"Valerie! Get up!" Valerie's mom yelled from the kitchen.

"I don't want to…" Valerie says stuffing her head under her pillow to muffle her mother's commands. It was a daily route they usually did, but once in a while Valerie actually wanted to get up. Today was the exception. Valerie didn't want to deal with her brother Cole because he would be annoying and say things like the guardians don't exist or you are a freak. Cole was just the same as her in many ways other than gender and personality, but he was more stubborn in comes of believing in things. Valerie also didn't want to get up because she was thinking about her sister who had disappeared days before. They were twins, but not identical.

"I guess you can't play basketball with your friends then!" Valerie's mom yells loud enough for Valerie to hear.

"It's already 11 O' Clock!" Valerie says shoving the pillow off her head and untangling herself from her bed sheets. She had planned to play with her friends at 11, but she had no idea she had slept so long. The day before had been the last day of school and Valerie still wanted to learn and to have fun with her friends before some had to leave for vacations.

"It's 10, but I think you should get up." Valerie's mom says hearing Valerie's comment and noticing the change in her mood.

"I'll be right down!" Valerie says opening her dresser and grabbing her favorite shirt. It was cyan blue and had long sleeves. She never was really warm, but she never was really cold either. She also grabbed a dark pair of slacks and slipped on her dirty shoes. They were only a little mucky from the creek walking, but her mother freaked when she saw her come in. After she slipped them on she rushed by the bathroom m and saw her pinkish red hair flash in the mirror. She didn't really care about her appearance because she never was one to care about looks like some of the divas at her school. Her hair was natural pinkish red and it was medium length. Her eyes were bluish green and had a bit of hazel in the center. Her hair was strangely silky smooth all the time and she never combed it. "What did you make?" Valerie says when she arrives in the kitchen.

"I have some bacon, eggs, and toast." Valerie's mom says presenting the meal.

"Thanks." Valerie says graciously accepting the breakfast and eating a slice of bacon.

"Meet me at the pond…" A voice whispers in Valerie's ear after she had eaten a slice of bacon.

"Huh?" Valerie says looking behind her a moment after and no one was there. "Hey, Mom…? Did you say something to me?"

"No honey…" Valerie's mom says cleaning the dishes and turning off the running water after the sink was almost completely full.

"I guess it's nothing…" Valerie thinks and eats the rest of her breakfast.

"Look who slept in!" Cole says as Valerie eats the last bit of toast.

"For the record, you just got up and I've been up for 15 minutes." Valerie says rolling her eyes and giving her plate to her mother.

"I was referring to your good side." Cole says chuckling.

"Very funny…" Valerie says walking back to her brother and facing him. He was only 10, but he was a few inches taller than her and she was 13. He was wearing his Cameo shirt and pants and had a suspicious feeling coming from him.

"Are you going to be playing with Tate or you know who...?" Cole says trying to annoy Valerie because he was referring to her goof friend Brian and he heard him ask her out. Valerie said ok casually and went, but Brian didn't show. They have been good friends since, but he was always complementing her with she had to be the daughter of Aphrodite because she was so beautiful, and other things, but they never did anything like that again.

"Would you stop saying that? I know he asked me, but I'm not dating him!" Valerie says getting annoyed because everyone said they made a good couple and would look good together. Valerie had once blown him a kiss as a joke, but they never were dating.

"Make me." Cole says eying her down with his height, but she still stood tall.

"You just have to be the annoying one don't you?" Valerie says teasing him and he was taken back because she was usually kinder. "Aww… Did I hurt your feelings? Do you need a hug?" Valerie says and Cole starts to turn a little red because he wanted to be a Marine and getting paranoid at that would be bad on his resume.

"Don't you need to be going somewhere?" Cole says backing away and turning to go back to his room.

"Yeah! It's called doing something useful instead of being a girl like someone I know!" Valerie calls out laughing and going out the door to play with her friends. It was 10:30, but who cares?

"Go to the pond…" The voice echoes in Valerie's ear as she approaches the park.

"Shut up voice in my head!" Valerie screams in her head in hopes of it stopping.

"Hey!" Tate says jogging up to Valerie noticing her annoyed look. "What's wrong?"

"I'm just having a bad day." Valerie says looking over to the pond, but seeing only a pond.

"You want to practice basketball before our basketball game?" Tate says looking over to the basketball courts.

"Not right now, Tater Totter." Valerie says calling Tate by his nickname she gave him.

"Well, if you decide to practice…Meet me over at the courts." Tate says dribbling the basketball he had over to the basketball court.

"I would, but I need to figure something out…" Valerie says walking to the pond and looking at it with earnest. "Why do I keep hearing something about coming here? Am I just going crazy?"

"I'm afraid not…" Someone says and Valerie turns around to face some kids. There were 4 girls and 2 boys.

"Do I know you?" Valerie says looking at each one of them. One boy was wearing a blue hoodie with white hair and there was a girl that looked almost exactly like him. The other boy was wearing orange and black with fiery orange hair. There was a girl that was wearing a yellow top and blue jeans with blonde hair. Another girl was wearing a lot of black and red with dark black hair. The last one who had likely been the one who had spoken was wearing black and white with a belt which looked like moons and it had a sword in it.

"No, but you do believe in us." The last girl says and Valerie looks startle because that was very weird.

"I thought we had a plan…?" The boy with white hair says whispering to the girl wearing the belt.

"I thought this would be better…" The girl says back to the boy.

"What are you talking about…?" Valerie says and the girl looks like she had forgotten something.

"I almost forgot… I'm Tara Lumen and these are my friends Jack O' Lantern, Jack Frost, April Fools, Scarlet Black, and presumably Emma Frost." Tara says looking confident.

"Is this some sort of sick joke?" Valerie says and the boy being called Jack O' Lantern looks like he knew this would happen.

"It's not a joke… I thought we were going to be telling her something that wasn't our real names…?" The girl said to be Emma says to Tara.

"I'm just going to go now…" Valerie says inching away from them and a little bit onto the pond.

"Why are you doing that?" The girl named April says.

"Because you a getting me freaked out!" Valerie says and the ice she was standing starts to melt, but no one notices. There had been a cold front in the town and it must have been strong enough to freeze a lake.

"How?" Emma says leaning against a stick she was carrying. It was likely a walking stick or something.

"You can't be the guardians of childhood! You… They wouldn't go to some person and say this!" Valerie says as the ice below her cracks and she falls in to the dark icy waters.