A loud bang pierces the cool night air, but I refuse to react. After all, gunshots are practically normal in this part of Surrey. Normal people usually stay away from here and by normal people, I mean sane people. The amount of illegal stuff that happens here is insane, but what can you do? You know what they say. If you can't beat them, join them so that is exactly what I did. I joined a gang called the Serpents, they protect me and I do some of their dirty work. Of course, I have some friends that higher up in the hierarchy so I am never handed the truly evil stuff. I mainly do drug runs. My best friends are part of the Serpents as well and we always know that we have each others backs. Speaking of...

"Nora Winters! What have I told you about going off without Sweetpea at your side?" I shrug as Betty takes my hand gently and begins walking me back to our camp with Jughead right behind us. By the way, I am only eleven, but some of the older members say that they started younger than I did and they also tell me stories about how the Serpents actually started in America in a town named Riverdale, but Jughead moved them to Surrey because their territory was overrun by Northsiders. Jughead is our leader, he has been since his father, FP, resigned and even though FP resigned, he is still protected by the Serpents.

"Seriously, Snowflake. You have to stick with Sweetpea or you could get in some trouble with some of the outsiders." I roll my eyes as Jughead repeats this for what seems like the hundredth time.

"I do drug runs and yet I can't walk two feet by myself in our own territory." I mutter under my breath as we continue walking towards the camp, passing tall trees and worn out dirt roads that are only used by the Serpents now.

"On drug runs, you also have Sweetpea with you so stop complaining." Betty points out and I drop my shoulders as we enter the camp. Multiple fires are going and men and women alike are cooking and taking care of the children. Suddenly, Sweetpea is in front of us and I know I'm in for a long talking to.

"I can't have you walking off without me. Do you know how dangerous the outsiders are? They could kill you and you know that we don't want that to happen, Snowflake." I sigh at the nickname that originated from both my last name and my white hair that apparently I was born with. I don't have a mother or father to compare it to, though. All I have is Betty and Jughead. They are basically my parents with Sweetpea being my uncle.

"I already heard all of this from Jug and Betty." I whine slightly, continuing to walk towards the tent that I share with Toni Topaz. When I arrived at the camp with only a bag full of ratty clothes and a couples of wounds that were still healing, Toni was the one that first accepted me and took me in. I do share a tent with Toni, but she usually only stays until I'm asleep and then goes to visit her girlfriend, Cheryl, before coming back to get a few hours of shut-eye.

I enter the tent only to find no Toni to talk to. I sigh deeply and climb into my sleeping bag. The stress of today leaves my body as the beautiful darkness eventually takes over bringing dreams of an easier life with it.

What feels like only moments later, I wake up to somebody shaking my shoulders roughly. I groan loudly and open my eyes to find Toni's panicked ones staring right back at me. Panic rushes through my body and I am suddenly alert, I shove my sleeping bag off of me as Toni begins to explain what is happening.

"Unknowns are raiding our camp. We need to get you and the rest of the children to safety." Toni explains as she begins to help me pack a bag. After we're done packing my bag, she also helps me strap on almost all of the weapons I own from small throwing knives to handguns that I was only taught to use in extreme emergencies. It is then when Toni's words finally sink in.

"I'm not leaving. I have to help." I say, moving out of the tent. Toni grabs my shoulder and pulls me to face her.

"Nora, I need you to run with the other kids. You guys are the future and we need you to carry on the Serpent legacy." I suddenly understand what's going on. Toni doesn't expect to survive this attack and she doesn't think that anybody going against these unknowns will survive either. I know what I need to do now.

"Alright. I'll run. Tell Betty and Jughead that I love them and tell Sweetpea that he was the best friend I could ask for." I hug Toni tightly. "You were like a second mother to me, Toni. Please try to survive this." Toni gives me a soft smile with sad eyes before pulling us out of the tent and pushing me in the opposite direction of where the fighting is happening. I start running and I do run for a few minutes before looking behind me. Toni has already run into the thick of the battle. I turn left and begin to make my way around the fighting and that's when I see a man who looks to be in charge of this group of Unknowns. I slip past many people, stalking towards this man and I am suddenly right behind him, but nobody pays attention to me as I am just some kid. I pull out my gun and looking around me, I notice that everyone from both sides is in front of the man so there is no chance of me getting hit from behind. I throw my arm around the man's neck, knocking aside the strange stick he had in his hand. I hold the gun to his head and let out a piercing whistle. All eyes are on me.

"I have your leader!" The man begins to struggle and I tighten my grip around his neck causing him to choke slightly. I am unusually strong for an eleven year old and nobody really knows why. "So put down your weapons and retreat!" I shout out and as I do that, all the Serpents attack as the Unknowns are distracted. This had been an idea for a strategy if we were ever to get attacked, but the person who held the leader hostage was meant to be an adult.

In just moments, most of the Unknowns are dead with the remaining survivors fleeing. I shove the man to the ground and shoot two bullets, one into each of his kneecaps so that he has no chance of escaping. We need to get answers out of him.

I recognize Toni's gait as she walks up to me, but I don't look up at her, keeping my eyes on the man as he writhes in pain, his white hair stuck to his face as sweat accumulates from the exertion. For a brief moment, I think of that long lost dream that I might find my father at least, but I quickly push that thought out of my mind and focus on the task at hand. Another Serpent takes up guard on the strange man and I relax and turn to face Jughead, Betty, Sweetpea, Toni, and FP. I really am in trouble. I give them a nervous smile as the strange man's whimpers intensify.

"Nora." He groans out and I am suddenly stiff. I whirl around and whip out my favorite knife and press it to the man's jugular.

"How do you know my name?" I ask, voice as cold as ice. I don't pay attention to anybody else, but the man in front of me.

"I...I am...I'm your father." And that's when my world began to fall apart.

Sorry if that was short. I was really excited to get this out there and so I did kind of rush. I will try to make the next one longer and more interesting.