Chapter 1

The enormous crowd danced along with the music, or at least tried to. The concert was so full; all one could feel were the bodies around and the heat they created. A miserable feeling, but adrenaline pumping nonetheless. The chords of the guitar pulsed through the veins, the bass throbbed the mind, and the drums shook the entire frame. Between the instruments and the crowd, the singer was nearly inaudible. A clear night in mid march, a seemingly normal night for Annette, well, minus the deafening music and being crushed by the crowd. But something else was bothering her, something she couldn’t explain. A feeling that she could clearly feel but at the same time couldn’t, like something wasn’t right. The feeling was habitual ever since she moved out here to go to school; she just tried to shake it off like usual.

Annette brushed her sandy blonde bangs away from her slightly sweaty forehead; this heat was going to be the death of her.  Annette agreed in her mind that listening to her favorite band on her iPod was much more enjoyable than listening to them at a live concert. Her hazel eyes lifted up towards the metal cage high above the stage that held all the lights; just looking at the lights made her feel more warm. Yup, she’d take the iPod any day.

Suddenly, three dark figures, obviously human, appeared atop the metal cage. Annette’s eyes widened a little, but she soon regained her composure, “Probably just one of their stupid performance stunts.”

She looked around the crowd, how come no one else took notice of the spectacle above? Annette looked back up at the figures; they were just standing there, a male flanked on either side by two women. Annette squinted her eyes to try and make the faces clearer. She could see that the tall male had short dark hair that flowed slightly in the wind. The female on his right had shoulder length dark red hair, and the female to his left had more hair than the other two combined. It was a pale brown color, but it was tied up into two massive pigtails on other side of her head. Victorian style curls covered the place where her ears should have been and trailed down to her shoulders.

Annette was drawn immediately back to the male, obviously the leader of the three. She stared at him with scrutiny, watched him as he looked out and scanned the crowd. “Why does no one else notice them?” Annette asked herself impatiently. Suddenly, the male’s eyes locked with Annette’s. Almost instinctively, Annette’s head snapped back down, as if she had been watching the band the whole time. Annette continued to look at the band without seeing them, her adrenaline was pulsing so much it seemed to blind her. She heard a small swoosh of wind, and before the sound registered in her mind, the dark haired male was right in front of her. Annette didn’t move her eyes, she tried to look as if the man in front of her really wasn’t there, and unnatural instincts seemed to take her over. She didn’t know why, but her mind was telling her that she could not acknowledge that the man in front of her was really there.

The man got closer, until nothing but inches remained between them. Annette’s instincts told her to keep her cool, and god did she try to. But then the man positioned his face so that she was looking right into his eyes. Dark green eyes, smoldering with confusion and frustration, Annette’s muscles tensed unconsciously. The strange feeling that she pushed to the back of her mind earlier seemed to grow stronger, so strong that it felt like it was right behind her. Annette’s body turned itself it seemed, she now faced another man; tall, brown hair, and dark brown eyes.

“Hey,” Annette called out to the man as if she knew him. She put on an innocent smile as she walked up to him. The man looked at her with confusion, but also with a smile, “Hey..?”  Annette grabbed the man’s hand and pulled him along as she pushed through the crowd. Once she felt she was far enough from the dark haired man, she turned around to face the poor man she’d dragged off.

“I’m so sorry,” she started, “I ran into my ex-boyfriend up there, he wouldn’t leave me alone.” She put on a sheepish smile, “I panicked, and you just happened to be the unlucky person that was close.” Annette’s smile faded as she realized how…snobby she sounded, that was not at all like her.

“No worries,” the brown haired man chuckled, “I don’t feel unlucky.”

Annette mentally rolled her eyes, “Well, again, sorry. Thanks for playing along, you’re a life saver.” She turned and gave him a small wave and a smile before pushing her way to the back of the crowd, and finally to the exit.

Annette tried to hurry back to her car without looking like she was actually in a hurry. Her eyes darted from car to car until she finally found her four door little black Volvo. A small sigh escaped her lips as she got up to her car and rummaged through her bag for her keys. Rushed footsteps sounded behind her, her hazel eyes went wide in fear, and she spun around. She nearly passed out with relief when she saw the brown haired man trotting up to her, and not the dark haired one. But he didn’t stop moving until he was literally inches from Annette.

