Author’s Note: Yay! It’s been edited! Finally…I hope it flows better. Enjoy!!

Story Warnings: Swearing, violence, kissing, some drinking

Chapter Warnings: Ummm…well, this one is extremely long… technically it’s the prologue, but oh well! There’ll be a bit of swearing, minor violence, but that’s about it.

Prologue: Strange Beginnings

Day is overcome by night. Gold is easily covered by black. Now where to find the tar to put on Phil’s head... -Shade

.-.-.

Shade was sitting in the oldest and least used part of the library. School was over, and almost every student had gone home. He was on top of one of the tall wooden bookcases, reading an old book on mythical creatures. He was wearing his "human" clothes, which consisted of a black cowboy hat to cover his pointed ears, a pair of old blue jeans, and black t-shirt. He wore a loose black coat to cover his wings. Unfortunately, he didn’t know of any way to hide his fangs or claws, so he usually just kept his mouth shut and his hands in his pockets. Luckily for him, no one had yet questioned his unusual dress (which was odd, considering that it was June).

Shade flipped to the section on vampyres and read.

Vampyres are the undead. They feed on human blood at night. If they choose, they can "turn" their victim. The victim then becomes a vampyre themself. The one who "turned" them, now becomes their master. There are only a few things that can kill a vampyre, because they are immortal. A wooden stake through the heart, sunlight, and roses. The most popular ward, is garlic. The strongest physical traits of a vampyre are: unusually pale skin, pointed ears, fangs, claws, and, sometimes, bat-like wings. If ever someone wanted to hunt a vampyre, they would have to wait until the full moon, and follow the suspected vampyre to their lair. Only at night, however, because vampyres sleep during the day in their coffins...

Shade snorted. What crackpot had written this? Most of the facts were wrong. Maybe if it had been published in the Dark Ages the facts would have been accurate, but it had been published in the 1990's. His species had evolved since the Dark Ages. Now, vampyres were not undead. Heck, they even lived in clans, just like every other Darke. Though it was true about turning, the sunlight thing was totally off. They just happened to strongly dislike the sun. Immortality was also a lie. Vampyres did not live forever, just for a very long time. And the ways of killing? A stake through the heart would kill anyone! Roses only made them sneeze, and garlic gave them bad breath. Who wouldn’t complain? Above all, the thing about the coffins and lairs. The lairs were actually houses, and vampyres slept in normal beds. The only thing the full moon did, was make them bloodthirsty, irritable, and restless, not to mention at their height of power. God, humans were stupid. Shade tossed the book down in disgust, and picked up his homework.

Write a 5-page essay on one of the following mythical creatures:

Unicorns

Vampyres

Werewolves

Phoenixes

Pixies

Remember: write as many facts as possible and have FUN!

Yup, Ms. Calleria was insane. Find facts written by humans? And have fun? At least Shade would have it easy. None of the other students were vampyres. Tossing down the Essential Guide to Modern Vampires, (ugh, they had spelt it wrong, too), he picked up his notebook and pencil, and began writing.

"Hey, goth-boy," sneered a familiar voice.

Shade ground his teeth in annoyance and glared down at Philip Ghetbridge. He was the most popular boy in 10th grade, and his job was to make Shade’s life a living hell. Of course, that was no surprise. Everyone followed his lead easily because he was so easy to love next to Shade. Blonde hair and blue eyes next to black hair and silver eyes. A golden boy next to a dark loner. The list could go on.

"Hey! Goth! I’m talking to you!"

Shade ignored Phil’s jeering. Suddenly the bookcase tipped dangerously and Shade, unprepared for such drastic measures, slid off on to the floor. He landed with a thump, but managed to keep his hat on. He glared up at Phil.

"What do you want?" he growled, angrily.

"I heard you were hanging around with Linda."

Aw, Linda. So that was what this was all about. Linda Fielding was Phil’s ex. She had dumped him two weeks ago.

"So?"

"I also heard you asked her out. And she said yes."

Shade laughed to himself. Oh yes. That would rub Phil the wrong way. Linda had told Shade that she preferred to go out with boys who weren’t conceited. That was Shade, alright. Poor Phil, being dumped by his ex, then seeing his worst enemy go out with her. Poor, poor, Phil.

"Point being...?" Shade raised an eyebrow and stood up.

Phil growled and punched the vampyre in the jaw. "No one goes put with my girl."

Shade lightly rubbed his jaw. "Your girl? You mean the one who dumped you?" He shouldn’t have done that. Stupid mistake.

In the next minute, Phil had him on the floor and was trying his best to beat the life out of him. Shade allowed him let out his anger, setting his jaw against the pain. That just made Phil angrier.

"What’s wrong, goth? Afraid to fight?"

"Afraid to fight a weakling like you? Of course not. I’m just afraid to break your pretty little nose," he gasped out, through a broken jaw. He flinched as it healed itself. Thankfully, the blood covered up the fact that his wounded face had healed.

"Damn you!" screeched Phil. "No one steals my girl and calls me a weakling!"

He fruitlessly punched Shade again. More cuts appeared on him, but like his mouth, they healed almost instantly. Finally, when Shade was near unconsciousness, he grabbed Phil’s hands and flipped the golden boy off of him, punching him in the cheek, sending him flying. The vampyre stood up with a grunt and straightened his clothes. After pulling his hat lower, he scooped up his homework and limped to the stairs.

"Please remember, next time you try this, that I am close to invincible. Nothing you do to me lasts long." Shade disappeared down the staircase, leaving Phil in a state of shock

.. . .-.-. . .

Several times during the rest of the grade 10 year, Shade was faced with similar attacks. He easily escaped most of them, usually without much injury. The worst had been when he’d broken a wing. He had spent the whole period wincing, and gasping in pain. The looks he had received from the rest of the class had been priceless...

.-.-.

"Let go of me, damn it!" yelled a strangely accented voice.

"Watch your tongue, Mr. Brimstone," ordered Mr. Beyers, the principal.

"I bloody well won’t watch my tongue!"

Shade walked into the office, ignoring the yells. He went to the secretary’s desk and handed her the note from Ms. Calleria, before heading towards the principal’s small office. Shade’s teacher had given him a note to take to the office, since he was being sent there, anyway, for arguing in class with both her and the other students. The vampyre sat down on the bench beside Mr. Beyers door, and waited. He didn’t have to wait long. Mr. Beyers came around the corner, dragging a struggling figure behind him.

