It was just another boring day at an equally boring highschool. I sat at one of the thirty two desks that resided in this classroom, rolling my favorite (and lucky) mechanical pencil across its surface. Mr. Grende was entering another long and convoluted explanation about the Periodic Table and how its elements made up everything in the room. I, to be honest, wasn't really paying attention.

I sat between four people. Zira, my best friend, in front of me, Brianna Shiermand behind me, Adam Saron to the right of me, and Ron Westenburg to the left of me. Brianna and Adam were busy whispering to each other, Ron was doing who knows what, (maybe actually paying attention, I don't know. Like I said, I wasn't paying attention.) and our science teacher was still going on and on about the Table. 

Everything was right in the world...

Or so I thought.

My eyes lifted from the pencil rolling on my desk to the plain black and white clock that hung on the wall. 10 minutes till the last period of the day. I heard Mr. Grende talk about the different families and periods of the table, and I frowned. Maybe I should've payed attention...

But before you could say 'midnight', a loud BOOM! was heard outside of the school building. The glass of the windows came flying from the frames, spraying the gathered students. In what was a few minutes before a silent classroom, screams filled the air. I, while afraid, was not one of the few that screamed.

In fact, Zira and I were the first to investigate what had caused the shattered glass. We both scrambled towards the window, trying to avoid stepping on pieces of the window. I leaned out, staring at the ground (which was a good 15 feet below us. We were stationed on the second floor.) while trying to see if anything down there had caused it. I squinted my eyes, spotting two figures, seemingly humans, who were engaging in a fist fight. But they weren't ordinary.

I could make out balls of fire flying in every direction. It seemed like the two figures were the source... but how? 

Eventually the others in my classroom streamed towards the window, all eager to look out the frame as I was. They too wanted to see what was going on, but the window was only so big. There were murmurs of "What's going on?" and "Who are those people?" and "Are those.... fireballs?"

Screams once more filled the air and we ducked as two more fireballs passed through the frames of the window, one colliding with the teacher (who had failed to duck in time) and another just missing a student, and crashing into the smart board. When I returned my attention to the courtyard, at least fifteen others had gathered. Zira and I shared a look, and the two of us bolted out of the classroom and down the stairs.

We wanted to see what was going on up close. To be honest, probably not the best idea.

As we burst through the doors to the courtyard, everything stopped. Fifteen pairs of eyes turned, slowly, to stare. Directly. At. Us.

Now that we were closer, I  could see one had three pairs of angel-like wings and three fox tails. Another had skin covered in what appeared to be green scales, one had arms made of fire, and yet another had the tail, ears, and eyes of a cat. 

At once, they all advanced towards us. Zira screamed, and as soon as they moved into action, my reflexes kicked in. I was now quite thankful my dad had insisted on me undergoing daily afterschool survival and sparring activities. Normally, I would fight but... these weren't the run-of-the-mill people. They somehow.. mutated?

So, as any sensible person would do, I dodged a fireball that had been thrown at me, grabbed Zira's hand, and bolted down the sidewalk towards my house, hoping they wouldn't follow.

To our luck, they didn't.

"What were those things?!" Zira exclaimed, once we were sure we had reached safety. I stared into the distant, thinking.

"I have no idea.." I murmured. 

Zira turned around, looking back in the direction that the.... people? Creatures? Mutants? were at.  "Whatever they are, they should be gone now.." She whispered.

A young girl, about 12 from the looks of it, was wandering down the sidewalk, eyes darting about nervously. Upon spotting us, she picked up her pace until she was at running speed, heading into an alley.

Strange...

I turned to follow her, but Zira put a hand on my shoulder, stopping me. "I wouldn't. What if it was just to lure you back to those fire-shooting nutheads?" That was one of Zira's favorite phrases. 

I sighed. "Fair point. Let's just head back to our houses for now, wait until this all blows over. Meet you in the Courtyard in two days?" I asked. The Courtyard was a hidden field of mossy cobblestone and grass, with a few trees offering shade. The two of us went there all the time to get away from the stress of school. 

Zira nodded. "Okay. Be safe, Kansas." 

"You too." I whispered, before taking off in the direction of my house.

~~~~

Apparently, we hadn't been that far away from my house. It took me about 6 minutes to reach it. However, when I saw the state it was in, my mouth dropped open in both shock and horror. 

The door was ajar, swinging from its hinges. Scorch marks covered the outside of my house, and several of the topiaries  were in flames. When I got inside, I stepped in something wet. I slowly looked down to see my shoe coated in...

Blood.

I continued through my house, horror spreading through me with every step I took. I heard a scream from upstairs, and I quickly ran up the staircase to investigate. 

When I reached my parent's room, I saw two figures bent over two lifeless bodies, a pool of blood surrounding them. The figures turned to face me, and I recognized the faces of people I never thought would betray me:

My best friends, Esmerelda Greenwood and Alice Farwyn. 

The fear, horror, and rage I felt within me rooted me to the ground. I could only stare into their pitch black eyes, all color gone from them. "I... I don't understand. Why would you do this?" I choked out, tears falling down my face. 

They spoke in unison. "Because they were humans. Useless, meaningless, humans. Just like you. We don't know why we were ever friends with you, Kansas." 

Their words stung, possibly as much as any wound. I fell to my knees, tears continuing to stream down my face as I cried over the loss of my parents, and the betrayal of those who felt like sisters to me. Soon, all that sadness, all that fear boiled into pure rage. I screamed and lunged towards Esmerelda and Alice, clawing at them with all my might. My vision became blurry, and either they grew, or I shrunk. I continued clawing at them until I realized two things: My hands..were now paws. And the people I was clawing at were now mere statues of ice.

I backed away. I wasn't myself anymore.. I looked back down at myself to see snow white fur covering my body, and I was walking on all fours. I had transformed into a wolf. And the ice.. I had done that too.

Scared of myself, of my once best friends, filled with sorrow for the death of my parents and rage for the betrayal of Alice and Esmer, I ran. As fast as I could. And as I ran out of my house and through the neighborhood, something new, something dark settled within me. It wasn't fear, sorrow, or anger. It was something else.

Forget the meeting with Zira. For all I knew, she'd betray me too. I will make them pay... everyone who had helped make this day as it was, who had turned us... turned me.. into a monster.

They will all pay.

I will get my revenge.