I walked down the carpeted stairs and tried to rub sleep out of my face. It was Saturday, so naturally I reveled in the fact I could sleep in until noon and not worry about assignments due the next morning. Being the time of day, the house was lit by natural light coming through large windows and open curtains.

I headed to the kitchen to pour myself cereal, the kind of cereal where you didn't care about the grain, but you only had it for the marshmallows. My mom, already dressed for the day, sat in the family room and watched the news. I took a seat on a stool by the island in the kitchen and half watched the t.v. while I ate my breakfast.

The news was always filled with depressing stories, but recently it was getting worse. Police and other authorities dropped like flies, and children were going missing and none were ever reported found. The stories that day involved a police chase, and it was cops being chased not the other way around, which ended with a whole squad dead. The truck was found later crashed at the side of the freeway. A plane crashed earlier that morning holding some prominent figures.

I didn't even have to look at the screen to see who the suspects were. Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo had been a great source of panic recently. Whenever they showed up in a city, death and missing children followed suit. At least that was what everyone was correlating with each other. No one knew where they came from, what their goal was, who they worked for, if they worked for anybody, or where they went off to after their killing sprees.

The t.v. turned off as three photos of silver haired men came up to remind everyone of the threat that was outside. Mom shook her head obviously disturbed by what she saw. I finished my cereal, rinsed my bowl, and began walking back to my room to clean up.

I stopped when my mother called me. "Alexis?"

"Yes?"

"I'm going to stop by grandma's really quick. I want to make sure she is still doing okay." She got up from the couch and stopped by me to smooth out my short brown hair. "Don't answer the door and don't pick up the house phone. I'll let you know when I'm on my way back. Call me for anything, alright?" Mom gave me a quick kiss on my forehead.

I nodded. "Okay." With that she grabbed her purse, headed out into her her car, and drove away. Normally, my mom didn't fuss over telling me little things like being careful by who's at the door like I'm five years old again, but with what's been happening and so close to our city I didn't blame her. I ran upstairs and texted my friend.

"Hey", I sent.

Not a moment later. "OMG finally you're up!"

"Excuse me that I like to sleep in on weekends"

"Ok Ok whatever but you are not going to believe this!"

"What?" I replied, thinking that her response would be boyfriend related…again.

"There's a way to stop the Shiny Ones!" The Shiny Ones was what we called Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo because of their hair.

I thought over what madness my friend could be involved in. "What are you talking about?"

"Can I call you?"

"Sure?" A few seconds later my ringtone went off. I answered and heard a familiar voice.

"I'm supposed to keep quiet about this, but you're my wingman, so I trust you."

I started to get concerned. "What did you do?"

She responsed, "So some big shots came to my house and asked me to deliver information to this other guy and that this could help with stopping the silver haired crazy people, and I said I'd help."

"ARE YOU INSANE?!" I shouted into my phone.

"Look I know it's crazy but there are murderers out there, and if I can help I want to help. I want you to come with me."

"YOU ARE UNBELIEVABLE! And even if I wanted to go along with this you think my mom is going to let me out of this house alone?!"

I heard her sigh on the other end. "Everyone's parents are like that now I know, but the cops can't risk losing anymore people."

"That doesn't mean you send kids! Who sends kids as Plan B?!"

"Want me to come over and tell you everything? I really want you to help me on this."

Furious, I ran my hand through my hair. "I'll let you know what I'll do after you explain more." I honestly didn't know why I even considered this. I wanted the Shiny Ones stopped too, but I didn't think I was qualified for such a task.

"Alright, I'll come over later like I'm staying the night. Bye."

"See you." I hung up and waited impatiently for the rest of the day to unfold.

Around half and hour after my mom returned home, my friend was at the door with a backpack on.

"Hey! Let's get this science project started!" My friend cheered. I raised my brow up at her. What was she talking about?

My mom poked her head out from the hallway. "Oh hello! I didn't know you invited your friend over Alexis. Why didn't you tell me? I would of made extra food earlier."

"Because she wants her only best friend to starve." My friend made a dramatic 'oh-woe-is-me' pose.

"Yeah yeah like you don't eat enough." I poked at her only to receive an over the top gasp. I led her upstairs to my room where we could talk. I closed my door and made room for my friend on the bed so we could get down to business.

