D.M.: Hi, name’s DeviantlyMental, and hope you enjoy this story of mine. When I write this story I listen to a lot of dark music…for some odd reason. It just gets me in the mood, y’know? Dark and a lot of noise making songs…like a lot of rock or something…I’m always listening to music when I wanna start writing haha.

Warning: The language in this story varies…as in cussing and such. I have characters in here who seem to enjoy using the “F” word and other related words…and also, this story can often have disturbing or gaqory details (I suppose to some of you…others may vary). Also, adult themes may be featured in this story…but it’s not that bad…in fact, I personally think it’s very light O.o. Name/word pronunciations and meanings will be on the bottom, if you want anymore words/names to be clarified…please just ask.

Full Summary: “Extorting the insecurities and troubles of the anguished mind and heart is the job we Hell Dogs take pride in.”

Lena Adelardi, a 16 year old girl whose main dilemma is moving to a people infested city, not having enough space to herself and having the ability to see dead people. Okay, so the last bit is a tad more important than the other two but still—she’s a teenager. She has an unfortunate run in with a demon out to kill her new found friends and is brought to Hell's Pound. A 'detective agency' who tend to do more harm rather than good and the mystery to her father's disappearance. Once there, promised with the information to her father's mystery and to be trained in mastering her "Seer's Eyes", Lena makes a pact with the bumbling agency (a not so bright idea).

“I didn’t want to be viewed as some psycho or that poor kid who could see dead people.”

-Lena Adelardi

Chapter I: The Beginning of My End

Sometimes I wonder, ‘Why me? Why was I born like this? Why did I have to see this? What did I do wrong? What do I do to get rid of it? I felt like that kid, you know? The one in the Sixth Sense- the one who could see dead people and had that shrink following him around.’

I hate it here. My life was now utterly ruined—even more—and I cursed whatever guardian angel that was supposed to be looking out for me. I was far from my comfortable home in Minnesota where I was happy with my lack of friends and personal space.

However, as fate may have it, I was now living in a city infested with people and buildings of all ages. Though it was small in comparison to some cities I’ve seen it was still well-known. My new home, one that I am not particularly used to nor do I plan to get used to it, is called Campos, CA.

The cause of our arrival was my mom who happened to receive a job offer here as a secretary for a company I know nothing about—and I plan to not learn it very soon. As for my dad, I’ve been told he died a long time ago, so I hardly know the man. But I do hear rumors here and there, something about him being an occult fanatic and ran off to pursue his “destiny” whatever that was.

I looked out the car window and thought of all the “wonderful” things that I could do here. Such as staying in my room and read. Yes, I was a book nerd, what can I say, it helps kill time. Just looking outside however seeing all the people scurry from point A to point B, made me feel suffocated. I didn’t like busy streets. It wasn’t as if I was claustrophobic. It just wasn’t very appealing to me.

“Len dear, we’ll be arriving soon to our new apartment. Do you want to grab something to eat first?” my mom asked, as she glanced at me sideways from her side of the car.

I paused, and pondered the question. I wasn’t really hungry but I kind of got the feeling that my mom would do it anyway despite asking me in the first place.

So I simply said, “Yeah, sure.”

I rested my cheek in the palm of my hand and slouched in my seat. My cat, Artemis, meowed in a whiney voice from the back seat. I looked at her and smiled. She was anxious to get out and explore, I could tell. But I wondered if she would miss her old home just as much as I did—I doubt it though—after all, she was just a cat.

I hate cities however, if you could tell. They’re too crowded, the more people that live here there’s bound to be a lot of dead ones too. If you’re wondering what I’m talking about, I’m psychic. But calling me ‘psychic’ is somewhat of an understatement. I don’t think psychics who see the dead are quite like me.

Because I can’t hear them.

We went to Taco Bell, which was truthfully, my favorite. While driving to the apartment, my mother exclaimed in excitement.

“Look Len, there’s your new school!”

I looked with mild interest, it wasn’t much. It was an old building, something you’d see only in a movie. Because it was such an old building there were bound to be some dead remnants in it, something I wasn’t too keen on. I scanned the cement mixed with brick building and was relieved that I couldn’t detect anything.

It looked like a fairly big campus.

My mom made sure to put me in another private school, something about “not trusting the public schools” but you know, just because it’s a private school doesn’t mean it’s any safer, but I suppose, less chances of things happening.

Did I mention that there’s a school uniform as well? Something that I’m not so happy about since it consists of a skirt and knee high socks. Plus, the blazer wasn’t very appealing. But I guess I’ll be able to survive, no one’s going to look at me except the dead ones.

“Len, how do you like our new home?”

Looking up, I saw a tall apartment complex and sighed inwardly. This place also didn’t have any dead remnants in it, at least not from what I can see.

“It’s…kind of plain,” I admitted truthfully. My mom laughed in reply as she parked the car.

“It’s plain…but its home,” she chimed, parking the car.

I didn’t say anything as I closed the door and opened the back door to retrieve Artemis. Walking up the stone stairway, I noticed that the movers were nearly finished, and I moved aside as they struggled little with the heavy couch.

“They must work out…” I thought. I watched them set down the couch in front of the TV, walk out the door and gave me a nod and went to talk to my mom about the moving. I watched them for only a moment, before turning around and entering the small apartment. It was a two bedroom, one bathroom per room and a nice living room.

I couldn’t complain, but I didn’t like the new apartment smell all that much. I found my room, which was fairly small, but I could live with it. What I liked however, was the view that I received as I walked near the window in the middle of the wall, out looking the street to a park across the complex.

Artemis meowed softly as she squirmed in my arms, as I had taken her out of her cat box to let her have some fresh air, and I let her down softly. She paused, examining the room with little to no interest and proceeded to lick paws to cleanse herself.

She was a beautiful Himalayan cat of four years, silky fur and clear blue eyes. She was, like most girls, moody and fickle, though I’d hate to admit it that there were a lot of girls just like that, I’ve noticed. Most of my furniture was set in my room already, and we just had to set up my bed.

“I’ll do that later,” I muttered to myself. I never liked picking up things, or tidying rooms or whatnot, maybe I just lacked that ‘girl part.’

I decided to explore my new, “home.” It was nice enough, like I said, it was fairly small. My bathroom was small but it had a bath and small window at the very top. I’ll have to get some shower curtains and sink accessories.

“Oh, it’s beautiful…Len, isn’t this place nice?”

Hearing my mom’s voice coming from my room behind me, I turned around slightly to see my mom walk in with her arms folded, she had a wide smile on her face as she looked all around my room with adoration.

“We’ll get your bed set up after dinner,” Catherine (my mother), said, “It’s nice that we get our own bathrooms this time around, huh?”

Nodding at her comment, I opened the medicine cabinet and closed it. “It’s ok,” I said and turned to her. “Are we going to eat yet?”

My mom paused, “Oh! That’s right; we should probably eat now before our tacos get cold!”

My mom was a really forgetful person, sometimes I wonder how she got by in life before she had me or Dad.

She was young for her age, only thirty-four years old, so she was pretty lively. I don’t know what my dad looks like nor do I really know what he acts like, but from what I’ve heard, he was a pretty laid back guy. Knowing that much, I really don’t know who I take after.

Unlike my auburn brown hair, Catherine had a dark, rich, black color and had sparkly blue eyes verses my light green ones. I wonder what my dad looks like, but I guess I just imagine a manly version of myself, but it never turns out very nice…so I don’t do that very often.

