Clayton:

                “Shit” I muttered under my breath as I approached the house, the front door hanging open. Ellie was careful, there was no way she would leave the door open like that.

            Cautiously, I set down my bag, hesitating in front of the door. I walked quietly, trying to keep my presence a secret. Blasé couldn’t have been home—no one would just leave the door open like that.

            My heart pounded in fear. Had someone told the government? Did they have Ellie? We had worked so hard to keep her safe…

            I took a deep breath.

            Quitely, I walked in side of the house, my eyes scanning around. There was a strange smell that I vaguely recognized.

            A low growling sounded, causing my head to jerk to the left. A large beast stood there, head dipped down. Its black eyes glared at me, sending a shiver down my spine.

            It was that dog. The one that Ellie had found. I searched my brain, trying to remember the name as I knelt down, sticking my hand out for it to sniff.

            It hesitated, smelling my hand cautiously. The growling increased.

            “Luke never did like you” A voice sounded from behind me. I turned around quickly¸ my eyes wide in surprise. I never thought I’d hear that voice again.

            John smirked at my expression “Well, hey, there buddy”

            “J-John” I stuttered. John was here. In my house. Ellie. “W-what are you doing h-here?”

            John shrugged casually, motioning with his hand. The dog pushed past me to sit at John’s side. He ran a hand down the dog’s fur “Just…stopping by”

            “Where’s Ellie?” I asked, anger seeping through.

            John laughed once “Why don’t you take a look for yourself” He nodded over to the living area, a devilish grin across his lips. Hesitantly, I looked over, to see nothing. I walked over slowly, my eyes landing on a pool of red on the group.

            Fear pulsed through my veins as I took a step closer, my eyes following the trail of blood.

            It led to Ellie.

            Her body was face down, head turned slightly my way. Her arms stuck out in awkward ways, hair covering her face. I knelt down, brushing it away.

            A red circle in the center of her back showed to be the source of the pool of blood. I glanced at her face, the lifeless eyes staring at my feet. There was a glossy coating over her eyes. Her mouth was part slightly, a trickle of red seeping out.

            I closed my eyes, taking a breath to steady myself before I stood up to face John.    

            He hadn’t moved, still leaning against the door frame, that evil smirk across his lips.

            “You killed her” I whispered, quietly “You killed her”

            He grinned triumphantly “Of course I did. She had tricked both of us, Clay, she was using you”

            I looked back at her empty body “You…killed…her”

            John rolled his eyes “Get over her, man, she’s gone. You should thank me for doing this. I saved you the trouble for when you finally realized her true intentions”

            “How could you?” I asked, my vision blurry

            “She had used us, Clayton”

            “How could you, John?!” I screamed as loud as I could “She trusted us! She loved me! I loved her”

            “Love? You loved her?” John asked, taking a step away. He put a hand out to stop his dog from interfering “Is that how bad she messed with you? Love is a weapon the girls use against us. It’s not real; it’s an illusion.”

            “No, you don’t know what love is” I growled “It’s real. It’s deep. And you killed my only love”

            John rolled his eyes “Please, I saved you.”

            “Stop saying that!” I shouted “You bastard! How could you do this to me? I thought we were friends! She never did anything to you!”

            “Yes she did” He growled

            “Four years ago!”

            “Revenge is a dish best served cold”

            I couldn’t help it. As soon as the words left his mouth, I snapped. I ran forward, slamming my fist into his jaw.

How could he say that? Ellie hadn’t done a single thing to him. She had continually been kind regardless of all the cruel things he did to her.

            John stumbled back, his eyes wide in surprise.

            I hooked my fist into his nose, slamming my free hand into his gut a moment later. John doubled over, blood oozing from his noise.

            “Are you serious, Clay?” He asked, holding a hand to defend himself. “I’ve been your friend for years. Are you really going to do this because I killed that leech?”

            “I loved her!” I screamed, hitting him again.

