Smoke billows into the arena in waves of pale grey. I keep thinking it will clear out, but it never does. Instead, it is accompanied by high pitched thin whistles, and booms that sake the ground beneath my feet.

People are rushing all around me, trying to stay clear of wreckage raining down from the sky in miniature fireballs. Gunshots cause my ears to ring, and the smoke clouds my vision. An acrid smell of sulfur mingles with blood, causing my sense of smell to go haywire. Even the ground seems to be soaked with blood beneath my feet.

My feet. I stare at my feet, not really believing that both are there. Suddenly, dirt rises up and covers my legs from sight, and I lose focus of what I was thinking about.

"Get down! What the hell do you think you're doing here? Get your gun and let's go!" A boy comes barreling out of nowhere and knocks me down, right out of the path of a large piece of shrapnel.

"What's going on? What-" I stutter, but before I can get in another word, the boy shuts me off.

"Well, there goes your gun, missy. At least it wasn't you. That would've been hard to explain to the General. 'I found the girl, but then she was exploded by a bomb. I have her gun though.' He would've freaked out, yessir. Thank goodness I rescued you."

He stops for a minute, then remembers my question.

"How d'you not know what's going on? We're in the middle of a war. Have been for about," he looks at a rather large watch on his wrist, "Seven years, eight in a couple of months. Did you not hear the bombs or screams all this time? How does one randomly end up in the middle of a war?"

Perplexed, I look around at the flame and soot streaked dusk. I could've sworn that I was somewhere else right before this. Where, I can't say, but I know I wasn't in a war-torn area. Or, maybe I was. It's hard to tell. All I know is that there wasn't any bombs. All I remember is that I didn't have something that I have now.

"I honestly don't know. Where exactly are we?" The boy, who was previously trying to walk away, straightens his camouflage hat and looks over the horizon.

"We are right by the ocean. I'd tell you the country, but frankly, I can't recall it's name. All I know is that we came here on a tiny little fishin' boat and a war sparked up upon are arrival. I can't even recall how it really started. It was like our arrival just exploded the whole country. And now here we are, in the middle of a war."

I roll my eyes. Like that answer actually helped.

I make sure the coast is clear, then I walk over in the opposite direction of the flashes. The boy follows me, wiping sweat off his forehead. "Where do you think you're going? There ain't anywhere but here."

I stop in my tracks, "There has to be somewhere but here. I don't want to get caught up in a war, fighting for a cause that I don't even know about. I don't want to get injured or even killed!"

"We are trying to keep the Dark Ones out. I would've thought you'd known that though, seeing as you'd have to have been here the whole time." He says this so matter-of-factly, and I almost feel bad for having no idea as to who the Dark Ones are or even how I got here.

"Who are the Dark Ones?" I look down at my feet, embarrassed for even having to ask.

He scoffs, furthering my embarrassment, "The Dark Ones are the cause of the war. They want only destruction and harm. When we came here, they exploded and attacked us, trying to split us up and make us fight ourselves, but once that didn't work, they attacked us and have been ever since." He smiles like he just won an award for telling me a backstory.

A bomb falls right behind me, barely missing me. It doesn't miss the boy, though. He lays on the ground, his legs blown off. "They got me this time," He smiles a sad smile, "It was very nice to meet you, my friend."

Even though I barely knew him, a tear rolls down my cheek. I stoop over and close his eyes. When I stand back up, more tears are running down my face. I run away from the battle ground and don't stop running until I reach a small cabin.

"Hello? Is anyone there? Please, I need help. There's a war going on and I need help and a home." I pound on the door, each knock accompanied by the ring of a gunshot or boom of a bomb.

"Please?" I sink down to the ground. In a matter of minutes, I've been stranded in the middle of a battlefield, found a friend, lost that friend to a bomb only minutes later, and have had my whole world turned upside down.

"Please?" I repeat my plea. I need to go inside. I don't know what I'll do if I can't. I need to get the gunshots out of my ears and the smoke out of my eyes.

Finally, the door opens. And in the doorway is my mother.

"Mom? What's going on? Where am I? Why is there a war going on?" I push out all the questions I tried to ask the boy.

She looks at me lovingly, "My dear Addison. There is so much I need to tell you in so little time. First off, I love you. I need you to know that. Second, remember your fight song." She pulls me into a tight hug. She then glances at a large wall clock, and flinches.

"I cannot prepare you for what is going to happen next. Remember the two things I told you. I love you, and your fight song. There is so much I need to say, but there is no time."

She pushes me away and out the door, back into the smoke.

"I love you Addison! Run far away. I love you." She screams at the top of her lungs. Tears begin to fall down my face again, creating clean little paths down my soot-stained face.

I try to choke out an 'I love you' but it's overpowered by the sound of the house exploding. All that comes out of my mouth is a squeak. She's gone.