"Corey!" Twelve-year-old Dan shouted as he was being pushed around by bullies.

They were at an unfamiliar place, a construction site that had been abandon long before that point. There were many large hills, and it was known to be the dirt bike practice area.

And where all the bullies hung out.

Young Corey attempted to sit up from where he laid on the dusty ground, but it was no use. Every time he would try, the boy hovering over him would just stomp his large foot on Corey's chest, pushing him back down.

Corey did not like this.

He attempted to sit up again, and when the older boy went to stomp on him, he craned his neck towards the boy's leg, and bit him.

As the boy cried out in pain, Corey seized his opportunity and stood up. The other four bullies, now drawn away from Dan, slowly walked towards Corey with menacing looks and gruesome intentions.

"Hey! You jerk faces!" A male voice called out from behind a dirt hill. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size!"

The bullies squared up, ready for action. When nothing happened, the one Corey had bitten yelled, "Have you already chickened out? Show yourself!"

Immediately after saying this, a young girl ran up behind him and slammed a frying pan to his head, knocking him out.

Soon after, five other kids ran over, holding different kitchen utensils in their hands. And after getting forcefully smacked a few times, the remaining bullies picked up their unconscious friend and scurried off.

The girl with the frying pan laughed as they ran away. "Theo! They're gone now! You can come out!"

A fifteen-year-old boy stepped out from behind one of the hills. He had shaggy, light brown hair, and the clearest blue eyes any of them had ever seen.

The girl with the frying pan also had those same colored eyes, and light blond hair that she flipped over her shoulder when turning towards Dan and Corey. They stood there awkwardly, wondering what to do next.

"Hey," the girl called out to them. "My name's Ava, what's yours?"

It took them a moment, but it was Corey who finally spoke. "I'm Corey, and that's Dan." He said.

"Don't hurt us!" Dan suddenly shouted.

Theo chuckled a little from where he stood. "Now, if we wanted to hurt you we already would have." He said this while walking towards Ava. When he reached her, she handed the frying pan to him, and he menacingly waved it in front of Dan and Corey's faces.

"So this is what's gonna happen." He continued. "You're gonna give me all the money that you have, or else."

"Or else what!" Corey shouted, squaring up.

Theo held his glare for a minute, before cracking a smile.

"I was just messing with you!" He shouted, laughing. "Man, I like you kid! I like you a lot."

Corey continued to keep his stance, before Ava walked up and playfully smacked his chest. "No need to be so serious Mr. Big Bad Wolf. Loosen up!"

Corey relaxed, and from that moment forward, he was desperately in love with Ava Marks.

A girl with fiery red hair stepped forward. "Ava, it's only a matter of time before those jerks come back with their friends. We should go."

"Why?" Ava asked. "We can take 'em!"

"I know." The girl responded. "But what if they see Theo?"

The rest of the kids shot nervous glances at each other.

Ava nodded. "Let's go."Before she took off, she turned around and said, "You can come with us, Dan. You too Mr. Wolfy." Then she started running towards the woods, where the rest of them were already waiting.

Excitement filled Corey's eyes. "Let's go." He said, hoping Dan would just agree and not chicken out.

He should have known better.

Dan violently shook his head. "No way. There's no way I'm going in there."

"Please?" Corey begged. "I really want to. And I can't go without you, my mom will get mad. Please."

Dan shook his head again, and Corey sighed with disappointment as the other children disappeared from view.

"Fine." Corey stated. "I'll go myself."

He started walking away, and Dan grabbed his arm, making him stop.

"What about your mom? She'll be mad if you leave me alone." Dan argued.

"Not if you're with someone else she won't." Corey replied. "The elementary school is letting out soon. You can walk home with my sister, she adores you."

Then he started off towards the woods again.

"But, Corey!" Dan called out. "You can't leave me by myself! Fine! I'll come. But if I hear one scary sound, I'm leaving."

Corey smiled with victory as Dan jogged up to him.

After wandering for a few minutes, the two boys found a little house that was up against a giant grey wall.

"I've always wondered what that wall is." Dan stated before Ava rushed out and greeted them with a smile.

It was a small shack-like place, that was just big enough to fit all of them in there. The floor was just dirt, and many chairs were scattered all over. Three of the four walls were covered in paintings and drawings of stick figures and other childish things, including markings on one wall that recorded heights. The only wall that was bare was the grey one, that was made out of brick.

"Ava," Corey began to ask after he had sat down in the little home. "Why does Theo need to be hidden from the bullies?"

