Terence looked up at Lira, his eyes glowing yellow.

"Terence, finally! Where have you been?" Lira cried.

Terence only smiled, and stood taller, the exhaustion he seemed over come with disappeared instantaneously.

"I'm back now Lira, that's all that matters." Terence said, his voice sounding a bit muffled, and shaded.

"Well why did you leave me?" Lira asked, moving closer to him.

Terence wrapped his arms around her, and sighed.

"I had something I had to check on Lira, really it doesn't matter." He told her pretentiously, indicating he didn't want to talk about it.

"Well, okay. If that's all."

Lira really did want to know where he had been, and she even wondered if he thought about her while he was gone.

Not did a second go by, Lira's head was filled with his voice. Her eyes widened in shock, and he grinned down at her. Terence's eyes seemed too distant and hollow looking. Lira wondered if the Odessa girl's eyes were the same way. She didn't know why she thought this; actually it seemed as if someone was implanting it into her brain.

Terence's grip tightened and Lira had a very bad feeling about him now. She tried to push him away, but he was too strong. She looked around her shoulder, and cried desperately for Persia. As soon as she did so, Terence shoved her down to the ground, and ran her, and out into the dark night. Lira stood up slowly, her head aching slightly from hitting the ground. She rubbed her hair out of her face, and looked around. A few of the other kids looked over at her, perhaps wondering if they should help her, or at least ask her if she was alright, but no one did.

"Inconsiderate bastards," Lira mumbled, walking over to the wall.

She was so confused, about herself, about Terence, and about those girls. She slouched down, putting her arms over her head and neck. Her head had started throbbing, and the pounding music wasn't helping any. She thought about what she should do, she was sitting there for at least ten minutes before she figured she should get up and go home. Lira stood slowly, hoping to not fall over from dizziness, when Persia popped up in front of her.

"Lira,"

"What do you—I mean, thanks for helping me back there." Lira said, and smiled.

Persia nodded, "Don't worry about it, just doing my job." She stated, and nodded towards the door, "Come on; let's go."

"What do you mean, 'doing your job'?" Lira asked as she walked towards the door with Persia. She didn't answer until they were out the door, and down the street.

"Look, Lira; you're not safe anymore, not without me, do you understand?"

Lira nodded numbly.

"Odessa will do anything to get you on her side." Persia told her, and grabbed her arm to cross the street.

Lira didn't pay much attention to where she was going; she just let Persia guide her. She felt completely safe with this woman, but yet something was screaming in her head. She ignored the voice, and asked a question. "Why does Odessa want me so bad?"

"I can't answer all your questions right now Lira, but I will tell you that Odessa is not someone you want to mess with, unless you have me or one of…my friends with you. I'll introduce you tell them later."

Lira was just about to ask if she wanted a quicker way to her house, when she noticed she was standing right in front of it. She turned to thank Persia, but she was gone.

My life is firkin weird. Lira thought, and she heard Karen's voice yelling for her. She walked into the kitchen, and was greeted by Karen with her hands on her hips.

"I thought I told you to stay here Lira!" She exclaimed.

"I know you did."

Karen was steaming mad, and she couldn't do anything to Lira, she didn't even know what to say. She finally finished. "You're grounded."

Lira raised an eyebrow.

"For a year,"

Lira snorted, "Whatever." She laughed, and walked upstairs to her room.