I appologise to the few people who did read the first chapter and wanted to read more for making you wait for a while. The disclaimer on the first chapter applies here as well.

"I'm home!" I yelled, as I let my heavy bag of books slip to the ground. I pulled off my jacket and slipped of my wet running shoes.

Just in time, I thought as the smells of my mom's cooking wafted in from the kitchen. I picked up my bag and walked down the hallway towards the living room, were I could hear my dad raving over an article in the newspaper, and from the sound of things it was a bad one.

"Horrid! Completely Horrid! Who in the world would do this? It is simply sick!" As I walked into the room I could see my dad, sitting on the coach, gripping the newspaper so hard that he was tarring it. His owl dæmon, Alma, looked equally unsettled, her feathers ruffled and sticking out everywhere.

"What's horrid, Dad?" I asked, Sigo jumping off my shoulder.

"Kris, take a look at this." My dad said turning to look at me, a very unhappy look on his face. My dad was a cop, you see, and a highly ranked one at that, so he took a lot of the "big case" stuff in the newspaper very seriously. To seriously sometimes.

So I walked over and leaned on the back of the coach, and read the article he was reading. It was easy enough to find, it was right on the front page in black and white.

"Teenage Gang Causes Havoc for People and Dæmons Alike"

I stared at the title for a second, then started to read:

"A gang of teenagers has been causing unrest in the area. These teenagers have terrorized 5 girls, all within the young-teen age group, the youngest being thirteen, who were out late at night by themselves, in the past few weeks. These girls are all safe, but three of them have been hospitalized. This gang has been breaking one of the most sacred of laws by touching the victims' dæmons. They do this by cornering their victim, and, having their own dæmons corner the victims' dæmon, grabbing and terrorizing the victim until they go into unconsciousness. The authorities are currently making finding this gang a priority, and advise all young girls to..."

I stopped reading. That was sick, truly sick! Sigo's fur was standing on end, just as agitated as I was. Who would do that? My dad saw my disgusted and angry face and laid a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry, Kris." He stood up suddenly and, with the newspaper crumpled in one hand, he said triumphantly, "Your old man and his team will track down these buggers and put them in their place!"



As he ranted how he was going to give them the worst possible sentence, I snuck out of the room and into the kitchen. I got there just in time to see the bowl of... whatever was in there, fall to the floor.

"oh dear." My mom yelped, falling to her knees with a cloth in her hand. I went over and picked up the bowl, placing it on the counter and replacing it in my hand for a rag of my own. Sigo and my mom's cardinal dæmon, Lucifer, watched from a foot away, Lucifer flapping his wings anxiously.

When the mess was cleaned up, my mom started to gather stuff up for a make shift dinner. "Oh no, I don't have some of the ingredients I need for this." She sighed, my mom never wanted to order in, she thought if you were going to eat something, you should make it yourself, it tasted better that way. I knew she wouldn't be happy if we did, so I did something that I knew I was going to regret later.

"I'll go out and buy what you need." I offered, Sigo giving me an unhappy look.

"Oh Honey, it's fine you don't have to." She said, starting to nibble on her index finger.

"It's fine, mom." I waved my hands in front of me as I went out to grab my running shoes. " Give me a list and I'll be back in a minute."

"Are you sure? I could go in the car."

"Mom, it's a 15 minute walk on one of the most well used and busiest roads in the city, I'll be fine."

Mom was still nibbling her finger as she scribbled out a list… and my dad charged into the room.

" I will not allow it!" He ordered, his face red, Alma flapping around his head. "That gang is still out there! What if they catch you? I will not let my little girl get terrorized by a bunch of hoodlums!"

"You wouldn't get so worked up if it was Trent." I said hotly, my shoes on my feet and my backpack over my shoulders. Trent was my 18 year old brother who went to the local university and studied computer programming.

"That's because Trent boxes, he can hold his own in a fight. And they are going after girls like you, not boys like Trent."

Sigo jumped on my shoulders as I strided forward, grabbed the list and money out of my mom's hands, and turned to run out the door, shouting, "I'll be back in an hour. I'll be fine." I could hear my dad starting after me but once I was outside and closed the door I sprinted onto the side walk and in the direction of the store. I hated it when people judged me as a harmless kid. I, just like Trent, who had helped make it 

possible, could hold my own in a fight, I knew pressure points and self defence, and had even broken a guy's nose once. I wasn't going to let a bunch of teenage dorks get the best of me.

Ahhhh pride, it can be so misleading.

I need honest opinions please, and I thank those who are reading this.