Well, this is it! I started this story over the summer, and I have to say, this is my pride and joy, as my first attempt at a novel. I have many ideas for the story lined up, and I promise you, this will be a piece to remember. I thank you for reading, and reviews are strongly appreciated. Enjoy!

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CHAOS

CHAPTER ONE

Avery Steele sat intently up in bed, straining to hear, or at least understand the general idea of what was being said between his younger sister and his newly acquired doctor in the kitchen. He was lying on a futon bed in the living room, which was on the opposite side of the house as the kitchen, and this made eavesdropping a difficult task. Avery slowly sunk back into the blankets, as it was requiring too much energy to sit up any more. Defeated, he closed his eyes.

Right as he was about to drift off, he was roused by the sound of the front door shutting abruptly. His sister entered the room soon after, and took a seat at the foot of his bed, sighing disappointedly. She had light brown hair cut just above her shoulders, and blue eyes.

"Well? Tell me what he said. What's wrong with me?"

"He doesn't know."

"You've got to be kidding me. Are you trying to tell me that we hired a specialist from out of state, throwing away all of our savings to do so, and he couldn't diagnose me either?"

"He said he'd never seen anything like your illness in all his years of practice, nor read anything remotely similar to it in any of his medical books."

Avery stared out the window with a distant look in his eyes.

"So...we don't know how to cure this, whether or not I'll recover, or whether or not I'll survive this. I mean, if I knew, even if it was bad news, at least it'd end the suspense. I could go at any time, and we wouldn't even expect it."

"Avery! Don't you dare talk like that ever again! We'll overcome this, just like everything else. Just wait and see."

"Amber..."

"What?" She said it so spitefully that it made him grimace.

"I don't want to be a burden any more. You have no free time. You come straight home from school to look after me. You do all the cooking and cleaning. You shouldn't have to live like this. You're almost fifteen now."

"That is what I'm talking about! You need to stop moping. It's too depressing, and it's making it sound like you're already dead. I can't even stand talking to you these days!" She stormed out of the room, and Avery heard the front door slam.

Amber walked down the street with her hands jammed in her pockets, sulking. She stopped at the local convenience store and got a cup of coffee, forgetting to put any kind of sweetener in it. She drank it black as she walked, nonetheless.

It was late afternoon, and she'd have to prepare dinner soon. She didn't mind doing so, but she didn't want to go back and face her older brother just yet. She had to let off some steam before that. The local library was the remedy for that, and Amber stopped in quickly to pick up a couple of books. She didn't want to stay there and read, because there were too many people around, and that was the last thing she needed at the moment.

She ended up reading at the park, in a deserted part of it, sipping her bitter coffee. The literature of her choice today was a murder mystery, and although she prefered the science fiction genre, this particular story was holding her interest. Amber read constantly, especially at school, mainly when she was supposed to be taking notes or watching a video or something. It helped to pass the time, and it was an outlet for anything that got her upset. Whether it was a gripping story or a dull autobiography, it helped to let off some steam.

Unfortunately, this particular story was rather gripping. Time rushed by faster than she'd expected, and soon it was getting dark, and far past the time for dinner. She had only just realized that little fact when the street lights began to illuminate. She quickly closed her book, cursing to herself, and started for home.

It was almost completely dark, and the only ones out were the usual stray cat or two. She picked up the pace, feeling more guilty the more she thought about it.

Her spacy personality often caused her to neglect her responsibilities and forget the most obvious things, and her sickly older brother was suffering for it. Before he fell ill, he was practically the one who raised her. Their father was a violent drunk who got himself killed one night out on a binge, while her mother was pregnant with Amber. Avery never talked about him, and became irritable whenever Amber brought him up. He wasn't the subject of many conversations.

Their mother went missing when Amber was about four. Avery always became upset whenever they looked through old pictures of her in the old family photo albums, and although he didn't tell Amber what he thought the reason of her disappearance could have been, she knew it was probably suicide.

Avery was eighteen at the time, and he took on the role of Amber's guardian, fearing he'd lose her if he didn't. The governnment allowed it, after much debate. They were a small family, but a generally happy one. Amber didn't feel deprived for not having parents, because she felt that her brother more than made up for that empty feeling.

