-Will-

I sit in my zoology class, my last class of the day, when I get a message alert. Since I'm in one of the back corners of the classroom, I discreetly pull out my phone and see a group chat with Selena, Stacy, Ava, Lily, Andy, and Noah.

"We need to talk." Selena sends.

"I'm here, sis." I send.

"Hey, guys." Lily sends.

"Yo." Ava sends.

"Sup." Noah sends.

"How'd you get my new number?" Stacy asks.

"Facespace." Selena replies.

"Creeper much?" Stacy sends.

"What'd you wanna talk about, Selena?" Andy asks.

"The pep rally." Selena replies.

"And don't act like y'all don't know what she means." I add.

"When and where?" Noah asks.

"The fountain. After school." Selena replies.

"Can't. Practice till 6." Stacy sends.

"Same. After okay?" Andy asks.

"This is serious, guys." I send.

"Can't just ditch. Game coming up." Andy responds.

"Fine. 6 it is." Selena sends.

"K. Hey, I don't think you added Lucas to this text." Noah says.

"I'll add him in a sec." I send then do just that, before hearing my sister clear on the other side of the hall.

Heightened hearing? Sometimes it has its cons. At lunch, I listen to my music to drown out the noises from everyone and everything.

"Mr. Kelley?" My teacher says and I look at her.

"Sorry, Miss Stanford." I say then pay attention till the end of class. I wince at the sound of the bell then gather my things and go to meet up with my sister.

"Hey, thanks for nearly making me deaf in class." I say sarcastically to her.

"Sorry." She says.

"It's alright, sis." I say. "I'll see you back home. I gotta make a pit stop at the library and return the books I checked out a couple weeks ago."

She nods then I head out.

"Will, wait up." Lily says and I see her walking to me. "Where you headed?"

"Library. Got a couple books to return." I say.

"Want some company?" She asks.

"Sure." I say then she and I start heading to the library in downtown.

"I noticed you talking to Ava at the pep rally." She says.

"Yeah. I was talking to her about something that's personal to me." I say.

Lily nods. "...What's that?" I soon hear her ask.

I look at her. "What?" I ask.

"That glow under your shirt." She says.

"Oh." I say then pull out a necklace I made. The gem that made me the way I am was attached to it.

"Oh, wow." She says.

I take it off and hand it to her so she can get a better look at it.

"Where'd you get this necklace?" She asks.

"Made it myself." I say.

"What about the jewel?"

"I found it like that, actually."

"Like, in this shape?"

I nod then hear footsteps coming up to us from behind. Suddenly, a hand snatches my necklace from Lily.

"Thanks!" She and I hear Jocelyn say.

"If you know what's good for you, give that back to me, Wu." I say, turning to face her.

"Nah, I don't think so."

I just cross my arms.

"W-Will, maybe she should just keep it." Lily says.

"Someone's got some common sense in her." Jocelyn says with a fake smile, but I'm not too worried. She holds the gem up to the light. "I think this would look great on me. It goes perfectly with both my eyes and my- Ouch!" She says then drops the necklace, but I catch it.

"Gee, I wonder what happened." I say sarcastically.

"That stupid thing got hot!" She says.

"Must've been how you were holding it in the sunlight." I say then put the necklace back on.

She huffs and just stomps off back the way she came. I smirk a bit.

Lily and I then head to the library. I return the books I had checked out then hang out with Lily for a few minutes.

"I think I'm gonna head home. Wanna keep me company till we get there?" I ask.

"That's okay. I wanted to check out a couple books here." She says.

I nod. "Okay. See you at 6." I say.

She nods. "See you then." She says.

When I leave the library, I see Selena and Lucas leave the coffee shop across the street and walk to them. "Hey, guys." I say.

"Hey, bro." Selena says with a smile as she and I hug.

"Hey, man." Lucas says then he and I have a hug. "You coming to this meeting Selena mentioned?"

I nod.

"See you then." He says.

"Later." I say then Selena and I head to our house.

Along the way, I tell Selena what happened with Jocelyn.

"Your gem heated up when Jocelyn held it?" She asks.

I nod. "I told her it must've been from the sunlight, but I think it was the gem itself."

"...Wow." She says.

I nod. "So, what are we doing when we get home?" I ask.

"Help you learn to control your powers." She says.

I stop and look at her. "Selena, the best thing I can do is extend and retract my claws." I say.

"You'll get better with your powers. Like I told you, you're tougher than you think."

She then puts a hand on my shoulder. "All eighteen years I've known you, you've oozed confidence. Have some now, Will."

I look at my feet. Part of me believes what she's telling me, but another part is scared to go through with this.

"...Okay." I say and she smiles then we head home.

I stare at nine empty bottles that Selena had set up.

"We'll start easy. Try launching a fireball at the bottle in the middle and just that one." She says.

"Everything okay over here?" Cid asks as we see him and Hilda walking to us.

"Just helping my brother get a handle on what he can do." Selena says.

I look back at the bottles, take a deep breath and shoot a ball of fire from my mouth, only to miss the bottle a bit long. I sigh.