My mom can’t see what I see and I don’t know if my dad could, because I’ve never asked. My mom doesn’t know anything about my eyes simply because I never told her. If I did, she’d probably freak out. I don’t like unwanted attention either, so asking for help is something that I never put too much thought about.

“Len, can you hand me those dishes please?”

My mom’s voice broke me from my thoughts. We sat in our living room, unpacking all the extra boxes and putting them in their proper places. I handed her the porcelain dishes, which she stacked very carefully up in the cupboards.

“You’ll be starting school in three days, aren’t you excited?”

Shrugging, I handed her some more plates.

“Kind of,” I lied.

“Well, I just hope you can make friends…no,” she smiled, “I know you can make friends, Len, you’re a good girl…people will like you.”

I nodded at her but I felt like she was lying to me, though she may see me as that way, I saw it as a whole different way. It’s hard making new friends for me that is and even if it wasn’t, I still wouldn’t want to. I don’t think I could handle having living friends.

“Anyway,” my mom said, “I’ll be starting work next week, like with your school I still need to do some more paperwork but after that I’ll be all done and we can officially settle in our lives here.”

It was ten o’ clock when I finally decided to go to bed, or at least go to my room. We had set up my bed which lay in the middle of my room, its headboard next to the wall and the right side facing the window.

“Now I only need to decorate my room,” I said to myself, and I sat on my bed. My blankets and pillows didn’t match in neither shape nor color, because basically I just threw on whatever pillow and blanket I found lying around the house that seemed comfortable.

A small meow broke me out of my thoughts as my cat pushed her way inside of my room, using her head to move the door. Her little bell dinged as she trotted over to me and jumped on to my bed. I chuckled and scratched at her ear, “You’re so lazy, Artemis.”

“Meow…!”

All of a sudden, Artemis jumped off the bed and leapt onto my dresser, under the window and began staring intensely outside. I quirked an eyebrow at her and followed soon after, peering outside the window to see what caught her eye.

There was nothing. Just the empty, now dimly lit streets (thanks to the lamp posts), and I could see the park clearly, its own lamppost blinking from time to time.

“It’s kind of creepy….” I muttered to myself.

Great, now to ruin my beautiful view is a eerie park that has a messed up light, I half expected a hooded weirdo to be standing under it, just staring at me like in those movies… I paused, ok now that’s not really helping me here and I quickly sat in my bed, pulling my pillow close to my chest.

The next morning, I woke up to find my mom already off to work and my cat’s tail on my face. Groaning, I pushed Artemis’s tail away and sat up, scratching my messy hair. Turning to look at my clock, which read 7:20 am, I sighed heavily and shook my head. Why can’t I ever sleep in? It’s always been a habit of mine to wake up before eight for some reason, which leaves me tired and grumpy.

I walked over to my bathroom and looked at my mirror, sighing. Running a hand through my tangled, unevenly cut, supposedly bob haircut, I wondered how in the world it ended up like this in the first place. I guess the only thing I like about my physical looks are…my eyes (aside from the fact that they see weird things), which were a light green, like my father’s (so I was told).

Picking up my toothbrush and doing my daily morning routine, I began to think what exactly my new school life would be. Hopefully, I don’t grab too much attention from either the living or the dead, the dead I can easily ignore—it was the living that was hard to shake off.

Now, I wouldn’t say I was anti-social or that I was an outcast of society, I just had a more logical reason to stay away from them, if you knew, you’d probably do the same. Part of it was because of what I see and the other part is what I feel. Finishing, I turned around and walked in the living room, clicking on the remote to our flat screen TV.

“Last night, on February 10th, 2009, 12:45 am, a young girl’s body was found brutally mauled near her home, local police and forensics are currently searching any leads as to how she died, because of the damages to the face she has yet to be identified.” Quirking an eyebrow as the news flashed on, I turned up the volume, what the hell?

“Great,” I muttered, “the day we move here there’s a serial killer on the loose.” I scrunched my nose up in disgust as they discussed the details of the murder. Man, it really does sound like she was mauled…like by a wild boar or something, but it’s not like you usually see them running around the city streets, that’s just plain weird. Maybe some big dog got loose and found its way to her?

“Could this murder be connected to the string of homicides that have mysteriously occurred during these past few days? If you all may remember, high school students Kayla Bailey, Laura Nguyen and Lisa Martinez were murdered on Tuesday through Thursday, what seems to be an interesting coincidence is that, not only were these three girls students at the Campos Private School, but they were all very close friends. As of yet, the serial killer has not been spotted nor are there any clues as to who or what it may be, police departments advise all those who are watching, to be cautious of who you talk to and to be extra careful when alone.”

Creepy, I thought, now I’m definitely convinced that my life is full of bad luck, or just very odd coincidences. But I think I’ve heard of that school before…but where exactly? Campos Private School…why does it sound so familiar? Suddenly, my cell phone began to ring and upon looking at the caller id, turned out to be my mom calling me.

“Hello?”

“Hi honey, how’ve you been? Did you just wake up?”

“Yeah, kind of…hey have you heard of Campos Private High…?”

“Of course Hon, that’s the school you’re going to…why?”

Oh. My. God. She has to be joking…right? I mean, you can’t be serious! She’s thinking of sending me to that place…?!

“M-Mom…have you watched the news…yet?”

“Oh yes Honey, don’t you think it’s horrible…? All those girls, I can’t believe someone would do such a thing! It’s a good thing they’re sending so many police to guard that school, I feel so much safer with them around, otherwise I would’ve withdrawn you! But, if you don’t feel like going to that particular school…I could always just—“

“No, it’s fine…I’ll go, after all, I don’t think I’ll attract too much attention.”

Yeah, I guess I’ll be alright. I’m not that noticeable, so I doubt the killer would even notice I go there! I’ll just have to avoid the friends of the dead girls, yeah.

The day I finally go to school is here and I’m already dreading it. Tired, cranky and oh so not ready to go to school, I started, yet again, my early morning bathroom routine and took a quick shower to wake myself up. Putting on my uniform (it’s a private school after all…you got to wear uniforms), I sighed heavily as I noticed that the uniform consisted of a plaid green skirt, that were just above my knees by a few inches, too short for my liking, maybe it was because I hardly ever wore skirts.

I sat on my bed as I put on my knee high socks, which were black, and looked at my finished self in the mirror, letting out a sigh of dejection. I never looked good in skirts, probably the reason why I never wore them. Fixing my hair, I put two black clips on the left side together, trying to make myself look at least a little presentable. Finally, grabbing my backpack and slinging it over my shoulder, I gave myself one last look before setting out to the car.

My mom was already inside and waiting, smiled at me as I entered the car. She handed me a bagel which I took graciously. “Thanks,” I said, before biting into it. My mom smiled happily as she looked at the rear-view mirror.

“Off we go to your new school Len!”

“Y-Yeah…”

During the entire drive I was inside my own thoughts, staring outside the window at nothing in particular. Luckily, it wasn’t very cold, so I didn’t have to worry about the weather.

“Here we are Len, have a great day, I love you!”

“Yeah, you too,” I said before getting out. As my mother drove away, I turned around and gave one final sigh before scanning the campus of my new school. It was old but well-kept, obviously because a lot of rich kids went here, and I found that it was co-ed.

