A/N: Welcome to the revised version of 'The Unusual' I have finally decided to update my rough drafts. Whoots! Do not worry, the rest of the chapters will be up shortly…just have to revise them a little. You might see some slight changes in the plot, but I will keep the original characters, idea, etc.,..Now! On with revised Chapter One! Remember to R&R!

Nightwriter49910904

(Nightwriter for short )

P.S. Thank you, Zap Canon, for always stickin' with me. My loyal regular reviewer. 3

Chapter 1

"Miss Allens, kindly pay more attention to your lesson or I will have to give you a weeks worth of detention!"

Bolting up when my desk suddenly gave a loud thud, I blinked rapidly and looked into the faces of my fellow classmates, who were sniggering loudly.

"Well… it's a pleasure to see that you've joined my class again, Miss Allens." Mrs. Smith scolded, towering above me beside my desk. Seriously, of all the teachers I had to have, it had to be her. With her almost completely white hair drawn into a tight bun and a frown adorning her wrinkled face, my homeroom teacher did NOT look pleased at my little nap.

Okay it wasn't a nap. I was catching up on my sleep, since I didn't have time to sleep last night. Not with the sirens from our neighbor next door. She had had a heart attack in the night, and when the ambulance arrived, they didn't have the brains to turn off the freakin' sirens.

Casting a small look at her, I noticed a ruler resting in her palm. So that's what she woke me up with…

"Uh… s-sorry Mrs. Smith. I'll pay more attention to class now. I'm just kind of put to sleep with numbers, you know… Algebra just isn't my thing." I gave her a small smile, but when her frown deepened and my peers snickering around me I became even more confused.

"Miss Allens…" She sighed, casting me a withering glance. "This is Language Arts."

Feeling my face grow hot, I already knew I was blushing as the classroom burst into howls of laughter. Oh yeah, good job Alexis.

Class reigned on; and I slumped in my chair, let out a long sigh that causing some of my black bangs to fall over my eyes. I swear, on of these days I'm gonna cut you and my hair won't be the birds nest its been for years! I threatened my hair. I know, not a terribly intelligent conversation, but I didn't know what else to do! No way was I listening to miss Smith…

Luckily the bell rang.

As I fought my way through the hoard of students, I sighed as I finally reached my small bottom locker. Spinning the combination, I quickly put my science books away and grabbed my notebook with notes I would need to study of the weekend. Stuffing it in my small backpack, I quickly rushed to the door, hoping to make it out in time before the rest of the school was set loose and I would be squashed between a girl who wore too much perfume and some sweaty kid who had never heard of the marvelous invention call soap.

Before I could reach the door, my food suddenly slipped and I was sent spiraling down a long line of water.

Crashing into the drinking fountain, I groaned and glared at the 'Wet floor' sign I never noticed, lying three feet from me.

Laughter roared around me as many students pointed and laughed at my stupidity of not seeing the stupid sign. That, and the fact that -since the water fountain had been jinxed last week and no one took the time to repair the damn thing- I was being sprayed with a small stream of water.

I opened my mouth to retort to their laughter, but the sudden beeping coming from my wrist watch told me that if I didn't get moving, I wouldn't catch my bus home.

"Please still be there, please still be there, please still be there…" I silently prayed, sprinting toward the doors and watching out for anymore 'Wet floor' signs.

My prayers went unanswered; however, as I watched the back of my bus disappear over the ridge.

"Freakin' A!" I cursed, almost throwing my stuff down in a fit of anger.

Hanging my head, I turned toward the road home, my backpack slung over my shoulder. I began to hum the tune to 'Happy Birthday' seeing as it was my birthday after all…

"M-made it…" I panted, climbing up the white porch steps.

My house. Small, but quaint. With it's white coat that settled over the wood and two trees in the front yard, already bare from the cold autumn weather, I called it my home.

My haven.

I fished around in my pocket, trying to find my keys, but finding a hole in my pocket explained it all.

"Today's just not my day…" I moaned, banging my head against the white door.

I think the door took pity on me.

Slowly creaking open, I almost fell onto the blue-carpeted floor while the kind door opened fully.

"Okaaay…" I drawled, casting a look around the room.

No one was here.

Checking my watch, my brow furrowed when I noticed it was already five. Mom was always home, dad worked until four, and my older brother Adam had today off.

Where were they?

Tossing my backpack onto the floor near the door, I cautiously walked into the dark living room.

Odd. Mom never keeps the shades closed. Even when she's gone.

Before I could linger on the matter, the lights were suddenly flicked on and I heard someone shout: "Surprise!"

I jumped nearly a foot in the air in surprise at the suddenly outburst, quickly falling to the ground since I was still in light shock.

