Katherine shook her head.
"I'm...not sure. OK, I'll get to it, then. I've been hearing this...voice, in my head. It tells me that I have something...special, I guess, in my bloodline. It says that one day I might be chosen for something important. And that I should be careful."
Alex would have laughed, but the expression on her friend's face said otherwise.
"Wait, what? Did you watch too many fantasy shows before you went to sleep again?"
Katherine shook her head again, this time more agitatedly than before.
"No, no. This is real. I hear it clearly. This voice...it's not bad, or anything, I think it just wants my help. In the future. Uh, yeah. I think."
Alex personally thought her friend was going insane.
"Dude, are you sure? Wasn't it just a dream? Maybe you could just be hearing things-"
"I told you, I'm not!" To her surprise, Katherine jumped up from the bench angrily. She hadn't been expecting her to react so violently.
"Here, you know what? I'll prove it!" and with that, she paced over to a snowbank, and began taking off her boots. Then her gloves. Then her coat. Her hat.
When Alex vaguely realized whatever the hell her friend was even doing, she leaped up and started shouting.
"Katherine! What the hell do you think you're doing?! Get your freakin' clothes back on, and-" she stopped.
There she was, 16 year old Katherine Lu, standing barefoot in a deep snow bank and smiling broadly at her, no signs of distress, pain, or panic at all.
"What the hell?!"
"I told you I'd prove it! Now do you believe me?"
"I believe that you're gonna get hypothermia in the next 8 seconds! It's freakin' -30, today! What is wrong with you?!"
"But I'm not! Look!"
And with that, Katherine hopped out of the snowdrift and walked back over to her in bare feet.
Alex was busy looking her up and down, trying to check for any signs of bright red, cold skin or shivering that could relate to her friend catching hypothermia.
There were none.
If anything, Katherine looked as though she could have been wandering around a sunny summer meadow, for all the reaction she showed.
"Seriously." Alex shook her head dazedly. "What. Is. Happening?!"
"I told you," Katherine said with excitement in her voice as she started pulling her winter gear back on.
"The 'voice' told me I could do it without getting frostbite, or-or sick, or anything like that! This is just so cool and unreal!"
"'Cool?' You could have been seriously harmed! What if the voice told you to go jump off a cliff? Would you do it? No! 'Cause it's dangerous, and, quite frankly, just plain stupid. I mean, I'm really glad you didn't get hurt, but you have to be more careful, damnit!"
Katherine looked like she was finally letting the words sink in, and a serious look entered her eyes.
"I'm so sorry for scaring you like that," she apologized solemnly. "I won't do it again, I promise. I was just so excited about showing you what I can do. I haven't been able to show anyone, 'cause, uh, well...you know."
Alex nodded. If Katherine had shown anyone else that, she was sure that her friend would have been enjoying a nice, permanently long stay at the local mental hospital.
"Alright. Apology accepted. Just don't ever do something that dumb again, OK?"
Katherine looked up and smiled at her gratefully.
"Yes, ma'am." she joked. Alex smiled back, and was just about to reply, when an arm grabbed her suddenly from behind.
Katherine gasped. "Alex!"
Alex twisted, and managed to knee the assailant hard in the groin. While her attacker gasped in pain and let go, she tried to make a run for it.
She didn't get far. With a shriek, she found herself with both arms pinned and a constricting arm around her throat.
Katherine rushed forwards, fists raised and looking like she was about to launch into a kick, but the attacker held a knife to Alex's throat.
"Stop." the voice was harsh, grating. It sounded menacing, and Alex could feel her body shaking with barely-controlled fear.
He must have been quite tall, around 6 foot 4 or more, around the same height as her dad.
Katherine reluctantly stopped a few feet away from them.
"What do you want?" she said coldly. "Just let her go ."
Alex couldn't figure out how she could get that much anger into her voice at a moment like that, but Katherine was managing to do it just fine.
"Oh, you know what I'm here for alright, little girl." the man holding her snarled.
She struggled hard and managed to twist her head to look into her attacker's face.
Alex let out a strangled scream that was quickly silenced when he tightened his hold on her windpipe.
His eyes. Oh, God. Oh, God, no.
They were pure black, the entire pupils, everything, and completely merciless.
This can't be real…
"What...are you?" she gasped out.
The monster leered at her evilly. "The monster from underground, sweetie."
He looked back up at Katherine.
"Your time's running up!" he called out viciously. "I wouldn't waste it!"
"Let her go, then!" Katherine finally shouted out. "If it's me you want, then just let her go. I'll come willingly, I can promise that. You don't need her."
"Then walk over." the attacker motioned his free hand towards them.
"Let her free first." Katherine stood her ground, fists clenched stubbornly.
The monster let out a hard laugh. Alex trembled as the knife began digging harder into her throat. Any more struggles now, and she would have her throat cut without even trying.
"Watched too many movies lately, haven't we? You must know that this isn't how it works. No, you come here right now, or your friend here gets a nice slit in her pretty neck."
He dug the knife in a little deeper.
"Alright!" Katherine yelled. "I'm coming."
She walked slowly towards them, fists clenched so tightly, it must have hurt.
As soon as Katherine was in arm's length, the monster shoved Alex, hitting her hard in the head, making her crumple to the ground, before pulling Katherine in.
"Now-" he began, reeling his face down toward her.
Katherine stomped on his foot, and elbowed him hard in the face.
He let out a yell of pain, and dropped the knife. Katherine somehow managed to kick it away. The monster clutched his face with one hand, while still keeping Katherine trapped with the other. Katherine continued to stomp around, desperately trying to free her arms.
"That's it." he snapped, and through Alex's cloudy vision, ripped off her friend's bulky red winter coat, and bound Katherine's wrists and elbows with what looked like cruelly sharp wire.
When that was done, he looked down at Alex and smiled at her dazed, horrified expression.
"Bye, bye." he leered one last time, before snapping his fingers and vanishing in a cloud of smoke.
"Alex!" Katherine's desperate, terrified face before she disappeared was the last thing Alex saw before she succumbed to the darkness.
"Ka...therine..." Alex murmured before she lost consciousness and slumped down to the earth at last.