Taking the first step to my new “prison” I couldn’t help but feel that if I continued, something strange was going to happen today. Ok, so maybe I’m still kind of freaked from yesterday’s news…but hey, could you blame me? I’m human after all.

In my first period class, it was normal, which was good. I was quickly introduced to them, I received questions as soon as I sat down and I casually answered them with a laid back attitude. Yep, same old routine like the last time.

“So Lena, where did you live before coming here?” asked one girl, sitting just to my right.

“I lived in Minnesota with my mom,” I said with a smile.

Another girl, from the first’s left, turned around and smiled back at me. “So Lena, have you heard the news about this school? What do you think?” she asked.

“Yeah, about those murders? I think it’s kind of creepy, but we have all those security guards, right?”

“Yeah, but the killer could be a teacher!” some guy shot in.

“Shh, please turn around and hush!” the teacher, finally taking notice, chided.

They all snickered and giggled at the fact that they got caught, I simply rolled my eyes. I don’t see what was so funny about it. 1st period seemed to drag for a long time, and I wondered if the rest of my classes were going to be like this. On my way to 2nd, I realized that I ended up lost, which was quite pathetic.

Looking at my schedule card, I scanned the doors and their numbers, looking for the specific, E05 which was possibly a wild goose chase since I was all the way in the K’s. The rooms were organized by letters A-L all throughout the building, and I was desperately searching for my classroom.

I suppose it was because I was so wrapped up in my thoughts, I didn’t notice the person in front of me and ultimately ran into her! I was sent aback a few steps and had to catch my breath from the shock of hitting someone. Shaking my head, I found that the books I was holding had fell over along with the other person’s belongings.

“Sorry about that…wasn’t paying attention.”

I quickly apologized, finally looking up to the other person, who was kneeled over picking up her things. I noticed that she looked rather meek, petite and clean cut.

“Oh don’t worry about it, I wasn’t paying attention much either,” she said, looking at me and smiling. Pushing a stray strand of jet black hair behind her left ear, which, to my surprise had multiple piercings despite her overall image, she smiled at me swiftly before grabbing some papers.

We both got up and dusted ourselves off, both embarrassed and we sent small smiles to each other, acknowledging one another. I was lucky as to not have touched her.

“Well, I should be going now…see you around,” she said in a soft voice, bowed slightly and walked around me in a hurry, holding her books to her chest. Despite having smacked right into her, I realized I didn’t really get a good look at her face. But from what I could have guessed, she would’ve probably looked rather plain.

I looked around and saw that no one witnessed our embarrassing act and realized I was still lost. I scowled and found a teacher, who helped me, pointing behind me—much to my displeasure.

Great, so I was going backwards….

I found that my next class was just as boring as the last. I was seated in the back this time, my back against a wall and corner to my right. Sighing, I thanked my good genes that I had good eyesight, cause’ boy was the board far from me.

My teacher, Mr. Thomas, a young looking man around his mid-twenties, had a square cut which evenly shaped his square dark, chin. His voice, deep and loud, cut across the vast classroom, over to me, sadly.

“And joining our new class, please give a warm welcome to Ms. Adelardi, or Lena, now, Lena, where are you coming from?”

Smiling, I scanned my eyes around the class before answering. Nothing out of the ordinary, yet.

“Minnesota, sir,” I added the last bit quickly, wondering if it was the norm to say those things. Luckily, Mr. Thomas smiled in return and opened a large textbook.

“I think I’ve been to Minnesota, really clean,” he commented. Again, I smiled, not really knowing what to say just so long as I got out of the spotlight. Everyone’s eyes turned from me to the board as Mr. Thomas began reading aloud.

“Hey!”

A whisper from my left made me turn, I found myself facing a girl with bright blue eyes and dark brown hair.

“My name’s Jennifer, but you can call me Jen.” She extended a hand to me, smiling, her wide eyes twinkling with childlike innocence.

“Hi, Lena,” I greeted with a half smile; I pretended not to have noticed her hand, which was luckily quite low. I wasn’t trying to be rude it’s just—I didn’t want to touch her. She however, didn’t exactly get my real intention and assumed I hadn’t seen it, for she put it down swiftly and smiled at me.

“So, you like it here so far?” she asked.

“Yeah, it’s…different?”

She laughed, trying to keep it down. Jen sat up straight, pointing a finger at Mr. Thomas.

“You’re really lucky that you got Mr. Thomas, he’s really cool and he’s super funny. A lot of students usually hang around in his class during breaks or after school.”

I nodded, not really caring but trying to look it.

I found that Jen liked to talk, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing…it’s just, if I were her I’d run out of things to talk about, but with Jen it’s like a new topic popped in her brain every second she finished the first one.

“Ms. Morgan, can you give me the answer to number 5, please?” Mr. Thomas broke in mid-sentence.

Jen quickly turned around, startled. I think she was so surprised; she smacked her knee into the desk because she was currently wincing.

“Number 5?” Jen looked down at her book, which wasn’t even opened, “Sorry, no Mr. Thomas.”

“Then could you please stop chatting with Ms. Adelardi and at least look as if you’re paying attention, you’ll have all the time in the world to mingle with your new classmate after the period ends,” he stated, a corner of his mouth tugging into a grin.

I noticed there was a slight humor to his tone, which I concluded was probably one of the reasons why students liked him so much, he wasn’t a very uptight teacher.

Jen however, blushed wildly in embarrassment and nodded her head low. There were snickers and giggles across the classroom, which I figured wasn’t helping Jen’s predicament much. Mr. Thomas however, was able to steer the class back on track with little to no difficulties, amazing me. After class was over, Jen was instantly by the side of my desk.

“So, Lena, do you have any friends here?” she asked happily.

I paused, wondering if telling her the truth was a good idea. I really don’t feel like making any friends here…it brings too much drama. However, I decided, what the heck? No harm in being honest—but I guess I wasn’t always good at things like this.

“No?” I replied, it was more of a question rather than a statement.

“Oh! Then you can hang out with us!”

Us…? It was already too late because she was already expecting me to go with her and it’d be weird if I suddenly said I had to go somewhere when I really didn’t know my way around, I might end up running into her! So, here I was following this bubbly person who was skipping around like a five-year-old to her friends, which I hoped, wasn’t very many—I don’t do very well in crowds.

I sighed with relief when I found out that there were only two friends. One of them, the tallest, noticed me first as she proceeded to give Jen a hug.

“Oh…who’s this?” she asked.

I noticed the faint Irish accent in her voice, and I connected it with her auburn red hair atop her head. Jen turned around facing me.

“Her name’s Lena, she’s new so she’s going to be our new friend!” Jen exclaimed, smiling widely at me.

Okay, I don’t remember agreeing to be friends…

“Oh, cool,” the redhead flashed a bright smile at me, “name’s Alexia, nice to meet you.”

The other girl, beside her on her right, who was notably quiet the entire time, finally spoke in a surprisingly loud tone (not so loud to the point of shouting…of course).

“I’m Melissa. Nice to meet you,” the Asian girl greeted.

I nodded at her direction, “Same here.” I don't think I've had this much attention for a while, so I was feeling a little awkward right about now. I so don't have social skills, which is sad considering I'm sixteen and all.

They sat near the cafeteria in the grass area outside, near the back gate.

“So, how do you like it here in California so far?” asked Melissa.

