2

I squinted my eyes to try to see the shadow that now occupied the doorway. Seven zillion thoughts were flying through my head while everything suddenly slowed down. Is Aurora just out cold? If so, could we wake her up? Is she dead? How would we live without her? Who is this person who killed my sister, and how can I kill them?

Suddenly, my life was bounced back into reality, and time began to speed up to normal again. The three of us stared at the door, and my eyes finally adjusted.

The image before me was not what I'd expected at all. It was a guy who seemed about our age or older, with jet-black rugged hair. He wore baggy jeans and a white T-shirt that outlined his muscles, with a black leather jacket over it.

"I think we can take him," I whispered quietly, still frozen in place with a few rice packets in my arms.

"That won't be necessary," he said calmly. His voice was much deeper than I'd imagined it to be. "I'm not one of the security guards." He stepped forward with his arms up, and immediately the three of us dropped what we were holding and tensed ourselves to fight him if we had to.

"Don't come one step forward or you'll become packaged frozen sushi in three minutes." Gwen threatened, her voice as sharp as razor blades.

"Okay, let's all calm down." He said, and before one of us could interrupt, he broke off and said, "Your friend is fine; she just got a little scared and ran into a pole right after she turned around."

Immediately we all relaxed a little.

"Then what are you doing here?" Stella commanded.

"Just the same as you guys. It looks like you're stealing food, am I right?"

"That's none of your business." I snapped.

"Well, I have a car. Do you guys want me to drive your friend to the hospital?" He offered.

"No!" The three of us yelled all at once. Going to the hospital was definitely on our list of things to never do, yet I think we made him suspicious. That was also on the exact same list.

"Okay… then." He said awkwardly. "Well, I think we should at least make sure she wakes up." With that, the four of us stepped out the open door and into the sunlight. There, on the ground, was the pale, crumpled figure of Aurora. Blood was seeping out of the side of her forehead, and we all gasped.

"As you can see," he explained, "she's still breathing, but her gash isn't doing good." Gwen picked up Aurora, and we all hurried back inside the storage unit as she placed her in a sitting position on the floor, leaning her back gently against a box.

"Someone pass me a bag of frozen rice." Gwen demanded, and I grabbed the nearest packet and handed it to her. She pressed it to Aurora's head, right where the wound was. Aurora began stirring, and then woke up the smallest bit, her eyelids drooping.

"Wha... Where am I…?" Aurora breathed, on the borderline of consciousness.

"You're safe, that's what's important." She replied.

"Gwen, you're getting the rice all bloody." Stella complained. I heard the stranger chuckle quietly from where he stood a few yards away, arms crossed over his chest.

"She'll be okay," I said to him, "right?"

"Oh yeah, she's gonna be fine." He assured me.

"What's your name?" I asked curiously.

"Zachary. Call me Zach, though. My parents must have been crazy when I was born to name me that, don't you think?" I shrugged awkwardly, and that ended the conversation. Strangely enough, the way he leaned against the wall, how he looked at the four of us… It almost made me suspicious of something. Maybe it was just the way he looked. It seemed almost like he'd stepped out of a TV show. None of us knew exactly how to act around guys, except for Aurora, which is because she watches at least three different television shows about boyfriend/girlfriend drama each week.

About a half an hour later, Aurora was finally up and awake, her head was bandaged, the bag was filled with the necessary foods, and it was about time to leave. We went out the door to leave after thanking Zach for helping Aurora come "back to life", and he said he had to leave too, for his own food.

After running past three warehouses on the way out and hiding behind a fourth, we stopped to take a short break. I looked around, and noticed there were only three of us.

"Where's Aurora?" I questioned.

"You guys forgot Aurora?" Stella snickered.

"You knew?" Gwen pressed.

"Of course I did. I notice everything."

"Then why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't know if you knew."

"Well you should have said some—"

"Enough! Let's just go back to get her and we'll be on our way home. Okay?" I interrupted. They nodded, and we scurried back to the immense building, just as Aurora opened the door.

"Oh, hey guys!" She said, shutting the door casually.

"What happened? Why didn't you come with us?" Gwen questioned.

"Zach wanted to talk to me." She explained. "He asked for my phone number!" She whispered excitedly.

I narrowed my eyes. "And you gave him our cell phone number?" I asked. The four of us share a phone, and I really didn't want some stranger calling it all the time, only to have Aurora snatch it up and talk into it 24/7

She turned to me, frowning. "It's the only cell we have. Don't worry, guys, I won't be constantly on the phone or texting him."

Stella sighed loudly. "Can we just go?" She complained.

"Stella's right, we should be on our way." Gwen said. And with that, we left, weaving through the streets to the bus stops once again, paying the fare from bus to bus, and soon we were home.

Right when Gwen opened the door and put the keys on the counter, Aurora ran to her shared room and snatched up the cell phone. "He texted me!" She squealed.

"Don't get too… comfy, Aurora. We have to keep our existence on the down-low, remember?" I said.

"Yeah, okay." She mumbled, not even bothering to tear her glance from the cell phone. I rolled my eyes and headed for my room.

After making my bed and closing the blinds to turn on the lights, I lied on my bed and pulled a blanket over myself. Before I knew it, I dozed off soundly, having the same feeling I'd had earlier today before Aurora hit her head. Yet some flashing red light in the corner was going off, telling me something was wrong. I reassured myself again and again that I just wasn't used to being near a guy, especially someone like Zach.

So I napped mostly peacefully, waiting for dinner to be ready, hoping Aurora wouldn't talk about you-know-who too much.

Well, there's the second chapter… Review it please peas! Hope you liked it!

~Lexxie