Chapter 1: Of Humble Origins

October 3rd, 2015

As the sun began to rise in the October sky, wind blew through the trees, causing them to shudder, and shed their colorful leaves to the ground. The dim light shone down upon the row of houses that lined up on Drawing Road. Each of these houses was filled to the brim with college students, desperately trying to hold on to a few more minutes of sleep before they were forcibly awoken by their sense of moral responsibility. After all, when trying to achieve a goal in life, one must make sure they arrive at class on time. But for now, all that mattered was the fading dreams of sex and fame, and the youths clutched onto them, trying to remain blissfully asleep. This was the behavior of all students living in the houses on Drawing Road. All students, except for one.

One student who studied at a schedule thought to be completely unreasonable by her peers. One student who locked herself in her room with books from the moment class ended, studied all day, and then fell asleep at a reasonable hour. One student who believed that waking up at 5:15 in the morning was waking up fifteen minutes far too late. One student who had made sure her hair was neatly tucked into a ponytail, and her makeup properly applied by the time most teenagers would be fading back into consciousness. The only student who had planned the rest of her life all the way to the end of her days. And now, when she walked around her room, calmly collecting her textbooks and organizing them into easy-to-carry piles, she was always greeted with her first human interaction of the day. Sometimes it came from beneath the creaky floorboards, while other times it came from the other side of the wall, which was covered with pictures of Einstein and Newton. Occasionally, someone had the courtesy to open the door, but it was a rarity. And the while the phrasing was always different, the message contained the same basic idea. And this day was no different, as a voice from beneath shouted,

"Damn it, Sullivan! Could you make any more fucking noise?! Some of us are trying to get some goddamn sleep!"

Tara never understood the need to use such harsh language. She believed that the message would be understood of less profanity was involved, something her peers never quite seemed to grasp. Nevertheless, she finished packing her books, taking fewer steps to avoid the creaking of her wooden floor. Her parents had insisted that she sleep in one of the houses provided for the seniors instead of settle with the rest of the freshmen in the dorms, or fight her way into a sorority. Money may have had its privileges, but it did not help Tara feel less lonely in the house. Once her books were properly put away, she checked over her outfit in the mirror for a fourth time.

Her parents had told Tara to always dress properly, no matter where she went. Even after she turned eighteen and gained her freedom, she never forgot the lessons her parents taught her. She had on a simple white buttoned shirt and a skirt, meant to show her formal side. Due to the cold, windy weather, she also put on a dark blue sweater, which wrapped her snugly in its wool confines. She adjusted her ponytail, and took a long look at the bright pink bangs that were hanging near her face. Though she would never admit it, her dyed hair had grown on her. What started as an attempt to be one with the popular girls at high school had now become one of Tara's most loved features about her appearance. She smiled at herself in the mirror, and then finished her mental checklist.

"Textbooks: check. Proper clothing: check," she muttered to herself, absentmindedly brushing the bangs out of her face. "Purse: check. Thirty-five page essay: check. Gift for Fiona…" Tara looked at the book wrapped nicely in green paper that was lying on her desk. "Check."

The list continued, as Tara accounted for her many assignments for her advanced classes. By the time she was finished, she could hear the sounds of other students shuffling about the house, preparing themselves for another round of classes. Feeling like she was properly prepared, Tara opened up her desk, reached into the drawer, and pulled out a whole grain Energy Crunch Nutrition Bar. She quickly ate her breakfast, grabbed her books, her gift, her purse, and her assignments, and left the house towards the campus.

Tara arrived on the campus of Ymerton College and took a long look around. She could see that students had quickly begun to arrive at campus, meeting with friends and trying to enjoy the autumn weather. But that was of no concern of hers. All she needed to do at this moment was locate her friend somewhere among the campus. Tara began walking about the ground littered with red and yellow leaves, searching under nearby trees for her lost friend. Suddenly, she heard the sound of crunching leaves behind her, approaching at a quickening pace.

That doesn't sound like Fiona, she thought. The crunching was nearing, and she realized only one person would want to talk to her, let alone run to her.

"Hey, Tara," a strong southern voice shouted from behind her. Tara turned around to face the woman who was standing proudly before her, always at attention, her Stetson placed firmly atop her long blonde hair. Green eyes stared back at Tara's brown ones, and Tara found herself talking to one of her best friends.

"Oh," spoke Tara, expressing some slight enjoyment out of seeing someone that she knew. "Hey, Tori. You look rather chipper for someone who doesn't like mornings."

"Well, not as chipper as you always seem to be, despite wakin' up a good few hours 'fore the rest of us," replied Tori with a smirk, as she and Tara began to walk calmly around the campus. "Besides, I finally got a half-decent night's sleep. I really don't know how ya do it, girl. Goin' to sleep at fricken' eight o' clock!"

Victoria Black had been one of the few people at the college that Tara could actually consider her friend. She had run into Tori on the first day of the school year, a time when Tara was spending all of her focus on triple-checking her book supply. After helping Tori with some assignments, the two became good friends. Tori had an unmistakable aura about her, a feeling that transcended to Tara every time they talked, like she felt more confident in herself simply by being in the presence of the southern girl. The two walked across the field in front of the main building, stepping across a league of multicolored leaves as they walked.

"Well," spoke Tara, confidently, "Maybe I can afford to sleep earlier because I don't waste my time with boys or parties."

"Neither do I! I study this stuff for hours!" Tori exclaimed, with a clear tone of annoyance. "Damn, no one can hold onto information like you can, girl. What takes me four hours, takes ya 'bout fifteen minutes, tops."

"Well, I always have had a good memory," Tara rubbed the back of head, taking in the compliment. "Hey, you ever going to take that thing off?" said Tara pointing to Tori's hat. "It's been, like, a month!"

Tori looked insulted, taking one free hand, and stroking her hat with it. She scoffed at Tara, as if Tara had somehow insulted her very soul.

"I'll have you know that this thing is very precious to me. It was a gift to me from my mom. This Stetson is the only thing I got to remember her by." Tori's expression softened, as she looked up at her hat. Her somber mood lasted briefly, however, as she playfully punched Tara in the arm, scolding her. "Now don't you dare insult Winola again, ya here me?"

Tara rolled her eyes at Tori, like a disobedient child being scolded by a parent. "Yes, ma'am," Tara finished her words with a mock salute, playing along with Tori. But after a few seconds, she started giggling uncontrollably.

"Wait. You… named the hat?" Tara tried to stifle her laughter, but was finding that she could not hold her mad giggles in, and soon, she burst into hysterics. Tori's face flushed red, and she turned away from Tara to hide her embarrassment.

"Hey! There's nothin' wrong with namin' things that ya care about!" Tori tried to defend herself, but Tara started laughing even more, holding herself against a nearby tree, as she was getting dangerously close to tears.

"What?! Is it laugh like a laugh dog?! Like a laugh pet?! Hahahaha!" Tara could barely control herself, now leaning fully against the tree for support, as tears rolled down her face. Tori's embarrassment was slowly turning into anger, as she began to shout at Tara.

"Hey!" Tori pointed angrily at Tara's laughing form. "It's not that funny, ya hear?!"

"Oh, it's funny alright! (laugh) In fact, it may (laugh) be the funniest thing (laugh) I ever heard! Hahah- Whoa, hey, what are you doing?!" Tara's laughter was cut short as Tori picked her up and pinned Tara forcibly to the tree. The force at which Tori used was strong enough to rattle most of the leaves left on the tree, sending them fluttering to the ground.

