• tab Abigail Frost had an uncanny way of getting herself into trouble. Starting first at school, then at home, with kids around her town and then, with her own team. Now was no different. Only this time her troubles were in the alley behind her. At least four of them from the local town were lurking in the alley behind her. She had first noticed them tailing her as she has started walking home from soccer practice. She had bent down to take off her other cleat when she had seen them stalk away from the vandalized jungle gym and walk after her. Twenty minutes of debating later she had walked through her usual shortcut and found herself here. She concentrated on making her footsteps light and as quiet as possible as to be able to hear them better. With every step she took her back muscles began to tighten as though they were sensing a fight. She could now hear them laughing and cat calling at her. For a second she considered turning and taking her chances with them, but she wasn’t stupid and every cell in her body was screaming at her to stay calm or run.
    Her heart stopped dead by what she saw in front of her. She couldn’t believe how stupid she had been. She had concentrated so hard on what was behind her she hadn’t even thought of what would be at the end of the path in front of her. Two salutes were hung at the edges of her way out. They didn’t completely block it but she wasn’t about to walk straight into them. One was a bit smaller than the other and seemed to shift its position every few seconds. The other was broader and slumped against the wall.
    Well, she had done it again, pined herself down and put herself in a bad situation. Luckily she wasn’t afraid of guys and new she wasn’t made of glass. She wasn’t weak or slow like most girls and seven years of soccer and taught her how to take a hit. She slowed her pace and rolled her neck to get some of the stiffness out. She smiled to herself. More out of disbelief then humor. Whatever chemicals her body had released into her veins had done their job. She felt almost giddy. She stopped walking and positioned herself so she could see both ends of the alley. She didn’t even see them as people anymore just as objects she needed to get though. She cracked her wrists and waited.
    She swore under her breath. Her head connected hard with concrete. She felt warmth spread across the left side of her face. A hard kick slammed into her ribs and her breath left her in a sharp outburst. She could taste blood in her mouth. She had managed to drop two of them, but now couldn’t even tell where she was let alone fight them off. She prayed for unconsciousness to claim her. Unfortunately that was not to happen. The pain and beating had stopped and for that she was thankful. She tried to lift herself from the ground and stand but someone held her down. She felt something warm on her neck and cheek. That was when unconsciousness decided to show up.
    If she had stayed awake and managed to see through the blood trickling into her eyes. She would have seen the two forms at the end of the street dispatch themselves from the walls and


    Somehow they both managed to un nerve her. Not in the same way and never at the same time. Prince Alex, with his jeering eyes and fluid movements always threw her off. The way he was so sure of himself with the others. His slick words and total disregard for his life added to it. He was even more unsettling when his floppy blond hair fell around his eyes so she couldn’t see them. Yes, she found him quite unsettling and yet thrilled when she felt his eyes on her, excited when she heard the click of his tongue piercing against his teeth. He was almost the complete apposite of the person that made her feel almost the same.
    Zane puzzled her to no end. His gruff demeanor and silent loner attitude made her nervous to have him at her back. He was always tan, even in the dead of the city winters where no sun penetrated the thick layer of clouds that hung over their city. His cinnamon colored hair cropped close to his scalp and a single, tiny gold hoop encircled his ear. He wasn’t big with words and only acknowledged people with his golden eyes.
    They were also the best fighters in Alex’s gang who haunted and ruled the west city from the shadows and alleys. Abigail had been in the Carvers gang for a little under two years. The others counted her as part of them since her trial against Alex after she had healed after almost being beaten to death. Alex always told her that she had been part of the gang since she walked into that alley. It didn’t matter when it started to her, all she knew was that she loved being a part of it and never regretted a thing. She had been in her share of fights and demanded respect from those around her.
    There were 1o members in the carver gang. Two twin girls, jenny and Tanya, were twin sisters. The only real way of telling them apart was that Tanya had bleached a streak of her dark hair white. She insists that she wanted to but Abby was sure that it was only so people could tell them apart. Others insisted on such things like scars or height or their eyes, but you could not find two people that were more connected not only physically but fundamentally then jenny and Tanya.