Chapter 2

Insanity

"Good humor may be said to be one of the very best articles of dress one can wear in society." William Makepeace Thackeray

Dear Mother,

I have to say I agree with Mr. William and I'm not simply stating that because of the fact that Aunt Harriet has insisted that she is going to take me dress shopping, shoe shopping, and the salon tomorrow and anything else she can squeeze into the day.

Sigh. I love Aunt Harriet, you know I do, of course. But sometimes it can be a bit exhausting living up to everything she has planned for me. She wants me to be the best as would you, but her demands and expectations are honestly making me dizzy. Just the other day she handed me brochures for med school. Can you believe that, med school, when I haven't even come close to thinking about my major for college yet? I really doubt it will have anything to do with medicine though. I don't think I could manage dealing with someone's fate in my hands, not to mention all the years of studying I would have to do.

Truly, I only want a bachelor's degree right now. But Aunt Harriet is already talking about a master's degree…in just five years of college. While I'm not an idiot and I do think of myself as intelligent and bright I don't think I have the ability or the patience to pull off a masters in five years when I haven't even started a bachelor's degree.

Well, it's still something I don't have to think about too heavily upon for at least two more years as I am only in the tenth grade still. Time at the moment is still on my side and may good humor be as well when I go shopping tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Theresa

Opening her eyes Tessa saw the blue sky immediately and just as suddenly she felt a throbbing pain in the back of her skull. Instantly she closed her eyes shut and slowly got up into a sitting position.

She felt as if she had been run over by a car and maybe she had as Tessa started to remember Mandy's scream and the quick glimpse of red before she found herself suddenly lying down on the concrete. Serves her right for wanting to get to the bookstore so fast and away from Mandy's questioning that she didn't even bother looking to see if there were any cars coming.

Opening her eyes Tessa looked down at her body to see if she saw any severe damage. There were a few cuts to her legs and splashes of blood on her shirt but nothing too extreme. Gingerly, she moved her arms around and winced. Her left wrist felt like it had a sprain.

Putting most of her weight on her right arm, Tessa pushed herself off the cold ground and again, winced and hobbled, as pain shot up her body. Her legs weren't broken exactly, or she was sure she would have fallen straight back down, but something certainly wasn't right about them as it hurt quite a bit to stand and walk.

Her school bag was open and her papers for school along with her notebook containing her letters to her mother were spilling out. Tessa crouched down picking up her notebook and papers, which were soggy and wet. Most of the papers were ruined by the water, but her notebook would survive the water damage.

Wait—water? Odd, it hadn't rained in months. Yet the street was damp with water as far as Tessa could see which made Tessa pause because the street looked odd as well. It was rough and unpaved and as Tessa continued staring down at it she wondered why she wasn't hearing Mandy calling for her asking if she was okay or the driver of the car checking on her and calling for 911. For Tessa was certainly injured and needed to go to the hospital.

Looking up, Tessa saw that she wasn't crouching in the street but instead was in some sort of alleyway. An alleyway that wasn't at all familiar to her.

What the hell, Tess thought, was I abducted and dumped here?

It was the only logical answer Tessa could think of for standing in an alley she had no idea how she had gotten into and the thought sent a shiver down her spine. She quickly opened her bag up searching for her phone and right now her only lifeline. Relief flooded through her as she opened her cell phone only for that relief to be dashed when she saw there was no signal. She tried calling the police anyway, but it was useless. With no signal she was only draining the battery which she didn't have too much left of anyway. Honestly though she should have expected the no signal. Whoever had dumped her in the alleyway wouldn't want her to be able to call for help, although…

Why wasn't she dead, then? The pain in her head thumped a steady beat as Tessa wondered if she had been shot in the head and somehow had survived the bullet. She reached up to touch the back of her skull and felt what she assumed was dry blood caked into her hair.

That was when she of course heard a great deal of commotion as if someone was fighting on the other side of the wall. Backing up slowly Tessa pondered running in the opposite direction. Whoever dumped her might not exactly be through with her yet. But behind her she heard a slithering and snapping and then a sinister hissing, "Come here." Tessa didn't bother turning around to see who it was but instead went towards the sound of the fighting. Whatever was on the other side of the wall surely had to be better than whatever was behind her.

"Jem!" someone shouted. "Where are you, you disloyal bastard?"

