Chapter Notes:So this chapter is around 7,800 words long not including the notes. I have gone through and re-edited this. I hope it's better. This will not be the last editing phase, as I have to correct some small flaws with grammar. It would make this job a lot easier if you guys could point it out. Please give me your most critiqued review so I can make this reading much better for you. So far this chapter was an extreme pain in the ass to edit. This is the longest chapter I've ever written, I worked really hard on this and and constructive words are great. I don't have a beta reader and I'm currently looking for one. So if anyone is interested please email me.

I do not own YuYu Hakusho. I own only the plot.

The Contract

Chapter One

I've never imagined how I would die.

I only assumed it would be by natural causes and I hoped that nothing extremely crazy would happen. Freak weather conditions, for example were not on my list, if any a desired way to die.

I knew that death, no matter how unwanted, was inevitable. It held no prejudice and if you were lucky, it was painless. Most are afraid to die, to feel the cold clutches of it tear soul out their body. What was there to be afraid of? It was only natural that if you were to live, you should expect to one day die.

Those who were afraid were cowards, and it didn't shock me at all that I was indeed one of those cowards.

I tried to enjoy the fruits of life, but how could I when I had so many obstacles I had to face?

It was in my seventeen years of life that I felt were the most horrible years one could face. An elder person would ask me why, because indeed I was young and indeed I had so much ahead of me. Why not enjoy all life had to offer, instead of wasting the most of it succumbing to the pain of the trails it laid before me?

Pain.

That was the true reason why I couldn't enjoy life and the true reason behind my fear of death. The life I had, had granted me reason to be fearful of the future. Most of it had held the hand of the ache life gave me.

I had lost my immediate family directly in front of my eyes and was placed into the unloving arms of a surrogate family. The surrogates, still being my own family, were unkind and uncaring people who never cared about my existence. It was the government who placed me into their unfortunate care. I was left in their cold, disinterested stares all the while feeling as though my world was crashing towards ground.

I was seven years old when the pain started. I still could remember every second of that night.

I was lying in my bed while dad attempted to alleviate my fears of the boogieman. "The boogieman is only a fiction of your imagination Ali baby." He said, using his nickname for me.

"It is there to scare you and to make you fear vulnerable, but I know that my daughter couldn't possibly be afraid of the boogieman! Do you know why?" He had asked me. I still remember every detail about him.

His warm almond shaped dark chocolate eyes and compassionate smile. He was the kind of person by just smiling, could calm your worries and make your day a little brighter. Curly dark brown hair, olive skin, high cheekbones and a straight nose, my dad was certainly a looker in his younger years. He was 34 at the time.

I looked up at him with the innocent dark brown eyes of a seven year old "Why daddy?" I asked.

"It's because you're daddy's brave strong little girl!" He exclaimed and poked my nose with an affectionate smile.

I giggled and with determined little hands I grasped his "You're right daddy, I am brave! I'll make you proud, you'll see! That mean ol' boogieman can't scare me!" I said to him, a boldness resonating in my wide eyes.

Smiling at my words he kissed my forehead "That's right my Ali baby, now get some rest and I'll see you in the morning."

I could only nod as I felt my eyes getting heavy and sooner than I knew it, I fell asleep.

I dreamt of the time dad and I visited the playground just a little ways down from where I lived, in the cool town of Wysner, West Virginia.*

The town was very small, with only a population of 1540 people. Everyone knew each other and I went to an elementary school with about 110 of those children.

Some of the children's parents were wealthy enough to own three story houses that were filled with extravagant things. I often saw those children come to school with very nice clothes, nice little bows in their hair, and nice shiny shoes. Most like my family didn't have the luxury of money and had to farm to get the things they needed by selling their crop goods.

Even though I wasn't blessed with large sums of money, dad taught me that something that is truly valuable cannot be bought with money. I was quite content with living on our little farm, with our two cows and four chickens. We owned one rooster and he was a fiery thing, I often couldn't control him, he did what he wanted.

