Chapter 1: The Mean Family

"Rachel McGanoff! Get over here right now!" Mr. McGanoff thundered from his office. As Rachel tried to get up the staircase, her older brother of 2 years bumped into her. Richard sneered at her and said, 

"I wonder what you did this time, Rachel." He spat her name like a curse word.

"Go away, Richard." Rachel retorted, tired of the constant conflicts. Rachel really hated Richard. Just because she didn't have the same blood as him didn't mean that Richard was superior!

Rachel ran as fast as she could to father's office, gasping for breath. Her adoptive father gave her a punishment every chance he got. Izzie, their beagle, followed Rachel protectively.

"Yes father?" Rachel huffed as she burst in.

"You're grounded." Mr. McGanoff said simply. Mr. McGanoff was a thin, lean man. He had cold, piercing, and calculating eyes that seemed to stare straight into the soul of Rachel and his clients, since he was a lawyer. With his electric blue eyes, and dark brown hair, he had striking features. But his eyes turned soft and loving towards Richard and Mrs. McGanoff.

"But why! What did I do?" Rachel whisper-shouted. Izzie barked and growled at Mr. McGanoff.

"Why did you teach Izzie a new trick? She's supposed to be a loving, caring family companion. Not a trained circus freak!" Rachel's supposed father asked.

"It's not my fault that Izzie loves me and hates you, Richard, and Mother!"

Mr. McGanoff's eyes turned into a glowering glare that could make even the best warrior crumple to his knees. But Rachel, being adopted into this family since she was a baby, was used to it.

"It's my 13th birthday! You can't do this to me! I wanted to go hang out with my friends. I also thought that it would be a good idea to train Izzie to attack. There could be, um, burglars and thieves, since were rich!" Rachel stated desperately. 

"I can and will do this to you! Our security system is state of the art, and there are my bodyguards as well. No one would dare to try and steal from us. Plus, you have no friends." Mr. McGanoff retorted, very confident in his ability to rule the household.

Rachel ran out of the room, biting her bottom lip to keep from bursting into tears. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction! She ran into the kitchen, where she knew that Richard was always at. The kitchen or the living room playing on his Playstation, Xbox, or PC. Or just eating and watching television. Rachel grabbed a cup, filled it with ice from their fridge, and dumped it all over Richard's messy dirty blond hair. He blinked a few times in surprise, then opened his brown eyes as he felt the ice trickling down his back.

"AAAH! Why the heck did you do that for!" Richard screamed as he jumped around the room. Rachel felt so amused and content, that she decided not to give him the silent treatment, since she knew that Richard would embrace it.

"You told Father that I taught Izzie a new trick!" Rachel explained, watching him dance around the kitchen and into the living room, then into the game room, since they were all connected. Rachel followed.

"No, I didn't tell Dad!" Richard tried to lie. Rachel pierced Richard with her bright green and focused eyes. That was the only thing she had in common with Mr. McGanoff. Rachel had penetrating, sharp, and keen eyes that always took in her surroundings, noticing every single small detail.

"Ok, fine, I did!" Richard inched his hand slowly towards his cup of water. "But I did it for a reason. The reason was- AHA!" Richard had tried to throw the water at Rachel by doing a throwing motion with his cup. Rachel, though, had seen his muscles tense just as he was about to throw it, and his hand crawling slowly to the cup. Rachel had dodged out of the way, and he splashed his Playstation and Xbox instead. Rachel had extraordinary reflexes. Smoke fizzed out of the place you slide the disc into. "AW, BISCUITS!"

Rachel sped out of the room just as Richard called out, "Freak! Look what you did! I'm telling on you to Mom!" Rachel sprinted out of the mansion and into the backyard. She always felt better outside, in the fresh air. Rachel sat down in the grass and gagged. It was freshly cut grass, the smell of the lawnmower and gas still in the air. She preferred wild grass, wild trees, plants, animals... 

Rachel spotted one of their butlers and one of their maids coming towards her to tend to flowers. She stood.

"Eric, Lila. You can take the rest of the day off." Rachel addressed them. "I want to be alone."

"But, Mr. McGanoff said that we had to-" Lila protested, only to be interrupted. 

"Do it now!" Rachel's eyes darkened a shade to be the color of avocados.

Eric and Lila hurried away into the mansion. Rachel sat back down and checked her watch. It read 2:54. Only 6 minutes until the exact time she was born.