"What is it, Mr. Midnight? I haven’t got all day." The principal tapped his foot impatiently.

"Ms. Calleria sent me," Shade replied.

"Again? This is the ninth time in one day!" He sighed. "Come in."

Shade followed Mr. Beyers and the boy he was dragging, into his office.

"Sit," he ordered. He pushed the boy into a chair, and Shade sat in the other one. Mr. Beyers turned to the boy.

"I am sure you know why you’re here, Mr. Brimstone."

"Go to Hell." The boy glared at him.

Mr. Beyers continued. "What is this about? You attacked a girl in your class? We found puncture wounds on her arms!"

"I’m not carrying a knife, if that’s what you think."

"Then exactly what did you do?"

The boy grinned wickedly. "Are you sure you want to know what I did?" The principal nodded. The boy shrugged. "I stuck her with my horns."

"Excuse me?" Mr. Beyers looked confused.

"You heard me."

"I heard you say horns. What do you mean?"

"The horns on my head." The boy rolled his eyes. Shade looked at him in amazement. If the boy was serious, then that meant there was another of the Darke at this school.

"Can you prove it?" the vampyre asked.

The boy rolled his eyes again, and pulled off his baseball hat. Sure enough, two inwardly curved, black horns were protruding from his head.

"B...b...b.." Mr. Beyers looked at him in shock.

"That good enough?" drawled the boy. "Or do you need to see my tail?"

At that, Mr. Beyers went white, and fainted. The boy looked at him in satisfaction.

"Bloody idiot," he muttered. He pulled the hat back on, and got up to leave.

"What species are you?" blurted Shade.

The boy looked at him suspiciously. "What’s it to you?"

Shade didn’t answer. The boy sighed in annoyance.

"I’m a daemon. A fire daemon to be exact." He glared at Shade. "Why do you ask?"

"I didn’t know any other Darke were at the school."

It was the boy’s turn to looked surprised. "Other? You mean there’s more than me?"

Shade raised an eyebrow. "Me, you dolt." He yanked off his cowboy hat, exposing his ears.

The boy snorted. "Those could be fake."

Shade grinned evilly. "Would you like me bite you to prove that I’m real?"

The boy looked confused. "Bite?" Then it dawned on him. "You mean you’re a vamp?"

"Yes. I’m Nightshade of the Midnight Clan."

"Blaze of the Brimstone Clan." The daemon shook Shade’s hand.

"So, you actually have a tail, eh?" The vampyre smiled, showing his fangs.

"Yup. And I’m guessing you have wings?"

"Uh huh. They’re kinda tied to me right now, though."

"Ouch." Blaze looked at Mr. Beyers feet sticking up in the air. "Sooo...what do we do with him?"

"Leave him there. He needs a nap." The pair left the office and walked into the hall.

"Why’d you attack that girl?" asked Shade.

"She was annoying me." The daemon shrugged. "It actually was more self defence."

"Self defence?"

"We were in science lab. She had a knife. I had been annoying her the day before, somehow, and she decided to get revenge."

"Huh?"

"She’s isn’t fully sane. Well, towards me, anyway. She planned to steal some of my skin, I guess. So, I did the only thing possible, since the teacher was gone."

"Well, does the whole class now know about your being a daemon?"

"Nope. They think I stuck her with my knife. Personally, I’m going to let them think that."

"Good plan. I have to do that, too. I once accidentally let a rattler go in science."

"Really? How?"

"Vampyres have the power of telekinesis. I opened the tank and out came the rattler. Of course, I was blamed." Shade shrugged. "So, what do we do now? We’re both s’posed to be in Mr. Beyers office, so we can’t go back to class."

"I vote we play hooky. It’s not like any of the teachers care where we are."

"True. Where should we go?"

"There’s some kind of weird creature exhibit at the zoo," offered Blaze. "I think they may have even set up some caves."

"Sounds good to me." They looked down both halls and snuck through the closest door. The sunlight hit them full blast.

"Damned sun," muttered Shade. He pulled his hat as far down as it would go.

"Come on. There’s some underground walkway nearby. It’s pretty dark down there."

Blaze led the vampyre through some twisting paths and down a worn staircase. It was blissfully cool and dark down there.

"Thanks," said Blaze in relief.

He pulled off his hat and the boys walked for awhile. Finally, they reached the staircase up into the zoo. This was going to be one crazy day...

.-.-.

"C’mon, Breeze! What are you doing?" yelled Michael.

"I’m stealing the ball!" Breeze yelled back. She showed him the basketball.

"Then pass it!"

"No way! I stole the ball, I’m keeping it! Else it would be called borrowing!"

"It’s basketball, Breeze! You’re supposed to give back the ball!" Michael crossed his arms.

"Oh, quit acting like the 18-year-old king of basketball!"

Michael growled. The rest of the gym class was sitting on the sidelines, watching the two have an across the gym verbal sparring match.

"Then give back the blasted ball!"

"I happen to be the queen of thieving, thank you very much! So, therefore, you will not be getting the ball back!" She raced through the gym doors.

The only reason she had actually stolen the ball, was because it had a giant shiny sticker on it. And it made a good weapon.

"Come back here, girl!" yelled Michael, chasing her down the halls. The short pixie slid around a corner and promptly into Derik. He fell on top of her, and then Michael ran into both of them, adding to the small pile. They sat up, and Derik rubbed his head where it had hit the floor.

"Oh, er, sorry, Derik," Breeze apologized. "I was just, er..."

"Taking the idea of stealing the ball way too far," finished Michael, glaring at her.

Breeze stuck her tongue out. "You shouldn’t have put a shiny on it."

"A shiny? You mean the sticker? That’s what made you steal the ball?" Michael stared at her.

"Of course! Why else would I steal a stupid orange ball?"

"Umm...am I interrupting something?" asked Derik, brushing off his shorts. He looked at the pair glaring at each other.

"Just some petty argument coming from an idiot, is all," replied Breeze. "I’ll tell you what. I’ll trade the ball for another shiny."

"You can’t be serious." Michael rolled his eyes.

Breeze looked at him. He sighed.

