Thank you to those that reviewed, favorited, and followed, I appreciate it a lot.

I'm in the middle of moving though, so updates will be slow.

Yeah, not happy with this chapter. I had it all written out, then deleted it all and started from scratch. It's still not the best, but it's better than it was, so ehn. -shrugs-

Anyways, to the story!

Chapter 1

A Shattered Silence

A single shot, a sound of cracking thunder ripped through the area. The deafening noise reverberated off the buildings, and as it faded a shout could be heard.

"Damn it, shoot straight! If you blow the bitch's legs off she can't run!"

The "bitch" the man had reffered to rounded a corner so fast she slid and almost lost her footing. Just as she caught herself a gun spoke with its deep throated rumble, and the concrete of the sidewalk behind her exploded, showering her calves with little bits of debris. But she was off again, throwing a heated glance over her shoulder. Three men rounded the corner, and she saw two of them raise their arms. The objects in their hands gave off the gleam of dark metal in the glaring streetlight, and she swore loudly, diving into a small allyway.

"If I don't have her head tonight, one of yours will be replacing it!" The disgruntled voice behind her wasn't as far away as she would have liked, and that spurred her on down the narrow passage. A wooden fence appeared infront if her, and she ran towards it at full tilt. Leaping up, her momentum made scaling it easy, and she flew over as if she was on wings. As her feet hit the ground again, a grim thought seeped into her mind. She was good at running, and no doubt she was fast, but she couldn't run forever. Already her lungs were burning with every gasping gulp of air she took. Her heart pounded so hard behind her ribs that she could feel it in her toes, and her limbs cried out as they beat their frantic tattoo on the pavement.

No, she couldn't keep this up for much longer.

Spying one of the old styled fire escapes that lined the alley, she came to a halt. There was a wooden crate under one. If she could just use it to... Not wasting a single second, she climbed on top and coiled her legs. In a giant leap, her fingers grazed the cool metal of the first wrung, and reflexively grabbed on tight. She had just scrambled up to the lowest platform when the wooden fence she had cleared just seconds before began to rattle. Without thinking, she hit the deck and tried to make herself as flat as possible. As a face broke into her plane of sight, she drew in a deep breath and held it. The goon below her glanced back briefly as his partner began to climb the fence, then shot off down the alley. The second and third man followed shortly after, and as they turned a corner and vanished, the air left her lungs in a giant whoosh and her forehead thunked against the metal plate in exasperation. As much as she would have liked to though, she couldn't rest here. Once those brutes found out she'd gave them the slip, they'd most likely split up and come looking for her. Knowing her luck, they were just realising it now.

With a heavy sigh, she made her way down the ladder and over the fence again. She started off straight ahead at a slow jog, trying to put as much distance between her and her pursuers as possible. Just as she cleared the street, there was yelling in the far distance.

Yup, that was her cue. She set off down the road and into another alley at a faster pace.

A half hour of evading the pack of wolves on her tail found herself in one of the more sleepy and rural areas of Old Chicago. The harsh incandescent lights of the city weren't nearly as strong here, and as she looked up she could make out the swollen belly of the moon, and the dim streaks of blue that made up the Earth's rings. She took a moment from her fast paced walk to admire them. To this day, there were a number of theories and conspiracies that floated around the rings' origin. Aliens, a rouge meteor, some secret Russian or German experiment gone wrong. Some of the nuttier ones clamied it was a demon spaceship that exploded in the earth's atmosphere after almost bringing about the end of the world! She herself had thought most of it to be a crock, but as she never saw them from the city, she never had much time to ponder the matter. Regardless, they were still pretty to look at...

As she strolled, sucked into her nighttime reverie, she failed to notice a group of people rush around a corner a few blocks back. They stopped, and glanced aroundf feverishly, looking for something. One of them spotted her and jabbed his comrade in the ribs. At his loud complaint, he raised a hand, one meaty finger pointed in the direction of a figure bathed in the dim light of a street torch.

"There she is!"

The man who had been elbowed called out as he leveled his gun, and fired off a single shot.

Back in the city noise was a constant. There was always something going on, some loud noise or another. Gunshots were nothing new. But out here, everything was deafeningly silent, and the perverse sound rang out with startling clarity, shattering the silence. She didn't even have time to react until an object whistled past her head and ricocheted off the wrought iron bars of a fence next to her in a shower of sparks. Without thinking, she squealed in surprise, and looked behind her. She was in light, and it was currently too dark, and her assailants too far away to make out. The ringing in her right ear left no doubt that they were there though, and she whirled around, looking for escape.

The street was an empty straight shot, her only means of cover being too far away to risk getting to if she wanted to avoid a bullet hole in an unsavory area. The only place that could give her any chance was the over the fence, and on the other side of that was a graveyard. "Well that's just too freakin' ironic." She ground out, lunging for the bars without hesitation. She managed to monkey herself over the slick and sharp tiped metal, and even though the impact rattled her teeth, she stll hit the ground running. Hopefully, if she went deeper into the cemetery, she could loose them in some of the tall headstones. Luckily for her though, the goons didn't have as easy as a time getting over the slippery bars as she did. Frustrated, one of them jammed their arm between the wide opening, and fired off two rounds. The sound made her flinch, but none if the bullets made it near her. Gaining a small bit of confidence, she turned around and shouted in a mocking tone. "Sorry asshats, today just ain't my day to go!" Her laughter was cut off by a thunderous yell, echoed by a few more cracks of gunfire. She wasn't one to press her luck too far though, so with a triumphant grin, she turned her back to them and trotted off down a hill.

