Lily sat in class, biting her bottom lip nervously. Friday afternoon was finally upon them, and there were only a few moments to go until class ended, and usually, she’d be extremely excited about this! It meant she could go back to the “Safehouse”, as the children’s home was known, change and pack her bag, then go spend the weekend with her older cousin, Morrigan. Lily loved spending time with the older female, having only found out she was her cousin a mere few months ago, but already having a strong, almost sisterly bond with her, due to them living together in the “Safehouse”. But now she’d moved out, Lily found herself growing lonely when not around Morrigan. She was the only person she really felt close to, after all. But tonight… She was afraid of school coming to an end. Some boys had found out about her sexuality, and were plotting to get her once the day had ended. The threat had been made clear that Lily would “regret being such a freak”, though she didn’t know where, or even when, this would occur. All she knew was that she had to run away, and quick. As the bell rang, Lily shoved her stuff into her backpack, pulled it onto her shoulders and ran from the classroom as fast as she dared to go, and out into the hallway, making haste for the main doors. “THERE SHE IS!” Lily’s eyes grew wide at the sound of one of the bullies, calling out for her as a few of his “gang” began to give chase to her, out of the school’s doors and into the streets. Lily’s thin form darted down the sidewalk as she tried to escape, rounding the corner and feeling herself trip, tumbling head over heels for a few yards. An arm grabbed her, dragging her into an alleyway… It was one of her attackers.. _____ By the time Lily was let go, she was in a dreadful mess. Her nose was bleed profusely, her glasses shattered and laying on the ground behind her, broken. Cuts covered her face and arms, mingling with bruises and tears, and a lot of mud. Limping into the streets, her torn clothes lay on her thin form, splattered with spots of her blood and dirt from the ground, the tiny female finding it almost impossible to bear weight on her left ankle. Her head was pounding, everything spinning… Pain... So much pain. She was sure she heard a voice… someone talking to her... With a whimper, Lily vomited and collapsed on the floor, too weak and frightened to stand anymore, and so dangerously close to passing out. The attack was awful and vicious, the tiny female unable to defend herself from her attackers, whom had wisely fled the scene before Lily was able to get herself into a standing position. God, she ached.

“Hey, if it doesn't scan does that mean it's free?” The blue shirt sporting teenager spewed out the overused 'joke' with a smirk from the other side of the counter, knowing full well that it wasn't how things worked. “Ooh no, Ashley. Don't even start.” Aaron warned her jokingly as he totaled his coworker's order. Employees weren't allowed to ring themselves out. The young man tugged on his own blue shirt and slid the candy across the counter at Ashley. “Just eat your stinkin' Snickers bar, I've got a register to run.” “For which customers? All zero of them?” Ashley asked, leaning over Aaron's counter. “Sure, say that now. Just wait until the after school crowd comes in, and I'll let you handle them on your own.” After some thought, he added, “And the Tuesday night tour buses.” “You forgot to say 'have a nice day'. I'm tellin' Shelly.” Ashley skipped away to her cash register, the only other one, just a few feet away. Aaron had recently gotten permission to leave classes one period early once a week so he could pick up some extra time at his job at Food 'n Stuff. It meant closing, but he preferred closing to opening any day. His manager, Shelly, was fond of cutting corners when the pay was concerned. Aaron was now working as an unofficial assistant manager with a cashier's wages. On the books, he was a cashier and yet there he stood, fingers drumming on the counter, the store's keys in his pocket and no manager in sight. Shelly took most nights off to play poker, but Aaron pretended not to know that. Yes ma’am, and Right away, he always said. Money was money, and unemployment was scary enough to keep him from complaining. Besides, anything to keep him away from the folks, with their cryptic sighs and disappointed looks out of the corner of their eyes. And the questions. Aaron had started absently fiddling with the box cutter in his pocket when he saw her. A kid stumbled into view just outside the glass doors, bruised and bloody. It looked like she was standing only by a thread, as if a cruel puppet master was forcing her upright and dragging her along with a single string. Aaron's eyes widened at the sight of her. For a moment his legs wouldn't budge, but then he was off in a flash, shouting at Ashley who was frozen in horror, “Stay there!” Aaron threw one of the glass doors open as the bells above him jingled. As he approached the girl, Aaron could now see the full extent of her injuries. He held a hand to his mouth and marveled that she was even standing at all. “Are you okay?” That was the first question on his mind. *Stupid question, stupid. She's clearly in a bad way, you idiot.* “Kid, what happened? We need to get you inside.” Just as he had begun to lead the poor girl, however, she threw up as her knees buckled. Aaron had barely managed to catch her head before it smacked onto the pavement. “Jesus!” He shouted, his voice cracking. Aaron scooped her up in his arms and with a thought, looked around, trying to see if whoever did this was still around. There was no one, however. He only heard the wind and a car in the distance. As he backed up through the front door still carrying the girl, he heard Ashley gasp behind him. He glared at her as he passed, not out of anger but to get his point across. “Stay out here. If anyone suspicious comes looking, you haven't seen anyone, got it?” Her bottom lip shook as she nodded, eyes glassing up already. Not good. If whoever did this did come back, they would see through poor Ashley instantly. In his haste, he forgot to tell her to call the police. Aaron jogged to the back of the store towards the employees only section. He entered the storeroom, choosing it because of its size compared to the tiny cluttered office and bathroom sized break room to the left. Aaron's eyes darted and his mind spun in circles as he tried to figure out what to do. After a moment that felt more like an hour, he put the kid down gently on the floor for now. Stepping over her, he ripped open one of the huge boxes full of pillows they had gotten off the truck the day before, made a makeshift bed out of them and transferred the girl on top of them. Without warning, a tap on his shoulder made Aaron jump like a scared rabbit. Ashley was directly behind him, holding out a pair of broken glasses wordlessly, eyes wide. Aaron took them gratefully, but not without remonstrating her. “I thought I said to stay up front. Go.” As she shuffled away, he started to open totes hurriedly, grabbing bandages and anything else he could find that would help.