Before that she commented, "Geez. Why am I still surprised by the amount of Disney that's thrown up in this room? Plus all that Kingdom of Hearts-"

I cut her off. "First of all it's Kingdom Hearts and second I'm 16 but 6 at heart nothing wrong with Disney, and elaborate on the ridiculous stuff over the phone."

"Right right." She brought her backpack forward and pulled out a yellow toy car accompanied by a remote control. "Here it is."

"I fail to see how a toy stops three crazies from taking over the world."

She playfully pushed me. "Listen. Authorities don't want to get military involved but it may come to that but of course stuff like that is expensive. It's dangerous for adults to talk quietly together because people think their cops or something like that. They end up getting killed off one way or another. Send some kids around people just think they're being stupid being out late and were yelled at to go home."

It was stupid to be out late. "Again, how does this stop the Shiny Ones?"

"I'm getting there." She flipped over the toy car to the battery compartment. "Inside are four chips with information on them. This is top secret stuff and we're going to play around with our toy car, end up giving it to this guy who's address I was given, and we're done." I thought everything over. I didn't know who these guys were trusting teenagers with secret information, and how did we know the Shiny Ones wouldn't be around?

"Look", I said, "I bet this all sounds great to you, but I have a bad feeling. How can we trust these people? How do we know the Shiny Ones aren't near by and listen in? I don't think you understand how serious this is."

"I know this is crazy, but I want to help I really do, and if no one tries to stop those guys who will? The police? Hell no. The military? Maybe, but those three have crazy weird shadow monster powers, and nobody even knows where their hide out is. Military won't bomb every inch of the country to find and kill them because that would mean more innocent lives lost. Please Alexis. Be my wingman on this?"

I hesitated before I spoke again. "When do we do this?"

She silently cheered and tightly hugged me. "Thank you! Tomorrow night when your mom is asleep we'll go."

I felt guilty leaving my mom in the dark, but I didn't want my friend alone in this situation either. "Sounds good."

"Also, we can only speak Spanish."

" Why?! I can't speak Spanish!"

She waved me off like it was no big deal. "It's just in case the Shiny Ones listen in. We doubt they speak Spanish. Don't worry I'll do the talking."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Awww come on it'll work out trust me on this."

At that moment my mom peered into my room with a smile on her face. "Hello ladies, how's the project coming along?"

"Great! I think we'll get an A on it! Easy peasy!"

My mom brought her hands together. "That sounds wonderful! Why don't you two come down to eat for a bit before you continue working."

"Sounds good to me", my friend chimed as she got up from my bed.

I murmured quietly to myself, "I'm going to die if I don't get a good grade on this project."

My mom liked to rise early, and she never missed church for Sunday. She went to her room at 9p.m., but we waited an hour just to be sure my mom was out. We dressed for the late night cold in our hoodies and pants, and we quietly made our way downstairs to leave through the front door. When I shut the door, me and my friend let out a sigh of relief. So far so good, but I was not not going to lie. I wished my mom caught us. My friend put down the toy car and switched on the remote.

"Showtime", she said. I followed her lead as she navigated the car around. I think she was genuinely playing with it. I was shaking and I couldn't tell if it was nerves or the cold. She told me earlier that the man's house was only a few blocks away. A 15 minute walk-20 tops. I tried to distract myself by taking in the nighttime scenery, since that was something I didn't get to do often those days.

Houses, sidewalks, and light posts were lined with a glowing blue. A car passed by here and there with the same outlines of light and for a moment I felt calm. That was until we closed in on our destination. The car stopped moving. We still had a few minutes of walking left and the car wasn't working. These guys probably gave us a cheap brand knock off toy.

My friend noticed my panic and picked up the car to look it over. She simply shrugged it off because there wasn't much we could do about it, and we continued with the car in hand. I tried to keep my breath steady and look as collected as possible. As we neared the house, a man walked out of the front door and met us halfway on his driveway. He and my friend instantly began speaking Spanish with each other, and I only got bits and pieces of the conversation.

From what I understood the man appreciated and thanked us then looked inside the battery compartment of the car. Why he would look at the car outside bothered me. I wanted to say something but my knowledge of Spanish was minimal and I didn't want to jeopardize the whole plan. I heard panic in the man's voice for a second and I looked over my friends shoulder to see what's up. A chip was missing.

There were supposed to be four in there. My panic rose again and my friend said in a worried voice, "It's in my dad's car." We didn't have time for this. The man couldn't go get it because that would scream suspicion, and we're no track stars, but I thought if we ran we could bring it back soon.