"Alright! Alright! It's not funny! I'm sorry!" Tara begged Tori, as tears continued to fall down Tara's face.

"Yer damn right you're sorry!" Tori yelled back at her, releasing Tara and letting her fall to the ground. Tara finished wiping the tears from her eyes, as Tori picked up a small package that had fallen to the ground. "By the way," Tori continued, her heavy breathing indicating that she was calming down, "Ya dropped this." Tori handed Tara the small package.

"Thanks," said Tara accepting back her package. "I really need that."

Damn it, Tara suddenly thought.

Tara's face went blank, as she realized that speaking to Tori had wasted precious time.

"Oh man," muttered Tara, looking around feverishly. "Tori, have you seen Fiona around here? I was supposed to be looking for her, but I can't find her anywhere!" Tara continued to glance around for her missing friend, but she realized that she was running out of time to give her the gift.

"Fiona…" thought Tori aloud, thinking of the aforementioned girl that Tara was looking for. "Isn't she that girl with the really long pink hair…"

"Yes…"

"…and always wears a hoodie…"

"Yes…"

"…and she has a lot major social problems?"

Tara was practically losing her mind by this by point, just wanting a straight answer to her friend's whereabouts.

"Have you seen her or not?!" Tara shouted at her friend, practically ready to tear her hair out.

"Look behind you," Tori claimed nonchalantly, seeming unaware of her friend's internal struggle. Tara spun around 180 degrees, and spotted a dainty figure sitting quietly beneath an oak tree. Though the girl was clearly wearing a small hood meant to cover her face. However, even without seeing her soft features, Tara could still see the long strands of pink hair falling past the girl's soldiers, clearly giving her identity away.

"Thanks, Tori," Tara quickly said to her friend before rushing off to the oak tree.

"See ya later, girl!" responded Tori, as she made her way into the building complex. Tara slowed her pace as she approached the tree, not wanting to startle Fiona. She slowed down to a calm walk, and carefully prepared a greeting for the shy girl. She walked up next to Fiona, and was pleasantly surprised to see that Fiona had focused all of her attention on a bird some twenty feet away from them. Tara decided to alert Fiona to her presence with a calm, simple greeting.

"Good morning, Fiona," Tara spoke in bliss. Fiona practically jumped out of her skin, her shriek of terror scaring away the bird. Fiona covered her face with her arms, not wishing to see whoever disturbed her. Eventually, she lowered her arms and, while still slightly shivering, recognized the girl who had interrupted her.

"Oh…" Fiona whispered. "H-Hello, Tara. I d-didn't expect to s-see you there." Fiona avoided eye-contact, as if Tara would use her vision to dig deep down into Fiona's chest and tear her heart into pieces.

Tara sighed at the frightened girl, and smiled kindly at her. "It's fine, Fiona. Sorry I scared you."

"You didn't scare me," muttered Fiona. She gulped, and readjusted her bright red hoodie to hide her blushing face. "I just… wasn't expecting to see you right there." Tara kept smiling at Fiona's attempt to be courageous, and extended out the present to Fiona.

"Well, as a token of apology, and our friendship, I decided to give you this," Tara proudly presented the wrapped gift to Fiona, and Fiona nervously reached out towards the gift. But, instead of graciously accepting it, Fiona shook her head, pushing it back towards Tara.

"Oh no," said Fiona. "You didn't have to get me anything. I really don't need it…"

"C'mon Fiona," Tara urged, pushing the present back towards Fiona. "I got this just for you." Fiona once again forced the book back into Tara's hands, refusing the acknowledgement of friendship.

"I couldn't possibly accept anything Tara," Fiona stated shyly. "Don't get me wrong. I'm sure it's lovely and all, but you probably spent good money on that, and I don't want you to waste your money on me, and-"

Fiona was cut short as Tara dropped the gift onto Fiona's lap, and then grabbed Fiona's face, forcing her to keep eye-contact.

"Fiona," Tara said sternly. "Take it." Fiona sighed reluctantly, as Tara let go of Fiona's head with a smile on her face. Fiona took a few seconds to study the gift. She looked at its dimensions, and wriggled it around so she could hear if anything rattled around. After enough waiting, she simply decided to rip open the wrapping and the bow, and to her surprise, discovered a very large book, so massive in size, that it could be used as a weapon of self-defense. On the front cover, a beautiful bird of paradise was showing of its wings, and in large font, read, The Complete Guide to the Wonderful Animal Kingdom. Fiona was left speechless, wondering how Tara had managed to acquire such a fine book.

"I remembered when we met that you said you loved animals," said Tara, beaming with pride at Fiona's reaction. "So, I decided to get you something really special for being a good friend and all, and the animal thing just fit, so… well… here you go!" Fiona had no idea what she should say. It was probably one of the best gifts she had ever gotten, and all for simply being a good friend. Fiona knew she didn't deserve it. She hadn't gone to any sleepovers, or talked for hours about the future, or even really held a long conversation with Tara. But apparently, she was friend enough, for she was now in possession of a book on her favorite topic, that of which she could spend years learning about.

"I… I…" Fiona stuttered, unsure of what to say to the proud girl standing over her. She readjusted her hood, and turned away from Tara, an effort to hide her face. "Th-Thank you," Fiona eventually managed to squeak out. She then stared dreamily at the book in front of her. The two stayed in comfortable silence for a while, before Tara decided that it was time to leave.

"Um…" Tara eventually muttered out, unsure how to say farewell. "Bye, Fiona. Enjoy the book." Fiona gave a slight nod as confirmation, never looking away from the book. Tara walked away from Fiona towards the main building. As she was walking away, Tara looked over her shoulder, and saw Fiona still fixated on her book, never looking away. Tara felt a great sense of accomplishment, as he turned back to face the building.

And immediately collided with someone trying to jog past her.

"Hey, watch where you're fucking going!" The girl next to her exclaimed as they both slowly rose to their feet.

Oh great, thought Tara. Of all the people I could run into, it had to be her, didn't it?

Tara took a long look at the only person on campus that she could honestly say she didn't like. She wore a leather jacket, not because it would keep her warm, but because she thought it would look cool. She got into one of the highest rated colleges in the states, not because of her academics, but because she was the best at any sport she tried. Her speed was legendary, and her nickname became the representation of that. She didn't care about anything rational, like politics, or literature, or even society in general. She disliked everyone, and everyone disliked her. But she reveled in it. She enjoyed the attention it gave her. And to make herself stand out against the rational people, she decided to dye her hair every last color of the rainbow. So when she noticed the academic-focused, straight-walking Tara Sullivan, she wanted to drain every last bit of fun out of Tara's life.

And Tara had just collided with her.

"Hey, what do you know? Its society's perfect fucking princess," she said with a sneer as she stretched out her limbs after the fall. "How are ya today, science tits?"

"You know, Dash," said Tara angrily, picking herself up off of the ground. "I really don't have time for this."

"What? Not a fan of the nickname?" Dash mocked. "Don't worry, babe. I'll find you a nickname someday. How about 'Brainiac'? Or 'Right-Winged'? Or just 'B-I-T-C-H'?" Tara ignored Dash, walking past her in order to get to her classes. Suddenly, she felt Dash grab onto the back of her sweater, and yank her back away from the building, towards the fields from which she came.

"Hey! What are you-" Tara tried to yell in protest, but felt Dash throw her back, causing her to nearly lose her balance. Before she knew what was happening, Dash had wrapped her arm around Tara's neck, and pulled them close together, so Dash could talk straight into Tara's ear.