The day really couldn't have gone better. Seriously. Rei couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped his lips as the bell signalled the end of the day. Friday was here, finally. Not that he had anything to look forward to. More time spent with his family or being forced to do his homework. He didn't care about school or doing well. Quite frankly he'd be happier if his parent's just left him alone and let him do what he wanted. At least he had swimming tomorrow which would be something of a break from the socialisation. That was one of the things he enjoyed. Oh, there was also Judo on the Sunday. Sometimes he just had a tendency to overlook the good in his life. Letting out a soft sigh he stopped what he was doing, which was doodling in his jotter. He was sure he'd been meant to write something down related to the subject (quite frankly he couldn't remember what class this was... English?). Drawing was so much more fun, of course, so that was what he did. Packing away his things he slowly stood and slung his bag over his shoulder. He was one of the last to leave the classroom but unlike many he wasn't in a rush to go home and begin the weekend. He currently had to decide whether to hang around and wait for his brother to finish practice, thus get a lift, or just walk home. He was probably going to go for the latter and take his sweet time with the walk. As he moved through the corridors he took his hoodie out of his bag, pulling it on and pushing up the hood. _"Does she even know how bad that looks?"_ _"She looks like a boy, ew."_ Rei's blue eyes glanced over at the group of girls who weren't even bothering to try and whisper. He wasn't exactly popular, generally lacking in the friend's department, but wasn't exactly disliked either. He was just there. Of course he was sure quite a few had realised that he went through periods of time when he dressed more feminine or masculine, or neither. "He or they, please," he said with a slight smirk, continuing quickly on his way past his now rather shocked looking classmates. It had felt good to say that, though he only hoped he didn't come to regret it. Nasty rumours would be undoubtedly circulated but he was sure he could take on any bullying that came his way. If it did. Hurrying out of the school Rei slowed his pace as he reached the streets, stuffing his hands into his pockets to make sure he had money. He might as well grab something to give him energy on the way home. He was going to need it to face his mother. He could already hear her voice, the constant nagging. Have you done your homework, Rei? Why don't you dress in something nicer, Rei? You have to wear a dress when we go to dinner at the Walker's on Sunday, Rei. It drove him up the wall! He tried not to let it get to him but it was hurtful when his parents refused to respect what he wanted or acknowledge that their child wasn't always the gender they wanted him to be. Shaking his head slightly Rei went around the corner, heading for the nearest store where he could buy something to eat - Food n' Stuff. As he entered he pushed back the strands of dark blue-purple hair that threatened to escape from his hood and covered his eyes. At first appearance his short height, at around 4'10", baggy clothing and rather flat figure made him look like a younger boy, possibly around twelve, rather than the fifteen year old girl he physically was. He didn't particularly mind the fact that he could pass as male, in fact he was quite comfortable with it, but if anyone treated him like he was younger than he actually was... well he would give them a piece of his mind. As he headed in he couldn't help but notice that the only cashier looked a bit... upset. Shrugging slightly to himself he headed over to the drinks section, picking out a Pepsi, before heading over to select an appropriate chocolate bar. As he did this Rei did notice that there was something of a tense atmosphere about the place but tried not to think about it too much. Maybe someone tried to steal something. That would explain why there was only one cashier - she was quite sure normally two people worked the tills. Quite truthfully she didn't care. She was just going buy her chocolate and get out her.

