Raven sat in her room, clutching the small teddy bear in her arms. Her tears fell into its head, soaking through the fabric. Her father entered the room to hug her tightly.
"I-Ith Mama okay?" The six year old asked between her missing front teeth. She looked up at her fathers dark, grey eyes that were filled with sadness and looked back to the black teddy bear, making her black pigtails bounce.
"She's okay now." He said quietly, resting a hand on her head. She already knew what he was talking about. Christine Lawliet had breathed her last, and was now in a better place than Earth.
Christine had gotten what was going around; the plague. She'd suffered through three days of sweating non-stop, severe stomach pains, throwing up, and nose bleeding before she'd finally died. Her golden blonde hair had faded to a dull, yellow color and her bright green eyes had grown weaker by the day. Ryuzaki, Raven's father, seemed to be the most upset out of the many people who did. She was the nicest, most loving person anyone could meet. People found it odd how Ryuzaki had fallen in love with her; his exact opposite.
Ryuzaki was tall and very skinny. He had black spiky hair and dark grey eyes. He had very few friends and was quiet. Raven took after him in almost every way. Her looks anyway. Like her mother though, she was loving after the ones she'd come to love. But she was shy.
Ryuzaki stood up and walked to the window, Raven following him. He pulled her up on the window sill about four floors up and they watched as a few people covered in masks and plastic gloves wrapped up Christine's body. The white bandaged corpse was hoisted into a truck and was driven away to be cremated.
Raven looked up at her father, a few tears still escaping her eyes. A tears spilled down his face and she stood up to hug his neck when a stone on the sill slipped under her foot, and Raven fell off the window. She shrieked as the bear fell to the ground but Ryuzaki wrapped him hand around her tiny wrist. She squeezed her eyes shut, being terrifried of heights as he pulled her back inside.
"Be careful." He instructed her.
She nodded and hugged his legs.
"I'm thowwy daddy." She apologized.
"It's okay." He ruffled her hair and she giggled softly. "Let's get ready for bed."
She nodded and followed him to her bedroom.

Raven woke up and stretched her long arms out. She threw her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. 11 years had passed since her mother's death, and she'd grown quite used to it just being her and her dad. She heard a loud knocking on her door.
"Raven, are you still in there?" Her father's voice said from the other side.
"Yeah Dad, just like every other morning."
He always asked that every morning.
"Just making sure."
She shook her head, smiling a bit as she pulled on her jeans. He was always "making sure" of everything she did. She didn't really blame him; after losing Christine, he didn't want to lose his only daughter too.
The black haired teen left her room and went downstairs where she found her dad in the dining room picking through the candy bowl on the table. She still wasn't allowed to eat any of the candy; she might get a cavity and die, according to Ryuzaki.
"Morning Dad." She said as she hugged him from behind.
He looked over his shoulder, smiling slightly. "Hey."
"Can't I just have one piece of candy?"
"No."
She groaned and rolled her eyes. "But, you've kept me from candy for 17 years! I really don't think one piece of candy's gonna make a significant difference."
"It is."
He rested a hand on her head as he turned around.
"Shouldn't you go to school?"
"Eh." She shrugged. "Do I have to? Y'know.. I could fall down the stairs and possibly kill myself. Or what if that cute guy in-"
"What?!" He turned around abruptly.
She blinked. "What?"
"You did not just say 'that cute guy.'?"
"Yeah, so?"
"There will be no cute guys. You're too young." He started off down the hall to the study.
"Too young?" She repeated and followed him to the study.
"Yeah, too young. Now go to school."
"Dad, I'm 17! I'm gonna be moving out anyway! I wanna see the world and get married you know!"
"Yeah well that can wait until you're like 30."
"No, it can't."
He turned around and grabbed her shoulders firmly.
"Raven Elizabeth Lawliet, stop arguing with me and just go to school!"
Not wanting anymore trouble than there already was, she stormed back down the hall, threw her black backpack over one shoulder, and left to her bus stop.
"I hate him." She muttered as she left.

Raven marched back up the hill to her house, still mad about the argument from this morning. She caught her dad looking out the window, watching her carefully and she moved over to Chris; the other boy on her bus. He was slightly taller than her, with brown hair and dark blue eyes. She pulled on his shirt, pressing her lips roughly against his in a brief two seconds before parading up to her house with a smirk on her face.
"What was that?" Ryuzaki asked angrily.
"What?"
"You kissed that boy!"
"So? It was a kiss. Chill."
Angry that she had a smart mouth with him, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her upstairs to her room.
"You're grounded. I want you to stay in here, and do not leave. I'll bring food up later."
He pushed her into the door and closed it behind him. She fell on the floor as she heard the key in the lock, locking her inside. She threw her bag across the floor and crossed her arms.
"This isn't fair." She murmured. "Now I really hate him."
Suddenly she heard the doorbell ring and she looked through the wide crack in the door. She could easily see her father answering the door.
"You're Matt?" He asked the person at the door.
"Yeah." The person had a deep, husky voice, kinda like the voice people get when the smoke a lot.
Ryuzaki moved, opening the door wider so the visiotr could come inside.
The young man, who didn't look over 5 years older than Raven, had longish red hair and green eyes. On his head were orange goggles and there was a cigarette in his mouth. She could see the grey ps3 tucked in his white, fuzzy jacket-vest pocket. He wore a long sleeved, black and white shirt under the long vest and blue jeans. The bottoms of his jeans were tuccked ino a pair of black boots that ended at his knees. If you took the outfit apart, it seemed kind of weird, but he managed to make it look good together.
"So, you're my new apprentice."
"Yeah." Matt said.
Dad never said anything about an apprentice. Raven thought.
Why did Ryuzaki get an apprentice and how come he never told Raven about it? Who was Matt anyway? Raven was determined to find out.

Thanks for reading the first chapter guys. I'm really excited about this book. Pleas,e leve feedback tell me what you like, don't like, etc. See you in the next chapter! 3