"Shut the fuck up for a minute, would ya? I'm trying to show you something." Dash took her free hand, and waved it broadly out in front of them, showing of the various students marching around the campus. "Tell me, Tara, what do you see?"

"I see a bunch of students doing what they're supposed to be doing: going to class," Tara angrily muttered to Dash, wishing she could join the students, and not be harassed by crazy teenagers.

"You see, I see something very differently. I see a bunch of people wasting their lives trying to fit in with everyone else. You may be too trapped in your own little fucking fairy tale land to see it, but I can see everything the way it truly is. For example…" Dash glanced briefly around the campus, and spotted a girl fifty yards away. "…her."

Tara looked in the direction Dash motioned to, and saw a girl her age bouncing frantically up and down. Upon closer examination, Tara noticed that the girl was only wearing pink clothing, from her shirt to her socks. Even her short, curly blonde hair had multiple pink streaks running through hair. Then, Tara then realized the girl had a massive smile on her face, and was holding a batch of cupcakes. She bounced her way to various students, trying to sell her goods. And yet, despite the fact that no one was buying any cupcakes, she remained incredibly cheery, and continued to bounce around the campus, her bright blue eyes, which seemed to be too large for her head, only sensing innocence in the world around her.

Dash sighed in annoyance. "You don't get it. That's Pinky Patrikson. The 'sugar' addict. The only sugar she uses will get most people five fucking years in prison. How do you think she gets so hyper?" Dash brought her free hand to her nose, and made a snorting noise against her hand, winking at Tara. Tara looked again at Pinky, noticing how fast she moved around, and how her eyes constantly darted back and forth around the campus. She barely had time to notice, as Dash quickly brought her attention to Chip Larrick, one of the most muscular men on the campus, and the dream of girls of all ages. What he lacked in brainpower, he made up for it in muscle. And it just so happened that he had a lot of muscle.

"Chip Larrick is a bodybuilder and an idiot," claimed Tara, clearly not impressed. "What do you want me to know about him?"

"You think those muscles are real," Dash stated. She chuckled slightly, before continuing on. "Please… his muscles are about as real as my dick. He just trying to get blown to make up for the fact that he's got shit for brains. He's got nothing in life, and he never will have anything. And… Oh, look at that couple!" exclaimed Dash, noticing two people walking out of the corner of her eye.

Tara immediately recognized the "couple". The first was a younger boy wearing girly purple clothes, despite having a contrasting green Mohawk. His name was Spyke, as she recalled, and he was typically a nice boy. Though he didn't say much, he would always be nice to her, such as loaning her textbooks or joining study sessions.

Then there was the girl he was always following around. She, as far as most were concerned, was one of the most beautiful people on the campus, perhaps in the whole country. By any standards, she would have been considered a model, with her confident walk, blooming height, and features equivalent to that of a goddess. On the first day of classes, the two had run into each other, and Tara immediately recognized what she was in for. The girl was addicted to fashion, always having some new dress to wear, or tying her long purple hair into a unique pattern. She had recommended giving Tara a complete makeover, as she was "appalled" by what she saw. Tara hadn't spoken to her since that day, but she was always on the lookout for her. It would not be easy to miss her regardless, as today's choice of fur boots, gold jewelry, and colorful makeup attracted plenty of attention from the male and female students alike, either out of sex appeal or jealousy.

"See, that's Rachel Germain over there," whispered Dash into Tara's ear. "I don't get her. See, she's British, or something fancy like that shit. I can't tell. Anyway, she thinks that she's better than everyone else here cause she dresses fancy and has big tits. But really, she's just an attention whore who doesn't care about anyone. Okay, a regular whore, too. And that poor kid she drags along? He's only there because he wants to fuck her. But she, of course, won't deliver the goods. So he just follows her like a stalker unt-"

"Okay! I've had enough!" Tara shouted before pushing herself free from Dash's grip. Dash seemed genuinely surprised by Tara's outburst, and stopped talking at once. "You wanna know something Dash? I don't really care what you think of all of these people. You are nuts! You may insult everyone else, but we really need these people around us! You know why? Because they prevent people like you from ruling the world and driving us all crazy!" Tara was breathing heavy, fed up with everything she was hearing. But all Dash did was snicker.

"This completely reinforces everything I just said," said Dash with a smile on her face. "You refuse to see anything differently, Tara. I'll give you some advice for the future. Why don't you take that pole that's shoved so far up your ass, and break your own fucking hymen with it. Maybe then, you'll stop being such an immortal bitch and learn to live a little."

Dash punctuated her sentence by flipping two middle fingers into the air and then walking away from the buildings, towards the fields. Tara was sick and tired of all of these interruptions. She realized she was going to be late for class, and grumbled in disappointment. She angrily stomped her way into the Imago building, and made her way towards her first class.

The Imago building was focused primarily on sciences and mathematics, and it was Tara's personal favorite. As she made her way towards her advanced chemical engineering class, she took notice of the time. Even moving at her quickest pace, she would still be late. Tara groaned.

Damn it, Dash, she thought. You just had to interfere with my studies. Again. It seems like all you want to do is make my life miserable.

Still deep in thought, she progressed ever rapidly towards her class, not allowing anything to distract her. Tara was snapped out of her trance by a stern, female voice.

"There you are, Tara. It's not like you to be late," came the voice of her professor, Ms Sherry. She was standing outside of the classroom, a look of confusion on her face.

"I'm really sorry, Ms. Sherry," said Tara, bowing her head in disappointment.

"Come on, now," said Ms. Sherry, a hint of shame in her voice. She knew Tara was better than this, and perhaps she should be kinder to the brightest mind in her class. "Open your textbook to chapter 5, and read the next 50 pages, alright? It shouldn't take you long to catch up to the other students.'

"Of course, ma'am," replied Tara, relief washing over her, calming her mind. She would easily catch up to everyone else in the class. Despite being relatively bright, the other students didn't compare to Tara when it came to pure intelligence. She walked calmly into the room, took a seat, and immediately began her studies. No one really seemed to notice her enter, too busy being invested in the reading. Or at least, that was what they appeared to be doing. Ms. Sherry walked to her desk and began reading sappy love novel she bought off of the internet.

Tara tried to focus on her reading, but her mind found other things to focus on. Her thoughts wandered to her friends, to her conversation with Dash, to her family back home. Her ears heard conversations all around her, even when she wasn't trying to listen. She heard two girls whispering behind her, slightly to the left. Apparently, they used the reading to find time for gossip and texting.

"So, the prick thinks he can sext that slut Alisha and I won't find out about it? Man, I'm gonna spread that shit all over the web…" whispered one girl to the other, her voice holding enough disdain to carry her whispers throughout the room.

"Hope he fuckin' hangs himself, "added the other girl, checking her cell phone hidden in the pages of her textbook. Tara thought she must be have gotten some sort of illness, causing her mind to lose focus and wander around the room. She heard the gentle snoring of one student to her right, and from a distance, she heard a thumping sound. From what she could gather, a student had been listing to music on his headphones, and was tapping to the beat of the song.

Thump

She once again tried to focus on the knowledge in front of her. She took a deep breath, and resumed reading at the top of the page.

Thump Thump

Tara's focus began to weaver again, as she heard more noises coming from within the classroom and from outside. A bird chirped happily by the window, not yet taking a migration to the south. More gossip was picked up by Tara's ears. She was never a fan of gossip. She always disliked the idea of talking about someone when they were not around to hear it. She thought that once she left high school, she would be with intelligent people, who understood such childish things were to be left in the past. But as she experienced, it seemed that she had been mistaken.

