Chapter One: July 28
Max let out a sigh and turned off his alarm. The bright, neon lights read 6:20 AM.
"Joy, another beautiful day to go for a nice eight, ten mile run," said Max, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Stupid cross country…..why do I have to do the most pointless sport in the world?"
He got out of bed and immediately walked downstairs. Getting a bowl of cereal, he sat down in front of the laptop on the dining room table and proceeded to watch anime while he ate his food. After the show finished, he proceeded to creep around on some forums before realizing that practice started at 7:00, and it was already 6:55. He sprinted upstairs, put on some running shorts and an old shirt, and ran to his car. As he got into his car, he thought he heard a roar coming from behind; when he looked around, there was nothing there.
"Freakin anime. It's screwing with my mind. Next thing I know I'll be seeing dead people," he thought.
Max sped through his neighberhood and raced to his school. By the time he got to the school gym, the rest of the team was getting ready to go.
Max parked next to his friend's truck and walked over to the group of runners. His friend waved him over to sit by the raised flower bed that stood outside the gym.
"Oi! Max!" yelled Dani, who for some reason preferred the very feminine name instead of a more masculine version. He was a rather tall boy, even taller than Max, with short, brown hair and a face that girls commonly called cute.
"Hi Dani. Did I miss anything?" Max was known for being late to everything. Something would always happen to stop him from making an appointment on time.
"Nothing yet, but Coach seems like she's about to say something," replied Dani.
Sure enough, the coach shouted at everyone to quiet down and listen up. She was a decently young woman, barely in her thirties, although she already had two young boys. The team had been unusually bad for years, but after she got the position as head coach, her influence and training methods had inspired everyone to the point that they all believed the distract championship would be theirs.
"Okay guys, so here's the deal. We're doing the forest route, except this time you're running two miles in before turning around. That means you take a right at the first intersection in the forest, follow the path, and then just turn around at the two mile marker and follow the path back to the school. Collin will be in charge of making sure no one gets lost. Now girls….."
Once again Max sighed and turned to his friend Dani. "This should be a ton of fun. Maybe I'll get lucky and get a stress fracture from tripping on a tree root. Then I won't have to wake up this early in the morning."
Dani just smiled and said "Well then you can walk around in a brace for six weeks. Imagine what Libby would say, 'Oh Max, your brace is soo sexy.' You'll be a hit with all the girls."
"Shut up Dani."
"I'm just saying."
"Shut it."
Max sat down on the edge of the flower bed and looked at the plants. They all looked nice, but their color was starting to fade, a sign of fall's approach. He happened to notice a bright red color among the blue and leaned over. Lying on the dirt was a red ribbon. Not even thinking about it, he picked it up and put it in his pocket. He looked up as Coach turned to address the group again.
"So team, before we begin, I would like to introduce a new team member. Her name is Dawn Gibson. She just moved here, so please make her feel welcome.
Coach looked at a pretty, dark haired girl standing next to her. Max glanced at her, but quickly lost interest when he saw his neighbor Libby walk up to him. She was a short, beautiful (in Max's mind at least) red-haired girl who had plagued Max's dreams ever since she moved from Ohio three years ago. They interacted very little, just the bare minimum that came from living next to each other and going to the same school and belonging to the same sport.
"You have to give me a ride home today, Max. My mom had to go to work early, so she told me to get a ride from you."
"Um, okay, I guess," stammered Max. Libby had a way of making him sound like a two year old whenever she was around.
"Well good, just wanted you to know. Oh, and your still not getting my phone number. Bye."
As she walked away, Dani turned back to Max and whispered "What a bitch."
Max responded with a shake of his head. "You just don't know her that well."
"Oh and you do, Mr. Player? Just give up on her already and move on with your life."
Max sighed and said "Let's just go running."
He got up, only to hear a burst of thunder. Dark gray clouds seemed to materialize out of nothing in the sky. Rain started pouring down, the water droplets feeling like bullets. Lightning streaked across the sky in bright, violent bursts. Everyone ran into the gym, dodging the ice cold water droplets.
As Max turned to follow, he saw a young man dressed in what seemed to a be a black cloak sitting on the roof of the school. Once again, he heard a loud roar, followed by what sounded like a whine. Distracted by the noise, Max looked back at the roof but the man was gone. Max shook his head, nnot even sure if he the guy was real.
