Spring was just around the corner, and already it had started to warm up. You know the saying "April Showers bring May flowers"? Ha, well, now it might as well be February showers bring miserable kids.

Bianca and I, we had just ran away from our social worker. It wasn't that she was a monster or anything, she was just getting a bit too controlling. She wanted to split me and Bianca up, and of course we would not stand for that. So we ran away on a garbage truck. Little did we know that we would end up in the ghetto parts of Las Vegas. Ugh.

It was in the middle of the night, and pouring rain. Me and Bianca had been walking for hours, trying to find a place to rest, but we had no luck. All we had was the clothes on our back, and that same small knapsack filled with two sandwiches and a bottle of water. I had on baggy jeans, and a black sweatshirt. Bianca wore jeans, and a torn up sweater. (Of course she had that green cap on! Do I have to repeat myself?) So yeah...here we are.

"B-Bianca! D-do you see any where to rest?" I shouted over the rain, clutching my hands to my sweatshirt. Bianca didn't bother to look back.

"I don't know, Nico." I heard her mutter. I bit my lip, keeping my head up to see in the rain.

It began to seem like we had been walking for hours until I heard music. It was more of a loud, annoying music that you hear in clubs. I didn't care, at least it was coming from a place with a roof.

"Bianca, what's that up ahead?" I shouted again, over the rain. This time, Bianca stopped.

"I don't know." She admitted after a while. I fidgeted with my pocket.

"Well, maybe we can check it out." I offered. I mean, considering we were in a rainstorm, we really didn't have a choice. "Beggars can't be choosers." I added, looking up at Bianca, pointedly.

She sighed. "Fine, your right. Let's go."

We both broke into a run for the music-filled place. It turned out to be a large brick building with a small industrial looking door. We must've been coming from the back of the building. I could still hear the music, and make out that it was heavy rap music. Bianca reached for the handle of the door and yanked it open.

I was overwhelmed once we got in. Music was blasting from everywhere, and dark clods of people were strung about, all of them dancing, shouting, and laughing. I heavy alcohol smell that gave me a headache drifted over the place. A club. It was a club.

"Nico," Bianca whispered to me, as we stayed to the wall. "don't talk to anyone. I don't like it here. Let's find a lobby, or something." She grabbed my hand as we made our way along the wall, bypassing the people who were dancing and reacting wildly to the music. The whole place smelled of beer. The scent made me sick, like I might throw up.

"Ungh...Bianca, can we stop for a sec'? My head hurts."

Bianca groaned. "Okay, but only for a minute."

I leaned against the wall, and put my hand on my head. The loud booming noise of the music, the dancing and shouting people, the smell of beer, it was really getting to me. I prayed that no one would notice us. My prayers must have been overlooked.

"Nico, you okay?" Bianca asked me, putting her hand on my shoulder. I looked up. Before I could answer my sister, I caught a glance of a dark figure coming towards us. I stood up straight again. I couldn't make out any features, but I could tell the person was a man. A dark, tall, muscular, man. I saw him smile in an eerie way, and make some weird hand motion towards Bianca.

"Hey, babay, why dontya dance with meh?" His words were slurred. He was probably drunk. Bianca looked up with a wary glance.

"What?" She said in disbelieving shock. The man laughed.

"No need fora hostilitay, justa dance." He cackled. I saw a weird golden ring on his finger. It wasn't like a wedding ring, but it was more like a 'look, I'm a creepy loser' ring. I stepped in front of Bianca.

"Get away from her." I said, as bravely as I could. Once he looked like he was about to say something, I gave him a hard kick in the shin, and ran out of the way. Bianca followed.

"Thanks for that." She said, almost apologetically.

"No problem, I answered, my voice weak. I felt like I was going to puke right then and there. I did.

"Ungh..." I moaned, clutching my stomach after I was done. My head suddenly felt hot. "Bianca..."

My sister put an arm around me and walked me somewhere. I couldn't tell where we were going, but suddenly we were outside again, in the rain. It felt so good. I let the water fall on me. It made me feel a lot better.