The playground was small and was surrounded by fields beyond it swaying vibrant green in the wind. It contained one thin rusty metal slide, two big kid swings and one small baby swing. I didn't like the slide so much because in the summer it often got two hot and I couldn't slide down it without getting burned on my legs. My favorite part of that place was the swings.

Since I was five and daddy said that I was a big girl now, I could use the big kid's swings much to my happiness. I quickly ran to the one closest to the end of the set. I liked the swings because I felt as though I could fly. I knew that I was supposed to keep my hands tight around the metal ropes. I learned that quickly, because one time I fell and scraped my knee pretty bad.

It was a really hot day, so I dressed in my favorite dark blue denim shorts and yellow short sleeved Scooby doo T-shirt. I was wearing my favorite blue jelly flip flops that mom bought my two months ago. I wiggled my toes and loved the slapping sound they made when they hit the backs of my feet. When Dad caught up to me he began to slowly push me. I giggled and then I remembered something I wanted to ask him for a while. I stopped the motion of the swing

"Daddy, what does a green thumb mean?" Dad taught me how to plant seeds and care for the crops. One day he told me, much to my surprise I was a natural and had a nice green thumb. I was confused when he told me this

"Daddy how can I have a green thumb? Won't it fall off from jin-ger-vi-tus?"

My dad chuckled at me and ruffled my hair.

"I think that you're thinking of is gangrene and no Ali baby it's not the same thing."

I looked at my thumb, but I saw no green on my skin.

"Daddy, my thumb is not green, so what are you talkin' bout'?"

He simply smiled at me and gently grasped my little hand, bending down to eye level with me. "A green thumb simply means a person who is good with plants." He said while referring to my small chubby digit.

"Oh, so that means that I have magic, because I can make plants grow?"

He smiled at me "Something like that." A wide grin spread on my face "Cool!" I exclaimed loudly.

I woke up to what seemed like moments later to a bloodcurdling scream and a bone chilling boom.

Frightened, I jumped out of bed as quietly as I could and slipped out of my room to where my parent's room was. Hurriedly I entered, searching for the one who made the scream. I caught my dads' eye and I saw that we were the only ones in the room. My stomach dropped as I realized that my mother was not present and that could only mean, those screams were hers. My dad grabbed me quickly and pushed me into the closet behind the big box of clothes that stood close to the end corner toward the right.

"You have to be very brave for me Ali baby, just like we talked before, do you remember that?" he asked me. I nodded quickly, remembering the moment before I had fallen asleep which what seemed like only minutes ago. Judging from the brightness in the room, I could tell it was still dark.

"Good, now I need you to be very quiet and to not move. I will be back for you as soon as I can" he smiled at me but I no longer felt the comfort his smiles usually brought and suddenly I became very afraid.

I only nodded at him showing that I understood him. He quickly moved to the other corner of the small closet and placed a pile of thick folded blankets on top of my head.

"I love you so much Alice, so very, very much." He said to me, and I could hear the extreme sadness in his voice. I didn't understand why.

"I love you too daddy." My voice came out muffled and I could feel my eyes beginning to prick with fresh tears.

"I know princess" he quickly closed the closet door just as soon as I heard footsteps begin to come from the opening of my parent's room.

Moments later I heard someone enter my parents room.

"Where's the money." a gruff voice demanded. "There is no money here!" I heard my dad say, but his voice was not like the one I had heard before in all my childhood. It was angry, never had I heard this tone of voice even when I had not picked up my toys, come inside at the right hour, or not eat my dinner. It was then I realized that this person was a bad man a very bad man. I pushed up at the blanket that covered my head and peaked through the wooden blinds that covered the closet door in dusty separated spaces. I saw my dad, in his periwinkle blue pajamas looking very angrily at the man that stood at the front of my parent's bedroom door. 'No,' I thought to myself. He didn't look angry; he looked as if he wanted to hurt that man very badly.

"I want the fucking money!" the other man yelled loudly and I almost gasped. That was a very bad word and daddy will get very angry!

