Chapter 1: August 15, 2018, 7:55 A.M.

"Riiiiinnng!" the school bell screamed, telling the students of Michigan Lake Elementary School that school is now in session. Kiarra looked up from the book she was reading in peace to the bright red and plain white school building from one of the highest tree branches, watching the cluster of elementary students hurrying into the building, pushing, pulling, and fighting to be the first person inside the building. A few bicycles were parked in front of the school; chains bound them to the metal rack, preventing anyone from stealing them. Off to the side of the building, there stood a small with bright yellow monkey bars and a black and silver swing set. A third grader jumped off a flying swing, defying gravity for a moment until grabbed him by feet and pulled him down. Running as if he was on fire, he raced to join the crowd. Around the park, there are clusters of autumn colored trees and patches of dry, yellow grass. In the middle of the school building, it bared its name.

She sighed as the bell rang again; putting her book, Harry Potter: The Sorcerer's Stone, into a navy blue and blood red backpack, listening to the rustle of leaves from the branches above. She slugged her backpack on her back as she stood on her branch, dreading to go to school as she leaned against the hollow trunk of the green ash.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" asked a mysterious, metallic voice that came from above. Kiarra glance up at a beautiful, silver wolf laying on the branch above her, the wolf's electric green eyes glancing into her silver eyes.

"Yes, I'm going, Ash," She replied, listening the ticking of clockwork coming from Ash's chest. Kiarra's foster parents, Piper and Leo, told her that they found Ash on their doorstep one morning with a baby in his mouth, wagging his tail as they gently pulled the baby away from Ash's sharp teeth. Ash has silver, soft fur, electric green eyes, strong, sharp, metallic teeth and claws, a slimy, metallic tongue, and a metallic nose that identify any smell. No one knew that Ash is a clockwork creation except for Kiarra, Piper, and Leo.

Kiarra shifted her gaze toward the ground, bending her legs as she prepared to jump off her branch. Ash jumped off his tree branch toward Kiarra, who could feel the wind rippled behind her. In the middle of the jump, Ash shrinks to the size of a spider, landing on Kiarra's shoulder. He strides towards her neck so that Kiarra's midnight hair covers him from view. He dug his claws into her shoulder as Kiarra jumped off the tree, landing on her feet like a cat as she slid into the crush of bodies, pushing her closer to the front door of the third school she attended so far.

When Kiarra was near Ms. Bigelows's 4th grade classroom, she ran out of the flood of students, leaning against the beige wall next to the opening of the door, Ash losing his grip, leaving tiny, deep claw marks in her shoulder. I hate tight spaces. I hate them, Kiarra thought as she took a deep breath, pressing against the wall to avoid being sucked into the void of people.

You okay, Ash's voice echoed inside Kiarra's brain.

She never knew why or how, but Ash and Kiarra have a mind connection, allowing them to communicate with each other by using their minds. She nodded as she took another deep breath, peering into the bright classroom, Ash poking his head through a curtain of hair.

Inside the classroom, most of the 4th graders were present, sitting at their desks or standing in the middle of the classroom, chattering together in groups of three or four, sounding like annoying tiny birds. The teacher was absent from the room, allowing students to have a little downtime before class begins. The room's atmosphere was cheerful with a pinch of boredom and apathy, which was reflected in the 4th graders' faces. Kiarra took a deep breath as she brush her hair in front of her shoulders to hide Ash from view, pushing herself off the wall to enter the classroom.

The students turned their heads to the doorway at the sounds of footsteps echoing through the room. They froze at the sight of Kiarra, silence filled the room for a moment before they went back to what they were do, expect the loud chatter was replaced with a low, quiet whispers. She sighed as she walked across the classroom toward her seat, ignoring them as her hair swung into her face. On her way to her seat, she got near one of her classmates' desk and the boy with a military haircut and ground-brown eyes who sat at the desk scooted away from her, bystanders casted her fearful or hateful glances at her face.