Tessa didn't pay much attention to the words being said as she should have, but only cared about the fact that it sounded like a human voice with a British accent.

She found him easily enough, standing in the entrance of another alleyway. She only saw the back of him before he disappeared around a corner after an "Over here," was sounded out. She hadn't gotten a good look at him, but from what she saw it had definitely been male, tall, dark raven hair, with a sword in his hand, which Tessa found odd but for one reason or another not all that terrifying as she probably should have.

She stared at the corner where he had disappeared. She did not want to run after the stranger as her head continued to pound and the pain in her legs, which for a moment she had forgotten in her fear, were shooting pain back up her spine. She grimaced, her bones may not have been broken from the hit but if she kept up this running around or even walking she surely was going to break something soon.

"Come here," the hiss sounded, directly behind her. Tessa froze. Whatever this was did not sound human and she certainly did not want to go anywhere near it.

The smell suddenly hit her of rotten eggs. Turning around Tessa looked back and saw something that was definitely not human and definitely not animal.

It came at her and letting out a scream Tessa turned and sprinted in the other direction ignoring the pain shooting up her leg, extremely grateful for that one year her mother had forced her to take track.

It had come down on her but missed although the cool breath hit the back of her neck sending shivers down her spine.

There was the sound of running and shouting again as not only did one boy appear but two from around the corner. Tessa didn't get a good look at them as she simply ran past them in her sprint.

"Well, this is interesting," a voice sounded behind her. More words were followed along with more commotion that Tessa didn't pay any particular attention to as she continued to run.

Then suddenly she felt a snap as she screamed from pain before finding herself once again back on the cold concrete, only this time she was on her hands and knees instead of her back.

Oh, lovely, now I really have gone and broken my ankle.

Looking behind her as she took in deep breaths she saw the two boys fighting whatever the demonic thing that had tried to snatch her was. Her head pounded as she watched as the creatures was slashed and spilled in two before it crumpled to the ground.

With the thing obviously dead now Tessa took a good look at the two boys who had killed it. She could see that one had black hair and was looking oddly proud of himself while the other had a very fair shade of blonde, it was hard to tell from this far away. Suddenly the boy's gazes turned towards her and as they approached Tessa looked at their features more closely.

She gasped.

No, not possible.

Black hair, blue eyes, mischievous look, silver hair, silver eyes, Asian features.

"My God," Tessa let out a breath when they were only a few feet in front of her.

The raven boy's eyes immediately sparkled. He looked at the girl from her head to her toes. She was wearing an unusual outfit for a prostitute and she was bloodied and bruised, especially for her head that was caked in dried blood as if she had been slammed into a wall. She looked incredibly pale and her eyes were wide with shock which was completely understandable for a mundane—a sightseeing one apparently—having come face to face with the demon that the boy had so valiantly killed with no help from his counterpart. Yet as Will studied her he knew that the mess she was in right now had nothing to do with the Shax Demon he had obliterated. Something had happened to her prior, possibly a consequence of her profession.

The boy's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Without missing a beat he replied, "Well, you would certainly be my earliest declaration to date. I have yet to even have you in my bed."

The silver boy was about to reply to his companion, but Tessa cut him off. "Oh, shut up William," Tessa snapped catching Will off guard. The silver boy stared in shock at the strange mundane girl as well.

How in the bloody hell did she know my name? Gypsy? Psychic? Conniving warlock? Although with as much skin as she's showing I should be able to see her mark. Unless…it's in a more discrete location…

"I'm going insane," Tessa muttered nodding her head up and down causing the two boys to exchange looks with one another. "I've completely lost my mind when my head hit the concrete," Tessa added, laughing at her own misfortune. "Yes, that's it, I must have just completely lost my mind now!"

"Uh, miss?" the silver boy asked as he kneeled down closer to the girl.

"I wouldn't get within biting distance of her, Jem. She could be rabid with the way she's foaming at the mouth, not to mention barking mad."

Jem ignored him and asked again, "Miss, are you alright?"

"No," Tessa replied as the pain in her forehead came reeling back with such force that it sent her falling backwards. Yet her head didn't hit the pavement this time as her limp body hovered over the street. She could feel an arm beneath her and she wasn't sure which boy had caught her as she slipped out of consciousness once again.