My daddy looked at the man with a harsh look "There is no money here!" he repeated twice as angry and with an emotion I didn't quite understand.

The man at the door merely looked at him and a cruel smile emerged from the dark ski mask he was wearing over his face.

"That's funny because your bitch didn't say the same thing down stairs."

There was a very dangerous silence as I saw my dad take in what the man said. It was a thick silence that made me hold my breath, what seemed like hours later from the anticipation and before I could even remember to breathe again I saw my daddy lunge towards the man, fist raised high. That was when I heard that sound, that sound that made me grit my teeth and flinch from the loud intensity.

That sound

Not the good kind of boom that you see when there are fireworks or when you're playing on the drums. The bad kind, the extremely bad kind that made me cover my ears in fear of them exploding, the kind that nightmares were made of. That sound that made the boogieman seem completely unreal, the kind that made my eyes widen and pop.

Daddy, my daddy, my daddy the one that could make all your worries go away and unintentionally brighten your day… was blown away by a single noise that could rival the thunderstorms in the deep summer.

That was not it as I looked closely; I could see the metal item that had made that sound. I could feel the warmth of something, something very warm as it sprayed onto the closet door and onto my face in a thick liquid that I was thought was hot water.

'Where' I thought, 'had the hot water come from?' I watched my daddy slump to the ground like a saddened pile of potatoes in extreme summers' heat. 'Was my daddy sleeping?' I thought quietly to myself just like daddy had asked and I realized I was his brave girl, always listening to him. I smiled brightly to myself as I lightly touched what I thought what was warm water on my face. It felt oddly slippery as I brought that substance to my face.

My smile slowly faded when I realized that this, this substance was not as clear as water should be and I slowly rubbed my two small fingers together feeling that slipperiness as a frightening realization overcame me.

I studied this slippery wetness in the resplendent moonlight that granted me small illumination in the pitch black dark that was me in the very small closet. As I heard the thief go through my parents drawers like time was failing him, I felt my eyes widen and I saw that this water was not as translucent as it should be, instead it was a bright crimson red. This red was as red as the blood that clung to my knees as it scraped the ground at the playing fields.

I had remembered that daddy always patched my knees up with 'Dora the explorer' bandages. As I cried from the pain that it gave me, daddy was always smiling and told me that I had to be brave.

Now as I sat in this sliver of moonlight I could see that I was no longer the brave little girl that daddy asked me to be, instead I was everything but, what my daddy asked me to be. I was fearful, because this was blood, so unlike the blood I was used to from falling from the swings and slides. This blood was thick and hot, and I felt myself slip quickly into the darkness that was blacker than in the closet.

This blood was my daddy's blood…

When I had awoken there were people and I was no longer in my home. Those people had explained what happened and I could feel then extreme numbness had taken over me at that point. Even though I was seven and small and not very wise to what was going on, I could feel that my daddy and mommy were no longer here.

From there my pain never stopped, even as the government of my country had assigned me to new parents, I could still feel the numbness that threatened to turn me into a person I never was. An unhappy, sad, distant type of person and yet those things sought to overcome me, I never let them.

The day when my parents died I became a new person, the person daddy could be proud of, his brave little person. Though, through the years I never really understood what happened, I couldn't and didn't stop myself from becoming all daddy said I was. I wasn't until I turned thirteen, that I truly understood what happened to my family. Pain couldn't even begin to explain what I was feeling. It was like a surge of lost panic and comfort, I lost my daddy forever. When they, those surrogates took me in, I had never felt so alone. They were cold and didn't seem like they had cared about what happened. They thought that buying things could blot out the pain like grape juice on a paper napkin. I often got gifts which ranged from nice clothes, shoes, and jewelry.

My surrogates lived in Austin, Texas and I had to pack up and leave my little town. I barely said good-bye to the residents that lived beside me because I was in such a distraught state. When they came to get me from the airport, conversation was kept to a minimum and was often filled with an akward silence. I could tell that these people didn't really spend time together like my close knit family did.

