Chapter 1:

My New Schoolmate is a Wolf

When you're woken up at 7AM on a Monday by your annoying brother to go to school, you don't think "Oh, perhaps today I will fight a monster and discover awesome things about myself I'd never have thought could be real." No, you think "I hope my life sucks less today."

'Ah, that's too pessimist', you might say. But really, when your actual mom died when you were 2 and you've never met your good-for-nothing father, so you are adopted by a rich family who then regrets adopting you, I think it's okay to be pessimist, right?

My name's Amber Grossville, and yes, that sucky life above is mine. Hurray. I'm 15 years old, and I live with said family in an apartment in New York. I don't really have any friends, well unless you count hanging around the school with a bitchy beauty queen a friendship. Why do I hang with her? Well, let's say my personality isn't the best. I've got myself on so many problems because of the way I am that my super-cool parents have switched my school many times. I've been scolded so much I can't remember the number. So, I decided to this time lay low and just pretend I was a little bitch of rainbow. Annoying as fuck, as you might think, but it seems to work, so it's worth it.

Anyway, let's get back to the subject.

My parents are never at home. My dad, Jeremy Simms, is way too busy being a lawyer and my mom, Louise Sims, is too busy going to spas and pretending to work with a famous shoe brand. This leaves only me and my brother at home. So, as always, my annoying little dinosaur-brained brother Derek Simms came to wake me up in his super cute way: water. I hate water. He looks older than me- perhaps because he's huge in all directions-, but actually I'm 2 years older than him. He gives me that retarded laugh of him and pushes me off my wet bed.

"Wake up, dork! You're gonna be late for school!" he manages to say. It's amazing, don't you think? A dinosaur talking?

"Yeah, well, fuck you." I grumble, my soaking body wetting the entire floor. "You do realize, despite your incredible lack of brain, that you have school too, and by being here in my room you're also gonna be late?" He lets out a small cry of realization and runs off, mumbling something about me being annoying. Nice one, bro.

I change my wet PJs into a pink short dress and black heels. Then, I walk over to the bathroom; there I straighten my wild wavy hair, hide my trouble-seeking green eyes under sunglasses and spread a bit of pink gloss over my malicious lips. Totally bitchy. Perfect for my, uh, BFF.

After eating breakfast with my brother- and trying my best not to set his hair on fire-, I run to the bus. The idiot ate so much that day he arrived too late to get it. I wavered innocently at Derek as he yelled in the middle of the street in front of our apartment.

On my way to sit down next to my friend- who was too busy fixing her makeup to see me-, I felt a hand grab my butt. I closed my fists and turned to face the idiot. The trio of good-for-nothing boys in my school stared at me with grins. I took a deep breath. I couldn't punch them. If I got one single detention that year, I'd get thrown over to a different school again. So instead, I smiled gingerly at them and said "Now now, boys, you have to buy me something before doing that!" and then giggled. One of them looked at me with what I supposed was his sexy grin and said "Sure babe, I can do that." I blew him a kiss and sat down next to Emily. Emily Davis is the most god-forsaking annoying person in the world. She's pretty of course, with her big green eyes, her ginger hair and all those pretty freckles. But she's so annoying that you forget that pretty soon. She thinks she rules the world because her father owns the school-see? Told you I had a reason to befriend her-, as if the school means 90% of the world. Well, perhaps in her pink glitter-full brain it is.

"Hey Amy," she turns to me, after FINALLY spreading makeup in her face like it was butter. And yes, she calls me Amy. Because of reasons. "How you doing today?" she asks. Not that she really cares, but she had to look like she cared about her best friend, right? "I'm fine, Em. Think we have homework today?" I asked, searching my memory. She nodded, staring at her iPhone while she texted her boyfriend. "You'll do it for me won't you, hon?" She batted her eyelids at me. I sighed. Since she discovered my inhuman ability to copy homework very quickly, she never did it herself again. I mumbled a 'yes, of course…' and she sang a happy thank you at me. I pretended to vomit. No one saw, gladly.

When the bus arrived at school and we stood up to leave, I noticed a girl behind me I had never seen before. She was quite pretty herself too. She had straight, dark brown hair with bangs, and penetrating light-brown eyes. She stared right at me, with a really creepy look on her face. I lifted an eyebrow, but quickly shrugged and left. We just had another creepy weirdo in school.

We walked up to our lockers and I left all my stuff in there. Emily went straight to class, to flirt with a nerd to lend us his work. I absently grabbed the only picture of my mother- my REAL mother- I had ever found, and stroked it. We were so different; while my eyes had a certain murderous glim on them, hers were soft and blue. Her wavy hair was much like mine, except it wasn't so wild and messy. She had a pretty smile, which certainly was very different from my own, and that quiet aura that British people seem to carry. All I knew about her was that she was a pub singer who got an offer in New York and came here to work, that she didn't have any other family or contacts and that she had been murdered, stabbed with a knife several times. No one knows why, how, or why the hell I was left alive, but I had a feeling my father had something to do with her death.

Vengeful thoughts aback, I reached for my sleeve and held my wrist, where I had recently tattooed her name without my adoptive mother's knowledge. Funny enough, she and my bitchy best friend shared names.

