2 Chapter Two: A New City

The sound of beeping woke Jade from her fitful dreams. Snapping her eyes open, she squinted at the bright light of the outside world. She looked over at her alarm. It read 6:00 in big, red, digital numbers.

'It'd still be dark back home.'

She yawned and snuggled further into her blankets. Jade and her father had arrived in the city a little after noon, but they had spent the day and most of the night unpacking the moving trucks. Around three A.M. Jade had gratefully sank into her bed, in her new room. She had spent an additional hour awake, her mind making her believe things were there that weren't really. She had finally sunk into a fitful sleep but was woken way too soon.

Grudgingly, her arm snaked out from under her covers and hit the snooze on her alarm. In the short amount of time it was uncovered, her arm acquired goosebumps. As much as her father refused to put his truck's A.C. on, the house was a whole nother story.

Jade was just melting into sleep when she heard two sharp knocks on her door. The door opened, her father walking in, smiling brightly.

"Rise and Shine, Sunshine!" He called out, walking over to her window and opening it. Hot air rushed in, replacing the goosebumps with nearly instant sweat.

Jade groaned and sunk further into her blankets.

"Come on. Up and at 'em, Jade!" He said.

His footsteps approached her bed, and he grabbed ahold of her blankets, whipping them back.

"Dad!" She yelled, reaching for her blankets again.

"Ah ah. Time to get up and start the day. Breakfast is ready downstairs." He said, not moving away.

"Okay. Okay. I'll be down in ten." She grumbled, sitting up.

Her father smiled and left the room, leaving the door wide open.

'It's six fucking o'clock, how the hell does he have so much energy?'

With a huge sigh, she let her annoyance go, making room for a stronger emotion. Sadness.

All around her, her entire life was packed away in boxes. Her clothes, decorations, pictures, everything. The sadness clung to her arms and legs, making it hard for her to move. She never wanted to move. She liked New Jersey. It wasn't just a place, with people and a school. It was her place, her people, her school. Here, in Gun City, it may look pretty, but none of it was hers. She owned no memories of the place, she wasn't a part of it. She wasn't a part of anything, anymore.

With another heavy sigh, she picked herself off the bed, and began searching for a box labeled 'clothes'. It was Sunday, so she could wear whatever she wanted, no dress code or restrictions today.

She checked four boxes before she found her clothes, and by then, annoyance once again began to eat away at her.

'I have to organize this today.'

With that thought, she closed her door, stepped out of her window's line of sight, and undressed, throwing her short pajamas onto her unmade bed. In normal circumstances, she'd had made her bed and folded her clothes, but today was not normal.

After changing clothes, she shook her hair out, the long auburn locks, although a tangled mess, fell around her and settled.

She looked around for her full-length mirror and found it laying against the wall by the door. She set it upright and stared at her reflection. She didn't see herself as anything special, long auburn hair, light tan skin, green eyes, a small, skinny frame, and thin lips. She wouldn't call herself ugly, but she certainly wouldn't earn any Miss. America sashes. And she didn't want to. All she wanted was to survive high school, graduate, and get as far away from her current life as possible.

'Simple...I hope.'

She smoothed out her military green crop top and super short jean shorts, and left her room, taking a left and heading down the flight of stairs, directly into the kitchen.

"Good morning My Sweet Jaderyn!" Her father called out, heading to the table with his hands loaded with plates. On his way by her, he kissed the top of her head.

"Morning Dad." She replied, grabbing the two plates and following her father to the small round table they called their dining table.

Taking a look around, the down stairs was similar to her room, boxes everywhere with the room itself looking bare.

"What's on the agenda today?" Her father asked her as she sat down.

"Just unpacking." She replied, taking a bite of the golden scrambled eggs sitting on her plate.

"That's good. I was going to head down to the police station at noon. Care to join me?" He asked.

Although it was a question, Jade read into it deeper. He was telling her to come along, so she'd know where he was. Where their safe spot would be, in case of an emergency.

For years, Jade and her father always had a safe spot, incase their home or motel room was overrun by the enemy (aka, the Demons.) It was a place they would meet, a place where they would be safe.

"Sure." Jade replied, even though she really wasn't up to it.

One thing you did not want to do, was argue with Smith Parke. Yeah, he was her father, but he was also the greatest Demon Hunter to ever walk the earth. He could seriously be intimidating.