Disclaimer: I own nothing, absolutely nothing.

AN: It has been awhile, but I'm back.

Fearless

Her dark locks whipped in the warm air as the truck sped along the interstate. Her dark coffee eyes squinted as the wind lashed at her face. An upbeat song escaped from the speakers, keeping pace with her steady heart beat.

"There it is, Ella."

The small sign looked lonely sitting in front of the wall of rocks, which lined the rugged road. A small valley dipped off to her right, trees speckled the grassy fields. The wall of intimidating rock disappeared behind them, leaving only small stones and rubble banking the road. "Fayetteville, Tennessee" the sign had read. A bump in the road jostled the dark blue pick-up as they entered the small country town. The old road could use some repaving.

Gabriella glanced down at her hands twitching nervously in her lap. She knew exactly what lay before her. It wasn't something she dreaded, it wasn't something that she wasn't used to, it was new. Three weeks and three days ago she had been informed by her father that they would be moving six hundred and sixty three miles away, to her birth place, Fayetteville, Tennessee. It was different than Arizona, it was more…'broken in' I guess you could say. The road had seen many generations, and so had the people. The car halted at the red light.

"It'll be something fun, Ella!" her dad had said to her three weeks ago. Her dark orbs glanced out the window again, not seeing a trace of fun. Camouflage shops and tractor stores lined the streets along with a Wal-Mart and CVS –Pharmacy on the corner. Her faith was slowly gliding down hill as the pick up truck ventured further into the bustling town.

This place was where she was born, but she made no connection. This had been the small town where her mother came into this world, and left it. It should be a place that she held close to her heart, but unfortunently, all she saw were red necks milling around an old country town. Thirteen years ago she had ridden down this bumpy road as a tiny, motherless, four-year-old heading for Arizona with her daddy. She rolled the window up and turned to her father.

"Its quaint." She said with a forced smile on her face. Her father was a scientist. He worked with a large institute; the main goal of said institute was to create a cure for Cancer. This Cancer-stopping institute was the reason she had to move during her junior year. She wasn't crushed. She was just worried. Worried about what she would find in such a foreign place.

"I'm sorry if its not what you expected, honey" he sighed, "But we've got to start over somewhere." James Montez replied, throwing a genuine smile in his daughter's direction.

James Montez' life had spiraled downhill in the past months leaving him with a small amount of money, and large amount of knowledge. He had been accepted into the institute, which meant he had to accept the fact that he would have to move closer to the institute, which was located in Nashville, which required a two hour drive every morning to get to work.

Gabriella smiled. "No, Dad, really, I like it. It's just going to take some getting used to."

The truck turned a corner and entered the square. A court resided in the middle and was surrounded by four blocks of shops, diners, and pharmacies. Her dad had mentioned to her that she would like the square, which was the center of town. Apparently the house her father had inherited was in walking distance from the square also, which meant they were close to her new home.

The smell of fresh paint stung the inside of her button nose. She stepped into the sun room through the sliding glass door and set down her purse on a stack of boxes. The house was big, there was no denying that. She knew that if her father hadn't inherited it from her Mom's Mother when she passed that they would have never lived in something like this.

"They put a new coat a paint on the walls to brighten it up" her father said looking at the warm yellow color plastered to the walls. She took a few more timid steps into the house, walking into the bright kitchen. The ceiling was adorned with punch-tin and the cabinets were cherry. She took a deep breath and inhaled the familiar smell, although she wasn't so sure what was familiar about it. "Go on up and see your room, Sweetie, it's the second door on your left once you hit the top of the stairs." He paused and looked at her, almost evaluating her, trying to probe into her mind to see what she was thinking, "It was your mother's while she grew up."

Gabriella smiled and made her way to the steep staircase. After finding her room, she decided to start unpacking a few of the boxes that were piled on the dusty bed. She pulled out picture frames, volley ball trophies, teddy bears, and other trinkets that would soon be hanging on the bare purple walls of her bedroom. As she came to the bottom of a box she pulled out an antique tea cup that came from her mother's tea set, it was the last surviving and un-cracked piece of the set that was left. She turned to face the room looking for a place to set it on one of the shelves.