"We'll go get it!" I yelled in the spur of the moment. That's when I heard the motorcycle engines. A large group of children were walking towards our general direction and I made out a few faces in the crowd that were of missing kids.

"Their eyes", I gasped. All the children's eyes were glowing a blue green color. I saw Kadaj first behind all the kids then Yazoo and Loz followed closely behind him. I grabbed my friends hand and bolted. I heard a gunshot and my friend shrieked at the sudden noise.

"We have to get the last chip!" she shouted at me. I already knew the man was done for and I was not going to stick around to see what the silver haired trio had in store for threats. "Alexis are you listening?! We have to get that last chip; we can still do this!" I've never joined any sports team, but I still ran faster than my friend and I practically dragged her. I dashed to her house to get to her fathers car.

I saw the car not too far away and demanded from my friend, "Where's the chip at?!"

"Back seat behind the passenger!" I let go of my friends hand to sprint to the car. Everything was happening in slow motion and fast forward. There wasn't time to go in to ask for keys. I grabbed a solar activated lawn light from my friends yard and used it to break the car's back window. When the glass shattered, the alarm went off and I scratched my hand as I scrambled to open to door from the inside. I opened the back door and noticed the reflection of the moonlight on the chip and my friends hover board. I took both and footsteps caught up behind me.

"Alexis, Did you get it?!"

"Yeah." I was losing my breath. I turned my head to see kids coming our way again. "Forget it!" I yelled beaten and threw the chip down. I grabbed my friend again and ran looking for a spot to hide

"What are you doing?!" My friend was baffled by my decision. If I could keep my friend safe I would. I saw a narrow space between two houses closely built together and headed straight for it. I shoved my friend into the compact space and squeezed in after her. I clutched the hover board I took and prayed to whatever divine force above to keep us alive, my friend's family alive, and anyone else that the Shiny Ones may come across.

I brought my index finger up to my lips; I breathed as quietly as possible hoping no child kept up with us. Still as a board, I looked into my friends eyes and I saw the terror in them. Suddenly a hand came into view and yanked my friend out of the claustrophobic space and she screamed. I grasped for her but more children cut me off and I backed away to avoid being grabbed. One little girl got too close and I made a tight fist and sent her flying back. I nearly tripped getting out from between the houses as more boys and girls attempted to pull me.

I couldn't keep running forever, or I'd fall over from exhaustion. I vigorously set the hover board down and set my feet on it trying to get it started. I regretted looking back because I saw three tall figures advancing towards me. The fact they were walking made feel like a mouse trapped in a lions den. I gave off an aggravated shout and slammed my foot down on the board and it started up. I levitated and zoomed off in the direction of my house.

I think a bullet skidded against the side of the board and I wobbled for a second but kept my footing. Houses whirred past me and I stumbled to my front door. In her night robe, my mom opened the door and at first it looked like she was angry but saw my horrified face and pulled me inside. I slammed the door shut and locked it. Honestly that wouldn't do much but any stalling time was good.

Mom began yelling, "What on Earth do you think you're doing on a hover board this late at night?! Where is your friend?!"

Frantic, I fumbled with my words. "Mom we have to go now! And I mean right now!"

"What happened? What is going on?" I didn't have time to answer because our front door flew off it's hinges. My mom and I both screamed and I looked at the splintered remains of our doorway. Loz had his fist forward with some kind of device on his arm that most likely helped him break the door in.

"Run Alexis!". Maternal instincts kicked in and my mom attempted to shield me. I was already running for the back door and when I opened it our two Rottweiler's rushed past me to attack the intruders. When I ran out to the backyard, I heard scraping of metal, screaming, gunshots, and my dog's barking turned into whines that were suddenly silenced. Clinging to the hover board, I hopped the back fence and flew off into the forest that's outside the neighborhood.

I stumbled off the board onto the dirt floor deep within the forest and I realized I had been crying. I kicked the board away and started sobbing. I could still hear the screaming from my friend and my mother. Everything that had happened replayed over and over in my mind. I brought my hands up to clutch at my head trying to physically remove the memories. I lost track of time, but I was positive hours passed and none of the silver haired men knew my current location.

I decided to fly back to my house and see what I arrived, my home was squared off by police tape and onlookers. I didn't bother brushing off any dirt or grime I attracted from the forest floor, and I walked around to the front. I startled a few people with my appearance, and I'm stopped by an officer.

