Erik watched the dark-haired youth as he trudged down the street and ducked behind a vacant lot. He seemed unsure and anxious as he rubbed his arms with the palms of his hands. Erik could see from the boy’s appearance that he had been involved in some sort of fight earlier that evening. The violet-eyed youth had just finished leaving Tyrell in the custody of his mother and Erik had barely managed to catch his name from her vantagepoint. He had called himself Dominic Solanis. The name set off synapses inside Erik’s brain as he traced the other boy’s clandestine movements with his brown eyes.

Curious, the blond followed the teenager, as he stalked down the street, sensing that something was unusual was bothering the youth. He cautiously crept around the side of a wall, peering into the darkness with his chestnut eyes. As he did, a sharp movement from Dominic caught his eye as the other boy jerked his head to the side, checking for any followers. Erik pressed himself against the wall, trying to appear as still as possible.

The darkness of the night shielded him as Dominic turned back around, content that he was alone for the time being. He brought a hand to his throat, pulling some kind of necklace from under his shirt. It was the amulet that the blond had seen him wearing only a couple of hours ago, except now it seemed to be glowing faintly. The boy clutched the jeweled sun within his palm and threw back his head. As he did, he clenched his eyes shut and dropped to his knees on the pavement. His jet-black hair began to extend along his shoulders and back as more sprouted from his legs and arms. Black jagged claws also grew from his cleanly cut fingernails as he bent over on his hands. Even his ears shifted from the gentle lobes to triangular-shaped structures that seemed to twitch, searching for any unexpected witnesses. Last to change were his mouth, which melded into that of a canine snout, and the bushy tail which burst from his skin.

The blonde boy gasped in disbelief as he realized that he was now gazing upon a wolf the size of a young man. Shivers ran down the beast’s spine as it panted, almost as if it were in some sort of shock. As he crept forward to get a closer look, the wolf opened its eyes, stunning the boy with its wild beauty. Its black hide seemed to glisten with silver streaks against the moonlight and the dark violet irises gave off a burning gaze. The creature yawned, showing its deadly curved fangs, and then brusquely shook its head.

Its action revealed the sun amulet that had been hidden in its fur during the transformation. Erik’s eyes fell on the amulet and he stepped back in surprise, failing to notice the discarded can behind him. His foot crunched into the can as he froze. Before he could move, the black wolf whirled around at the sound and instantly focused its vision on the young man. Its lip curled into a ferocious snarl as its hackles rose, hair rising along its spine. Erik gazed back into its furious eyes, unable to even blink as the beast growled within its throat.

As he stared back, the boy noticed something different about the way the animal was looking at him. Not only was it a look of absolute hatred, but it was also a look of sheer frustration. This was not normal for an ordinary animal. It was incredibly human-like. Then his mind snapped into action, connecting the series of events that were unfolding around him. The amulet, the huge wolf, the unusual expression in its eyes. This was no wolf at all!

"You!" he hissed at the beast reaching into his pocket as the wolf watched him warily. "It’s you! You’re Dominic Solanis!"

Without warning, the animal lunged at him, snarling in rage and baring its strangely white teeth. Erik yanked out a small caliber out of his pocket and fired a shot, striking the beast in the upper shoulder. His blow knocked the wolf of its course and it slammed into his shoulder with its head bowed for leverage. The impact carried both combatants to the ground as the wolf smoothly leapt to its feet, standing over the blond, growling in rancor. Its topaz amulet shimmered within its midnight black fur as it poised itself for another rush. Erik tightened his hold on the gun and bashed it against the wolf’s muzzle with all his might. Yelping in pain, the creature leapt back, shutting its eyes and shaking its head fiercely. Using the distraction, the blond boy climbed to his feet and leveled the gun with the wolf’s skull.

"Not so easy to kill Erik Gaeal, is it Solanis?" he laughed coldly, watching the wolf rub its aching muzzle along the hard ground.

The wolf squinted one violet eye and then charged at him again, jaws spread wide. Erik braced his weapon in front of him to defend himself, finger resting against the trigger. In mid-leap, the animal curved its head and closed its teeth around the broadside of the gun’s barrel. With a quick tug, it wrenched the item from the shocked boy’s grasp and agilely bounded to the ground again. It scraped its thick claws against the solid pavement of the street and clenched down on the weapon within its mouth.

Erik took a step back, knowing he was at quite a disadvantage without his gun against a creature with both powerful jaws and dangerous claws. He placed one hand on his hip, glaring at the wolf in an arrogant fashion. "Well, it seems you and I are at what most call a stalemate," he said curtly, watching the beast trace his movements with its amethystine eyes. "I obviously can’t fight you without a weapon and your weapons are currently involved in keeping mine away from me." The boy made a dismissive gesture toward the animal’s bared fangs still grinding down upon his gun. "So tell me Solanis, is your secret so important to you that you would be willing to sacrifice the life of an innocent bystander?"

