Chapter 2

I hate my neighborhood. Absolutely despise it. It's dirty and dangerous, but on my limited income, it's all I can afford. My parents died several years ago and no one wants to take care of an invalid girl, or pay for all her hospital bills.

It was hard to find a place that would hire a 20 year old girl who couldn't even lift 25 pounds and had to have two German Shepherds by her side constantly. Not to mention spending every other month with something in a splint, cast, or wrap.

I was startled out of my musings when I was suddenly grabbed from behind. A startled scream escaped as I was picked up.

"Geez, overreact much?" A familiar voice chuckled softly in my ear.

Hearing it I tensed.

"Axel, put me down right now." I growled in outrage, my face burning. Damn dogs, some protectors they were!

"Aw, come on Memory. Don't get all huffy on me. Not my fault you're so damn easy to scare." He laughed, not letting go.

I grit my teeth and glared at my dogs who were sitting there staring at me and wagging their tails.

"Traitors," I growled at them in disgust.

"Aw Memory. It's not their fault I'm so lovable they just trust me." Axel said teasingly from behind me, still holding me tight.

"I swear to god Axel, if you don't put me down right now I will kick you so hard you will never have children because there will be nothing there. It will have been removed because of damage." I said in a low, threatening voice.

"Ok, ok. Sheesh, take a joke" he said as he set me down. I turned around to face him.

"Sometimes I can't believe you're right under the boss. How'd that ever happen anyways? You're so immature." I said, crossing my arms huffily. He just smirked at me.

His eyes landed on my arm and the sling.

"What happened this time?" he asked sighing.

"None of your business." I shot back, face turning red. In truth I didn't want to tell him I'd run into a tree walking with my eyes closed. That was too embarrassing.

He looked like he wanted to argue but just sighed again instead.

"You need to be careful Memory. Believe it or not you do still have people who care about you. The boss would kill me if you died because you were reckless." . He said in a serious voice, all teasing and humor gone.

I lowered my eyes in shame. I didn't like making them worry.

"Sorry Axel. I'll try to be more careful from now on." I said in a meek voice. He smiled gently.

"That's all I ask." he said ruffling my hair in affection. He looked at his watch.

"Shit! I've gotta run, I'll see you later, ok?" he said. I nodded.

"Go ahead. I'll see you later" I responded. He quickly kissed my forehead.

"Take care of yourself Memory." he called over his shoulder as he sprinted away.

Sighing heavily, I started back to my apartment, a dinky old building. Entering, I headed for the stairs. Going up two stories I went to the last room and unlocked it.

"Home sweet home," I sighed. Entering the dark apartment I was ambushed by a black, furry bundle of yipping puppy.

"Steele, Steele get down! You goof." I giggled from my position on the floor. I was giggling helplessly as Steele tried his best to lick every inch of my face he could get at.

"Seriously Steele. Get off silly, you're heavy." I finally managed to shove him off. I heaved myself to my feet with a groan. Echo and Ares greeted the Akita puppy, nuzzling him and wagging their tails. I sighed and walked over to my window, opening the blind and leaning against the glass. Looking at the sunny day I felt my eyes fill with tears. My parents had been dead for two years but the pain was as fresh as though it were yesterday.

" Dammit! I miss you guys so much." I shouted, hitting the glass hard. My dogs surrounded me, nuzzling and licking me, trying to comfort me. I collapsed and began to cry. " I wish I could just disappear from this world." I whispered as I drifted to sleep, surrounded by the warm, familiar feel of my dogs around me.

Steele's hysterical barking woke me suddenly. I looked around confused. My dogs were no where in sight.

Getting to my feet I called for them. "Steele, Echo, Ares! Where are you?" I started towards the room I'd heard Steele yapping from when an explosion shook the apartment. Steele, Ares, and Echo began barking, short frantic yaps.

"Echo, Ares, Steele!" I shouted frantically, running towards the room. Another explosion rocked the apartment, knocking me off balance and sending me smashing into the wall. I screamed out in pain when I felt the bone in my already injured arm snap. I heard Echo yelp and managed to get to my feet. Whimpering in pain I stumbled through the open doorway. Echo, Ares, and Steele were barking furiously at the far wall which was glowing bright red and making an audible buzzing noise.

"Back." I commanded frantically. The backed away a little but refused to come even when I ordered them to. Stumbling further into the room I struggled to keep my balance, the pain was making me dizzy and nauseous. I stumbled and hit the strange wall accidently. Pain exploded through my body and I felt my consciousness slipping away. Before I passed out I felt myself falling backwards and saw Ares, Echo, and Steele lunge for me.