            John backed up towards the hallway, taking off. I chased him, determined to make him hurt just as badly as he’d hurt Ellie. I could hear Luke barking from the hallways, but for whatever reason, he stayed behind.

            John glanced behind himself, his eyes wide as he saw me on his heel. He opened a door, running into the room.

            I followed him as we ran down stairs, into the dark. I could barely make out his silhouette as I jumped, slamming him onto the ground. John landed with a thud on his stomach, me on top.

            I shoved his face into the ground, hissing in his ear “I’m going to make you pay”

            John rolled over, shoving me off him. I kicked him in the gut, watching as he cringed “For every single time you hit her”

            I shoved my heel into his stomach, rejoicing in his cry of pain “For every single thing you called her”

            I nudged his face my way with my foot. His eyes were wide in fear, surprise, shock and much more. Blood flowed rapidly from his noise, too weak to make an attempt to stop it.

            “For killing her”

            Just as I went to smash his nose into his face, John reached out, grabbing my ankle. He twisted so that I fell onto my back. I scrambled up as John stumbled away. He managed to get to the Speed, turning it on.

            A ringing sounded as it started up, the blue light filling in the gap between each pole. The poles took up the entire wall space, emitting the ray that transported you from place to place. John glanced back at me with regret in his eyes.

            “So long, old pal” He said, stepping into the portal. I couldn’t stop myself. I knew it was dangerous, I knew it was wrong. Who knew where I would end up?

            But I launched myself after John, falling into the blue light.

            I could feel my body being separated. It was indescribable. I could feel every molecule separating from each other, every atom falling away. I could feel my body quickly disintegrating as I was transported to wherever John was going.

            It was a rush I was never supposed to feel.

            As quickly as I broke down, I could feel my body piecing everything back together. I could feel my body falling back into place. Everything going where it should be.

            Just as I felt complete, I was forced out of the portal, my feet slamming into solid ground. My knees buckled at the force, sending me forward. I stuck my hands out to brace myself, falling painfully on my wrist.

            “Agh!” I cried out as a crack sounded in my left hand. I rolled to my side, leaning on my back as pain pulsed through my hand.

            I gritted my teeth, trying to fight back another cry. I didn’t know where I was; I had to be careful.

            The sound of a gun turning on blocked all pain. I opened my eyes to see a dark figure standing before me, the red beam of the gun pointed at my chest.

            “What are you doing here, Boy?” A feminine voice asked. It was much higher than Ellie’s.

            “I… I…” I couldn’t speak past the pain “I need help”

            “What are you doing here?” She repeated more urgently

            “He…he killed her…” I tried to explain, knowing she wouldn’t believe me. I was going to die and it was my entire fault “I loved…her. He… I must find him…”

            There was a pause before she answered “I’m going to take the gun down for a moment. You try anything funny and I will shoot you without hesitation. Got that?”

            I nodded weakly “Yes”

            “Close your eyes for a moment”

            I obeyed, not really having much of a choice. After a moment, she spoke again “Alright, you can open them. Nothing funny, Boy”

            I opened them hesitantly, my eyes adjusting to the light. I was staring at the ceiling, too weak to move.

            The girl stood next to me, gun aimed again at my chest “Now tell me, Boy, why are you here?”

            “I went through Speed” I said weakly “Mistake”

            She snorted “Well duh, we designed them so they’d take you idiots to our side”

            I frowned, confused “What?”

            She shook her head, “Never mind, why did you go through the Speed?”

            “He…fucking killed her”

            “Her?”
            “Ellie”

            “Who’s Ellie?”

            My voice cracked as I spoke “She called her my girlfriend”

            “What was she doing on your side?” The girl growled “You fucking kidnap her?”

            “No, she was Awakened” I closed my eyes, her face floating in my mind. I could see her smiling down at me. I couldn’t believe she was gone.

            The girl gasped “You had an Awakened girl on your side and you did nothing about it? I should shoot you now!”

            “Please” I begged “I don’t want to live without her”

            The girl faltered, staring down at me in shock “Did you really just say that?”

