Preface

I was just a normal teenager like you, you know, the kind that likes to party, stay out late, and break the rules. I never thought that there was anything beyond that but there is. It was always easier for me to pretend like nothing really affected me as if I was this cold person who had no heart but little did I know that doing that only hurt me and that it would destroy me in the future. I wasn't prepared for anything like this to happen and I never thought that I would be here at this moment; hovering over a lifeless body, but here I was. Well, let me start from the beginning...

Going Away

Me and Emily quietly opened the door to our home and tried to tip-toe up the stairs. We were just about half way up when we saw the lights suddenly turn on. I turned my head towards the living room to see both my parents sitting on the sofa with scowls plastered upon their faces. Emily snickered.


"Both of you over here now!" My dad called.


We walked back down the stairs and into the living room. We kept our distance by standing on the other side of the living room, so if it came to it, we could run.


My mother glanced at the clock. "It is one o'clock in the morning and you're just now coming home." she said in a non-question way.


We both glanced at each other and then nodded. It wasn't the first time we had stayed out late and got caught for it, so I knew it really wasn't that big of a deal. My parents already knew that no matter how many times they put on their angry faces and made their voices really loud, we were going to continue to break the rules anyway. I don't know why we do it but I guess it's just because that's the natural instinct of a teenager. Right?


I smiled. "We're really sorry mom, it won't happen again." I said as sincere as I could.


My dad stood to his feet. "Yeah, you're right, it won't happen again because we're sending the both of you away."


Emily laughed and then shook her head. "You're joking right?"


The look on both our parents’ faces clarified any signs of them joking.


"We can't handle the two of you anymore, you're becoming too much to deal with. You're going to Midnight Heights." Our dad said.


I glanced at my mom for a little help but she just looked away in disappointment.


"Mom, seriously?"


"I can't believe you would do something like this!" Emily yelled. She ran upstairs and headed to her room.


I stared at the both of them in disbelief; just waiting for one of them to smile and say "we're only kidding" but neither one of them did.


I folded my arms across my chest. "You know nothing about this place you're sending us to and you're just going to leave us there?"


"A friend of mine from work recommended this place and I think it's a great idea." My mom told me.


I rolled my eyes. "Oh great, that fixes everything." I muttered sarcastically. I turned away and ran up the stairs and into my room. I couldn't believe how selfish they were being. I mean, I know that Emily and I could be a lot to handle at times, but we were still good kids. There was no way I was going to this Midnight Heights place with a bunch of weird strangers. I jumped on to my bed and hid myself in my blankets. I was already having a nightmare and I wasn't even asleep yet. I took a deep breath and shut my eyes.


"Crystal, you awake?"

I opened my eyes to see Emily standing over me with an awkward smile on her face. I rubbed my eyes and sat up.

"What?" I wondered.


"So, I was thinking and I'm not all that mad about going to Midnight Heights anymore. In fact, I think it's going to be quite interesting." she beamed.

I was confused. "Emily, there's nothing fun about going away to this place, okay? It's a total nightmare."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say. But you should get ready, mom said that we're leaving in a hour.” she said before leaving.


I glanced at my clock and noticed that it was 1:00 in the afternoon. I can't believe my parents just expect us to go away to this place we know nothing about and act like everything's okay. I was sure my life was going to end now. I stood to my feet and went to my closet. I pulled out my suitcase and began to pack my clothes and things that I was going to need. Once I was all packed, I headed into the bathroom to take a shower and get ready.


Once me and Emily's things were all packed into my dad's truck, we headed off to the stupid place that was going to ruin my life forever. Where ever this Midnight Heights place was, it was pretty far away. All my mother told us was that the location was really strange but she was sure that being away from home for a while would do more than help us… that it would redeem us or whatever the heck that was suppose to mean. Our Highway to hell road trip lasted for a total of six hours until we finally reached the location. Of course we didn't take any breaks between because then we would've arrived much later.


My father pulled up to the fancy gate that caved around the place and waited until it suddenly opened, letting him come through.

I glanced at Emily, who was grinning wildly, and rolled my eyes in an annoyed manner. Just great! We were actually here at this weird place that I was going to have to spend my whole summer. Not even to mention, where I would have to be around a bunch of weird freaks who were completely strangers to me. Just thinking about it caused me to slump down in my seat and shut my eyes.

I felt the car come to a stop and realized we were now parked in front of the school. My Parents opened their doors and then quickly got out, followed by my cheery sister. I, on the other hand, was in no hurry to go into that place. Just looking at it gave me the creeps. It looked as if it was some kind of haunted mansion from a children's story book or something. It definitely looked unsafe.

I climbed out of the car to take another look at it.

"Guys, this doesn't exactly look like a place that's supposed to help you." I said to no one in particular.

My mother sat my suitcase on the ground next to me and then laughed as if I had said something funny.


"Relax Crissy. I get that it looks a little creepy but it's dark outside so of course it's going to look that way. Just wait until morning, it won't be so bad." she explained and then walked back to the car to get the rest of our stuff.

I stood there, staring at the mansion. It was just so tall and big on the outside that I couldn't help but wonder how it looked on the inside. The sound of the trunk shutting made me suddenly jump and I looked around to see everyone staring at me.

"You could have helped with your things Criss." My dad pointed out.


"Sorry." I picked up my bag that was still lying on the ground beside me.


"Well, I guess we'll be seeing you guys. You can call us whenever you want to." My mother had said.

I was confused. "So wait, that's it? You're not even going to come inside with us and check out the place?"

My mother let out a breath and then walked over to hug me. Her hugs were so tight that I felt as if all the life had been sucked out of me. She drew back and then smiled at me.

"Sweetheart, you have really got to relax. This is a good thing that's happening, you'll see." She gave me one last hug before making her way over to Emily.

I glanced at my dad. "Can we please just go home? I promise I won't ever lie, or come home late, or whatever it is I do that makes you hate me so much." I pleaded.


"We don't hate you or your sister Crystal. We are doing this because we love you and because you guys need help." He told me.

I rolled my eyes and began to pace towards the school. I couldn't believe that they were going through with this. I didn't even care at this point if I never ever seen them again because obviously they didn't care about Emily and me. I started up the long steps that led to the door; not thinking twice about looking back.


"Wait up!" I heard Emily call from a distance, but I kept going.


Emily finally caught up with me after the long run up the steps. She was nearly out of breath; panting from running so fast. I finally reached the last step and walked to the door. Pushing the door open, I slowly walked inside; being cautious of my surroundings.


Emily laughed. "Seriously Criss, chill out. You act like we've been sent here to get murdered or something."


"Seems like it." I muttered.

We walked down the long, dark hallway until we reached a door that said "Study" on it, and went in. Inside, it was a huge space with all sorts of books as if it was a library or something. There were round tables plastered everywhere and a huge desk that sat on the far end of the room.


"Hello? Anyone here?" I called, looking around.


A guy appeared from behind a wall, who was wearing a gown that sort of looked like a graduation gown but a little more ancient.


I smiled. "Sorry to bother you but my sister and I are new here and we don't really know where we're supposed to go."

He pulled off his bulky glasses as he walked closer to us. "You must be the Silverstone's, am I correct?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yes."

He smiled. "Follow me."

He walked past us and exited out the same door we entered. Me and Emily followed him down the hallway until he stopped in front of another door and then pushed it open, leading us down another hallway.

"Leona gave me specific instructions as to where she would like you two to stay." he told us.

Me and Emily exchanged glances.

"And who is Leona?" Emily wondered.

He chuckled. "Leona, my dear, is the head mistress of Midnight Heights. You should do nothing without sending it by her first or she'd be very upset."

I rolled my eyes to myself. "And when do we meet this Leona?"

"She will be seeing the both of you tomorrow morning when we have Awakenings." he said, as if we knew what he meant by that.

He stopped in front of yet another door and then pushed it open. "Here's where you and your sister will be staying, don't wake her up." he glanced into the room and we did the same.

There was three beds against the wall with tables near by and weird art work imprinted on the wall with different languages on them. There was a girl who was sleeping on one of the beds already and by the looks of it, this wasn't exactly the most comfortable place to sleep.