"Hey Max! What the fuck are you still doing outside?" yelled Dani from the warm comfort of the gym "You look like an emo-boy poster child. Get in here before you freeze your ass off."
Max quickly walked over to the gym and asked "Did you hear that noise Dani?"
"What noise? You realize it's thudering outside. You're probably imagining things again."
Max looked around the gym, wondering if he was going insane. "Um...you know what...I'm just gonna head home. I don't feel like sticking around through this storm."
Dani glanced at Max and smiled. "Well Coach wanted to talk to you emo-boy, so you'd better speak with her before leaving."
Max walked across the gym to the other corner where Coach's office was. As he did, the new girl stepped in front of him and stopped him.
"Why'd you take my ribbon?" she said aggressively.
"What ribbon?" Max responded.
"The red one that you have."
"How do you know I have it?"
"It's sticking out of your pocket"
"Well, sorry. I just found it in the flower bed outside." Max handed it back to her.
"Doesn't change the fact that you're a thief." Her eyes seemed to sparkle, as though she was enjoying accusing him.
"Look I didn't steal it. I just...well...umm...I need to talk to the coach," Max said awkwardly.
"Okay then. While you you do that, I'll think of a punishment for you," she said mischievously.
Max walked past her and talked to his coach. She spoke to him about his brother, who was out due to an injury. He assured her that he would be up and running soon, and said good bye.
Max noticed on the way back that Dawn was busy talking to someone else and quietly made for the door. He ran out into the rain and got to his car. He was about to leave when he remembered about Libby. "Shit. I better go get her." He pulled up to the gym and parked by the curb. Libby happened to be standing by the doorway, and noticing his car, quickly sprinted over and got into the passenger seat.
"Don't get any ideas Max." she said derisively. "Oh wait a sec. I promised the new girl you'd give her a ride too. I hope you don't mind. This way, no one will think we're going on a date or something." She smiled, knowingly annoying Max.
Max cringed in his mind. "She could've chosen anyone else. Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" he thought. "Oh sure, Libby. I don't mind being used like a taxi."
Libby waved Dawn over, who seemingly skipped her way over to Max's car. She got in quickly, flashing a smile at Max, who didn't return the favor.
"So much for having alone time with Libby," thought Max. He set the car into drive and drove off.
As he was driving, Libby's nose wrinkled in disgust.
"Oh god, Max. Why do you smell like strawberries?"
"Hey, maybe I like strawberry shampoo," he said defensively.
"That's why you have no friends. You act too gay."
"Ouch, that hurt. You really think that?" Max said playfully.
"Yes." Libby's face held no hint of humor.
"I think it smells beautiful," said Dawn. "I love strawberries. Something about them makes me feel happy. I think there's nothing wrong with you Max."
Max blushed and felt really awkward. Thinking of changing the subject he said "Hey so Dawn, where do you live?"
"Oh you can just drop me off by the housing complex down there. I can walk the rest of the way there."
"Are you sure? It's still raining bullets you know."
"Hey Max. Keep on talking like that and everyone will think you're in love with me," she said innocently.
Max blushed, but quickly composed himself. "Don't get the wrong idea. I'm just making sure you're gonna be okay."
"Don't worry. What's the worst that could be out there?"
Dawn got out of the car and walked away. Max drove off, watching as Dawn disappeard into the rain and mist.
"I hope she makes it home without a scratch," Max thought.
Dawn walked in the rain, heading toward the apartment building ahead. Noticing an alley leading up to buidling, she decided to go through it.
Dawn smiled thinking about the day. "I forgot to tell Max my punishment...maybe I'll get my chance tomorrow," she thought. "This place seems like a lot of fun. Maybe I can get Max to show me around. If Libby tells him to do so, I'm sure he would do it. She seems to have him around her finger."
As a streak of lightning flashed above her, a shadow seemed to come up from behind. She didn't see it, but turned when she heard a loud roar, like something from a vicious animal. In front of her stood a massive bipedal being with a white mask. It took one look at her and knocked her into the nearby wall with one hand. Dazed, she looked down and saw her own blood, pouring out of a cut on her arm. She let out a scream that was drowned out by the thunder before passing out.