A smothered growl was the only response the blonde received so he continued talking, determined to throw the wolf off-guard. "I should warn you, I can be just as stubborn as you. And a direct assault on my life is an unforgivable offense. I guess I’ll just have to kill you now!"

As he finished his last statement, he thought he saw a flicker of amusement within the wolf’s maddened eyes. The beast made a sort of rumbling growl that almost resembled laughter and then sat down upon its haunches, gazing at him with a sort of wicked interest. It batted its hirsute tail and stretched out its hazardous claws with a flourish.

Erik didn’t appear fazed in the slightest by the obvious attempt to intimidate him. He merely stared back at the wolf and smiled mischievously. "Anyway, since neither of us is in any position to actually kill the other, we’ll have to delay this little melee, won’t we Solanis?"

The wolf’s coat bristled at this title and it gazed back at the young man, considering his offer for a moment. Then it tossed back its head and threw the gun into the air with all its might. At the same time, it suddenly turned from its opponent and dashed off into the night, knowing that Erik would rather retrieve his weapon then follow it at this current time. Erik cursed in frustration and rushed over to catch his plummeting rifle, helplessly watching the wolf vanish into the darkness. The gun sailed over his grasping hand and plunged into the pavement with a dull crack.

"Damn it!" he roared as the wolf faded from his sight. He slammed his hand against the side of the street in anger and then pulled himself to his feet, still unwilling to believe that he had lost the wolf so easily. Finally, he brushed himself off and began to walk back toward the outskirts of the city, kicking stray pebbles out of his path.

"Just you wait Solanis, this is far from over. I know what you are and believe me; I’m not going to let you spoil my plans! The Keys are under my protection now!"

*~*~*~*~*~*

Tyrell had spent the better part of the morning convincing his mother that the fire had been a total accident. He lied about the incident, telling her that he had seen the flames and had decided to go check it out. Upon entering the conflagration, Tyrell explained that he had gotten himself lost and must have hit his head on something in the smoke. Of course, Tiana had insisted on fussing over him and making him apply burn cream to the dark splotches on his upper arms. Even, Kat had been furious at him for having the audacity to walk home at such a dangerous hour. Not surprisingly, Angelique had also been alarmed by his condition the next morning, but she held fast to her course not to speak to him until he showed her he was ready to trust her again.

She had begun to really anger Tyrell over the past few days. He knew he deserved this kind of treatment from her, but he was accustomed to the Angelique who understood the concept of forgiving and forgetting. Apparently, this was one thing that Angelique was unwilling to do either with. It annoyed him to no end, especially considering the fact that all his other friends had forgiven him for the rest of his minor transgressions. Why did she have to be so damn stubborn? She should understand that he didn’t want to discuss his current personal matters with her and would gladly talk to her when he had come up with a better method of explaining the circumstances.

What he really wanted to do this morning was see if he could get to school a little early and try and find the boy that he had met at the basketball court. Lucian was way friendlier than most of his other companions had ever been. He seemed to have a natural talent for bringing out the bright side of things and carried with him a generally pleasant aura. Such a person would be a great person to turn to when he wanted to relax from the insanity that was his daily life. Maybe with any luck, Lucian could even help him out with befriending the stoic Dominic.

The only things that bothered him about the red-haired youth were those deep blood-red eyes that glistened underneath his delicate lashes. He had to admit it was rather unusual to encounter someone whose eyes were naturally red. To tell the truth, he wasn’t sure that he had ever heard of such a person. He had heard of white eyes in some rare cases and pink tinted irises that often graced the faces of albinos. But red was something odd. It almost hinted at something sinister behind the playful boy, but that was impossible. Someone who possessed such a genial personality couldn’t harbor any real evil in his soul. The red eyes were just an odd fluke of Lucian’s genetics. That was the best explanation he could come up with.

Tyrell hustled across his room, getting ready for school as fast as he could. He was secretly hoping to leave the house before Kat noticed he was gone. If he knew Kat, the second she saw Lucian, she would gush to him about herself for endless hours and bore him out of his mind. He doubted that Lucian was Kathryn’s type since she usually chose boys that enjoyed having herds of girls clinging to them all the time. Lucian had expressed his dislike of that sort of thing. Not only that, he wasn’t about to let his sister keep one of his newest friends to herself. Kat had already asserted her claim on both Erik and Maren. The only reason she didn’t pursue Cyrus was because she knew that Cyrus would rather bury himself in a book any day, than go out with a girl. As selfish as it might be, Tyrell kind of wanted to at least have one friend who he could claim as his own.

