At 19, Nona Winter was what almost every girl ever wants to be; attractive, smart, kind, tough and strong-willed. By being entered to kindergarten at the age of 7, she was the most popular girl at Allsop high, though not for the reasons you would imagine. To the girls she was a big sister. They talked about clothes, make-up, boys, everything. They were all comfortable around her. To the guys she was a big brother. She played sports, fooled around and played tricks on those who wronged their school, they came to her when they had troubles no matter the topic. They all thought she was perfect, well at least most of them did. They knew everything about her and yet nothing. She told them what they wanted to hear not necessarily the truth. They wanted to be like her, they wanted her life.

If they only knew that what they saw was nothing but a simple mask.

Morning, 5:48, August 2 2008, Miami .

Nona's arm jerked alive and slapped the alarm clock silent. Slowly she peeled back the covers blocking the light from her sleepy eyes. Nona blinked a few times before her eyes became adjusted to the light as she found that, above her, the lamp was still on. Sitting up the book resting on her stomach slipped off and onto the floor. It was her favourite story, of a young girl finding her way in the world and falling in love with the 'typical' bad boy.

So many times she would imagine herself in place of the heroine and replace the name with her own. When she focused on other's problems, hers didn't see so bad.

Her mother was a street walker and her father was some big name crime lord who lived in L.A. at that moment. She knew her mother somewhat, because she dropped in every once and a while to pick up some money for her drug addictions. Nona knew enough to just fork over the money and shut the door. There was no affection between the two. Nona was living with her mothers sister, Josephine in a large apartment complex in Miami since she was 5. Before that she lived with her mother from place to place, hovel to hovel. Aunt Jo was a successful art museum curator downtown, so they had a very steady flow of money

Then they were a family. Funny how things could change.

Jumping out of bed Nona turned on her stereo and walked to the bathroom.

Quickly stripping down to nothing, she got into the shower and turned on the water.

While washing herself she began to think about the upcoming school day, the annoying 'worshippers' and the same old questions.

"Where'd you get your clothes?" "How do you get your hair like that?"

"Do you have a girlfriend" "Do you wanna go out sometime"

If things kept up like this she was going to become a Ice queen. Turning off the water she thought about her 'baby'. It was a very new Nissan. Her aunt had saved over the years and bought it for her when she turned 19. With the engine she had took apart earlier in her years, adjusted and then put back together, her 'baby' was, as far as she was concerned, invincible. Many times she wanted to drive it down to Tej's garage and some how get into the nightly street races. Most nights she would drive by herself and get practice.

She was good.

Walking back to her room, she dropped her towel when she closed her door. Opening her closet she searched her clothes for something comfy. Since it was the first day of grade 12 she finally decided to be herself instead of the fake she was for the last 3 years. Grabbing a red tank, a ripped black tank, and some low-riding cargos she got dressed and began to brush her hair. Her mid-back length black and pink hair fell in slight waves. Deciding that was good she did her make-up the way she had wanted to do it for a while. Nothing but black eyeliner and mascara framed her irregular violet eyes. As she opened her door to finally go to the kitchen she hears a mixture of voices coming from there. One was definitely her aunt but the others she didn't know. She got close enough to here the conversation.

"…died last night. I'm sorry for the loss but she needs to come home now." a male voice said.

"No. Her home is here, I won't let you take her. She doesn't belong in that world. She needs to grow up into a young woman that society can accept, not some…slut. I won't let you." Aunt Jo ground out.

"Listen we are not asking, we are telling. She's coming with like it or not honey." another mans voice stated bluntly.

"Over my dead body she will!"

"Fine."

There was a second of a pause then the muffled sound of a silencer being shot, followed by a slumping sound.

"Pity, she was much better looking then the mother. She would have been fun too."

"No time now. Lets just get the girl and leave. Boss is going crazy."

Suddenly the door behind which Nona was hiding opened and two men stood one in front of the other. Nona looked behind them and saw her aunt on the floor with her blood soaking into the kitchen tiles. She bolted to her room and slammed the door shut. She quickly began to throw her stuff into a bag.

'Oh My God, they killed her. They Killed her!' Nona frantically thought. Her door was soon kicked open and the men burst through. One grabbed her while the other placed a cloth over her mouth and nose. Soon she became sluggish and then promptly fell asleep.

While asleep the men pack her stuff and threw it into their car. During the packing they had found the keys to her car and went to the garage. Seeing the vehicle they quickly decided which would drive the girl and who would drive her car. After a small argument they got into the car seats and drove away.

2 days and 5 knockout rags later Nona woke up in a queen size bed under a very soft down blanket. Sitting up she remembered all that had happened. Her aunt, her mother, her car. All gone. Dropping her head into her hands two tears slipped out of her eyes in mourning for her aunt and mother. A knock at the door jerked Nona back to reality. She jumped over to the side of the bed farthest from the door. The door opened and an old woman of about 66 walked in. Looking around momentarily she spotted Nona crouching and a soft expression danced across her features.

"I mean no harm miss. I am just supposed to get you to the meeting." The elderly woman took a couple of steps towards the distressed teen. "My name is Anne."

Slowly rising Nona studied the woman. "Where am I? Why am I hear?"

Smiling Anne said "You are in Los Angeles miss. Your dad thought it would be safer."

"Did you just say my dad?" Nona's jaw dropped with the thought of him killing her family. He had not wanted anything to do with her for the last 18 years of her life why now?

"Why yes miss. Now please come with me, he is a very impatient man and does not like to be kept waiting."

Leaving the room the old woman cast one last backwards glance. Seeing this Nona got up and decided to do as told. Walking into the hallway Nona studied her surroundings just in case of emergency or a quick escape was needed. Two rights and a left later they came to the end of a hallway and stood in front of a large oak door.