Mulberry was known for being a quaint little town, a simple speck on the map of England; however to those who lived there it was home. To these 2,371 people, it was a mini paradise. Despite the fact it was almost four hours from London its residents were content to live their entire lives surrounded by folks who all knew each other's business. Most were even fine with the hierarchy of the place because most didn't even notice their town was ruled by one family, The Davises.

The Davises weren't a large family, just a mother, a father, and a little girl. Their lineage had been in Mulberry since the beginning and from the beginning they ruled the little town with charm and resourcefulness. The mother, Callie Aria Davis was a very glamorous women with her long dark hair curled like a pinup girl and flashy green eyes, she could capture anyone's attention. She was known for her compassion, affection, and most of all, her parties that she threw on the 20th of every month, without fail. Her husband, Andrew Zachary Davis was the mayor of their beautiful city. He had a take-charge attitude that, when paired with his good looks, caused people to see things his way. For years, he like his father and his grandfather, worked to change the city for the better. His family had such a hold on the town that almost no one tried to run against him when elections rolled around. Finally, there was Jessica Silvia Davis, the pride and joy of the family. She held the same persuasive charm as her father and had the gorgeous green eyes of her mother, but unlike her parents she didn't persuade with charm or great ideas, instead she used money as her weapon of choice. Whenever she wanted something, she told people that she'd pay them to get it for her and then reward them with small fees that to most children seemed like tons. She loved to be the best and when she wasn't, she targeted those who held the position.

One child who faced her wrath was Clarke Torry. For years he lived down the block from her, he was quiet and shy, and only became more invisible after his father's sudden death. Jessica never thought he would be a threat but as they entered grade school, it became evident that he was much better than her academically. He had a natural gift for reading and numbers. He could solve things easily and with a memory that held information like an encyclopedia, Jessica was no match for him. At first she tried to find out his secret to being so good at school, but he never told her anything other than it just happened; so she turned to more extreme methods of paying her class to ostracize him at the ripe age of 7 years old. However, to her frustration not everyone bent to her will. While the younger students and her classmates were easy to manipulate, the older children were not.

At first, Clarke's only friends after being pushed away from his own age-group were his half-sister, Guinevere Kaitlyn Gutierrez and her cousins. Guinevere, who started to go by Kaitlyn from the age of 5, was very protective of her younger half brother. She thought of him to be some sort of genius who could change the world, so she made it her mission to protect him. She loved to play with him, even though he was really terrible at football. Their friend circle only grew after a fateful day at the park where they met Austin Ross and Clementine Murray; and six months later it grew again with the introduction of Ben Melikov, an aloof new student in Kaitlyn's class.

By the time of his 9th birthday, Clarke had very close knit group of friends that he could rely on for anything. When he needed a place to stay he could stay with Kaitlyn. If someone was giving him trouble at school, there was Austin. When he needed a break from Jessica, Ben intervened and kept her from bullying him for a while. For advice, he could turn to Clementine who was wise beyond her years at the age of 13. Regardless of the bullying, he had wonderful friends who made his life perfect and worth living; and for him that was a big feat because by the time he was 10th birthday he was ready to die.