Tonight would be youth night at the church, just like every Friday. The thought had been running through Reyna's head since she woke up this morning. At one time she had loved these nights, a time where the adults were no where in sight for the most part of the night. Everyone played games, listened to music, and just had pure, wholesome fun. This safe haven had become a time of ridicule and embarrassment in the last year. Sure, most people still played games, and listened to music- but the chatter in between of gossip and crude remarks became a part of the schedule. Instead of rejoicing with the lack of adults in the room, Reyna encouraged adults to stay, so she had someone to talk to, to be protected by. She'd ask her parents to give the message earlier, and longer- just so she could get a moment where the whispers and remarks didn't reach her. Those requests rarely happened though. As the bell rang to signal the end of school, Reyna quickly got her stuff from her locker and rushed towards the front door. She knew the dangers of staying after school when you weren't in the top league. Her eyes gazed over at a group of girls teasing another person and she shook her head. It amazed her how the same group would be at youth night giving testimonies of how close they were to God, while in school they made it their duty to pick on anyone they didn't feel was good enough. It was sickening. Reyna felt like saying something to them, but feared what the consequences would be if she did. She decided against it and hurried out. Climbing into her daddy's old green Cadillac deville, her head buried against the seat the mass of curls spreading out and making themselves comfortable. **"How was school pumpkin?"** her dad spoke, giving a wave to a few of the passerby as he started up the car. *"Fine daddy."* she said, nodding. She didn't want to talk about what happened earlier that day with the boy against the tree, or how she cried her eyes out until Jennifer K came in and told her not to worry about the test she assumed Reyna had failed. **"Good."** pastor Carlson said, pulling out of the school's parking lot and heading towards the opposite way of home. **"I need you to run in Food n' Stuff to pick up some snacks and drinks for the youth night."** he commented as the two reached the store. *"Alright."* she nodded, as he parked out front, handing her a fifty dollar bill. Reyna got out of the car not far behind a hooded person. Reyna didn't notice the cashier, she was on a mission after all. She grabbed a shopping basket and filled it with a few bags of chips, a bag of cookies, and a couple liters of pop. The weight against her arm was hurtful but in a good way. An accomplished way. As Reyna made her way up to the cashier she decided she'd go buy a chocolate bar for herself. Her dad had given her fifty dollars after all, what was one more dollar? Coming up next to the hooded person she noticed a splash of color slip out from the sides. She gave a soft smile. *"I like your hair."* she complimented, *"I could never pull it off, but you do nicely."* she said, not wanting to come off as too creepy. She had seen this person at school a few times (it was kind of hard to miss the bright hair), but didn't know them well enough to place a face or even a name. Grabbing a almond Hershey's bar she turned and began slowly walking towards the cashier, toting the heavy basket in the nape of her arm. It was nice to compliment someone every once in awhile, and you didn't always need a compliment in return. Reyna placed the heavy basket on the small conveyor belt, finally noticing the very emotional cashier. Reyna's smile turned into a straight lipped serious look. She didn't want to intrude on the girl's personal life but she wondered what was wrong as well.

Today had been another simple day, in which Alver Starlis slept through most of it. He had gotten used to being a night owl most of his life since he had little use to being awake during the daylight other than maybe classes. Even then, most of the time his classes took place at night, thanks to his special tutor his parents hired over the years. Besides, he always did enjoy the night, it was prettier than people gave it credit for. And it was away from curious eyes. When he woke up, the pale colored boy yawned and raised his head a little, wearing nothing but a pair of black shorts. Having slept on his stomach, he propped himself up with his elbows as his pale lavender eyes blinked the sleep away. The dimly lit room, having darkened slightly as the sun slowly lowered. Must be between the afternoon and evening. Giving a mild groan as his face flopped back down to his pillow, he rolled over onto his back and swung his legs over the bedside and stood up, stretching his tall body. Sliding his slender long fingers through his messy white hair, he gave a mumble as he walked to the bathroom. Grabbing a purple brush from the left slider from the pearly white sink, he brushed out his messy white hair until it was straight before removing the last of his clothing and getting into the shower. After washing himself thoroughly with with a soft cherry blossom scent, he dried himself off with a beige towel while walking back to his room, a similar towel around his waist. Moving to the closet to changed into some clothes to cover his almost naked lean, lightly toned body. Humming as he slipped on a pair of underwear, he wore a pair of white sweats and a long sleeve light brown turtleneck. Grabbing a hair band on his nightstand, he put up his long white hair in a loose low ponytail. Slipping on some white socks he took from his dresser and a pair of silk white gloves, he walked out of his room and went down the small hall that led to the living room and open kitchen. The living room had a couch and two cabinets full of books. Since there was no tv or computers, he had to spend a bit of his time reading. A black grand piano also sat in the corner, another hobby of his to relieve his boredom. Deciding to have his 'breakfast' he went to the kitchen. To get some cereal. To his dismay, it seemed the young man was out of the common breakfast food as well as milk. He thought about a omelet, only to discover he was out of eggs and bacon as well. Giving a few grumbles of disapproval, the tall man sighed before walking to the front door, grabbing his white coat from the coat rack and slipping it on. Alver was going to have some god damn breakfast, even if it meant going to the store. He should be fine outside, it wasn't dark, but the sunlight was at least not too heated for him. Slipping on a pair of white and blue-striped tennis shoes and grabbing a umbrella before walking out door and locking it behind him. It was more or less a peaceful walk to the store, if you don't count the newly released students staring and whispering about him when he reached the more central of the town. They were promptly ignored however as he slipped on his pair of sunglasses he dug from his pocket. It didn't take long for him to arrive at the store called 'Food n' Stuff'.... Such a original name of course. Walking inside, he didn't pay too much of his attention on the workers, and there were barely any customers if any, so he simply grabbed a carrying basket and went along the store lanes. A female worker came out from a door at the back of the store, who looked quite shaken for some reason. When she looked toward him, it didn't seem to help matters. However, Alver simply continued to do what he came here to do. Get food. Picking up some eggs, a carton of milk, a packet of bacon strips, before finally standing in the cereal section. The albino pondered exactly which he wanted this time around, having developed a taste for quite a few brands. Alver often switched between them in order to keep a somewhat fresh start for the morning. After making his selection he went to the cash register and waited in the kind behind a darker skinned woman and a figure who had a flash of purple hair sticking out from their hood. His lavender gaze looked at them for a moment before looking to the uncomfortable cash register.