Once he had assembled the majority of his school supplies, Tyrell crept out his room and down the stairs, careful not to make any noise that would alert Kat of his presence while she was busy preening herself in her mirror. This feat usually took around half an hour so that would give Tyrell some time to spend with Lucian before the rest of the group arrived.

But as he prepared to open the front door, a small coughing noise from within the kitchen startled him. He whirled around to see Angelique gazing at him in suspicion. She had been buttering herself a piece of wheat toast when she had seen him sneaking toward the door.

"And where are we off to so early, Tye?" she inquired, placing the toast down on the counter and walking over to her cousin who froze in his place. "Maren’s not here yet so you couldn't possibly be heading to school."

"Actually, I’m not getting a ride with Ren today. I decided I’d rather take a walk to Carthala and, you know, meditate on the way," Tyrell bantered, fidgeting with the S-shaped door handle.

"Oh. Well, then you shouldn’t mind if I come with you, right?" Angelique continued, pushing her book bag with her foot and scooting it out from behind the counter.

"Sure. Why not? As long as it’s not Kat, I’d love to have some company," replied the boy, smiling at the thought of being able to finally talk with the older girl again.

Angelique’s eyes filled with amusement for the first time in the past week as she gathered her book bag from the floor. She padded over to her cousin and opened the door for them to exit. Tyrell gave her a wave of thanks and then bounded off down the road with her running to keep up behind him.

*~*~*~*~*~*

As the pair approached Carthala’s front gate, which was open since the teachers usually arrived as early as five, Angelique rushed up to Tyrell and looked him in the eye. "So Tye, why are we really here this early?" she said with a touch of distrust.

"Well, I met a friend the other day and he said that he would meet me at the basketball court before school started. I didn’t want Kat to know ‘cause you know how she always talks everyone’s ear off and I didn’t want to scare him," Tyrell responded with a tiny snicker. Angelique nodded and continued to follow him toward the court.

"Man, you’re early," a voice called out to the youths, causing them to jerk back in surprise as another youth ran up to them. The newcomer laughed richly and shoved a basketball into Tyrell’s hands. "I never expected to see you at this hour!"

"Lucian, you were here already? I was hoping to get here before you," the younger boy choked as the force of the ball squeezed the air from his lungs. He widened his eyes at the other boy, for the first time noticing that Lucian was wearing the same school uniform as he was, the tie straightened as immaculately as his, and the shirt pressed down so that hardly a wrinkle showed. The only thing that was missing was the gray blazer, which Tyrell could see resting on a book bag on the side of the court’s fence. Another new edition was the pair of jet-black shades covering the stunning crimson eyes of the older boy. Underneath the black surface, Lucian’s eyes seemed to reflect a dark brown light, totally ordinary and nothing worth noting

"As you can tell, I had to show up a bit early to get my new clothes. I figured that if I had to show up early anyway, I might as well show up really early and get in some more playing time before class starts," Lucian explained, glancing from Tyrell to the girl companion at his shoulder. "So who’s your friend?"

"Oh, this is my cousin, Angelique. She wanted to come with me this morning so I said she could, I hope it’s all right," Tyrell introduced his silver-haired cousin, moving to the left so that Lucian could see her better, now that she wasn’t cowering behind his back. "She’s kind of shy around people."

"Don’t worry about it. Hey Angelique, do you want to play too?" Lucian offered as Angelique stepped forward and looked from him to Tyrell who was rolling the ball in his hands.

"Maybe later. Hmm, you must really like basketball to want to get here so early just to have time to play," she spoke to the red-haired boy as he shook his head.

"Well, I don’t absolutely love the game. But it is great for getting rid of stress."

"Yeah, like entering a new school, right Lucian?" Tyrell added, shifting the basketball so that it was under his arm.

"I guess there’s that...among other things," Lucian replied as his voice trailed off after the last phrase. Then he shot up his head and looked at Tyrell impatiently. "So Tye, are we going to talk, or are we going to play?"

"Go easy on me, Lucian. Remember I’m just a beginner."

"No way, pal. You’re not getting off that easily. When you play me, you play for real."