"Happy Birthday, Alexis!" My mother, father and brother all cheered.

Smiling sheepishly from the ground, my smile widened when my brother reached down and offered a hand up to me.

"Jeez… you guys really surprised me…" I laughed nervously, shaking my head skittishly.

"Al, that's the point. Hence the word: 'surprise'." Adam teased, pinching me cheek.

Ever since I was little, my family had taken a liking to call me Al. I didn't mind being called Al. So long as it stayed within the family.

Actually, no one else called me Al. Mainly because there was no body else.

I wasn't popular at school and most of the time I was just the klutz. Don't get me wrong, I had a great personality, but no one really took the time to get to know 'Alexis the klutz'.

Pushing my brother's hand away and giving a half-hearted scowl, I took a minute took look him over.

Damn!

How'd he grow a whole foot without me noticing!

True, my brother was probably about a foot and a half taller than me, almost towering over me, his shaved black hair nearly touching our low ceiling as his green eyes seemed to grin at me.

"Heya shortie…" He teased again.

Grr…

The rest of the night was spent laughing and joking between cake and games. I know it seems childish, but I still enjoyed these things. Besides, I only had a few more years to spend with my family.

I wish.

"Oh my! We need to get to bed. All of us." I grinned and so did my dad as we cast a look to Adam. He was known for staying up late at night and doing older brother things. Whatever that is.

I could have stayed up later too, but with a long Friday and the chance to sleep in tomorrow sounding pretty good, I decided sleep would be better.

Trudging up the stairs, I let out a long sigh of relief as my cheek his my cool pillow when I fell face down onto my bed.

Bed. Thou art my friend.

A soft knock at the door kept me from almost falling asleep and I lifted my head from my fluffy pillow.

"Come in!"

The door cracking open, I saw my mother and father peak in, both smiling.

"Just wanted to say goodnight." You father smiled as he came over and sat down, his long white hair flowing around his shoulders. I always wondered why his hair was that color, but he kept telling me it was hormones he had since he was a teenager (I silently wondered if Adams hair would turn white).

My mom, slightly shorter than me with pitch black raven hair, smiled at me, her brown eyes seeming to hold the same motherly care in them, and I wondered if I would ever have eyes that pretty.

Not likely.

Me and Adam both were blessed with our fathers emerald green eyes, but we both had our mothers raven hair. When I was little, I wondered if we were twins, but when my mother told me that Adam was older and twins were born around the same time, it quickly cut off my plans of letting Adam's hair grow like mine so he could go to school in my place.

Anyways.

"We wanted to tell you that we love you very, very, very much and that you will always be our baby girl." My mother smiled, coming over to kiss you lightly on the forehead.

"And that we will always be with you forever and always." My father finished smiling a very heartwarming smile.

I nodded and gave them a reassuring smile that told them that their words were taken to heart. It really was.

"Well… I guess we'll let you sleep then." My mother said kindly.

"See you in the morning." They said in unison and closing the door behind them with a soft click.

I expected to wake up to the sounds of the usual weekends.

My brother with his radio on full blast with the over reacting DJ's babble, the sounds of bacon crackling in the kitchen while mom prepared breakfast, and my dad watching something on TV, usually the news.

But as I slowly slipped out of bed, none of these sounds could be heard.

There were no noises.

No DJ's babble.

No bacon sizzling and crackling.

No droning voice of the news reporter.

Nothing.

Cracking the door open, I turned around and checked my nightstand alarm clock. Maybe I had woken up to early?

Checking the flashing neon green numbers, I found it was already ten. Surely they would be up by now.

I tip toed down the long hallways, thinking I should check in on my parents first.

I wasn't prepared for what I found.

My mothers face was frozen in what looked like a mixture of shock and fear, the blankets drawn up to her chest whilst she sat upright in bed, frozen.

I reached out slowly and touched her arm, recoiling as I found it felt like touching a granite statue.

I backed away, shaking my head, my eyes filled with tears that were threatening to spill down my cheeks.

I was almost out of the room when I tripped on something.

At first I thought it was just clothes or dad's briefcase, but it was far from it.

In fact, it was my dad.

My eyes doubled in size as I stared at my father's motionless body.

His eyes were half-lidded and a look of disgust was on his face, his arms stretched out in front of him, as though he was holding up a barrier like the ones I had see on Sci-fi movies.

"Oh my god…" I said, my disbelieving eyes scanning over his frozen body as well.

I didn't dare touch him, afraid, that if I did, I would somehow shatter his body.

Suddenly, I thought of the only family I might have had left.

Adam.

I had to find Adam.