Just then, the creepy new girl walked by and smiled at me. A too-pointy-for-a-human sort of smile. My mouth opened in horror, but the next second she walked away as if it was nothing. Well, I thought, perhaps I'm going insane. I walked to my class room and sat right behind Emily, who dumped her notebook and a nerd's notebook on my lap. I sighed, and began copying it. She sat turned to me, staring expectantly at the notebook. I raised my eyebrows at her, and copied the homework. She always seemed to have a crazy pleasure at seeing me to it so quickly. I could even make the hand-writing look like hers- and mine. I can't really explain why. Perhaps it's out of habit; perhaps I have the lamest super power ever.

When the teacher arrived, there was already a pink-written homework with little hearts on the "I's" on Emily's desk and a bright-red one with drawings on the pages on mine's. The nerd held unto his homework like it had been held by a goddess. Poor thing. The new girl came in right after the teacher and looked around, as if studying who was next to receive a creepy smile. I hid my face under my hands, fearing she might look at me AGAIN.

"Hey guys. Looks like we got a new student on class today. Would you like to present yourself, honey?" Said our Math teacher. Everyone hates him, but I suppose the subject is to blame for that. The girl took one step forward, eyeing us suspiciously. She then grinned-normal teeth this time- and bowed her head slightly.

"Hello guys, I am Sabrina Ulfr. It's a pleasure to meet you all!" The teacher told her to pick a desk and she just HAD to choose the one right next to me, right? I sighed, hoping she wouldn't want to befriend me and smell my hair.

Fortunately, the class ran smoothly and boringly as always, and when it was over I sighed with content. Emily had once again ran out before me, wanting to see her boyfriend, so I was left alone to roam the school.

I sat on the courtyard with my burger on my hands, admiring the view while enjoying the school's fine cuisine. The courtyard was a very beautiful sight, with its tall trees and all the flowers. It made the school look much brighter than from the outside, where it looked really pale and boring. At least for me.

As I held my burger up to bite it once again, Sabrina stood before me. Before I could do anything, she snatched it from my hands and took a large bite. There were those fangs again. I watched in horror as she finished it in two bites, and then stared at me grinning, the ketchup in her teeth suddenly looking like blood. I gulped and stood up, cleaning my dress.

"Good burger, right? Perhaps tomorrow I can buy you another! What do you think?" I smiled nervously, pretending she wasn't scaring the shit out of me.

"There will be no tomorrow for you, damned demigod. Death is all that you shall have now." She spoke in an ancient, tricky language, but that somehow I could understand. I backed away, falling over the stone bench. I felt a pain as my back hit hard against it, but ignored it and moved behind it. It -whatever it was- laughed, a creepy inhuman noise that seemed to remind me of a howl. I blinked, and next time I saw, there was no almost-human-looking girl before me, instead a freaking-large, grey wolf stood in an attack pose where she once stood.

I won't deny it. I was really fucking scared. I screamed really loud, and everyone stared at me. Yeah, that's right! Stare at the pretty girl screaming, not at the huge wolf attacking her! But in fact, they really didn't seem to notice it. Most of them were laughing or whispering things about me. Needless to say, I was mad.

"Ok you fucking damned wolf what do you want with me?" I managed to speak, keeping my voice down so no one but 'Sabrina' could hear it. She laughed once again, making chills run through me. "I want your fine blood on my fangs." She jumped at me, but before she or I could do anything, an arrow pierced her flank, and she fell over the bench, howling in pain. I looked at the direction the arrow had been shot from and saw a blonde girl staring at me, indicating me to follow her. I ran over her spot, my heart beating violently, and stood slightly behind her. She smiled at me.

"Hi there, fellow demigod!" I stared at her in confusion and she just laughed. "I'll explain it later. Take this!" She tossed me a bronze sword. I totally thought I'd just end up hurting my hands with something so heavy, but strangely, it seemed I could handle it. It felt a bit weird on my hands, but then again, I had never held a sword before. I stared at the girl with disbelief. "What makes you think I can wield a sword, smart-brain?" She shrugged. "Your blood? Come on, try it. It'll soon be up on its feet again!" I gulped but nodded. I held it up with both hands and slashed the air a few times. Didn't seem too hard. I heard a growl not too far and saw Sabrina running at me. I was paralyzed in shock, my eyes widening. When she was a step or two away from me, adrenaline or whatever it was kicked in, and I slashed her entire form in two. Black blood fell upon me, and the smell was enough to make me dizzy.

Now, everyone screamed. They ran on every direction, some hitting each other-or walls- in the way. The blonde girl next to me stared at me in horror. I stared back. I must have looked so gorgeous soaked in beast blood.

"That…Why…?" She stuttered. "Blood…there wasn't supposed to be blood…" If I wasn't full of black stenchy liquid, I would've facepalmed myself. "What did you expect? Rainbows in liquid form?"

"Monsters… they turn into dust when they die." She looked down at the beast's carcass on the floor. "They are supposed to leave no trace of their existence. This… this isn't good." I frowned, not really getting her point. At that moment, I felt like taking my dress off and just throwing myself on the fountain, but instead I sat next to it and tried to take some of the blood off me. The blonde girl followed, still seeming shocked.

"What's your name anyway?" I asked, after dipping my head- oh, there goes my straight hair- on the fountain. She looked up and smiled again. Weird girl. "I'm Ashley Black. And you are?"

"I'm Amber Grossville. I think you, miss, need to explain some things to me."