CHAPTER 1

FALLING TO THE FLOOR, I put my hands out in front to soften the blow. Pieces of the expensive granite tile flings overhead, hitting the kitchen wall beside me. A life-scarring laugh rings throughout the room. I scramble to get upright, dust falling from my clothes. A blast of fire hits the cabinets below the sink, causing me to fall backwards onto my butt. I pull myself up to a crouch, staying low enough to be covered by the island in the middle of the kitchen.

"Come on boy! You can entertain me better than that!" the attacker exclaimed while shooting another blast of fire over my head.

I start sweating harder and breathing heavier. There's no way I'm going to live. I'm going to die the same way as my parents, who were just killed a few minutes ago. Looking around the room I notice a kitchen knife that fell off the counter during the assault just feet away from the open bathroom door. I close my eyes, praying to whatever god is watching to spare my life. Accepting my reality, I open my eyes. More laughing overhead discourages me from the stupid decision I'm about to make.

"I'm guessing you don't want to live for much longer? Do I have to come back there and tear you limb from limb like I did with your parents?!" the fire shooting bastard questioned quickly before more granite flew off of the island.

Getting up the courage, I yell and run.

"Piss off!" I exclaim before running to the knife and picking it up off of the dust covered tile. Continuing my fear fueled escape, I enter the bathroom and hastily close and lock the door. Laughing comes from outside as fire blasts a hole through the door, going across the room and destroying the window entirely. Not thinking logically, I jump through the hole that once held the window. With a backbreaking THUD I fall onto the metal staircase on the wall of my apartment building. Tears flood my eyes but I push on. I get up, barely, and start quickly descending to the street below. An angry yell sounds out above me through the hole.

"DAMN YOU DRAKE NOIRE! I WILL FIND YOU!" the hideously cruel attacker shouts after me as I scramble down the cold stairs.

Not questioning the fact that he knows my name, I jump the last few steps down to the street below. I sprint over to the alleyway in between my apartment building and the 7-11 store. The pain of losing my parents and falling from my ex-bathroom window onto a hard metal staircase overwhelms me. I slump down against the convenience store wall, crying. My step-father and my mother are gone… dead… forever…

My step-father, Hank Flansburgh, was a news anchor for the local news station. He treated me like a son even though I wasn't his. My mother, Elspeth Flansburgh (she took Hank's name when they married, but I kept my father's last name), designed video games for a living. Everything about her I loved. Everything about both of them I loved. Now they're both gone…

I should introduce myself too. My name's Drake Noire, everything nerdy enthusiast. I'm a 16-year-old average student. My stunning blue eyes don't compare to my chest length dirty blond hair. I'm an average build guy with an average life. Anyways, back to my grief.

About half an hour passes when a colorful parrot lands next to me, ignoring my sobbing for a few minutes.

"What's wrong kid?" The parrot inquires. "You're louder than anyone on Jersey Shore"

It takes a parrot to talk to get me to stop grieving for my now dead family. I look over, tears streaming down my face slowly, to see a crimson red parrot with its head cocked to the side, looking at me.

"Wha-what?" is all I can muster up. The parrot straightens its head and speaks again.

"Kid you got cotton in your ears or somethin'?" it squawks. "I asked what's wrong with ya!"

"My family was just murdered an hour ago." I croak. "But how can you talk? I must be going crazy with grief if I'm seeing a talking parrot in Rhode Island!"

The parrot squawks again, sounding strangely like laughing. "Trust me kid, you aren't going crazy. You'd go crazy if I told you why I, a parrot, am in Newport, Rhode Island."

The adrenaline that surged through me during the assault is wearing off, causing pain to replace to replace the missing chemical. Tears start pushing upwards into my eyes and a yell of pain escapes my lips.

"Kid you okaaaaaaaayyyy…" the parrot starts saying before my vision goes dark and I slip into the grips of darkness.