"You can do it, kid." Cid says.

I take another deep breath and try again and manage to hit it. I'm surprised at first but then I smile a bit.

"Nice job, bro." Selena says.

"Yeah." Cid says. "Well, Hildy and I will let you two go about practicing." He adds then he and Hilda walked off.

Selena and I set to practicing with my powers of fire, electricity, ice, earth, time, and a strange power that I like to call my energy beam.

Close to 6, we head to the school. When 6:00 hits, we head outside and see Noah, Lily, and Lucas at the fountain. Andy soon shows up with Stacy tailing him while texting.

"One sec." Stacy says.

"How's it already dark?" Andy asks.

Noah stands from the fountain and Lily stands next to Selena, twisting her hands nervously.

"We're missing one." I say.

"Um...Ava." Lily says.

"You guys look like a Christian album cover." Ava says from behind Selena, making Lily jump.

"Jeez, are you a ninja?" Andy asks.

"Vampire." Ava replies.

"But we've all seen you in the sunlight." I say.

"I'm the daywalker." She says.

Selena clears her throat. "We all know why we're here. The pep rally's blackout..." She starts.

"...added with the wind and that voice." I add.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." Stacy says.

"I saw everyone's faces, my own brother's included." Selena says. "All of you were as freaked as I was because you all heard what I heard."

"Everyone plays together." Noah says.

"That's not a coincidence and was definitely aimed at us. Nobody else knows what that means." I say.

Everyone chooses not to look at each other until Lily speaks up and shows us her phone to reveal texts.

"...Are these from Dan?" Selena asks.

"You got them too?" Lucas asks.

"You and Lily ain't the only ones. Selena and I got them too." I say.

"Did Dan send all of us weird-ass texts last night?" Ava asks.

I see Selena rub her neck bruises and her eyes meet mine and I nod.

"Guys... Will and I have something to say." She says then we both explain what happened last night without leaving out a detail.

"When we came to this morning, that thing was gone." I say.

"I'll admit it's crazy...but I think Mr. Red is back." Selena says.

"We need the cops. They'll find who attacked you two and-" Andy starts.

"You know we can't do that, man." I say to him. "They won't believe us."

"You guys don't know that." Andy says.

"Would your dad believe you if you told him we're being targeted by a nightmare monster, Ava?" Selena asks.

Ava scoffs. "Hell no. He'd have have me piss in a cup then do a drug search in my room." She says.

"Besides, it's not like the cops can arrest Redfield." Noah says.

"I get it." Andy says.

"Unless they get that dirt monster to testify." Noah jokes.

"I said I get it!" Andy snaps.

"Leave her alone, Noah." Lucas says.

"Him." Andy corrects.

"Sorry."

Andy just shrugs.

"Speaking of cop stuff, Dan's parents reported him missing this morning." Ava says.

"They what?!" Selena and I say in unison.

"And you're just now mentioning this to us?" Noah asks angrily.

"I figured you guys had heard!" Ava says angrily.

"Not everybody is the child of the sheriff!" Stacy snaps.

I step away from them a bit to calm down.

"Will?" I hear Andy say and can feel the others' eyes on me.

"I'm fine." I assure them as I calm down then walk back to them. "Back to the matter at hand, Dan's in trouble and we have to go find him."

"Will, he needs professional adult help." Stacy says.

"It has to be us." Selena says.

"Why, pray tell, is that?" Lucas asks.

"Because this is our fault." I say.

"How?" Stacy asks.

"We messed with something we shouldn't have as kids." Selena says.

"And now, it's come back to bite us in the ass." Ava says.

"Look, nobody wants to dredge this shit back up. Me, least of all." I say. "Especially since I have my own problems to deal with..." I mumble.

"What?" Lily asks.

I shake my head. "Nothing." I say. "Anyway, we all remember Redfield and saw what that son of a bitch did to Jane. We can't let Dan be the next victim." I add.

"Nobody did anything to Jane, Will." Stacy says. "It was an accident."

"That's bullshit and you know it, Stacy!" Noah snaps.

"We were dumb kids playing in the woods by ourselves when we shouldn't have and that's all I know." Stacy says.

"Let's all calm down and consider the facts." Lucas says. "The blackout could've been the result of faulty wiring." He says then looks to me. "On the subject of Dan...what do you propose we do?"

I sigh. "Must I spell everything out?" I ask, getting frustrated. "We find Dan, find out what he did, then undo it. Which means we have to go back-" I say.

"...into the woods..." Lily says then panics and shakes her head as she backs up. "No way! I am not going near those woods again!"

Noah moves to Lily, his hands up calmly. "Lily...I understand you're scared, but if we have any hope of stopping this, we have to-" He starts until Andy firmly presses a hand on Noah's chest.

"Back off, Noah! She doesn't have to go anywhere or do anything she doesn't want to!" He says.

I clench my fists and try taking deep breaths as Selena steps over to me.

"Are you kidding me?!" Noah asks.

A heavy door opens and we all tense up until we see three cheerleaders round the corner of the gym until the walk into the school then we all let out relieved breaths.