The graveyard was very old, and thankfully, very large. The goons had made it inside, but as she made her way into the deepest depths of the cemetery, she was able to change their game into a cat and mouse one as she took cover behind some of the taller and more elaborate headstones. The crooks were persistent though, and no matter how long or many times she evaded them, they never gave up. Exasperated, she peeked out from her recent hiding spot, and scanned the area for a new one. Her eyes were drawn down an incline, and as she followed it, she took note of a secluded hill far off. One face of the tall mound had been oddlly sheared off, either by natural or man made forces, she couldn't tell. As she examined the curiosity more closely, something caught her eye, something that was man made. A structure that appeared to be wood jutted out from the cliff. It looked like a shack if some sort that went far deeper into the earth behind it, though at this distance, it was hard to tell. Whatever it was, it didn't matter to her. If she could make it, that could be her one way ticket to getting out of this mess.

Narrowing her eyes and gathering herself up, she made a mad dash for the building. She slid to a stop infront of a rickety old door, and grasped the knob firmly. Her sigh of relief turned into a groan of aggravation as the knob began to twist but got stuck halfway. She uttered a few colorful words under her breath and twisted it again violently, throwing herself against the door for emphasis. On the third try, it gave way, and she clumsily stumbled into the darkness. Slamming the door shut, she turned the button to lock it, thankful that whoever had been here last neglected to do so, and sank against the wood shakily. As she tried to get her breathing under control, a soft far off sound caught her attention. Her previously closed eyes flew open and she froze, trying to locate the source. She sat liked that for a minute, scanning the area, but could neither hear nor see anything that spoke of danger. 'Must've been a rat or somthin'.' She thought to herself, standing up and brushing her legs off. She looked around the inky blackness of the enclosure, but could only make out a cloaked form of what looked to be the edge of a desk, faintly Illuminated by the rays of low moonlight that hardly made its way through the dirty glass of the window. She walked over to it, wiping off a layer of grime and dust so she could peer outside. Almost instantly, she ducked down, then slowly raised up to peek over the sill. The goons were scanning the area slowly with guns drawn. Thirty, maybe forty feet away at best, and they were making their way closer. She gulped and gripped the edge of the window, but another soft noise sounded behind her, much closer this time. She didn't have time to find the source, as a low male voice accompanied it.

"Get out.

Nearly jumping out of her skin, she turned around with a sharp scream. "Oh my god, I didn't know anyone was here. Please, I nee-"

"Get out." The disembodied voice interrupted, a dangerous tone etching into it.

"You don't understand, there are men with guns, I can't just go out there!" She exlaimed, trying now to locate whoever was speaking. The voice was coming from deeper in the shack though, in the darkness where she couldn't see.

"I said leave." Whoever was speaking moved forward with a menacing growl that sounded more at home coming from a beast's mouth than a human's. She felt a chill run up her back, and as a pair of luminous yellow eyes formed in the darkness, she felt the blood in her veins turn to ice. Slowly, the rest of the figure took shape, and she made out the form of a man. No, he couldn't be a man. Humans didn't have glowing yellow eyes, sharpened claws, the teeth of a monster, and... oh god, was that a human SPINE coming out of the back of his head? And were those... Holy shit those were horns.

Suddenly, those people spouting crap about demon spaceships blowing up didn't sound so nutty anymore.

The monster barred its teeth in a bone chilling snarl, and with another scream, she turned and fled to the door. In her panic, she had not only forgotten that the door was locked, but that there were also people outside who wanted her dead. As she struggled wildly to get the door open, a voice sounded off from the other side.

"Told you I thought I saw that wench come over here! Stand back guys." Her face, if it was even possible, paled a few shades more, and she barely had time to jump back and brace herself as an echoing boom shot off the doorknob, and splinters of wood went flying as the door swung open violently. In the chaos she dove forward, rather risking the throng of armed people than the creature in the shack. Rough hands seized her around her waist though, and she found herself being thrown into the dirty floor. "Not so fast missy. We wasted a helluva lot of time and energy tryin' to catch you. You ain't goin' nowhere." Nearly hyperventilating, she scrambled off the floor and threw herself towards to door in one last desperate bid for freedom. It was when one of them slapped her hard across the face and grabbed her that all hell broke loose. The beast behind her roared, furious at the prospect of more intruders. The man's iron grip on her arm loosened, and he shoved her towards the approaching thing with a yell.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion. The three men each raised their guns as they began backpedaling towards the door. She regained her balance, and rushed forward, shoving through them. The enraged demon leapt forward, and suddenly, shots rang out. Several of the bullets found their mark, but that did not stop his wrath filled decent towards them. The three, noticing that he was not dropping, turned to flee, and four bodies struggled to make it outside.

She could no longer see her surroundings. Fear blotted out everything but the thought of escape. She found herself shoved backwards by the force of bodies, but even so, managed to get outside. As they all pressed forward to the front of the cemetery, there was a noise above their heads that sounded like rustling clothing, and a shadow fell over them. The demon had cut off their escape, and in their terror, the armed men scattered, firing their guns off in a frenzy. A searing pain ripped through her shoulder, and she screamed. The men paid her no mind, and one collided with her with a dull crack, sending her spiraling to the ground.

Her head connected with the earth in an explosion of stars and colors, and as the pain registered, the world seemed to glitch, and faded to black.

-Cackles-

Don't y'all mess with Chrono's door now.

There's probably tons of mistakes, but it's late, and my hand hurts from typing so much on my phone, so they should be fixed at a later time