The years of stability in their household, though, came to an end when Avery suddenly came down with a fever. It only lasted a little more than a day, but then he began to get these patches of black skin on his back. They didn't ache, they didn't itch, they didn't irritate him, but they were there, and no one knew what they could possibly be. The only other symptom ailing him was a terrible weakness. This became apparent when he collapsed one day while getting ready for work. He'd been bed ridden ever since, and Amber naturally took care of him, all the while trying to find a doctor who could diagnose and treat him. Because of Avery's disability, the government began sending them money, but it was very little. Many sacrifices had to be made.

Amber opened the front door, panting. She looked around; none of the lights were on. Avery must have been pretty hungry by now.

"Avery?"

No answer. She tried again, this time, a little louder.

"Avery?"

Her heart began to race, and her head began to swim. She rushed into the living room, turning on the light quickly. She hurried to Avery's bed; he was lying with his back facing her. She turned him over with a worried expression, only to find his chest rising and falling slowly, his eyes closed, and a peaceful expression on his face. He was sleeping. She breathed an intense sigh of relief.

"I'm...sorry about today," Amber spoke softly to her sleeping brother as she placed another blanket on top of him. She smiled at how innocent he looked as he slept. It looked as if nothing in the world was troubling him, despite the fact that they were both terribly anxious on his behalf. The look on his face suddenly gave her so much more confidence, more hope, and the strength to keep trying. She bent down to kiss him on the cheek. They would find the solution, and their lives would return to normal.

School the next day went by as usual; such a bore, really. In every class they were preparing for midterms, and as usual, Amber sat content in the back of the room with a book. Most of the teachers never paid much attention to the class, just about what they were teaching, so Amber was free to read without any disruptions.

She attended a Catholic school, simply because she'd gone there all her life. Her mother was Catholic, and insisted that her children be brought up that way. Once she disappeared, Amber went on attending the same school, even though she wasn't very religious herself. She believed in God, but she wasn't fanatical about it. She was free to transfer to a public school, but she didn't really want or feel the need to.

For one thing, she didn't like change. Adjusting to a new school would change everything, from her acquaintances to her rivals to her teachers. Although losing the uniform would have been a bonus, she'd be leaving too much behind.

Another reason was that she'd miss people. Not her friends, though. Her "friends" were a group of air-headed fashion enthusiasts whom Amber just used to kill time with when she wasn't reading or doing homework. She could have just as easily fit in with another group with more similar tastes with hers, but she didn't feel like it. The ones she'd miss would be her rivals and enemies.

Oh, the fun she had with a group of upperclass boys- or apes, as she liked to call them. They were muscular and built, but never went out for any sports. She and them would play a form of "prank tag", each prank getting worse as the game went along throughout the school year. Amber was very tactful, which made the game interesting.

Their pranks weren't very clever, but harsh all the same, including: itching powder, ants, bees, worms, thumb tacs, ect.

Amber was a bit more clever than that. She thought things out more thoroughly, and it always led to funnier results.

For example, they had their own turf, which included some of the snack machines and a set of restrooms. She once ditched class to switch the "men" and "women" signs on the restroom doors, knowing that they would be the first to that area once class let out. Two of them entered the sign marked "men", while the others preoccupied themselves with something else. Before anyone else arrived in the area, Amber snuck by and switched the signs back to their original positions. The two vicitms were battered by both the incoming girls' arms and their purses.

Another group she had fun taunting used to be her friends in former years. They became sluts, in her opinion, and she grew tired of being called their "friend". They'd never seemed to get over the fact that Amber had left them, so they would always spread nasty rumors about her. She just had fun calling them names and watching their easily-provoked reactions. Quite amusing, it was, the faces they'd make. As for the rumors, Amber could care less. People could talk, it didn't matter at all to her.

And so her school life went.

Lunch time came around, and instead of stopping by her usual group of friends in their usual spot, Amber immediately headed for her new hangout spot. It was a secluded area between two buildings, and far away from any other people.

She hadn't found a new group to hang out with; particularly one person. A boyfriend, or close enough to one. Lunch time was much better spent with him than with her usual group, because they would actually talk about things that mattered. His name was Luther, and they'd been "together" for almost a month now.

