...Okay, this chapter probably would have been a better prologue than the one I used. It's less controversial, for one. Really, though - have you watched Teen Titans? Kids, both heroes and villains alike, are thrown into concrete and metal with enough force to kill them. Cracks appear on F-ing concrete and metal dents.

There was a someone outside their window. Now, usually that would not be a problem.

Usually, that is.

Sure, lots of people probably have streets right outside their houses, with people walking back and forth. The thing was, well… their apartment was on the second floor. Plus, the fire escape was outside their mom's room. There really should not be a person out in front of the window.

"Travis, wake up!" Connor said, turning around on their shared bed to shake his older brother. He peered down at his big brother's sleeping face. "Trav, there's someone outside!"

The older Stoll sibling was still sleeping, despite the wailing of police sirens somewhere around the block. "Mmm, tell'm t' go 'way," Travis muttered, turning away and covering his head with their blanket. After a moment, Connor realized that his brother had gone back to sleep. As terrific of a brother Travis Stoll could be in his waking moments, he was a downright terrible brother at night.

"Trav!" Connor said, stomping his foot on the mattress and making the whole bed frame creak.

No response from his brother.

Connor peeked at the window, but only heard muffled scrapes. He crawled to the edge of bed and looked down at the floor. Travis had told him that monsters did not really hide under beds, that they just walked around like normal people, but Connor did not know if he should believe him. Travis always played tricks. Plus, the place under the bed was a really good hiding spot.

Maybe this was a bad idea. It was just the wind, right? Or a cat?

As if to prove him wrong, a small, stealthy figure hauled itself onto their windowsill. It paused there for a moment, then turned and launched itself off to the right.

Connor leapted far from the bed - he landed almost four feet away! Quick, like how Travis always taught him to be, Connor glanced under the bed. There were no monsters.

Looking around the room one last time, Connor crept towards the window, stepping around that one board that always creaked. Unable to see anything but a police car down the street, the younger Stoll brother opened the window, cringing at the loud sound, and leaned out. He looked to the right, at the fire escape platform in front of his mother's window.

Empty.

His senses were tingling, though. Whoever - whatever - it was, was still there. And it was watching him.

Something alerted him to movement above, a sixth sense he shared with his brother, and the seven-year-old Stoll's head snapped up. Cast in shadow, a small, child-like figure was perched on the railing of the fire escape, a little above the fourth floor.

As dark as it was outside, Connor could not make out the figure's face. He did not know who it could be. What he did know was that whoever it was should not be up there. From the way other's head was turned downwards, Conner guessed that the person was looking at him.

"You're gonna fall," Connor warned.

The other's head tilted consideringly. Just when Connor thought that he or she would not answer, the other spoke. "Am not. 'M not gonna defeated by a ladder," the other spoke fiercely, though careful to keep a low volume. As he had thought, it was a kid, but Conner could not tell from the voice alone if he was looking at a boy or a girl.

"What's your name?" Conner asked curiously, leaning even further out the window.

The other kid snorted. "Wouldn't 'cha like to know?" A little foot wriggled tauntingly at Conner.

Connor frowned at the kid, not liking the tone. He grabbed onto the side of the of the window and looked at the distance between him and the fire escape. It was far, further than he had ever tried jumping before.

"You're gonna fall," the figure sang mockingly, repeating his earlier warning. There was a pause as Connor reconsidered the fire escape and the person up there reconsidered Connor. "No, really. You're gonna fall. You're not like me."

"Are too," Connor disagreed with a smirk.

And with that, he pushed off the wall and leapt with all his might.

It seemed like time was slowing down, to Connor. The air was pulling his giant T-shirt back, but he was still traveling forward. His hands reached out to grab onto the fire escape. It was growing closer, and closer… Then, he started going down.

He was not going to make it.

There was a deafening bang from somewhere above him, and the air was knocked out of Connor's lungs as he was hit by someone smaller than him. A moment later, Connor saw stars as his head and what felt like half his body hit cold metal.

A small, pale hand covered his mouth. "Shhh!" the kid hissed. Connor smothered the urge to wail and they waited.

"Who dun it now? Who gone and dun it now?" a woman yelled out with a thick accent.

"Shut up, Agta! Bet'cha dey yo' brats!" someone, this time a man, hollered back at her. Something broke somewhere to the left and below them. In Connor's imagination, it was a ceramic plate or mug of some sort

"My kids? You blamin' my kids?" the woman responded hotly. "Y'know what I thinkin'? I thinkin' yo' kids been-"

"Shaddup!" A third voice joined the argument. "Y'all shaddup 'less you wanna call the cop up 'gain?"

There were a few grumbles, but the voices subsided. The hand covering his mouth was removed and Connor turned his head to see who it was.

It was a girl. It was too dark to see the color of her eyes, but even in the dark night, her skin was so pale that she almost glowed. Her clothes were ripped and ragged and she was scrappy, a true child of the streets. He then looked up.

Somehow, the girl had caused the railing to break. It was hanging off of the stairs between the third and fourth platforms. The girl had held onto the railing, catching him while holding onto it. She had an arm looped around one of the bars, leaning casually against it as if it was just a ladder.

"Told you you'd fall."

"I didn't," Connor retorted. She flinched at the loud noise, so Connor tried again. "I didn't fall," he argued in a whisper.

"You missed," she pointed out, turning and climbing up. The railing swayed when she got off it.

"I missed, but I didn't fall," Connor insisted, following her up onto the platform of the fire escape. The metal railing creaked as he left it, clanging and hitting something above. He peered inside the window and was glad to see that his mom was still in bed, back facing the window. Loud noises happened a lot at night, so they were all used to it.

He turned back to the girl. "My name's Connor. What's yours?" He looked around, but she was not there anymore.

"Why should I tell you? You're not supposed to tell strangers your name, idiot." Connor looked up. She scowled back down at him. Connor ran up the stairs to where she was, just in time to see her stuff some jewelry inside a little black bag. With wide eyes, Conner looked back down at the police cars, then back at the bag. She glared and hid it behind herself. "Well?" she demanded. "Going to tell the police? They're not going to catch me."

"Breaking the rules is fun," Conner said, shrugging. "Like, we're not supposed to be up here, and I'm not supposed to jump out of the window, and you're not supposed to break the fire escape. We gotta keep them in case the police or the monsters come and we gotta run out of the house," Connor told her solemnly, parroting the words Travis told him.

The girl turned to stare at him. The tips of her mouth twisted, and Conner wondered if he was supposed to be afraid. It was the middle of the night, they were really high, and no one knew where he was. Plus, the strange girl could break fire escapes.

Not blinking, the girl slowly smiled at him. "You know, I change my mind. You're not like me, but you're exactly like the type of people I hang out with. I think we're going to be great friends." With the police lights hitting them, her eyes seemed somewhere between red, pink, or purple. "My name is Jinx."

Not planning to stop writing, but if I don't put out another chapter again, hurricane Flo' got me.