"Fine. What kind of ‘shiny’ are you talking about?"

"Hmm...something that jingles and shines. Probably some type of jewelry."

"Er, sorry to be rude, but why do you want the ball back anyway?" asked Derik. He looked at Michael, questioningly.

"All the other balls were taken by the gym teachers to basketball camp. That’s the only one left we can use for gym class. I was left in charge. We’re only allowed to play basketball games." Michael shrugged.

"Oh. I see."

Michael searched for jewelry. "Um...sorry, Breeze, but I don’t have any jewelry. Or anything else shiny."

"Then can I have the sticker?"

"Actually, it’s not a real sticker. It’s a plastic thingy that’s attached to the ball."

The bell rang for homeroom. Doors started opening, and students poured forth. Breeze had no intention of moving. Derik felt sorry for Michael. He pulled his necklace off and gave it to Breeze.

"There. That shines and jingles. Now you can give the ball back to Michael." Derik smiled.

Breeze stared at him. "Uh...um...er...yeah..." Michael took the ball out of her hands.

"I owe you one," he mouthed to Derik. Derik winked.

As Michael trotted back to the gym, Derik turned back to Breeze.

"Hey, I’ll walk you back to class, ‘kay? I’m heading that way, anyhow." He grinned.

Breeze looked at him dumbly. She was still stunned that she now had her biggest crush’s necklace. And now, he was offering to walk her back to class. He pulled her along behind him, since she looked to have no ability to move. Finally, they reached Breeze’s classroom.

"Er...thanks for...erm...walking me to class, D-Derik," she stuttered, nervously.

"No prob. See ya!" He sauntered down the hall to his own class.

"Meep."

She walked dazedly into her classroom. Homeroom flew by, and in no time, she was on her way home. She was just leaving the grove of trees that led to her house, when she was grabbed.

"Hey!" she yelped, in annoyance.

She was spun around and came face to face with Chantelle Leeverland, Derik Cay’s girlfriend.

"I saw you walking down the hall holding Derik’s hand," the redhead accused, her blue eyes flashing.

"He was walking me to class," said Breeze, crossing her arms.

"You trying to steal my guy?"

Breeze looked thoughtful. "Only if he’s shiny."

"What?"

"Shiny. You know, as in sparkly? Like jewelry." She rolled her eyes at Chantelle’s stupidity.

The taller girl looked confused. Breeze used this time to make an escape. Well, at least try to. Chantelle grabbed the pixie before she had gone more than a couple steps.

"Where do you think you’re going, midget?" the taller girl snarled.

"Home," she answered. Then she bit Chantelle on the arm. Hard. "And don’t call me a midget!"

"Argh!"

Chantelle shrieked as Breeze’s sharp teeth sank into her skin. She slapped the pixie and Breeze went flying into a tree. Chantelle cradled her arm and moaned. Breeze weakly used her wind magick and escaped. Catching her breath in wheezes, she counted her blessings. Last time she had run into Chantelle, the air pixie had gotten a bloodied nose. For being a complete girly-girl, Chantelle sure was violent. Too bad shiny Derik was stuck with her. Oo...shiny...

.-.-.

"Sky’s awfully blue today," commented Fang.

"Means full moon tonight," added William.

"Hm."

Fang and William were lying on the grass outside, staring at the sky.

Will glanced at the werewolf. "You always get moody on the day of the full moon. Why is that?"

"No reason," said Fang hastily.

"Uh-huh."

"So, uh, how’s it going with you and Beverly?" asked Fang, quickly changing the subject.

Will shrugged. "Same ol’, same ol’. We haven’t gone out on a date for a month."

"Well, there’s a dance at the rec centre tonight. Why don’t you take her to that?"

His friend thought for a moment. "You know, that’s a good idea." He jumped up and brushed the grass off his back. "I’d better go over to her house, then."

Fang got up, too. "Good plan. I have to go anyway. Supper’s soon."

Will looked at him with a touch of concern. "Do you want me to walk with you? It’s starting to get dark."

"Naw. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine."

Will sighed. "I know. But I still worry about you. I know it was two years ago that you got that scar, but I don’t want you taking any chances." He pointed at the long curving scar over his friend’s left eye.

Fang clapped him on the back. "I’ll be fine. Now go get Beverly. If you don’t ask her out soon, you’ll miss your chance and she’ll go out with that new French exchange student, Pierre."

That got Will’s attention. "Ack, no! Bye then!" He ran down the path that led to Beverly’s house.

Fang chuckled as he watched his best friend disappear around a corner. The chuckle turned into a groan of pain as his stomach muscles clenched, signaling his changing soon. He glanced at the sky and noticed that the sun was fast sinking. He probably would only have about fifteen minutes to get home before the sun fully set. And his house was thirty minutes away.

"Bloody hell," he growled.

There was only one thing for it. Run. Since he was a werewolf, he had amazing speed. With any luck, he’d reach home within ten minutes, giving him five minutes to change. Ha. Luck. That would be laugh.

As it so happened, as he was running through the miniature forest near the zoo, he collided with two guys about his age. All three went sprawling.

"God damn it!" growled the one nearest to him. "What the hell do you think you’re doing, you crazy lunatic?!"

Fang sat up with a groan. He looked at the speaker and his eyes widened in shock. Looking at him was a fire daemon.

"I, um, I’m sorry. I-I didn’t mean to. I—"

"Calm down," said the other boy.

Fang shifted his gaze to him and his eyes widened even further. That boy was a vampyre. Fang opened his mouth to say something, but all that came out was a squeak.

"What’s wrong with the lunatic?" asked the first boy.

"Maybe he’s winded," suggested the second.

The truth was, Fang was deathly afraid of other Darke. Well, the fang and claw Darke, anyway. He was fine with elves and selkies and the such. Kind of hypocritical coming from a werewolf.

"Actually—" Fang was cut of by another spasm. This one was by far the worst. He howled in pain and fell back down, curled in a fetal position.

"’the hell?" The first boy crawled over to Fang. He rolled him over and lifted one of his eyelids. A golden eye stared back at him. "Um, Shade? You might want to look at this." The vampyre came over and looked at Fang’s eye. He looked at the daemon.

"Another Darke?"

"Looks that way."

"What is he?"