It all started when her friends set up a reluctant, but somewhat willing to play along Amber with a blind date. They were always perstering her to get a boyfriend, but she was convinced it was a waste of time. She was supposed to meet him before school one day behind the main building. She waited there for quite some time, but no one showed up. Amber was getting tired and impatient, for she had to wake up earlier than she normally would for this. Suddenly, a guy approached her from behind and touched her on the shoulder. Amber nearly jumped, and turned around. He was rather tall and thin, and looked like he almost never went out in the sun. He had dark brown hair that fell over his eyes and almost onto his shoulders. Her friends would never associate with someone like this, and it made her curious.

"Are you...my date or whatever?" Amber inquired, turning red from how embarrassing this whole thing was.

The boy shrugged, having no idea what she meant. Soon they found themselves in a deep conversation. It turned out that many of their opinions and outlooks on life were similar, and he was actually intelligent. Apparently, he was a new student, looking for assistance. They ended up walking off together, and Amber's real date arrived about five minutes later, confused.

Everyone saw them together every day, so the word spread that they were a couple. It didn't matter to them, so they went along with it. Amber's friends were excited for her at first, but then became irritable about it, because she was spending all of her time with Luther.

They'd never kissed, hugged, or even held hands, and the subject of any of those things was never brought up between the two. But they spent all of their free time together, and Amber felt that that was just as good as anything normal boyfriends and girlfriends did. Luther seemed happy, too. In a week's time, he knew just about everything about her, from her past to her family situation to her deepest fears. On the other hand, Amber knew almost nothing about Luther. He never talked about himself, and Amber didn't feel it was her place to ask. She just let things be.

Luther was a rather interesting fellow. He achieved excellent grades, but none of the teachers liked him. He wasn't rude, he didn't slack, and he was totally quiet. The reason wasn't totally apparent, but Amber could guess why. Luther had a certain something about him, something she couldn't describe, that could make one uncomfortable to be around him. It was like he had a nasty aura about him that many people could sense, and it made many of the students and teachers wary of him.

He was also like a bad luck charm, as Amber would put it when talking to her brother about it. Ever since he began going to her school, there had been a flood in the boys' locker room, an infestation of bees in the northern section of the school, a small fire in the cafeteria, and the school's football and basketball team hadn't won a single game. She wasn't certain that it was Luther's bad luck aura that had caused these incidents, but it had all happened since he'd shown up. He also acted as a personal bad luck charm; a week after they'd met, Avery came down with his illness. She'd also been failing tests which she knew she'd gotten at least most of the questions correct, she's tripped seven times and fallen into different messes each time, and she ripped her pants while bending over to pick up a book. In the middle of a crowded hallway.

Amber didn't hate Luther for all of that, though. She admired him greatly, and found that she could share just about anything with him. The fact that he was so different made her even more interested. Even though he was a year ahead in school, they found the time to be together every day.

The last class of the day seemed by far the longest. Luther was going to come home with her after school to study and meet Avery. It'd been about a year since she'd had someone over, so she was anticipating it badly. She couldn't even concentrate enough to read.

That didn't matter, though, because her teacher told the class to take out their textbooks and open them to a certain page. Amber reluctantly took hers out and began flipping through it. She turned the last page before the one she was supposed to be on rather quickly, and it suddenly tore out. Her eyes widened, but luckily, no one noticed. She quietly put the page back in nicely and placed the book back under her desk. Luther strikes again, she thought, smiling to herself.

The bell rang unexpectedly, and the whole class tried to push itself out at once. That was why Amber always sat and waited patiently before leaving. Who would risk losing a limb?

Luther met her at the front of the school, and they began walking home. They started up a casual conversation about their classes, and everything seemed normal, but Luther seemed terribly anxious.

"What's wrong with you today? You've been coming off as nervous."

"Huh? No, nothing's wrong. It's nothing. I'm just getting this wierd feeling..."

"I wonder why."

Luther shrugged. "It doesn't matter. Oh...hey, it's raining," he observed, putting his hand out and smiling. "I like the rain. Here, take this." He let his jacket slip off his shoulders and draped it over Amber's. She shook her head.

"I don't need it."

"Neither do I. Nor do I want it. I like being exposed to the rain. It feels good. Anyway, shouldn't boyfriends...do this kind of stuff?"

Amber laughed. "Since when do you care what boyfriends are supposed to do?"

"I dunno."

