Prologue:

The girl ran down the empty street, her eyes darting around the desolate landscape. There were few houses, and those that were there were either gray or abandoned. A graveyard lay to her left. The dark, crooked trees within the spiked fence seemed to reach out to her. She darted into the graveyard. For the first time a small, dripping shape could be seen following behind her. The girl and the shape bent behind a large tombstone. She pressed on the three buttons concealed behind it. The tombstone slid back, and the girl and the shape descended the stairs that became visible.

Chapter 1:  Adolescent

Ara stood in place, watching. Was she to trust this strange place? For as long as she had known the Eleven, there had always been something or someone untrustworthy around. Someone who wanted the power of the Credid Creatu to be their own. Or just wanted the money he could make off them.

Ara snarled under her breath. She could feel the heart of the young girl next to her beat faster. The ground began to feel soft under Ara's feet. That meant she had to move, or she could leave a mark on the ground that could give away their location. And no one could find their location. Ara stepped out of the shadows of the street. Her purple appearance was in full veiw, and a couple of stray meikos shied away from her.

Ara was smaller than most Wyraes, and for a natural adolescent, that wasn't too abnormal. Ara bent her ears back, and began to slide along the edge of the cold gray buildings of this street in Reiflem. A signal with her tail told the girl to lead, and they began to run. Ara could see the graveyard just ahead. Soon she would be again with her friends, the creatu she had grown up with. They were all her age, of course, hatched at the same time by their different owners, who were part of the Eleven.

They turned into the gate, and continued down the cement walk. The looming shadows didn't scare Ara, she knew most of the creatu who's names were on the tombstones had been ressurected, and only a few ebilias dwelled here. They stepped behind the Tombstone that bore the name 11. The girl pressed the buttons on the back in order, square, circle, triangle. The tombstone slid back with a grating sound of rock on rock. The stairs that appeared in the cvern below were carpeted red, and a few dull candles held by tiny intes who clung to the ceiling for dear life so as not to fail in their duty and drop the candles.

"Doing all right?" Ara asked as she passed underneath them. They nodded feebly as the tombstone slid back above them.

Ara stopped at the end of the stairwell. The room beyond was eerily quiet. But, that wasn't right. The other members of the Eleven always waited for them; Ara and the girl usually were late, they lived in Scria. By the time Ara and the girl arrived, the room was usually filled with laughter and cries of creatu. Ara turned around to warn the girl, but the girl ran straight into the other room.

Ara darted in after her. She stopped dead right in front of the girl. When Ara had taken in the whole of the room, she realized that she was lucky not to be dead.

The hooks, chairs, handles, chew toys, and carpet were thrown haphazardly around the room. The bits of plastic made the floor dangerous to walk on. And the walls and floor, usually pure white carpet and brick, were splattered with something that was suspiciously red-coloured. It looked to Ara, suspiciously like blood. "Wh-what happened here?" The girl asked, apparently to the wall where the carpet lay.

Just then, Ara's ear twitched. A soft moaning came from behind the carpet. Ara rushed over, curious to know what had happened to the place where the eleven had had their meetings for so long. She grabbed the corner of the carpet and pulled, dragging it's bulk behind her. As she moved the last part away from the wall, a boy about the girl's age was revealed. The girl gasped.

"Kay." the boy murmured.

"Jake!" the girl screamed.