Angelique leaned against the fence as the two youths ran out to the court and started to begin their game. Lucian dribbled the ball against the blacktop, enticing Tyrell to make a lunge for it. Of course, when Tyrell did make a halfhearted break for the ball, Lucian spun around him and sprinted down the court, leaving Tyrell furious. Minutes later, both youths were enjoying themselves immensely as the girl observed them in concern. For some reason, she didn’t feel right whenever Lucian was too close to her. It was almost as if she could sense that something was odd about the boy, not necessarily a bad feeling but a cause for consideration nonetheless. She would have to keep a tight watch on Tyrell if he was going to continue to associate himself with this unusual youth.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Classes went by in their mundane fashion as Tyrell watched the clock, anxiously waiting the bell to chime for lunch. Though he was in his favorite class at the moment, Art II, Tyrell couldn’t wait to meet up with the rest of his buddies at lunch and tell them about the great game he had played with Lucian. The scored had ended in Lucian’s favor at about 15 to 10, but it still had been one hell of a game. Lucian was really good and it was fun to watch him race the ball down the court and deliver shots from just beyond the half court line. He had seen Maren play a few times and though he had always believed that Maren had his own natural talent for the game, he was starting to realize that Maren didn’t even come close to possessing the same agile skill as the red-haired youth. Overall, the game had done a fair job of rejuvenating him and had seriously helped him clear his thoughts long enough to last through class for the rest of the afternoon.

As his instructor started to hand out the sketching assignment that was due by the end of the week, Tyrell heard the bell sound signaling lunch. He took his paper from the teacher and placed it inside his art folder, hurrying out the door and barreling his way through the clumps of students making their way toward the cafeteria. In the midst of his pushing, Tyrell glimpsed Nadia carrying her lunch through the hall. He fought his way over to her and invited her to join him at his usual table. Nadia agreed joyfully, and the pair walked into the cafeteria, stepping past the lunch line to take their seats at the closest table.

Nadia began to enjoy her peach slices as Tyrell opened his art folder to study the week’s project. He had a little time to waste before Cyrus and Maren showed up since Maren was always getting held after for being disruptive in class. He didn’t even have to talk that much, just once was enough to warrant ten minutes worth of discussion for a youth who was notorious for starting trouble. Being the loyal friend, Cyrus would wait by the side of the door until Maren stormed out, cursing about how the teachers had it in for him just because he tried to be creative once in a while. It never occurred to him that such things as etching archaic symbols into his desk or writing provocative essays in his notebook would be seen as means for concern.

Suddenly, Nadia dropped her fork on the table with a resounding clang as Tyrell looked up from his folder to see her staying at the table across from her in absolute shock. Tyrell’s eyebrows raised as he realized that she was staring at the form of Dominic scribbling something into a pocket notebook. Unsure of what about the older boy could have caused such a reaction from the dark-haired girl; Tyrell turned to her and tapped her shoulder.

"Hey Nadia, what’s up?" he asked as the girl’s blue-violet eyes widened and she grabbed his wrist.

"Dominic!" she yelled at Tyrell who stared at her with total perplexity.

"Do you know him?" Tyrell pried, flickering his eyes over the silent youth that didn’t seem to have noticed the pair talking about him. He was too busy bearing down on the point of his pencil to almost drive the words into his notebook. Tyrell couldn’t help wondering what he was so concerned with writing, but he knew he had other problems to deal with at the moment.

Nadia released the boy’s wrist and allowed her eyes to drop to the trembling hands on her knees. "Yes, I know him, he’s my brother."

"Is that a bad thing?" Tyrell pressed, trying to understand what the girl was getting at.

"I haven’t seen him in four years."

"Did your parents split up?"

"Yes, but Dad didn’t take Dominic. Uncle Aiden did," Nadia explained, raising her eyes to Tyrell so that he could see they were filling with tears.

"Aiden?" murmured the boy as the name struck a familiar cord in his memory. Aiden was the name of the man in his dream. That would make Dominic his nephew and proved that Dominic really was the boy from his dream. Maybe Nadia could tell him what had happened to her brother to change him from that jubilant child to this solemn teenager. "What happened to Aiden?"

"I’m not sure. I promised Dominic I wouldn’t talk about it with anyone. All I know is that after he...was gone, Dominic ran away from home and we haven’t seen him since he was fourteen years old."

"I don’t understand. Why did your uncle take your brother? Where was your father?"

"I’m not supposed to talk about it. I’m sorry Tyrell. My brother told me not to," Nadia refused, sinking her fingers into her palm so that they left pink half-moon impressions in her skin.

"Oh. Well, you and your brother must have been close, I guess?" Tyrell continued, holding Nadia’s hand in his in an attempt to calm her down.

"Yes. He was like my best friend. We always did everything together."

"Then, you should go talk to him. I’m sure he’d be delighted to speak with the sister that he hasn’t seen in four years. It might bring him out of the slump that he appears to be in right now," Tyrell encouraged pulling Nadia to her feet and nudging her toward the table where Dominic sat.