“U-uh, yeah?” Annette stuttered slightly.

The brown haired man smiled, “Hey, you know, I was wondering,” he started. Before he could take another breath, Annette’s instinctive alarm went off, “This is not good,” she mentally thought.

“Uhh, you know,” she cut him off, “I’ve really got to get going. My sister…she’s sick. Pneumonia.” Annette wanted desperately to jump into her car and speed off, but she didn’t dare take out her keys or even unlock the door for fear that the man would either take her car, or her and her car.

Annette backed up until she hit her car door, the man shuffled forward slowly, a devious grin on his face. The weird feeling in Annette flared with every step he took closer to her; the man placed his left palm firmly against the car, right next to Annette’s right shoulder.

“I just wanted to know,” his breathe pooled over her face, “if you’d let me be the unlucky person again and let me take you out to dinner some time.”

Annette tensed up, “Uh, sorry, I think I’ll have to take a rain check. I’m too busy with school and work and whatnot.” Annette strained to keep her voice calm and composed, but she couldn’t keep up her façade much longer.

The man’s grin fell to a scowl, “Well that’s too bad,” Annette froze when she saw the look in his eyes; pure evil, no other way to describe it. She felt his anger rise, and she began to notice a faint black aura emitting from all around him.

“This is really not good,” she mentally said as she glanced to her left and tried to find an escape. The black aura around the man grew, and the feeling inside Annette seemed to scream, whether it was fear or not, she couldn’t tell. The man’s right hand lifted up above his head, and became engulfed completely in the black aura. Annette flung her hands up in front of her face to defend against his impending strike, when she suddenly felt a wave of some sort of energy pass through her.

She waited with her eyes shut tight, seconds passed, and still the man did not strike. Her eyes opened slowly, and she dared to take a glance at the man. He was still, almost…frozen? Annette dropped her arms from her defensive position and looked at the man; he wasn’t even breathing.  She looked around; she stopped and listened…nothing. The concert, the crowd, everything was silent.

“What the hell?” Annette breathed the words.

“What are you waiting for Amber?” Annette’s head snapped in the direction of the voice, it was the dark haired man from before.

“I’ve done it,” the woman named Amber replied annoyed. Annette took notice of the woman’s dark red hair.

“Then why is she still moving?!” The dark haired man hissed at her.

“She’s immune,” Annette’s gaze now fell to the girl with the pale brown Victorian curls. Her voice was so monotone, and her eyes so lifeless, she reminded Annette of a porcelain doll.

Annette felt a rush of adrenaline, and without even thinking she darted off to her left.

Amber scoffed, and the dark haired man sighed. “Evelyn, take care of the guy.” The dark haired man commanded before darting off after Annette.

Annette glided between the cars in the parking lot, despite her speed, the dark haired man slowly closed the distance between them. His long black jacket flailed behind him as he darted in between the cars in pursuit of Annette. Annette came up to a building and quickly rounded the corner, only to find herself at a dead end. She spun back around to try and backtrack, but the dark haired man stood a few feet in front.

Annette slowly backed up until her back was flush against the cold brick wall, the man put his hands in his jacket and advanced forward until he was nearly as close to Annette  as he was at the concert.

Annette suddenly blurted out, “What do you want??” The dark haired man stopped and smiled a crooked smile. He leaned his face in, Annette’s heart sped up and her whole body tensed. The man whispered in her ear, “If you can do what I think you can,” he pulled his head back so his eyes could meet hers. He removed a hand from his pocket and cupped Annette’s chin in his fingers, “You.”

