Chapter 1

Carmen ran frantically down the hall, looking desperately for somewhere, anywhere to hide. His longish, curly, dark brown hair was in wild disarray. Sweat glistened on his caramel colored skin as his violet colored eyes, normally described as mesmerizing by the ladies, darted back and forth in frustration looking for a non-existent hiding place. He could hear the seniors pounding down the hall after him. Carmen was exceptionally fast for a 12 year old, and so far had managed to keep just barely out of sight of the enraged upperclassmen. His problem, Carmen realized disgustedly was that he was too damn cute for his own good. Girls seemed drawn to him like flies to honey. The unfortunate side effect of this was that they're boyfriends were then drawn to him like fists to a punching bag. This was, however, only part of his problem.

Carmen's father had made sure that he had instruction in a multitude of martial arts; he was only 12, though. After he had defended himself against a jealous senior in his first week of school, rather than leaving him alone now they merely came after him in packs. Even though he was a junior and considered a genius, he didn't need those kinds of smarts to do the math on 5 220 lb. seniors against one 110 lb. 12 year old. He also didn't need incredible smarts to realize that he couldn't run forever.

As he skidded around a corner, he was yanked suddenly off his feet and a soft, yet incredibly strong hand clamped over his mouth.

"Unless you want that pounding," a soft melodious voice whispered in his ear, "I'd suggest silence."

Carmen nodded, flinching slightly as the seniors came around the corner. Carmen looked on in confusion as the five jocks looked around in consternation.

"Where the hell did he go?" Biff demanded. (Carmen was certain that his name wasn't Biff, but he looked like a Biff, and he never bothered to learn his actual name.)

"Maybe he ducked into the john?" one of the Bifflets suggested.

"Let's go," Biff gritted out.

"Don't get me wrong," Carmen murmured as he peaked around the corner after the retreating seniors, "I appreciate it, but how in the heck did you..."

Carmen's voice died out as he turned back to face his rescuer. She was hands down a knockout. Long raven hair to the middle of her back, eyes of the deepest green, and a face angels would envy. Her tight little body was wrapped in black silk and Carmen noticed hilts of many diverse weapons sticking out for convenient draws. She was a vision of dangerous, possibly deadly, beauty, and she was looking at him with a look of absolute adoration on her face.

"Follow me, Carmen," she pointed down the hall in the opposite direction the gang of ruffians had gone.

As he walked slowly down the hall, his eyes glued to her seductively swaying butt, Carmen's mind was moving a mile a minute. It was obvious that this vision of feminine pulchritude was not a high school student. College, he mused, probably second year. So what was she doing here, and why had she saved him? He was content to wait for those answers, however, especially if she continued to lead him with the siren song of her sexy body. Eventually, though, she led him into the auxiliary teachers lounge and sat him in a chair.

"We both know you could have taken them," she began without preamble, "My question is why you didn't."

"I really have no desire to spend even a little time in jail," Carmen shrugged, "The only way for me to have stopped that many of them would have been to either permanently crippled or killed them. It's much easier to run away and it doesn't involve large men with badges and guns."

"I see," she murmured as she seemed to be trying to memorize every play of light and shadow on his face, "Do you dream often?"

"Yes," Carmen nodded, then, "Who are you?"

"You can call me Maggie," she made an abortive gesture toward him, "What do you dream about?"

"All kinds of things," he murmured evasively, "you know... guy stuff."

"That means girls right?" Maggie's green eyes sparkled like gems.

"Girl," Carmen corrected with a slight downcast of his eyes, "the most beautiful girl anywhere."

"Does she go to school here?"

"No," he looked at her curiously, "I've never met her before. What does this have to do with anything?"

"I will explain in a moment," she smiled at him, "What happens in these dreams?"

"Come on, these are the hormone driven dreams of a teen... well almost teen anyway," Carmen looked down at his feet, "What do you think they're about?"

"I think they revolve around these," Maggie tossed several pictures onto the table.

Carmen reached forward and picked up the stack of photos. He noticed right away that the pictures were actually computer generated and not actual photos. His second discovery had him staring in mute astonishment.

"This is un-freaking believable," he gasped, then in a harsh voice, "Where did you get these?"

Maggie sat across the table from the young boy, trying mightily to keep from grabbing him up in her arms and showering his face with kisses. She'd known it was him from the second she saw him, yet she had still observed him for three days just to make sure. Now sitting across from him, watching the fire in his eyes after she laid the pictures on the table, she wondered why she'd bothered waiting.

All of the pictures were very carefully selected. If he was who she was absolutely certain he was, there was no possible way he wouldn't recognize the pictures in front of him. The first picture was of a pair of handguns, but unlike any he had ever seen. They looked to be about the size of desert eagles, but they had two barrels instead of one. Covering every inch of their crystal surface was an intricately carved pattern that defeated the eyes' ability to follow it.

