Soul Chains

Chapter 1: Reine Down

"Gabriel!" my mom calls from downstairs as I lie awake in my bed with black covers and teal checkered blankets, "breakfast is ready! Hurry up or you'll miss the bus!"

"Coming!" I yell downstairs and sigh shortly after, crawling out of my nice warm bed and running a hand through my dirty blond hair, my hazel eyes blinking tiredly to clear themselves.

I shuffle through my room in my grey sweatpants and white t-shirt, going passed my closet, bookshelf, and dresser, finding my way to my door, which has my checkerboard, black and white bookbag slung on the doorknob. I twist the knob on the white wooden door and pull it open, heading out towards the balcony area and jogging down the cream carpeted stairs to the left of it.

"Gabriel!" my mom chimes once more as I step passed the threshold of the kitchen.

"I'm here, mom," I roll my eyes and sigh, grabbing the dark blue plate she set out for me off of the counter before going to sit at the table off to the side in the room.

"Well, I can see that now," my mom muses and brushes a strand of her blonde hair that's pulled up in a wispy bun behind her ear as she laughs.

"What's for breakfast?" my dad asks as he walks in and my mom's green eyes shine upon his presence.

"Pancakes and eggs," my mom beams and my dad smiles back at her, his cerulean, sapphire, blue eyes bright and his black hair as dark as the night sky drenched in paint that covers the stars and the moon.

Even though he's my step-dad, I still view him as my father, seeing as I never really got to know my other father. He disappeared shortly after I was born and my mom assured me that he didn't want to leave-- he just...went missing. Nobody's ever heard from him ever since. I was three when he left, so I have vague memories of him, but other than that...not really. He had my sister two years after having me and then my step-dad's daughter was officially welcomed into the family whenever my parents got married. There's also my half-brother and my step-dad has an adopted pair of twins, a boy and a girl, but they don't speak to us much and they don't live with us. They live with their adoptive mother from my step-dad's previous marriage, unlike his daughter. Somehow, me and all of my siblings ended up being summer babies, aside from Ayette and the twins. The twins Tien and Sion are twenty-one now, with me being sixteen, my sister Vivian being fourteen, my step-sister Ayette being eighteen, my half-brother Darian being thirteen, my mom being thirty-six, and my step-dad being forty. My actual dad would be thirty-eight now, that is, if he's still alive...

"Hey little bro," Ayette hops into the kitchen in a pair of black shorts and a black, long sleeved crop-top with white stripes running down the sleeves and writing on the corner of the shirt itself, her dyed, wavy, ocean blue hair that falls passed her shoulders swooshing around as she bounces on her heels.

"Hi," I chuckle as she beams cheekily and grabs a plate off of the counter while I take another bite of my breakfast with my fork.

"Sucks that you have to walk," she sticks her tongue out at me as she sits next to me, and I roll my eyes.

"Just you wait, three more months and I'll have my license," I say, "besides, I'm glad you take Darian instead of me. It keeps him from having to be alone and you know how, well...reserved...he is."

"Gabriel has a point, you know," my mom hums, "Darian is extremely quiet. I'm glad that you're both looking after him."

"Speaking of which, where is Darian?" my dad asks, glancing around the kitchen.

"Vivian! Give it back!" Darian sighs as he stalks into the kitchen with a pillow clutched to his chest against his black t-shirt and plue patterned pajama pants, his movements nervous and fidgety, "I mean it!"

"Vivian," my mom scolds and gives her a warning look.

"Fine," Vivian sighs, giggling as her blue eyes are full of mischief and handing Darian back his gameboy before adjusting her wine colored french-braid that runs down the back of her head, "I only wanted to tease him. It's funny."

Darian sighs in relief, his hazel eyes that almost appear dark brown visibly showing relief and he ruffles around his messy black hair with one of his hands as he clutches his pillow and gameboy tightly in the other. Meanwhile, Ayette's dark brown eyes assess the situation as she musingly rests her chin in one of her hands, eating from her spot at the table beside me.

The six of us sit at the dinner table and continue to eat breakfast together before we all go off and do our normal morning routines. Once I'm ready for school, I head downstairs and grab a pair of my vans from by the door while Ayette bounces down the stairs and runs over to me, grabbing her black and white converse before running out the door in her black socks, black above the knee skirt that has ruffles, and neon blue t-shirt, hopping in her silver car. I sigh and roll my eyes as she laughs and puts her shoes on in the car with the passenger side door hanging open as she waits for Darian. As I'm finishing tying my shoes up, Darian comes downstairs and heads out the door, giving me a small smile and a curt nod as he clutches his black backpack's white straps. I smile back at him as he leaves, standing up and brushing down my maroon v-neck and stonewashed jeans.

A few minutes later, Vivian comes down and the two of us walk to the bus stop together after telling our parents goodbye for the morning. Upon reaching the bus stop, I hug Vivian and wish her good luck with the day before grabbing my white earbuds and putting them in as I walk to school. While I rather enjoy physical activity, Vivian would rather ride the bus to talk to her friends. Sadly for me, my bus has none of my friends on it. Well, aside from Vivian, but she's my sister, so that doesn't really count.

As I'm walking down the sidewalk and to the school, my one hand holding my bookbag on my shoulder and my other holding my phone, I begin to have a strange feeling of someone watching me. At first, I shrug it off and keep walking, but the feeling just increases and I can begin to feel the blood in my head pound as my footsteps quicken in paranoia. I gasp in surprise as I come to a halt on the sidewalk, my breath leaving my body and my eyes widening as what looks like a sai comes flying from the side and cements itself into the sidewalk.

What?

What?!

What the actual hell?!

In my shock, I manage to glance over to the nearest building to find a woman in a flowy, flower patterned pink shirt and a black miniskirt with short black boots standing, her black hair tied up in a bun with several messy strands falling out and framing her bright red eyes.

Wait, red eyes?!

"Gabriel Lightsander," the woman speaks loudly and firmly, whipping her arm out to point an index finger at me, "you're coming with me."

Before I can even manage to speak, my mouth opening and shutting repeatedly, somebody speaks for me.

"As if," another feminine voice scoffs and I notice her appear from behind the other strange woman, this one's long lavender hair flowing in the wind as she raises a katana above her head and swings down, making the other girl disappear in a cloud of black wispy smoke that disperses as she gasps and turns to look at her attacker.

I stand paralyzed on the sidewalk, still watching the lavender haired girl as she lands with one knee bent and one in the air, her intense lavender eyes meeting my hazel ones before she jumps off of the roof and lands perfectly a few feet in front of me.

Think, Gabriel think. Run. Move your legs. Dammit, do something. You don't wanna die today, do you? Despise having these thoughts, I find myself unable to move, transfixed on the girl before me in all her glory. The mysterious and lethal girl swings her katana around once before it disperses and she sticks her hands in the pockets of her ripped jean shorts, her black jacket with white stripes running down the sleeves resting on top of her lavender tank-top as she makes her way over to me.

This is it. This is it. You're gonna die.

You're gonna--

"Gabriel?" the woman speaks, her eyes firm and her expression neutral, "I'm here to protect you. My name is Reine."

Oh.

Oh.

Well, that isn't so bad. Now, if only things actually, oh, I don't know, made sense!