"Oh I couldn’t! What if he doesn’t want to see me? He hasn’t even written me a letter in all this time. Maybe he no longer cares about me," the girl resisted the green-eyed boy, trying to pull away from him. There was a deep sadness in her voice as she glanced toward her long-lost sibling.

"Don’t be ridiculous! Kat pisses me off on a daily basis and I’m sure if we hadn’t spoken in four years, I’d be thrilled to see her again. Now go over there before he decides to leave," the boy insisted half-dragging the reluctant girl toward the other table.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Hearing her protests, Dominic looked up and his eyes wavered as they fell upon the young girl with raven hair. He shut his notebook as if in a trance and stood up to get a better view of the creature that stood before him. She hadn’t changed a bit in his eyes. Her blue-violet eyes still shone with compassionate and her face was still graced with its gentle radiance. The only thing off was the hesitant look in her eyes as she gazed down at him.

"Nadia?" Dominic whispered listlessly as the girl dashed over to his side and threw her arms around his waist, burying her head in his shirt.

"Dominic, I knew you would remember! I’m so glad to see you again! Where have you been all this time?" Nadia gushed as ecstatic tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Nadia, I wasn’t expecting to find you here," Dominic stated with as little emotion as he could, despite the exhilarated feeling that threatened to swallow his entire being. "I’m glad to see you’re doing okay."

He wanted to hug her back and tell her how much he thought of her each day and how she was always on his mind, but something prevented this rush of feelings. A vague feeling of apprehension began creeping down his back as Nadia embraced him even tighter. He felt dizzy and needed to get away. Something about all this was just wrong. Nadia shouldn’t be here. She shouldn’t be anywhere near him. That was his reason for not seeking her out in all this time. Wasn’t it?

"This is great, Dominic! Now you can come back home, and you and me and Atina can be a family again. Just like before," his sister babbled as she lifted her head and stared into his darkened eyes. "Dominic, what’s the matter?"

Her brother shook his head and pried her arms from around his waist, holding her wrist in his hand. "No, Nadia. I can’t go home," he replied in a stern voice.

"But why ever not? Atina would still love you. I still love you. We want you to come back. I’ve missed you Dominic!" Nadia pleaded, her heart sinking at her sibling’s words.

"I don’t belong there. Not anymore," Dominic explained, dropping his tone to a low whisper.

"Of course you do, Dominic! I..."

"I said I’m not coming home! Now go away!" the older boy bellowed, shoving her away from him as the rest of the cafeteria looked up to see what all the commotion was about. Nadia slumped to the floor while Tyrell charged up behind her. He had seen enough of Dominic’s attitude and was about to put a stop to this.

"Hey! You have no right to..." Tyrell began as Dominic glared at him with murderous eyes, stopping him in mid-sentence.

"Get out of my face, Tyrell! What have I told you about messing around in affairs that don’t concern you? My family life is none of your damned business! Now if you want to help, get Nadia and get out of here before you make things worse," he snarled at the younger boy, causing Tyrell to scramble back in fear. The green-eyed youth swallowed a breath of air and then glared right back at Dominic.

"You shouldn’t talk to your sister like that! She cares about you and you should be grateful!" he shouted into the other’s face as the dark-haired boy stared at him in contempt.

"I’m warning you, Tyrell. Stay out of this or you’re going to get hurt!"

"Is that a threat?" Tyrell snapped as Nadia leapt to her feet to hold the younger boy back.

"Let’s go, Tyrell. Dominic obviously doesn’t want to talk right now," she urged, pulling Tyrell back by his shirt. Tyrell cursed and shot Dominic a hate-filled glance.

"I don’t wish to make a scene, Dominic. But I want you to know that I don’t care what you think of me, I’m still better than you’ll ever be because I give a damn about those who care about me."

"Back off! A weakling such as you could never understand!" the other boy sneered as he snatched his belongings from the table and stalked out of the cafeteria amid the puzzled faces of the rest of the students and staff.

Tyrell just watched him go as he patted Nadia’s shoulder in a comforting manner and hissed at himself for ever thinking that Dominic wanted to help him. Some Guardian. He couldn’t even control himself from lashing out at his charge. How was Dominic supposed to protect him from the Chimera if he didn’t even seem to care about what he thought?

*~*~*~*~*~*

The afternoon sun brushed across Dominic’s school uniform as he stood in the school parking lot, recalling what a mess he had made during lunch. He would really have to work on his anger management. Tyrell was going to make it even more difficult for him to keep an eye on him now that he didn’t trust him. To make matters worse, he had hurt Nadia with his harsh words and had made her cry, something he had promised himself that he would never do again. But how was he supposed to explain to her that his presence was just a constant danger around her? She couldn’t possibly comprehend the curse that had been placed on his soul at birth. So he had forced himself to push her away, willing to use any means necessary of keeping the young girl from growing close to him, as she had been when they were children.