Thump Thump Thump

More people had started to take notice of the thumping, looking around the room for the suspect.

"Shut up, faggot," one girl yelled from the corner of the room, annoyed with the ever increasing sound of thumping in room that was supposed to be quiet.

Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump

"Hey, I take great offense to that," another kid joked from the opposite side of the room, earning small chuckles from several of the students. Ms. Sherry glanced up from her book, glaring hard at the students. The chuckles died down, as almost every student returned to reading. Tara was finally glad to gain some peace and quiet.

Good, thought Tara, her mind once again refocusing on reading. Now I can finally figure learn about how Robert Langer discovered his tissue-

Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang

As the thumping grew louder, it mutated into a persistent banging, echoing off the walls of the room. Ms. Sherry stood up in anger.

"Everyone, stay quiet!" she shouted, dropping her novel onto her desk, her bookmark falling out of place and landing beside the novel. All students looked up at her, some with expressions of embarrassment, other with slight fear.

Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang

The increasing volume helped Tara notice something. As she allowed her mind to fully unwind and take in her environment. And she noticed one very distinct thing about the banging, which helped to calm her mind.

"Um, Ms. Sherry," Tara nervously commented. "That noise is coming from outside." Everyone stopped and listened to the ever increasing banging, ring its way throughout the room.

Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang

Sure enough, the source of the banging was outside, in the halls of the Imago building. Ms. Sherry took a deep breath, and made her way towards the door.

"Probably someone constructing something for advanced engineering," she explained. "I'll see if they can move somewhere else." Ms. Sherry took another deep breath, and put on her best smile for the other college students. She walked out of the door, and calmly shut the door behind her. As if a signal had just been made, the students burst into talks with one another, their chatter filling Tara's ears.

"Man, Stacy is a freakin' 10, man! You gotta nail her…"

"She is such a slut…"

"Yeah, I fucked a professor; what's the big deal…"

The noise was irritating to Tara. She had no interest in hearing the other students' personal lives in such… detail. She tried to block out the talking the best she could, and she silently prayed that Ms. Sherry would walk through the door sooner rather than later.

Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang

The banging had not ceased, which told Tara that she would have to listen to the obsessive babble of teenagers for longer. The banging also seemed to be getting louder. Tara rubbed her temples. At times like these she wished she was back at home. Her parents would be with her, and they could talk for hours in a calm and peaceful manner.

BangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBang

Some of the students took notice of the more frequent pacing of the infernal banging. The students quieted down, while the banging grew ever louder. And was it just Tara's imagination, or was the banging getting closer?

BangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBang

By now the noise was growing near deafening, causing some students to cover their ears. Confusion and curiosity rose in the conversation.

"Jesus, what the hell is that?"

"Maybe the commies have come for us…"

"Where the fuck is Ms. Sherry?"

Although Tara wouldn't like to admit it, she felt a sense of dread cast over her. She was questioning things herself. Where was Ms. Sherry? Surely she should have talked to the noise makers by now. Why hasn't she come back yet? She tried to remain rational and calm. It was just a loud noise, nothing more. Ms. Sherry would be back in any given moment. And then she could study all she wanted in a nice, peaceful environment. Tara's ears perked up when, all of a sudden, the banging stopped.

The door opened up slowly, and Tara, looking down at her textbook, heard the distinctive sound of someone walking through the door. Tara had a sigh of relief, thankful that a sense of order would be restored to the class. Then she looked up, and instantly froze like a dear in headlights.

Ms. Sherry wasn't standing at the doorway. Instead, two muscular men were guarding the door. They weren't wearing any fancy uniforms like the faculty, rather simple street clothes. The men had masks covering their faces, leaving their eyes uncovered. And they were both holding assault rifles.

The room was dead still. No one moved, no one said anything. They just stared at the men in the doorway. The men took a long look around the room, examining everything with watchful eyes. They stopped, and briefly glanced at each other, considering what to do next. Then, they looked back at the room.

Then, they opened fire.

Everything seemed to slow down around Tara. She saw people around her get shot, their bodies crumpling, falling over beneath their seats. Bullets whizzed by her head, narrowly missing her. Despite the rapid gunfire, she heard no noise, just empty silence. She saw people screaming around her, people crying and begging for their lives. Everything held a surreal quality to it, as if she was stuck in some sort of nightmare.

It all made sense to her. She was just dreaming. That's how everything was happening. She was going to wake up in her bed, at a reasonable hour, and go to class, and live her normal life once again. She closed her eyes, expecting to wake up from this terrible dream. Instead, a bullet grazed her shoulder waking her from her dazed state. Her brain kicked into survival mode, as she clutched her shoulder, and she fell beneath her seat. The noise finally rushed to her, and she was blasted with deafening noise.

BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG

Blood poured from her wound as pain rushed through Tara's body. Her vision blurred, as tears filled her eyes. It was the most intense feeling she had ever known. She rolled in agony on the floor, only catching brief glimpses of what was going on around her. Suddenly, she felt someone grab her and shake her around. She froze in fear, before she realized she was being shaken by a student.

"Tara, we got to move!"

The student was named Blake, as Tara believed. She had never really spoken to him, but she had caught glimpses of him looking at her from across the room.

"Get up! Now!" She managed to look around the room. The two men were standing over a crying girl, clutching the body of her dead friend. They were reloading their rifles, with their backs turned away from the rest of the class. It provided a very brief opportunity, but even in Tara's injured state of mind, she knew it might be her only chance to survive. Blake helped her to her feet as fast as he could without injuring her. The two men laughed at the crying student, who just minutes before had been complaining about her ex. They talked amongst themselves as one of them effortlessly shot her in the head, splattering blood over the walls. Blake and Tara ran to the door as fast as they could, and ran out of the classroom, down the halls.

"Hey! Come back here!"

Tara heard the cries of the men behind them, realizing that their rapid movement undoubtedly attracted their attention. She heard the sound of Blake's footsteps right behind hers, as she quickened her pace, ignoring the pain running through her arm. As she passed the corpse of Ms. Sherry and turned a corner, she heard the sound of gunfire coming from the other hall. This put her into frenzy, as she sprinted as fast as her legs could carry her, taking every turn, every route possible, in an attempt to escape her pursuers. She was in such a panicked state, she didn't realize that Blake was no longer right behind her, and that she was practically calling out her position with her loud footsteps. She rounded each corner with no sense of caution, and paid little attention to her surroundings. The sounds of gunfire echoed all around her, from every direction, and she became lost and confused as to who she was near. She turned her head and glimpsed behind her as she rounded her next corner, causing her to immediately collide with someone. Tara let out a shriek, believing that she had collided with one of the armed gunmen. But instead, she had run into someone who, on any other occasion, she would be dreading to see.

"Sullivan? Holy fuck, you're alive!" Dash exclaimed almost gleefully, as she helped herself to her feet. Despite the relief washing over her, Tara could see that Dash was terrified by the way her eyes darted around, looking for anyone coming their way. She uncharacteristically grabbed Tara's left arm to help her to her feet, but in the process, caused strain to be put on Tara's shoulder, causing Tara to yelp in pain. Dash looked at Tara's wounded shoulder in surprise.

"Damn, you got shot? I bet that hurts like a motherfucker…" Dash said as she grabbed Tara's other arm and helped her to her feet.

"Dash, what happened to you," said Tara, who was trying to get some understanding out of the situation.

