I stared down at the ground, trying to act like I hadn't heard him.

My heart thudded in my chest so loudly I was afraid they might hear it, Pan was shaking so violently on my shoulder that I almost reached out to calm him.

"Oi!" One of the shouted, stomping forward "I'm talkin to yo-"

I felt his hand grip my left shoulder and instantly my reflexes kicked in. I reached my right hand over on top of his hand and used my left arm to elbow him in the gut. He doubled over and I spun around, twisting his wrist which I was still holding and kneeing him in the face. The boy dropped like a stone, lying on his back with a bloody nose.

"Don't just stand there, get 'er!"

Another boy charged me from behind. I elbowed him in the stomach and then brought my fist up at a right angle to punch him in the face. He stumbled back and I turned and front snap kicked him in the chest, sending him back into the wall.

"Woah!" Pan shouted in surprise "Where'd you learn that?"

"Ju-jitsu" I told him simply, turning to face the four other boys who were glaring at me. This is not good.

I slipped my right foot back and stood with my legs shoulder-width apart with my two fists raised in front of my face. The left-fighting stance that we'd learned to fight with in class.

I gulped "Bring it!"

One of them stepped forward with his fist raised. He charged me but I noticed he was totally off balance.

He took a swing at my face which I ducked and dodged, standing up behind him and pressing my fingers together in a spear head, I struck him on the side of the neck, hitting a pressure point and causing him to fall face first to the ground.

"Woah!" Pan cheered, a smile on his face.

I smiled too, this was the happiest I'd ever seen him. I turned back to the entrance of the alley "Who's…..next?"

They were gone, the exit was clear.

"Where'd they g…Pan?" I looked to me shoulder and saw Pan shaking violently, trying to push himself back as far as he could into the hood of the jacket.

"Pan?" I asked with slightly more force "What's wrong?"

"D-d-death…" He choked out "He…he's…"

"Who!" I shouted.

"I believe the ghost is referring to me"

I yelped and jumped, grasping the charm of my necklace in my fist, preparing to take out my sword. I turned to see a man with unnaturally pale skin and deep black eyes. He wore a black jacket over a black t-shirt. The fabric of the jacket seemed to shift and with a start, I realised there were faces in the fabric, faces stretched into tortured expressions, pulling and trying to escape from the jacket. It took some focus, but I pulled my gaze from the jacket and noticed he was also wearing black leather biker boots with black jeans. The man's black hair hung at the sides of his face, I couldn't tell whether it was greasy or simply gelled.

"W-who are you?" I whispered out, then I cleared my throat and forced out "What are you doing to Pan?"

"I have done nothing to the ghos-"

"His NAME is Pan!" I shouted at him. Whoever this guy was, I wasn't going to let him push off my best friend as some ghost!

I slightly regretted shouting it when the man's eyes sparked in rage. "He is a ghost. He has no name"

I glared at the man and repeated slowly "His. Name. Is. Pan. Or are you just too stupid to understand that?"

Okay, I'm not ashamed to say I screamed at what happened next. Seriously, how would you feel if you felt something grab your leg and you looked down and saw it was a shadow!

"Enough!" The man shouted, even the shadow froze before shrinking back into the wall. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that shadow was afraid of him. I gulped when he turned his gaze from the shadow, back to me. "You'd do well to show some respect"

"I-I o-only respect those who've earned it" I forced out, hating how small and pathetic my voice sounded "And I d-don't respect those who scare my friends"

The man averted his gaze to the ground, sighed and shook his head, I heard him mutter "Why is it my children are only ever friends with the dead?"

"R-rhia?" Pan whispered in my ear "C-can we g-go now….please?"

I nodded and started backing back the exit "Well uh, nice meeting you I guess…um, bye!" I turned to walk out of the alley when he said something that made me freeze.

"I notice you still have the necklace we gave you. It always was special to you, wasn't it, Thana?"

I suddenly got a slight headache, like something in my brain was trying to break out. "I-I don't know what you're-"

A slight laugh made my blood turn to ice. "Of course, you never knew your real name. Charlotte always called you Rhia…then again, your mother never liked that name. She always wanted to name you after a flower or a gemstone"

I turned to face the man despite Pan's protests. I focused on that cold face and suddenly an image in my mind shifted to match it. Like when you look in a window and see both the outside and the reflection behind you. I saw the man before me, and then I saw that blurred memory of my mother and father over my crib. This time the image was clearer, along with the man, my father's face.

My heart stopped and the air grew thick with tension. The only sound was Pan's panicked breathing and the heavy rain that continued to fall.

"Y-you're…no way…NO!" I screamed at him, even I was surprised, but rage just boiled up inside of me like a volcano waiting to erupt. "No, that…that's not-You're not-"

"Your father?" He finished, his cold dark eyes analyzing me. "Yes Thana, I am-"

"Stop calling me that!" I screamed "My name is Rhia and you are not my father, my dad is dead!"

"Well you're not wrong" He said completely calm. How could he be calm at this? I feel like punching a wall and he's just standing there completely at ease, for some reason that just made me feel even worse!

I shook my head, glaring at him as my eyes never leaving his face. "You're wrong, my parents are dead. They have been for years so STOP screwing with me!" I was never much of a curser, but this guy was practically tap dancing on my last nerve.

The man's face darkened "Calm yourself and control your power"

I opened my mouth to shout at him when I saw what he meant. All the shadows in the alley were tearing themselves apart, ripping away from each other and pushing together again before repeating, looking like giant shadows of tentacles shifting on the brick walls.

"Oh god…" All the anger washed away, leaving me feeling dizzy. The shadows suddenly stopped and shrunk back into their original form. "I…I did that…"

"The power of the Underworld" He said simply. "It lies in you"

"no…NO!" My hand dropped from my necklace. "I'm not a half-whatever you call it! I'm just…me, I'm not half god of the dead, I don't control shadows!" I started on a rant "I'm just a kid! I haven't even finished school yet! The biggest worry for NORMAL kids my age is what the questions on the next surprise test will be! I…I'm an orphan, my dad left my mum and ended up dead in a car crash the next day and my mum died the same way! AGH!" I yelled in frustration and clamped my brown hair in my fist, the pain in my head growing more intense with every passing second. "You're not my dad and I'm not gonna stay here and listen to you lying to me!" I yelled at him, turning on my heel and running from the alley.

Next Chapter: I get a free lunch.