I let out a sigh. "Great."

"So I will see you in the morning. Try to get some rest because we all awake early." he begin to walk away but stopped when Emily called.

"What about food? I am starving." she wined, holding her stomach.

"My apologies but dinner's at six and Leona specifically said no exceptions. I guess you're going to have to wait for breakfast. I'm Narc by the way." he proceeded down the hallway until we couldn't see him anymore.

We walked into the room and closed the door behind us. I noticed that the middle bed was where the girl was lying. Her head suddenly lifted up when she heard the sound of our feet trailing against the floor. I glanced at her.

"We're very sorry; we didn't mean to wake you." Emily said.

She sighed. "Nah, it's okay. I wasn't really asleep anyway. You two new?"

I nodded. "Yeah and I guess we'll be staying here for a while."

"I could move to another bed so that you and your sister could be closer." she explained.

Emily shook her head. "You shouldn't have to move for us. We'll be fine."

I walked to the bed that was next to the girl and sat my bag down and Emily headed to the other side. I could tell that this wasn't going to be such a fun place that Emily was hoping it would be and it wasn't going to be too long before I'd be calling my parents and begging them to come and take us back home.

"I'm Emily and the other one over there is Crystal." I heard Emily say and realized she was still talking to the girl.

"I'm Allie." the girl replied. "So are you two twins? You look exactly alike."

Emily laughed. "No, actually we're only a year apart. Criss is older though."

"Hmm… Could have fooled me." Allie mumbled.

It wasn't long before Allie stopped talking and felt asleep and Emily did the same. I was way to scared to fall asleep in this place and knew that I was going to be up for the remainder of the night.

Awakenings

"Crystal! Crystal, wakey wakey!"

I opened my eyes to see Allie smiling at me and realized that I had fallen asleep after all. I wiped my eyes and slowly sat up.

"Your sister already left." she said.

I was a little confused. "Left?"

She laughed. "Yes silly, left for awakenings. You better hurry and get dressed because if everyone isn't in the main room before 6 am, Leona will punish you." she told me.


I quickly got up and went to my suitcase to search for something else to wear. I pulled out my plain blue t-shirt and a pale pair of jeans and laid them out on the bed beside me. I noticed Allie watching me very closely as if she was thinking heavily on something.


I laughed. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just amazing how much you and your sister look alike and yet how different the two of you are from each other."


I let out a smile. "Let me guess, Emily left out wearing something a little more glamorous, huh?"


"Yes, she had the matching hat and heels to go along with it." Allie snickered.

I laughed and then quickly changed into my clothes. Allie was right, me and Emily was different in many ways. Unlike me, Emily was very optimistic. She's loyal and kind and seems to always be the life of the party. Not to say that I'm not all those things, but with me, you don't see it as easily as you do with Emily. Most people would describe me as stubborn and very assertive, but I was just as kind as Emily was. However, we both had a knack for breaking the rules and when it came down to it, we were both button pushers.


"We have to leave now, Crystal. Awakenings will start once the bell rings." Allie informed.

I followed her out the door and down the same hall Narc brought me and Emily through. I had to walk very quickly just to keep up with Allie considering how fast her pace was. We past the study room and numbers of other doors that I had no idea what they were. We turned down another long hall until finally Allie stopped in front of a thick, bulky, black door and pushed it open. It was completely huge inside and looked like it could be a gym, but not quite the same.

There were bleachers on one side of the room filled with wandering eyes that were locked on me, and on the other side of the room there were huge book shelves against the wall just like in the study room. I watched as everybody stared at me and Allie as we walked into the room. Emily was sitting at the very top of the bleachers. She waved a hand to us when she saw us.

I followed Allie up to the top of the bleachers and then took my seat next to Emily. I glanced around at everybody who seemed as if they had no life at all. There was something not right about this place and I could deeply feel it in the pit of my stomach. A loud bell blasted through the speakers of the ceiling and the door of the gym suddenly swung open. The sound of high heels tapped against the floor as she made her way to the center of the room. I could tell that this was who we were waiting for, Leona, but I was surprised to see that her appearance wasn't what I imagined it would be. She had long brown hair that made the pale, light complexion of her skin stand out and she was wearing a skirt that was two sizes too small and a lavender turtle-neck sweater. She was a lot younger than I expected, in fact, she didn't look to be that much older than I was.

I watched as she paced back in forth across the center of the room before finally speaking.


"Good morning Everyone." she said with a voice so light and soft that you'd swear she was an angel.

"Today we are going to do something a little bit different than our normal routine. It has been brought to my attention by someone I'd rather not say that something has been going on behind my back; something that is forbidden here at Midnight Heights."


She scanned the room with her eyes in a way that made everyone tense up in an uncomfortable position. I didn't understand why these people seemed to be so afraid of her because she looked as if she couldn't hurt a fly, but judging by the looks of every one's faces, I could see that I really had no idea who Leona really was.

"The reason we do Awakenings every morning is to keep each and every one of you informed of the rules here; rules that are meant to be kept. So if you start to abuse these rules, well then there will be major consequences." she added with a sly smile.


She walked down to the edge of the bleaches and kneeled down in front of someone in the last row. I couldn't tell who she was talking to but I knew that whatever it was she was saying she didn't want anyone else to hear. She stood back up and made her way back to the center of the room.

She let out a breath. "I really, really hate doing this but if someone doesn't confess right now to breaking the rules which I have given, I will have to punish all of you."

Everyone started to exchange glances and whisper among themselves. I couldn't help but notice that there was something about the way she said "all of you" that made my skin crawl. She walked back and forth across the floor with a smile on her face, just waiting for someone to confess to their wrong, but no one did. She suddenly stopped in her tracks.


"I'm going to count to five and if no one has a confession for me, then you all will suffer." she said. "One...Two..."

The voices in the room suddenly got louder as everyone began to panic. I glanced at Emily who shared the same confusion as I did. We were both clueless as to what was going on but knew that whatever was going to happen next wasn't going to be good.


"Five…” Leona finished. "Fine. Then you all will be punished…”

"Wait! It was me. I'm the one who has been breaking the rules." a voice said somewhere in the crowd.


"Stand up." Leona ordered.

The body that belonged to the voice stood up instantly with his head hung low in shame. Everyone looked at him, both in relief of his confession and in fear of what was yet to come. I couldn't really see the guy's face but I could see that he was pretty tall and had black silky hair. Just from the look of his body language, I knew that he was just as scared of Leona as everyone else in the room.


Leona's expression suddenly changed from mischief to curiosity. She grinned. "Anthony, wow. I can't believe you would do something like this. Up here, now."


I watched in both curiosity and fear, as Anthony made his way up to the front of the room next to Leona. Once he was standing next to her, Leona looked to three men who seemed to have come out of nowhere, and then gestured her hand towards Anthony. Two of the men held on to Anthony's arms, while the other man held something that looked like a bat, in his hands.


I swallowed and turned to look at Allie. "She can't do this." I said, but in my head I knew that there was nothing any of us could do about it.


I was suddenly starting to see why everyone feared Leona, I mean; she was crazy for goodness sake! So what if the kid broke the rules, I broke the rules all the time and I've never gotten beaten with a bat, instead I've been sent to a place with crazy people who apparently beat other people with bats.


I watched as the bat in the man hands connected with Anthony's stomach; leaving him crying out in pain. Just when I thought that it was over, Anthony cried out again as the bat slammed him in the stomach once more. The guy kept beating him over and over again, hitting him in the stomach and on his legs. Without realizing it, a tear escaped from my eye in an instant from what I had to witness. I looked over at Emily and Allie who looked just as scared as I was. There was nothing right about what they were doing right now. Leona couldn't possibly have permission to treat other peoples' kids this way. I took a breath once I noticed Anthony's beating was over and wiped away the tears from my eyes.

Leona smiled her annoying smile that I have grown to hate already.

"Let this be a lesson to any of you who wants to break the rules here. There will

be consequences for your actions." She stated.

I rolled my eyes in an annoyed manner. This was it. I was going to call my parents and tell them everything that just happened and then I was going to beg them to come and get Emily and me. After they hear about the horrible things that have happened already, they will rush to get us.

