"Sissy... Sissy! Wake up. Wake up Sissy." I slowly move my legs as my body feels like there's a ton of bricks on top of it.

"Mnn..." I moan. I was studying all night and fell asleep while I was listening to my music. I wasn't in the mood to be woken up by my younger sister.

"Thomas said, We have to hurry." As much as I love my younger sister, I HATE the fact that he tends to mimic lines from movies or tv shows. She doesn't do it to bother anyone, it's just that she can't function normally like normal people. She has autism.

"'Yes, I'm coming Thomas, replied Percy.'" That's my response when she is talking lines about Thomas the Tank engine. My black bangs fall down on my face and I brush them off to the side.

"Amber, hurry up! You'll make Kiara late." My mom yells angrily. Kiara, Kiara, Kiara. She always comes first... Or second. It seems like I'm always at the bottom of Mom's priority list. First it's her boyfriend who's a specialist for autistic children. Then Kiara, a whole bunch of other things, then me.

My dad left me and my mom when she was pregnant with Kiara. After she was born, I seemed to be just a ghost in my Mom's life. Everything else was Kiara, her boyfriend and her job. The only time I really get attention is when I rarely get 80's or over in school. Other than that, nothing. My only theory is that I'm exactly like my father. My black hair, green eyes, my 'stupidity'.

I was envious of my sister but I couldn't hate her for long. She grew on me and she's attatched to me like a little puppy. And it seems to be an opportunity for Mom to spend more time with her boyfriend and I'm taking care of Kiara. One of those jobs is to take her to and from school and stick around for show and tell to translate what Kiara is saying. I get in trouble when I go to school and I often get detentions and my grades suck because my teachers refuse to give me the things I missed because they think I skip on purpose.

The students aren't any better either. I can't make any friends because my sister is known as the 'freak' and I'm not allowed out much to get to know others. I'm 15 and I plan the moment I turn 16, I'm moving away and going to a different school where nobody has heard of me and I actually have a chance at life. No one would miss me here. Except my sister.

"Okay, Kiara. Today's show and tell, right?" I ask her cheerfully as I take her hand. Her strawberry red hair is decorated by the tiny crystals of falling snow.

"Know... heart... Link..." She mumbles happily. "Show heart!" Another random line from a tv show I think. 'Heaven forbid its from CSI or some other show like that.'

"Hey, Kiara, you want a horsy ride? Hop aboard." I squat down as she climbs on my back. She's not that heavy and she loves it when I gallop like a horse. I throw my bag to the snow bank as she grabs my shoulders.

"Hahaha... Ride like the wind, Sissy!" She laughs.

"Okay, hold on tight." I start galloping and I make horse sounds when I slipped on some ice and it felt like I was going to land on Kiara. But I didn't. I just kept falling and falling like in a dream. The sky was farther and farther away and everything was engulfed in darkness.

"I'm falling! Sissy!" Kiara shrieks.

"Kiara, hang on!" I cry. Why was this happening? This isn't a dream. If it was, I would have wings so I could save her.

"Sissy!" Kiara's grip was slipping and she fell faster than I could grab her.

"Sissy!!" I could see faint tears float towards me then Kiara disappeared in darkness.

"Kiara!!" I scream.

-------------------

I flutter my eyes open and I force myself up. My head was pounding and everything hurt. It was not like the punishment like pain in Gym, it was a thousand times worse.

"I think she just moved."

"Good, then tell her to get the hell off me!" An angry voice comes from underneath me. I open my eyes and from what little I can see, I'm on top of some boy; on his stomach. When my sight was fully recovered, I jumped off him in embarassment.

This boy looked much older than me and he had long dark hair tied back. If it wasn't for his voice, I'd mistake him for a girl. He was wearing a black and white uniform with a strange crescent on his chest.

"I-I am so sorry!" My face was red and my eyes were watering.

"Yu, you made her cry!" Somebody else pointed their finger at me. I could see that he had spikey red hair and was wearing a similar uniform.

"Che. Let's keep moving."

"Hold on! Hey," He turned to me. "Are you alright?" I could see his full face now. He was wearing an eyepatch on his right eye. I was thinking of the thousands of possibilities what could've happened to him and how he lost his eye.

"You tell me. Where's my sister?" I suddenly remembered.

"What? You came out of nowhere. By yourself." A shiver was sent down my spine. We're separated. Questions raced through my mind. 'Is she safe? Is she home? What if she's lost?' It took a minute for it to sink in.

"I have to find her." I said hoarsely. My body was weak. I felt like I can't stand up.

"How about you stick around with us? It's dangerous here."

"How is it dangerous? There's..." I look around and I'm in a dark forest with this boy. It was no longer winter, but a cool night and judging by the plants, I'd say it's spring. "Probably just wolves and other animals like that. If I remember correctly, we're supposed to make a lot of noise to repel them."

"Uh... No." He said sharply. "That's the last thing we want to do. Wolves are the least of our worries. You don't want to mess with akuma." That word... 'akuma' was it even a word? I've never heard of it. Then again, I usually slept through English often.

"I'll do what I can to help you. But for now, stay close." I trailed behind this boy as he was leading me through the forest.


"Sissy?" Kiara woke up and she was somewhere dark and it was cold. There were no trees, no people, just the low whisper of the wind and the screech of an owl. She was scared and started to cry.

"Don't go." She cried. "Sissy!"

"Good evening, little girl.~ You look sad."