I sat down next to a bouncing Jen who was animatedly talking to Alexia about last night’s TV show or something. “It’s nice. Kind of different from Minnesota but not in a bad way,” I answered sheepishly.

“Who do you live with?” Alexia questioned, she leaned back with her legs crossed loosely.

I don’t think she remembers she’s wearing a skirt—but I would like to think she’s wearing shorts underneath.

“My mom,” I blurted out, I had meant to say it a bit differently but, I guess not. Jen grinned in response as she hugged Melissa.

“Really? That’s like, the opposite of me! I live with my daddy only…oh and my big brother but he doesn’t count,” she exclaimed.

“Yeah and that’s why you’re so spoiled,” Alexia stated, more of a joke I think.

“Am not!” huffed Jen.

We all ended up laughing, mine kind of half-heartedly. As the day proceeded, I was already walking to my 5th period when I noticed the girl from before. I only saw her in the classroom as I passed by sitting next to a window looking dazed. I noticed that the classroom she was in was only open to upperclassmen, making me realize she was probably a year or two older. She sat alone and isolated, not talking to anyone or being talked to…that must suck.

It’s then that I realize that I’m in a much better state than she is…but looking at her now made me think of something else, and I quickly turned my gaze from her and continued walking. While walking, I walked across a group of girls…girls who I get the feeling you really don’t want to get on the bad side of.

I suppose they’re the breed who you call popular, which all in all…seems like a stupid high school fairy tale cliché, but hey, they really do exist. Amazing isn’t it? Now, I don’t really know how many there were exactly, standing there next to the lockers all cool and all, but if I had to guess, I’d say around five or six. I quickly picked out the head leader, a slender girl with waist length, wavy black hair. Nicely tanned and a curvy body, something typical of what you’d think of a popular girl should look like I suppose.

As I walked pass them, I heard one of the girls call her “Cassandra” which I guess is her name. No duh Lena…of course that’s her name. I decided that it’d be best not to get to know those girls and to not cross their paths very often because only trouble can lead to doing just that.

And you know what…? I guess it’s just my very bad luck or just a bad case of karma but I happened to have the same class as Cassandra and two of her friends. And what was even weirder was that Cassandra sat right next to me! Ok, well maybe a few desks away but it’s still rather close! I sunk in my chair trying to not attract too much attention.

“Cassandra, this is a big deal!” hissed one of the two girls. I quirked an eyebrow, trying to not be interested but failing miserably. Cassandra, apparently not affected at the statement, flicked her hair in a pretty fashion.

“Courtney, it’s just a stupid coincidence, not a very big deal.”

“Do you think we should check out that place?”

“Eww, that place for complete freaks? No thanks.”

I quirked an eyebrow at that comment, what was ‘that’ place? Obviously, Cassandra thought little of it but I still couldn’t help but feel curiosity pique at the mention of a mysterious place. At that time, the teacher came in. She was an older woman, in her late forties with graying blond hair.

“Ok class, today we’re going to—“

My thoughts drowned out her voice. I just want this day to end; I was already tired of it. School was never a very big thing for me, so I never understood why people got so riled up over school games or dances or whatever activities the school had.

Having friends, having boyfriends, girlfriends, I didn’t care for it much. Because eventually, you’ll have to say goodbye to them right? And how can you tell from the loyal and the backstabbers? I’d rather not go to the trouble to find out; it’s much easier that way.

My wish came true sure enough when the bell rang in my 6th period, and I was finding myself excited to get home. But I spotted Jen, Alexia and Melissa and I sighed inwardly. It’s not like I hated or disliked them, it’s just that they were so energetic it was hard keeping up with them.

I certainly didn’t consider them friends…but I’m not so sure on how they felt about me. What scared me the most was probably Jen’s habit of hugging or grabbing her friends, and since she considered me a friend, that only made me more nervous, so far she’s kept her distance but—I should just be more careful.

“Hey Lena, you going home already?” asked Alexia, who was all decked out in her basketball jersey and shorts.

“Huh? Oh yeah…I gotta get home early, gotta cook tonight,” I lied. Jen pouted, folding her arms.

“Oh, that sucks…well, see you tomorrow then!” Jen said as the three walked away.

Melissa nodded a farewell to me and I did the same. She wasn’t much of a talker I noticed but I suppose that’s just how you’d be able to balance with both Alexia and Jen—especially Jen. On my way to the front gate of the school, I noticed the upperclassman from before. She was walking to the front, to a person who wasn’t wearing a school uniform. Probably a college boyfriend…? But she didn’t look like the type to have one….

I noticed several girls who passed by him stop and stare in awe which he ignored and waited for the upperclassman girl. She paused in front of him and exchanged a few words to him, pouted and proceeded to leave with him. Ok, so maybe he is her boyfriend—they were standing pretty close.

Wait—why the hell do I care?

I finally reached home, only to find a sticky note placed on the fridge.

“Lena, dear…working late tonight, there’s some leftovers from last night in the fridge, please do your homework and get to bed on time, love; Mom. P.S: don’t open the door for anyone and don’t leave the house!!”

“Great,” I breathed, at least now I had the house to myself. I was used to being left alone. Mom was constantly busy with work and I never actually had anywhere I needed to be. I felt a brush of fur at my leg to which I bent down to see Artemis, purring and going back and forth against my leg. Her little bell dinging as she rubbed her head against my leg.

During my stay here I hadn’t seen anything too weird. That itself was weird enough however I hardly went a day without seeing any ghosts or whatnot. I could tell however—there was definitely something going on in this city—I just didn’t know what.

I woke up the next morning, realizing I hadn’t changed clothes nor did I even get under my blankets. I sat up, groaning, I had a killer headache. I brought a tired hand to my forehead and looked at my clock.

“Shit, I’m late!”

I scrambled out of bed and practically fell over to my bathroom. As I brushed my teeth, my mind trailed back to the vision I had seen yesterday. I wonder, how long ago that had happened, was it just a few moments ago? Perhaps it was a days or months ago, maybe even a year, I think I remember seeing that girl’s face on the news, but I wasn’t too sure.

Spitting out the watery content in my mouth, I looked up slowly to the mirror, and pressed my forehead against the cool glass and let out a heavy sigh, watching as it fogged up. I wish I didn’t see these things, I wish I was like any normal person; I don’t want to be different.

Straightening myself, I took one last look at my image and made a motion to turn, but stopped. I let out an ear biting scream as I flailed myself to the wall behind me, next to the door. A tall, dark figure stood behind me from my room, watching.

It was another ghost or so it seemed. I was too afraid to really look at it.

I just stood there staring back at the mirror, for some reason, the person (at least, I think it was a person), just stood there. I mustered up the courage to look back, afraid that if I did that thing would be even closer.

However, when I did look back, the shadow was gone just as quickly as it had appeared. I silently fell to the floor staring back at my room. I could hear my mom’s voice echoing in the hallway as she approached but ignored it. I guess I spoke too soon? Ah man—I must’ve jinxed myself last night!

“Lena, are you alright?!”

I heard my mom call me. I could feel her presence as she rushed to my side, kneeling. I looked up at her, eyes wide and I found myself nodding at her question, taking in a deep breath and grunting as I sat up. “Y-Yeah, I’m fine…I just…fell, that’s all.”

My mom let out a sigh of relief and put a hand on my head. “Don’t scare me like that,” she gasped, “are you sure you’re ok?”

