Chapter 5

Rhian wandered around the second district, still frightened after her encounter with Jastice. After the battle, Kaden had told her about a house that in it lived several puppies that were extremely cute, so she decided to visit them. But when she got there, someone was already playing with the puppies. A small, golden-haired toddler in a bright purple dress was petting a puppy slowly, giggling occasionally.

"Hello, what's your name?" asked Rhian.

"Sara."

Rhian sat down next to Sara, and started to reach for one of the puppies to pet it. "NO!" shouted Sara, and grabbed the puppy.

"Is it just me, or was that puppy five feet away from her…?" thought Rhian. She quickly dismissed this thought, and started to pet another puppy.

"I said no!" screamed the toddler, and sent Rhian flying back 10 feet, into a wall. Rhian got up, and sighed as the healing effects of her magic started working.

"This is no ordinary toddler…"

Rhian leaned closer to Sara, studying her face. She gasped upon realizing who it really was. "Schala, how did you get here?" asked Rhian. Sara was silent.

"Schala…?" Sara slowly turned toward Rhian, dropping a puppy as she got up. The puppies quickly retreated to another room, as if they knew about children and tempers.

"Re…becca?" whispered Sara. She then smiled, or more smirked, showing razor-sharp teeth of great numbers, like a shark. Rhian backed away upon hearing her old name, and of the teeth of this abnormal child.

"Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh…" Sara creepily laughed. "You've given up your past, haven't you? Yet you hold onto it so dearly… An imbecile like you shold not even be allowed to exist!" Sara changed into Schala, sweetly smiling, but still with her shark teeth.

"Why do you resist?" asked Schala. "The darkness is comforting. Let it pacify you, make you as it make me…" Schala then turned to Rhian's mother.

"I told you to be strong. You now rely upon this boy, Kaden's, power. You are powerless. You should join our ranks, and be blessed withTRUE power!"

"No…" whimpered Rhian. Meanwhile, Kaden was having to deal with his own problems…

- - - - -

"Hey, Hill, pass me some more of that nail polish," said someone. Kaden went down the alleyway to investigate. A pack of teenage girls were sitting in a circle, painting their nails. Kaden noticed that they had multiple bottles of the same color: blood red.

"Sure thing, Casey." Seven of them had a mix of brownish-blonde hair, and one was a brunette. They were all wearing jeans and a t-shirt, with an occasional sweat-shirt to the side.

"Casey… Hill… Those names remind me of someone that I knew…" he whispered. He saw a bright flash, and suddenly remembered…

"Kaden! Come on! It's almost time for school!" yelled Casey, holding her sketchbook, along with her bag slung over her shoulder. "You really don't want to miss art! Hillary and the others are waiting!"

"I'm coming!" he yelled, and sounds of slurping were heard. He quickly dashed out the door, his bag flying behind him.

"Kaden! You forgot your coat! It's freezing this time of year!" yelled his mother, holding out a black coat. Kaden ran over and grabbed it, and both he and Casey raced to the bus stop. They ran in just as the bus pulled up.

"Just on time!" yelled Hillary, with the two Katies, Kim, Colleen, Shandee, and Lacey behind her. They nodded in agreement, and all of them started to board the bus.

While everyone was talking, a random girl in the front shrieked. Small black creatures came out of the ground, and robed things tried to surround the bus. Magic flew around, striking many of the creatures, some striking the students.

"Why aren't you trying to shake them off?" yelled Kaden, running up to the bus driver. He arrived only to see a pink heart floating out of the driver's body, and the body disappearing.

In the back, Casey was holding some off with her magic, and Hillary was drawing furiously. A dragon started to rise out of her paper and into the sky. Katie No. 1 (AKA Cookie) was confusing some creatures with armor. Kim was trying to talk out peace with the creatures, while Katie No. 2 was punching one. Colleen and Lacey were combining their magic to try to hold off the robed monsters, and Shandee was slashing one with her dagger.

Kaden reached for his sword, then remembered. He forgot it. It was all he could to jump over the monsters and have them run into the wall. Pink hearts were floating everywhere, both of those of humans and the creatures. Everyone was tiring except the monsters.

Soon Casey, Colleen and Lacey were out of magic, whilst Kim had ran out of words to try to convince the monsters. The Katies and Shandee were exhausted, and Hillary's colored pencils had run out. The other kids had either abandoned the nine or been killed, no one could tell. Kaden tried to rush over to them to help, but while he was distracted, a creature kicked him off.

As the bus drove away without a driver, he saw eight hearts rise to the sky.

- - - - -

He smiled. Maybe it hadn't been their hearts that had been stolen. Maybe they had escaped. Any way, they were his friends. He ran over to them.

"Who let the human in?" "Freak! Monster!" they yelled as he approached.

"Why are you saying? You're humans too," he said, hurt. They just stared at him, then laughed. "Don't you remember? We were friends…"

"Friends? I don't think so. We don't associate with humans," said Casey.

"Yeah, we eat 'em!" shouted Katie/Cookie.

"What?" asked Kaden, appalled.

"You see…" started Hillary. Casey turned into an Invisible, Kim turned into a Wizard, with a starry cape and cap. Katie/Cookie was a large shadow, while Shandee changed to a Soldier. Collen and Lacey both turned into Bouncywilds, and Katie was a Soldier. Lastly, Hillary changed into an Angel Star. "We're Heartless."

- - - - -

Rhian's mom turned back into Sara, and she slowly advanced on Rhian. Rhian focused her magic into strands, and had them encage Sara in a box. The box slowly compressed, and Sara's inhuman screams sounded throughout the house. Rhian ran out the door, even more frightened than before. She shut the door, closing out the screams from her ears.

She heard battle raging in a alley nearby, so she materialized her staff and ran over there. Kaden was defending against a group of Heartless. She sent fire toward the Invisible, but Kaden deflected it with his sword.

"Why are you defending them?" Rhian yelled.

"They… were my friends…" he answered.

She motioned for him to come over, quickly. He ran over, and she created a force field to hold them back. After a few shocks and minutes, the Heartless turned back into their seemingly human selves.

"This is going nowhere. I say that we go visit Jastice," said Casey.

"I agree," said the others, and they disappeared.

Rhian let down the shield, and sighed. "I think that we'll eventually have to fight them, Kaden. We're going to have to leave."

- - - - -

Author's notes: Yet another chapter with CT in it. Just so you know, Casey, Hillary, and all the others are my friends from school. So, that's it. Stay tuned for the next chapter!