The daemon lifted Fang’s pant leg and glanced at his unusually hairy leg.

"I’d say he’s a werewolf."

Shade paled (even more than normal). "Uh, Blaze? Isn’t tonight the full moon?"

Blaze swore. "Great. Just bloody great. There are now three Darke alone in a forest, the sun has just set, one of the Darke is a werewolf, and the other two are at the height of their natural black natures on the night of the full moon. Ain’t this just peachy?"

Shade laughed nervously. "It isn’t so bad..."

"Do not make me scratch you," said Blaze, pointing a claw at him.

They were interrupted by a long, mournful howl behind them. They slowly turned around. Sitting there was a large brown wolf with great golden eyes. His fangs were bared as he growled at the other Darke.

"Urg." Blaze made an indiscernible noise.

"Hold on..." Shade carefully pulled off his shirt, and began unraveling the fabric that tied his wings to his body.

"This is not the time for stripping," growled Blaze, watching the werewolf carefully.

"We’re going to tie him up."

Blaze stared at him. "You can’t be serious."

"Here." Shade handed him one end of the long piece of fabric. "You get him from the his left, I’ll get his right."

"You are one twisted psycho," Blaze growled, but he did as he was directed.

Fang started backing away, but couldn’t escape when Shade and Blaze pounced on him. Quick as a flash, the werewolf’s legs were tied together, and Shade had used some vampyric magick to knock him unconscious.

"See? That wasn’t so bad," said Shade, turning to Blaze.

What he saw made his heart stop. Blaze hadn’t been joking about the "height of their natural black natures". Though Shade was still okay (of course, he had learned how to control most of that aspect a few weeks ago), Blaze was not. If Shade thought a werewolf was bad, a daemon was a thousand times worst.

Blaze was bright red, and his yellow eyes were glowing. His black-red, knee-length hair had escaped its tie and was now flying around in an invisible wind. All sanity and humanity had left him, to be replaced fully with his Darke nature. In fact, he was advancing on Shade, grinning evilly. Shade looked around in vain for some type of restraining device. Finding nothing, and having Blaze almost on him, he gave a great lunge into the air, spreading his wings. Unfortunately, daemons were amazing jumpers. Blaze pounced on the vampyre, and they tumbled back to the ground. Smooth as water, Blaze pulled a knife from some hidden sheath and held it to Shade’s throat.

"Prepare to die, you winged freak," hissed Blaze, his strange accent much more thickened.

"Don’t you dare." Shade bit the daemon on the arm, making sure not to let any of his vampyric poison leak into Blaze’s veins. But he did make sure to draw blood.

Blaze screeched and scratched Shade’s face. The vampyre pushed the daemon off of him and started running. Blaze sprang after him and checked him into a tree. All the breath left Shade’s lungs and he slumped over wheezing. Blaze raised his blade again, but Shade weakly cast a sleeping spell over the daemon. The blade fell from Blaze’s limp hand as he fell unconscious to the ground. The silence was deafening.

Shade flopped back down with a trembling sigh. Though it wasn’t safe to fall asleep in the middle of the night in the middle of a forest in the middle of a city, Shade did it anyway. Soon, three Darke were snoring peacefully, and if anyone had entered the forest that night and seen the trio, they would have though they’d lost their everlovin’ mind.

.-.-.

God she hated skirts. The bloody things always hiked up around her thighs, and they barely gave enough coverage to hide her tail. Unfortunately, the mistresses of Lilycroste All Girls High School refused to let the girls where pants. They considered them "boy-ish".

Lynx irritably straightened her skirt yet again. Then she made sure that her tail was still securely tied about her waist. After studying herself in the mirror, she left the washroom and headed back to math class. Bleck. Math and skirts were bad enough by themselves, but put together... The werecat quietly entered the classroom and went to the back to her seat. Her homework was already finished, same with her book. With fifteen minutes left in the period, she had nothing to do. Except file her nails. She pulled out her file and began to sharpen her already sharp claws.

"I think your nails are sharp enough," whispered Kasandra, from the desk beside Lynx’s.

"They’re never sharp enough," she whispered back. "Especially when Wolfsfreir is right next to us."

Wolfsfreir All Boys High School. Sibling school to Lilycroste. Every day, Lynx and her friend had to put up with the same things. Since they both lived past Wolfsfreir, they had to walk that way home. There was no other path. And the Wolfsfreir boys liked to bug them. Catcalls, chasing, being hit on... Urgh.

"I hate boys," Lynx hissed at Kas.

The British girl chuckled. "I know, hun. You tell me everyday."

"But that opinion has never changed."

"Excuse me, girls," interrupted Mr. Patterson’s voice. "Now is not the time for socialization. It is the time for work."

"But, sir, we’re finished," defended Kas.

The math teacher sniffed. Before he could give them a detention for insolence, the bell rang. Lynx and Kas sprang up, grabbed their books, and dashed out of the classroom. They fell against their lockers laughing.

"The old man gets slower everyday, don’t he?" cackled Kas. She opened her locker and shoved her books in.

Lynx started dancing. "No homework tonight, oh, no homework tonight!"

Kas laughed. "But you’ve still got that project on cats to finish."

"Nope. Finished it."

Kas looked at her in amazement. "Are you serious? It was assigned yesterday!"

Lynx shrugged. "It was easy. Let’s just say I’m an expert on cats."

"As in cat-fights?" teased Kas, slinging her bag on her shoulder and following her friend outside.

"That too." She shaded her eyes and looked off towards the school no far away from their’s. "Obviously I need the skills."

Kas looked where she did and laughed. "Touché!"

"Shall we battle our way through the mass of grossness?" inquired Lynx, linking arms with Kas.

"If that means Wolfsfreir boys, bring it on!"

The girls skipped along the path singing made-up songs and laughing like loons. Finally they reached the Wolfsfreir property. There was no way around it. Kas and Lynx had already searched. Like always, the Wolfsfreir boys infested the entire place. Bleck. Lynx and Kas walked along the path that snaked around the property, that also happed to lead to their street.

"Well, well, lookee here," drawled a tall, blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy. Raz Broyder. He blocked the girls’ path, "it’s Lynx and Kasandra." He leered at them. "Haven’t seen you for awhile."

"No kidding. It was the weekend. And let me tell you, we were bloody thankful to not have seen you then."

