Chapter 1: Warning

It was that wonderful time of year again; the last day of school. No more teachers, no more homework and no more exams; everyone was excited, but no one more so than fourteen year old Sean Dunham; he was excited about the freedom that summer would bring. Sean's been sheltered most of his life: he'd never had a play date, never been out with friends, and he wasn't even allowed to date! Being the son of a sheriff made the other kids wary as well so he didn't have a many friends; but when he stepped into high school he felt a change.

Firstly Sean had found a best friend in the form of Felipe Class, a tall and lanky Dominican boy who introduced himself to Sean on the second day of Spanish class. He's a very outgoing guy and he has a lot of friends, many of them being girls. He wasn't a player though; he was too nice for all of that. The boys quickly became inseparable and Sean finally understood what it was like to have a friend. From this Sean was able to experience a play date for the very first time, but he had to be home when the streetlights turned on, which was a bother!

Of course, in high school one doesn't call them "play dates" but at the core that's what they are. Yes, these things are small and may even be foolish; but to someone who's never had them, they were pretty important.

After packing up his things Sean took off down the hallway with a wide grin on his face. The sounds of his sneakers smacking against the linoleum echoed throughout the empty hallways, only accompanied by the sound of his laughter. As he rounded the last corner and nearly ran into Alexa.

"Woah!" Sean exclaimed as he twisted to the left so that he wouldn't run into the shorter girl. Unfortunately for Sean when he twisted away he slipped and fell on the floor.

"You are a rather clumsy fellow, aren't you?" she asked with a tilt of her head.

Sean looked up at the girl, propping himself up on his elbows. "I'm not clumsy...just excited."

"Excited?" Alexa raised her eyebrows, her voice was flat. "What is there to be excited about? The end of the school year is something that happened often; is it not?"

What kind of question is that? Sean smirked slightly and sat up, "Yeah, it happens every year. But this is my very first summer as a high-schooler! So...I'm excited."

"I still do not understand," Alexa shrugged and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear; a gesture Sean found adorable. "But I guess I will be glad that you are excited."

She offered Sean a hand and he took it. Once he was squared on his feet he grinned at Alexa, "So, what do you have planned for the summer?"

"Depending on how things turn out I may be leaving this summer," she turned her head so that it was facing the light blue lockers that lined the walls. "But I have to wait and see."

Sean's grin faltered a bit, "Leave? Do you move around a lot?"

"I move around often, yes."

"That must be hard..."

"Sometimes," Alexa nodded and faced him again. "But I have no control over whether or not I leave...so I have gotten used to it." She took a few steps past Sean before she paused and turned her head back to face him, her bangs casting a shadow over her eyes, "Please remember to be careful Sean...I sense dangerous things in your future."

Alexa Slivers is the new girl at school and she was rather odd, never talking to anyone, yet she muttered to herself often. And stood a bit too close to people when she talked. However, Sean thought that she was nice; a pretty girl too, with her long black hair that shined in the light and shimmered as she moved, her amber eyes never seemed to focus on any one point, as though they were trying to see everything.

"Uh...what?" his mouth hung open slightly as Alexa walked away. Sean sighed and ran his hands through his pale blond hair; he felt kind of bad for her.

The sound of his phone ringing jolted him, he took his phone out of his pocket and glanced at his phone seeing that it was Felipe who texted him asking him where he was.

"Hold your pants," Sean murmured to himself.

Without responding to the text Sean placed his phone back in his pocket and headed out to the school's courtyard where Felipe was waiting for him. He continued down the hallway and with a gentle kick he opened the double doors to the outside world.

Standing off to the left, by one of the crab-apple saplings stood Felipe and two girls, one blonde and one ginger. Both of the girls were giggling hysterically at something he had said; always the charmer that one. Felipe looked up and spotted Sean, a grin spread across his face and he waved the blond over. The girls waved too when they saw him.

Sean trotted over, "Hey."

"Hey, shortbread," Felipe ruffled Sean's hair. Sean pushed Felipe's hand away and rolled his eyes. He wasn't that short, five feet and five inches wasn't that short! "What took you?"

"Oh nothing, I was just stopped to talk to Alexa."

"Ah," Felipe nodded. "You're finally making a move?"

"What!" Sean blushed and the girls giggled causing him to blush more. "It wasn't like that at all!"

"Yeah, yeah sure," Felipe rolled his eyes in amusement. "Oh! Right, these are my friends I was telling you about. This," he pointed to the ginger. "Is Megan and this is Samantha."

"Don't call me Sam," Samantha said with a curt nod and pointed her finger at Sean. "If you must give me a nickname then you may call me Mantha; not Sam."

"Um...o...kay." Sean nodded slowly, getting the feeling that it was best it he stayed on her good side.

"Anyways," Felipe cut in. "Did you find out if you're able to come to the movies with us Sean?"

"No..." he started twisting his fingers around. "Not yet."

"Why didn't you ask before?" Megan asked.

"Well, my parents are huge worry warts," Sean explained. "So they have to handled gently."

"Oh," Megan nodded slowly and Samantha rolled her eyes.

"It's whatever," Felipe grinned and stood up. "Text me whether or it's a 'yes' or 'no', kay?"

Sean nodded and hit his chest lightly with his fist, "Of course."

Felipe waved and headed off with Samantha and Megan. Sean took a deep breath and headed home, rehearsing what exactly he was going to say to his parents.

Alexa exited the school building at a leisurely pace, she was in no hurry, and she didn't have anywhere important to be. That would come later. Right now she just needed to contact Shinma. Alexa dug into her pocket and pulled out her out-of-date flip phone. She walked off of the school grounds and passed the nearby park. There were a few kids from the middle school fooling around on the jungle gym before they trotted home; off to homework and families. Alexa watched the children for a moment, the way they would laugh and shout; jumping off of swings and monkey bars.

She searched through her contacts until she found Shinma's number and clicked 'call'. As she raised the phone up to her ear she gazed past the park and the kids to the woods that sat just behind fence. A shadow moved between the trees.

"Hello darling!" a happy voice said on the other end of the line after the third ring.

"I was correct," Alexa said as she pulled her eyes away from the woods and to the ground just in front of her. "They are on the move."

"Well it was to be expected." There was a hint of laughter in the voice, which Alexa found unfitting. This was no laughing matter. "But come on back darling, we'll talk plan of action and all that."

"Of course, I am on my way."

"Good, see you soon," there was a pause. "Oh! Wait, can you go to the store and grab coffee? We have a guest over."

"Okay." Alexa hung up the phone without waiting for a 'goodbye' and place the phone back in her pocket. She did as she was asked and grabbed coffee, Dunkin' Donuts brand before she headed "home".