"Okay everyone, you're dismissed. Off to class now." Leona made her way out of the room in an instant.

Something's not right.

I sat at the back of the classroom next to Emily and Allie and tried very hard to listen to what Mr. Roman was saying. Mr. Roman was supposed to be our "Guidance" teacher and teach us about how we're supposed to respect ourselves and crap like that. I knew that it was probably best that I listen to him but I couldn't help but wonder if Anthony was okay. So many questions ran threw my mind completely unanswered.

Will he be okay?

Is he Hurt?

Where is he?

So I was completely obsessing about it but could you blame me? Everyone just sat there and watched a person, a human being, getting beat up badly and now they just expect us to focus in class as if we hadn't just witnessed that? There was no way I could do that. All I cared about was if that boy was going to be okay. He just had to be.


"Criss, you okay?" Emily whispered.


"Yes." I lied, but of course Emily already knew that. None of us were okay, not after what we just saw. I mean, how could we be?

I noticed everyone getting up from their seats and realized class was now over. I must have missed the whole lesson just thinking about what had happened earlier. I stood up from my seat and began to follow the crowd out of the room until Mr. Roman called my name.


"Can I talk to you for a minute Crystal?" he asked.

I turned to look at Emily who was standing beside me.


"We'll wait outside the door for you." she said before leaving out.


I walked to the front of Mr. Roman's desk and waited curiously to hear what he was going to say. He looked kind of concerned for some reason, as if something was heavily on his mind. I could tell that something was bothering him, but didn't quite know what it was.


"Is everything okay? I couldn't help but notice how "out of it" you looked today." he told me.


I forced a smile as I nodded. "Sorry, my mind was in a different place."


"Care to share?"


I let the fake smile drop from my face as I could see that he was clearly not buying my fake reaction. I understood that he was my guidance teacher and all that, but the idea of me sharing my "feelings" with him, kind of made me feel embarrassed. Not to mention he was a complete stranger to me, but on the other hand, I was just dying to get what I felt out and who better to share your feelings and thoughts with than a guidance counselor? I mean, what's the worst that could happen?


I took a deep breath. "Something is really bothering me and I just don't know what to do about it."


"What is it that's bothering you exactly?"


I began to pace back and forth in front of his desk, trying to calm myself, but I couldn't. There was a million things going through my mind right now and I just couldn't sort them all out. It was like having a glitch in your brain and no matter how much you wanted it gone it just wouldn't leave.

"I don't understand why they had to beat him like that just to teach him a lesson. Everyone just sat there and watched and nobody did anything about it. He was standing there, crying out in pain after being beaten over and over again."


I can't even describe how I was feeling at that moment. Just replaying what I saw in my head over and over again made me want to throw up. I wasn't used to seeing people get beat up the way Anthony did. Yeah there were parties I went to and guys got in fights and stuff, but it wasn't the same. Nobody held their hands back while another guy batted them in the stomach multiple times.


"Crystal, I understand what you're feeling. Although I wasn't there this morning to see what had happened, I have very well witnessed it before. I'm sorry, but if you break the rules, Leona will not let you get away with it."


"Yeah, so like beating a kid half to death is going to solve anything!" I shouted.


"Crystal, you really should keep your voice down."


"No! You know what this place is crazy and so is everybody in it!"


"Crystal.." I heard him call, but I didn't care to stop now, I was way to upset.


"She can't do this! She can't treat us like this. Someone have to do something. You have to do something." I realized my face was soaked in tears now, but I didn't care.

It was never like me to cry in front of people but after what I saw happened, I couldn't help but cry. When I was a kid, I would always get cut by the sharp leaves in our garden, and even though it stung pretty badly I never cried about it. My mom told me that I had great strength like her and that I could pull through just about anything. I guess I'm not as strong as I thought I was.


Mr. Roman took a breath. "I can't do anything Crystal and you shouldn't either. I'm sorry you had to witness that. I'm sorry you all had to witness that, but it's completely out of my control, you have to understand."


"Well I don't." I snapped.

I quickly made my way to the door and existed out of it. Emily and Allie was standing against the wall, waiting for me.

Emily looked concerned once she saw how angry I was.


"What happened?" she asked.


"Midnight Heights is what happened." I took in a deep breath and tried to calm myself.

All I really needed was to get a grip and try to calm down. How am I supposed to survive at this place for the rest of the summer? I just knew there was no way I was making it out alive.

"There's something I think I should tell you guys because it seems you have no clue." Allie said.

I nodded. "What is it?"

Allie glanced around at the crowd of kids passing through the hallway and then she looked back at us. "Not here. Follow me."

She started down the hallway and me and Emily followed closely behind her. She suddenly stopped in front of what looked to be a supply closet and pulled me and Emily in with her. Allie made sure the door was all the way closed so that no one would hear us. Inside, the space was so small and tight, that I could barely feel my legs. I looked at Allie.

"After I tell you this, it will change everything." she started off.

Me and Emily exchanged a glance and then nodded. I had no idea what Allie was about to tell us but judging by the look on her face, I knew it was really serious.

She let out a breath. "Midnight Heights is not the place you think it is, in fact, it's not what anybody thinks it is. Leona wants nobody to know what's behind Midnight Heights and now I'm getting the feeling that she's up to something."


"What do you mean?" Emily wondered.


"Did you see the way she had that man to beat Anthony the way that he did, only because he broke her rules? She doesn't want any of us to know the truth."


It finally made sense. Leona was actually crazy and now I could see why everybody feared her, even Mr. Roman seemed to. I knew that she was hiding something that she didn't want any of us to know about and it clearly pissed her off when ever someone tried to find out what it is that she's hiding.

I looked at Emily who looked sort of confused.

"What rule did Anthony break exactly?" She asked.


Allie shrugged. "I'm not sure but I think it's best if we find out."

I laughed and then shook my head. "No way, Allie. I am not going to get on Leona's bad side, especially after what I had to witness."

"I think it's a great idea." Emily said, grinning so big that I could see every single tooth in her mouth.

I looked at both of them as if they were completely crazy, and they were. Clearly it was forbidden here at Midnight Heights to go against what Leona wanted and to break the rules that she has given. Did these two learn nothing? Did they not see the horrible pain Anthony went through just because he broke one little rule? Allie and Emily were clearly in over their heads to think that we would actually follow down the path that got Anthony beaten nearly to death.

"No way." I mumbled again.


"Come on, Criss. Since when have you let the word "no" stop you? I don't care how scary Leona may be, we need answers." Emily said.


She was right, we did need answers, but I wasn't sure if this was the way to get them. Was it really worth the risk of getting ourselves into trouble or even worse? Just a week ago I would've jumped to the opportunity to do something a little reckless even if it meant harming myself in the process, but now I wasn't so sure if that was the right thing to do anymore.

"Your sister's right Crystal. Leona may be a force to be reckoned with, but I'm willing to wreck with that force if it means finding out what could possibly harm us in the near future." Allie pointed out.

I took in a deep breath. Allie was right. They both were right about everything. I knew that even though this was officially my first day here, that something bad was going to happen soon and nobody even knew about it. Leona needed to be stopped and she needed to be stopped right away before anyone else got hurt.

I sighed. "Fine. I'm in, but what do we do?"


Emily smiled. "How about you leave that part up to me, sis."

She's a... a... Vampire?

Emily and I waited patiently in the small office-looking room that belonged to Leona. All we knew was that Leona wanted to talk to us and that we were supposed to come down here quickly so that she could. There was no denying that I was afraid of her, because inside I kind of was but no matter how much she freaked me out, I was still prepared to go along with the plan that Emily came up with.

The door to the office suddenly opened; revealing Leona's devilish looking grin. She closed the door behind her and walked to her wooden desk. While still grinning; she slowly sat down on the chair. Looking at her face, I could see that she was remarkably beautiful in a way that was different from all other beauty. Her skin was naturally smooth and her eyes were beady little things, she really looked young.


She smiled. "I was planning on talking to the both of you at Awakenings, but as you could see, I had something serious to deal with at the time."