“Oh, shit!” The tardy thought of calling an ambulance suddenly hit Aaron like a dozen oncoming trains. Hands shaking, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, only to find that he had turned it off earlier to save the battery. He let out a moan through gritted teeth, sounding somewhere in the middle of utterly panicked and completely terrified. One of the store phones hung on the wall in the back room, so he reluctantly left an unmoving Lily on makeshift pillow bed and ripped the phone off its reciever, dialing 911 as quickly as he could. “911, what is the emergency?” The tinny voice of the operator met his ear. “Uh, a girl was attacked- uhm, beat up outside of my store. I got her inside, but sh-she's unconcious.” “I'm sending an ambulance now, where are you now? What is the address of the store?” Aaron rattled off Food 'n Stuff's address, eyes locked on the small bruised form in his stock room. The bandages he used might've helped, maybe, but he didn't know...didn't know... “Okay sir, do you know if the she is breathing?” “Yes.” Aaron saw the rise and fall of Lily's chest. “Yes she is. She's got lots of cuts, and-and she threw up earlier, but I got bandages around most of the cuts. I just... I don't know what to do!” Aaron turned his nervous gaze to the front of the store as the operator calmed him down. He took deep breaths and tried to see Ashley's counter, but couldn't from this angle. There wasn't anything else to do but wait for the ambulance, and it wasn't fair to keep her in the dark, especially after yelling at her so much. “I need to put the phone down. It's uh, on a cord.” Aaron told the operator, briefly marveling over the fact the corded phones still existed. “I'll be right back.” He checked the girl again, making sure that she wasn't getting worse, before jogging up front to let Ashley know what was going on. Before the counter came into his view, Aaron shouted, “An ambulance is on its way!” He turned a corner and saw that Ashley's counter had a line of customers, all of whom had just heard what he had shouted and were now staring at him. Aaron shrugged it off. It didn't matter that they knew now, as long as they didn't get in the way or cause a panic. “What happened?” Ashley asked tearfully as Aaron moved past everyone in line to talk to her. “I think some people just...beat her up and left her outside.” “Why?” Aaron shook his head, eyes darting from floor tile to floor tile. “I don't know. I-I need to get back there.” He was about to run a hand through his hair when he saw that both of his hands had blood on them from his earlier ministrations. Aaron stared at them, not blinking. “Oh...oh.” He breathed deeply again, calming himself down. He was about to say something to the group of customers they had been talking in front of when he heard the front door jingle open.

"Thanks," Rei had murmured in response to the girl who complimented him, tilting his head slightly as he selected a chocolate bar. "Though I'd prefer it shorter." He followed behind her to stand in the queue, pulling the money he had brought with him out of his pockets. It should be enough to pay for the drink and snack. He glanced to the side as another shop attendant came into view and shouted something about an ambulance. Well that was interesting. He couldn't help but listen to what they said, tilting his head slightly and narrowing his blue eyes. That certainly didn't sound pleasant. He instantly started thinking of possibilities. Why would this girl be beaten up by other people? Bullying, probably. There must be some reason. Poor kid. The two workers both seemed to be in quite a state. Certainly neither were handling it very well. As the front door jingled open around five boys walked in, looking between the age of twelve and thirteen. Even though they were quite young it was obvious that they were all sports players, relatively strong, with the leader much taller and stronger than the average for his age. They glanced around, as if looking for someone before looking to the people within the store. "You seen any freaks around here?" The leader sneered. Even at his age he seemed quite confident, obviously not expecting any of them to be helping Lily. After all, who would want to help someone like her? "We have some unfinished business with it." "It?" Rei couldn't help the word from escaping his lips, raising an eyebrow as he faced the small gang. They looked intimidating, but he was sure they would leave if told to. They just seemed to be of the opinion that no one would help whoever it was. "You do know everyone is a person, right?" "It isn't, not really." "Everyone is. If you do not know someone's gender, the gender neutral pronoun they is much preferred." Rei's tone remained surprisingly neutral though he had stepped forward, glaring at the five. The other boys looked rather unimpressed. Even though he was older Rei certainly wasn't an intimidating sight considering the height he stood at. "And why would we use something like that?" The leader laughed. "There's no such thing as something gender neutral." Taking the leader by surprise Rei ran forward, hooking his leg behind the other boy's while pushing him down and pinning him to the ground. It was mostly surprising them that allowed him to do this, along with the skill he had with martial arts, considering that he certainly wasn't stronger. The other four were taking aback before moving forward with narrowed eyes. "Say that again, I dare you," Rei responded, eyes dark with anger.