Amber slipped her arms into the jacket. It was twice her size, but Luther insisted that it looked good on her, earning another laugh. It was warm, though, and it held Luther's scent.

"How do you think you'll do on the midterms?" Amber asked.

"Mm...I dunno. I haven't been keeping up with my studying. I have other things on my mind. What about you?"

"It's all easy stuff. I barely need to study." They both knew that studying was just an excuse to have Luther over, but neither of them talked about it.

The two began to hear footsteps behind them. Footsteps belonging to a group of people. Amber looked up at Luther.

"Do you ever get the feeling you're being followed?" she asked sarcastically, smirking.

"No, never."

"Turn around and face us, wimp. We got something to say," came a gruff voice from behind them.

Luther spun around quickly with a grin. Amber turned too, and she found herself looking at the entire football team. She only recognized them because they were all her friends ever talked about. Sickening.

"What do you want?" Amber inquired, arms folded.

"We got no business with you. We wanna have a little talk with Luther the Loser."

The two scoffed, and Amber full-on burst out laughing. "Luther the Loser?! That's the best you can come up with?"

"Shut up before this becomes your problem too," one of them snapped.

Luther glared. "Don't talk to her like that."

"Ooo. Threatening."

Amber looked up at Luther questioningly. "Why exactly...?"

Luther shrugged. "I merely commented today on how barbaric and easy the sport of football was, and then asked them why they were having difficulties succeeding at such a simple game. That's all."

Amber rolled her eyes. "How easily the stupid are angered."

"Shut your mouth, Amber! Or do I have to make you?" the one that she remembered was the Captain threatened.

Luther took a step forward. "I advise you to watch your tone when you talk to her."

"Such big talk from such a skinny guy!" He swung his massive arm around to deal a blow to the side of Luther's head. Luther ducked swiftly and swept his leg underneath his attacker's. Startled, he fell to the ground hard.

The rest immediately joined in, trying to take a punch or a kick or whatever they could get in. Amber stepped back in awe as she watched Luther avoid every single blow. Not only that, but he did it so gracefully that it looked like it was second nature. Frustrated, the entire football team cried out as the all jumped to pile on him at once. Amber shut her eyes tight; these were big guys. But Luther did something unlike she'd ever seen before. He jumped about three feet up into the air, using the first to come down as springs to jump even higher, deftly avoiding the whole thing and landing gracefully on the ground beside them.

Luther then turned to look at the pile of his attackers. They were yelling and cursing and arguing amongst themselves, desperately trying to get up.

Amber had to stifle a laugh, and Luther clapped his hands together.

"Well now, that was fun! We really should do that again some time. Well, goodbye for now, friends!" Luther and Amber both waved to the pile of entangled boys and walked off laughing.

"Luther, that was incredible! How'd you get so good at fighting?"

"Practice, I guess. In my spare time."

Amber shook her head, amazed. They continued walking, but soon it turned into almost a sprint, as the rain began pouring down hard. Luther of course didn't mind it, but he knew Amber did. They arrived at her house after about fifteen more minutes and hurried inside, taking off their shoes at the door.

Amber led Luther into the living room. The lights were on, and Avery was watching a game show on television with a dull expression on his face. His face lit up, though, when he saw his sister enter the room. Amber smiled and took an empty glass from the table beside his makeshitt bed.

"Avery, this is Luther. Luther, this is my brother."

Luther nodded respectfully, and Avery offered him a seat facing the bed.

"You two stay there, I'll go fix us something to eat," Amber offered.

"Thanks, Amber. Don't be too long," Avery replied. His sister left the room.

Avery's attention was redirected to the program he was watching, but Luther just sat there, staring at him. Observing, it seemed.

"What're you sick with?"

"Didn't Amber tell you? The doctors have no idea. It must be some new virus or something."

"What're your symptoms?" The look on Luther's face was peculiar, and it worried Avery a little.

"Want me to show you?"

"Sure."

Amber suddenly heard a crash coming from the living room, then a silence. She immediately dropped what she was doing and hurried to the room.

"What's going on?!"

Luther's chair was on its side against the wall, and he was white as a sheet and trembling. He was breathing hard and muttering something to himself.

"Luther! Snap out of it! What's wrong?"

Avery was shocked as well, but by Luther's reaction. "I only...I only showed him m-my back!"

