Chapter 2

I felt something warm against my body. When I opened my eyes everything was bright and blurry, I closed my eyes, my limbs felt heavy and numb, refusing to move. Slowly opening my eyes everything came into focus. Jason was caring me on his back as I rested my head on his shoulder.

"Look who's awake," Jason turned his head to look at my still half asleep face.

"How long was I out?" I said forcing my eyes to stay open as I looked around, we were close to home. Adam was caring a several bags on his arms and a huge pile of books in his hands, Jason also had a few bags on his arms.

"Around 2 hours, the nurse said that you fell asleep almost 5 minutes into 7th period." Jason stopped and put my down then grabbed some of the books from Adam.

Jason started walking toward the house again then looked at Adam and me, "why do you guys get so many books? You go through this every almost every few months."

"What can I say? We like to read," I said as I skipped lightly down the path, leaving Jason and Adam behind as I went ahead of them.

"You could help you know!" Jason yelled from behind me.

I stopped and turn around waiting for them to catch up. When they got close enough I recognized one of the books from the top of the pile in Adam's arms. It was a hard covered book with the title printed on the front; the book was around 600 to 700 pages, though it only looked around 500 pages. I quickly took it from the pile then opened it and started to read as I walked head of the guys once again.

"That wasn't very helpful!" Jason yelled for behind. I smiled, ignoring him and continued to walk home as Adam and Jason talked while carrying the rest of the books.

"We're home!" Adam yelled as we went through the door.

"Welcome home!" Charles yelled back from the kitchen.

We walked trough the house until me reached the dining room where we placed all the books down on the table. Our dining room had china cabinets filled with a variety of place settings. On the wall there were shelves with glass dolls and figurines that would seem as though they were looking at something across the room. The windows had long curtains that reach all the way to the floor and the walls were a dark maroon color. In the center of the room was a large table with a white table cloth that seemed to brighten up the seemingly dreary room.

My uncle walked in as we placed the books down, he was wearing an apron and had a large metal spoon in his hand.

"Good, you guys picked up the books," my uncle said with a large smile on his face. I noticed his gaze transfer from our faces to my wrist, it still had a bandage wrapped around it and it was easily spotted from my lack of long sleeves.

"What happened?" He asked.

"What do you mean," I tried to smile and pretend like I didn't know what he was talking about. I put my arm behind my back and kept smiling, hoping that he would drop the subject and leave it at that.

"Your wrist, what happened to it?"

"I just got careless that's all," I responded keeping a straight face so that he couldn't tell that I was lying. Not that I wanted to lie to him, it's just that I don't feel like taking to him about a small 'bully problem' (if you can call it that) that I can handle without his help of any sorts.

'Besides, how could he help?'

"You should have been more careful then," he responded then started to talk to the guys.

As much was I love my Aunt and Uncle I could never consider them a parental figure in my life.

'I all ready had a mom and dad, I don't need another one.' My mind seemed to drift off carelessly into my own thoughts.

"So where do you guys keep all of these books? I know for a fact that you don't have enough room in this house to fit all of the books you get like every month," Jason pulled me away from my thoughts as he talked to Adam and Charles.

"Some of the older ones go to Adam's and Selena's grandmother's house, the rest just go to the person that it belongs to and everyone has their own special spot for their books." My uncle said.

"Hey Selena, you ready to go?" Jason looked down at me smiling as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

"Where are you going?" Charles asked.

I shifted my gaze from Jason to Charles, "Jason's house to hang out."

"Adam are you going to?" He asked.

Adam quickly looked around the room then looked at Jason before replying. "I think I'll stay here, I want to get some stuff done."

I gave him a questioning look but he ignored my gaze. Before I could say anything to him Jason pulled me away from them and out of the house. As we traveled down the driveway I looked back at the house. The curtains were closed and vines covered the side of the house (but in an artistic way, as Valerie would say). There were some flowers along our house and driveway, the house was a beautiful off white color and it all just looked brand new and well taken care of. To anyone the house would look welcoming and homely, but to me it looked empty and lonely like every other house. No house will ever feel like home until my mother's smiling face is once again at me when I get home. Or until I get to stay up late waiting for my dad to return from work, only to fall asleep on the couch, leaving my dad the job of carrying my back to my bed. I missed my parents more then anything and no place will feel like home until they are there waiting for me.