Sighing, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out the notebook that he had been writing in during lunch. He flipped through a few pages and then began to jot some more words down on the paper. As he was writing, he thought he heard a sound a little ways off. He jerked up his head to see Erik leaning against the fence and watching Tyrell play basketball with another youth who was too far away for Dominic to get a good look. But the one thing that he was sure of was that Erik was definitely gazing at Tyrell with the calculating eyes of a sniper. Something about the blond unnerved Dominic and made him anxious to see Tyrell leave.

When the young boy finally did wave goodbye to his play buddy and rush off behind Carthala, Dominic noticed Erik making an attempt to follow his charge. Not wasting a moment, the dark-haired youth raced over to the blond and crunched his foot down on a crumpled piece of paper that was littering the ground. As he expected, Erik turned from Tyrell to see where the noise had come from and the pair of eyes met in a flash of recognition. Steady chestnut bore into flaring amethyst as Erik leaned against the wall of the school for a moment, regarding the older youth with interest. Then he sprang from the wall and dashed off into the back soccer field of Carthala. Dominic swore under his breath and charged after him, determined to discover what Erik wanted with Tyrell.

Having reached the far end of the field, Erik whirled back around to Dominic, panting in great heavy sobs. "What do you want Solanis?" he roared, balancing himself on the balls of his feet so he could flee again if the situation called for it.

"You’ve interfered for the last time, Erik. This time I intend to put a stop to it. I won’t allow you to endanger Tyrell or Kathryn," snarled Dominic, standing a few feet across from his adversary. Erik rose his head haughtily, sliding off his dark shades and placing them in his pocket.

"Yeah? Well, this time your pathetic wolf transformation won’t be able to bail you out of trouble. I’ll finish you now," retorted the blonde, whipping back his short golden mane.

"I accept your challenge."

"Good, bring it on!" howled Erik, brandishing a small shiny magnum from his jacket pocket. Dominic rolled to the side, bringing out a switchblade, just as the other boy fired. Erik growled in frustration and then cocked his weapon to prepare for another shot.

"A gun? How pathetic!" chastised Dominic, rolling his amethyst eyes in amusement. With incredible speed, the black-haired youth lunged at Erik, throwing his legs out from under him, and causing the rifle to misfire in the confusion. Dominic slammed Erik on his back and closed his fingers around the wrist of his gun hand in a tight grip. "I thought you had more class than this, Erik." He grinned in contempt as he brought the hand down against the ground with a painful smash. The blonde roared in pain as he saw the older boy bring his switchblade toward him.

Suddenly Erik drove his knee into the other boy’s stomach causing him to release his wrist in surprise as well as double over. Chestnut eyes flared in anger as the youth then delivered a spinning kick to Dominic’s hand, throwing the blade out of his reach.

"Bastard!" snarled the dark-haired youth as he immediately leapt to his knees, oblivious to the pain. He flashed the blonde a look of pure hatred before breaking into a full tilt sprint toward his knife. Erik brought his weapon back into range and leveled his sight on the other boy’s head.

"Say goodbye Solanis," he uttered coldly as he pulled the trigger sending the bullet hurtling toward Dominic’s skull. But somehow Dominic had managed to spring into the air the second he fired. The bullet buried itself into his lower shoulder as he flipped over to land right next to Erik. "How in the hell?" the blonde gasped in horror. "It’s not possible! There’s no way I could have missed a perfect shot like that."

Before he could move, Dominic shot his hand out and grabbed Erik’s throat in a viselike hold. He dug his fingers into the soft flesh as the blonde slowly moved his magnum toward the older boy’s side.

"Well, I sure as hell can’t miss this time," he growled, pulling back the hammer and resting his finger on the trigger. "It’s over."

Without warning, the dark-haired boy whipped out his other hand and snatched the weapon from his fingers with unbelievable speed.

"You were right about one thing, Erik, this is over," he threatened, pointing the weapon at the blonde’s chest.

Erik’s eyes narrowed and he swallowed the huge lump in his throat. He would not show his fear to this heartless bastard. Dominic smiled evilly and pulled the trigger. *Click* A dry sound from the barrel, telling the pair that the chamber was empty. Dominic cursed and switched chambers, preparing to fire another round.

"What the..." fumed Dominic as the gun was kicked out of his hands by a furious Erik. The magnum flew from his fingers and careened through the air. In a flash, the blonde was vaulting after it. "Shit!" the violet-eyed youth swore as he quickly whirled around to see Erik fly by. He yanked his switchblade from the ground and then he too lunged for the weapon. But Erik’s kick had been a little high and incredibly strong, sending the gun flying in a huge arc.