The surrogates had a lush lifestyle, with extravagant cars and very nice things. They had a very large three story house, five rooms, four and a half bathrooms and a large pool that was located outside. The house was made of pastel colored yellow brick and sat on a large freshly manicured lawn and surrounded with petunias and daisies. Inside was filled with nice little trinkets and had a beautiful kitchen that had white marble counters which were nicely cool in the extreme heat. Cherry wood cabinets, stainless steel appliances and nice wooden floors. The house had high ceilings and flat screened TVs', genuine leather couches and slim silver laptops everywhere. The rooms were lavish and contained silk sheets, more flat screened television sets large bathrooms with waterfall sinks and large bath tubs with crystal clear shower doors.

My room was on the last wing of the hall.

I had one overly large bed with dark blue satin sheets and dark red comforter that had gold detailed trees stitched into it. It had one plasma television set and a playstation 3 gaming system with all of the latest games (even though I rarely played anything besides Kingdom Hearts and Black Ops).

The room had deep brown wooden floors which had dark blue fluffy rugs beside my bed and computer desk. The computer desk was a dark cherry red as was the rest of the furniture. One very expensive desktop computer sat alone on a clean surface. A small book shelf stood off to the side of the computer desk, filled with mostly foreign language reading material.

One large dresser and vanity stood to the left of my room pushed up against the wall closest to my bed. On top of it were lots of smell good lotions and very nice perfumes, a cherry wood jewelry box filled with necklaces, bracelets, and rings was neatly next to all of the different makeup that I owned.

The bathroom was expansive and had a glittery red waterfall sink faucet. The counters were a dark yellow color made completely out of marble. The bathroom had one shower with a massaging shower head. It was large enough that two people could lie down horizontally and still have room. It was filled with different soaps and shampoos that had all kinds of scents from almond to my favorite pomegranate, which was almost empty. Deep conditioners stood off to the side and were organized alphabetically.

Even though this house was really grand and I was grateful for all the nice things that I had, I couldn't help but think that this was not home.

My surrogates were rarely home, always working. My uncle was a renowned layer and my aunt owned her own hair salon that was doing very well. They often spent nights away, going to nice fancy restaurants instead of eating home cooked meals. It took me a while to get used to this lifestyle and their expectations, but the ten years that I lived here I learned well enough.

I had one cousin and she was really pretty but very spoiled.

Sandra was her name, standing at 5'8 she had long dirty blonde waves stopping just above her chest and framed a perfectly tan face.

She had beautiful honey hazel eyes that had green flecks surrounding her iris, I had realized that her eyes resembled my mothers and when I had first met her I almost felt myself become attached to her. Dark brown lashes really made her eye color pop.

Pouty pink lips and a small nose fit her perfectly and she was very skinny with a small waist. She was gorgeous and standing next to her made me look plain in comparison.

I resembled my dad alot. I was 5'3 and had dark brown curls that fell just below my elbows, wide dark brown eyes that were framed with endless black lashes. Slightly tanned skin from the Texas sun was still lighter than most of the people around here. I was a small thing and I usually kept to myself, where Sandra was very popular and all the guys wanted to be with her. I could understand why on certain level which were her looks, though I couldn't understand based on her personality. She was as I stated before very spoiled and extremely vain. I tried to stay away from her most of the time because she was really annoying.

Speaking of annoying she was currently talking my ear off at the moment, most of the time I tried to ignore her, but ever since I came into her parents' custody she has brought my self-esteem down little by little. "I don't know why you don't dress a lil' better, especially since I have to be seen with you. A lil' more make up wouldn't hurt you either." She stated to me in her southern drawl as we walked to her cherry red convertible. It was The last school day of the week and extremely hot, can you say TGIF?.

Sandra was wearing a dark blue strapless romper that hung closely to her skinny figure and black frilly sandals that showed off her great legs. Her hair was perfectly wavy and free falling over her shoulders. Her makeup consisted of a golden bronzer that lightly dusted her cheeks, which made her skin practically glow, dark coral lipstick and a light golden eye shadow.