I nodded, looking back at my room behind her and standing up. I shouldn’t tell her about what I just saw. She’d only make a big deal out of it and that’d just be tiring to deal with.

“I’m fine, really…I need to get ready so….” I said hastily, dusting myself off.

“Oh! Yes that’s right. OK, well, hurry or you’ll be late.”

During the drive to school, something caught my eye and I sat up straight, brows furrowed and my mouth agape. I pressed my hands against the car window.

“Mom, isn’t that where one of those girls were killed?”

My mom slowed down slightly, and looked over my shoulder.

“Oh, yes that’s right, it is…that’s so sad,” she said, putting a hand to her face. “Lena, I want you to be extra careful when you’re by yourself. Am I making myself clear?”

I looked over to her, her eyes back to the road and her hands tightening against the wheel of the car.

“If anything happened to you I wouldn’t know what to do. What happened to those girls was horrible,” my mom said, her voice shaking.

I simply nodded not knowing exactly what to say at a time like this. I didn’t dare look back at the rosaries that were set there in the ditch with yellow tape surrounding the area. How creepy, I thought, that it was only a few miles from a familiar neighborhood and it was on the way to school as well! My luck just keeps getting better, wouldn’t you agree?

Was I really safe at that school? I couldn’t be but Mom was dead set on getting me into that school. She said it was the best there was in this city and she believed I would be safe. After all, I thought, it was probably just a coincidence, nothing more. Why in the world would the killer be after students of Campos? It wasn’t the only school in this district let alone the only private one.

Maybe those girls just got on the wrong side of someone they shouldn’t have? I shouldn’t be talking bad about the dead however and I turned to look at the street once more long past the fallen grounds of my would-be fellow classmates.

When class began, I felt drained of any energy I had managed to muster that morning. Just hanging out with Jen in one period makes me feel like years had gone by and my youth only a fleeting memory. It’s not like she was bad or anything, it’s just….

“Where does she get that energy?” I muttered to myself, as Jen ran around with a lollipop in her hand.

She was so childlike; it was almost as if she were a toddler stuck in the body of a 15 year old. I had heard from Alexia that Jen had never had a boyfriend before because she was never interested in getting one because then it’d take time away from having fun as a “single being” whatever that meant.

“Hey Jen, if you keep running around like that, you’ll trip and fall!”

I turned to see that Alexia and Melissa had arrived and I almost felt a tinge of relief at seeing some “sensible” faces. Alexia was off trying to calm down Jen, in some way or another, leaving Melissa and I to ourselves. I glanced over to her from the corner of my eye.

Melissa hardly spoke a word so in some ways she was more like me but in other ways not.

“Are you finally adjusting to life here?”

I snapped my head over to Melissa who had finally decided to talk. I blinked in confusion. I didn’t quite catch what she said. Only that she actually said something.

“W-what, was that?” I asked dumbly.

She smiled in reply, putting her hands behind her back. “I said, ‘are you finally adjusting to life here’,” she repeated, humor in her eyes. Oh, so even Melissa did have a sense of humor. This was a shocker to me.

“Oh, yeah I am,” I said, somewhat lying. I don’t think I can ever get used to Jen or Alexia for that matter nor anyone in this school.

I felt Jen approaching (she’s pretty noticeable), and I evaded her hug just in time, much to her chagrin, as she tripped onto the floor. I stared down at her not quite knowing what to do about that and just stood there looking at her. Melissa began to laugh in a polite manner and I could hear Alexia’s booming laughter in the background.

“I told you, didn’t I?” Alexia teased, walking over to us.

“It’s not my fault,” Jen whined, sitting up, “Lena dodged me so I fell!”

“Oh, uh—sorry,” I said, scratching the back of my head.

Melissa looked over at me, a curious look on her face. “You don’t really like to be touched, do you?”

I went quiet, looking away.
“Yeah, it’s almost like, every time I try to touch you, you avoid it!” Jen announced, standing up and dusting herself off.

I looked back at them and smiled, covering up my uncomfortable feeling. “Sorry, it’s just…I don’t really like it when people touch me. It’s kind of a phobia, you know?”

Jen sighed despairingly, “Oh, Lena you’re so weird…but oh well, that’s okay I guess!”

“You’re the one who’s weird Jen,” Alexia retorted, bonking Jen atop her head.

“Owie!”

We went our separate ways, since 3rd period was going to start and we had different classes. As I walked down the corridors of my private school, my eyes narrowed. My thoughts went back to the earlier conversation.

You don’t really like to be touched, do you?

Yeah, it’s almost like, every time I try to touch you, you avoid it!

Sorry, it’s just…I don’t really like it when people touch me, it’s kind of a phobia, you know?

I don’t like to be touched by people. If I told them why, I’m sure they’d just think of me as even more weird. It’s scary though, what happens when I touch people or am being touched, it’s scary. It’s so scary, I just want to double over and cry my eyes out.

When I finally separated from the girls, I found myself walking in an empty hallway. I looked from left to right, back and forth and found no one.

Lena, I want you to be extra careful when by yourself. Am I making myself clear?

I don’t know why but my mom’s words from earlier rang loud and clear in my head. It wasn’t like I was anywhere dangerous (it was school…), but I felt like I had done something stupid. I wished that someone would just appear.

I hadn’t paid much attention to her earlier but now I feel like the whole conversation was now playing in my mind a lot louder. The scene from before, the vision that I had suffered this morning suddenly flashed in my mind and I felt cold sweat trickle down the side of my face.

It’s not the first time I’ve seen one but every time I did, I could never forget it.

Suddenly, I felt a tap on my shoulder and I gasped out in surprise, whirling my head around to see who it was. I gave the person who touched me a fright just as they had done to me. I went back a bit, trying to regain my composure.

“Ah, I’m so sorry!”

I blinked rapidly; trying to register who exactly it was that had tapped me. It was a female student, a girl who was slightly taller than I was with long, jet black hair. I could see her lightly rimmed glasses glaring in the sunlight as she adjusted them on her small face.

Something about her felt familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I realized she had just apologized and I felt rude just staring at her in silence. Blushing deeply, I put my hands up in defense, trying to reassure her she did nothing wrong. “Ah—no it’s my fault, I’m sorry, it’s just that you freaked me out earlier, y’know, tapping me out of nowhere…?" I stumbled over my words.

She smiled, “Oh, forgive me for that, it’s just that that was the only way to get you to notice, you seemed pretty troubled earlier.” She had finally finished adjusting her glasses and gently tucked away a strand of dark hair behind her left ear. It was then that I realized who she was. There were the same multiple piercings going up her left ear and I’m pretty sure her right ear was the same.

She noticed my surprised stare, something that made me really self-conscious about once I realized she had taken notice. I quickly averted my gaze, my blush still present.

“Ah, sorry…!” I quickly said.

She giggled in response, putting a petite hand to her pink lips. “It’s quite alright, are you new here? It’s the first time I’ve seen you, well second time if you count your first day here,” she asked, titling her head.

I looked back at her, “Yeah, I am. I just transferred here a few days ago. My name’s Lena.”

The girl’s smile only widened as she outstretched the same petite hand towards me. “I’m Ai. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

I stared down at her hand, the inside of my stomach squeezed. I didn’t want to seem rude but I didn’t want to hold that hand either.

She noticed my hesitation and blinked at me in confusion. “Is something the matter?”