When we got to the end of the drive way we started heading down the road to Jason's house. It wasn't far; our two houses are a couple of minuets apart and are the only two houses on the road. Our road was long, between our houses there were a few trees, and behind them was a large forest, and across the road was a graveyard.

Jason's parents weren't home so I sat on the couch and Jason walked into the kitchen. Jason's house was very bright and open, his mom had a bright personality and it showed in her decorating.

As I sat on the couch and got comfortable my mind went to Adam, "Jason, why did Adam stay behind?"

"Maybe he had something to do," he yelled back to me from the kitchen.

"It's Friday! what could he have to do? Besides he always hangs out with us," I said, my voice filled with disappointment.

"I'm sure that whatever he has to do it's important." Jason came back caring 2 mugs with steam pouring out of them, he handed me one and sat beside me. I looked down at it, it was warm in my hands and the smell was sweet, it was hot chocolate. When I took a sip it was sweet and made my whole body warm up.

I smiled at the comfortable feeling, but imminently erased it, "you're off the hook, for now," I said taking another sip. We sat in silence while watching T.V., there was some comedian on but they weren't that funny. My mind wandered back to Adam after a while, this wasn't the first that he acted weird.

"What do you think Adam's doing?" I asked, taking another sip of Coco, and waited for a responds, nothing. "When we left he looked so serious," I continued, "I hope every thing's alright."

Jason sighed and grabbed my cup out of my hand and placed it on the table beside his. I looked up at him with a questioning look; he was facing me then all of the sudden he started hugging me.

"Everything is fine," he whispered.

"But…" I started to say.

"You don't need to worry," he continued, hugging me tighter. Slowly I wrapped my arms around him and closed my eyes.

'Why is Jason acting weird now? I guess I'll leave it alone for now.' I pulled away form Jason and smiled up at him. I loved that he was always warm, he was like a giant plushy.

After that we finished our hot Coco we continued to sit in silence on the couch. It got late and we headed back to my house for dinner (Jason's parents come home late sometimes so he eats with us).

"To think it was hotter then hell before," I said to Jason while opening the door. As soon as the door closed there was a loud crash from upstairs, Jason and I took off our shoes by the door and headed up the stairs. There was another sound from the other side of Adam's room.

"Adam, dude, you in there?" Jason asked while knocking on the door, he tied twisting the knob but the door was locked.

"Stay here," I said, running to my room I searched through my draws and pulled out the lock picking kit we made in tech class last year. When I got back I kneeled in front of the door and started working on the lock.

"Never thought you would keep that thing," Jason said referring to my lock picking kit.

"You never know when it'll come in handy," I said as the lock clicked and the door slowly opened. I looked into the room and my eyes widened, Adam was holding Matt on the ground by his wings.

"What's going on in here!" I yelled, Adam released Matt and he flew clumsily over to me. I gently held in my hand, his wing was torn and there was blood trickling on my hand. I looked at Adam, he wasn't in better shape than Matt, and there were scratches and bruises all over him.

"Selena…" Adam started to say.

"No, get cleaned up and then will talk," I said averting my eyes from him.

"Selena, are you…" Jason put his hand on my shoulder but I shrugged it off.

"I'm fine!" I left Adam's room and headed into mine. I walked into the bathroom and placed Matt on a towel on the counter then started to fill the sink with water. I opened the cabinet and grabbed the first aid kit, pulling out some gauze and medicine.

"This is going hurt a little but please bear with it, "I told Matt, placing him in the sink. I carefully washed him trying not to hurt him too much; after he was clean I wrapped a towel around him to dry him off. Grabbing the bottle of peroxide and a cotton ball then started treating Matt's wounds. As soon as the cotton ball touched him he started to freak out. I put my hand on him to keep him down and continued treating his wounds.

"Please calm down Matt," I placed a Popsicle stick on each side of his torn wing then wrapped it in gaze. "There," I said releasing him. "You wont be able to fly for a while but it should heal fast." I took him gently in my hands and placed him against the side of my head, giving him a hug. I felt his free wing wrap around the back of my head as if hugging me back.

