Note: This is my first story here, so give me some credit. Sorry in advance for any grammar or spelling mistakes. Please give me good reviews, or at least some pointers or tips! Hope you enjoy! Leanne

Harlington Academy: Beginnings and Endings

Chapter 1: My Weirdest Birthday Ever

I doubt you're someone like me. Sure, you may look like me, talk like me, or act like me, but I doubt you're exactly like me. But if you were, you would probably know why I hate change, and why I especially hate it now. Or at least in the beginning, when I first started out knowing I was…um…different. Yes, I know everyone's unique in their own way, but I'm talking about a different different.

You may wonder why. This is what I meant by "you're not like me", and if you still have no idea what I'm talking about, then yeah, you're DEFINITELY not anything like me. But this is why you're here. So you can find out exactly who I am.

For starters, my name is Samantha Brooks. Well, at least, it is under my foster parents. Let's just say I was the sort of kid who was given away by their parents as a baby and dropped off at someone's doorstep. And I mean literally. To me, it didn't matter much, since I never really knew my parents anyway, or why they abandoned me. I was just fine with my life the way it was, living with my foster parents and two best friends at River Wood Junior High. It seemed perfect. Until it got to the end of middle school.

So it's probably best to start my story there, on July 4th, or my fourteenth birthday. It all started at home, just as the fireworks were going up, and I'd blown out my birthday candles.

Make a wish. What wish? I had no wish to make, no worries, no doubts. I loved my life the way it was. I would have hated to change it. I loved my mom and dad, whether they were my real parents or not, and I loved my two best friends in the whole wide world, Hannah and, especially, Jared. So I might have been crushing on him for the past two years. Big deal. He was still one of my best friends.

But the candles were there, and everyone, waiting for me to blow them out and celebrate. I still had my wish to think over, though. Maybe I could just blow out the candles now, and save my wish for later. I'd just save it for sometime useful. As long as I didn't waste it, it'd be fine.

So I blew out the candles, squeezing my eyes shut, and storing away my unused wish. Everyone clapped and cheered, yelling, "Happy Birthday, Sam!" as more fireworks boomed outside. That was the best thing about being an Independence baby. It was like everyone was celebrating your birthday with you.

I watched Hannah shout excitedly about the fireworks. She grinned radiantly from ear to ear, as she usually did, filling up the room. Her shoulder-length light brown hair fell up and down as she jumped in the air, her brown eyes widening in anticipation. "C'mon, Sam, we're going to miss the fireworks!" She took me by my arm and led me outside to my front yard to watch the fireworks taking place at a nearby park.

Jared soon followed behind us, brushing gently against my shoulder as he stood by my side to look up at the bright patterns of brilliant red, white, and blue light. "It's a nice ending to your birthday, huh Sam?"

I smiled at him. "Yeah. Thanks for coming, Jared. I know you were supposed to be with your parents today. You really didn't have to, just for my birthday."

He waved it off, grinning. "It's nothing, really. I couldn't miss your birthday, Sam. Seriously. It's what friends do."

I blushed slightly. "Well…thanks, again."

Jared nodded. A silence passed between the three of us for a while, as we stared up at the sky, now bursting with red and yellow. I wasn't really watching the fireworks, though. You can probably guess who I was staring at.

Jared ran his hand through his tousled blonde hair and saw me watching him out of the corner of his eye. "What?"

If I was ever blushing, I was probably even more red-faced now. "Oh, um…nothing." I turned my head back again, ignoring his curious expression.

The silence continued again, with a few occasional oh's and ah's from Hannah, who was still occupied with watching the fireworks.

Just as I was about to head back inside, I saw something out of my peripheral vision. Down the block, there was this man—I couldn't make out his face much; it was too dark—just…glaring at me. The one thing I could see clearly, though, for some strange reason, were his eyes. They were…completely black. Maybe it was just the lighting, making it look that way. After a few more seconds, I just decided I was imagining things. Still, the guy gave me the chills, making the hairs on the back of my neck rise. So instead of just standing there, I turned to my friends, saying, "Oh…er, I don't want the cake to go to waste, and besides, I'm getting kind of tired of watching fireworks. Let's go inside."

I followed Hannah and Jared closely behind as they headed inside. But, inside the doorway, I had the feeling I was being watched. It was weird, but it was like I could feel someone's eyes on the back of my neck. I was getting goose bumps.

Hannah noticed me stop in the doorway. "Sam? Are you coming in?"

It took me a second to nod back. "Yeah. I'll be right in. I just, uh, dropped something in the grass. Wait up for me."

She raised an eyebrow, but made no argument. "Oh…ok. We'll be inside."

I nodded again as she walked back inside.

The feeling I was being watched only got stronger, if that was possible. Slowly, carefully, I turned my head to look back where the stranger was. Or had been. All that was left was an empty sidewalk.

I sighed in relief. It was alright now, the stranger had left, I reassured myself. He probably had better things to do. What was I thinking? Why would anyone find me the least bit interesting?

Don't get me wrong, I would've felt better, but…that feeling was still there. I must have been crazy, relying on just a feeling that the stranger was still around. Wanting to assure myself I was just overreacting, I quickly glanced up and down the street. No stranger. It was just me. I turned back to head in.

Wait. There, just about a hundred yards away, on my far left…was the stranger. He was just standing there, staring. At me.

I peered around me, checking again if anyone was there. Please, please, let me be wrong. But the only people outside were me and the man, the really, really creepy man. I finally convinced myself to pluck up some courage and face myself towards him, as he was closer to the door. Otherwise, I would've made a dash for it. Then, I blinked.