Amber was shaking Luther now, trying to knock some sense into him. "Luther..."

"It can't be happening again. Not this soon...dear God...It's time already..." Luther was speaking shakily, and in an eerie voice. He was clutching his chest now, his eyes wide.

"Luther!" Amber shouted. "Tell me! What's going on?"

"He's going to die," Luther stated, pointing a shaking finger at Avery. "He's going to die! It's the Plague! He's going to die!" He almost sounded mad now, by what he was saying and the look in his eyes.

Amber was in tears now. "Stop it! Stop, Luther!"

But he wouldn't stop. He kept repeating it to himself over and over, as if posessed.

"Get out! Get out of our house! Now!" Amber grabbed him by the arm and led him to the front door. He was still muttering at this time, even when Amber threw him out the door and slammed it behind him. She stood there, sobbing and breathing hard, her heart beating so quickly that she felt like was about to burst.

Then she began to feel sorry for herself. The only guy she ever really liked and who liked her in return was a madman. Someone who belonged in a mental hospital. That proved to her how miserable a person she was. She wanted to die right then and there.

Avery was coughing in the next room, and that was what snapped her out of it. She quickly filled a glass with water to take to her brother, who was probably more startled than she was. When she entered, the TV was off, and Avery was lying face up in bed, apparently calmed by now. She wiped away her tears with her sleeve and took Avery the glass of water.

"I'm sorry, Avery, I had no idea..."

"It isn't your fault. And you did good by getting him out of the house before he hurt anybody. Let's just try to put this behind us, like everything else, okay?"

The gentle look in his eyes immedtiately consoled her, but then Luther's words flowed back into her mind, and she broke out crying again. She laid her head on Avery's chest and cried at the very thought of her big brother dying. He stroked her hair, trying to comfort her as she cried all that she needed to.

"You're not going to die. I won't let it happen."

"I won't either."

The next day, Luther wasn't at school at all. She checked everywhere out of plain curiosity, and came up with nothing. Very strange.

Even if she did find him, she'd immediately leave, as she had decided to ignore him for the rest of her life. She prayed that he wouldn't become like one of those crazy stalkers she saw on TV movies.

The thugs who attacked them yesterday, with hurt pride and bodies, tried all day to remain out of sight, much to Amber's amusement. Many of them were bruised, and one of them even had a broken bone. All the more reason to feel lucky that she got Luther out of her home in time.

It was strange. He seemed like the last person she'd expect to go insane. He was so smart and interesting; it was like he was perfect in some sense. But maybe that was why he suddenly snapped. That was what she was pondering all day, through her classes and lunch, which she spent totally alone.

Alone because she couldn't trust anyone anymore. She was alone in the world, with only her sickly brother. All alone, with nobody to talk to or confide in. But that thought was the most comforting one she'd had in a while, because she didn't want to have to trust anyone after she'd experienced what could happen. She wanted to disappear from everything altogether.

That was her attitude for the entire week, and no one seemed to care. Luther still hadn't shown up; Amber wondered if he'd been hit by a car or something on his way home, or wherever he was going. Oh, well. He was out of her hair, and that was all that mattered.

At least until she arrived home one afternoon from grocery shopping. The house was far too quiet, and all the lights were off in the living room. Amber thought that Avery must have been sleeping, so she tiptoed around the house, doing what she needed to do.

"Amber...is that you?" Avery's voice suddenly came from the living room, in almost a gruff whisper. Amber entered the living room to find Avery with just about every blanket in the house piled on top of him, curled up and shivering.

"Avery!" Amber immediately rushed to his side. "Why are you so bundled up?"

"Cold," came his feeble reply. "And thirsty. Very thirsty."

"I'll...I'll go get you some water. All right? Then you'll be all right?"

"Very thirsty," he said again, as if that was the only thing on his mind.

Amber hurredly fetched some water, extremely worried. Something wasn't right. Avery's condition was worsening. After this, she should call a doctor. Yeah, that's what she'd do. Then he'd at least be able to take care of what was going on with Avery at the moment, like give him medication. And maybe this would be some clue as to what he had.

She returned with a glass of water and helped Avery sit up the best he could. She tilted the glass to his mouth, and he gulped at it hungrily, needily. Pretty soon, all the water was gone, and still, Avery demanded more.