I pulled him away and looked down at him, "Matt," he was so adorable as he looked up at me. "I Love you," I smiled at him then brought him back into my room, placing him on a pillow on my bed. The door creaked open and Charles peeked his head through the door way.

"Selena, it's time for dinner," he said.

"I'm coming," I said turning my head to look at him, he had a smile on his face as he nodded before leaving. I looked back at Matt, "I'll be back later with something to eat so stay here for now and get some rest," I left the room closing the door behind me and then headed down the hall way. When I got to the dinning room everyone was seated and started placing food on there plates. I sat down between Adam and Jason, staring at the bowls of food on the table; everything was steaming and the aroma for the food was circling the entire room. Charles had cooked a large bowl full of spaghetti with red sauce, there were also some meatballs and fresh bread. Everything was cooked to perfection as always, I grabbed some spaghetti and buttered a piece of bread.

"So how was school?" Charles asked trying to lift the uncomfortable felling.

"Fine," I bluntly said.

"Selena hurt her wrist at school today," Adam said, Charles already knew but I was hopping not to have to tell Valerie.

"What why didn't anyone tell me!" Val yelled, standing up and walking over to me. She pulled my chair out and made me stand up to give her a hug. "My poor baby, are you ok?" She squeezed me so tightly that it was hard to breath. She over reacts all the time so I did want to tell her, Charles and Jason started at us while Adam just continued eating.

'You are so going to pay for this' I thought while glaring at Adam.

"Aunt Val I'm fine, it's just a sprain," she released me from her death grip and looked at me with her hands on my shoulder. She gave me a worried look while I just smile up at her.

'I wonder if she acted like this when she saw Adam,' I looked back at Adam, he had several bandages on his arms, face, and well, everywhere.

Val and I sat back down and without even looking at Adam I said "so why exactly did you attack Matt again?"

"Why do you assume that I started it?" he asked.

''Cause you've never liked him, bastard,' I thought to myself.

"I never said that you started it," I said not looking at him.

"He just attacked me for no reason I didn't do anything to him."

"He wouldn't just attack someone! Something must have happened!" I said glaring at him, I was getting angry now and Adam wasn't telling me something.

"Selena calm down, you can talk about it later," Val said in an assertive tone. I looked back at my plate and poked my food.

"Jason, since it's raining so much you're welcomed to stay over if you like. I already called you parents and they said it was fine," Charles said trying to break the tension in the room.

"Thanks, that would be great," Jason replied.

"I'm done," I pushed my chair back and picked up my plate, "I'm going up stairs."

"You barely touched your food," Val said.

"I'm not that hungry," I walked into the kitchen, placing the plate in the sink after scraping the food in the garbage. I went into the fridge, grabbed an apple and then headed upstairs. When I opened the door to my room Matt was right where I left him. I walked over to my bed and placed the apple next to him then went over to my closet and grabbed my pajamas. My pajamas were a thin pair of long black pajama bottoms with rose petals on the side and a matching long sleeve top. I went into the bathroom to change and brush my teeth, when I was done I looked into the mirror. My eyes were dark and my skin was pale.

'You would think after being here for so long, where it's sunny almost all the time, I would get a tan.' I thought to myself, not that I was complaining, I like my pale skin.

I walked out of the bathroom and went over to my book shelf. My book self was an average size, there were some new books, some baby books and of course old photo albums. I grabbed a photo album then headed over to my bed and leaned on my headboard next to Matt. I opened the album, the pictures were from 10 years ago before my parents died and I moved to this house. There were pictures from the holidays, vacation, everything, to anyone we would have seemed like the perfect family and that's what it felt like at the time. My mom was a beautiful person; she had soft skin, silky brown hair and dark eyes. My dad was handsome too he had black hair, dark eyes, he was strong and kind. Valarie and Charles have said on numerous occasions that Adam and I are the spitting image of our parents.

"I wish they were here," I said to myself. My eyes started to water, a few tears escaped and landed on the picture of Adam, myself, my mom and my dad. We were sitting in my grandma's library reading when my Grandma walked in a snapped a shot of us.