As I swiveled myself around, he almost seemed closer. Then again, how could he have stepped forward that much—closing the distance between us to about 50 yards—in the blink of an eye? He was really started to freak me out now. I tried to squeak something out, to call to him, but I couldn't say anything. I couldn't move. My feet were frozen, my voice stuck inside my throat.

Then, he smiled. Definitely NOT a friendly smile. It reminded me of those smiles you see in movies when the stalker has just found the innocent victim, and is about to brutally murder them. Except this guy's smile was about ten times creepier. My heart beat in my chest twice as fast as normal. Move, you idiot, I yelled in my head. No use. My feet were glued to the ground. I couldn't help it, I blinked again.

He was twenty yards away now. I tried to swallow the lump that had formed in my throat. Someone help me, please, I pleaded. My eyes were starting to water. But I couldn't blink again. I just stared back at the man, back into his pure black eyes.

By now, he didn't even wait for me to blink. He stepped forward, now 10 yards away, though I don't know how he did that. It was almost like he floated closer.

I finally found my voice. "H-H-Hello? C-C-Can I g-get you s-something?" It came out hoarse, and I was sure he couldn't have heard it.

But he did. He smiled even more, and said in a barely audible, low hiss, "Hello, Samantha." My blood rushed in my ears, and every single one of my senses seemed to sharpen, picking up every movement he made.

My eyes widened. "How do you know my name?"

"I've been trained to."

I gulped. "T-trained to? W-why?"

He cocked his head. "It's a more dignified way of killing you."

What? Did I hear that right? KILLING me? No. That wasn't right. Honestly, who would want to kill ME of all people? I was just having a really horrible nightmare, and any moment I would wake up screaming. I backed away from the man, shaking my head in disbelief.

"Don't believe me?" he chuckled darkly. "Ok, then. I'll kill you quickly and get this over with."

I screamed. I found my legs again, and tried to run the opposite way from him, as far away as I could. It sucks that I'd always gotten last in track, because I ended up tripping on a pebble and falling over. I crawled backwards, watching him close in. I can't justify just how terrified I was.

Despite the fact I could see my death approaching, I noticed something he was doing with his right hand. Though I could see he wasn't holding any match or lighter, a tiny flame was flickering from the tip of his fingers. I don't think of how he was doing this, or even that it wasn't humanly possible, because I was just wondering how my life would end. I was going to die. I was going to die. I was going to die…

"Goodbye, Samantha," he purred. I closed my eyes. Let there be no pain, please…

And there wasn't. But immediately, I heard a scream, which I was sure was mine. Wait, no, two screams. One was considerably higher; probably mine. But the other was more like a roar or something, and I opened my eyes to see what it was. I could never know for sure, though because all I saw were the diminishing flames, and a pile of ash. My dad was standing a few feet from the pile of ashes, a distorted look of anger and rage clear across his face. My mother was also standing nearby, but her expression was…horrified, shocked. But where was the stranger? I found myself staring at the pile of ash. I was too traumatized to make it click together, though.

I could hear my father muttering a string of profanities under his breath, while my mother watched, still unmoving. After a moment, my father went over to pat on her shoulder soothingly, whispering something I couldn't hear. She nodded slowly, and let out a small choke, almost as if she was about to sob. He said something else. She just stood there, frozen.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, my father strode over by my side. I hadn't realized I was still there, on my back, perched on my elbows, facing the pile of ashes where the stranger had been standing, only about a foot away. My father brushed off some dust—some of the ash covered the side of my face—and sighed. "Samantha."

I couldn't say anything, or even look up. It took me a moment to realize I had started crying. The tears wet my face, mingling with the dirt and ash.

"Samantha," he repeated, more firmly this time. "Come with me."

Slowly, he helped me up, and I stood there, stiffly. As he tried to lead me back to the house, I tripped over and nearly fell, forcing him to sling one of my arms around his shoulders and help me the rest of the way. My mother joined us silently.

All I could hear was the short patter of our steps on the path, then the swing of the front door behind us, as my dad dragged me to the office. I didn't bother to answer Hannah's and Jared's questioning looks as I made my way, teary-eyed, through the living room. I could hear my mother quickly mutter something to them, and, after a moment's hesitation, they both nodded and went home, shooting glances at me as they left.

Moments later, I was sitting in my dad and mom's office, which was usually off-limits, with my head down, staring at the floor. My parents were still talking to each other under their breath, low enough for me not to hear. After a unanimous sigh, I heard my dad shuffle forward, and my mom perched herself on another chair nearby.

It was quiet for a few minutes. Finally, "Samantha."

Every inch of me was shaking as I lifted my head up to look at my father.

"Your mother and I have something vitally important we need to tell you," he spoke formally.

I nodded my head to show I was listening.

"We've tried to avoid the subject, to avoid telling you, for a very long time," he continued, and he rubbed the side of his arm absentmindedly. "We can't put this in a way to make it sound…reasonable…but, it must be done, considering the events that have just occurred."

I winced, trying not to remember.

"So, it's best just to tell it the way it is." My father paused, and looked to my mother to continue.

My mother breathed in deeply, closing her eyes. When she finally opened them, something shone in her eyes that I couldn't perceive past the watery gray. "Samantha…"

"Yes?" I asked anxiously. There was something about her tone, different than usual. She sounded scared…no, terrified.

"You're not…entirely human." She eyed me carefully, and my mouth gaped open incredulously.

…This day couldn't have gotten any worse.