The second picture was of a girl. A beautiful girl. Her long brown hair hung down past her sexy derriere, and a tail poked through to curl slightly around her legs. Her face had a slight feline cast and her vividly green eyes had slit pupils. She was dressed very similar to Maggie which caused him to look sharply up from the picture. The only difference was that the girl in the picture had the hilt of a katana sticking up over one shoulder, and the tail of course.

The third picture was of two swords. The scimitars were shiny royal blue and matte midnight black exclusively. Like the handguns, the swords had and intricate pattern etched into all surfaces, gold for blue and silver for black. The swords looked so sharp that Carmen held the picture carefully subconsciously trying to avoid a cut. Putting it aside he picked up the last picture.

"I don't believe this," he whispered.

The final picture was one that he would have guaranteed no one else could reproduce. He was willing to believe that he had at some point in time forgotten about mentioning the guns, the swords, or the girl to someone and hence this girl had these pictures. He was certain, however, that he had never told anyone about the man in the picture before him.

The man in the picture before him was dressed all in form-fitting gray, a gray so dark it was almost black, but not quite. Over his shoulders protruded the hilts of the scimitars from the earlier picture, also at his waist were the handguns from the pictures. His face and head were covered by a scarf. His stance and posture generated such a sense of danger that if Carmen hadn't know him as intimately as he knew himself he would have been frightened. Carmen did know him, however, for he was him.

"You don't look in the mirror very often but I know you've seen yourself in dreams at least once," Maggie told him.

"How did you get this?" Carmen asked quietly his voice full of wonder.

How about I explain over lunch?" Maggie suggested.

"Fine by me," Carmen shrugged, "but I'm sure the teachers will realize that you don't belong here. Oh well, at least no one will be able to accuse me of moving in on their territory."

"How about Valentino's?"

"Sounds delicious," Carmen nodded hungrily.

A few minutes later and a several blocks away they sat a table off in one corner of the restaurant. Carmen was rather surprised that Maggie was able to walk around so heavily armed with impunity. She'd walked him right in front of the principle and the "security" guard by the front doors of the school. Neither of them had so much as batted an eye at the amount of weaponry Maggie was carrying, nor the fact that she had taken a student off campus. The people at the restaurant had smiled at their heavily armed patron as if she were no more than an older sister treating her little brother to a treat.

"They can't see your weapons," Carmen decided with a shocked look on his face, "Just like Biff and his crew couldn't see us before."

"Very good," Maggie smiled brightly at him, "There may not be as far to go with this as I thought."

"As far to go with what?" Carmen gaze was piercing, "What exactly is going on here? How come these people can't see that you're armed to the teeth or see you at all sometimes?"

"That's a fairly long story," Maggie shook her head, her eyes thoughtful, "One we don't have time for right now. The simple answer is that I am of the Shadarim. Something along the lines of a ninja, but more so. And you, my young friend, are in grave danger. I have come to protect you until you learn to 'play'."

"Play?" Carmen's confusion was written plainly on his face, "Play what?"

"The Game," Maggie said in all seriousness, "You must learn to play The Game before they find you. More than play you must master The Game."

Carmen sat for many moments just looking across the table and the beautiful young woman, his mind working a mile a minute. After a few moments later he sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"My initial reaction is that you're crazy," he spoke slowly considering his words, "I can't see how any game can be as important as you seem to think this one is. I'm not particularly interested in any games that I'm not already playing and none of them that I am playing, even the ones I suck at, would require a ninja to protect me until I learn to master it. However, you've shown me some things that no one should know about, no one, and yet you do. So I'm willing to listen, for now."

"This is not the place for a full explanation, though I said I would explain," Maggie nodded her acceptance of his hesitancy, "I will meet you at your house after school. Before we go back to the school, though, would you do something for me?"

"I guess so," Carmen shrugged.

"Wear this," she handed him a chain with a small red crystal on it, "It will keep you hidden from The Game and it will help you in the event that you can't be hidden."

"Alright," Carmen shrugged again, putting the chain around his neck.

"Good, let's eat and then get you back to school."

"Has he been found?" the tall man at the head of the long mahogany table asked.

"We've narrowed it down to fifteen people," the woman on his right informed him, "Given the knowledge we have that is the farthest we can narrow it down."

"We think it would be best to start with the most likely and work away from that. They aren't really all that close to each other," a man farther down the table on the left spoke up, "it's doubtful that anyone will see a connection."

"Of course not," another man spoke from the right side, "there is only the one connection, The Game, and few in the law enforcement arena know of it, or are willing to expose the possibility."

"Make it so then," the tall man ordered, "Our objective is within reach now, we will move in and seize it."

"Well, well," Carmen sighed at hearing the words, "what do we have here?"

"Looks like we have a pretty boy asshole with nowhere to run," Biff sneered, "Well he ain't gonna be pretty much longer."