Chapter 1

I woke with a start. The song of the morning birds was silent. None of them were perched on my window for their breakfast like they normally were this time of morning. Everything was silent for a moment longer, and then there was a crash down stairs and the sound of glass breaking. I sighed and sat up slowly, fighting the urge to scream. "Stupid people," I found myself mumbling. "Scare away the one thing I have to look forward to each morning." The destructive noises continued as I got some clothes and hopped into the shower. By the time I got out it was 7:30 a.m. and things still hadn't calmed down. I slid into my black jeans and my red tank-top, throwing on my trench coat despite the probably stifling temperatures outside. The knife I always carried within the pocket I had added near my breast was a comforting weight. As I slid on my gloves I heard a high scream from down stairs and sighed again, deciding it was time I got involved. I threw on my knee-high leather boots and buckled them up before heading out of my room. No telling how much glass was on the floor this time.

My mother, Kelly, stood near the bottom of the stairs, a glass in one hand filled with some dark drink and a baseball bat in the other. Even before I reached the bottom of the stairs I could smell the liquor on her. "Mornin' Kell. Been drinking again, huh?" She looked up at me as though startled by my being there then smiled a little. "Mornin'. Did ya sleep well Monica?" Her eyes were bloodshot and she looked like she hadn't slept all night.

"Yeah, pretty well I guess." I looked toward the kitchen where the broken glass and destruction was the worst. "Who pissed you off this time?" Her smile made me feel sick to my stomach, and it didn't help that she licked her lips like a hungry wolf gone mad. "Jason. He tried to pull some shit this morning. I already have one kid and you're a handful as is. I don't need any more hellions, let alone one with him." My stomach churned at the very thought of another kid in the house, and I nearly pitched over at the thought of Jason being the father. The man couldn't even pay his own bills, let alone help raise a child. My face must have gone pale because Kelly looked slightly concerned despite her drunken haze. "Monica, will you be okay with school taday?"

I nodded quickly, dreading the thought of being stuck in the house today. Despite the concern still plain on her face she gave me a quick nod then headed into the kitchen. I ran out the door before she could change her mind, grabbing my backpack from the closet as I went. The heat was horrid, but years of wearing heavy and dark clothes in this weather made it more bearable. I pulled my sun glasses out of my backpack and slipped them on quickly. The light always killed my eyes. Other kids my age were already out and heading to school themselves, girls in bright colored tank-tops and short-shorts, and boys in almost anything. A few other kids were in heavier and darker clothes like mine but theirs were for the sake of being called Gothic or Emo, not the protection I wore mine for.

My school was only a 5-6 minute walk from my house. Dalrose High. We had a football team but no mascot so we weren't the home of anything, though we had one of the best gardens out of any high school. Roses were the most abundant thing there, hence the name Dalrose. The building was an older model, still sporting the original red bricks it had first been built with 70 years ago. We had picnic tables scattered though-out one of the gardens where anyone brave enough to bear the heat could sit for lunch or to study in the shade of our many oak and maple trees. There were two areas like that, one on either side of the front entrance, and the jocks and preps liked to sit there in the morning when it was still slightly cool. As I walked toward the school's entrance I felt something heavy hit my back and sighed.

"Hey Demonica, what's the hurry freak? Afraid you'll catch on fire if you stay in the sun any longer?" I turned to see Cal Danvers, the quarterback for our football team and his friends at their normal table. His friends were snickering behind their hands. His girlfriend, Danielle Caro, was laughing and not even trying to hide it. Cal just had a smirk on his face that I wish I could have smacked off of it. I looked at the ground to find a rock the size of a golf ball on the ground.

I clenched my fists in my pockets until my nails bit into my palms, holding my temper the best I could. "Cal, come on I am not in the mood for this today." My voice shook slightly from my repressed anger, but Cal and his buddies took it as fear. Danielle, seeming to decide it was her turn to step in, let go of Cal's arm and walked up to me. "Oh come on Demonica. Is the little freak afraid?" She reached out to me and I backed up on instinct, blushing immediately after that. Danielle laughed again and Cal joined her this time, walking over to his girl's side. "Why you backing away Demon? You really afraid of us?" He took a step toward me and I backed up again, feeling my anger rise. Why did they always have to do this? They had no right to mess with anyone, let alone me. Why couldn't they find someone else to make fun of?

"Back off Cal. I'm warning you." I tried to keep my voice calm and controlled but it shook again. Cal smiled at me, a sickeningly sweet kind of smile that made me feel like I was going to vomit. "What 'cha gonna do Salsmon? Make me?" His words were cold, a challenge that I hated to refuse, but I couldn't get into any trouble, not over this idiot. I turned and started to walk away, only to get pulled back by my hair. Something burned like fire on the back of my neck and I screamed in rage as his hand touched the bare skin of the back of my neck. The sound I made was less than human but I could barely hear it. All I heard was a screaming voice in my head. "KILL HIM! DESTROY HIM NOW!" After that I lost all connection with the world around me. I remember feeling my gloved fist connect with something and the sound of bone cracking. I felt people grabbing hold of me and pulling me off of Cal's weeping body and someone holding onto my arms and legs while I fought to get at him again. Then I remember blackness, calm and deadly dark.

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