Prologue

The dark skinned woman clutched the toddler to her chest and ran as everything else around them crumbled. The child cried and screamed gripping onto her mother for dear life. The woman looked ahead of her as she ran ignoring the screams and panic of everyone else around her, she was looking for something. Someone.

She saw his hand waving frantically up ahead in the crowd. She pushed her way through as best as she could. The crowd was shifting sporadically and everytime she would catch his hand it would be ripped away by the force of the crowd. "Take her." She cried. The crowd shifted again pushing her further away from the man. "No."She screamed as hot tears streaked down her face.

"Damn it." The man pushed against the crowd as he looked for the heads of his wife and daughter. Everything was painted in hues of reds and yellows. Fires burned and structures began to give way. Everything was Chaos. The crowd was still coming and he still didn't see his wife. "Shit!" he cried in desperation. He held back his tears as he scanned the crowd again; the screams were getting louder and the flames hotter. He finally spotted his wife who had taken shelter under a nook in the walls. He began pushing his way over, oblivious to the bodies he stepped on or over. He pushed and fought his way over to her side. The crowd continued to grow in heat, pressure and bedlam. "Hold on tight to my hand. Don't let go whatsoever." He looked his wife in the eyes. She hesitated for a minute and then replied. "I won't let got." She placed her hand in his as their daughter clutched onto her neck.

"When I say run we have to run, okay?" the woman nodded her head. "Okay…" he began.

"Wait!" she pulled her hand from his. "You take her, I won't be able to hold her and run." The man looked into his wife's eyes. He could sense something but it wasn't the time to try and figure it out. He just nodded his head and pried the screaming child from her shoulders. "Okay…" he began again. "On three." He looked at his wife then kissed a brief peck on the lips. "One…" he watched the crowd waiting for another shift. "Two…" he held his breath and then it happened. "Three." They ran hand in hand the child now clutched to her father's broad chest. The woman ran behind him keeping a firm grasp on his hand. Although the crowd had gotten bigger the two managed to push their way through.

They broke out of what people called the underground city. They were now in the heart of downtown but things weren't any better. The metal buildings were on fire choking the people running at their bases. "Follow Me." He yelled over his shoulder. They veered to the left of the city bank. If they could get up to Proctor Square then it was a straight shot to their house. The streets grew less crowded as they approached the subway terminals, but the heat grew more intense. The buildings began to groan on their foundations as the heat sapped away their staying strength. The screams were less pronounced now but red, yellow, and black seized the day.

They were approaching Proctor Square when the screaming surged back into their ears. But this time it wasn't from the people that this noise came from. The skeletons of some of the buildings were collapsing. They managed to run through the building without any serious wounds. Their hopes were high when they reached Proctor Square. There was a steady stream of people going towards the highlands over Dovetail Bridge, a few miles from where there house was. The lines were orderly but anything could set the people off. The couple got into a line. There were emergency security officers keeping order telling everyone to maintain calm. There line was progressing smoothly when all hell broke loose.

A woman a few lines over broke out into hysteria and pushed her way to the front of the line, sending a panic throughout the rest of the lines, the security on the other side of the bridge gate locked her line out. The security officers tried to ensure everyone that the fires were a couple of streets away and that they would all be put out before they got any further. The woman wasn't hearing it she was gone. This started a chain reaction. In all the lines people began pushing past one another.

Shoving, Chaos, Pushing, Chaos, Screams, Chaos, Tears, Chaos, Evil, Chaos, Mad, Chaos, Red, Chaos, Black, Chaos, Fire.

Chaos.

The man pulled his wife behind him as he spotted the emergency tunnel service entrance. He made a bee line for it dragging his wife behind him. He heard nothing; tasted nothing felt nothing except the urgent need to survive; to get home. He didn't notice the cold seeping into his hand until he was at the door of the tunnel.

She was gone.

