Chapter one - And the hunt begins.
Riker lazily sat up in bed, yawning loudly and stretched. It was only 6:30, but he couldn't be late for school again. He swung his legs over the side of his large, full size bed and stood up, not bothering to straighten the blankets.
Staggering a few steps, he managed to make it to the dresser, and pulled on the first things he grabbed, which happened to be his black Bring Me The Horizon tee shirt, white skinny jeans and black converse.
He looked in the mirror long enough to muss his black hair and shoved his books into his backpack, not noticing the new one in the stack. By this time it was 6:55 which meant he had exactly 5 minutes to make it to the bus.
He quietly walked downstairs to avoid waking his parents, and then out the front door, turning left toward the corner. As he walked, he noticed that his bag seemed uncommonly heavy, and decided to check it when he got on the bus.
As he was walking, he got a strange feeling, as if he were being followed. He turned around, but there was no one there. He kept walking, a bit faster this time. Come on, get a hold of yourself, he thought, you're just imagining things. Get over it. You'll be fine. He didn't know yet how wrong he would prove himself.
When he arrived at the bus stop, the bus was already there, most of the seats taken, except for an empty one in the back, where hardly anyone ever sat. He made his was back, ignoring the glares directed at him, the whispers that he knew were about him, and fell into his seat when tripped. He pretended not to notice the taunting laughter and looked out the window instead.
A man stood at the corner, and Riker didn't remember seeing him walk up. There was an unusual quality about his face, it made him seem to be anywhere from 29 to 89. He had brown hair sticking out from underneath his hat, a short, scruffy beard to match, and his khaki trench coat and plaid scarf seemed out of place, hanging loosely from his gangly body.
But that wasn't what made Riker uneasy. Though the windows of the bus were tinted, Riker couldn't help but feel like the man was looking at him, holding him under his intense green stare. Shaking off the feeling, he turned his attention to his backpack, examining his textbooks and binders.
All seemed normal, until he came to a very thick, worn book near the back of the stack that he didn't recognize. Curious, he pulled it out and inspected it- the binding was made of old leather, etched with fascinating designs that even he couldn't copy, and all in different colors; cerulean, fuchsia, goldenrod, pearl, but that wasn't the part that intrigued him. Branded on the cover, in a font so complicated one could almost consider it a foreign language, were the words - The Book Of Adam.
He thought about what his next move should be. After all, this book seemed kind of important, so what he did next would also be kind of important. Except he didn't get to choose what came next. Charles, a hulking mass of muscle and ego, sat down next to him. Riker quickly put the book back in his backpack and zipped it shut. For some reason, he felt as though he couldn't let Charles see it.
He remained silent the whole ride to school, drowning out Charles's pathetic attempts at taunting and teasing with thoughts of Elayna, his best- and only- friend since fifth grade. With her slight body frame, spiky crimson hair, brown eyes and freckles that dotted her upturned nose, she had always reminded Riker of a pixie.
Soon the bus pulled up to the back of the school and, like always, she was waiting for him. He smiled at this bit of normalcy. He waited until everyone else got off the bus, and then followed them. Elayna seemed impatient, almost nervous, bouncing on the balls of her feet, clutching a few binders to her chest. Riker made his way over to her, wondering what was wrong. It took a lot to make Elayna nervous.