That's when she noticed it. The pure white door. It was next to the 1800's fire place that centered her room. Curiosity getting the better of her, she walked over to it and eased open the old lock pushing the door open with a squeak. Musty air filled her lungs as she gazed into what seemed to have been an old library. Bare shelves lined the walls of the room, except for a miniature door standing beneath a book shelf to the far left. It resembled one of those doors that would lead to an attic. Apparently this house was full of mysteries.

Still clutching the porcelain cup in her hand, Gabriella stepped towards the door placing her hand on the knob. She was just about to twist it open when a sudden reflex stopped her. She heard a deep chuckle echo from the other side.

Then footsteps were heard soon after, like they were walking up a set of stairs. It was more than one pair of feet. It sounded like two, or maybe three.

"Stairs?" she thought out loud, but instantly regretted it when she heard all action cease on the other side of the week wooden door. Soft voices traveled through the barrier between her and whatever and whoever was on the other side.

"Dude, I know we've done this before, but this time just doesn't feel right." The voice sounded scared, that or threatened. Gabriella clutched the tea cup in her hand until her knuckles turned a screaming shade of white.

The voice that spoke next was husky and had a certain tone about it that made her heart triple it's beat. "Stop being such a pansy ass, Danforth."

She stepped away from the door, the cup still resting in her soft palm. The door knob rattled and her breath hitched once again. Damn, she was always running into trouble. She hadn't been in her new home for more than an hour and she was already in the face of danger. She took another timid step backwards. She was tempted to yell for her father who was somewhere in the walls of the house. But she knew her strangled voice wouldn't be loud enough.

Thoughts of murder and rape raced before her eyes. She gulped and gained an ounce of braveness from within her, striding one step forward. She clutched the brass knob in her free hand and yanked it open right as the intruder on the other side gave the weak wood a final shove with his shoulder.

Gabriella choked back a shriek. Two tall teenage boys stepped into the library like room with their backs to her. One had large curly hair and dark chocolaty skin, he was clad in red t-shirt and jeans. The other boys back was defined and muscular looking through his blue shirt. Shaggy dirty-blonde hair fell in strands across his golden neck. She took in a deep breath, watching as the two teens communicated.

"Shit, dude, why's the door open?" the afro clad boy said pointing towards her bedroom door. The shaggy blonde's back tensed but then he sighed.

"We probably forgot to close it and lock it last time."

Gabriella's foot was about to take a weak step forward when the porcelain tea cup slipped from her soft palm shattering into the wooden floor panels. Shards of the cup skidded across the floor.

"Holy sweet fucking mother of God!" The chocolate skinned boy jumped, and dove behind the blonde.

"Ella?! You okay?" Gabriella froze as she heard her Dad's voice echo up through her bedroom. She didn't reply, but instead she questioned the two strangers.

"What the fuck are you doing in my house?" He voice was strong and she meant business. The muscles on the back of the blonde boy bulged as he swiveled on his tennis shoe clad foot.

His face was soft, but his features were strong. His lips were thin, but well defined like a perfect line of symmetry. His nose was shaped perfectly almost as if God spent an extra few minutes when crafting him. The African American boy had rounder features, with milky brown eyes and full lips. He seemed to have a scaredy cat personality, as for the good-looking one, who seemed to have a dangerous edge about him that made your toes curl.

He chuckled lightly and stepped towards her. She felt the need to take a step back, but didn't it was time to stand her ground. He hadn't answered her question. "I said, what the fuck are you doing in my house?"

Still no answer from the perfectly shaped lips. She scanned his features again and rested on his eyes. A gasp wanted to strangle from her throat, but she refrained it from escaping. It was the deepest blue she had ever seen, looking into his eyes was like climbing into a waterbed and falling fast asleep. She glared at him again, seeing the amusement that stretched across his face.

"Answer me this time. What the fuck are you doing in my house?"