I can still remember her voice saying, 'you four look incredible together; you're like the pieces of puzzle, fitting together to make one large picture.' After that we all looked around, I was curled up on a chair with a book, Adam was sitting on the floor, and mom and dad were on the couch reading. We were like the pieces of a puzzle; everything seemed so perfect together, it was like a fairytale.

All of the sudden there was a high-pitched screech, and then the power went out. I put my album on the nightstand then looked over to see Matt still on the pillow. There was only a little light coming form the large window above my bed so all I could see is his shadow. He lifted his head to head to look up at me, his eyes were like glass, crystal orbs, reflecting light and trying pierce into my soul. I looked up at the clock on the wall, staring at it so that my eyes could adjust. It read 11 o'clock, 'everyone should be asleep by now,' I thought to myself.

"Matt, stay here OK?" I told him getting up and heading toward the door. I felt around the door searching for the knob, it wasn't there, I couldn't even find the frame. I couldn't find the door and the room was getting cold.

"You can't get out," said a voice from behind me. I turned around to see who it was but the only thing there were shadows. I wrapped my arms around myself trying to keep warm. I felt blanket go around me along with a pair of arms and I froze.

"You don't have to be afraid," it was a mans voice.

"Wh-who are y-you?" I stuttered, partly from the cold and partly out of fear.

"I not surprised that you don't recognize me, but don't worry I'm a friend," his voice seemed so smooth and comforting, it was like I did know him but I could put my finger on it.

"How did you get in here?"

"I've been here all along." So many questions were heading spinning through my mind. He seemed to know so much and I can't even see what he looks like. The only thing that I could pick out was that he was about the height of Adam

"What-"

"I'm here to protect you," he interrupted, now standing in front of me.

"From what?"

"You'll find out soon enough." He released his grip on me and disappeared into the darkness. I tried to reach out and stop him from leaving but there was nothing. I searched for a wall or anything solid. There wasn't anything any where. I closed my eyes and sat on the floor hugging my knees. It was cold and I could here the wind blowing, I wrapped the blanket tighter around me but it didn't help. I heard it blow open and closed in the widow and there was a sound of a door opening.

"Selena," the voice sounded eerie and seemed to echo throughout the entire room. "Selena," it repeated. The voice sent a shiver down my spine and was causing my heart to race. All of the sudden a hand was placed on my shoulder and I screamed, screwing my eyes shut and placing my hands on my ears.

'What is happening to me?!?!' my mind was racing and I felt like my heart was going to shoot out of my chest.

"Selena!" That voice, it sounded like Adam! I felt arms wrap around me and I opened my eyes. Looking up I could see Adam's face looking down at me; I turned my body to the side and leaned against his chest. Jason was sitting next to us and my eyes started to water. Why is this happening? Was it a dream? If it was, how did it end up like this? There are so many questions and, I'm afraid of the answers.

"Is everything all right?!" Charles rushed through the door and his voice had nothing but worry in it.

"What's going on in here?" Val said, walking in after Charles.

"I'll take care of things here, don't worry," Adam said back to them and they walked back to there room after giving him a knowing nod. Adam grabbed my shoulders and lightly pushed me off of him. I tried to stop the tears from flowing but they kept coming. Jason walked over to my lamp and turned it on before heading back to the other room. I rubbed my eyes and tried my hardest to stop my tears from flowing out as I looked up at Adam. His face was no longer soft or concerned. More serious and. . . scary.

"What happened here?" He demanded.

I said nothing. My breathing stared to turn into short gasps as I tried to calm myself down.

"Selena," his grasp tightened on my shoulders and a tear fell from my eye. "please tell me what happened." I hung my head and let a few tears run down my face and drop onto the floor. His grip loosened and I automatically wrapped my arms around him. Slowly he wrapped his arms around me, except while I was tightly squeezing him his hands barely made contact. He quickly picked me up and brought me to my bed placing me gently down onto the soft mattress. As soon as my head touched the pillow I couldn't move. Adam pulled my blanket over my head then stroke my head once before walking way. I tried to make and reach out to him but my body wouldn't move, not even and inch. My eyes got heavy and started to close despite my mind telling them to stay open. The last thing I saw was Adam closing the door to my room, not even looking back.

'Don't leave me' I thought before closing my eyes before slipping unconscious.

chapter 3 will be coming soon, i've almost finished typing it