"Shit, I don't know! We're in a fucking massacre! I'm freaking the fuck out! And how'd you get shot?! That seems like the bigger fucking event here," Dash said very quickly, too panicked to slow her erratic speech. Dash was still looking around very nervously, scanning for any other signs of life.

"One thing at a time, Dash," said Tara, clutching her shoulder as she tried her best to ignore the pain. "Tell me everything that you've seen.'

"Well," started Dash, leaning against the nearby wall. "I showed up at class fifteen minutes late, cause I didn't really give a fuck. When I arrived at the door, I saw three tough guys standing in the middle of the room, holding big guns while everyone was hiding under the desk. They kept asking people where they could find balls, or some shit like that."

"Balls?"

"Yeah, that's what they were fucking saying. I don't know why. Anyway, one of the guys saw me and pointed his gun at me," Dash continued, wiping sweat from her brow. "Suddenly, Chip pops up from out of fuckin' nowhere and tackles the guy. So, I bolted from there as fast as I could. I think they shot him. Who the fuck knows…" finished Dash. Tara was studying Dash's story, and if her memory was correct (which it always was), then they had a very big problem on their hands.

"Dash, you said you were fifteen minutes late to class, right," said Tara, the fear growing in her voice.

"Yeah," said Dash, unsure of where Tara was heading with this.

"Well, that's about the same time my room was attacked. Dash, I think there are a lot more guys in this school than we thought," explained Tara, feeling ever more paranoid with the thought of multiple people in the building hunting her down.

"Oh shit," said Dash, trying to hide the fear in her voice. "Wait Tara, how did you get away from those bastards?"

"Blake helped me out. He managed to sneak me out of the room. But I lost track of him as I was escaping…" said Tara.

"Wait…" said Dash, curious. "Blake Jones? Scraggily looking? Meth addict? That guy?"

"Well, yeah…"

Dash muttered something to herself that Tara couldn't quite make out, but it was clear that it was caused by disappointment. "Damn, I think I ran past his body a few minutes ago. Poor fucking ki-"

Click

Tara and Dash froze in place, fear running through them. They both slowly turned their heads to see the source, and what they saw terrified them. One of the armed men was standing before them, his gun trained on the two of them. His face was mostly covered, but Tara could notice that he looked younger than the men who had assaulted her room prior.

"Get against the wall," he said, never taking his eyes off of them. "NOW!" The girls responded immediately, pressing their backs against the nearby wall, making sure not to anger the man. He examined both of them closely.

"State your fucking names," he said. The tone in his voice made it clear that he would not hesitate to shoot them.

"T-Tara Sullivan"

"Rebecca Dawson, man. Don't go fucking crazy now…" Dash said, clearly trying to lighten the mood. The man didn't seem to be affected, instead taking out his cell phone and taking pictures of the two girls. He kept his eyes on Tara and Dash, just in case one of them attempted to attack. But they were exhibiting such fear that the thoughts had never crossed their minds. After waiting for sixty extremely tense seconds, a beeping noise came from the man's cell phone. He carefully looked at his newly received text message, and looked back at the girls.

"Sorry ladies," he said, readying his gun. "Looks like you're expendable." Tara felt her life flash before her eyes as the man put his finger on the trigger. Then, he pulled the trigger.

SNAP

In a flash, two hands reached around from behind the man, and broke his neck in one fluid motion. The man's deceased form crumpled to the ground, as Tara looked at their savior, as she adjusted the Stetson atop her head.

"Tori!" Tara yelled, hugging her friend as tightly as she could. The sheer joy had completely overwhelmed her, which didn't allow her to question why her friend had showed up when she did.

"I'm glad to see that y'all are alright and alive," said Tori, breaking the hug from Tara, and reaching down to the body before her. She began to remove the ammo clips from the belt, his cell phone, and any other item she found in his possession. Tara was very confused. Dash was simply in shock.

"You… you just fucking killed that guy!" Dash shouted, unable to contain herself. "And now you're looting his corpse? What the fuck is going on here?!"

Tara then noticed how dead and empty Tori seemed to be. As if all other parts of her brain had shut off, and she had focused all of her energy into the situation before her. Tori picked up the assault rifle, trying to balance its weight between her hands. After judging it for a few seconds, she tossed it to the ground, and pulled a pistol out of her back pocket. Tara was now the one in shock.

"Tori… what are you-"

"Look Tara," Tori interrupted sternly, her face expressionless. "If y'all want to survive this, I best recommend ya stick close to me. I can explain everything later." Tori proceeded to start jogging down the hallway towards the nearest exit. Tara and Dash stood still for a few moments, still trying to take everything in, before Dash took off in a full sprint after her, with Tara following close behind. Tori had studied the building greatly, and she had the knowledge that they were not far from an exit. But as she came to the first corner, she skidded to a halt. Dash and Tara slowed down as Tori pressed herself to the wall.

"What are you waiting for?" asked Dash eager to escape. Tori shushed her, and instructed them both to listen. Multiple sets of footsteps were rapidly approaching towards the hall. Tori readied her weapon as Tara and Dash crouched down against the wall, ready for whatever came through. Tori peered around the corner, trying to glimpse what was coming towards them. Suddenly, a bright pink flash zoomed around the corner, passing by the girls without ever noticing them.

"Ha Ha!" said the flash. "Catch me if you can, suckers!" The pink-wearing girl continued to sprint down the hallway, as three armed thugs came around the corner. The first two passed by the girls without any interference, but Tori had prepared for the third. As he came around the bend, Tori grabbed onto his rifle, and using his forward momentum, threw him into the nearby custodian's closet, stealing his gun in the process. As his comrades turned around to see the cause of the commotion, Tori effortlessly aimed the rifle, and fired two bursts into the men, taking them down. Tara stood shocked at Tori's display, while Dash focused to the girl still running away from an imaginary threat.

"Hey, Pinky!" It's me, Dash! Stop running, you crazy bitch!" Dash called out to Pinky, who was sliding to a stop at the end of the hall. Pinky turned around fast, and, recognizing Dash, put a large grin on her face.

"Hiyah, Dash!" Pinky called out happily, completely forgetting the threat that she was faced with merely seconds ago. In a few moments, she had run up to the others, hopped on Dash's back, and recounting the tale of how her morning had changed from a failing bake sale to an exciting chase scene.

"Man you won't believe the morning I had, what with the crazy guys chasing me and all, I mean like I was just sitting there like, 'man I wish I could sell these cupcakes', and suddenly these tough guys walk up and are like,' ugh, we are big and scary, fear us,' so I threw the cupcakes at 'em and I just ran and ran and ran and ran all around the campus and it was really fun and exciting and they were really fun to hang around with even if it was for just a few short minutes but it was really fun while it lasted and the best part was when I was running an-"

"Shut up already, you psycho bitch!"

Everyone turned and looked at the third goon rising up in front of the custodian's closet. He was holding his head with one hand and a handgun with the other, pure rage spread across his face. "I'm gonna fucking kill you, you loudmouth whore!" He raised his gun, when suddenly the door behind him swung open, and a blunt object struck him across the back of his head, rendering him unconscious. Everyone stopped and stared at the girl standing in the doorway. A look of terror was plastered on her face, and she held a large nature book in her hand unsteadily, as she was shaking with fear. She kept looking down at the unconscious man, which caused her to jump when Tara suddenly hugged her.

"Oh god, Fiona! Your safe!" Tara exclaimed, releasing the shivering girl from her hug. But after the initial shock wore off, Tara immediately became confused. "Wait… why are you in a janitor's closet?" Fiona began to blush, and hid her face behind her hood as she struggled to explain herself.