She was as gorgeous as always and I was as plain as could be next to her. I wore tan shorts, a black t-shirt, and black flat sandals. My makeup was simple with black mascara and clear lip gloss.

I was wearing two red bangles on my left wrist for a pop of color and two black ball earrings in both of my ears for each piercing(I had two in each ear). My hair was pulled into a large bun on top of my head. When I was getting ready this morning, I thought that I looked pretty good. As I look at Sandra though, I could see that I didn't even hold a torch to her.

I rolled my eyes, I had heard this lecture from her one to many times before and I was content on ignoring her for as long as I could. I popped the ear buds to my iPod into my ears, and scrolled down the list to my favorite band Three days grace. I hit shuffle and let the sexy voice of Adam Gontier lull me into a complete state of obliviousness. We were on our way to school and today was a very exciting day for me, because today in my foreign language class my teacher was finally going to announce something I have been waiting so long for.

I have been working hard since I was 14, studying and practicing the Japanese language to my very best I ability. I had bought every book I could and spent countless hours, self-teaching myself what I could whenever I wasn't in class and I'm not half bad if I do say so myself. I had been interested in the language for as long as I could remember. It started when one time my surrogates had taken me to a really cool Japanese restaurant for my birthday where they used chopsticks instead of forks. I guess it kind of started from there.

Sooner than I knew it, we had made it to Carrabelle Senior High school. The school had a lot of money so everything was really nice and I really couldn't complain about that. The only thing I couldn't stand was the students that attended it who were stuck up materialistic people. The school's population was around 3500 and it was massive. It was built with a red brick and had glass windows all around, 5 floors filled with classrooms, one large lunchroom where different cliques usually mingled and a great sized court yard where people could eat outside if they wanted to. It's where I usually went with two of my closest friends.

There were a total of seven playing fields which were individual fields for football, soccer, lacrosse, baseball, field hockey, golf, and tennis. There were two outdoor tracks, and two indoor tracks. Inside we had two large gyms where one contained two indoor pools for the swimming teams which were defending state champions six years in a row. The other gym is where we usually have our physical education classes. This in fact was my first class for the day.

As I walked to my locker, located on the third floor, I had to pass by a clique of jocks and cheerleaders, yeah I know it's so cliché but that's just how it was down here. The cheerleaders were dressed in their uniforms sporting our school colors of teal and orange for the homecoming game tonight which I was not going to tonight, I have absolutely no school spirit.

The jocks were all wearing their football school jerseys, Varsity wore orange and junior varsity wore teal. It was the same for the cheerleaders as well, I personally thought that their uniforms were a little too inappropriate. Their uniforms were a high neck halter top like thing with long sleeves and a short mini skirt that had no pleats and was not unlike the in style bandage skirt.

Usually I would just keep walking to my locker and ignore these pathetic excuses for people. Something, however, made me stop and start my blood rising.

"Isn't she just pathetic? Look at those jelly roles! Ha! Here's a thought, maybe a little less fried Twinkies and a little more jogging?" The head cheerleader of the Junior varsity team said to a girl. This girl had short mousy dark brown hair and olive green eyes. She wasn't the skinniest girl; she wore a Star Galactica T-shirt and dark blue wash jeans and plain black tennis shoes.

She shakily pushed her glasses farther up her stubby nose, I saw her pink nose ring twinkle a bit in the fluorescent lighting. She looked as if she were going to cry, as the clique laughed together. I looked at her and felt a rage build inside myself, this girl is my best friend.

"Hey fuck wads! Back your boosie asses away from Darla!" I angrily yelled and the laughter stopped. Flipping her hair away from her face the junior varsity head captain looked at me with a clear disdain for who I was.

"Oh look, it's her little girlfriend to save the day, best watch who you're talking to bitch.

" If I wasn't so angry I would've laughed at her little threat. I stepped right into her face, hands on my hips and a pissed little smirk was already itching the sides of my mouth.

"Sorry, I forgot who I was talking to. A fifteen year old spoiled little cow that can't do anything right besides lay on her back. What's that I see? Is that your ribs poking out? Perhaps instead of talking shit about someone, maybe you need to eat a little more instead of puking after every little grape you swallow."