**“An ambulance is on its way!”** The voice from the back took Reyna from her staring at the woman who was ringing up her various items for the youth night at church. Her eyes glanced at him, noticing both the person with the brightly colored hair and another had joined the line. She gave them both a small nod, acknowledging them as turned her attention between both the workers as they explained the situation that was going on. What kind of people would beat up any other person? Reyna shook her head, this town seemed to be going down hill day after day. Reyna looked out the glass front doors to be greeted by her father's impatient glares. The woman worker had barely rang up any of her items. Through the doors Reyna had been looking through came a small group of freshman athletes, some in which Reyna knew from the youth nights, and the church congregation in general. Parting her lips she meant to say hello to them by name but was interrupted by one of them speaking, **"You seen any freaks around here?"** he called, and Reyna's lips closed tightly. That was no way to be speaking to anyone, let alone a group of strangers at a store. Reyna parted her lips once more to speak, but the customer behind her spoke before she could muster out the courage or the words. The two spoke between one another back and forth as Reyna stood awkwardly- wishing the cashier would quickly just ring her up and get her out of this situation. It was then the person behind her darted out and with extreme precise made the leader fall to the ground with a sickening thud. **"Say that again, I dare you,"** they said, as the rest of the group of punks fell back shortly, almost as wide eyed as Reyna who stood there watching the whole thing go down. *"Oh my."* she said in the midst of the silence. Another ringing of the grocery store door came quickly after as Pastor Carlson came in with a huff. **"What exactly is going on in here?"** he exclaimed, loudly. **"I know all of your families and will not take any time to contact them."** he said, pulling out his cellphone out of his slack's pocket without hesitation. Reyna's face grew hot, why did her dad have to get involved in everything? The boys, unsure of whether they were scared of the hooded ninja or the pastor, took no time in high tailing it out of there, the leader making sure to give the hooded ninja a good and hard push before scrambling out from under their gasp. **"Reyna."** Her father said in a very demanding tone, and Reyna became tense. *"I haven't got to pay yet."* she said, quietly. Ashley; the worker quite obviously very overwhelmed with the whole situation began to sob. Reyna's father came strolling over, bagging all the groceries and taking the fifty dollar bill from Reyna's grip. He pressed the bar on the cashier and placed the bill in. **"Keep the change."** he spoke, before slamming the drawer back shut. **"As for the rest of you, this is no way to act. You'll be in my prayers."** he looked to Reyna and spoke, **"Come Reyna."** The ambulance now wailed outside of Food 'N Stuff. *"I'd like to help here Daddy."* Reyna spoke quietly, nodding. Her father looked first disgruntled, but then smiled and nodded, **"Yes, give them the word, but make sure you are by church at 7:00pm for the youth night. "** he began, **"Or else."**. he ended, turning and heading back to the car in the parking lot, throwing away her chocolate bar, speaking to the ambulance workers a bit and eventually getting into the car and leaving. *"Are you all o-okay?"* Reyna asked to everyone in the room. The whole situation was very stressful, and if she was this shaken, she couldn't imagine what everyone else was feeling. The ambulance workers eventually got inside looking for instruction.

Alver watched the others, the darker skinned and quiet girl in front of him giving a slight nod in a mild greeting. He was a little surprised at the gesture but did the same, though looked to the man screaming about a ambulance coming. He wondered what was going on, before deciding it was probably better not to get involved. It was then that more annoyances decided to make themselves known. Some kids, perhaps middle schoolers or freshmen, entered and demanded to know if there were any freaks. At this, Alver stepped foreword, his lavender gave narrowed, though the color turned a slight red as the sun outside hit them oddly. This made some of them nervously shift a bit at the sight of a much taller pale colored man. Standing 7'0, he towered over most of the people here, but it was then the small purple haired person seemed to get angry and throw the leader group of bullies down to the ground. Raising his right hand to rub his right temple to calm any nerves, he was about to step in until some man came in and disrupted the argument. Talking with the girl who had greeted him, basically doing the sobbing cashier's job before leaving. Not before preaching to them of course. *"I didn't even do anything... Preachers."* Alver thought before looking at the ambulance pull up and the paramedics pull up and ask for where the injured person was. Looking to the two panicked workers, Alver figured their mindset wasn't exactly calm enough to actually breathe coherent sentences so he looked to the paramedics and pointed to the back and to the door he saw the female worker come from. **"I believe she's in there."** his voice silky and calm before looking at the male worker. **"Better go take them to whoever is in trouble."** he said before looking to the sobbing woman. The long white haired man stood there, unsure what exactly to do in this situation. It wasn't like he comforted people, or spoke to any. Plus he also still needed his food before going out on his nightly walk. Actually everyone seemed on edge, even the girl who wanted to stay when she could of gone with her father. Perhaps he should feel it to, and maybe he did but he also knew panicking over it wasn't going to do any good. The bullies were gone and the paramedics were here, so whoever was in trouble would hopefully be alright . There was little more to do about it. **"Miss, please calm down and take deep breaths."** Alver said in a calm, but kinder voice. The girl was still shaking , but her sobs slowly slowed. He sighed before taking out his wallet and put down enough twenty dollars on the counter and started checking his own items.