There was already a man and his wife at the tunnel they were trying to get the door opened. "How the hell's we supposed to open this." He was pulling on the handle giving it all he had. "Give me a hand here." The man spoke over his shoulder at the man holding the screaming child. It was then that a security guard ran over. "We have to get out of here." He was frantic, he had no keys but he had a gun. He shot at the lock missing the first two shots but one fell true.

The man clutched the child distraught. He had lost his wife; the tears were on the verge of spilling over. He scanned the panicked crowd and finally saw her pushing her way toward him. She was making head way when she tripped and it was all over.

A portly man was running in her direction with a steal pole aiming towards the locked gates oblivious as to where he was running and into what or whom. He saw his wife getting back up and he heard his daughter crying. She was almost on her feet when a woman out of nowhere ran behind her. He watched his wife fall back to the ground, leg behind her ankle twisted at an impossible angle. She looked up at him with a desperate stare and that's when she heard him, she turned her head and saw him bringing a raging group behind him.

The woman had felt warmth of her husband's hand one minute and then it was gone the next. She could see him pushing his way through the crowd towards the service tunnel. She pushed her way along following behind him pushing past people running in every direction. Then she tripped. She looked up trying to find him to make sure he made it. He was at the tunnel along with another couple. She watched as another security guard ran up to them and began shooting the lock. They would get home. She saw his face and he saw hers. She smiled. They would go home.

She pulled herself up and was immediately brought back down. She hadn't felt it when the woman ran past but now… The pain was infectious it started from the ankle then spread across her entire body. Maybe it was the heat she thought. She looked up at her husband giving him another encouraging smile but he didn't see. He was looking at something else. She didn't see him look back at her telling her to move and she didn't see the angry mob until they were upon her.

"I love you." She whispered to herself as the black called her home.

The husband was speechless. It was then that all senses truly left him. He couldn't taste the blood on the air, feel the whimpering in his arms, feel the heat or hear the calls of the couple and security guard. They undoubtedly saw it too. Something dark slowly crawled into him and took hold. There was no pain, no tears, just…Rage.

He placed his daughter in the hands of the couple and walked towards his wife. The couple looked at the security guard, confused and frightened. "We have to go." The man yelled to his wife, snapping back to a course of action. They took the girl and disappeared into the service tunnel along with the security guard shutting the door behind them.

The girl jumped off of her bed, dropping her phone on the floor underneath the bed. She had seen it from her family's apartment building although the windows were small there was no mistaking it. She saw a large black –gray cloud escaping into the sky from the central downtown area. She couldn't believe, wouldn't believe it. She looked on the bed for her phone to call her parents anyone. She looked back at the window and at the smoke and that's when she noticed it. The white bridge that was used to enter the highlands was crawling with people it was a black mass. The bridge had never been that full even when it was just cars. She looked on confused. She opened her window and heard sirens from speeding toward the bridge. A crowd had gathered at the base of the building. Whatever was happening was a mystery. It was unexpected but what was even more unexpected was what happened 2 minutes later.

Dovetail Bridge was blown right off its foundation.

Where there were screams, cries, pain, and fire. There was nothing. There was only…

Silence.

On that day a quarter of the population in a place called the U.S. died. It happened in various locations at exactly the same time, not just in a town with a bridge called Dovetail, yet this is how our story began. Many families were torn apart because of this phenomenon but we're going to focus on one family in particular. The Halsey Family.

You see, what no one noticed on this day, was the fact that a little girl saw her mother get trampled, the fact that an older sister refused to celebrate her sisters birthday because she had something better to do.

No.

What we didn't see was the start of a revolution. They were always there, always being oppressed. Never complaining, but shouldering their burden. They lived in the shadows and provided for the greater good but were treated worse than trash.

No.

No one noticed their pains, their rage.

We were all free to dream and go after our dreams so why didn't they get the opportunity. Now as the world changes, we change. Hope is lost, so is our race.

Humans.

No.

There are only Dreamcatchers.