It was the beginning of another school day. In a few hours, all students would be spilling out of school for summer vacation. One of these students was wondering around the school, thinking about what he was going to do afterschool. He was fourteen, average height and very athletic. He was a little dark, normally giving some people an uneasy feeling around him. He had spiked black hair, but there were small, thin red stripes where his hair was spiked. He was wearing wristbands; one of them was white with a thick black stripe on either side with thinner grey stripe beside each of them. The other was a little smaller, almost completely black with a white skull and crossbones. He was wearing black jeans, and a dark blue shirt. He had a normal name, but most called him by his nickname, Shadow. Many of the teachers and other students called him this but there were others who called him various other names, but few of them were said to his face. As he walked past some stairs, a girl with shoulder length fair hair and blue eyes caught up with him. Her name was Amy, and was Shadow's sister. She was just as athletic as her brother, and was about the same height. The two of them were twins, but were almost nothing like each other. Amy was usually calm and mostly smiling in school, while Shadow always looked like someone had just ticked him off in a big way, usually being dark and quiet in school, while at home he was almost like a normal kid his age.

It was the last two classes of the day, and for Shadow and Amy, it meant it was PE class. The two of them preferred to run laps around the school, mostly being the first to finish. As Shadow ran halfway through his second lap, he passed one of the girls in his class. Her name was April, and she had hair that had a slight red shade to it. The two of them hardly ever spoke to each other, usually avoiding each other. As Shadow passed her, he glanced back for a second. As he did, he ran into two boys in another class, both of them a little taller than him. One of them was called Adam Young, and the other was called Steve Scott. Both of them liked nothing better than making others feel inferior to them, always picking on people smaller or weaker than them. They picked on Shadow a lot, thinking he would sooner or later break from their constant annoyances. Today though, they decided to simply show Shadow who was the "strongest". As Shadow tried to pass them, the two of them moved in front of him, constantly blocking them. As Shadow prepared to sprint past them, Adam pushed him onto the grass, laughing as Shadow almost fell. As Shadow got back onto the path, Adam and Steve were waiting for him, swinging their fists into his stomach. Shadow fell to his knees, clutching his stomach and gasping for breath. Before Adam and Steve could continue to hit him, April came into view, and the two boys started running. The last thing they wanted to do was to end up with April getting involved.

As Shadow started to breathe normally, April stopped beside him, kneeling down to see if he was okay. Though his legs were a little shaky, April managed to help him stand. As they started walking, April asked "So it was Adam and Steve who did this?" Shadow nodded, and April went on angrily "Why do those fat hardheads always have to prove their stronger than everyone? I'd love to see the day when someone brings them down to size and reality." As they rounded a turn, Adam and Steve were on top of the hill, shouting how Shadow had a crush on April and vice versa. As Shadow breathed a deep breath, he said quietly "Want that day to be today?" and the two of them ran after Adam and Steve, almost sprinting up the hill. Adam and Steve's eyes widened in fear, knowing shouting those things was a huge mistake. They sprinted off as Shadow and April made it to the top of the hill. As they slowed down, the two of them laughed a little at how Adam and Steve simply ran like scared rabbits when they tried to act tough. The two of them started running again, both of them completing their laps just as the last bell rang. As they went inside to get their bags, Adam and Steve finished their laps, eyes wide at how Shadow and April had beaten them. They sneaked inside quietly after them, grabbing their stuff and running back outside.

As Shadow and Amy walked home, they started feeling as though someone was following them. Amy looked behind them, seeing nothing suspicious. She looked to the other side of the street, seeing a man walking in the same direction as them. She nudged Shadow, who had also noticed him. They started running, thinking the man mightn't try to follow them. The two of them looked back and saw that the man had started chasing them. Amy and Shadow looked at each other with the same look of confusion, looking ahead of them to see a crowd of people from school in front of them. They disappeared into the crowd, making it hard for their pursuer to follow them. As they walked with the crowd, Amy whispered "What the heck was all that about? I don't think that guy just wanted to talk to us, and who was he anyway?" Shadow whispered back "I have the faintest idea what the guy wanted, but chances are we won't meet him again. At least if he did catch us, we would have beaten him easy." They stayed with the crowd until they got to their street, turning off and heading for an old house they called home.

Later that night, Shadow was listening to music on the computer, playing Land of Confusion by Disturbed as he surfed the net. Amy was watching TV, constantly changing channels to see what there was to watch. Their dad lived in the house next door, letting Shadow and Amy live in the old house on their own. Their dad was an inventor, but he always had time for them at the weekend, usually taking them to a variety of places. As Shadow flicked through his emails, he found one that stood out from the others. It was from a company called Nightrise and it contained a video that said below it "Do you believe nightmares can come true". Shadow stopped the music, pressing the play button. He watched as the same message appeared, and then leapt out of his chair as a demonic scream filled the speakers, echoing around the house. Amy leapt to her feet, walking cautiously over to the computer. She almost screamed at the picture the video had ended at, a creature that reminded her of something from the depths of nightmares. She looked to Shadow, who was breathing heavily and quickly, scared breathless by what he had just seen. The two of them looked at the clock, deciding it was time to get some sleep, despite what they had just seen and heard.