I exchanged a glance with Emily and then brought my attention back to Leona.


"I'm very sorry you had to see that on your first day here. I hope you don't get the wrong impression of this school because not everyday is like that. We are all actually one big family here, you'll see." She said.


I wouldn't exactly use the word "family" to describe the people at this school, especially Leona. She went on talking about how we're going to have a good time staying here and how she cares about everyone at this school and crap like that. I could practically see the fakeness all over her. I couldn't help but look at her and see the horrible person that she really was.

"Well I won't keep you guys any longer, it’s almost time for dinner." she stood up from her chair and walked over to the door.

She held the door open for us and waited for us to stand up from our seats. Me and Emily quickly walked out of her office and headed to the cafeteria.


"She is purely evil." Emily said, once we were out of Leona's sight.


"I know. What time are we starting?" I wondered.


"At midnight, as soon as everyone is asleep."


I sighed. "Are you sure this will work?"


"Absolutely." she told me.


We walked down the hallway and made our way to the cafeteria where everybody was already eating. I saw Allie sitting at one of the tables, talking to two other people. One of them was a girl who had short blonde hair with light waves in them and another was a guy who had dark brown hair and was wearing shades? Well, that's weird.


"I'm going to go get something to eat, are you coming?" Emily asked.


I shook my head. "No, I'm fine."


She shrugged and then made her way to the front of the cafeteria. I walked over to the table where Allie was sitting and sat down next to her.


"Hey." She greeted, "Guys, this is Crystal. Crystal, this is Chase and Miranda."


"Hi." I said as I waved at them, and they did the same.


Allie sighed. "So, hopefully our plan will work out and we can take down Leona once and for all." she whispered.

I glanced at Chase and Miranda and then back at Allie. "I can't believe you told them."


She quickly flashed me an apologetic look. Was she crazy or what? What part of a "secret" didn't she understand? Allie was going to get us all killed and it was only a matter of time before Leona figured out what we all were up to.


Miranda rolled her eyes. "Are you kidding? Chase and I have been working on this for as long as I could remember. We know more than the both of you do about this school. Anthony wasn't the only one looking into stuff; half of the school was as well. Anthony was just stupid enough to confess to it."


"He saved your butts. Leona was going to punish all of us." I told her.

She laughed. "Leona was bluffing."


I couldn't believe she was joking about this as if it all was one big game. How could they let Anthony take the fall for something he didn't do by himself? I was beginning to think that maybe this wasn't a good idea after all.


"What did I miss?" Emily sat down with a tray full of food at the table. She stopped smiling when she seen the looks on everybody's faces.


"And this is Emily, the perky twin." Allie said.


Emily rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Nice to meet you guys." she said to Chase and Miranda.


I pushed back my chair and stood up from my seat.


"Where are you going?" Allie wondered.


"I'm just going the bathroom, I'll be right back." I told them.


I quickly walked out of the cafeteria and headed down the hallway. All I needed was to get some air and clear my head. What was happening to me? I was turning into this complete different person who I didn't recognize at all. I walked into the girl’s bathroom and went into one of the stalls. I flushed the toilet when I was finished using it and walked out of the stall. I paused when I heard the sound of voices coming towards the bathroom, voices that belonged to Leona. I rushed back into the stall and locked the door. I sat on the back end of the toilet and propped my legs up.


The sound of foot steps entered the bathroom at once. I peeped through the crack to see who else it was that was with Leona. I didn't recognize the face but I knew it was a girl by the sound of her voice.


"I'm so very sorry to do this April, but I'm afraid it's my lunch time to." I heard Leona say.


What was she talking about? I squinted my eyes a little more to see what was going on. I could see Leona standing in front of the girl who she was talking to. I could tell that something was wrong.


"Hold still dear." Leona muttered.


She suddenly grabbed on to the girl shoulders and pulled her closer to her. She then lowered her head down towards the girl's neck. I was confused as to what was happening. What was Leona doing? It wasn't long before her head came back up and she let out a breath. It was then when Leona moved away from in front of the girl, that I could see what had happened. I gasped and quickly covered my mouth so that she wouldn't hear me. I could see blood pouring out of the girl’s neck in an instant. Leona turned around, revealing the blood that covered her face and stained her teeth. She wiped her mouth and then laughed to her self. I couldn't believe it. Leona was actually... a vampire? Do they even exist?


She grabbed a napkin and wiped the blood from the girl’s neck.

"It'll heal." she said and then looked the girl in the eye. "You tell no one of this."


The girl nodded. I watched as Leona removed the napkin from the girl's neck and threw it away in the trash. It was impossible. The girl's wound did heal in fact. There was no scar at all or blood rushing down her neck anymore, Leona had to do some kind of magic. I swallowed. This was way too hard to take in at once. The girl walked away out of the bathroom followed by Leona. I released my hand from my mouth and took a deep breath. What was I to do with all this? Everything was happening so fast and I didn't know if I could take anymore. Midnight Heights wasn't the place I wanted to be at.


I opened the door to the stall and quickly washed my hands. I didn't hesitate at all leaving the bathroom and I swiftly made my way back to the cafeteria. I made my way over to Allie's table and slowly sat down. I couldn't control my breathing at all, not after what I had just seen.


This isn't happening, It's not real.

No matter how many times I tried to convince myself that what's going on isn't real, I knew that it wasn't going to change anything. What I had seen was real.


"Criss, are you okay? You're like hyperventilating." Emily told me.


There was nothing I could say. I tried opening my mouth, but no words came out. I was literally in shock at the moment. Why was Leona doing this? Was there more at this school like her? So many questions but yet no answers.


"Crystal, you're scaring us. What's going on?" Allie asked.


I let out a breath. I could feel my heart beating rapidly fast as I played what Leona did to that girl, over and over again in my head.


"I... saw... her." I managed to say through trying to breathe.


"Saw who?"


"Leona." I mumbled.


The sound of the bell ringing made me suddenly jump. I looked around to see everyone standing up from their chairs and making their way out of the cafeteria. Emily and Allie stood up as well, followed by Chase and Miranda.

"You can tell us the rest in the room." Emily told me.


I stood up from my seat and walked with the large crowd, out the doors of the cafeteria. How many people here were like Leona? How many people were vampires? I shuddered to myself as I thought the word "Vampire".

Must Find Anthony

“Tell us exactly what you saw.” Allie said, once we were in the room.

I sat down on my bed and took a breath. I didn’t even know where to begin to talk about all this. It’s not like I could just come right out and say “hey, guess what? I saw a vampire.” Words couldn’t even describe what I was feeling inside.

“It was horrible. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. I mean, I read books about it, but I didn’t know they actually exist.”

“They? What do you mean by they?”

The picture of Leona’s bloody mouth popped into my head and caused me to shudder just from thinking about it. I tried to think up any other explanation for what I had seen but there was nothing else I could come up with. It just is what it is.

“When I went to the bathroom, I heard Leona and some other girl coming in and talking, so I hurried into the stall. I listened in on what Leona was talking to her about, but I didn’t really understand. Then suddenly I saw Leona bend her head down by the girl’s neck in an abnormal position. I didn’t know what she was doing at first but then when she moved away I could see…”

I could see that both Emily and Allie were confused and I knew that I was actually going to have to say it for them to understand. I never thought that I would actually be explaining that I saw a vampire, but this was real. I had seen a vampire, and it was Leona, head mistress of Midnight Heights.

“There was blood that covered the girl’s neck and blood all over Leona’s mouth.” I muttered.

The expressions on both of their faces quickly changed as they suddenly learned what I had learned about what Leona really was. It was a lot to take in, but it was the truth and we all needed to know the truth.

“That’s impossible.” Emily whispered.

“No, actually it’s not. I saw it with my own eyes guys.” I told them.

“Well then you know what this means? This means we actually have to proceed with the plan now. There’s no backing down now because Leona is more powerful than anybody even knows.”

I nodded. “Okay. So what now?” I wondered.

Allie smiled. “New plan. We need to find Anthony.”

I was confused. Why did we need Anthony for our plan? Who knows if he’s even alive now after what had happened to him. Even if he was alive, there was no way I was going to involve him in another scheme that got him beat in the first place.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. We shouldn’t involve Anthony.” I told her.