The smirk was out and I watched with unhidden amusement at her sputtering face. Darla quickly grabbed my hand and pulled me towards my locker at the end of the hallway.

"That was amazing! You were so bad ass looking Ali!" Darla exclaimed with bright olive eyes.

"It's no biggie, how are you?" I asked her, smiling at her enthusiasm. From behind her I could see the clique dispersing and the junior varsity head captain send me a glare before walking away.

"I'm okay, you know how Christa is…" she said with a little sadness creeping into her usually spunky eyes. I gave he a reassuring little smile and patted her gently on the back.

"Don't worry about her, in ten years she'll have nothing but her cheerleading suit from this year and anyways a person like that won't really get far. All things personality considered." I said to her while opening my locker and getting the things I would need today.

She smiled "Yeah, you're right. Thanks again Ali, you're a great friend." "I know." I said back and we laughed as we walked to gym together.

To say that gym was horrible would be an understatement.

Today we had to do weight training and my body is killing me, Coach Jefferson made my class do 75 leg squats and made me bench press twice my weight in the weight room. He is a hard teacher to deal with because he's constantly stuck in the mind frame that he's training us to become the world's best sport's team. I don't even think he knows or cares that we're not on any sports team. If you're in my class then you should know that giving up is not an option. It would only earn you twice the work and ten times the pain. I should know firsthand because I was stopping to take a break and he made me do 75 more leg squats and 24 more bench presses.

The first half of the day passed by in a blur and sooner than I knew it, I found myself in the lunch room. A boy with light blonde hair that was cut in a spiky style and baby blue eyes waved to me. I smiled, that was my second best friend Tommy, he was way gorgeous but he didn't seem to notice. Girls would usually swoon over him and everyday some random girl would come and try to ask him out. I liked him as a person because he wasn't bent up over something as skins deep as looks were concerned. The other reason was because we were all anime freaks, every day we would sit in the court yard and talk about the latest anime titles and episodes.

"Hey Tom" I said to him as we met up just outside of the courtyard doors.

"Hey Ali, are you excited about what Mrs. Oki has to announce today?" I had almost forgot and I felt myself do mental back flips at the excitement.

"Hell yeah, I'm so excited and I can't wait for what she has to say, I've been working really hard on my speech."

He nodded a small smile on his face. "I've noticed, you're speech has gotten way better and there's barely an accent."

Just then Darla came up and pulled out a stack of manga grinning widely. "I've got the old Inuyasha manga, I figured we could go in and talk about all the sexiness that Inuyasha is!" I could almost hear Tommy roll his eyes at us.

"No, I way! Everyone knows that Sesshomaru is way better looking than Inuyasha could ever dream of being!" I stated loudly and from there, the conversation blasted off.

Lunch passed by quickly and I found myself sitting in my seat of Mrs. Oki's classroom.

Her classroom was neatly decorated with different trinkets from japan. I often caught myself looking at those things instead of paying attention. My favorite thing was the little Buddha that sat on her front desk. It was made out of green jade and was really beautiful. The details were carved just right and I always smiled at the little Buddha's permanent joyful smile.

The class soon filled in and Mrs. Oki was in the front of the class teaching and reviewing what we had learned all week. I found myself zoning out and wondered what her announcement could be. I had practically stayed up all night, I barely got any sleep and I could feel myself dosing off.

I found myself in a dark room, only lit by the sliver of moonlight that came from the window like a magic white ray. I looked around but I couldn't see much, the only thing that was visible was the teacher's desk with that small jade Buddha smiling at me and a seat behind it. I saw that I was still sitting in my student desk. As I looked at the jade Buddha, I wondered how I got here. I could feel a panic rising up as I remembered that I was in Mrs. Oki's class.

Suddenly I felt as if I wasn't alone in this dark place. I heard the light tap of high heeled shoes from the darkness and I wondered if there was a black out or something similar because I didn't remember it.