"Oh, come now, you know you want a piece of me. Don’t play hard to get, loves."

"Aren’t there any other gals you can be pissing off right now?" growled Kas, her face twisted in contempt.

"There are none so hot as you two."

"Right. Uh-huh. Buh-bye." Lynx wiggled her fingers and lead Kas behind her. They managed to escape Raz.

"Well, looks like we managed to escape the ultimate bastard," remarked Kas, shrugging.

Lynx stopped. "But not the sadistic ones."

The pair of girls looked with dismay at the group of boys surrounding them. They were even worse than Raz, if that was possible. They didn’t actually know who all of them were, but the lads bugged the girls every chance they got. Resulting in Lynx’s and Kas’ loathing of them.

"Hey, babes, what’s your hurry?" smirked one of them.

"That’s a stupid question. I thought it was obvious. To get away from you," spat Lynx.

"Told ya they were little spitfires," commented Raz, coming up behind them. "You better especially look out for the black-haired one."

Lynx turned to glare at him. "They wouldn’t have to look out for me if they, and you, would just leave us the hell alone."

"Oo...she bites," cackled another boy. He slung an arm across her shoulders and leered at her.

"Take your arm off me," she hissed coldly. "Or I will bite it off."

"Hmm...I like a woman with an edge," he whispered in her ear.

He stroked her cheek with his other hand. Lynx took hold of that member and pushed him away.

"What did I just tell you?! Leave us the hell alone!"

The werecat grabbed hold of Kas and made off at a run. When a couple boys made to block their path, she simply gave a great leap, sailing over their heads, and then landing with catlike grace, catching Kas before she could hit the ground. Then they were sprinting away again.

Those bastards were crossing the line too often, too much. Lynx wasn’t going to stand for it anymore.

Finally, she and Kas were able to stop. They collapsed on Lynx’s lawn, panting. After several minutes, Kas broke the silence.

"Exactly what happened back there? You know, with the jumping and running thing."

Her question was met with silence. She sat up and poked Lynx.

"C’mon, Lynx, you are gonna tell me whether ya like it, or not."

Silence.

Kas grinned evilly. "So...you wanna play the hard way, eh? Two can play that game."

She stood up. Lynx looked at her with suspicion. "What are you doing?"

"Oo...nothing...just saying a little announcement to the world. You know, about what you did all those years ago. The thing no one can ever find out?"

Lynx’s eyes widened. "You wouldn’t."

Kas filled up her lungs, about to bellow, but Lynx pounced on her.

"Alright, alright! I’ll tell you, already," said the werecat hastily.

She pulled her best friend inside the house with her and locked the door. Her parents weren’t home yet, so the pair sat in the living room. Lynx took a deep breath. She knew she could trust Kas with her secret. Kas had never told a secret in her life.

"Um, Kas? You can’t tell anyone this, ever..."

Lynx told her everything, even untied her tail.

At first Kas thought it was a joke, or something, then she realized it was true. Her next reaction was to shriek "Awesome!! That is so bloody cool!!"

Needless to say, Lynx was surprised. Kas even took the idea of Lynx going to her Darke school really well.

"It’ll be good for you. Besides, I’ll still get to see you all the time. I mean there’s always weekends," Kas reasoned. She grinned and hugged Lynx. "Oh, you so totally rock! Hey, now I know how you finished that cat project so fast. It’d be just like me getting a project on humans."

From that day on, the pair continued their lives as normal, except Kas helped Lynx keep her tail under wraps, and her ears hidden.

Kas even came to see Lynx off at the train station when it was time for her to go to Darkeness Falls Academy.

The werecat was ecstatic that Kas was fine by her being a werecat. Even if Lynx didn’t make friends at the Academy, she’d always have her best friend.

.-.-.

Wave tucked herself deeper into her seat, and ducked her head until it nearly touched the desk.

"Wave? Could you please come up and read the next chapter?" Mr. Deers looked at her bowed head through his spectacles.

She snapped her head up. "P-pardon?"

"Come up and read the next chapter aloud to the class," he repeated.

"Um, I’d rather not."

Mr. Deers raised his eyebrows. "We are not here to have our ‘rathers’, Miss Ocean. We are here to learn and follow instructions. Now, I will not ask you again, come here now and read this chapter to the class."

The selkie reluctantly stood up and crept to the front of the class. She felt the eyes of all the other students boring into her as she took her place in front of them. Mr. Deers handed her the book she was to read from. A Night in the Water. She hadn’t really paid attention to the prologue, but she now realized this book was about selkies. Her liquid sapphire blue eyes widened in surprise. Hesitantly, she began to read.

"The selkies were a very abundant race in the beginning. Until humans found them..." She continued reading, eventually forgetting the rest of the class. The book was well-written, and actually truthful. Wave couldn’t decide which was the most shocking.

Finally the chapter was over and Mr. Deers took the book back from. Wave shook her head and awoke from her daze. Eyes. All staring at her. Her paralyzing shyness kicked in and she froze. She couldn’t move no matter how she tried. All she could do was stand there, eyes wide, limbs frozen in place.

Must run, run far, run fast, don’t turn back, it’ll all be over soon, oh God, let it be all over soon!

These mangled thoughts raced through Wave’s numb mind as she gazed at her silent class.

Mr. Deerscame over to her.

"Miss Ocean, please sit down."

A whimper issued from the terrified selkie’s mouth. A roaring filled her ears, and she felt herself being pulled down into darkness.

"Wave..."

Her eyes rolled back into her head and she crumpled on the floor.

The class watched in confusion as she fainted.

"Oh, my God!" shrieked one girl. "She’s dead!"

"Don’t be an idiot," chided one of the boys. "She’s just fainted."

"Someone call an ambulance!"

The class started to stand up, making a riot.

Mr. Deers took charge of the class. "Everyone sit down and be quiet! Wave has fainted. We can handle this if you will all behave." He pointed to two boys, Kree Veeprels and Iuo Tamm, and said," You two, come here. I need you to carry Miss Ocean to the nurse."

The pair obediently did as they were told. Kree held her upper half, while Iuo took her feet. They easily carried her out of the room.

"Wow, she’s light," commented Iuo as they went down the hall.

