Prologue

Black was what I woke up to. The feeling of desperation and fear filled my body for the umpteenth time since that day. It was my worst nightmare, amplified tenfold.

It started with my immediate family. I had to witness my mother and step-father be killed. I couldn't close my eyes, they were forced open. I had been tied to a chair, restrained so that no muscle in my body could move in any way useful. I asked them why so many times, but they just stood there. Then one of them dialed 911. I told them the address and to come quick. The murderers, three or four of them, left through the back door without ever leaving a trace they were there, except the corpses of my mom and step-dad.

Then it was my father. Shot through the eyes while I was at school, nearly a week after my mother had died. Then my grandparents. It seemed as if I had been cursed, not being able to find a home without my blood relatives being killed. Almost everybody blamed me. There were a few, such as my cousin, that didn't think that I wished any of this. After losing so much, I decided to run away. The amount of money that I was given because of the deaths was surprisingly large. I decided to try to get as far away, culturally and physically, as I possibly could from the town of horrors, as I called it.

A good friend told me to go to Japan. I decided 'eh, why the hell not. I'm not Japanese, so no more of my relatives could be killed.' I was searching for a school when I came across Kuoh Academy, and had a good feeling about it. I arrived the day before school started, so I could get my uniforms and unpack everything before school started. I shut my eyes and let the darkness take hold of me. Off I went into the land of shadow.