            I nodded

            “Well… uh” My comment seemed to have stumped the girl. She glanced around, not sure what to do in the situation “Alright, Boy, here’s the deal. I’m going to let you stay here until you’re ok, then I’ll send you back to your World”

            “No,” I begged

            “Don’t argue with me” She growled at me with intimidation.

            I sighed. I didn’t want to go back to the Boy’s Side. I wanted to be with Ellie. But more importantly, I wanted to kill John.

            There was a scuffling sound. I turned my head, watching as the girl hooked the gun into her holster, kneeling down next to me.

            She reached out cautiously, grabbing my painful wrist. I flinched as she touched it, but let her regardless.

            It didn’t matter what she did now, I didn’t want to live without Ellie. I hoped she killed me. Or at least let me live long enough to make John suffer.

            I wanted to see the whites of his eyes when I killed him.

            I wanted to see his face pleading with me for forgiveness.

            I wanted to be the one to shatter all his hopes.

            “Doesn’t this hurt?” The girl asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. I glanced back at her, studying her face. She cradled my hand delicately so as not to inflict too much pain on me. Her brown hair fell past her shoulders, the ends curling inward. Her eyes were wide, waiting for my response.

            I nodded.

            “I think you may have sprained your wrist.” She said, inspecting it. I glanced down, noticing that it was swelling slightly. “I’m going to go get some ice for this. Don’t try anything funny”

            I nodded, watching as she laid my wrist gently down on the ground next to me. The girl stood up, scurrying up the stairs.

                I had to assume I was in the basement of her house.

                Ellie would be so ashamed of me. She wouldn’t have wanted me to go after John fully knowing that this could be my fatal result.

            But I had to avenge her somehow. Anger took control of me and caused me to act irrationally. I should’ve just let him go into the machine and get stuck on the Girls’ Side.

            Thinking now, who was this girl? Why had she spared me? Was she crazy? And why had she offered to get ice for my sprained wrist.

            Questions ran through my head, keeping pace with thoughts of Ellie.

            A soft pitter-patter of footsteps sounded, signaling the girl was back. As promise, she returned with ice wrapped in a towel, similar to how I had been when I first found Ellie.

            She gingerly wrapped the ice around my wrist “I’ll have to wait until I get a chance to go to the store to get some medicine for this”

            “Thank you” I said quietly.

            She looked up, meeting my eyes “You can’t let anyone know you’re here. I’ll send you back once you’re healed up, but until then you must stay a secret”

            I nodded, knowing exactly why.

            “And you can’t tell anyone you’ve ever been on this side.”

            “I won’t”

            “Good, Boy” She gave me one last look before scanning my body “Is there anything else that hurts?”

            I shook my head no.

            “Alright. I’m going to make sure no one has noticed. Don’t make a sound”

            I nodded, watching as she stood up quietly, disappearing away.

            A few seconds later the light turned off.

*******

Alright guys here's the news. I posted a little bit earlier than previously said. Surprise! Here's the deal, I was reading over all the comments on all the chapters and I realized that there were plenty of people that said some fairly hurtful things to me.

And that was really discouraging.

But then I realized, so many more said so many wonderful things that I had a smile on more than a frown. While still working on my writing skills, it hurts when you hear "This was lame" or "That was a stupid chapter. I don't like what you did to ___ you stink!". And not in the teasing way either. 

But thanks to everyone who's encouraged me. I really hope I don't let you down. So far, though, none of the predictions are even CLOSE to what I've imagined for this story! 

And I promise to try as best as i can to resist the temptations of a sad ending. I think anyone who reads the sequel deserves to have a happy ending for once! You guys are the best ever! Really. 

Also, I need a cover for this. Anyone want to make me one? And thanks to ErinJM for the fantastically amazing cover for WOTS! Its freaking AWESOME honey(:

Another thing, I intend to keep the prequel and the sequel under my accounts [which is always Kissmyoops] so if you see it anywhere else, its being stolen!

Thank you to everyone! Enjoy(: