Chapter One

*beep beep* *beep beep* 

My alarm rang. Who invented school again? I can't believe I have to go through this process every single day. I hit the alarm and turned over. Just five more minutes. "Arthur wake up, mommy's gonna get mad if you're late again." My eleven year old sister said pulling the blanket. "Go away Usagi," I groaned.

 "It's time to wake up Arty; do you want to run to school?" I could already imagine her putting her hands on her hips while rolling her eyes. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. When I opened them again, I was met with Usagi's ruby eyes. Her black hair was in pigtails, we looked nothing alike. Usagi's unique look was far superior to my blonde hair and emerald eyes. You'd never believe that we were siblings unless we told you.

"Well?" Usagi said raising her eyebrow. "Fine, now then, get out. I wanna get ready." I said getting out of bed. One look at the clock and I already knew I was going to be late. I had 30 minutes to take a shower, dress up and get to school. Though that wasn't so hard, being late to school was the last of my worries. What was on my mind though, was the strange dream. I still had the feeling that I was in a different world and a different person. Although I could never remember my dreams no matter how hard I tried, they were always out of reach. "What is this, an isekai?" I laughed. Who cares about a bunch of weird dreams? Being late to school, that could end with me having a date with Mr. Shinomiya in detention. I quickly prepared for school while blasting some much needed music. I slid down the stairs with my bag and headed to the kitchen.

"Arthur, you're late." My mother, Ense, said.

"Told you so." Usagi smirked. I rolled my eyes and grabbed an apple. "Sorry Mom. Anyway see you guys later." The cold hit me the moment I stepped out the door. Now that was strange. It was never cold in this small town. I felt a shiver run down my spine and I was suddenly aware of my surroundings. Someone was watching.

"Good morning Arthur." I jumped back in surprise before realizing it was just Mrs. Peacock. "Oh, good morning." I smiled back. I looked back at my watch. I had 10 minutes to get to class. Crap, now I'll definitely be late. 

I should have noticed it then, should have stayed home and told my family I loved them. After all, it was never cold in this small town. That was my last normal morning and the beginning of my much underappreciated life of suffering.

******

Life is crap. Everything in it is crap too. I realized this as I stood at the entrance of the school trying to catch my breath. Hey, why didn't the school bus come at different times? Couldn't they at least try to be considerate of those of us who come late? Hah, things got more craptastic from there.

"Mr. Hikari, this is the third time this week you are late." Ms. Yang glared.

"Yes I know- 

"No you don't know. Perhaps some time in detention will help you remember the school rules. Take your seat." I could hear the kids behind me snickering and a warm blush crept up my neck. I pulled my hood over my head and made my way to my seat. Jake aka 'world-class dirt face' tried to trip me by sticking his foot out. "Seriously dude? You need to come up with some new tricks." I said yawning while taking my seat. Jake gritted his teeth and sent a deadly glare my way.

"Careful Jake, you're making a really ugly facial expression right now." I laughed. Hey I wasn't the only one, people around were making really sorry attempts at hiding their laughter. "Hikari you little-

"Since you seem really eager, you should join Arthur in detention, Jake." Ms. Yang interrupted. Oh well, the more the merrier. I shrugged as the class quieted down. Jake looked back at me, "This isn't over, little freak."

 Those words didn't affect me the way they did at the beginning of the year. Maybe because it held some truth, I was a freak. Strange things usually happened when I was around. At this rate, I might as well join the circus. I bet I would be 'top dawg' in a matter of weeks. Unfortunately that dream was cut off short. I realized something was seriously wrong by lunchtime. The sky was covered in dark clouds and it was raining heavily. It never rained in Sunnyside.   I mean, the place was called Sunnyside for a reason and I had moved enough times to know that this rain wasn't normal. I was restless, I wanted to go home and check on my family just in case. Mom was on a holiday break and Usagi was homeschooled. Dad had an early meeting at work but he was probably home by now. "Hey Arthur, are you okay? You look kind of pale." A girl who sat next to me said. What was her name again? I didn't remember seeing her around. "Maybe you should go home for the day."

"That's not- actually yes, you're right. I'll go get a pass, thanks....."

"Remi. My name is Remi."She smiled. Remi was really pretty, like extremely pretty. She had longish red hair and big green eyes, the kind of face you wouldn't forget. Anyway I hadn't been at this school for long, it was impossible to know everyone. I excused myself from class and headed to the infirmary. Getting a pass was easy enough; the school never really cared about the particulars. I looked at the nurse, she looked young. I thanked her and ran out, the sense of dread was becoming more apparent. I had to go home. Detention could wait, my family came first. "Hey Hikari, where do you think you're running off to? We still have a lot to discuss after detention; I hope you're not planning on running away." Unfortunately (again) I knew the owner of that voice.

"Not now Jake, I'll ignore you some other time." I said opening the entrance door not bothering to look at him. "Wait-

I opened my umbrella and ran out. My heart became heavier with worry the closer I got home. I didn't know what I would find when I entered the house. I wanted to find my family sitting together telling funny stories. I would walk into the room and tell them about my meaningless worries and then we would all laugh about it. Mom would then scold me and send me right back to school. What I didn't realize was that I was seriously off the mark. The front door was left ajar and it was quiet, too quiet. I took a deep breath and walked in. "Mom, Dad! I'm home." No response. The TV was off. "Where are you guys?" I raised my voice. I heard something from upstairs, a vase must have dropped. I reached the stairs and spotted tiny drops of blood on the wooden floor. 

My eyes widened in fear and before I knew it I was running up the stairs. I didn't bother looking at anything else, I ran straight to the study room. When I saw my little sister cowering in fear in the corner, different emotions ran through me. She was trembling and holding her mouth. "Usagi relax, it's just me. Can you tell me what happened? Where are our parents?" I asked trying to remain calm. It was difficult to keep up the smile but I had to, for Usagi. Different scenarios went through my head about what could have gone down. Someone must have fallen. Yep, there's no way that blood could be from anywhere else. But Usagi's eyes said otherwise. "Ar…..Arthur." Usagi stammered trying to lift up her hand. I moved closer and knelt beside her. "What is it Usagi?" She wasn't looking at me; I finally turned and looked at what she was pointing at.

The sight was gruesome. I felt bile rise up in my throat. Mom's head was turned at 180 degrees and Dad's legs were missing. The entire bookshelf next to their bodies was covered in blood, so was the floor. No sound came out of my mouth but my legs gave out and I was on the floor. "No…..no way. There's no freaking way."I gasped. I immediately covered Usagi's eyes and pulled her to my chest. This must be a dream, that's right; it's all a terrible dream that I'm soon going to wake up from. Both of us didn't move an inch until we heard the footsteps, the footsteps that stopped at my parents corpses. I looked up to meet cold blue eyes. It was a boy who looked to be 16, a year older than me. No one spoke for a few seconds. "You did this. What are you, a psycho? No you must be, you're not gonna get away with this." I said standing up pulling Usagi with me. He didn't say anything, just continued staring. His appearance was definitely suspicious. He had jet black hair and pale skin, like he had never been in the sunlight. All my senses were telling me to runaway as fast as I could. "Arthur Hikari." He finally spoke. There was absolute hate in the way he said my name. I didn't even know the guy. "If you're some sort of serial killer, the police are on their way." I needed to get Usagi out of there and fast. My hands were still shaking and I felt like crying but I had to be strong for my little sister.

"Your death shall serve as the beginning of our salvation, member of the Seven." What the hell was this guy on about? Member of the Seven? Salvation? "You watch way too much TV, dude."

The next thing that happened was not something you saw every day. It was like the shadows in the room melted and merged into a scythe in his hands. He swung the scythe at us but we jumped out of the way just in time. Where we were standing was a burning hole through the wall. Things just got real. The guy was seriously trying to kill us. I didn't wait for another second; I grabbed Usagi and ran out of the room. The guy was taking his time, he didn't seem to think that we could escape.

The front door was closed. Didn't I leave it open? I tried opening it but it just wouldn't budge. "Come on, now is not the time door!" Some force was keeping it shut. The footsteps got nearer and then stopped when he reached the door to the living room. We could see each other and he was only a few feet away. The scythe changed form and turned into a huge ball of darkness. I knew exactly what would happen if that hit us. "Stay back." I said pulling Usagi behind me. He pointed the thing towards us. "I said STAY BACK!"I shouted shutting my eyes.

After a moment, I realized nothing happened. I opened my eyes only to find the guy on the floor, he would be up any second. I didn't know what happened but I saw it as an opportunity. The door was open. I pulled Usagi's arm but she stayed frozen.

"Mommy, Daddy…."

"Run Usagi, we need to get out here." She snapped out of it and gripped my hand tighter. We started to run only to fall face-first on the ground. My mind was in utter confusion. What just hit us? My ears felt blocked, everything was blurry. The last thing I remembered was a dark van appearing and a girl shouting out my name. That's weird, she reminded me of Remi. I never even got to thank her properly.