“Ah, no it’s just…I have a phobia about touching, so I uhh…”

“Oh!” she exclaimed, putting the hand to her mouth, “I’m so sorry, I had no idea! I must’ve come off as rude, didn’t I?”

“Ah, no you didn’t, actually I was hoping I wasn’t.”

“Of course not,” she smiled, “well, was there something bothering you? You seemed troubled before.”

I stared at her in confusion, what was she talking about? I traced back from before, oh, she must be talking about before.

“Oh, it’s just,” I tried to think up an excuse, “it’s just girl things, y’know?”

She seemed to buy it, in a way, because she looked at me with such puzzlement I was pretty sure she didn’t. She however, chuckled at my answer.

“I see, well I’m glad it’s just that, this school has become more dangerous before I came here so I had thought that something bad had happened.”

I stared at her, “More dangerous?” I couldn’t help but notice the fact that she had added the “more” there.

She nodded, “Yes,” she looked up at the wall, as if admiring it, “this school is very mysterious in a lot of ways but after a while it’s become a lot darker I’m afraid.”

“I-Is that so?” I couldn’t help but feel like she was warning me about something. Warning me from what though?

“Lena,” she turned her attention back to me and it was at that moment that something clicked in my head, something that I hadn’t noticed before but now that I did, it was clear as day.

“It’s best to keep eyes in both the front and the back. You never know what might happen if you don’t pay attention to your surroundings,” Ai said, looking at me with a humorous glint in here eyes.

I hadn’t noticed she had continued her earlier statement and only when her words rang in my head did it register in me. “Ah, yeah, I will,” I said, nodding.

She smiled, turning around gently, her attention still on me. “If you ever need anything, you can come find me. As your upperclassmen I’d be more than happy to help you in whatever way,” she touched her glasses, “Oh and…one more thing, this may come in handy someday.”

I was surprised when she suddenly flicked out a business card from inside her white coat. I took it on impulse, puzzled and not quite sure what it was for. When I looked down at it I was completely shocked. I looked up at her as soon as I read what was on the card.

I only received a smile as she turned on her heel and made her way through the long hallways of our school.

Looking down at the small card in my hand, I could feel an empty twinge in my gut. I wondered if that senior knew more than she let on. I just had a feeling but I didn’t have any basis for my theory.

“Hell’s Pound Detective Agency: Got a problem that can’t be solved by normal means? Have you lost something and want to find it? Got a demon inside you and want to relieve yourself of it? Come to us. We’re always open- day or night.”

That was a bit creepy. Was that a joke meant for laughing material? The way it was written felt like it was meant to be humorous (at least, that’s how I interpreted it). I looked at the name of the card once more and the more I ran my light-green eyes over it the more it made me feel curious.

“Hell’s Pound Detective Agency?” I repeated the name. I didn’t even know that detective agencies still existed! But I would have never guessed that such a docile looking senior would be affiliated with such a dark looking agency. I mean, just by reading the name and description they sounded like a bunch of nutcases.

Well—I’m not one to talk so I shouldn’t say anything.

I let out a heavy sigh of frustration and continued on my way. I unconsciously stuck the card into my pocket of my skirt. Got a problem that can’t be solved by normal means? That part also struck my thoughts and I temporarily stopped walking.

Problem…?

I went back to that weird shadow that I saw this morning—well that’s one hell of a problem if I do say so myself. Not the first time I’ve seen one but it’s still a problem nonetheless. I mean, as someone who can see the dead—seeing things like that wasn’t an abnormal sight but—maybe these guys could—no Lena. Don’t get suckered into this prank.

She could look innocent and sweet on the outside but for all I know it could just be a scam! I tried convincing myself that it was no good but the more I thought about it the more I thought about that shadowy figure.

With these thoughts running inside my mind I reluctantly took out that small card once more. I stared at it like crazy. I don’t know what to do anymore. Gripping it tightly and squeezing my eyes shut, I let my conscious make the decision for me—go or don’t go?

I finally made the decision. I wasn’t going to go. I don’t think I want to add any more problems to my already hectic life. That’s what I thought at first but—I think it’s fate that I would go to that place because as I decided that I wouldn’t go Jen announced that she was going.

It just so happened that she had received that same business card not too long ago though from what she’s told me it was from an entirely different person—someone, as she described, who was very big and scary (she explained that he was passing out flyers and cards outside of the detective office).

She on the other hand was going for an entirely different reason. Her dog was missing.

I couldn’t help but heave out a very heavy sigh as I walked alongside Jen. Alexia and Melissa couldn’t make it due to various reasons and I was stuck going along with her. Curse my good conscious—if either of the other two went with her I would’ve made an excuse—but seeing as how she was going alone, I felt that it’d be safer if someone went with her.

I believe I’ve just gotten too soft these days.

“Hey! I think this is the place!” Jen shouted at me as I had drifted behind her some distance. She was pointing at an old brick building. I suppose the office was inside. It was a fairly large Victorian building despite its looks. I was surprised to see how luxurious it was on the inside considering the state it was in on the outside. The person who owned it had such eccentric tastes—I mean, talk about antique?

Velvety walls? Linen carpets? Whoever owned this building liked fancy details a tad too much and was obviously born in the wrong century. I almost felt bad for the tenants who lived in this building—but then again it was more or less their choice to live here so—maybe they liked this sort of stuff?

We finally made it to our goal and I was staring at an old black wooden door. We were actually still on the first floor of a five story building. Maybe the tenants lived upstairs? However, the office was the last room at the very end of the hallway.

It was the only door with a window with the sign “Detective Agency” in broad messy handwriting hanging against the window by use of tape—I couldn’t help but scoff. Despite the fact that their business card was so fancy their sign sure needed a lot more work.

Before I knew it Jen was reaching for the doorknob and I reached out to stop her.

“Wait—Jen--!” I said, taking a step foreword. I wasn’t so sure I wanted to go through with this anymore. Jen turned around slightly to look at me, her hand still outstretched.

Suddenly, the door swung open. Both of us jerked backwards in surprise with Jen almost knocking into me. She let out a small yelp and snatched back her back, hugging it against her chest. I couldn’t deny I was startled and I stepped back before Jen could bump into me.

“Oh—hello,” a voice greeted.

I gapped—realizing just who it was. Pointing a shaking a finger, my light green eyes were wide with shock and confusion.

“Y-Y-You?! What are you doing here?!” I demanded.

It was Ai.

“Me? I work here,” Ai explained, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“Do you two know each other?” asked Jen, looking at the both of us in confusion.

“Ah—yeah, kind of,” I answered, relaxing a bit. Okay, I know it was Ai who gave me the card in the first place but to think she actually worked here—in a place like this—that was unexpected to say the least.

Ai simply smiled happily as if there were little flowers floating around her head as she opened the door widely.

“Oh, how rude of me—do please come in!” she said, cheerfully leading us in.

Once more before I could stop her, Jen followed after the upperclassman and I was forced to follow in after her too. Aaagh—why must I always be the only one to worry about these sorts of things?! Jen! You should at least be a little worried! I feel stupid now.

We followed Ai in silence and it was only then did I notice that something was different about her. Well, there were a lot of things that were different about her. For one she didn’t have her glasses on which surprised me. Her back was to us but I couldn’t see any hint of glasses on her face. Her hair was down too, let loose and swaying as she walked- long ink black hair that looked like silk.

