Do you trust me? More likely than not your answer is no. you haven't got a clue who I am, where I came from or what I want. If you know what's good from you, you'll leave this where you found it. If you're still reading this, they already know who you are. Don't lie to them. Don't try to. They will probably kill you.

If you trust me... well, you've gotten this far already. You're brave. Perhaps that'll kill you, if they don't get you first. This is your last chance. Get away while you can.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

*******

The forest canopy went from grey to black as the evening sun slipped behind the foliage. The rustling of wind through the brush, and the occasional call of a night owl echoed in the background, the song of twilight.

Suddenly, a twig snapped. The branches and bushes heaved to the side as a figure dressed in janitors clothes tore through the underbrush. His gait was hindered as the branches caught on his clothes, but he carried on, heedless of the rips and tears.

In his arms he carried a disheveled boy, who appeared to be unconscious, and looked the worst for wear. His pale face was streaked with dirt, and his clothes were in tatters.

The man finally stumbled out of the woods and into a spacious clearing, exhausted. An enormous stone structure that dominated the area loomed ahead, looking dim and threatening in the dusk light. He paused for a breath before quickly making his way towards it.

********

The world was a mixture of liquid darkness and chaos. A sheet of shadows weighed down on my shoulders, the material sliding like liquid through my fingers. Behind it I could see flickers of light and movement of the outside, but every time I tried to remove the suffocating blanket it slipped through my hands and enveloped me tighter.

It felt like a dream that should've ended ages ago, but persisted effortlessly against my wishes, always evading my conscious with a fluency that shocked my mind into submission.

For eternity this carried on; this never-ending cycle of nothing. And then I heard it.

Ryan.

I flinched from the sound.

Ryan?

The noise hurt my ears, like an incessant ringing.

Ryan Everforst are you there? Please answer me...

The world around me grew fainter as darkness took over.

*********

Flinching awkwardly, I was jarred unexpectedly from my sleep. Something was prodding my side with unnerving accuracy, thudding against my rib cage again and again.

"Hey quit it already!" I growled, ripping off the covers so I could glare at my attacker. A smug looking teen in silver robes and rather unflattering baggy pants and combat boots holding a long pole in his right hand leered back at me.

"Look who decided to wake up!" he sneered, raising the pole vertically and brushing off the tip as if my jabbing my stomach had damaged or soiled it somehow. "I was kind of hoping you'd never wake up. It gets kinda crowded around here. But who knows?" he shrugged, tapping a finger against his pole, "Maybe there's still a... chance you won't make it." He waltzed out of the room cheerfully, swinging the pole over his shoulder and whistling. On his way out, he made sure to shut the door loudly.

"Hmm, I don't think he likes me very much," I said aloud, half expecting someone to answer. The dark room was silent. I frowned, feeling strangely lonely, and began to inspect my surroundings.

The old, sagging cot I lay on had been dragged to the middle of an unpleasant and dismal storage closet. Rotted and decaying boxes were heaped up in corners, and things like books, wood pieces, old pizza boxes and abandoned clothes lay scattered about

A single, grime covered window on the wall was the only source of light, and even that was scarce. I was led to the conclusion that no one came in here much. The room was of no importance to whomever this place belonged to.

"So what does that make me?" I murmured. Come to think of it, who was me... er, I?

You are Ryan Everfrost, snipped a voice in my head, duh.

So I had a name. But what did that help? I realized with astonishment I had no recollection of anything else but that name. My entire life had started now!

This shocking insight should have marred the very depths of my soul, should have brought forth a feeling of absolute insignificance and despair.

But all i felt was hungry.

Stretching, I emerged from my bed. First I tried the door. Unsurprisingly it was locked. I didn't knock or try and get out; judging by the attitude of my previous visitor I wasn't exactly welcome here.