“I understand you feel bad about what happened to him, but he’s our only chance of actually succeeded with our plan. He knows more about Midnight Heights than all of us.”


I realized Allie was right but I still wasn’t sure if this was something we should do or not. What happens if Leona finds out that we’re going behind her back and breaking her rules? She was going to have us all beaten just like Anthony was and this time, it could be a lot worse. I knew this was something I was going to regret but I couldn’t just walk away from having the chance to get answers that I needed about this school. After all, I was a major rule breaker, so why should I change now?

I nodded. “Okay, fine. We find Anthony and then what?”


“How about I stay here just in case Leona or any one else comes in to check up on us, and you guys go and find Anthony.” Emily suggested.

“Perfect.” Allie agreed.

We waited until midnight before leaving our room. Emily stacked up blankets on me and Allie’s bed so that it looked like we were sleeping if someone came to check up on us. Allie and I quietly tip-toed down the hallway so that we wouldn’t wake anyone up.

“Do you know where he is?” I whispered.

She nodded. “I think so. Usually when someone misbehaved, Leona had them taken to the cellar room. I’m pretty sure that’s where Anthony is.” she explained.


We continued to walk down the silent, dark hallway side by side. It was so dark that I could barely see where we were going. I couldn't even see Allie's fiery red hair in the mist of the darkness. I let out a sigh and felt Allie's hand collide with mine in an instant.


"Don't worry Crystal; I know where I'm going." She assured me.

I quickly nodded, even though I knew she couldn't see.

"Can you see anything? It's really dark." I mumbled.

She laughed. "Yes, I don't understand it, but I can see perfectly fine. I have the eyes of an eagle."


I laughed nervously. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but right now, it was an absolute perfect thing, considering my eyes were letting me down. It was probably best that I had gotten glasses when my mother told me I should, but I couldn't help but see the eyes of high school kids staring at me as if I was some kind of freak, as I walked down the hallway wearing my bulky glasses. Anyway, wearing glasses could be of great use at a time like this.


"Wait a minute." Allie whispered, suddenly stopping.


She walked closer to what looked to be an old wooden door and tried to push it open. She turned the knob again but it still wouldn't open.


She sighed. "This is it, but it's locked."


I walked next to the door and examined the lock on it. Even though it was locked from the inside I knew it wasn't going to be that hard trying to get in. When Emily and I was in Junior high, we would always get into trouble for breaking into locked rooms without permission. I guess you can say that we were experts at cracking combinations, breaking locks, and all that good stuff. I placed my hand on the knob.


"Take off your necklace and put the sharp end in the slot." I told Allie.


She quickly pulled her dolphin necklace off and slid the dolphin part into the slot. I held on to the knob and then juggled it to the left twice and then to the right three times. I pulled back on the knob and jiggled it one last time to the left. I heard a pop noise as the door opened in an instant. I glanced at Allie and let out a smile.


"How'd you do that?" She wondered.


I shrugged. "Practice and a lot of time spent in detention."


She laughed and then started to walk inside the room. I quickly shut the door and followed closely behind her in the dark room.


"Watch your step. We're coming down stairs." she warned me.


We carefully walked down each step being cautious enough so that we wouldn't trip and fall. Once we reached the last step, Allie tried feeling around for a light switch so that we could see. I looked as well; using the wall as my guide as I did so. I let my fingers trail along the wall until I felt a switch underneath my hands. I flicked the switch up in an instant and saw the light suddenly fill the room. It was really dusty inside and there were old books and papers thrown everywhere. I looked at Allie who was on the other side of the room.


"I don't see Anthony anywhere." I said.


"He's here, I just know it. We've got to look deeper." She started pacing around the room in a way that gradually started to make me feel dizzy.


I looked away and noticed an old book shelf up against the wall. Something about it being there didn't look right. I knew it wasn't just a book shelf. I walked over to it and begin to stare at it. Every single book on it was different from regular books. The books were huge and of leather and they had words in bold letters like "Magic" and "Super natural" on it. There was a reason these books were hidden down here. There was one book that stood out from the rest. It was thick and brown but had no words at all on it. It was just a plain book. I carefully picked it up and held it up in my hands. I suddenly fell quickly to the ground as the bookshelf shot back in an instant, revealing a hall that led to another room. I glanced at Allie.


"What'd you do?" She asked.


I shrugged. "I have no idea, but I think I just found some sort of secret room." I told her.


I grabbed the book from the floor and slowly stood up. Allie walked up next to the book shelf and looked down the long dark hall. I did the same. She suddenly pushed past the book shelf and started down the long hall way.


"What are you doing?" I called after her.


"Are you coming or not?"


I debated in my mind whether or not this was a good idea and decided that it was a bad idea. However, I still followed after her down the hall way. Allie was already long gone ahead of me and I couldn't hear her anymore.

"Allie, wait up." I called.


I picked up the pace and begin to walk faster. The more I walked the more I seemed to never reach Allie. The hallway just went on and on.


I let out a breath. "Allie?"


"Crystal, you should see this." I finally heard her say.


I sighed and followed the sound of her voice. I finally reached a small light at the end of the hallway and saw Allie kneeling down on the floor in front of something.


"Oh my gosh." I gasped.


I kneeled down on the floor next to him. Allie had found Anthony and he was in really bad shape. His eyes were shut closed and his clothes were torn. He was all alone down here without food and water and nobody even cared. I couldn't believe that someone could treat a person this way but Leona could. She was evil and she had to eliminate anyone who stood in her way, even if it meant locking them up and leaving them to rot.


"Look," Allie said pulling up his shirt, "he's bleeding."


I swallowed, remembering what had happened at Awakenings. I pulled off my sweater and tried wiping away the blood. He suddenly began to move and his eyes opened in a flash. I glanced at Allie and then back at Anthony. His eyes grew bigger when he saw me. It seemed as if he had seen a ghost or something.


"Crystal." he mumbled.


I was confused. "What?"


"It's not safe. You shouldn't be here." He told me.


I glanced at Allie and she looked just as confused as I was. Though this was my first time talking with Anthony, he seemed to have already known me. There was something not right about this at all and I get the feeling that there's a lot more to this place then I knew.

All the right Answers

He slowly sat up; calling out in pain as he did so. I took a breath. All I wanted to know at this point was how did he know my name? I had never spoken to him or even met him; I mean at least I think so. The very first time I ever saw his face was at awakenings. And even though I felt really bad about what happened to him, he was still a complete stranger to me.


I sighed. "How'd you know my name?"


He shrugged. "If I tell you, you'll think I'm crazy just like everybody else."


Maybe he was right, but now it really didn't matter what I thought. This whole place was crazy and I was learning things I never thought I would learn about. Nothing at this point, could surprise me. Nothing at all.


I shook my head. "I promise I won't."


He took a breath and proceeded. "It started about two years ago. I would have these dreams that would really freak me out from time to time. They were about magic and darkness and this whole different world that I didn't even know exist. I tried telling my mom about it but it got to a point where she thought I was crazy and sent me away."


"Wow, I can't believe she did that." I mumbled.


He shrugged. "It's easy for people to believe that a person is crazy when they don't believe. Anyway, I got locked away into a mental institution until one of Leona's guards found me and had me sent here."


I nodded. Just listening to him telling his story made me understand him a little better. All he wanted was answers too, just like Emily, Allie and I. And he deserved to get them just like the rest of us. Somehow Leona felt threatened by him because he was different than all of us. He came to Midnight Heights knowing something wasn't right and he was determined to find out what that was.


He continued. "So then the dreams started back again and I started to see this girl, this beautiful girl who was an angel. I found this book and I started reading it. One day I came across one page and I read about this angel on it and I just knew that that was the girl from my dreams."


I nodded. "What book was this?"


"The one you're holding in your hands."


I looked down at the book in my hand, and then back at Anthony.


"What is it about?"


He sighed. "Everything you need to know about Midnight Heights. Every one here at Midnight Heights is in that book including both you and I."


