Rana stared at the spot that Fei had just occupied mere moments ago. The whole meeting seemed like some sort of weird dream. But what was weirder was the squishy mud that was now coating her black boots. Rana's mind ran at a million miles per hour as she tried to comprehend what had just happened in the brief encounter and logically sift through it.

"Rana!" A relieved voice broke through her thoughts. She turned around and her face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Zac!" She called out in excitement before barrelling straight towards him. She flung herself into his arms and deeply inhaled his scent.

A cough from behind them caught Rana's attention as they awkwardly broke apart. The girl put a brilliant smile on but Rana could see the jealousy in her eyes.

"So you're Rana." She said after a moment. "I'm Vanessa."

"Nice to meet you." Rana replied warily.

Vanessa stared at Rana for a few more moments before turning her gaze on Zac, her face instantly became 'seductive' as she laid a hand on his arm.

"Anything else you need handsome?" She purred, red hair flowing around her face as a soft breeze blew by.

Zac smirked at her, glancing at her lips.

"How about you meet me after school and we can have some fun, gorgeous." He replied, his voice dropping an octave as Vanessa flushed a soft pink.

Rana stifled a laugh as Vanessa gave Zac a chaste kiss on the cheek before leaving.

"You're such a heartbreaker." She teased as Zac grinned.

"Takes one to know one." He joked as Rana whacked his arm. His smile melted and a worried look overcame his features. Rana could feel her stomach sinking.

"Why did you really come back Zac?"

"Can't I just be here to see my little sister?" Zac said innocently.

"Nice try. Now spill."

He sighed and stared at the ground, as if unsure of how to word his thoughts.

"Something happened while I was out of town."

"Did you knock someone up?" Rana guessed.

"What? No!" Zac cried out indignantly.

"Then what's wrong?"

Zac bit his rosy lips and ran a hand through his already messy hair. He tugged on the hem of his white undershirt before sticking a hand in his leather jacket pocket.

"You know that feeling you get when something-" He began.

"Cut the cryptic crap and get straight to the point." Rana cut him off as she bore a hole into his face with her specialised death glared reserved only for her three brothers.

"Alright, fine!" Zac pulled out a tiny scrap of paper from his pocket and handed it to Rana, who took it gingerly as if it would turn to dust in her hands. "Last week this thing appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the night. I don't know what it means or what it says. I was hoping you could translate it."

She read over the few lines of text but despite knowing almost eight languages, not one of them helped her at this moment. She shook her head and handed it back to her brother.

"Nope. I have no clue what this says."

Zac sighed in resignation.

"Thanks sis, I-"

He suddenly stopped and became as still as a statue. He was so still Rana thought he had actually turned into one.

"What-"

In a split second, all hell broke loose.

"Get down!"

Zac tackled Rana to the slippery earth and covered her whole body with his. As Rana looked through his shaggy hair, her eyes widened as she took in the bolts of darkness headed straight to them. Her mind ran at a million kilometres as she tried to come up with a logical explanation but her body froze in fear and she watched as those thing were about to smash into her and Zac. They were less than a metre away when they collided with some sort of barrier that sent green and black sparks flying away from the two of them. The dark strikes continued for almost ten minutes until they finally subsided and Zac looked up from Rana's bushy hair.

"What the hell was that?" Rana asked as Zac dusted himself off, offering a hand to Rana who gladly accepted.

"I don't know, but-"

"Rana! Rana!" A quiet voice called out from the distance. A quiet voice Rana recognised.

"Fei? Fei! Over here!" Rana called out, waving her arms as a streak of pink came from the back of the garden. She ran up to Rana, almost knocking her over (again), completely out of breath.

"No, Rana don't-" Zac protested as Fei gripped Rana tightly.

"Are you Alright? What happened?"

"I do not know! Big, dark strange in sky! I come find you.... I worry about you." Fei blushed slightly as Rana blushed too.

"Hey!" Zac yelled, getting their attention. "Now is not the time! We have to move. Both of you inside."

As they headed to the doors, they flew open on their own revealing the most unlike pair to every be spotted in public.

"Hey, are you guys alright?" Iris called out as she ran up to their small group, Amber begrudgingly following her.

"Yeah, we're alright. What about-" Rana began before being cut off by a loud shriek.

"MY SHOES!!"

Amber was staring at her shoes, their soles now caked in mud.

"Calm down, it's not like you broke your neck." Iris waved her hand dismissively.

"These shoes cost more than you could ever dream of." Amber retorted, her face turning red with fury.

"Too bad they couldn't buy you a personality to match." Rana snapped back at the blonde.

"Why you little-" Amber lunged at Rana, her acrylic nails poised to scratch Rana in the face. Before her nails reached their target, Zac flying tackled Amber, knocking the two of them down. He straddled her hips and held down her arms as she thrashed around.

"Easy there tiger." He tried to say as Amber took a swipe at his face, barely missing his cheek.

"Don't tell me what to do!" She spat.

"Look, we need to get out of here before those things come back." Rana finally interrupted, shocking everyone into silence.

"What were those things?" Fei whispered as Iris gently pulled Zac off of Amber and helped her stand up.

"I don't know, but I agree with Rana. We need to take cover before it comes back." Iris said. She marched back towards the door and went inside, everyone trailing behind her.

Zac lagged behind to catch up with Rana, eyeing Fei who was latched onto Rana's arm. Rana noticed and nudged Fei forward. Fei looked back uncertaintly.

"I'll catch up in a second." Rana reassured her. Fei nodded and immediately stuck to Iris' side. Iris just sighed and kept walking.

"Ok, what is it?" She asked him bluntly.

"Why do you assume that I want to talk?" Zac replied evasively.

"Cause I know you so cut the crap."

Zac sighed as he glanced between the three girls in front of him and his little sister next to him.

"I- I'll tell you later. When it's safer."

Before Rana could protest, he ran ahead to the others, leaving her behind.