"W-Well, y-you see, I… um… heard some loud noise coming down the hall on my way to class, and I… um…" Fiona turned away from her friends to hide her shame. "I… hid in the closet." Dash immediately started to laugh.

"So…you didn't even see any of the killers, and you hid in the freaking closet regardless?" said Dash, barely containing her laughter. "Jesus, you're a fucking coward!"

"Hey, I'm not that brave, okay," said Fiona, trying to defend herself, despite more blood rushing to her face. "Besides, it gave me time to catch up on reading…if it wasn't so gulp dark…" Dash began to laugh even more, before Tori harshly punched her in the shoulder.

"Ow…"

"Now's not the time for this. Girls," Tori looked at Pinky, who had been cheerily bouncing up and down in place, and Fiona, who had still been looking worriedly at the unconscious man before her. "I recommend you stick with us from now on. We're almost out, ya hear." Fiona and Pinky nodded, and Tori continued to rapidly move towards the exit, keeping an eye out for any more attackers or students heading their way. Dash and Pinky ran after her, but when Tara tried to move ahead, Fiona stopped her.

"Fiona, come on, let's go…" said Tara, trying to walk towards the direction the others were headed.

"I-I'm really sorry, Tara," said Fiona, motioning to her nature book, which had now been stained with blood. "I know you worked hard for it, and I-'

"Fiona now is really not the time for this," interrupted Tara, shaking Fiona's shoulders. "We can talk about this later." Tara started to run towards the others.

"But-but what if there is no 'later'? What if this is it?" said Fiona, her voice shaking with fear. Tara halted in her tracks, grimaced, and turned around to face Fiona. The introverted girl seemed to understand the situation before her, and it rattled her to the core. She tried her best to sound reassuring, but in reality, the very same terror was flowing through her thoughts as well. She placed her hand on Fiona's shoulder.

"There will be a 'later'. I promise," Tara said, although in truth she doubted herself very much. But it seemed to be enough, as Fiona nodded in response. Suddenly, Fiona noticed the blood running down Tara's arm, and she became very frightened for her friend.

"Are-are y-you okay? Did someone hurt you?" said Fiona, suddenly feeling very worried. Tara quickly turned away.

"I'm fine," Tara lied, once again moving toward the others. "Come on, we gotta keep up." They both started to dash down the corridors. They had not fallen too far behind, but they were far enough away that Tara could not hear the conversation the other girls were having.

"So… who are these guys anyway?" said Pinky, oblivious to the greater situation at hand. "And why are they trying to destroy all the cupcakes?"

"They're not," sad Dash, annoyed by Pinky's ignorance. "We're in a fucking school shooting. A bunch of shitheads are trying to cause a fucking massacre. Get that through your drugged up head."

"This ain't no massacre, Dash," said Tori finally reaching the exit to the fields. "This is a damn assassination attempt."

"What the hell are you talking about?" questioned Dash.

"Never mind, I'll explain it if we survive this nightmare," said Tori, opening the door, and allowing Dash and Pinky to step through. Tara and Fiona followed close behind, and soon, all five girls were out in the open fields of the campus. They all stuck close to the building, looking out for anyone crossing by. They could see no one, but they still felt uneasy.

"Okay y'all," said Tori, looking around once more. "I parked my car over on the other side of the field. Now I don't see nobody around, so I think our best choice of action is to make a run for it, and hope for the best."

"That's your plan of action," said Dash. "That could get us all killed!"

"Well, if you don't think you can run fast enough to get out of here, then suuuure, it's a problem," taunted Tori. Dash snarled at her, and then without warning, followed her namesake and dashed across the field, with everyone else following behind her.

"Tori, why don't we just go to my place?" Tara said to Tori as they struggled to keep up with Dash.

"Trust me, Tara. We need to get as far away from here as possible. It's the only way you're gonna survive," responded Tori, looking around her as she ran and quickened her pace. They didn't appear to be attracting any attention. Eventually, they managed to reach the end of the fields, and Tori turned sharply to the left, heading towards a car parked on the side of the road, away from the central parking lot. The rest of the girls followed close behind, excluding Dash, who, since running ahead of everyone, accidentally turned towards the parking lot. Despite this, she realized her mistake, and quickly caught up to everyone else. As Tori approached her car, she noticed something wasn't quite right. Most notable was that she spotted two figures standing around her vehicle. As they drew closer, Tori saw that they were two students, one male and one female. They were nervously looking around for attackers. And it looked like they were trying, unsuccessfully, to break into the car.

"Hurry up, Spyke!" Rachel Germain shouted at her friend, who was trying to use a stick to pry open the window.

"I'm trying, alright!" he shouted back, getting frustrated and throwing the stick to the ground. "We wouldn't have to hijack this thing if you would just drive like a normal person!"

"I told you I can't drive on your backwards-ass roads!" shouted Rachel in defense, her accent becoming more prominent with her anger. "No sensible person can drive on the right side of the damn road!"

"Hey! What do y'all think your doin'?" Tori shouted at the pair, who jumped at the sound of someone approaching them.

"Oh…"said Rachel, unsure of what to say as the four girls caught up to Tori. "Is this… your car?"

"Yeah, it is! What, were ya gonna try and steal it?" said Tori accusingly.

"Hey, it's not fault that Miss U.K. over here can't drive," said Spyke backing away from the car. "Besides, this an emergency! We gotta get out of here."

"Um, guys," said Fiona, trying to gain the others' attention.

"You tried to steal my car!"

"We are trying to survive!"

"Tori, I think we need to go," said Fiona, trying to stop the growing argument.

"Get out of the way," screamed Tori.

"No," screamed Rachel. "We need to get out of here too."

BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG

Bullets whizzed by them, narrowly missing their targets. In a panic, the girls dove for the only cover close enough to them: Tori's car. Using the car for cover, Tori pulled out her gun and prepared to return fire. Fiona, Tara and Rachel covered their ears from the noise of gunfire. Spyke slowly peered his head around the edge of the car.

"There are four guys!" he shouted to Tori over the sound of gunfire. He continued to look around the corner, giving Tori details to their locations. Tori quickly leaned around the corner and fired five quick shots, none of which hit their targets.

"Damn," said Tori, reloading her pistol. "They're too far away! I can't hit them."

"Well, keep trying," shouted Spyke. "Otherwise, we'll be-" Spyke was cut off as a stray bullet connected with his temple, exiting through the other side of his skull, taking some of his brains with. Some of the girls screamed. Rachel covered her mouth and turned away, unable to handle the sight. She wanted to scream, but the only thing she felt was a feeling of pure fear, worse than anything she had ever felt, running through her veins. Tori was trying to figure out a way to get in range of the men. Pinky, however, was tired of hiding.

"Oh, for goodness sakes. GIMME THAT!" Before Tori knew what was happening, Pinky had swiped the gun from her hands, and had now stood up over the car, exposing herself completely.

"Wait, Pinky, what are you," Tori tried to stop her, but instead Pinky fired four rounds, and all of a sudden, the gunfire stopped. Fiona and Tara uncovered their ears, and Tori looked over the car. She spotted four bodies lying on the ground some one hundred feet away from them, blood flowing from their corpses. Tori looked at Pinky with amazement.

"How did you do that?" asked Tori, rising to her feet.