(The text in **bold** was written by Silver Fox, and the text in *italics* was written by MissCapnCrunch. Much thanks to them!) Aaron had been watching the scuffle with the attackers rather helplessly. He wanted to jump in and get everyone to calm down, but the short kid with the bright purpley-blue hair had just pinned the leader down on the floor. The really, really pale guy loomed over everyone and the other girl watched, wide eyed. The latter looked very familiar to Aaron, like he'd seen her somewhere before... Without warning, the answer to that mystery pushed himself through the glass door and glared imperiously at all of them. Pastor Carlson. "What exactly is going on in here? I know all of your families and will not take any time to contact them." That much was certainly true. Aaron went to church with his folks every Sunday, which is why the quiet girl looked so familiar to him. He watched as the scene continued to unfold, wringing his still bloody hands nervously. The preacher preached, the freshman kids ran out, and the preacher left, leaving a group of students dealing with mixed emotions in his wake. *"Are you all o-okay?"* Reyna asked the rest of them, apparently a bit distraught herself. “Yeah.” Aaron answered shortly, finally coming down from his panic and adrenalin rush. It wasn't quite the runner's high he used to get when he was ran track in middle school, but it was close. Just then the EMTs burst into the store, and the tall pale guy directed them to the store room before turning to Aaron and saying, **“Better go take them to whoever is in trouble.”** Aaron nodded up at the giant and jogged behind the paramedics, who were already heading towards the store room. “I managed to get her onto some pillows. She's pretty light.” He said as they entered. He watched them work for a moment before remembering his stained hands. Leaving them to their jobs, Aaron quickly snuck into the employee bathroom and scrubbed his hands as clean as he could get them. By the time he came back out, they had already gotten the girl on a stretcher and were on their way out. As they all reached the front of the store, Aaron asked them where they were going to take her. They answered bluntly, “Saint Joseph's Hospital.” and hurriedly left the store. Aaron, who wanted to see this through, knew he couldn't leave a cashier alone to tend the store, let alone one who was currently fighting her tears with the help of the pale guy. Aaron approached poor Ashley and said to her quietly, “Ashley, you can go home. I'm going to the hospital to make sure she's alright. I'll lock up the store and you can take the rest of the day off.” “But...t-the registers...we haven't counted-” she protested through sniffles. “I'll lock them in the safe for now and count them later, don't worry about it. I'll make sure it all evens out, okay? If it doesn't I'll take the hit. You just head home and get some rest.” “What if Shelly comes back after you locked up? You'll get in trouble.” Ashley asked, shakily emerging from behind the counter. “She won't. And if she does, I'll take care of it.” Aaron said reassuringly, leading her outside. “You don't live far, right? Do you think you can walk home?” Ashley nodded, starting to come to her senses. “Okay, I'll give you a call later. Get some rest.” he said as the front door closed behind her. Aaron sighed and turned around, seeing the group of strangers who had stumbled upon the scene. Thinking that they might want to see this through as well, he said, “Like I said, I'm going to the hospital too. If anyone else wants to come, I'll give you a lift.” Aaron saw the short kid nod silently, still looking angry from the incident. **Alver glances toward the man as he returned, offering a ride to those who wanted to go with them. A part of him did want to go to make sure whoever this was was alright. But on the other hand, he didn't really want to be crammed into a car with a bunch of strangers. Plus he hadn't exactly been in a car before either. Picking up his things he started heading out the door. "No thank you. I don't think I'm needed." Alver responded politely as he just about went through the door.** Aaron shrugged, flipping a switch in one of the corners of the store. Most of the lights in the place shut off as he said to the white haired guy, “Okay, then. Thanks for the help. Just make sure you don't run into those jerks on the way home.” **Alver blinked a little at the thanks, feeling like he hadn't done much. It was mostly the small kid who did it. He just calmed down the sobbing female worker. But he waved his hand in acknowledgement and gave a quick smile before starting heading home. ** *Reyna nodded, as the paramedics took the young girl. "I'd like to go with." she spoke after the fair skinned boy, she too didn't feel very needed in the situation but would rather go with them than be at home. Strangers didn't bother her, as she dealt with them quite constantly. * “Okay, Reyna, right? I remember you from church.” Aaron said this as he removed the drawers from the cash registers into the safe and locked it, just in case someone managed to get into the store somehow. After he was done with that he held the door open for the others as they passed through it, locking it behind them and double checking that both doors were secure. As he led them to the lonely black four door in the parking lot, he said to them jokingly, “It's my Dad's car, so nobody mess it up.” They all climbed into the car and were soon on their way to Saint Joseph's Hospital.

Rei remained silent as the others talked, apart from to give a nod to indicate that she wanted to come. He still looked rather angry, blue eyes glaring out from underneath his hood, but it certainly was not directed at the other three. He watched as the took the young girl into the ambulance with a frown and followed the other two over to a car, belonging to the other male. Of course he did not know either's name. Well, the female did seem to be called Reyna. For the car journey Rei remained silent, not even offering up his name as he stared out of the window with narrowed eyes. He was annoyed about a lot now. What the bullies had said was nagging at him... And taking up all of his thoughts. They had called the young girl a freak, given her the pronoun it. Why would they do something like that? There must be some reason. He definitely had theories. What if this girl was similar to him - didn't always want to be the gender she had been assigned to? Or didn't want to be that gender at all? He should really stop thinking on it. It was rude to think about someone else that you didn't really know. Well, something so personal. The Pastor, at least that was who Rei had recognised him as, had also annoyed him. He quite frankly didn't care if his parent's were contacted. He had stopped caring about his parent's opinions of him a long time ago. But still, Rei had been fully justified in his actions! Then the Pastor had just came in and lectured them all and talked about praying for them. Hah. He'd had his parents praying for him for a very long time. Like it had made a difference. Thankfully the car journey was quite a short one, though of course they arrived after the ambulance. Rei got out of the car and glanced around, beginning to look slightly less like he wanted to kill someone by now. He still didn't look particularly happy, of course, and was beginning to wonder if coming along had been a good idea. That meant socialising. Of course he wanted to know that the girl was okay. He wanted to find out why they'd done that to her and then he wanted to stop the bullies from doing it again. He hated bullies. Turning to the others, he spoke quietly. "So, what do we do now?"

**“Okay, Reyna, right? I remember you from church.”** The boy said as he went about fixing the cash registers. Reyna searched her mind for his name, and decided it must have been something that started with an A. It was difficult at times remembering everyone, even though the town didn't have much of a population. *"You're Aaron."* she commented almost like a whisper. It wouldn't surprise her if he hadn't heard her. Not long after Aaron led both the hooded ninja and Reyna to the black four door car in the parking lot. Stopping next to it he said to them jokingly, **“It's my Dad's car, so nobody mess it up.”** Reyna returned a small chuckle, mostly out of nervousness but she also thought it was a genuinely funny comment. Reyna picked shotgun to ride in. Turning in her seat she wanted to ask what the other person's name was but the angry, strikingly blue eyes staring back at her caused her to change her mind. She cleared her throat before turning around quickly in her seat and buckling her seat belt. The good thing about a small town was that everything was 'only a few minutes' away. They arrived at Saint Josephs quickly. As the car came to a stop a quiet voice came from the back, **"So, what do we do now?"** they asked, and Reyna turned to look between both of them in the car. *"I guess we should go in and find the girl?"* she questioned, unbuckling herself and turning to exit the car.