She sat down at her seat, which was in the back left corner of the room near a medium window that overlooked the park, and slump against the chair, shedding off her backpack to hang it on her chair. She zipped it open, her hand reaching into the depths of her pack for her book. She began to flip through the pages until she saw a flattened paper airplane that was holding her place. She began to read, allowing the book to take her into the world of Harry Potter, Ash poking his head through her hair to read along with her. She was on the part where Harry was watching a hooded man drinking unicorn blood in a clearing in the Forbidden Forest while he at detention with Hagrid, Hermione, Neville, Malfoy, and Fang, Hagrid's dog when two shadows loomed over her.

Sighing, Kiarra glance up from her book to see Alex and James standing over her, smirking at her as if she was a joke. Alex has short, brown hair and dark brown, mouse eyes. He wore a gray T-shirt that said, What are you looking at, black pants, silver and white shoes, and a black jacket. James has short, blond hair and muddy brown eyes. He wore a dark blue T-shirt that said, Hardhat Zone and a crank in the middle of the T-shirt, blue jeans, black and white shoes, and a dark green jacket. They were the only people who dare to mess with her.

"Well, well," Alex smirked, cracking his fingers, "Look James. The freak is here."

James laughed harshly and got in her face, his hands on either side of the desk, Ash growling softly as he retreated back in her hair, wanting to attack James and Alex, but Kiarra's voice echoed in his mind, telling him he will make it worse if he attacked the boys.

"You may have survive one week at Michigan Lake Elementary School, but one way or another, Alex and I will get you kicked out of here, which will be your third or fourth school, right?" James spat in her face as she stare at him with a bored expression on her face.

Footsteps echoed in the now deserted hallway, the sound coming closer and closer, signaling the students that it is time for class to begin, silence taking over the room as the 4th graders swiftly shut their mouths and went to their seats. James and Alex fleeted to their seats as the teacher emerge from the hallway, smiling at the children as she approached her large, metal desk, which was located in the front left corner of the room near the whiteboard. Mrs.Bigelows has light brown hair, which was in a neat bun, and friendly, green eyes. She wore a white shirt, a navy blue, light sweater, black cargo pants, light brown flats, and thin, black glasses. Kiarra thought Mrs.Bigelows was a kind but stern teacher, but knew she was afraid of her.

"Good morning class," Mrs.Bigelows greeted cheerfully as she seated herself in her leather, black chair.

"Good morning, Mrs.Bigelows," said the class except for Kiarra, who was pulling out her notebook from her backpack, sighing as Mrs.Bigelows began to teach them, the sound of pencils making contract with paper could be heard as the students took notes.

When there was fifteen minutes until the clock's hands hit 12:00, there was a knock at the door, causing heads to turn toward the door eagerly. Kiarra and Ash shot a glance at the door, Ash growling softly in her ear as Mrs.Bigelows cross the room to open the door wide open to find a boy about the same age as Kiarra. He handed the teacher a note that was in his hands, nervously watching Mrs.Bigelows snatch the note, narrowing her eyes as she reads the note. Some students cast glance at the newcomer and began to whisper to one another.

Ash poked his head out to the open, growling a little louder in Kiarra's ear. She started to observe the new boy like a predator observing its prey, waiting for the right moment to attack. The boy had wavy, black hair and sea-green eyes. He wore a checked, blue shirt, a black hooded jacket, blue jeans, silver and black shoes and a gray, white, and black backpack on his back. He scanned the room; seeming to observe the other kids as his eyes passes until his eyes lay on Kiarra. The new kid glance at Kiarra directly in her eyes, she shot him a glare in return, for a moment before he directed his attention back to Mrs.Bigelows, who was now sitting at her desk, glancing at the screen her baby blue laptop.

"Well it looks like everything is in order, just let me assign you a desk, Shane, and fill you in on this week's lesson," she said; look up from the laptop to the boy, Shane.

"O.K." Shane replied back, casting a glance at the back row in the very back of the room, which was empty except from Kiarra. Oh great, she thought with a sigh as she shifted her focus on her work.

Cafeteria: August 15, 2035, 11:55 A.M.