"Oh that, that was nothing," Pinky said cheerily, despite the murders she just committed. "See my father was a cop and he had this huge gun collection and sometimes he let me use them, which was really really fun, and so over the years I've just gotten really good, I suppose, although I don't really see what the big deal is about it, it just always kinda felt natural to me, you know what I mean." Tori tried her best to pick out the details from Pinky's nonsensical babble. She helped the other girls to her feet, opened the car door, and slid into the driver's seat. Tara walked around the side of the car, doing her best to avoid looking at Spyke's body, and slipped into the passenger's chair. The other girls squished themselves into the back of the car, which barely held them. Rachel stayed on the ground, unable to move from the shock of seeing her friend die before her. Tori looked down to Rachel.

"You want to come along, dear?" Tori asked kindly. Rachel had very few options. She didn't know where she could go, and she knew that if she stayed, more people could come after her. She slowly stood up, and with some effort, forced her way into the back of the car, which had now become very cramped and uncomfortable. Tori started up the car, and drove away from the college, gunshots still ringing throughout it halls.

They drove for what seemed to be hours. No one spoke; no one asked where they were headed. Most of them were just thinking over the events of the past few hours. None of them appeared to be thinking about it though. Pinky sat in the corner, smiling away as if it were Christmas Eve; Fiona sat hunched over holding her blood-stained nature book; Dash wriggled around uncomfortably, trying to get more room; Rachel stared out the window, an empty look in her eye.

But Tara thought about it. It almost seemed to be not a big deal. She had just seen over a dozen people die before her eyes, but she treated it as just another everyday occurrence. Her arm was had a bullet inside of it, but to her, it felt like no more than a scratch. Several people who she considered friends were dead, but they only seemed like minor problems. She wanted to feel sympathetic, but she simply wasn't.

However, maybe that was due to the fact that so many things were unanswered, and the great mystery took up the majority of her thoughts. Why were they attacked by so many people? How had Tori gotten a handgun? Where were they being taken? Tara thought about these questions for most of the drive, until she noticed they were headed towards a city. Tara read the exit signs, and discovered that they were headed towards Philadelphia.

"Philadelphia?" asked Tara to Tori, who was driving through the streets of the city. "Why are we here? We're about two hours away from Ymerton."

"You'll see," assured Tori, driving past many office buildings as they headed towards their destination. As they traveled further, Tara noticed that the quality of the buildings decreased, and the streets were becoming less and less populated, something which Dash took no time in pointing out.

"Jeez, are you trying to take us to the shittiest part of the city?" asked Dash, noticing that the car was starting to get glared at by the populace. "You might want to keep that gun handy."

Tori continued to drive for a few more blocks until she saw her destination before her. She pulled to the side of the road, and parked in one of the may empty spots alongside the street. She opened the door and stepped out, beckoning everyone else to do the same. As the girls in the back attempted to untangle themselves, Tara looked at the store they had pulled up to. It appeared to be a small restaurant, with a simple banner above the store.

Wu Song's Chinese Restaurant

It seemed peculiar to Tara. Tori said that they were going to a safe location. But why here? She supposed that it would be a place no one would expect them to be, but it just seemed bizarre.

"So, why have you taken us all the way across the city to this place, Miss…"stopped Rachel, forgetting the name of her southern acquaintance.

"You'll see," once again spoke Tori, not bothering to tell Rachel her identity.

She won't need to know it soon, thought Tori, a smirk now on her face. Tori entered the establishment, and motioned for the others to follow her. The door rang when Tori stepped inside, and she walked up to an elderly Chinese man sitting behind the counter.

"Howdy, Mr. Chen," Tori greeted happily, and the man kindly nodded in response. After she heard the sound of the five girls enter the restaurant and close the door behind them, Tori turned to face the girls, her face showing slight regret. "I'm really sorry about this, ladies."

Suddenly, everything went dark. Tara had no idea what was happening. She heard multiple people moving all around her, her friends crying out in fear, and she felt people grabbing on to her. She felt her feet leave the ground, and something was placed over her head, as she could now tell. She heard arguments from the others, protesting the movement. But all she could see was black. Then suddenly, the light returned.

When Tara's eyes had finally adjusted to the light, she saw that she was sitting at a large, gray, rectangular desk. Around her were gray walls, with one wall containing a large mirror. Then she noticed that sitting next to her were Pinky, Fiona, Dash, and Rachel. She looked around for Tori, but couldn't find her anywhere.

"Okay, what the holy fuck is going on here?" asked Dash, looking around the room for an exit. All she found was a large gray door, which appeared to be locked from the outside.

"I have no idea," responded Rachel. "But it is in the need of some serious redecorating.

"Maybe we're in some kind of freaky alternate dimension, where the entire world is just one small gray box!" exclaimed Pinky, letting her active imagination run wild.

"I'm afraid the truth is far less exciting," suddenly came a deep voice from the doorway. A large man was standing under the door, holding multiple files under his arm. He was wearing a military uniform, and had a sincere smile on his face. He calmly walked over and sat at the table, light shimmering off of his silver hair. "Sorry about that little 'ambush' back in the restaurant. We gotta make sure there are no gaps in security." He smiled at each of the girls. They seemed to relax a little more. "My name is General Anthony Wilson, United States Government."

He held out his hand for any of the girls to shake it. But only Tara grabbed onto his hand.

"Hello, sir," she greeted him with a firm handshake. "Tara Sullivan. My brother is in the marines," she added.

"Glad to hear it, ma'am," he responded cheerfully.

"Hold up," said Dash, still very much confused. "What are we doing here? Where is here? And where the fuck is Tori at?"

"If y'all are looking for Tori, ya won't find her," came a voice from the doorway. Tara looked up and saw Tori casually leaning against the doorway, adjusting her hat.

"Tori, there you are!" said Tara, glad to see her friend.

"Not exactly," said the General, leaning back in his chair.

"What are you talking about?" said Rachel, very confused. "You're standing right there."

"Yes," said Tori. "But Tori isn't. Victoria Black doesn't exist."

"What do you mean?" asked Fiona, who had mostly remained out of the conversation until this point.

"Ladies," said the General, rising and standing next to the girl in the doorway . "I'd like to fully introduce to introduce you to one of our top undercover agents, Miss Anna-Jean Balle."

Anna-Jean tipped her hat to the girls at the table, who all stared at her with their mouths hanging open.

"Whoa! Whoa! Hold up there cowgirl! I'm really fucking confused here. You're a spy?!" said Dash who was trying to understand everything thrown at her. "Just what else did you lie to us about? Is that your real age? Your real face? Your real tits? I… I just can't… UGH!" Dash slammed her head down on the table, feeling extremely confused. "Motherfucker…"

Anna-Jean sat at the table and began to explain everything. "Let me try to explain. Look, most of the stuff I told you was at least partially true. I haven't been wearing any disguises or nothing, and I really am just eighteen. But, I've been training as a government agent since I was five." Anna-Jean waited for any questions, but none came. So, she simply continued on.

"I've been working undercover assignments my whole life. My most recent one was what brought me here. The government picked up Intel that suggested a potential terrorist threat had infiltrated Ymerton College. So I was given a two part assignment. One: Infiltrate the school as a college student to investigate the truth of a possible terrorist threat."

"Did you find anything?" asked Tara, intrigued. Anna-Jean shook her head.

"Not really," she replied truthfully. "Anyway, I had the second part of my assignment: Find and note possible recruits for the P.O.N.Y. Initiative."

"P.O.N.Y?" asked Fiona.