Walking along, Alver continued walking through town. It was a bit of a walk since he lived near the forest and meadow. But walking was a normal thing he was used to, unlike cars. Silently listening to the distancing sirens, he continued walking and carrying his groceries. When reaching his home, he unlocked the door and went inside. The home showing no signs of anybody here, the pale tall man set to putting the groceries away. Finishing up, he quickly made himself a bowl of cereal and ate it at the kitchen table in the dining room. Silently eating it by himself, the silence a familiar sound, unlike the ruckus that had occurred at the store. After he had finished, he stood up and set the bowl in the sink for later before going into his bedroom. Grabbing a blank canvas white painting and a easel, carrying thematic net his left arm while his left hand held a white box, the right picking up a black violin shaped case. Walking back outside, he locked the door before walking into the woods. He walked until he was at the meadow. And he set his things down, setting up the easel. Pondering, he pondered on what he wished to do before that little girls battered body entered his mind. Huffing, he sat down on a stump, pulling up the white box and opening it. It revealed several brushes and paints. Grabbing a brush and a few painting materials, he started working on the empty canvas.

(The text in **bold** was written by FernStone, uber thanks, Fernstone!) **“So, what do we do now?”** *“I guess we should go in and find the girl?”* Aaron locked the car as everyone exited, sticking the keys in his pocket and swinging his backpack onto his shoulders. He looked at the facade of Saint Joseph's and said to the others, “We'll check in at the lobby. If they know that we found her and just want to know if she's alright, I'm sure they'll let us see her.” With that plan in mind, Aaron led the way into the building, leaving the afternoon sun behind them as clouds began to cover it. As the strange group walked into the lobby, Aaron noted that it was more modern than he expected it to be. There was a lot of head space, and the clean floors were loud under their feet as the three of them approached the front desk. A tired but friendly enough looking woman looked at them expectantly and asked, “How can I help you today?” Aaron took the lead, even though his mind was racing with what he should say. He hadn't been in this particular situation before. “Um, hi. We came here to see a girl that just came in. She got attacked, and we found her and called 911, and we just wanted to make sure she was okay.” The receptionist eyed them curiously from behind her glasses, though apparently she knew exactly who he was talking about. She said to Aaron, “You're the ones who found...her, then, and called for help. Well, she doesn't have a room yet, but someone will be down here to speak with you shortly.” “Speak with us?” Aaron thought out loud, “Oh...they probably want to know what happened. Okay, thanks then.” “You're very welcome. Please, take a seat.” She gestured to the lines of chairs that ran through the lobby, all of them stuck to each other. Aaron nodded to her and headed with the others to take a seat. **Rei remained silent as Aaron spoke to the woman at the front desk, before taking a seat when indicated to do so. He pushed down his hood, deciding it was probably best not to keep it up while in the hospital, pushing back a longer strand of blue-purple hair with a huff. "I'm Rei, by the way. Currently I prefer the masculine pronounce, such as he, but it's probably easier if you just refer to me by gender neutral pronouns if needed, such as they or them." He spoke quietly, gaze fixed on the other two. Almost challenging them to question what he said.** Aaron wasn't sure what to think at the moment, so he simply waved and said, “I think I'll use 'he'. I'm Aaron, by the way.” **"Thanks, nice to meet you," Rei said, frowning. "I wonder why those bullies were so intent on hurting her..."** “I...can't think of a reason. No one deserves that. Especially someone so young...” Aaron said dolefully, lost in thought with his hands on his fists. He was about to ask Reyna a question when he heard a door in the distance open. An older man in scrubs and a white coat stepped behind the front desk. He had a head of thinning dark brown hair and a disturbingly square jaw. He talked with the receptionist for a moment, stealing glances at the three of them. Soon though, the man approached them and shook each of their hands, introducing himself quickly before getting down to brass tax. “I'm Dr. Hayes. I'm to understand that you three might know what happened to our patient, is that correct?” “Yeah, well, maybe. Sort of.” Aaron piped up raking a hand through his now messy blonde hair. He was about to tell the story when Dr. Hayes interrupted him with a held up hand. “We'll walk and talk. I'm told you wanted a visit. If you follow me to the waiting room upstairs, we can discuss this on the way.” Dr. Hayes said curtly, gesturing them to follow him. “Um, sure.” Aaron shrugged at the others as he shuffled behind the rather intimidating doctor. “I'm assuming it was an attack of some kind.” Hayes stated as he led them to a hallways with elevators, hitting a button to call one down. Aaron began his story dutifully. “Yeah, well, I was working at the register when I saw her.” “Him.” Dr. Hayes corrected him coldly. “What?” “Him. Not her.” Aaron was about to say that there must be some mistake, when he remembered the words of the returning attackers. *'You seen any freaks around here? We have some unfinished business with **'it'**.'*Understanding rushed through him, turning his face slightly hot. A trickle of embarrassment crawled through him for not noticing before. “Oh, I see. Um, well, anyway I was working and I saw he-...him.” Aaron corrected himself, but it didn't feel right to say 'him' instead of 'her'. He didn't know why, but it just felt rude. “He was barely walking, so I went to go see if he was okay and well, uh, he wasn't.” “He was conscious when you found him?” Hayes asked as they all stepped through the now open elevator door. “Did he say anything, or give you his name?” “No. I asked if he was alright and he passed out. I took him inside and called 911.” “I see.” the doctor said, pulling a clipboard from under his left arm. He wrote on it for some time, staying completely silent for the elevator ride until the doors opened again. He stepped out with them, and still staring and writing on his clipboard, asking Aaron, “So the bandages, that was you then?” “Yeah.” Aaron flushed again, wringing his hands. Hayes looked up at him now, and the way he was studying Aaron made him feel like he had done something wrong. “Son, you should never attempt to treat someone unless you have been trained to do so.” Aaron stiffened and froze, wishing that he could disappear. “I-I was just trying to help.” “That may well be so, but 'trying to help' can make the situation even worse. You were very lucky. The boy might've had broken bones or internal injuries that you could've aggravated.” “I didn't know-” “That much is clear.” Aaron snapped his mouth shut, suddenly taking an interest in the wall tiles, trying to blink away his discomfort. He heard Hayes huff slightly before saying, “I'm sure you thought you had the best intentions. Now, the waiting room is this way.” He heard the doctor start to walk again, so he followed him, still not wanting to look at the man. “Unfortunately the boy is still unconscious, so I can't let him see visitors until then. Even when he does wake up, he will have some questions to answer. So, until he wakes up, I'd ask that you three wait in here.” The doctor said this as they reached the waiting room. It was a small secluded little area with chairs similar to the ones in the lobby against the walls. There were also a couple of vending machines and a television in the ceiling corner that was playing the news at a very low volume. Aaron was about to ask Hayes another question, but by then he had already left rather unceremoniously. Not knowing what else to do, Aaron plopped himself down into one of the seats and took a small rubber ball out of his book bag. He began throwing it at the floor and bouncing it over and over to release some energy. As he did so, a scowl slowly began to form on his face. He was thinking about the girl, about those kids who called her a freak. About how everyone in school, hell, everyone in town seemed to be intolerant of just about everything. Suddenly, Aaron sighed exasperatedly at his companions and confided to them loudly, “This town sucks. I can't stand it.”