She fetched more and returned with it quickly, almost spilling it.

"Mom..." Avery whispered, looking up at Amber.

"No, Avery. It's me, Amber."

"Mom, am I going to get better soon? Can I have some water, please?"

Amber was getting scared. Avery was going dillusional. She tilted the glass so that he could drink again, and he placed his hands on the sides of it so that he would be able to take more of it in. But before he could, he coughed into it, and the water began to turn red. Blood.

"Avery!" Amber took the glass from his hand and felt his forehead. Ice cold.

Suddenly, Avery began coughing uncontrollably, into a fit. He flailed his arms and legs, kicking all of the blankets to the end of the bed and knocking the blood-stained glass of water to the ground with a crash. He cried out and went into convulsions, blood splattering from his mouth and staining the white sheets and his night shirt.

Amber, more frightened than she ever was in her life, slid to the ground, her back facing the side of the bed, not wanting to watch her brother cough and sputter and cry out in anguish. She hugged her knees to her chest, placed her head down, and began sobbing like a little girl alone in the dark. She could feel the bed moving with Avery's convulsions, and his cries were almost deafening. She could feel droplets of blood land on the back of her head, which scared her even more.

"Avery...please don't die. Please don't die. Please don't die." She repeated this to herself as she began rocking back and forth. "We'll get through this, won't we? Just like everything else, you said. Just like everything else. You promised everything would be all..."

She fell silent mid-sentence as she heard Avery suddenly stop. Everything in the room was suddenly quiet. Amber immediately turned around and raised herself on her knees to look at her brother.

He lay limp, with blood dripping down his mouth and all over just about everything else. His face still had that twisted look of agony, and his eyes were glazed and staring distantly at the ceiling. Avery was dead.

Dead.

The word echoed throughout her distressed mind. She expected her tears to start flowing, but they didn't. All she could do was sit there and stare in shock.

Dead.

After a little while, Amber regained her senses, and that's when she started crying. Crying more than she'd ever cried in her life. She looked away and pulled one of the tossed aside blankets up so that it covered his head. She then dropped back down to the floor, mourning the loss of the last companion she had in the world. Avery wasn't here to comfort her, to hold her hand, to let her cry on his shoulder. He wasn't here to tell her that everything was going to be all right, to give her that look that comforted her like nothing else. Avery was gone, and he was never coming back.

"Didn't I tell you this was going to happen?"

Amber jumped, startled to hear another voice in the room. She turned her head to see another figure facing the window, which the curtains were drawn over. She couldn't see him clearly at first, partly because it was so dark, and partly because of the tears blocking her vision. The voice, though, was nagging at her. Why was it so familiar?

Then she saw him more clearly, and at that moment she thought she was dreaming. There stood a man with great, big, white, brilliantly feathered wings, like...like an angel. But that wasn't possible. It couldn't be possible. Her mind was messed up over the loss of her brother. That was it. He wasn't real.

But he turned around so that he was facing her. The light shining through the curtains revealed his shining blonde hair, which was tied back and fell past his shoulders, and his striking facial features. He was rather tall, and his wings were draped around him. He was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.

"Who...who are you?" Amber stammered, clutching the side of the bed.

Ignoring her question, the angel went on. "I told you he was going to die. This illness...it has been called many things over the time of its existence. The Great Disaster, the Doom of Humanity, the Ultimate Demise..."

"Who are you?!" Amber almost yelled.

He went on. "...but it is known in both Heaven and Hell as the Plague, and it is a messenger, telling us that..."

"Tell me who you are!" Amber screamed. The angel looked down at her with a curious look.

"Why, don't you recognize me? I'm so offended..." Suddenly, the angel's hair began to shorten and darken to a shade of brown, his wings began to shrivel and fade, causing feathers to scatter everywhere, and he seemed to decrease in height. She soon found herself staring at Luther.

"L-Luther! No...this isn't happening...I'm dreaming..." Amber was almost speechless. It took her a while to regain herself, and when she did, she stood up to face him. "What were you saying about Avery's sickness? What is it a messenger of? I'm so confused." She wiped away the tears from earlier.

Luther simply smiled an eerie smile. "It is here to tell us that the world is ending. The Plague is the very first stage of the Apocalypse."