I glanced back at the book. What did he mean I was in the book? I had never even seen this book before today and now I was supposed to believe that I was in it. There was only one way to find out and that was reading it for myself. I glanced at Allie who was being extremely quiet.


"Go on, read It." she whispered.


I took a breath and flipped to the first page of the book.


"What am I looking for?" I wondered.

"Go to the Section Vampire." Anthony told me.


I flipped to the index and searched for the page that said vampire. I quickly turned to the page and began reading the small captions on the page. The first one was about Leona.


Leona Elise Channing Born in the year 1901
Parents Elise Channing and Diego Channing.
Killed by famous serial killer, De Gaudy. Found half dead by One of the first vampires, Victor Lewis III, and instantly turned into a vampire.

I began to read on to the next caption. I didn't understand why, but I was somehow not surprised to see the name of this one.


Miranda Olivia Kay Henderson Born in the year 1942
Parents Kassidy Henderson and John Henderson.
Car accident at age 17 that led to death. Turned by Vampire that found her.

Right below Miranda's, was Chase's name.


Chase Bradley Henderson Born in the year 1944
Parents Kassidy Henderson and John Henderson.
Tried to commit suicide a year after his sister died. Miranda found him in pain and turned him into a vampire.

I let out a breath. "Wow."


"What is it?" Allie wondered.


"Miranda and Chase. Did you know they were vampires?"


She shook her head. "Not a clue. They aren't harmful to anyone though."

"I know."


"I think it's time you read what's really important." Anthony said.


"What's that?"


"Turn to the Section of angels." He told me.


I was confused. "Angels?"


He nodded.


I flipped through the pages and stopped once I found the section about Angels. I glanced at the very first caption and began to read it. Something about this one made my stomach turn into knots. I swallowed.


Anthony Alexander Stone Born in the year 1994
Parents Renessa Stone and David Stone (Angels of Light)
An angel of light; the power of the stone. The power of levitation.

I really didn't know what to say. I could feel my heart pace pick up as I continued to read.


Crystal Bell Roman Born in the year 1994
Parents Annabelle Roman and Paul Roman (Angels of light)
An angel born of angels; the power within. The power of touch.

I quickly threw the book down and jumped up from the floor. That was it. I refuse to read any more of that book. It just couldn't be right. None of this could be real.


"What are you doing?" Allie asked.

"It can't be true. I'm no angel, in fact I'm the exact opposite. I break the rules all the time and I don't listen to what anybody says. That book is full of crap!" I shouted.


"You said you wanted answers Crystal. You knew it all wasn't going to be what you wanted to hear." Anthony said.


I folded my arms across my chest. "And Roman? That's not even my last name. My last name is Silverstone."


Allie looked confused. She picked up the book that I threw on the floor and began reading it. I watched as she flipped through each page, gasping at each thing that she read. I couldn't help but think about the things I read from that book. If it was true, which I highly doubt, that means that my whole life is a lie and I had no idea who I really was. The thought of that was really scary.


"Crystal, we really should get back. We can take the book with us and read more about it tomorrow." Allie told me.


"She's right." Anthony agreed.


I nodded. "Fine, but what about you?"


"I'll be fine. Leona was planning on letting me out tomorrow." he said.


I nodded. Allie stood up from the floor and grabbed the book. She started on walking down the long, dark hallway without me. I glanced at Anthony one last time before following Allie. It didn't feel right just leaving him here like this, but I knew there was nothing we could do about it. If Leona came in and found him missing, we were all going to be punished. It was best to leave him here and wait to see him tomorrow when Leona releases him. That’s, "if" she'll release him. Knowing Leona, I'm not all that convinced.

she's coming after you

Here I was in class once again and I still couldn't concentrate on what we were learning about today. All I did was stare at the clock on the wall as if I was waiting for something unexpected to happen or as if the time would suddenly speed up and I'd be back home again. All I kept thinking about was how right Anthony was. I wanted answers so bad and now that I've got all the right answers to my questions, I somehow wish that I didn't. Maybe things would've been a lot easier to just listen to Leona and follow her rules, no matter how crazy and evil she was. Maybe this was my punishment from God for being such a horrible person.


The third bell finally rung and everybody began to exit out of the classroom. I stood up from my desk and began to walk quickly towards the door. I stopped and slowly turned around noticing something I had seen earlier. I slowly walked to the front of the classroom and scanned the words imprinted on the desk that belonged to my teacher.


Mr. Roman

It couldn't be right. How could I not remember his name? I took in a deep breath. Just when I thought that my life couldn't get any worse, it gets worse. There was no possible way that I could have been related to this guy. So yes Emily and I were adopted and we never met our real parents but to think that this man could be my father was crazy. I watched as Mr. Roman continued to read something on his desk. He suddenly looked up.


"Oh, Hi Crystal. Can I help you with something?" he wondered.


I quickly shook my head.


He laughed. "Is everything okay?, you look a little blue."

I forced a smile and then nodded.


How could I even begin to talk about something as serious as this? I needed so badly to know if it was true, if he really was my father but I didn't know how to go about the conversation. Maybe he'd think I was crazy and would laugh at me or maybe he'd demand I leave his classroom immediately. I didn't know what the outcome was going to be or if it really was just a huge coincidence that we apparently have the same last name but I was sure going to find out.


He sighed. "You want to ask me something, don't you?"


I nodded. "Yes."


"Okay. Go on and ask."


I let out a breath. "I found this book yesterday and it had my name it. This is going to sound really crazy but your name was there too."


He looked confused and I could tell he wasn't catching on to what I was saying. I decided to just come straight out with it and get it over with.


"I think you are my father." I muttered.


I watched as his expression suddenly shifted. He stood up from his desk and made his way over to the door. After he locked it, he made his way back over to where I was.


"I'm sorry you had to find out by the book."


I was confused. "Wait, so you already knew?"


He hesitated before nodding. "Yes."


I couldn't believe it. He knew all this time that I was his daughter and he didn't say anything. I couldn't help but wonder what else he was hiding and just by the way he was looking I could tell that there was more. This was only the beginning.


"I'm the reason you're here." he said.


"What do you mean?"


"I wanted you and Emily here with me so that I could protect you."


I was yet again confused. "Protect us from what?"


He took in a deep breath. "You don't understand Crystal. She's looking for the both of you and once she finds out that you're at Midnight Heights, she will come for you."


I could practically see the terror in his eyes as he said "she". I was still very confused at this point. Who was he talking about? Leona? Was it someone else? I wasn't sure if knowing all this information was a good idea but I was still not going to just sit back and watch horrible things start to happen to innocent people. This was beginning to get serious.


"Who's she?" I wondered.


He sighed. "Emily's mother."


I didn't even know what to say. Apparently Emily and I didn't even have the same mothers, something I was not aware of until now. So according to Mr. Roman, Emily's mother was coming after us and she wasn't exactly "good."


"What is she like a vampire or something?"


He shook his head. "No, she’s a dark angel, our enemy."


"So if she's our enemy, why were you with her?" I wondered.


"She deceived me and only used me for her own purposes. At the time I was young like you and I wasn't aware of her real intentions." he explained.


I took a breath. "Why are you telling me this?"


"You and Emily need to be careful. You guys aren't aware of how to use your powers yet and that's why Victoria is planning on coming to Midnight Heights to use you. You have to watch Emily because she has dark magic as well, she could easily turn on you if her mother got a hold of her." he told me.


Hearing the fact that Emily could turn on me at any minute began to worry me. She was my sister and my best friend; I couldn't stand to have her as my enemy too. Now she was apparently half good angel, half bad angel? I just couldn't wrap my head around it.


I folded my arms. "What are we supposed to do?"


"I want just you and Emily to meet me in the study room at midnight, okay?"


"What about Allie? There's no way I'm leaving her alone." I said.


He nodded. "Okay then, bring her as well."

An angel of light

I walked out of Mr. Roman's class room and into the hallway. I saw Emily and Allie talking to Anthony and realized Leona let him go after all. I was very surprised to see that she did that but also very happy.


I smiled. "Hey, I'm glad to see that you're okay."


"And you as well. Did every thing go okay in there with you?" he said, gesturing towards the class room.


