So, I wasn't really sure if I should post this on here or not. I don't really know since I'm still relatively knew to all of this stuff, but I decided heck with it and hope you guys like it. If so please, please review! (Any suggestions or tips or anything would be greatly appreciated.) Sorry the first chapter is so short - mine usually are for some reason - but I promise it'll get better and a lot longer as I keep going.

Copywrite: If I really owned it, do you think I would be doing this? None of the usual stuff is mine, only the characters you don't know about and the things you've never heard of.

Prolouge

A wise old man once told me, the day the world comes crashing down there would be no one to save but myself. At first, I didn't believe him. I was still young and full of love and hope. Even thinking about sacrificing everyone else just so I could live petrified me.

Then things changed.

Thirteen years ago a war broke out. I hardly remember those days. In the midst of all of the panic and fear, true chaos reigns and suddenly it was as if I didn't know anyone anymore. All humanity turns into nothing more than a distant memory lost in the mass confusion and terror. People started to kill each other. Stealing. Betraying. Anything to save themselves. It became a fight to survive. Independence unbending: the only person one can rely on is oneself. It was then that I learned what that old man truly meant. People would do anything to survive. It was in their nature—self preservation. They would do anything even if it meant losing part of themselves in the process, even if it meant losing their humanity. I had to admit in a way it was true, every bit.

Yet he was wrong.

Sometimes the human heart doesn't think that way. One thing I've learned now is that life is unpredictable. Even in the direst of situations, when one people care for another more than himself or herself, things change.

And people have always been scared of change.

Nightmares

Amaya ran to her room. Her tiny bare feet padded loudly against the frigid wood floors and the sound echoed around her, beating down against her shoulders with each step. Inside her little heart was beating too fast. Too hard. It hurt every time, hammering against her chest. There was nothing she could do to stop it. No matter how fast she tried running, the hallways seemed to stretch out under her feet pushing her further and further away.

Sharp, ragged breathing blocker her from hearing anything. A thump near the bottom of the stairs made the hairs on the back of her neck shoot up on end and she swirled around to see behind her.

Nothing.

Turning again she sprinted down the halls, twisting and turning towards the final door.

They were coming for him. They were coming for all of them. Seekers. The most vial and despised ninja, hunting down targets like slaughter house pigs and murdering anyone them met along the way. They were the reason Amaya was always moving with her father. They were the ones who gave her nightmares and choked her to tears at night.

They were here.

Amaya cringed, sprinting through the labyrinth of hallways, using walls and corners to keep her from ramming into anything. She needed to be quick. Smart. She needed to be strong. Everything she wasn't…

Finally she stumbled along the right door. It was different than the others. As soon as she flung open her door the loud roar of thunder boomed through the house. The pounding quickened in her chest. She could barely breathe.

A storm had been raging since dawn, darkening the room considerably. This was when they came. Never on sunny days. Never when the warmth of the day was there to comfort her. Only when the thunder and the pouring rain could hide her cries. Father had warned her, told her about people like them, told her of the vial things they did.

Quickly she searched around, scanning the floors desperately for what she needed. Lightning flashed outside, illuminating everything around her for the barest of moments, but it was enough. Enough to catch the slight gloom in the corner of the room and the menacing shadow leaping out to grab her with an ear-splitting screech!

Jumping, Amaya hastily shook her head, willing the images to go away. There wasn't time for fear. No time for panic. She had to focus.

From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the slight hole in the middle of one of her floorboards. It was barely large enough for a pencil to fit through, but if she tried, she could slip in her pinky. Not wasting a second, she flew over to it, clawing desperately to loosen the board. Her hands trembled. A chill creeping down her back. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't seem to get it open. The sounds of the front door sliding open made her throat tighten.

Not much time.

Any noise would draw their attention. She wouldn't be able to go for help if they caught her now. Father was counting on her. He needed her. It was enough pressure to cause a cold sweat to break out across her chalky skin, sending her heart pounding out of her chest and her stomach in her throat. When all else failed she had to be strong. He made her promise to take care of herself and her baby brother.

Her small fingers worked quietly as she worked at the board.

The clang of metal on metal erupted down stairs followed by voices, but the pounding rain beating against the windows was far louder. She was too far away to hear what they were saying, but she knew her father was down there. That they were fighting. Killing. Her throat tightened.

Run Amaya! Don't let them find you. You and Hiroshi have to make it out. You're the only ones left.

Her father's warning stirred something inside her she couldn't quite place. The rush growing inside her was getting louder and louder. Everything was so sharp. Cracks in the wall. Leaves blowing on trees outside. It felt like she could see everything, hear everything. It was crisp even in the dark skies.

The dark shadows between each blazing zap of lightning brought out the true terrors and monsters hiding in the dank crevices. Every deafening crack of thunder brought them closer. The skies were a barrier locking in all of the problems and pains. Usually it made her feel safer, as if she wouldn't be alone anymore. However, as she heard another clang; something over turning; a vase shattering, she knew she had never been more alone in her life.

Finally, the board gave way under her little fingers. It revealed a small hole with a rusting metal latter leading down into the dark abyss below. It wasn't big but if she tried, she could squeeze down into the tunnel that ran under their house. Once she hit the bottom there would be a complete network of tunnels and caves connecting her to every single building in the city. From there she would be able to run for help. Here they could never find her, not in time. There were too many dead ends and shortcuts.

There was another crash downstairs. A window? A vase? The table? It sounded like a glass shattering over her head. But there shouldn't have been anything to break…

Hiroshi stated to cry from his crib over in the corner of the room. The noise was loud, crisp. It sliced through the air faster than she could breathe and stabbed into her like a knife, cutting into her heart. Panicking she swung her head around, staring at her baby brother. Not thinking Amaya raced over to the crib, throwing herself wildly over the bars to smother the little mouth of the other side, but it was too late.

There was silence for a moment. It beat so loudly against her ears. Every shuffle felt like bombs dropping overhead. It was filled with the quickening pulse of her blood rushing from her face.

A scream—cold sweats broke down her back.

That was Father's voice.

A lone deep voice rose over the thundering roar of the raging storm. It was a voice smoother than silk and softer than anything she had ever heard. No one could mistake the promise in his voice when he said: "…kill him..."

It made her heart stop.

Hurriedly she cradled the crying baby into her tense arms before hurrying back towards the secret passage. The floor let out an ear-splitting squeak in resistance. She froze. The house was quiet for a moment. So loud in her mind. Everything was so loud. Amaya pressed Hiroshi's face gingerly into the crook of her neck to protect him, to hide him, but it was too late. Seconds after footsteps reverberated down the hall.

"Find the baby and get rid of it," the same man hissed.

His voice was closer, so much closer than before. How could he have already made it so far through the maze of hallways and rooms?

No time. Gasping for air, she shot for the hiding spot, crossing the large room in two bounding strides. Hiroshi's cries grew louder. The footsteps were getting closer. Thuds against the floor. Bangs from them throwing open the other doors. Close. Everything was so close.

Once she made it, Amaya wasted no time climbing down into the dark, coddling Hiroshi in an awkward position with one arm. It welcomed her with loving arms, engulfing her in the mysteries and tragedies it held. Her fingers barely managed to pull the board back in place when her door slid open. She shut out the world.

It wasn't the frigid air or the musky smell floating over the water at the bottom of the latter that made her knees quiver and hands shake. Not even the haunted cries radiating from her little baby brother as he fought desperately against her grip. Before she knew it, her feet were moving under her, mechanically, stiffly. Yet all she could think about was her father.

They were killing him.