"No offense to you wanting to go chase boogiemen in the woods, Noah, but some of us have real problems to deal with." Stacy says.

"Oh, really?" I ask her and she turns to me. "And what does the great Stacy Greene consider to be a 'real' problem?" I ask, using air quotes on the word real.

"Getting kidnapped by a shadow monster is a real problem!" Noah says.

"Let's all calm down." Selena says.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Noah snaps at her and I turn to glare at him.

"DO NOT take that tone with my sister!" I snap back at him.

"Dan is missing and you seem to be the only one who gives a shit, Will!" Noah says to me.

"We're all worried about him." Lucas says. "But the police should handle it if they've already been called."

"Like how they handled it when my sister died?"

"Noah-" Stacy starts sadly.

"No! I've had enough! Redfield killed Jane in front of all of us and you all shrugged it off like it didn't happen!"

"Nobody 'shrugged off' anything, Noah!" I snap, my breathing starting to pick up.

"The hell you all didn't!" He says then looks at Lucas. "Class president..." He starts then turns to Stacy. "...cheerleader..." He adds then looks at Andy. "...basketball jock... You all seem to be doing just fine! Once Jane was in the ground, you all happily moved on with your lives! And now you're doing it again with Dan!"

"Oh, now you care about Dan?! Where have any of you been the past year?! Where were you guys when Dan got wasted at winter formal?! Where were you guys when he had breakdowns after every football game?! Where were any of you?!" Stacy shouts angrily.

"Dan's had that much trouble? Why didn't he say something?" Andy asks.

"Apparently, being a big football star means you're not allowed to have feelings." Stacy says.

"He still could've told us...or me..."

"Too little, too late!"

"SHUT UP!" I shout and all eyes turn to me as I grip the fountain before feeling pain start to build.

-3rd person-

Will's eyes turned into purple cat eyes as he groaned.

"Will, fight it!" Selena said.

"I can't!" He replied as his hands went to his head.

"Will, what the hell is-" Andy started before Will's body was engulfed by purple flames, causing everyone to jump back a bit. They all watched in fear as Will's skin started to crack while a pair of wings and a tail burst out of his body. Will then screamed in pain as his skin began to break away and claws extended from his fingernails and toenails until he looked like a large purple dragon. He turned to his childhood friends then lifted his head and let out a loud roar.

"Will!" Selena said, getting her brother's attention. "Come back to me, bro."

Will lowered his head to her and snarled.

"Will, it's me. Selena. Remember when we were five and you always came over to my room whenever you couldn't sleep? You'd always lay with me because you felt safe around me. Mom and Dad never minded it and let you do it." She said.

Will snarled for a second before sniffing Selena. When he finished, animalistic groans escaped his mouth until he shrunk to a smaller size. Selena and Will had a way of bringing Will back to his normal self when this happened and it was talking about happy memories. No matter what it was, it helped every time. Will's mindset also returned to normal as he stood on his hind legs, which made him seem human size.

-Will-

I look at the others. "Sorry about that." I say.

"What...the...hell?" Andy asks.

I sigh. "It happened three years ago. I'll explain later." I say.

"Don't bother, Will!" Stacy says then looks at all of us. "I'm done here." She says and walks off.

I sigh again then see Lily shaking as she holds her textbooks. I notice her knuckles are white.

"Lil..." I start.

"I'm sorry... but I just can't go back there." She says then heads into the school.

"I guess you're bailing too?" I hear Noah accuse someone and see him looking at Lucas.

"Shut up, Noah." I say and he turns a glare at me.

"You don't get to talk to me, big, purple, and scaly." He says coldly.

I frown. "If Dan weren't the priority right now, I'd fry you where you're standing." I warm him.

"...Even if I did believe everything that was just said...I don't have the time." He says then heads back to the school.

"Bury your heads in the sand then!" Noah shouts. "This won't just stop!"

"I told you to shut up, Noah!" I say.

"Besides, if Will and I weren't attacked last night, we'd be in their place too." Selena says.

I turn to Ava. "What say you, Ava?" I ask.

"This is definitely my style." She says. "I'm in."

"Me too." Andy says. "When do we do it?" He asks.

"Tonight." I say.

"My dad's got a strict school night curfew and wow, that is so lame to say out loud." Ava says.

"And I've got early training tomorrow." Andy says.

I get an idea. "Ava, what if we tell your dad you're studying at our house?" I ask.

"That could work! He always liked you two and he'll be thrilled about me making 'normal' friends." She says.

"And Andy, even though basketball is important to you, this could be life or death. You're one of the strongest people here. I'd feel a lot better with you looking out for us." Selena says.

"Well, when you put it like that...I'm in." He says.

I look at Noah.

"I'm in." He says.

"I need to get my stuff. I'll meet you guys in front of the hardware store." Selena says.

"Then what?" Noah asks.

"We save Dan." I say.

With that, Andy, Ava, Noah, and I head to the hardware store in town to wait.

That's chapter two. Review and I'll post more chapters.