My eyes narrowed. "Wait, you know what I talked to him about don't you?"


He smiled. "Yes, I could hear you guys. I know how to use my powers, you know."


I shook my head. "So you were eavesdropping?"


"Sure, if that's what you want to call it. I like to listen in on you from time to time." he grinned.


Wow. He was just standing here the whole time listening to everything we were talking about. Apparently one of his powers was super hearing or whatever and I didn't like it at all. Did he always listen in on my conversations and the things that I said?


I scowled. "Just don't do that again. It's a huge violation of my privacy."


"Sure thing."


I folded my arms. "What have you been hearing exactly?" I wondered.


He took a breath. "Well, let's just say you're secrets are safe with Me." he said, before walking away.


I couldn't believe this guy.


Emily smiled. "I think he likes you." she practically sung.


I rolled my eyes. "He does not."


"Oh come on, the guy has been dreaming about you for Pete’s sake." Allie chimed in.


"That's completely different." I told her.


She rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say."


Emily, Allie and I quickly headed into our room. I was about to explain to them what Mr. Roman had told me today. It was important that Emily knew the truth about herself and her mother.


I took a breath. "So, I know this is going to be super confusing but apparently Mr. Roman is our father."


Emily laughed. "What? I mean, I love the guy and every thing but you can't seriously believe that our teacher is our dad."


I nodded. "Well it's the truth Emily; it even says so in the book."


"She's right." Allie said.


Emily looked just as confused as I was at first and I didn't even get to the bad part yet. I had no idea how I was supposed to explain to her that there was evil somewhere within her and that it came from her evil mother. She would really think that I was crazy then. Despite not wanting to tell her, I knew that I had to.


"Roman told me that some one's coming after you and me, some one like your mother." I explained.


Her eye brow rose. "So that makes her your mother too."


I shook my head. "Not exactly."


I didn't know how to carry on with the conversation and I wasn't sure if I could. This was all very confusing and really hard to talk about. I looked at Allie who seemed to know where I was going with this.


She sighed. "What your sister is trying to say is that your mother is a dark angel and she's coming after the both of you for you powers. I read it myself in the book."


"So, what are you saying that I'm evil too?" Emily asked.


"Not fully." I chimed in. "But it's important that you don't bring out that side of you."


Emily took a deep breath. I could see that she was trying to process all of this, but it wasn't exactly the easiest thing to do. I mean, not everyday you hear that you're a dark angel and you're mother is one as well. Even though this was going to be hard for all of us to deal with it, I knew that we had to handle it in the best way we can. If Victoria was planning on tracking us down and actually succeeded in doing so, we were going to have to be focused.


I took a breath. "Roman wants to see all of us in the study room at midnight. I think there's something really important he needs to talk to us about." I told them.


They swiftly nodded. I had no idea what was going to come out of us talking to Mr. Roman tonight but I knew that whatever it was, it was going to be just as serious as every thing else we've learned so far. I didn't expect to come to this place, Midnight Heights, and learn about all these magical things. Just two weeks ago you couldn't even convince me that Santa Claus was real, let alone dark angels and magical beings. Now I was supposed to be a magical being? An angel of light specifically. None of this made sense and I wasn't sure if it ever will.

There's a Reason

We walked into the study room, making sure we were being as quiet as possible. The last thing we needed was Leona catching on to us. It was as cold as ice inside, making all of us shiver as we entered. We quietly walked to the back of the room where we found Mr. Roman sitting at a round and wooden table, behind one of the book shelves. I noticed him reading a book, one that looked just like the one I found in the cellar room. I quickly took a seat next to him and Allie and Emily did the same.


"Allison, you're not in the book." He said as he lifted up his head.


Allie looked just as confused as the rest of us.


"What do you mean?" She wondered.


He shrugged. "I'm saying everyone from Midnight Heights is in here, except for you." he informed.


I was really confused. Why wasn't Allie in the book? She was here at Midnight Heights just like the rest of us, so shouldn't she be in there too?


"So what does that mean?" Allie asked.


"It means you are a mortal." a voice from behind us said.


We all turned to see Narc walking towards us holding a book of his own in his hands. I was beginning to think that there were many of these books around the school. None of us had no clue Narc was there and clearly he had been listening to us the whole time. He stood at the edge of the table and carefully sat his book down.


He continued. "We have never had a mortal here at Midnight Heights and now that we do, I'm not sure what this means."


"Do you think she's here for a reason?" My dad, I mean, Roman asked.


He smiled. "We are all here for a reason Paul, even I myself."


I knew that he was right, that we were all here for a reason. It couldn't have been a coincidence that Emily and I were brought to this school. There was a reason for everything, just like there was a reason Allie was the only mortal at this school. We just needed to figure out what it was.


"Why'd you ask us here?" Emily wondered. She wanted answers just as much as I did.


He let out a breath. "I'm pretty sure you heard about your mother, Emily, and I'm very sorry about that. I wanted to protect you guys and that's why I gave you away. Victoria said that she would find you and use your powers for her own gain, I couldn't let her use you the way she has used me." He explained.


I sighed. "We understand and we're very grateful that you did that for us."


It was true. The thought of me not having my mom and dad in my life, my adopted ones, is like not having air to breath. Even though sometimes I get a little annoyed with them, they're still my parents and they've always loved me and Emily. It would have been great to have known Roman before coming to Midnight Heights, but he was right, we would have been in great danger if he chose to keep us, so he did the right thing.


I cleared my throat. "May I ask you something?"


He nodded.


"What about my mother, Annabelle? What happened to her?" I was trying to brace myself for what was coming next. I didn't know if he would say that she was dead, or had been killed or left when I was a baby. It could have been anything.


He didn't answer right away. Instead, he just smiled. I could tell that he loved her very much and he probably still did. Just by the way he smiled I knew she couldn't have been too bad.


"Annabelle was brave and kind and passionate. In fact, she kind of reminds me of you in some way." he told me.


There was no way I was all of those things, but I was so far gone in hearing about my mother that I didn't even worry about objecting to anything.


He carried on. "She told me she loved me for the very last time one night, and that was the last time I've ever seen her. I've tried looking everywhere for her after that but I just couldn't seem to find her. My world just got smaller and smaller after that."


I could see the pain he had in his eyes when he talked about her and I knew that it was probably a bad idea bringing her up. I just couldn't help it. I wanted to know more about her but now wasn't the right time and I wasn't sure when it will ever be. A loud bang came from the other side of the room and we all turned around to see the door of the study room open and Leona standing with two of her men by her side.


She smiled her evil smile at us and shook her head in disappointment. "Isn't this a nice little family reunion?" She laughed.


Mr. Roman walked in front of us and extended his hand towards Leona, warning her to stay away. "It was my idea to be in here, don't punish the girls."


She laughed once again. "Punish? Who said anything about a punishment? In fact, these girls are exactly where I need them to be."


We all exchanged glances and then focused our attention back on Leona. I could barely hear anything over the sound of all our hearts beating out of our chests. She was definitely up to something and whatever it was, it was obviously not going to be good.


"I have quite the surprise for all of you." she said, grinning so big that all her teeth showed.


She tossed her hair back and looked over her shoulder. We all looked in the same direction. The sound of high heels clacked against the floor and a woman appeared at Leona's side, having the same devilish smile as Leona. Her hair was a dark brown color and hung just at the nape of her neck.


She looked at us and it was as if she was staring straight through to our souls. Her eyes were dark and cold, looking as though she had little life, but the expression on her face was as if her life had just begun.


She smiled. "Wow, it's so nice to finally meet my girls."

Victoria

We all knew exactly who she was and we were all extremely terrified, especially Emily. She had found us, the both of us and who knew what she was going to do now. Roman said she wanted to use our powers for her own personal gain but I wasn't even sure how to use my powers or if I really even had any. All I knew was that there was no way I was going to let her take anything from us.


She started to come closer to us and Roman pulled us even closer to him.


"Stand back Victoria." He warned.


She chuckled to herself. "How are you, my Paul?"


"Worse now that you're here." He replied.


She laughed. "You don't mean that. I'm only here to take what's rightfully mine."