Wandering the rest of the room I found nothing remotely edible. The pizza boxes were empty with the exception of a few white mice that scampered out, squeaking angrily. I examined the contents of a few of the rotting boxes, searching merely out of boredom. Most of them were full of old junk and auto pieces that didn't interest me. I was about to abandon my search after the fifth box when something caught my eye. Peering back in, I noticed something was sparkling at the bottom, wedged beneath a can of oil and a box of melted gummy worms. Peeling off the sticky candy, I pulled out my prize.

What I had found was a little disappointing- a mirror. Bummed out, I was about to toss it back in when I noticed my reflection. Feeling hopeful that my mirror image might resurface memories of who I was, I took a closer look.

Shockingly brilliant turquoise eyes stared mournfully back at me, looking sad underneath a shadow of dark brownish-blondish hair that swept across his forehead in an arc. A small, wispy bright blonde streak of hair intertwined with the other brown hairs, like a wolf among sheep. The boy staring back had an oval face that was pale and gaunt, looking haunted in the bad light. An aristocratic nose with a small arch appeared to be his only good feature, sitting like royalty amidst its peasants.

He was me.

I frowned, and the teen inside the mirror frowned back at me, normal looking lips (thankfully) bending down thoughtfully. I ran a hand through my hair, wincing at the greasy sensation that the action brought along with it. I thought I saw something shift behind my back, and I glanced over my shoulder. The room was the same in every boring way.

Satisfied I chucked the mirror back into the box. Though it hadn't ignited some miraculous vision, seeing what I looked like had boosted my confidence, if only a little.

Now I inspected the rest of my body. There weren't any full-body mirrors to be found, so this was done firsthand.

I'd like to lie and say I was a buff football player with beefy arms and shoulders, a six pack that rippled with strength and legs that could outrun an ostrich. But I was to be a little disappointed in the muscle potential.

I wasn't very tall. That was my first letdown. The second was my average arms, average legs, average torso... I think that about sums it up. At least I wasn't fat. (Not to be blunt or anything...).

Apparently whoever owned the supply closet and whatever else connected to it did the

wardrobes because I was wearing a pale jacket and pants similar to those of the dude that had whacked me earlier. I decided to call him Pole Dude because... well I was a little out of it, and I'm not very intelligent sometimes.

The combat boots were a girly touch to an already unappealing set of clothes.

My robe, however, was black not grey, and reminded me a little of a jacket, and my baggy pants were less baggy, and thankfully not furry like Pole Dude's. Underneath the robes I wore a plain black T-shirt, the only normal attribute to my unstylish apparel.

"Well aren't I fancy," I snorted. It was cold, but I didn't really feel like wearing the cloak-jacket thingy. I took it off and tossed it onto the ground. My back suddenly felt... I dunno, lighter.

Sighing rather unnecessarily, I turned to my bed and belly-flopped, looking rather undignified as the awkward robes got twisted up in my landing. flipping over I lay on my back. The mattress prodded at my back and I wondered scornfully how I had slept on it before. As I tried to get comfortable by moving around, I felt something twitch beneath me.

Shreiking like a pansy, I stumbled out and whirled around, eyeing the cot suspiciously. The old bed didn't leap out at me or turn into a fire-breathing dragon about to bite my head off. No, this was a clever cot, waiting until I turned my back on it, and then it would strike.

This damp air must be getting to my head! I thought, shaking my head in bewilderment.

Or had I always been like this, before my memory was taken?

It didn't seem possible but the room felt quieter. Before... who was I before? I strained to think, but all I drew up was blanks. It's like my mind ran into a dead end everytime it tried to explore the caverns of my memories.

Wow. That was poetic, even for me.

I shook off the self-pity and turned my attention back to the bed. It didn't look very threatening, sitting there with its raggedy old blankets and wilting mattress. I took a step forward and studied the sheets, searching for signs of movement.

The bed remained motionless.

I inched forward, still a little bit unnerved, but determined to find out what had wiggled. Closer and closer...