"It stands for Police Operative and Nonpareil Youths," said General Wilson. "It's part of a hypothesis that younger minds could be more adept at handling threats. Miss Balle here is living proof of that."

"I was supposed to find if any students had the potential to complete tasks necessary to the safety of the country," added Anna-Jean, before she hung her head in shame. "But I must have alerted someone to my activities. So they sent trained soldiers to come kill me."

"Wait," said Dash. "Are you trying to tell us that the entire raid today happened because some guys were trying to kill you?"

Anna-Jean nodded.

"That sounds like the stupidest fucking thing I've ever heard in my life," Dash groaned. "There is no chance in hell that you are that special.

"I'm special enough to save your lives," AJ stated. "I could'a left y'all to be shot dead if I wanted to, but I brought ya here, didn't I?"

"Which brings us to why you're here," said Wilson, approaching the table. All of the girls' eyes were fixed on him. "We want you to join the P.O.N.Y.'s."

The news came as relatively shocking. None of them had combat experience, and they all panicked during the shooting. None of them saw how any rational person would ever choose to perform such an operation. That in itself was the precise reason why a voice suddenly spoke up.

"I'm in," said Dash, who was immediately met with protest from her peers.

"Are you crazy?"

"It's suicide."

"Think about this, will you?"

"Seriously, hear me out," said Dash, who had now risen from the table and started walking around the room. "How could you not do it? Going around the country, kicking ass and taking names. It sounds like it's the best thing that could ever happen to us. I mean, Pinky, you get a chance to do that crazy gun shit."

Pinky hadn't really considered it, but she supposed it did give her a chance to improve her gunmanship.

"And Rachel, you can avenge Spyke's death by kicking his killers' teeth in." Rachel thought about it. Avenging Spyke's death seemed like a good reason to gain revenge.

"Fiona, you got to do it. After all, you won't let the whole world down now, would you?" continued Dash, gaining more confidence in her decision.

"The-the whole world?" Fiona gulped, suddenly feeling an insurmountable amount of pressure.

"So how about it, girls? You ready to kick some ass?" said Dash proudly.

"Hell Yeah!" screamed Pinky, high-fiving Dash as hard as she could.

"Alright, I'll do it. For Spyke's sake," said Rachel. Fiona nervously looked around, and slowly nod her head to Dash, signaling that she was going to join. Everyone turned to look at Tara, who was the only one out of all of them to not join yet. Tara thought about hard. All of her friends were doing it. And it was to save the world, which made it extremely important. Tara finally reached a conclusion, and spoke her answer loud and clear.

"No."

Anna-Jean's face dimmed, as Tara continued on. "No way. You people are all insane. You're just going to give up your lives and go fight bad guys with zero experience. You'll get slaughtered. Besides, I have a life to live. I have my future planned out already. And I am not sacrificing it to go play superhero."

Anna-Jean sighed, and stood up from the table.

"Tara, could I speak with you for a moment?" Anna-Jean reached out her arm, and Tara grabbed hold of it.

"Sure," she replied, following Anna-Jean out of the room. It was only then that she noticed that her arm had been bandaged, the bleeding stopped and the blood removed. It was probably repaired in the darkness by some medical personnel. Anna-Jean began to whisper to Tara.

"Look girl, I didn't really want to say anything in front of the others, but you need to join us."

"I already told you, I'm not risking my life when I have a life to go back to," whispered Tara, trying to very strongly get her point across. Anna-Jean once again sighed.

"Tara, ya don't understand. Y'all are already in danger," AJ said softly.

"What do you mean?" Tara asked, curious.

"Why do you think the cops never showed up to the college?" AJ asked. Tara pasued, never having truly thought about it before.

"Um…" Tara could not think of an explanation.

"It's cause the footage was jacked. The attackers have seen us together, they know we are associated," Anna-Jean forcefully told Tara. "Now you're a target, and your family's a target."

Tara tried to process this information, and when she did, it truly frightened her.

"Y-You mean that-"

"Yeah," interrupted Anna-Jean. "You're in grave danger whether you like it or not. The only thing that matters is what you decide to do about it."

Tara realized the gravity of the situation. It was too late for her. She would be hunted down like an animal until they found her. But if she joined the others, at least she might have a chance to stop it. Tara sighed, and looked at Anna-Jean.

"Can you promise me something?" started Tara. "Can you promise me that you'll keep me safe through thick and thin, no matter what happens?" Both Tara and Anna-Jean knew it was a promise that could not be made. But Tara thought that maybe if she promised, by some magical reasoning, everything would turn out okay. Anna-Jean stayed silent for a long while, before holding her hand out to Tara.

"I promise that nothing bad will happen to you, Tara. So help me God."

"Well then, Miss Balle," said Tara, shaking Anna-Jean's hand. "It looks like you've got yourself a new recruit."

"Please, call me AJ," AJ said with a kind smile.

"Okay then AJ," said Tara, releasing her grip. "When do we start?"

__________

All that was present in the dark room was a round table. It wasn't a fancy table, made of any rare materials. Just simple lumber, from an unknown tree from an unknown place. But it was a very important table. For this was where the High Council met. They never saw each other's faces, opting to wear masks or face paint, for secrecy was of the highest importance. And today, the High Council met with great disappointment. For on this day, a school shooting took the lives of one hundred and thirty-four college students.

Instead of one hundred and thirty-five.

And the council went into great argument over this, because out of the five members, two female and three male, no one knew who to blame.

"Your plan was a failure, Sombra," spoke one of the female members. "All you had to do was kill one teenage girl, for Christ sake's."

"The King holds no fault," said Sombra. "You're the assassin, Moon! You should have taken her out."

"But you funded the soldiers," Moon fought back with a sneer. "Besides, the entire plan was idiotic. Back in Germany, we killed our targets by stealth. We should have sent Chrysalis in there. She could kill her quick, but she is just a lazy bitch."

"Don't drag me into this, Moon!" shouted the other woman, Chrysalis. "Don't try to blame this on me. You are incompetent and-"

"ENOUGH!" screamed the highest member of the council, who had grown tired of the bickering amongst his underlings. "This was a plan invested by all of us! So we all hold the blame!"

Silence grew around the table.

"Now," screamed the councilman. "We have a bigger problem to attend to. Not only has the agent escaped, but she left with allies. This could grow detrimental to our plans.'

"Please," said Sombra, fixing the large crown he wore atop his head. "They're just little kids. They stand no chance to the King." He puffed on his cigar, enjoying his stature.

"Don't grow overconfident, Sombra," replied the head of the council. "I know a problem when I see one."

"So what do you want to do about it?" said Moon.

"Why not let me take care of 'em," said a voice at the end of the table. The attentions of the others were drawn to the newest member of the High Council. He had not been part of the argument, opting instead to just twirl his colt revolver around his finger. "Let me prove myself, boss. I'll wipe those motherfuckers off the face of the Earth."

It seemed like a fair deal; give the rookie a chance to prove his worth to the cause. It was a chance that the High Council could not pass up.

"Okay, Discord," said the highest councilor. "Don't disappoint us.'

Discord hopped to his feet, and immediately bowed to his peers.

"Don't worry, sir," he said, a smile spreading across his face. "I'll take care of these meddling kids for you. Just like in the old cartoons."

"Just how do you intend to do that?" asked Sombra.

"Please Sombra, we're terrorists," Discord said, quickly pulling out his revolver and firing six shots randomly at the wall. Then he started to laugh, sheer joy rushing through him. He turned back to Sombra with a menacing grin.

"I'm going to fucking terrorize."

End of Chapter 1