I couldn't believe her. She talked about us as if we were an article of clothing of some sort. It's our powers and she some how think that they belong to her? She was clearly insane. I wasn't even her daughter.


"I won't let you take anything." He huffed.


She rolled her eyes. "One of them is my daughter Paul, or did you forget that? If you won't give me what I want, I'll just have to take matters into my own hands." she threatened.


I knew that this wasn't going to end well when she said that. Roman wasn't going to let her anywhere near us so she'd have to deal with this the hard way.


"Fine then." She muttered.


She lifted her hands up in the air in an instant and the room began to spin wildly. Black feathery wings grew at both sides of her back and her eyes turned to black little stones. She waved a hand and Roman suddenly went flying to the other side of the room, slamming into one of the book shelves. She glanced back at us and waved another hand sending Allie and Narc flying to the opposite side of the room.


Emily and I began to seriously panic. I looked to Allie, Narc and then to Roman to see if they were okay. They seemed to still be alive but were in a great deal of pain. Victoria started to walk towards us, her dark eyes locked on mine. I wanted to grab Emily and run as fast as I could, but I knew that wouldn't have worked. Victoria was fast, extremely fast, and no matter where we ran, she was going to catch us.


She was now inches away from Emily and me, smiling with that devilish grin of hers. I grabbed on to Emily's hand and slightly pushed her behind me. If Victoria thought she was going to take our powers, she was going to have to go through me first.


"You can't have our powers." I said. I could feel Emily's hand trembling in mine, and I knew that one of us had to be brave, so why not me?


"Is that so? Well, I'm very sorry Crystal but I never asked for your permission."


I tried hard to breath, but with each breath, it got harder and harder. "What do you need ours for? You seem like you're powerful enough without it."


"Yes, I am. That's exactly what this is about Crystal. Power. I have the power to do whatever I want, and I want your powers." She laughed as if she'd said something funny. But none of it was funny to me.


I could feel the blood boiling through my veins and my free hand forming into a fist. I was getting angry? Me, Crystal. It was a new feeling for me, but it was well needed at a time like this. There was no explaining what I wanted to do to Victoria's face.


"Well, I think you're pathetic." I spat. I regretted it the minute it came out of my mouth but it felt so good to say it.


Victoria's face formed into a scowl and I knew that now I was in trouble.


"Aren't you a feisty one? Just like your mother!" She lunged towards me at once, wrapping her hands fiercely around my neck.


I tried to pry her hands away, but she was strong, really strong. Her fingers dung into my skin and she stared at me with those evil eyes of hers. I tried to gasp for some air but was no use; I was getting more lightheaded by the minute.


"Stop, you're killing her!" I heard Emily say.


Victoria lifted me up, and I could no longer feel the floor beneath me. My Legs was dangling in the air, and I kept trying to pull Victoria's hands off of my neck.


This is it. I am going to die.

"Okay, I'll go with you! Just don't hurt her." Emily said, her voice filled with panic.


Victoria laughed and then released me at once, sending me straight to the ground. I hit the floor and landed on my back and I swear something had broken. I looked at Emily who was completely terrified and I couldn't help but wonder what Victoria was planning on doing next.


She glanced at me and smile. "I don't need you anymore Crystal, I have my own daughter to look after." She placed her hand on Emily's shoulder.


"Leave her alone!" I yelled, but it was too late.


They were gone. Just like that. One minute, Victoria and Emily were there and then the next minute they had just vanished. There was no trace of them anywhere. It was as if they were never even here.


"No!" I shouted, trying to lift myself from off the floor.


I looked to the study room door where Leona and her bodyguard men were, only to find that they weren't there anymore. I used my hands to lift myself up and slowly got up from the floor. My back felt as if there were nails in it and my bones felt like they were loose, extremely loose. I looked over to roman, who was now lying on the floor, and made my way over to him.


I touched his shoulder and he immediately looked at me. I could see that he felt awful, physically and emotionally. He wanted to protect us, both of us, and now Victoria has one of his daughters. Who knew what she was going to do next.


"Crystal, I'm so sorry." He told me.


I nodded. "It's not your fault."


I couldn't help but feel that it would be so easy to just blame somebody for what happened, but I couldn't. None of us is responsible for this, none of us but Victoria. She was even worse than Leona was, she tried to kill me right then and there.


"A little help here!" Narc called from the other side of the room.


I glanced over there and saw him hovering over Allie, who was lying still on the floor. I immediately made my way over to her, and Roman was right behind me. Allie's eyes were closed shut and the side of her head was bleeding.


"No, No, No." I repeated. There wasn't really anything else I could say.


"Is she okay?" Roman asked.


Narc looked at the two of us, and I knew exactly what was coming next. "There's no pulse."


I looked at both of them, and there was no hope in there eyes. In fact, there was no anything. Allie was dead and there was nothing we could do about it. I lost my sister and I lost the first real friend I've had in a while. I plopped down on the floor and took a breath. There was nothing any of us could do now. It was always easier for me to pretend like nothing really affected me as if I was this cold person who had no heart but little did I know that doing that only hurt me and that it would destroy me in the future. I wasn't prepared for anything like this to happen and I never thought that I would be here at this moment; hovering over a lifeless body, but here I was.


"You could save her." A voice from behind us said, a voice I would recognize from a mile away.


I turned to see Anthony making his way over to us. He kneeled down on the floor next to Allie's body and took my hands in his.


"You could heal her, Crystal. You have the power of touch, you could do this." He assured me.


I didn't understand what he meant, but the look in his eyes gave me hope that what he was saying was real. I wanted so badly to be able to save Allie and Emily, but I didn't know if I could. Anthony seemed to have believed in me, so maybe I should believe in myself. I looked at Roman.


He smiled. "He's right, you can do this."


"I'm not sure what to do." I told them.


"Here." Anthony grabbed my hands and placed them over Emily's body. "Close your eyes and concentrate. Find the power within."


I closed my eyes shut and tried to concentrate like Anthony said. I didn't know what I was doing, because all of this was new to me, but if I really had the power within like they said, I was going to try my hardest to save Allie. I took a breath and focused on my inner thoughts.


Breath. Breath. Just Breath, Allie. Come on, don't give up on me now.

Crossed the line

I opened my eyes to see my hands glowing, literally glowing! I smiled to myself. I was doing it, I was actually doing it. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate some more.


That's it, breath. Everything’s going to be okay.

Allie suddenly gasped for air, and her eyes swung open. She glanced at all of us, hovering over her like a mother bear hovering over her cubs. I can't even begin to explain how great I felt. I had saved Allie. She was alive and it was because I saved her.


"I knew you could do it." Anthony told me.


He was right, and it was mainly because of him. I couldn't do it without him. He gave me hope in believing that I could do this, and I actually did. Allie was alive and safe and that was more than I could ask her.


I reached towards her, giving her a hug that seemed to last forever.


I pulled back and looked at her.


She frowned. "Where's Emily?"


The thought of my sister alone with that witch started to make me feel sick. I had saved Allie and I felt good about that, but Emily was gone and I didn't know how to get her back.


"Victoria took her." Roman informed.


Allie looked just as sick as I felt. She shook her head. "Oh no, we have to get her back."


"We will." Roman said. He glanced over at me. "I promise."


I wanted to believe him, I really did. But to promise something like that is really hard. Who knows what was happening to Emily right now or where Victoria took her, but I knew that Somehow I had to trust what Roman said. I was used to breaking the rules and I was used to being the center of attention but all of that was going to change. I was going to find my sister and make Victoria pay for what she has done. Revenge wasn't really my thing, but Victoria putting my sister and friends’ life in danger was a line that should never be crossed.


"What do we do now?" Allie wondered.


"We focus on finding Emily, and we let no one, I mean no one get in our way." Anthony said.


And I couldn't agree more.


Hey Guys, I hope you enjoyed reading my book! The Second book of this will be up soon (Dark Of Light) so be sure to look out for it :) And if you would like me to notify you when it is up, just comment and say so! Special thanks to everyone who took the time out to read my book! You're the best. No, Really ;)

xo, Jace

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Texte: © 2011-2012 All rights reserved.
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 09.01.2012

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