She wasn’t wearing her school uniform either (not like us…) but instead a simple black tank top and a white, frilly skirt. I didn’t know she was the type to wear frilly clothing…

Black thigh high stockings hid her long curved legs—to which I only just noticed now. Okay, why am I paying so much attention to a girl’s body. Something’s wrong with me.

“Boss, there are some customers waiting to see you!” Ai said in a sing song tone. She’s totally different than how she is at school—that reserved mysterious aura I received from her before was totally blown away with her carefree cheerful attitude now.

We turned a corner to see a man sleeping at a dark, brown desk. His legs crossed at the ankles on top of a messy pile of papers and folders, his fingers folded neatly on his lap and a dark brown fedora hat lazily covering his face. He was leaning against a large green arm chair.

My first impressions of this place aren’t turning out to be very good.

“Boss,” Ai said, leaning towards him, “Bossss, wakey wakey…!” She then began poking him with a slender finger. Looking at us with a sheepish smile, Ai bowed to us quickly.

“Sorry, he’s a little—difficult to wake up,” she said, poking him a little harder.

“Yo, Gabe we ran outta liq—huh, who’re they?”

Turning slightly to see who it was I blinked rapidly in surprise. A large man who looked around his mid- to late thirties, came lazily out from another door that I had no idea was even there—scratching his large stomach and glaring down at us. Well, he was only glaring down with one eye, as I instantly noticed the small slash across his right eye and I cringed—wonder what happened to him.

However, he does look like the scruffy type—so no surprise.

“That’s the guy who was handing out flyers the other day,” whispered Jen, leaning towards me.

Oh, when she said scary looking guy—she really meant it.

“They are our customers and Goro, do you think you could wake up Boss, he’s being incredibly rude right now,” Ai said, putting her small hands on her waist. She frowned as she looked down at the still sleeping man who wasn’t afraid to loudly snore innocently unaware of the trouble he was causing.

“Haaah, customers?” the man named Goro drawled with a country twang. He looked down at us and squinted.

He practically towered over us and I felt a shutter go down my spine. Was it just me or did this guy look really angry? It looked like he was scowling at us for no apparent reason, did we do something wrong?

“Stop it, you’re scaring them,” Ai said, pushing him aside fearlessly. He practically towered over Ai just as much as he did to us and she just so easily pushed him with no fear at all!

However, to my surprise Goro simply grunted at her, made a funny face (he’s quite childish, surprisingly…) and stalked over to where the sleeping man was. I thought he was going to shout at him or something or lightly push him but no, he did something that I somewhat anticipated.

He kicked him.

“YO GABE, WAKE UP YA LAZY MORON!!! YA GOT SUM’ CUSTOMERS OR SUMTHIN’!!!”

Kicked him so hard that the poor man went crashing down onto the floor, his chair went flying to the back wall and the papers were instantly scattered all over the place. There was this loud shout of surprise (no doubt from the ex-sleeping man), a loud thud and some groans of pain.

“Mou~, you didn’t have to make such a mess, Goro,” Ai said, not in the least bit worried that the poor guy was kicked awake. And it was no light kick my friends, it looked like it’d break his neck!

“What? Ya wanted him awake an’ now he’s awake, quit naggin’ already and go buy me sum’ liquor!” Goro retorted, folding his arms.

“No, I’m underage, they’ll think poorly of my upbringing,” Ai said, sticking out her tongue.

“Who cares?! If they give ya sum’ trouble just show ‘em what for!”

“Goro! How could I do such a thing?! You know I don’t like using violence to solve everything!”

“The hell you do! Didn’t you hit me just the other day?!”

“That wasn’t a hit, I was disciplining you and quit your whining, you’re a big boy, it didn’t hurt all that much.”

“Didn’t hurt my ass, I’m still bruised dammit!”

“My, you’re so delicate!”

“You hit me with a broom!”

“I can honestly say you deserved it.”

“Wha—“

“Does anyone not care that I’m lying on the ground injured?” came a smooth deep male voice (though it sounded a tad bit distressed at the moment) from the floor.

Silence fell soon after as our attention then went to the man who was now no longer sleeping but was indeed, lying on the ground. He glared at Goro as he tried to help himself up with a little bit of help from Ai. I was surprised that he looked perfectly fine—if not a little ruffled—but no scratches whatsoever not to mention any bruises.

Dusting himself off, the man then began to look around for his now missing hat that had flown off his head the minute he was kicked.

“Here you go, Mister!” Jen said cheerfully, handing him the fedora hat.

Smiling gratefully, the man took it gently.

“Thank you, young lady,” he said, slicking back his graying black hair. He had a matching goatee and slight mustache to boot. From the looks of it, he looked around his mid-forties. His voice was light, humorous even despite being kicked just a few moments ago.

The man then walked back to his chair, which had been put back up thanks to Ai. He then straightened up his long sleeved white button down shirt and black vest, dusted off his black slacks before sitting back down and setting down his hat on the still messy desk.

“You’ll have to excuse me for what happened earlier,” he glared at Goro slightly, “I hadn’t had time to sleep in a while and well—I just dozed off, you see?”

We both nodded, not exactly knowing what else to say.

“Now, before I start asking questions and whatnot, how about we introduce ourselves?” he suggested, smiling. His dark gray eyes with a hint of blue glistened as he flashed his pearly whites at us. His attitude seemed to fit the air around the office, let alone the eccentric building.

It was like I was in one of those old mystery novels and the detective was a dashing young gentlemen, however, in this case it was an older man but that didn’t mean he lacked the charm that any detective needed.

“My name is Gabriel Ramirez. I am the head of this detective agency. This here is my lovely assistant, Ai Akatsuki, a high school student much like yourselves,” and pausing as his attention went to Goro, “this big ox is Goro but no need to pay attention to him he’s just another assistant of mine whom I hardly pay attention to.”

“I heard that old ma—“

“In any case,” Gabriel cut in, folding his hands so that his chin could rest on them, “now that I’ve finished our introductions—would you two charming young ladies care to share your names? Oh and do please, take a seat if you’d like.” He gestured towards the two leather couches behind us.

“No thanks,” we both answered.

“My name’s Jennifer Morgan but my friends call me Jen,” Jen greeted with a smile.

“I’m Lena Adelardi,” I said hastily.

“Lena Adelardi…Adelardi, I feel as if I’ve heard that name before. What was your father’s name?” Gabriel asked, leaning foreword. I noticed that both Ai and Goro’s attention were fixed on me and I shifted uncomfortably from the sudden attention. Jen simply stared at me in confusion.

“L-Leon Brand but I don’t know much about him,” I said, confused as to why they even wanted to know my father’s name. They did seem rather odd and from what I’ve heard about my father he was a bit of an oddball himself.

I was even more surprised by their reaction as they seemed to have taken in a sharp breath as soon as I uttered his name. I furrowed my brows nervously. Did they know my father?

“D-Do you by any chance—kno—“

“Hmph, doesn’t ring a bell,” Gabriel instantly said, blinking a bit as if nothing happened.

I stared, perplexed, then what was that dramatic silence for?! You all seemed like you knew something!

“Well, we best get on with what you originally came here for,” Gabriel said in an all too cheery tone. He sat up straight and folded his hands, leaning towards us. “So, ladies, care to share your troubles with an old man?” he asked.