Though silent while Aaron talked to the doctor, Rei's expression grew increasingly more annoyed and a dark expression filling his eyes. Well, that explained a lot. It had been a suspicion in the back of his mind since he had heard the attacker's words. It only made him want to help the girl more. He understood, to some degree, what she might be going through. After all he often had the same issues. Upon entering the waiting room he heading over to the one of the vending machines to get a drink, since he hadn't managed to buy anything while at the store. Other things had interrupted that. He ended up settling for a lemonade, since there was no Pepsi, and went to sit down reasonably close to Aaron. He didn't say anything for a while as he began to drink his lemonade. "Tell me about it," Rei eventually replied, glancing over at Aaron curiously. He wondered what made the other teen think that the town sucked. Many people like living here. It was only those that were... different that questioned it. "There's so much intolerance. Anything that isn't normal is ridiculed. You have to be perfect or else. And the answer to anything different? Force them to change, and pray for their souls." Rei snorted. "I'd rather my soul wasn't saved, thank you very much, if I'm not allowed to be who I am." He had surprised even himself with the sudden outburst of words, passionate and angry. Though he certainly wasn't shy he didn't tend to talk much to strangers. "It's not like my parent's prayers have worked yet anyway. I can't wait to move somewhere different."

Lily lay in her hospital bed, still unconscious. She had suffered with many injuries from the attack she'd undergone, from simple cuts and bruises, to a broken left arm and fingers on her left hand, to a punctured left lung from where a rib had forced it's way into the organ. The young female was hooked up to an oxygen machine, the breathing mask over her mouth and her nose. Face drawn and pale, the young female was dressed in a simple white hospital gown, which enveloped her thin and frail form, as though it were a blanket, not a gown. From her arms trailed tubes and wires, for various medicines to be given, and vitals to be taken from her. She had undergone a head C.T to ensure she suffered no injuries to her brain, and she thankfully hadn't done. Now back in her room, Lily's eyes slowly opened as a groan passed her lips, a nurse turning to face her as she entered the room, moving over to the brunette, a soft smile on her kindly face, eyes warm. "Hello, dear. How are you feeling?" She spoke gently, kneeling down to the female to see if she would lookup at her. Lily's eyes followed her slowly, looking at her face. Lily's voice was muffled by the mask, slow and slurred a little as the female tried to work out where she was, groggy and sore. With a soft smile, the nurse lifted the mask a little. "Slowly, dear... Take a breath when you need to." "M..Morrigan.. I.. I want Morrigan... Now." Lily's lips hardly opened as she spoke, the poor girl in a right state. "Ple..please, call her?" The girl begged, tearful and frightened, looking almost pitiful. The nurse nodded and place the mask on her face, calling in a doctor to check Lily over properly now she was awake. As the doctor did so, the nurse grabbed Lily's notes, dialling the number under "Morrigan Jones" on her papers. "Hello? Morrigan? I'm Eliza Harper, a nurse at Saint Josephs. We have your cousin here, Lily Harrison. She's been attacked.." She begun, standing ready to inform the female of Lily's condition.