Chapter 1

Mornings and Freedom

~~~~~Start~~~~~

Be my bad boy, be my man, be my weekend lover but don't be my friend You can be my bad boy but understand that I don't need you in my life again…

(Bad Boy by Cascada)

My alarm sang as I woke with a start. Sighing I reached for the alarm button but it was too far so I reached farther. My finger tips brushed the button as I fell out of bed and on to the floor. Mumbling angrily I rose, grabbed the damn alarm, and threw it against the wall.

As it shattered I wondered why I was even up this early. Work doesn't start until eleven and it's not that late. Heck the suns not even up yet. Sighing, and not yet figuring it out yet, I grabbed some clothes and walked down the hall to the bathroom.
As my shower ended I stepped out into the cold air and I realized. I quit my job. So why? ...Shit! I'm starting school today. I'm going to be late!

Running out of the bathroom I raced to the kitchen to check the time, wearing only a towel. The clock said that it was six twenty and the calendar said that it was September first. Sighing with relief I continued to get ready. That's good school doesn't start until eight thirty. I have time.

Before leaving I studied myself in the floor length mirror. A girl of sixteen years stared back at me. Her shoulder length blood red cursed hair was complicatedly twisted and hidden in a hat to keep it from sight. The girls bright yellow eyes that stared back at me seemed to be clouded with the pain of its' past and yet brightened by the hope of the future. Cautiously the girl/I lifted my hand to fix my hat. We froze as the bracelet encircling our wrist came into the mirrors reflection.

It looked rather normal two bands of copper parallel to one another, connected by a round section of copper with a small piece of mirror imbedded in it. But mine/the girls' bracelet, sadly, is no ordinary bracelet. The inner lining of it is the bones of priests that sacrificed themselves in order to keep a part of the curse hidden. Normally the sight of a bracelet wouldn't stop a person in their tracks and have them cower in fear. But that is exactly what this one did to us. It seals a part of me that is monstrous and is the second part of my curse. Shaking away the feeling of foreboding that surrounded me we shifted a bit and turned my attention to the rest of our body.

The only skin showing below the neck was our hands, due to the fact that I am ashamed of the scars that litter it. Being abused for the majority of my life doesn't really encourage me to walk around in a summer dress with confidence. Being reminded of my past we lifted up the back of my shirt to reveal the "brand" my parents put on me. The "brand" is a rather large yet odd tattoo. The tattoo consisted mostly of an assortment of curious symbols incased in a circle. When I was seven my parents had it imprinted so that I could be found if I ever escaped. But so far they have yet to find me.

Growling at the thought of my parents I turned away from the girl in the mirror grabbed my keys and left.

As the door shut I was surprised to see the amount of people that were out and about at this hour. Do these people ever sleep? Turning down the street I realized that I had no idea where the school was. I sighed at my seemingly never ending stupidity and looked around for some kids my age. After a bit of searching I spotted three teens across the street wearing uniforms. Knowing that my school had uniforms I fallowed.

There was a girl that was short compared to the boys with brown hair and a smile that seemed contagious, a boy with oddly colored purple hair who carried himself almost royally, and another boy. The second boy had hair that was super orange and gorgeous red eyes that seemed almost unreal. The girl was talking to the purple haired boy who was replying politely while the red eyed boy seemed to be in his own world. After fallowing them for a few minutes I started to get bored and worried that they might not go to my school. So after gathering my courage, which took me five minutes, I approached them.

As I started to get closer the red eyed boy opened his eyes and watched me. I soon caught up to them and the girl turned and looked at me. I took a quick breath to gather up the rest of my courage and spoke.

"Excuse me, I'm new around here and I was wondering if you go to Kaibara High School because I'm kind of lost." I admitted smiling sheepishly.

"Hi, my name is Tohru Honda and we go to Kaibara" the girl responded, "Would you like to come with us?" At this news I breathed a sigh of relief and laughed a bit.

"Thanks Tohru that would be very helpful and my names Raelyn."

"Raelyn… Okay, this is Yuki Sohma" Tohru said gesturing to the purple haired boy who looked at me and gave a small smile, "and this is Kyo Sohma." The boy with the gorgeous eyes looked at me and seemed surprised at the smile I gave him. Yuki looked quickly at his watch and said that we should get going so we started walking again. Tohru soon started bombarding me with questions.

We talked for short time till we came to the school. It was huge. I stopped terrified at the size of it and how crowded it was. Well this is going to be a challenge. Remember running into boys not a good idea. Well this is going to be so easy I thought sarcastically. Why must these things always be so hard? The boys continued walking but Tohru turned and stopped walking when she saw my face.

"Raelyn, what's the matter?" She asked looking worried. Shaking my head I smiled at her and said,

"Nothing, I just didn't think that it was going to be this big." She giggled and we walked into the school.

To those reading my story for the first time: I forgot to mention long ago that this story starts after the end of the anime. Because Raelyn's influence doesn't really work with the manga. (speaking of which I cried at the end of the last chapter) Hope you all enjoy it and those who have been reading from the beginning I apologize greatly for dragging this on for so long and not updating.