It was too quiet to be a black out or I would've heard the excited chatters of my classmates. I could hear the tapping of the heeled shoes get louder and I began to panic, I tried to stand but I realized that I couldn't move. I looked to my hands and saw that I wasn't bound, so how was it that I couldn't move?

"There's nothing to be afraid of Ali." I heard a voice whisper directly next to my ear and I jumped in my seat, my heart doing frantic beating in my chest.

I attempted to turn my head to see the person behind me, but there was no one. As I turned back to the front I came face to face with someone, I almost peed myself. The person in question merely laughed a loud ringing laugh. When they were finished, I could see that this person was female.

She was tall and skinny with perfect alabaster skin and short deep crimson tendrils that fell just below her ears. Her eyes were a frightening white color, and I almost gasped if I could talk, which I found that I could not.

She wore a very skimpy black outfit that showed a lot of leg and she was certainly proud of her legs because she seemed to be flaunting them as much as she could. She took a seat right in front of me behind the desk, crossed her legs and folded her hands. I saw that she wore deep red pumps.

"Now Ali, you may not know where you are" she said gesturing to the place that we were both sitting.

"There is something that I would like to offer you, something that could change your life forever."

I looked at her with a clear confusion of what she was talking about. She must have been the one that staged this bizarre act. I was getting really irritated in not being able to move and I could feel my patience wearing thin.

'What the hell do you want lady?' I wanted to ask her, but I couldn't speak.

"Oh it's not what I want Ali, it's what I have to offer you."

At first I was a little more than freaked out that she knew what I was thinking, but I could feel the curiosity of the meaning of her words get to me.

'What is it that you have to offer?' I tried to ask her.

"It's something that could change everything that you know, something exciting and new. It's what you've wanted for the longest." She stated, red lips parting in a strange grin.

'What do you mean? How do you know what I want?' I thought. I was aware that somehow she could hear me.

"I know everything about you Ali, and all you have to do is sign on the dotted line." She snapped her fingers and with a small burst of fire a piece of paper appeared.

'Nice magic trick' I thought to myself.

She seemed to hear it because her smile faltered a little.

"I can guarantee you something new and amazing, something that could take you away from the superficial ways of what you know now. I can promise you a new future, unlike anything you've ever seen before. All you have to do is sign here" she said as a perfectly painted fingernail grazed the dotted line on the paper.

'Even if I did want something new, who's to say you're not some twisted woman who likes tying helpless people up?'

She laughed a twinkle in her eyes "I assure you that's not what this is, what could you lose by signing? If I am lying, then you have nothing to worry about." Her smirk never once left her face and I could feel myself grow uneasy.

What's the catch? I asked non verbally, catching on that she can somehow hear me.

"There is no catch, just your signature will suffice." She snapped again and the paper was in front of me.

As I read the words I could feel my doubt rising. Who is this woman and why did she want me to sign? I rolled her words over in my head

If I'm lying, what's the worst you could lose?

Nothing.

There wasn't anything I could lose. I picked up the pen that had magically appeared next to me and saw that it was simply a quill pen. I positioned the pen against the paper.

I hesitated, who's to say what can happen just by trusting her? Who's to say what couldn't? A small voice whispered inside my head.

With high doubt I scribbled my name Alice Marie Evian in a cursive sprawl

Suddenly the pen disappeared as well as the contract which went up in a small burst of flames. I gasped and jumped in my seat.

"Excellent, you should know that this contract is forever and is unbreakable. It is binded to your soul, for as long as you shall live I'm pleased to say that you're new life starts now." With that, she was gone. She literally just vanished.

I awoke with a gasp and found that I was sweating. Looking around the room I could see that I was still in Mrs. Oki's class, and it seemed like only seconds went by because she was still teaching.

' What was that?' I thought to myself.

It was so strange. Seeing as nothing had changed, I assumed it was a dream and pushed it to the back of my head.

"Class, I have some very exciting news!" Mrs. Oki stated and the class settled down so she could make her announcement.

"As you all know, every two years, we send a student of ours to Tokyo, Japan."

