Chapter 1

Arion woke from his slumber to his alarm clock blaring obnoxiously next to his head. He instinctively moved his left hand and nailed the snooze button on his alarm clock to silence the noise. He then brought his hands to his face to rub the sleep out of his eyes. Once done, he looked over at his alarm clock. Which read 6:00. He sighed as he gracelessly rolled out of bed and walked to his dresser to put a pair of sweatpants and a tank top on. He walked towards the door of his bedroom, stopping to put on his red Nike slides. He walked out of his room into the long hallway, and he then gasped as he looked down the hallway. For a split second, he could see the hallway being engulfed in flames. He closed his eyes and counted to three. And when he opened them up, everything was normal, and definitely not burnt. He muttered some rather insulting things about himself, and continued his adventure to the kitchen.

Per usual, there was a post-it-note plastered on the microwave door. He peeled it off and deeply sighed.

Left early for work. Food in the microwave. I love you!

He grumbled to himself and walked directly into the family room. He effortlessly pulled open the end table drawer, and tossed the note into the drawer. He looked at all the notes piled in the drawer, and a stray tear escaped his eye. He closed his eyes in an attempt to control his emotions, and baraley succeeded. He softly closed the drawer, and walked back into the joined kitchen and prayed that his mom left him coffee.

Arion sighed in relief as there was some leftover coffee.

He grabbed a glass from the cabinet overhead, and poured some go juice in his mug. He walked to his fridge and grabbed the coffee creamer. He promptly shut the fridge and walked back to the island where his mug was resting. He poured some creamer, grabbed a spoon in the drawer beneath him, and stirred his coffee to mix in the creamer. He took a sip of the cold coffee, and sighed. He leaned against the counter and put his head in his hands. He knew this would be a long day. He had a bad feeling about today. He glanced over to his left to look at the clock on the stove. It read 6:10. He quietly put down his coffee and walked towards the microwave, which was above the stove. He opened it and saw a plate of eggs. He closed the microwave and set the timer to twenty seconds. He then turned around and felt a shiver go down his spine as a cold and gentle wind struck him.

He stood frozen in his tracks. There has never been a draft in his apartment, for as old as his apartment is. There was a single window at the end of the hallway where his bedroom was however. Hesitantly, he reached for a large kitchen knife. He held it in a hammer grip. Before cursing his old way of fighting, he switched his hold to an icepick grip. He marched towards the hallway's entrance, and immediately turned his head to his left, where his bedroom is.

Arion found the window wide open. He took a deep breath and cautiously advanced down the hallway, with his arms at his side, knife in his right hand. His knuckles were white, however he tried to keep his calm posture. He had a troubling feeling that something was going to happen, but he tried to shake it off. Over the past few months of his break, his instincts had become rusty, and he didn't trust them. Especially now. He approached the window, and with his left arm, he pulled the window shut, cutting off the cool and bitter breeze. Just then, there was a high pitched noise of the microwave alarm going off. Arion jumped and instinctively brought his knife up. He mumbled something about his sense of oversecurtiy. He sighed heavily as he walked back to the kitchen to put his weapon in it's appropriate home.

Arion quickly ate his eggs, and rushed to his bedroom to get dressed. He threw on a pair of grey denim jeans, a black t-shirt; and a red hoodie. He shrugged. It'll do, he thought to himself. He pulled out a pair of old, but clean, white sneakers. His only pair of sneakers. He grabbed his wallet, apartment keys, and phone from his nightstand. He was at the doorway of his bedroom about to leave when he froze dead in his tracks. There was something he forgot. Something he knew he should bring with, but yet something he dreaded bringing. He went back to his dresser, and pulled out the middle drawer. He reached in the back and pulled out a box, about a foot in length and about six inches in width. He carefully placed the cherry oak stained box on his dresser, and pulled out his set apartment keys. He found the smaller key, and inserted it into the keyhole of the box. He turned the key and heard a subtle click. He pulled the key out and stuffed the keys back into his pocket. Arion then used his right hand to open the latch to open the box.

He stared at the contents.

He pulled out his hunting knife and unsheathed it. It'd been a while since he'd last held it. He observed the knife like it was the first time he had ever seen it. The entire blade was made of reinforced silver, with brown leather wrapped tightly around the simple grip. The blade had silver flame designs that engulfed the eight inch blade.