"No kidding. She’s like 5'2" and tiny." He opened a door and they continued down the first of five flights of stairs. "You know, it’s going to be awkward carrying her down like this. Here." He took Wave’s feet from Iuo and swung the selkie over his shoulder. "That’s better."

Iuo shrugged and followed Kree. Finally, after what seemed like forever, they reached the nurse’s office. Iuo opened the door and they walked in. The nurse’s secretary looked up at them.

"Yes?"

"We’ve brought Wave Ocean with us. She fainted in class," replied Kree, pointing to the girl slung over his shoulder.

"Alright, well, just set her down on one of the chairs and the nurse will be with her shortly." The woman went back to her writing.

The boys exchanged glances and shrugged. They sat down on the chairs, but no sooner had they done so, they were called to the nurse’s door.

"Okay, she’s ready for you!" The blonde secretary smiled at them and pointed to the now-open door.

Kree carried Wave like a baby to the small nurse’s room.

The nurse was a woman in her mid-thirties. She had short silvery-blonde hair and deep blue eyes. She had a rather motherly air to her. She motioned for Kree to place Wave on the examination table.

"Thank you. You’re free to go."

"Actually, if it’s alright with you, I’d like to stay." Kree waited for her reply.

She smiled. "Okay. But it’s going to be dull."

He turned to Iuo. "Can you put my books in the locker?"

"Yeah, sure. See ya! Hope she’s feeling better."

He walked out of the office and disappeared around a corner.

Kree sat on a chair and watched the nurse work. She checked Wave’s pulse, looked into her eyes, down her throat, and in her ears. She turned to Kree and smiled at the look of concern on his face.

"Not to worry," she assured. "Miss Ocean simply fainted. See? She’s reviving."

Wave’s large sapphire blue eyes blinked open, and she slowly sat up. "Where am I?"

"The nurse’s office. You fainted, dear," replied the nurse.

"Oh."

Wave looked around and spotted Kree. "Eep."

The nurse didn’t hear her. "I just need to ask you a couple questions. Are you pregnant?"

The selkie looked at her in horror. "What?!"

"I’ll take that as a no. Do you have any medical problems? Such as diabetes?"

Wave, still horrified, numbly shook her head.

"Have been in any accidents lately which have led to a loss of blood?"

"No."

"Alright, then it seems that you had a simple fainting spell." She jotted something down and smiled at Wave. "You are free to go."

Wave slid off the table and headed towards the door. Kree hopped up when she wavered and caught hold off her. Wave looked at him in surprise. He grinned at her.

"Can’t let you faint again after getting off so soon, now can I?"

Wave smiled a bit. "Did you carry me here?"

"Yup."

"T-thanks."

They walked back to class only to find that it was lunchtime. Wave grabbed her books and was about to head off to lunch by herself when Kree stopped her.

"Um, d’you want to eat lunch with me and my friends?"

Wave’s cheeks flushed red. "Uh...sure. If it’s not too much of a problem."

Kree smiled. "Not at all."

Wave grinned and went with Kree to lunch.

The selkie started hanging out with Kree everyday, and they became fast friends. Wave finally started to break out of her shell which made the remainder of school a lot more bearable.

.-.-.

Something rammed into the tree Elm was sitting in, making him fall off his branch. He swung by one leg, upside down.

"Sorry!" called a boy from down below.

Elm sighed. Young trees were too easy to shake. He twisted around and easily dropped to the ground. A boy, considerably shorter than him, stood staring at him with wide golden emerald eyes.

"Whoa."

The boy had a smattering of freckles across his nose and cheeks, and a mop of bronze hair. He looked about nine.

"Hi! I’m Frederic Shaw!" He grinned and stuck his hand out.

"Uh, hi, um, I’m Elm Woods." He shook the boy’s hand. He wasn’t used to little kids.

"Oh! You go to Falcondale High School!" He grinned.

"Er, yeah. Um, how did you know that?"

"Cuz I go there, too! I’m in your grade!"

Elm looked at him in disbelief. This kid was 16?

The boy sighed. "I know what you’re thinking. I do look about nine, don’t I? But I’m sixteen and at the top of my class." He grinned. "But it’s fun pretending to be a really smart nine-year-old!"

Elm grinned despite himself. This was the spunkiest sixteen year-old boy he’d ever met. Especially outside of school. And at the edge of a forest. Weird people could be found at the edges of forests, especially little hyper ones.

Elm stretched, and his stomach growled. At the same time he started feeling slightly nauseous.

"Well, I need to go find a restaurant. Want to come?"

Frederic’s eyes lit up and he nodded vigorously. He trotted backwards beside Elm as they headed towards the town.

"What restaurant are we going to? Vicki’s Bistro, right?"

Elm looked at him in surprise. "Actually, yes."

"Cool."

They walked the rest of the short way in relative silence. If you count Frederic pelting Elm with questions and getting one-word reponses "relative silence". Finally they reached the little bistro. Elm came here a lot after walking through the forest and relaxing in trees.

"Elm! Wonderful to see you again, dear," greeted a large woman.

She was Vicki, the owner of the little restaurant. She kept her wild red hair tied up in a messy bun, and she was always cheerful. "Oh, and you brought a friend! Hello, dear."

Frederic grinned up at her. "Hi! I’m Frederic!"

Vicki smiled, her bright blue eyes crinkling. "Come this way, loves."

She led them to Elm’s favourite table. It was in the corner, by a window, surrounded by plants. Vicki left them to go help other customers.

"I’ll be right back," said Elm. A wave of dizziness came over him.

"Okay." Frederic sat down and began studying the menu.

Elm retreated down a hallway that led to the backdoor of the restaurant and stumbled into the small patio garden. It wasn’t part of the bistro, exactly. Vicki lived above the restaurant and this was her personal garden, though she let her customers back there sometimes.

Elm fell back against a metal arbour as another wave of dizziness and nausea came over him. Crap, he hadn’t used his magick all day. Not good.

The thing about Darke, was that if they didn’t use they’re magick for a whole day, by late afternoon they’d start having complaints. Like dizziness, nausea, faintness, and downright sickness. Elm was one of these unfortunates. The only cure was for the Darke in question to cast a big spell, one that involved their personal magick, to relieve the tension.