Kiarra was in the middle the overwhelming crowd, being carried toward the cafeteria, a huge yellow and orange room with a kitchen installed in the front of the room. She wiggled her way out the mob by finding a small opening in the crush of bodies toward the wide entrance of the cafeteria. When she was safe from the crowd, she strode to her table, which is the one in the back right corner near the exit that leads to park, slid into a seat near the middle of the table, shrugging her backpack off her back onto the seat next to her. Ash hopped off of Kiarra's shoulder silently as she pulled out a small bottle of oil out of her backpack, shifting around so that her body hid the bottle and Ash from view. Carefully, she screwed off the cap and slowly pours some thick, brownish rainbow oil down Ash's clockwork throat. After a few gulps and gentle sounds of ticking, Kiarra pulled the bottle away from him, swiftly throwing the bottle in her backpack.

A few minutes later, Alex and James decided to pay Kiarra a visit, stalking toward her as their friends smirked, casting glances at Kiarra as they whispered to one another. She rapidly scooped Ash out of sight, feeling their eyes on her as she stuffed him in her jacket pocket. Ash dared to poke his head a few centimeters from his hiding place as she pulled out a book, feeling their eyes on her, the sounds of their footsteps growing closer.

"Hey, Freak show!" James called out to Kiarra, pointing at her backpack."What's in your raggedly snotbag?"

Kiarra turned to the next page in response, ignoring the huge gorillas.

"We're talking to you," Alex snarled as they stopped in front of the girl, knocking the book out of Kiarra's hands. "Are you deaf?"

Hatred scorched her insides for everyone present in this dull, boring school for spoiled, idiotic brats, thinking of the different ways she could have hurt them, but Kiarra just glanced blankly at the boys towering over, Ash letting out a silent growl between his sharp, metallic teeth.

Alex snatched the fallen book off the white and light blue floor, examining the back as James said aggressively, "What's in the backpack, idiot?"

"This is stupid," Alex murmuring, throwing Harry Potter: The Sorcerer's Stone over his shoulder. Glancing greedily at her backpack, he snatched her backpack, Kiarra watching with a blank expression while annoyance and anger joined hatred, knowing that she couldn't do anything without injuries.

Alex flipped the backpack upside down, the contents hitting the floor with a soft thump. "What's all this junk?"

While Alex was shaking the backpack of its items, Kiarra and Ash glanced at a student who just got up from his table, striding toward them with one hand raking through his black hair while the other clutched a book. James was bending over the pile down now, picking up the small bottle of oil.

"What is this?" James asked as he stood up, both boys glancing at the bottle curiously.

"None of your business," Shane responded, now standing near Kiarra's empty table.

The bullies smirked at Shane as if he was a ridiculous bug that they just stepped on for a moment before James snarled, "What is this, half-wit?"

Suddenly an invisible force sent Alex and James flying across the cafeteria, hitting the orange wall before they slid down to the baby blue tiled floor with a soft thud; Alex landed on his head, blood erupting from the cracks; James landed on his back, the sickly crunch of his spine breaking echoed in the now silent cafeteria. James grumbled as he stared up at the ceiling, seem to be trying hard not to move a millimeter while his friend lay beside him unconscious. A crowd immediately gathered around the injured boys, shooting Kiarra glares and fearful glances as they mummer to each other. It took a moment for the teachers to snap out of their shock and to begin to take control of the situation; one teacher giving Kiarra nasty looks as she push kids out of the way to reach James and Alex. Shane stood rooted to the spot; his expression tore between shock, awe, and horror.

Remorse ate her insides as her mind replayed the scene over and over, Ash's voice breaking through the images with words of comfort, but those words held no meaning to her. Freak, Monster, Murderer, her mind screamed at her. Kiarra needed to disappear, to get away from this place and others before someone else get hurt, so she put the hood of black jacket over her head to cover face and began to run to the cafeteria's exit into the hallway, Ash sinking his claws into the fabric as he watched everyone else move in slow motion.

"Wait!" Shane called in alarmed, but the blur of colors disappeared before the word escape his mouth.