Enraged, Dominic slashed at the blond boy with his blade, tearing into the shoulder a bit. A thin rivulet of blood trickled down his arm as the older boy readied for another strike. As he did, his sharp amethyst eyes caught the gun plummet from the air.

There was a flash of dark red as a hand ripped the weapon from the sky in mid-flight. The hand whipped the gun back toward the dueling pair almost the second it made contact with the deadly device. Everything seemed to move in slow motion around Dominic as he heard the click of a chamber loading and then an ear-shattering bang. He barely had time to turn his head before the bullet sliced by, barely connecting with his temple.

Blood streamed down from the flesh wound, as Dominic stood stunned for a second. It had only grazed him. He was still alive. First, he’d discover who fired, then he’d finish with Erik. He raised a hand to feel the warm liquid flowing from the side of his head as he spun around to face his new attacker. The blood felt sticky between his fingers as he wiped them across his wound.

"If I were you, I’d stop this pointless violence right now!" ordered a voice with a thick yet soft tenor to it. Dominic focused his eyes to see the barrel of the gun still leveled at his skull. Behind the dangerous item, he saw a pair of midnight black sunglasses underneath a few loose strands of blood-red hair. The hair spilled out all around the back, separated into a tight ponytail at the top back of the neck and ending just beneath the shoulder blades. The owner of the red mane was clad in the traditional uniform of Carthala, though oddly enough it appeared to be the boy’s version of the design. Currently, the personage was located on the flat surface of the soccer field's bleachers.

Dominic’s first reaction was to discern who this audacious intruder was. Furthermore, why the hell she had decided to interrupt his fight, a rather dangerous action indeed. He flung his bloodstained hand down to his side and glared ominously at the stranger. "Bitch! Who the hell do you think you are?"

"BITCH?! I’m not a girl! How dare you insult me after I just spared your life? Now, leave this place at once before I decide to revoke my offer. I will not have you endangering the Keys," assailed the stranger, ripping off his glasses with one hand, while still managing to keep the magnum aimed toward Dominic. The black-haired youth gasped for a second as the action revealed the intruder’s startling pair of crimson eyes rivaling the color of his dark hair.

Erik noticed his opponent was too busy arguing with this newcomer to prepare himself for an attack. He rushed Dominic, knocking him to the ground with a loud thud, and struggled to wrench his blade away from him. The older boy had been too preoccupied with the new boy and had no time to defend himself against the attack. With a victorious shout, Erik pulled the switchblade from his grasp, and held it aloft.

"Aww! Not you too!" groaned the red-eyed stranger as he spun around and fired a shot into the knife, the impact forcing the weapon out of the blonde’s hand. Erik cried out in surprise then turned around to face his attacker, clutching his throbbing hand.

"Get out of here! This doesn’t concern you," he spat, leaping to his feet and boring his chestnut eyes deep into the garnets of the other.

"The hell it doesn’t. Don’t you realize you’re fighting by a school? The kids could step out and be caught in your stupid crossfire!"

"We don’t need to listen to this asshole, we have a fight to finish!" roared Dominic, rolling back to grab the fallen knife and then leapt into the blonde, all in one swift motion. He slashed at the younger boy with the blade again, feeling his knife cut into the gray blazer he wore as well as slicing his upper chest just below the neckline.

"Why can’t you just listen!" yelled out the stranger, completely irritated with the stubbornness of the duelers. He sighed, lowered his aim, and then fired the gun again as Dominic pulled back his arm to attack Erik once more. This time the bullet hit him high in the right shoulder, mere inches away from his throat. He groaned inwardly in pain and brought his unoccupied hand to his shoulder, pressing hard against the wound, hoping to stop the coursing blood and perhaps the aching pain that had begun to spread across his upper body. The pain only augmented the previous throbbing that still bothered him from his last fight with Lionelle, making it almost impossible to raise the arm. Meanwhile, the red-eyed boy cocked the gun again and leveled the barrel straight at Dominic’s skull.

"Hah! I know you’re bluffing, you haven’t been able to get a decent shot in yet," taunted the dark-haired youth, raising his violet eyes to the other boy while gripping his blade even tighter.

"Don’t flatter yourself. Those first two were warnings. This time, I won’t miss," laughed the boy holding the gun. The laughter was unusual sounding in that it was soft and had the odd semblance to a cat’s throaty purr.