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Annette flew up in bed, gasping for air, light perspiration covering her face. She placed her palm over her racing heart, “Just a dream,” she sighed, “again.” She dropped back down onto the pillows, and looked over at the clock on her nightstand, 6:07 am.  She stared back up at the ceiling. That was the 2^nd time she’d had that dream. That had been one of the most important days of her life, the beginning in fact, of her new life. She sighed as she pulled off the covers and rose out of bed; she slid on her furry white slippers and walked into her bathroom with her eyes still closed. She turned on the light and groaned before opening her eyes to the bright light. She smoothed out her lavender tank top, and readjusted her black pajama pants before finally looking in the mirror. She turned on the faucet and splashed cold water onto her face, and after she dried off with a towel, she took down the messy ponytail her hair was in and shook her hair lightly. Annette then turned off the light, and trekked out to the kitchen. She immediately went for the coffee pot, and barely took notice of the other person sitting down at the table.

“My, my,” the man spoke behind her, “the moon will fall out of the sky tonight, Annette is actually awake before 9.” Annette scowled slightly as she poured some coffee into her cup.

“Screw you, Jett,” she groaned as she placed the coffee pot back down, and took a seat at the table across from the man, and looked up to see him reading a newspaper.

“You wish,” Jett replied as he put down the newspaper to reveal a smirk. He ran a hand through his dark black hair, “I guess I can’t blame you, many a woman has become entranced with my devilishly good looks.” He dropped his hand and looked at Annette with a smile on his lips and in his green eyes.

Annette placed her elbows on the table and held her cup in front of her face with both hands, “Please,” she rolled her hazel eyes, “maybe blind women.”

Jett’s smile grew, “Oh, someone’s in a good mood. So, which dream was it this time?”

Annette sipped her coffee and then put it on the table but kept her hands clasped around it. She stared at the dark liquid for a moment, “The concert,” she mumbled.

She could sense the smirk in his voice, “Oh,” he replied with a chuckle, “I’ll never forget the look on your face when I had you in the alley, pure gold.” 

Annette let go of her cup, and stood up, “I’m going to head out.”

“Ah, ah, ah, slow down girl,” Jett called. “You’ve been given an assignment from headquarters.” He propped one elbow on the table, and held a paper in between two fingers. Annette reached out to grab the paper, but Jett snapped back his arm.

Annette’s eyes smoldered with anger, “Jett, you a*****e, I’m not in the mood for your crap!” Jett’s smirk only grew more devious. His arm quickly hooked around Annette’s waist and he pulled her down onto his lap.

“Mm, what are you in the mood for then?” he breathed onto her shoulder. Annette’s eyes grew wide and flared dangerously with irritation.

“Jett, “her voice was shaky with frustration, “I’m in no mood to tolerant your hotshot attitude.” She glared at him. Suddenly, Jett’s arm around her waist flung straight out to his side, Annette stood up, and then waved her arm towards Jett, and his chair, along with him, flew back until it hit the wall.

Jett laughed quietly, “Now you know you’re not allowed to use your powers on your teammate.”

Annette snatched the paper from Jett, “Don’t be a baby just because you can’t use yours on me.”  Annette turned her back to him and her eyes scanned the paper quickly, “Damn it!” she whined as she tossed the paper onto the table.

Jett stood up and walked up behind Annette and quietly said into her ear, “Turning people to stone isn’t the only power I have.”

Annette scoffed, “F*****g Medusa pervert, I don’t know how Amber can stand you” and with that, she stormed off to her room, leaving Jett alone in the kitchen with a triumphant smirk.

A few seconds later, the fiery haired Amber walked into the kitchen rubbing her eyes, “What’s with all the noise?” she whined quietly.

Jett leaned down and kissed her deeply, “Nothing babe. Annette’s pissed because she’s got to go train the newbies this weekend.” Amber wrapped her arms around his waist, “Mm,” she groaned, “come back to bed. The sun isn’t up yet, and we shouldn’t be either.”

“Naw,” Jett untangled himself from Amber, “I’m going to go take a shower, I’ve got to leave for work soon.” He entangled his hands in her red hair and kissed her deeply once more before turning to leave.

Amber grabbed his hand, “I’ll go with you,” she tried to not sound sleepy.  Jett smirked and led Amber out of the kitchen.

Author's Note

I wrote this, jeez, about a year ago I guess. So please, don't spear me for any grammar errors. Trust me, I beat myself up for them enough as it is. Haha.
Please leave comments! I welcome any and all constructive criticism!
Thanks~! (:

Reviews

[Dylan]

~ahhh~ such nostalgia, haha