"Can I help you, young lady?" he questioned.

"I live here. I got away but my mom was still inside." I'm trying to hold back another sobbing fit. "I want to go inside and get my hover board charger." The cop rubbed his chin and motioned his head towards the front door. I'm allowed inside but not to move around any evidence.

I felt my body go cold as I walked in and saw numbers scattered over the floor and lumps under white sheets. The sheets couldn't hide all the blood that was sprayed across the room. Some splatters made it to the walls and furniture. I felt nauseous and tears threatened to return. I carefully crossed the flooring and go get my own hover board and the charger.

One officer greeted me when I emerged from my house and he told me that I'd be kept under witness protection and questioned about tonights events. The crowd slowly dissipated and an officer ushered me into their vehicle and took me to the police station. The ride was quiet and I looked back to see my house grow smaller and smaller with distance.

"I'm sorry." was all I spoke during the drive.

I'm in one of the interrogation rooms, but the man and woman with me assured me I wasn't in any kind of trouble. I retold what happened the moment I left my house with my friend up to my appearance before the police.

"And these were the three men that have been talked about in the new?" the woman asked me.

"Yes. It was them. They were all there."

The man in the room got up. "I'm going to file a report." He exited the room.

"Don't worry honey, we won't let anything happen to you." The woman tried to reassure me. I didn't feel deserving of their protection. Not when my friend was missing and my mother…

"Oh." I heard the woman say and she handed me tissues. "Here. Why don't I give you some space, and I'll come back letting you know where you will be staying."

"Thank you", I managed to say before I cried again. A clock ticked and minutes go by. I decided to refill a cup I was given with water that's outside the room. When I opened the door, a few faces stared in my direction but went back to business. I put my cup under a spout connected to a gallon of water, but a loud explosion happened behind me. I hastily turned to see what caused it. Kadaj's hand emitted some kind of blue energy and cops were scattered around the facility.

"There's my girl." He pointed at me. Fear nailed me where I stood until I'm pulled from behind by the female officer and she lead me to a side hallway.

"Go out that way", she ordered me as she pulled out her gun to assist her co-workers and try to hold the Shiny Ones back. I scurried out the door the woman guided me to and an immeasurable amount of gunfire went off. I only managed to walk outside a few feet before a blur of blue came besides me and stopped in front of me. The big one again, Loz, looked down at me with a smug grin on his face. There's a click of a gun next to my head, and I didn't have to look to know that it was Yazoo. I froze not daring to move a muscle.

"Turn around." The one with the gun commanded in a monotone voice. I turned to see Kadaj again but looking through a cell phone.

"Neko. Cute nickname." He looked up from the screen. "For a second I thought I lost you but then I found this." Kadaj tossed the phone in my direction and it landed with the screen up. It's my friends phone, and I saw our texts. My contact name read "Neko" and the phone was smeared with red. My breath shook.

"Now be a good kitty and take a nap." That's all the leader said before I was struck in the back of the head, and I fell to the ground.

I slowly come to and my arms felt sore. My eyelids fluttered and I blinked to adjust to the darkness. I realized I couldn't rub my eyes because my wrists were tied together above my head. That explained the soreness.

"Morning kitten." My eyes shot wide open and I fully took in my new surroundings. My back was against a stone wall, my toes barely reached the floor, the air was damp, and the only other person in here with me was Kadaj, accompanied by a tall stool with a water bottle on top.

"I'm going to ask you some questions and I want answers." His tone of voice went from friendly to hostile. He constantly asked me about what was on the chips and who the man we were supposed to deliver them all to was. I said 'I don't know' every time.

"Boy do I hate liars", he said in a cold manner.

"I'm not lying! I don't know what was on the chips! I don't know who the man was!" I wanted to give him answers because my life depended on it, but I didn't have any.

"Fine. Don't be honest with me." Kadaj grabbed the water next to him then stood in front of me. He made me open my mouth and forced the contents of the bottle into my mouth. I willed myself not to swallow. The water didn't taste right then I remembered the children with the glowing eyes. The water must have been what they gave the children to control them. Kadaj backed off to see if I swallowed anything, but I held a pool of water in my mouth and spit it out on his face.

"Fuck-you!" I annunciated each word with water running down my chin. He dropped the bottle and wiped his face. My body may have felt like jello, but I could still scream.

"Stupid girl." He brought his face down to mine and I saw his pupils shrink to catlike slits.