CHAPTER ONE
         When Elise was little, around six or seven, her Aunt Marie married a man named Oliver Shaw. They seemed madly in love at the time, even though they'd only known each other for a few months. It didn't surprise Elise's mother, Regina, that Marie had been so quick to wed. She had always been telling Elise how erratic her Auntie Marie was, which she later explained meant that Auntie Marie didn't think things through. The one thing that caught Regina off guard was that Oliver was seemingly rather tied down. He had two children around Elise's age. Elise was introduced to the two the day before the wedding. From that moment further, Madison, Malachi and Elise were inseparable.
        Of course, since Marie changed her mind more frequently than the wind blew, the marriage between her and Oliver didn't last past Elise's ninth birthday. Thankfully, the divorce wasn't drawn into some messy dispute and both adults stayed friends.
        Eight years after the divorce, the three children have grown up, still together. Every Friday, after chemistry would let out, Elise would wait aside her beaten up green hatchback that was conveniently parked outside the gymnasium, which was not so conveniently placed all the way across campus from the chemistry lab. She never had to wait long before she'd see Madison and Malachi running towards her at top speed. Since Malachi was taller, he was faster than Madison, but since Madison had a vicious sense of determination, she didn't let that stop her from getting her way. The reason they would both run for the car  was trivial enough. Neither of them wanted to sit in the back seat.
        The only real differences between Madison and Malachi, physically anyway, was the fact that Malachi was about half an inch taller than Madison. Both had the same olive complexion and lanky, slender frame. Malachi's hair fell just below his ears and curled endlessly into a russet mess that would hide his tawny hazel eyes. Madison, on the other hand, had darker eyes, the same color of burnt mahogany that were framed with thick lashes. She straightened her hair every day after showering. The short, shoulder length bob she kept it in made it easier to straighten. Elise didn't really resemble the two at all. Of course, she wasn't really related to them so it made sense that she didn't. She had always been more fair skin that was spotted with freckles across her arms and chest leaving only faint peppering across her cheeks. She was around the same height as Madison but had more curve. Elise had worn her washed-out strawberry blonde hair in the same style as long as she could remember. It fell over her shoulders and waved which ever way it pleased, reaching it's way down to the small of her back.
        Elise grinned as she starts walking around the car to the drivers side. She learned a long time ago not to get in between the two of them fighting for the seat, or anything else for that matter. Just as Malachi reached the car door, Madison grabbed the back of his shirt, jerking him roughly backwards so she could steal his spot in front. It wasn't unusual that Madison won the rights to the front seat. Just because she was tiny, didn't mean she wasn't vicious. Her grin beamed victory as she clicked the seatbelt into place. Who knew a simple click could be a sound of triumph? Malachi mumbled words of hatred as he picked himself up from the ground and flung his oversized backpack into the backseat before climbing in, kicking the back of his sister's chair as he did so.
         They drove past the same boring town. It was the same dull and bland sight that had always plagued the immediate 5 block radius of the school. Eventually they broke the mundane scenery as the color started seeping into the houses and buildings, breaking the gray  hold on the town. When they pull up at the light blue house with yellow trim, to ward off evil spirits, so said Auntie Marie, when she had it painted so, Malachi and Madison were still bickering.
        They were trying to decide what movie to watch that night after they finished their homework. Elise never got into these tiffs either. She knew that her opinion would either make one or both of them angry and even if it was only for that night, she couldn't stand that.
        "We watched When Henry Met Sandra like, three weeks ago. We're going to watch 28 Days After." Madison argued as the opened the front door. They all made the same route up the stairs then right down the hallway before splitting apart, the girls to one door, Malachi to the one on other side of the hallway. As soon as they'd entered the room, all three of them met up in the hallway again. "We didn't just watch it, Mad. You just want to watch that crappy movie so you can drool over that Irish actor again." He groaned, rushing down the staircase. They kept bickering over what movie to watch as Elise took out their homework and got them all soda. By the time she'd gotten back, the movie had started and Malachi was sitting back on the couch sulking. Madison had her math homework sitting in her lap open to the wrong page, not that she'd have noticed with the way her eyes were glued to the T.V.
         After all the homework, movies and food had been finished, they packed up and headed back to the rooms. This time, they wouldn't be coming out until morning.
        That night, as Madison lay on the bed next to Elise, Elise picked up the blank journal she had stuffed into her backpack, along with a pen and started writing a story of her own.