He took a moment to study the person that stared back. Arion's blonde hair was carelessly swept to one side. He stared at himself. He stared into his orange and black eyes. They were completely normal eyes, they were just an incredibly rare color variation. He knew the reason why they were the way they are, but if he told the truth people would think he's crazy. Which he is, to a certain extent.

For only being eighteen, he looked way older than what he really was...

He replaced his dagger in its sheath and placed it in his backpack. He double checked to make sure the knife had vanished from view, and it did. It just faded away. He grinned triumphantly as he looked back at the box. There was a piece of paper taped to the lid of the box. He stared at it for a brief second, having an internal conflict whether to take it or not. He sighed as he gave in to one side and took the number and stuffed it in his pocket. He also noticed a gold ring with a sapphire jewel. He decided it would be best to take it with him…

He turned and bolted out the apartment, locking the door behind him. He ran down the stairs and out the exit of his apartment building. He lived only two blocks away from his school, so he decided he'd just walk the distance.

His adventure started by walking left out of his front door to his apartment building, then taking a left at the end of the block, then a right. He was a few paces away from school. He would be on time. He kept glancing down the alleyways on his left to ensure his safety, as it was indeed early in the morning. He had a strange feeling when he looked down a certain alley. He stopped in his tracks and observed the alley.. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. A dumpster was next to a door with a number marked "13". There were a few loose pieces of trash scattered about, and a few stacked cardboard boxes. He could swear there was an aura coming from that door. He looked at his watch and decided there wasn't enough time to check it out now, he'd have to investigate later.

He continued his march to school.

Arion entered the school grounds. The entrance of the school was rather elaborate, considering how poor of an area he was in right now. The courtyard was simple concrete, with one statue in the middle. The statue was covered in moss, but in his own opinion Arion thought it made the place more lively. The metal doors seemed dwarfed as he grabbed a hold of the handle. He flashed his ID to the guard looking out the office window. He nodded as he opened the doors from his end. Arion nodded his thanks to him and walked in the building.

The school wasn't as bad as it looked to be. Sure, the walls had some stains on them, and the occasional locker had a dent or two in it. But the ceilings were intact and haven't caved in…

Yet…

Arion, upon entering, took the first right to the end of the hallway. He flew up the staircase to reach the second floor of the school. People were bustling around the halls. Opening lockers and gathering the contents within. Some people were closing their lockers with supplies and books in their possession. Some were getting pushed into their lockers. Arion didn't like the people who were the ones doing the pushing. However, it didn't concern him, so he kept his nose clean.

He approached his locker. Locker 224 and began his combination. He finished entering his combo and pulled up on his latch, opening up his locker. He stuffed his bag inside and grabbed a few books and his pencil case. He closed his locker and ventured down the hallways straight to his class.

He passed a locker that was shaking and had a voice inside. He stopped and stared. He looked up and down the hallways to make sure nobody saw, and walked up to the locker and put both of his palms on the locker hinges. He concentrated for a minute and felt his hands getting increasingly warm. After a moment or two the hinges were soft enough just to lift the door off. He moved the locker door to the side and looked at who was inside.

He definitely didn't know the kid. He looked a bit younger, if Arion had to guess he was around the age of thirteen. He had a small face and an overall small body composition. His ginger hair was combed to the left. He had green eyes that were interesting to stare at. He had a black t-shirt that had a white Nike logo on it, blue jeans, and black sneakers.

The kid, who looked rather shocked, looked Arion up and down and mumbled, "You definitely don't look the type...". Arion pressed his eyebrows and gave a puzzled look, but made no comment. The kid cautiously climbed out of the locker, fixed his hair, and stuck his hand out. "My name is Everett. Thanks for helping me out of the locker. I just couldn't do anything. They were like, double my size, ya know?"

"I understand Everett," Arion replied and gave no look of sympathy. Arion reached for the kid's hand and shook it. "I'm Arion," he said flatly.

"Nice to meet you, Arion. Wish we could chat more, but we're both gonna be late to our classes. I'll see you around," and with that, Everett just turned around, closed his locker, and ran off in the opposite direction Arion was supposed to go.

Arion watched as Everett took off and smiled a bit at how innocent he seemed. He sighed for what seemed like the millionth time that day, and advanced towards his first class.