Chapter 1

18 years later…

"Do you ever feel like breaking down? Do you ever feel out of place, like somehow you just don't belong and no one understands you?" a man's voice wailed.

Max's alarm clock began to blare Simple Plan, causing her to wake up and sit up immediately. Her head consequently hit the wall, and she yelled out of pain. Gingerly touching the sore spot, she got out of bed to check if she had finished her homework, but her computer screen seem to have froze. "Come on," Max growled. "Of all the days to not work, it has to be today?" Her monitor still didn't respond, so she slammed her hand against it, which made the monitor go black.

Crap.

The day wasn't starting out well, especially considering the fact that she couldn't sleep last night. The nightmares had begun to occur more frequently ever since they began last year, so Max didn't trust herself to fall asleep anymore.

The nightmares were always the same: a man and a woman running through a forest in the middle of the night. The man getting shot, and then the woman.

Always in that order. Always in that same forest.

She could never get a good look at their faces, just their hair color. Their faces were always blurred. She always felt something horrible in her chest every time she remembered seeing the man die, which was strange, because she did not even know him. It was always right after the woman's death that she woke up, feeling sweaty and nauseous.

It wasn't just nightmares either. Sometimes in the middle of the day, Max got excruciating headaches, and they were consistently followed by a vision of some sort. They weren't like her nightmares that seemed to go on and on. Most of the times, it was just a flash of a person's face, or a name, or a building.

No one knew about these headaches or nightmares, not even her mom. Heck, not even her old best friend knew about them, and she used to tell him everything.

Max blew her bangs up out of frustration and began to get ready for school, brushing her teeth, getting dressed, combing her hair. She came downstairs, clad in a hoodie and jeans, into the kitchen, where a platter of chocolate chip pancakes was waiting just for her.

Her mom stood next to the table with her arms outstretched. "Happy birthday!" she exclaimed.

Max smiled half-heartedly, yet hugged her mother anyway. "Thanks, Mom. I thought you were supposed to be at the hospital right now?"

Valencia raised an eyebrow. "And miss the morning when my little girl is finally eighteen? No, thanks. Besides, you're not exactly a girl anymore, are you?" When her daughter didn't say anything, she frowned. "Why so glum this morning?"

Max lowered her gaze. "I don't know. I just feel like something isn't right, like something really bad happened today." Max shrugged. "Whatever. It always feels like this on my birthday, doesn't it? Anyway, pancakes look good as always, Mom," she complimented, hastily changing the subject.

Her mom wanted to say something in regards to what her daughter said, but seeing as she wanted to change the subject, the woman didn't press the issue. "Well, it is your traditional birthday breakfast. Speaking of which, isn't it Fang's birthday today too?"

Max rolled her eyes at the sound of her neighbor's name. "His real name is Nick, Mom. And it's not like we talk to each other, either."

"But you two used to be so close!" Valencia protested.

"Yeah, well, people change, Mom." Not wanting to talk anymore, Max dug into her pancakes.

Well, here's to me becoming a woman.

"Max! Happy birthday!" her friend Nudge squealed when Max arrived at school. Nudge was a vivacious girl of seventeen who talked a little excessively, and she often dressed according to the latest styles. Today, she wore a navy blue sleeveless jumpsuit with heels and a golden bracelet.

"Thanks, Nudge." Max noticed the decorative bag in Nudge's arms and her eyebrows furrowed, "Um, what's up with the sack?"

"It's your birthday present, silly! You wanna open it?"

"Maybe later, but thanks for getting me one." When her friend's face fell slightly, Max felt bad. To make up for it, she suggested, "Actually, how about you come over, and we can eat ice cream and watch Cupcake Wars reruns?"

Nudge immediately perked up. "Sure, sounds great!" she chirped. "Is six a good time?"

"Perfect. Um, I should go put this in my locker. Later?"

"Later!" With a tiny wave, Nudge tottered away in high hopes of a good evening, one that Max felt would disappoint.

Max walked in the bright red and white school halls, deep in thought. Why was she so different today? Usually, she was full of humor and wit, ready for a sarcastic response any time. Today, that spark that typically fueled her words was gone and replaced by a strange sort of uneasiness that settled in the bottom of her stomach. Gone was snarky yet fun Max. Here was…

Depressed Max.

In fact, she was so busy thinking about what was wrong with her that she bumped into something. "Ow, watch it!" a male voice snapped.

Er, someone.

"Well, it's not my fault you weren't watching!" she retorted before looking up to see a boy standing before her. Actually, it was a very familiar boy whose facial features she had practically memorized. Shaggy black hair, olive skin, eyes as dark as midnight. Max knew exactly who it was.

Nick "Fang" Walker.

Her eyes widened. It wasn't very often that they talked to each other nowadays. When they did, there conversations typically consisted of wisecracks and contempt. "Oh," Fang muttered when he realized the person he bumped into was Max. "It's just you."

She raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, it's just me," she finished bitterly. "Now, can you get out of the way? I'm gonna be late for class."

"We have some time," Fang disagreed, much to her annoyance. "Happy birthday, by the way." It sounded like it hurt him to say those two words, seeing the way his jaw was clenched.

Max ignored that last part. "Uh, no, we don't have time. So if you need anything, please, hesitate to ask and let me get to homeroom."

Fang crossed his arms and blocked her path. "Don't you have something to say to me first?" His expression was full of expectance.

Happy birthday, Max thought silently, but what came out of her mouth was, "Yeah, your breath stinks. Now piss off before I get late for—" Ring! The bell rang, effectively cutting off her words. "Great, now I'm gonna get marked down," she began to complain before realizing that Fang was no longer standing in front of her and had somehow disappeared. Startled, she whipped her head around to see Fang walking away.

Max sighed, feeling a tinge of regret about what she had said. Then, she remembered what had happened between them and her brown eyes hardened as she turned to walk to class.

She was supposed to say, " Happy Birthday", Fang thought bitterly. We always say that. Although Max and Fang rarely spoke, they always, always, always, wish each other happy birthday, considering the two of them shared the same one.

Maybe that was one of the components of their friendship that slowly dissipated each year. Fang always used to tease Max about how he was born two minutes earlier, and Max always had a fun comeback for his comments. Now even that was gone and soon, the only thing that would remain between them would be hostility.

Whatever. It wasn't like they were best friends anymore. Fang didn't care at all, or at least that's what he tried to tell himself. Nope, didn't care. Not even a little.

Fang arrived at his homeroom a few minutes later. Thankfully, the teacher wasn't there, so he didn't get in trouble. Ignoring the calls of his classmates who wanted to talk to him, he remained silent and continued to muse over his thoughts.

Some time after Max stopped talking to him, Fang began to receive…flashes. At least, that's what he called them. They appeared to him all the time, especially in his dreams.

He wondered who the people in these visions were. If he could get a look at their faces, he had a feeling that they would have been strikingly similar to Max and Fang's own features.

Just that moment, his head began to feel like it was splitting in half. Fang grabbed his head and yelled out in pain. The boy sitting next to him called out, but Fang heard nothing, didn't even see his mouth move. He rested his head in his hands but the torment just increased until he wanted to smash his head against the wall and rip into shreds.

Then, like a flash of lightning, a word rang through his mind.

Fang's onyx eyes flew wide open as the word appeared out of nowhere in his thoughts. The word sounded like a name, albeit a very strange name. His heart rate began to increase for he felt like that word was familiar, too familiar. This flash was a new development. Never in his life had he heard something like it.

What in the world was Itex?

I'm not planning on frequent updates until I finish the story. I just felt like putting something up for you guys to read. Merry Christmas Eve!