Elm weakly stood and lifted his arms and let his built-up magick flow through his fingers. He expected it to go out gently, but since he didn’t often forget to use his magick, he wasn’t prepared. The blue-green light blasted out of his hands, twisting and twining. It formed vines and tied itself to various statues, arbours, and other garden objects, creating plants, and flowers. The force of his magick threw him against a stone bench, knocking him over.

"Ow," he moaned, rubbing his head and sitting up.

He looked around the garden in awe. It was shining and sparkling still, since the magick hadn’t sunk in yet. It made the garden look even more enchanting than before.

He shook his head and stood up. If he spent to long out here, Frederic would think he had abandoned him.

He slowly headed back into the little bistro, thinking about what he’d have to eat. Hmm...he could really go for a green salad with Italian vinegarette dressing, and a tall glass of iced tea. Mmm...No matter how long he lived with humans, he could never abandon his Elven tastes.

Finally he reached the table. Frederic grinned at him as he sat down.

"I thought you had been attacked by wild raccoons or something," he said, eyes bright with laughter.

Elm smiled. "Not quite."

"By the way, the waitress came over, so I ordered for you. I hope that’s alright." He looked at him with slight worry.

Elm sighed internally. He couldn’t be annoyed with the lad. "What’d you order for me?"

"A green salad with Italian vinegarette dressing, and a glass of iced-tea."

Elm stared at him. "Um, Frederic, how...?"

"Oh, by the way, call me Ric."

"Alright."

"I just don’t like the name ‘Fred.’ ‘Ric’ sounds so much cooler."

"Right. But how...?"

How did this kid know what he was thinking?

"Umm...maybe I should tell you why..." Ric suddenly looked really nervous. "It’s cuz, um, I’m psychic."

Elm was momentarily surprised. That was new. He hadn’t actually met a psychic human before. That tended to be a Darke trait.

"What’s a Darke?" asked Ric, suddenly curious.

Shit.

"Er, well, it’s not actually safe for me to tell you that," Elm replied carefully.

"Why not?"

Elm sighed. "Because if I told you, I’d be giving away secrets we’ve been trying to hide for decades, centuries, even."

Suddenly, Ric’s eyes widened. "Whoa," he breathed. "So that’s what a Darke is."

Elm’s head dropped on the table. Psychics were infuriating.

"I know we are, but we can’t help it," shrugged Ric. "So you’re an elf, huh?"

Elm raised his eyes to look at Ric levelly through his long blonde-brown hair. "Yes."

"Cool! A forest elf, right?"

Elm nodded. Their food arrived before he could reply. He sighed again and started on his salad. It was just what he needed. He quickly finished and then drained his iced-tea. Afterwards he was in much higher spirits. He waited until Ric finished his sandwich.

"Want dessert?" he asked, pointing to the dessert shelf.

Ric beamed. "Sure!"

Elm grinned. Yup. Much higher spirits. Vicki came over to them.

"Can I get you anything else, my dears?"

"Yes, please. I’ll have carrot cake, and he’ll have..." Elm looked at Ric for help.

"Death by Chocolate, please."

Vicki smiled. "I’ll be right back."

She quickly returned with the desserts and set them before the boys. "Enjoy!"

Ric dug right in. He definitely looked nine when he was eating chocolate cake. Elm laughed to himself. It was hard to think of Ric as being sixteen. Elm started on his cake a bit more slowly. After awhile they finished. Elm paid the bill, and they left.

"So what’s it like being an elf?" asked Ric, as they wandered the streets.

Elm shrugged. "Well, it’s kind of different from being human. Family, for instance. We’re all in clans. I am in the Woods Clan. It’s made up of forest elves. Then there’s the, oh I don’t know, Brimstone Clan. They’re fire daemons. It’s like that. First different races are split up, then those are split up into their own clans.

"Let’s use elves as an example. There are forest elves, fire elves, water elves, and pretty much every type of elf you can think of. They each have their own clan. Then there are smaller family groups within each separate type of elf. It’s like that with every Darke. Well, mostly. There are some Darke that don’t have different types, like vampyres."

Ric gulped. "V-vampyres?"

Elm nodded. "Yes. They’re Darke, too. Quite interesting, actually."

Ric gulped again.

Elm decided to change the subject. "Want to stop anywhere?"

The boy thought for a moment. "Actually, I need some books from the library."

Elm grinned. "So do I."

The pair crossed the street to the huge library. They walked up the stone steps and into the dim, cool building. Not many people were in there. Ric headed right for the upstairs floor. Curious, Elm followed. Ric went straight into the History section, with Elm close behind. He was curious as to what kind of History Ric was interested in. Apparently, it wasn’t in this section.

"What exactly are you looking for?" Elm asked him, as Ric nearly tore apart a shelf, searching.

"Mythology. I’m gonna research everything I can about elves, daemons, faeries, werewolves..."

Elm shook his head. "You aren’t going to find the truth here. Or at least, not the updated truth. We Darke have evolved since the Dark Ages."

Ric’s face fell. "Oh."

Elm grinned. "But don’t worry. I’ve an encyclopaedia of Darke. It has all the updated facts and such. You can borrow it if you like."

Ric’s face lit up. "Really? That’d be great!"

They descended the stairs. They were just about to leave when Ric piped up. "Don’t you have books you wanted to pick up?"

"Oh yeah!"

They turned around, and Elm led the shorter boy to the magick and witchcraft section.

"Why do you need books from here?" asked Ric, studying the old books.

"I want to see if I can find any new spells or potions. They help."

Elm selected a pile of books, and the boys went to the check-out counter. The young librarian took his library card and scanned the books. She gave him the receipt with a smile.

Her black hair was in a braid and her almond-shaped eyes were gold. She seemed Asian, but there was something different about her. Elm’s eyes widened in surprise. The girl was a necromancer! Her smile widened as she saw the realization in Elm’s eyes.

"What’s a necromancer?" asked Ric, looking at the librarian curiously.

Elm put his hand over Ric’s mouth. "Not so loud," he whispered.

Ric nodded and was released. The girl grinned at the boys. "So you’re an elf, eh? And you’re a psychic."

The pair nodded. She leaned on the counter. "Well that’s not something you see everyday. By the way, name’s Treatise. Ise for short."

"Elm."

"Frederic. Ric for short."