Erik used his pause to grab his arm and pull the blade down to him. In fury, Dominic snatched the inside of his jacket and yanked him upward. While the blonde struggled to break free of his hold, Dominic grinned triumphantly and then started to bring the blade down on his chest. As he did, Erik gave one last final tug backward, tearing himself away from the older boy, and ripping open his jacket in the process. The momentum of his escape threw him backward and he collapsed to the ground. Dominic was about to rush him again but as he did, he noticed something quite different about his fallen opponent.

"A girl? You’re a girl!" he gasped in disbelief, noting the blonde’s heaving chest underneath the white fabric.

"What?! A chick? You attacked a chick! What a bastard! Wait a sec, didn’t I shoot her. Shit!" sputtered the red-eyed boy, hearing the shout from Dominic. He leapt down from his position on the bleachers. Still, chuckling, he began to approach the pair, the violet-eyed youth still too stunned to notice.

Incensed by her embarrassment, Erik grasped the left side of his or actually her jacket and yanked it to the side, covering up her chest. She scrambled to her feet, still gripping the fabric tightly and shot a hate-filled look to the two boys staring at her. By now, the stranger had reached them and was standing a few yards from Dominic.

"Hey girlie, sorry for shooting you. I was just trying to get you to stop fighting and you know you really did look like a guy. Anyway I..." babbled the red-haired boy, spreading his hands outward in attempt to placate the blonde.

He was cut off in mid-sentence as Erik raced toward him and spun around, kicking the gun out of his hand, with a skilled side maneuver.

"What the hell!"

Almost an instant later, Erik caught the gun as it plummeted straight down and whirled around, training its sites on both of the boys systematically. "So I’m a girl. So what! That doesn’t mean I still can’t drop you both right here!" she screamed jerking her weapon from side to side. Tears of frustration built up in her deep brown eyes and she couldn’t hold them back as they streamed down her cheeks. She aimed the gun right at Dominic’s chest as the boy stared at her, thrown by the events of the last few minutes. Her finger rested on the trigger as her hand started shaking. She squeezed her eyes shut as the shaking got worse and worse. "I hate you! I hate you! I swear I’ll kill you, Solanis. I will kill you!" she howled at him in her misery, then broke into a full sob.

"Whoa! Chill out! Let’s put the gun away now," cajoled the stranger, slowly stepping toward the hysterical girl.

Erik screamed and fired a shot at him, but it went wild and merely grazed his arm. She backed up as he turned his head to the tiny mark on his arm. Trying to stop her crying, she turned the gun back on Dominic, her frigid eyes, wavering as she pulled the trigger. *Click* That same empty chamber. The gun was out of ammunition. "No!"

Crystalline tears still pouring from her chestnut orbs, she moaned in agony, and then flung the gun away. "If I ever see you again Solanis, I’ll rip out your heart!" she wailed. Then, in desperation, she whirled around and raced down the street as fast as she could, still clutching her jacket around her.

"Wait!" called out the new boy, holding out one hand to grab her as she tore down the street. He shrugged and then turned back to Dominic, smiling blankly. "Guess you’re ‘bout as clueless, as me, huh?"

Seeing his opponent gone, Dominic’s amethyst eyes darkened as they fell upon the form of the laughing boy. Still holding the knife, he lunged forward.

"Hey!" exclaimed the other boy, leaping back from the strike, and then vaulting over the black-haired youth’s back. He landed on the ground in a solid kneel, then bunched up his leg muscles again, finally springing back onto the bleachers. Dominic snarled in fury and spun around to glare at the boy.

"Get back here, you damn coward!"

"Me? A coward? Never! But I do not wish to fight you here. As I said before, I couldn’t risk endangering the Keys. But perhaps we might arrange another meeting later?"

"What the hell do you know about the Keys?"

"That’s none of your business, now is it? But, if you still want to finish this, I’m sure we can determine the proper meeting place. Then we shall see who is the coward," proposed the stranger, turning halfway around so that he could jump to the ground on the other side of the bleachers.

"First tell me who you are!" inquired Dominic as the boy swerved his head to meet his stare. His blood-red eyes bore deep into the violet pools of the other. For a second, Dominic felt himself drowning in the gaze, but he still kept his eyes focused on the crimson orbs.

"We’ll save the introductions for later. That is, if you survive. I look forward to seeing you again. Testing your skill against mine should prove to be quite the challenge." The red-haired youth laughed again, the soft purring surrounding the pair. His eyes seemed to sparkle with excitement as he grinned, then leapt off the metal and vanished amongst the structures on the other side.

As he disappeared, Dominic raised his hand to his bleeding head again, rubbing against the throbbing side with his fingers. He looked down at the red on his hand indifferently and smiled. "Well, if you wish to challenge me, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed."

*~*~*~*~*~*