“O-Oh, well that is,” Jen said, forgetting what she had originally came here for, “Oh! My dog is missing and I would like it if you guys could find him for me!”

She then handed them a picture of a large black Labrador, I’m surprised she had such a big dog. I always took Jen for a small dog type; guess you can’t judge a book by its cover, huh?

“His name is William Marshmallow Morgan,” Jen explained, “and he’s a pretty old dog so I’m really worried about him. Oh! And he’s blind in one of his eyes, the right one.”

She tapped the picture where the dog’s eye was. “See? It’s all…” She paused and then looked at Ai, “kind of like hers?” Jen sheepishly pointed at Ai’s left eye, who smiled warmly.

“Ah—sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude,” Jen said, looking down, blushing. She leaned back to where I stood, putting her hands to her side, obviously embarrassed from her comment. I could see her face heat up and I honestly felt bad for her.

“Oh, no it’s quite alright, you meant no harm. In all actuality, it’s not blind at all but a very faint grayish blue. If you take a closer look it’s easier to tell. People often misunderstand at first glance so I’m quite used to it.” Ai reassured her, smiling still. She pointed at her left eye as both Jen and I leaned foreword to get a better look.

Sure enough, if you took a better look it was a perfectly fine eye just that the eye color was completely different from the other. Did she have heterochromia? Before we could ask any further questions—Goro broke into the conversation.

“Marshmallow…?” repeated Goro, looking at the photo, “who the hell names their dog Marshmal—“

“I think it’s a perfectly splendid name,” Ai said, glaring at him, “and that’s only his middle name, they’re meant to be embarrassing! I mean—cute.”

“Hah, so ya think it’s stupid too!” Goro pressed, grinning at her.

“No, just because I think it would be embarrassing—I mean, cute—does not mean it's not a perfectly splendid name!”

“Ah that’s fuckin’ bullcrap, if it’s embarrassing then it ain’t ‘splendad’!”

“My, you can’t even say a simple word such as ‘splendid’, you are such a genius!”

“Ah shut up, not ev’rybody can talk all tight-up like that, you and yer fancy pancy words and all.”

I think we’re now straying from the point now. I have to admit these two were entertaining but I’m starting to forget why we’re even here in the first place. I looked over to Gabriel who, to my surprise, was busy studying the photo of the dog “William”. I wondered why he was so quiet.

“Okay, we will take this request,” Gabriel concluded, smiling at Jen.

“Really?!” Jen beamed, smiling.

“Only if ya got the money to pay us,” Goro cut in, folding his arms.

“P-Pay?” Jen stammered, biting her bottom lip.

Oh c’mon Jen, you didn’t honestly think this was a free service, did you? I was a bit surprised myself though, just for a dog I wonder just how much it was going to cost.

“Of course, the price will be negotiated between you and Gaberi-I mean, Boss,” Ai explained, trying to calm down the situation.

“Oh, well, if it’s like that then—how much would someone normally pay for something like this?” Jen asked, tilting her head.

“Hmm, in this sort of situation—your dog, William, that is—he simply went missing, correct?” Gabriel asked, looking at her.

“Yes, he went missing about five days ago,” Jen said.

“I see, then this is a simple mission at best, it all depends on how long it takes and just how difficult it turns out to be, we’ll figure out a fair price after we find the dog, depending on the damages we receive.” Gabriel said, looking at her.

I wasn’t paying attention to their conversation as I was thinking about my own problem and why I had wanted to come here originally. But—I’m not very sure I can trust these guys with such a delicate topic—I’m still trying to figure out if this is all nothing but a sham!

“Where’s the idiot?” Goro asked suddenly, looking around the office.

“If you’re talking about Kain then he’s out on another errand,” explained Ai, fixing the messy array of papers on the desk.

“That Kain! Bet he’s slacking off somewhere!” Goro grunted, folding his arms.

“Whether or not he is, he’ll have to get back soon in order to deal with this errand,” Gabriel stated, putting down the photo. He looked at the both of us and smiled, leaning back against the chair which let out a slight squeak.

“We’ll send someone right out first thing tomorrow afternoon. Is that alright with you?” Gabriel asked.

“Thank you so much,” Jen said graciously.

“No need to thank us just yet,” Gabriel replied, “we have yet to find William.”

“Oh, yeah,” Jen said, laughing.

Unconsciously, my eyes trailed over to Goro whose arms were folded, he was staring off in space with a frown on his face. He caught my staring and his frown turned into a pure scowl as he narrowed his eyes further and I flinched in surprise.

“Whatchu’ lookin’ at, damn brat?!”

Before I could say anything, Ai punched him in the shoulder. I watched as Goro comically winced from the hit and took a few steps away from the teen.

“Goro, you’re being rude again!” she chided.

“Aw, put a sock in it!” Goro replied, defending himself just in case she struck at him again.

“Umm, Lena didn’t you need to ask them something?” Jen asked, turning to me.

Their attention now went to me and I mentally cursed Jen for bringing me into the lime light. “No!” I said loudly, without thinking, I tried to quiet down my voice, “No—I mean, I don’t need any help, thanks.”

“Are you sure Lena?” Ai asked, turning to look at me. She folded her arms and stared at me, her duo colored eyes seemed to burn right into me and I could feel my face heat up. Her eyes were almond shaped; almost cat like in a way especially with the way her eyes were colored.

“I don’t need anything, thank you,” I tried to assure them. I was dying to get out of here before something happened. I felt like they could expose my secret without me even mentioning it.

And so we left. I was in a hurry but I tried to not seem so rushed before I closed the door behind us my eyes trailed back to the three inside the office. I froze as I saw that Gabriel’s gaze was fixed on me and I earned a smile from the man, whose eyes looked like they knew something that I didn’t want them to know.

“They leave?” came a rough voice. It came from behind a dark brown door to the side where the couches were.

“Yes, they’re gone,” Ai said, standing next to Gabriel’s desk.

Goro had ventured over to the leather couch that was in the spacious office, lazily putting his feet on the glass coffee table. “Ya get me any booze?” Goro asked, flicking on the TV.

“Yeah,” the owner of the voice replied, Kain, walked in.

D.M.: Aaaall done for the first chapter!!! Hoped you liked it! I didn't realize that it was this long...and I had intended on putting more but then I realized that it should be used for the 2nd chapter instead. Kain makes his 'official' appearance in chapter two, something I had intended for this chapter but I didn't. He does have a speaking role in this chapter, but it's only three words....poor guy, and he's the main male character too....

well...as for names, I'll start off with the people I think would be best to explain.

Ahem, first off...Lena, it's pronounced "Len-Nah" not like the traditional way, sorry. I named her after a friend of mine, who also happens to be Italien, but Lena's personality is far from the real-life-Lena, so they only share a name...and short brown hair which I just now realized.

Lena's last name was difficult to decide on, it was originally "Lee" but I changed it to "Adelardi" because, for one "Adelardi" just sounded cooler (sorry to those of you who have 'lee' as their last name, my mom does too...). Also, "Lenalee" if you pronounce "lena" as 'lee-nah', it sounds a lot like man's 'lenalee' or 'linalee' however you want to spell it. I only realized THAT after I named Lena, so I changed it to Adelardi.

Ai would be pronounced as, well, "eye" or "I" or...well, you get the picture, right? It means love or affection in Japanese. Her last name is "Akatsuki" which means "Dawn".