"Thanks." I muttered, curled up in a fetal position on the sidewalk. My head still burned like fire with memories from the club. I couldn't see anything, except the sleeve of my sweater.

"Nico, your sick. We need to get you to...." Her voice trailed off. If we went anywhere, we would be thrown into different foster homes. I didn't want to think about anything until I heard the footsteps.

"Bianca..." I was about to ask, but then I heard someone start to talk.

"Where-ya been offtah?" Great, the guy from the club. "We'z got unfinished business, missay." I felt Bianca step back, half-scared, half-annoyed.

"Leave us alone!" I heard Bianca's voice turn hoarse. I looked up. To my surprise, the rain had somewhat stopped. I inhaled a deep breath of humid air, and looked up to see the guy again. I was too weak to get up. Helpless, I could just watch.

"Welleh, I don't suppose you'd wanta saya that, missay. I can packa punch." Bianca stepped back, afraid.

"I-I can call the police, you know..." She said, unconvincingly. I found myself just staring at his scaly hand. My head still hurt, and I thought I might puke again. Wait, scaly? That wasn't right. I looked up at him. I saw his eyes glow in the dark. They glowed red. His hair wasn't hair, but scales. And he had a tail? A dragon? Seriously? Before I could comment, I heard Bianca moan.

"Oh no, not again." She said, stepping back towards me. "Nico...get up."

My head popped up. Immediately, I stood up, holding tightly onto her hand. The man/dragon opened his mouth, showing his large fangs. My hearts jumped.

"RAWR!" He bellowed. Sweat poured down my face.

"B-Bianca! R-run!"I stuttered. She was already running, tagging me with her. I heard the pounding footsteps behind us. My heart was racing. I tried to keep up.

"Nico! Faster!" Bianca kept her grip on my sleeve as we ran. All I could see were more dark buildings ahead of us. My feet seemed to be moving by themselves. Suddenly, everything stopped, and pain filled my body.

"Ow..." I groaned. We had slipped in a puddle. Lovely, ,that's just what we needed. I felt Bianca try and struggle up, but it was too late. The monstrous thing had reached us.

"RAWR! NEXT TIME YOU'LL RETHINK THE WAY YOU SPEAK, YOUNG DEMIGOD!" What was he saying? I didn't know. I just yelped in pain from the fall. My hands were all cut up, and wet. The dragon/thing looked from one of us to the other, as if contemplating on who to eat first. I felt Bianca stand up.

"Leave us alone!" She shouted, her voice cracking in every word. I looked up, my body aching. My gaze trailed to the golden ring that was still on his hand. The ring! That must be it.

"B-Bianca! The ring!" I tried to yell, but it came out all wrong. Bianca still heard me. She shot my a curious glance, then looked at his hand.

I rolled out from the puddle, strategically getting his hand towards Bianca. As I had thought, the monster turned to face me, leaving the ring hand towards Bianca.

"WHAT YOU DOIN' KID?" He growled. I flicked my eyes to Bianca, who was already one step ahead of me. She creeped closer to him, and with a quick motion, grabbed his hand, and was tugging on the ring. "AHH!" The monster screamed, as he yanked his hand away from Bianca.

The ring stayed in Bianca's grip, though. I wriggled myself up, trying to ease the pain. (It wasn't working.) My mind went to the monster.

He stood frozen for a few seconds, but then shriveled up...into dust. Cool. "What was that?" I mumbled. Bianca stared at the ring in her hands.

"I don't know, Nico." She said, almost to herself. She took the ring and stuck it into her pocket. Then, she reached out for me. "Let me help you up."

My sister helped me up from the puddle. "Ouch!" I yelped, and went back down to sit upright on the curb.

"What hurts?" Bianca asked.

"Everything." I mumbled. Bianca sighed.

"Well, where do we go now?" She asked herself. I took a deep breath.

" I don't know, Bianca. I don't know."

A/N- Okay, happy Valentines Day much? Lol. So...tell me how I did! I hate silent readers! Was this chap. a little slow? Something makes me think it was...oh well. Please review!