I looked up, interested in what she was saying an I could feel the excitement from earlier coming back to me.

"It has been decided that someone in this class will be the lucky student to study at our sister school for two years."

The class erupted into loud cheers, but I could feel the anticipation tickle at my insides.

What if I don't get picked?

I had worked so hard for this, and I would be crushed if it wasn't me who was chosen. I chewed on my bottom lip, a bad habit I tend to do when I'm nervous.

"I would like to congratulate Ms. Alice Evian on being the student that will be going to Tokyo this year."

I was shocked; I didn't think that I would be chosen. All modesty aside, I usually have bad luck when I get excited for things. I could feel my heart beat a little bit faster as I felt an immense feeling of joy and relief. Ms. Oki walked up to me and handed me a thick white envelope.

"Once again congratulations, everything you need to know is in that envelope."

When I got home, I immediately went into my room. I told Darla and Tommy the news and they were both happy for me. They said that they would miss me but they would be there at the airport to see me off.

I quickly changed out of my street clothes and into my pajamas, which consisted of a long white t-shirt and black cotton shorts. I plopped down onto my bed and as I looked at the white envelope I could feel the nervousness creep up on me.

'What's there to be nervous about' I thought to myself, after all it is my future.

Anxiously I tore the envelope open and spilled the contents out onto my fluffy comforter.

The envelope contained an airplane ticket to japan which said that I would be leaving this Sunday at 2:30 am in the morning. I was a bit confused because it was so soon, but I guess it all fit in with the school schedule.

Shrugging my shoulders I glanced at the second thing which was a pamphlet of the school I'd be attending. At first glance the brochure looked really boring because of the color sequence. All, black, white. and tan. As I looked into the pamphlet I easily located the name.

Meioh Private Academy was right on top in bold black letters. There was a picture of the school in it and it was even better looking than my school. It also had two students in their uniforms, my nose scrunched up in distaste.

The males wore pink long sleeved jackets with gold trim as well as pink slacks. The female in the picture wore a red attire similar to a sailor uniform, but it was much more stylish. My only problem was the shortness of the skirt, but I admit it was pretty cute style wise. The colors need improvement though. I noticed that both male and female wore dark brown dress shoes.

The uniform was defiantly going to take some getting used to.

Skimming the pamphlet I saw that I had to take the entrance exam, which I did a couple of months ago. It was pretty tough but seeing as I was the one that was chosen to go to their school, it seems as though I did alright.

Something that also went with the whole deal was that I had to keep good scores on everything. Failing more than once will surely get me kicked out of that school. Even though that put a bit of weight on my shoulders, I was determined to do my best. Placing the pamphlet down I picked up the most important piece of paper which told me who I was going to stay with.

Dear Ms. Evian,

I would like to formally congratulate you in being selected to join our school's family. It was a tough decision but based on your scores on the entrance exam, it seems only right that you were chosen. Our staff here at Meioh Private Academy is looking forward to meeting you. We are expecting great things of you. Below is all the information you will need concerning your new foreign family.

We will be seeing you soon.

Sincerely,

Ogasaki, Hanate

Family names;

Father: Nagari, Kaito

Mother: Nagari, Anabe

Son: Nagari, Ayame

You will be staying with someone who goes to the same school.

Schedule:

1A- Hanari, Algebra II

2B- Kono, Japanese studies

3A- Kayabe, Advanced Art

Lunch

4B- Hyame, Chemistry

When you arrive, please check in at the office. A guide will show you to your first class.

That was the end of the letter, and with an excited breath I placed everything carefully back in the envelope and sat it on my computer desk. I climbed into bed and with barely any trouble at all, fell into a deep sleep.

Excited for all the packing tomorrow will bring.

Ending Notes:I hope that you all enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. PLEASE please leave a review, because that will determine if I will add the next chapter. I have big ideas for this story and I have already written the next chapter. :)

I would have written this longer but I figured a little teaser would be a great way to start the story off. :]

If I get enough reviews, the next chapter will be longer