"Nice to meet ya. You’re the first human psychic I’ve ever met, and you’re the first teenage Darke I’ve come across in awhile. Only the senior Darke seem to live around here, whereas the young ones are nearer the city."

"It’s because I’m a forest elf, and need to be near the forest."

Ise nodded in understanding. She glanced behind the boys and noticed the growing line.

"Meet me at the Rosethorn and Kettledrum, tomorrow at 6 o’clock. That’s when my shift ends," she told the pair. They nodded and left.

. . .-.-. . .

The next day they did meet with Ise. She turned out to be 20, and fresh out of Darkeness Falls Academy. She had her own house in the town, and her parents were in the clan living place. She was a necromancer with the power of books.

Ric spent their whole meeting reading about necromancers and elves. He skipped over the vampyre section, since his fear of them wouldn’t even allow him to read about them, but did enjoy reading about daemons.

"Hey, daemons are really cool. I didn’t know there was more than one type!" Ric exclaimed, scanning the pages with wide golden-green eyes.

Ise and Elm repressed there laughter.

When it was time for them to go their own ways, no one wanted to leave. But Ise had to get home to her dog, and Elm had to get home before his parents assumed that he had been caught by some crazy Darke-hunters and was now locked in a cage for the rest of eternity. His parents could be a wee bit melodramatic. As for Ric, his parents would think he had joined a cult or something. A bit unusual. So they all went their separate ways, and met regularly from then on at various restaurants, stores, libraries, and parks, until Elm had to leave for his new Academy.

.-.-.

"You’re trying out for cheerleading?" asked Shar, incredulously.

"Yup!" Tua grinned.

"But it’s for preps!"

"So? The teachers keep complaining that I have too much extra energy, anyway, so what better way than this?"

Shar rolled her eyes. "What about your tail? Those cheering air-heads wear mini-skirts, you know."

"Hey, being a Darke has some advantages. I can do some pretty nifty cloaking spells, which can hide my tail, and scales!" Tua grinned in triumph.

Shar threw her hands up in the air. "Whatever! I give up! Just don’t you dare turn into one of those bimbos, or I will so kill you, lizard-girl."

Sharmin Itsh was one of those girls that didn’t give a damn what the world thought of her. She wore her dark black hair in a loose bun, and wore dark eyeshadow. This and her pale skin made her seem Gothic, but she wasn’t even close. She just liked black. Her two point-blank colours made her stunning golden-honey eyes stand out even more.

"Don’t worry, Sharry! I won’t let them steal my brain!" She gave her best friend a huge hug. "I gotta go now, or I’ll be late for first try-outs!" She ran away waving her hand.

Shar sighed and headed to her book-club, upstairs in the library. She sometimes worried about her Darke friend.

Tua quickly changed in a stall and dashed out of the change-room, with the other girls trying out for cheerleading. She was very bouncy and couldn’t wait for try-outs to begin. She stood with the other girls and looked at the cheerleading, er, leaders.

"Alright, girls!" crowed the head-leader, flipping her blonde hair. "The girls and I are gonna teach you part of a routine! Your homework is gonna be to make up the other part of it!"

"First, though," interjected the red-head beside her, "we’re gonna do a roll-call.

"Annabelle Adams?"

"Here!"

"JoLee Andro?"

"Here!"

"Crissy Axotrol?"

"Present!"

The list went on and on, finally they reached Tua.

"Tuatara, er, um, Gecko?"

"Here!"

Tua ignored the slight mockery of her name. It wasn’t her real last name anyway, so she didn’t care.

Then the list went on again, until finally they could start.

The routine was pretty easy. A few jumps here, a few spins there, add a dash of twists, and you get the gist of it. Tua caught on quite fast. After awhile, they were released.

"And don’t forget, girls," called the blonde again. "Practise, practise, practise!"

Tua hurried out of the change-room, and ran upstairs to find Shar. The book-club let Tua sit with them and listen, even though she wasn’t part of the club, because she needed to walk home with Shar everyday. Neither of the girls’ parents wanted them walking home alone.

Tua walked into the library and sat beside Shar, making no noise at all. This week, they were discussing To Kill a Mockingbird. Well, the meeting was just ending, but Tua could see the book.

"Next time, we’ll all have to have read Chapter 10," said a girl Tua didn’t know.

They all packed up, and the lizard-girl left with Shar.

"Have fun?" asked Tua.

Shar nodded. "You?"

Tua grinned. "Loads."

Shar smiled slightly. "Well, as long as you have fun and don’t change, I guess I can agree with your whole cheerleading gig."

Tua grinned.

. . .-.-. . .

"Welcome back, girls! Today, you’ll all be finding out who is on the team!" said the blonde cheerleader. "Now y’all line up and we’ll have ya show you’re routine! After you’re done, you can either stay to watch the others, or leave."

Tua got in line with the rest of the girls. Their routine was set to "I Sometimes Want to Die" by Joydrop. The list was alphabetical. Tua didn’t really pay attention to the other routines. She was busy thinking about her own. But she did notice that the most the other girls were doing, were splits and cart-wheels. After what seemed like ages, it was Tua’s turn. She stepped to the middle of the gym and waited for the music to start. She did the first part of the routine perfectly. Then came her added part.

The cheerleading leaders looked at her in amazement, as she performed flips, twirls, cart-wheels, backwards spirals, and seemingly impossible moves. At the end of the song, and routine, she was breathless.

"Oh, um, thank you, Tua," said the blonde.

Tua took this as her cue to leave. She changed and went to find Shar, who was waiting for her outside of the gym. They walked to their first period class, and Tua waited for school to end, so she could see the cheerleading results.

. . .-.-. . .

"YES!!" yelled Tua, jumping in the air.

Shar came up behind her. "You made it?"

Tua nodded vigorously. Shar grinned and gave her a huge hug.

"Congrats!"

The girls laughed and ran out of the school.

"So you promise to not become some ditzy prep?" asked Shar, as they reached their street.

"I promise," replied Tua, crossing her heart.

She kept her promise through the year. At first, the other cheerleaders invited her to preppy parties, but Tua always turned them down in favour of hanging out with Shar. Tua was then seen as a social outcast, but they could never kick her off the team, because she was the best cheerleader they had. But Tua didn’t care about their opinions. She was having a blast!