I reached out hesitantly, and ripped off the sheets, backing away quickly and covering my face with my arms. I waited, expecting to be attacked at any second... and again nothing happened. My life was incredibly boring so far.

I peered out from behind my arms, disgusted yet relieved at the lack of blood-thirsty monsters yearning for the chance to rip out my throat. Wasn't I cool enough? Sheesh.

Okay, so something had definitely brushed up against my back, I was certain of that, so where was it now? Where was-

Cold realization sunk in. thinking quickly, I hurried over to the box that contained the mirror. Holding it in shaky hands, I held it up.

Something black fluttered on my back. I couldn't get a clear look at it in the position I was standing in, but this I knew for sure-something was on my back!

"AAUUUUUUGGGHH!!!" I screeched, clawing at my back and running around in pointless circles. I shook myself repeatedly trying to dislodge the creature.

I guess my constant screaming had been heard because I heard the sound of a key turning and a girl stormed in.

"What in the name of all that is holy, are you doing?!" She demanded, marching up in front of me and glaring down my face in a way that suggested violence.

"Uh," I said. My breath caught in my throat as I stared into her eyes. Sure they were threatening to kill me at the moment, but her bright blue captivating eyes looked so incredibly familiar... and beautiful. Her face was elfish and angled, and her bright red hair hung in messy curls behind her. To complete the look, two pointed ears poked out of the hair. She was rather cute despite her current anger.

"DID YOU NOT HEAR ME?!" she yelled, grabbing my cuff and bringing my face uncomfortably close to hers. Not that I minded, heh.

"Yes! I heard you! Loud and clear, seeing that you were screaming into my ears." I pulled away from her grip and backed away.

"Oh really?" she said menacingly, flicking her wrist. A knife appeared in the palm of her hand and I began to fear for my life. "I don't think I made myself quite clear." With inhuman speed that gave me no time to prepare, she darted forward, grabbing my arm and twisting it behind my back and pressing the knife up against my throat. Leaning in close she began to whisper in my ear.

"Because of your unholy screeching I failed a test I should've passed. Do you want to know how I feel about that?"she didn't sound very happy.

"Um this is just a guess... but I assume you aren't very happy with me." I tried.

"Not very happy?" she seethed. "I hold a dagger to your throat and that's how you reply?" it wasn't a rhetorical question.

"Um, yes?" I tried again. She gave me a strange look, and drew back, sheathing the dagger in a pouch on her belt.

"What are you doing in here anyway? Is'nt this room supposed to be reserved for the-" she stopped suddenly, and began blinking. Her jaw dropped in surprise and she stared at me in shock.

I kept absolutely still as she ran her searching blue eyes over me. They seemed to soften, and despite that I grew even more worried. After a long period of time during which she did nothing but stare at me, she spoke.

"You're the boy they found in the woods last night, aren't you?" she said softly, "Ryan Everfrost?" I nodded, unsure of how to respond.

"Yeah, I'm Ryan... but... I don't know what "woods" your talking about." She frowned. I then remembered that there was something on my back and flinched.

"Hey, Do you want to do me a huge favor?" I grimaced, wiggling around undignified, "the reason I screamed? Well, there's something alive on my back and I would be extremely grateful if you removed it." The girl's scowling face changed dramatically. She snickered, walking around to my back, in a way that suggested she wasn't scared at all, and seemed delighted to see my fear. I couldn't tell whether or not she had spotted whatever was on my back, and I felt nothing move. If whatever it was was still hanging on to my back, it sure had soft hands.

"Do... do you see anything?" I asked hesitantly.

"Well... yeah, I do." She said sounded a little unsettled.

"What?" I couldn't handle the suspense, "what is it? Spiders? Tell me already!"

She came out from behind me and studied me carefully.

"Besides the huge, matted black wings, I can't see anything on your back." She said, causing quite a bit of confusion on my part.

"Uh. Wings. What?" I said. I reached my hand back hesitantly. Feathers brushed against my palm, and I shuddered in revulsion.

"That's not normal!"