The room was spinning, my head thudded against a hard wooden floor.
I struggled to sit up.
"Jerome, don't do this." I croaked, my throat scratchy.
"I...can't...control...it." He managed to say.
He was standing in front of me, with a large rock above his head.
He was about to drop it on me.
"No!" Someone shouted.
Demetri barreled into the room and ran into Jerome.
Jerome was knocked unconscious, and a black cloud came out of his body.
It seeped into Demetri, and he picked up the rock and began walking towards me.
I couldn't stand, my legs were broken.
"Heal!" I said.
I could feel my healing power working, but it wasn't fast enough.
"Mikey!" I yelled. "Mikey!"
He ran into the room.
He shot a fireball at Demetri, who crumbled to the floor.
The black cloud then went to Mikey.
As Mikey was picking up the rock, Isabel came.
There were tears on her face, and I knew that Shandra must not have made it.
She froze him, and the cloud went to her.
When she picked up the rock, I thought of blasting her.
No. I can't.
"Do...it." She said.
I reluctantly made an energy ball in my hand, hesitated, then hurled it at her.
It hit her and she flew into the wall behind her.
The dark cloud began to take it's own form.
A man stood before me, and I knew that it was Rufus.
"Silly girl." He said.
He lifted his hand and the rock floated in the air.
My legs were almost completely healed.
I spotted my necklace a few feet away.
I need my necklace to defeat him.
Now I just needed a distraction.
He moved the rock so it loomed over top of me.
"Your time is up." He said.
He dropped his hand.
And the rock plummeted down.

I woke up screaming.
Shandra came running in.
She turned on the light.
"Al, what's wrong?" She asked.
"Nightmare." I answered.
"Rufus?" She asked.
"Yeah, how'd you know?"
"I get them too. I think he can enter our brains and make us have bad dreams about him."
She sighed.
"I'm okay, you can go if you want." I said.
She nodded, turned off the light, and stepped out closing the door behind her.

Living with the Shadows was fun, but temporary.
They couldn't afford to adopt me, so until someone did, I was with them.
It was scary to think of living with a complete stranger, but I pushed the thought out of my mind.
It was 5:55.
I got up, took a shower, and got dressed.
Now it was 6:30.
I went downstairs and sat on the couch.
Someone knocked on the door right after I sat down.
I stood up and walked to the door.
I opened it.
"Max?" I asked.
He smiled.
"How did you know I was here?" I asked.
"When you said you didn't have parents, I figured that you must have been living with relatives. Then, Demetri said that you were his cousin and, here I am." He shrugged.
"But how'd you know where his house is?" I asked.
He hesitated, then answered. "Demetri and I were really good friends from, well, birth till 6th grade."
"Oh." I said.
"Do you, want a ride?" He asked. "You know what, never mind. I sound stupid. It's just, most people run when they see me, but you, stayed."
I nodded.
"You can come in for a second, I'll ask my Aunt if I can go with you." I smiled.
He stepped inside, and I closed the door.
Shandra was probably still asleep, so I started to go up the stairs.
I opened her door.
"Alice?" She asked.
"I was just wondering if I could ride with a friend to school." I said.
"That's fine." She said.
I closed her door after saying thanks and started back down the stairs.
I could hear shouting as I got closer to the first floor.
I started to run down the stairs.
"Get out!" Demetri yelled.
I ran down to see Mikey with a fireball in his hand, Isabel taking in a breath, Jerome picking up items with his mind, and Demetri was holding Max in midair with an invisible force.
"Fire!" Mikey shouted.
Without thinking, I ran in front of Max and held up my hands.
"Shield!" I yelled.
A clear shield formed in front of me, and soon after they hit it with their powers.
Demetri yelled stop.
Their rapid fire ceased, and Max fell to the ground.
"What is wrong with you!" I yelled at them.
"He is not welcome here." Demetri answered.
I helped Max stand, and looked back at them.
"I can't believe you guys." I spat.
Then I walked out with Max.
He stopped walking.
I looked at him.
"I'm sorry." He said. "What happened between Demetri and me well, you shouldn't have to be involved in our feud."
"It's okay, he shouldn't have attacked you like that." I responded.
"Well, I did kind of attack him first. Except it was almost four years ago."
I gave him a confused look.
"When we stopped being friends, it was after the car crash.
I was going to be adopted soon and I was really upset. I took it out on him. I'd just gotten my first power, mind control. I made him trip and fall and all sorts of stuff. Now, I feel awful; and he won't forgive me."
I felt so bad for him.
"Well, we should get going." He said.
When we pulled into the school, Max leaned over and said,
"I'll make sure to get sent to the counselor's office again so you don't have to wait alone."
"No don-" I said.
He got out of the car while saying.
"Too late! I'm already thinking of something!" And closed his door.
I put my head in my hands, then got out too.
I found Skyler and Zoe and went over to them.
They both looked at Max, who was currently staring down a Senior, then looked at me.
"You rode to school with...him?" Skyler asked.
"Yeah, why?" I answered.
"That kid is bad news." Zoe said.
"I think he's nice." I replied.
They both shook their heads.
"Hey, are you guys going to the end of school dance? It's in a couple of weeks." Skyler suddenly asked.
"End of school? We still have like, three months." I said.
"Three months can go by really fast." Zoe answered.
"Well I'm going with Zeke and I can't wait!" Skyler suddenly sucked in a breath. "We should go dress shopping together!"
Then her and Zoe's faces lit up like Christmas trees.
I rolled my eyes.
"I should ask Jared." Zoe said.
"What if he's not going?" Skyler asked.
"Well how can we figure out without it being suspicious?" Zoe asked.
I spotted Jared across the lawn.
Skyler was about to answer, but I did.
"I can fix that." I said.
They both looked at me with wide eyes.
Then they noticed Jared.
Zoe was about to protest when I shouted out,
"Hey Jared! Come here! I have a question for you!"
He looked over then began to jog toward us.
Zoe looked like she was about to kill me.
"What?" Jared asked.
"Are you going to the dance?" I asked.
"I was planning on it, why?"
I kicked Zoe.
"I wanted to know if you'd go with me." She said.
"Totally!" He answered.
He then went back to his friends.
"Boom." I said.
Then I walked to my locker.
A note fell out of my locker when I opened it.
My blood went cold when I read it.
I got a pencil and my math notebook from my locker.
Then I threw the note away and went to class.
During math, before I had to leave, Demetri was reading my thoughts.
He went pale.
When I walked to the counselor's office, all I could think about was the note.
It said.

I'm back, for good.
And I'm going to end the Shadows once and for all.

-Rufus