This was going to be a one-shot, but it’ll be a short fic now (maybe three chapters)... Still working on getting the rest of the story down. Enjoy!

Prologue

I growled and turned so I was lying on my stomach with my pillow clutched to my head. Damn phone had been ringing for five minutes but I was too lazy to actually get the phone myself. I was waiting for someone else to get the stupid thing so I could get back to sleep. I turned over on my side and abruptly the ringing stopped. I could hear a voice below and I looked over at the luminescent green numbers of my clock; 5:29. Someone was pounding up the stairs, probably my brother. He stopped at my door and knocked furiously.

My brain experienced all this through a haze of sleep.

“Adam!” The pounding continued after the dork who was keeping me awake continued trying to knock the door down. I mumbled something loud and incoherent at him, trying to say “Go away.” I was still sleepy. Apparently he either didn’t hear or couldn’t understand because as I was about to repeat “Go away!” a second time, the door burst open and the light was switched on. I groaned and sat up, shielding my eyes.

“God, Mick, what’s wrong with you?” I asked him. He didn’t reply and just stood staring at me with the phone cradled against his chest. I could hear the dial tone. Neither of us said anything as I impatiently waited for him to explain why the heck he had woken me up so early. The dial tone seemed to get louder as the silence prevailed. I heard birds chirping. It was summer for crying out loud! I should only hear birds chirp on the Discovery Channel! “What?” I asked, getting more pissed by the second. My eyes flicked over to the clock. 5:36.

He looked down at the phone. “It’s Eve.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You hung up on her?”

“No.” He shook his head slowly as he said this.

“Sheesh, Mick, what, then? Can I go back to sleep or do you want to stand watch over me the rest of the... Night...” I sighed. Day was clearly here. I got up off the edge of the bed and made to move past Mick and out into the hall, but something about him stopped me. He was pale and his eyes were worried as I looked at him, eye to eye. He was a year younger than me, a junior, but he was already catching up in height. “What’s wrong?” I asked quietly.

“They... Th-they took her to the hospital.”

My blood ran cold.

“To the ICU, Adam.”

I continued to stare at him, unbelievingly, not wanting to realize what he was saying. Then I ran past him and downstairs, grabbed my keys, and bolted out the front door.