Instead of just answering, she replied with a question. "Have you ever seen this wall before?" She asked, gently laying her hand on the wall that was different from the rest.

"Yes, I have. But that doesn't answer my question." He replied.

"Well, it should." The girl with the red hair interjected.

When both Dan and Corey gave her blank stares, Theo joined the conversation.

"Now, come on. Are you saying that you two haven't heard of the Wicked Side?"

"Is that a...gang or something?" Corey asked.

"Kind of." Another boy answered. "I heard that they fight over there, for fun!"

"And that they sacrifice the wimps of the town by burning them!" Another girl added.

Before everyone could start adding comments, Theo interjected. "Whoa, guys. Instead of scaring them, why don't we explain what it is first."

As everyone began to settle down again, Theo sat up straighter, ready to tell a story.

"About thirty years ago," he started. "There was an awful war. A man, Wicked, wanted to create a place where all of the tough and strong people went when they turned a certain age. He was determined to make it happen- he thought it was a genius idea- but when the world officials said no, he went to war with them. Obviously, they won, and this wall was built to separate our world, from the Wicked Side."

"But what does that have to do with hiding you?" Corey asked.

"Because," Ava answered. "Every year, twenty-four fifteen-year-olds are sent there, and some of the jerk bullies that live here think they have to prove themselves."

"By beating up everyone else that's fifteen." The girl with the red hair finished.

There was a moment of silence before Dan asked, "So when does this choosing thing usually happen?"

"Tomorrow." Ava answered, her eyes filling up with tears.

Theo walked over to her and pulled her into a hug, resting his head on top of her's.

They went outside, and that's when everyone else introduced themselves.

The first speak up was the girl with the red hair, now known as Penelope. "I'm Penelope." She started. "Um...that's Shawn." She pointed to a boy with long, bleach blond hair and green eyes with yellow specks in them. He gave them a small smile. "Those two twins over there are named Alyssa and Jane." They both had brown eyes, a straight nose, and dark blond hair that was shoulder length. "And last, but not least,  Mark." He was wearing all black and had a hoodie over his dark brown hair. He had green eyes, and Dan thought that he kind of looked like Corey.

Right after she spoke the last word, Ava and Theo came back into the house.

"So," Theo said. "How about we properly introduce ourselves?"

"Already did." Penelope replied, a smile on her face.

He was taken aback for a moment, then also grinned ear to ear like a five year old.

"Great." He said.

Then he walked out the door, holding it open for everyone else. "Dan, Corey, I have something to show you." After everyone followed, he began walking backwards, saying, "You're gonna love this."

~

~Dan~

"You're gonna love this." Audrey said to me as she stopped in front of a large door in the dim hallway.

She quickly opened the door to reveal a humongous library full of...well...books.

"My dad's a bookworm." She said, smiling.

"I'll say." I replied, looking around.

A girl with straight brown hair sat on a couch reading.

She looked up and adjusted her glasses, scowling.

"Get out." She said.

"Nice to see you too, Hailey." Audrey replied.

She turned to me.

"Hailey is my cousin." Audrey explained.

"And I hate you." Hailey added, returning to her book.

Audrey spun around. "Why are you even here?"

"Because I can do whatever I want. And some idiot burned the library down. Where else am I supposed to go?"

"I don't know." Audrey replied with a sharp edge to her voice. "Why don't you go find a nice cliff somewhere and leap off of it!"

For a moment I thought they were going to fight, but instead, Hailey laughed.

"Okay then, Audrey. Have it your way. But, next time, try being a little nicer to me." She said as she slammed her book closed. "I know a lot about you, and I know that you don't want your father to find out about some of it. I know better than to meddle, but watch your back. One of your secrets might just slip past my lips. Bye!" Then she briskly walked out.

Audrey's face paled, like she knew exactly what Hailey was talking about.

"Audrey," I started, "Are you okay?"

A single tear rolled down her face.

"No, I'm not okay." She replied. Then she pulled me into a hug, resting her head in my shoulder. "There's a lot of things you don't know about me. A lot of bad things." She paused. "So no matter what you hear, will you promise to not think badly of me?"

I waited a second, then softly answered. "I promise."

Just as my answer passed my lips, something whizzed past the back of my head and slammed into the side of one of the book shelfs.

I quickly turned to see what it was.

A dagger was sticking out of the book shelf, the blade halfway through the wood.

Someone had tried to kill me.

And they were standing in the doorway.