• Ash walked into her new home. It was a simple 2-story house in downtown Sacramento with no yard and hideous green paint. The man that had driven her here, Jonah, walked in after her, carrying her bags. The rooms she could see seemed to all be cleared out, but Jonah said, "Say hello, Cham." Ash jumped when a girl seemed to materialize out of nowhere next to her. She looked Asian, was short, with long brown hair that reached near her waist. Her eyes were a startling blue ringed with black around the iris. "Hi," she said, before promptly disappearing again. Jonah led Ash upstairs, yelling, "Wake up! Get dressed! We have a new housemate!" 4 of the 7 doors in the hall opened. 3 boys came from the 3 doors on the left. "That's Willy, Flame, and Acid," Jonah said, pointing to each of the boys. "You can call me Daddy, baby," said Willy, who was completely naked. Ash looked away from him. She saw another boy, Acid, wearing only boxers before she watched him go back to his room. She never got a clear look at Flame, he disappeared into his room too quickly. The girl in the open door on the right wasn't wearing much, either. She was tall and pale with pale blonde hair and icy blue eyes, wearing pale, lacy blue panties and bra set. "That's Frost," Jonah said, unperturbed by anyone's lack of clothing. Frost turned with a soft huff and disappeared into her room. Jonah led Ash to the last 3 closed doors. The one in the middle on the left opened and closed, seemingly on its own, and Ash stared at it like that room was haunted. "Cham's room," was all Jonah said. "And here's yours." Ash reached to open the door at the very end of the hall, but Jonah grabbed her arm. "That's... Spydr's room." He looked at the door warily, like it may eat him, while a boy's voice she assumed was Flame's yelled from his room, "It's Trance now, not Spydr." Jonah nodded to the last room on the right of the hall. "That one's yours." She went inside and gasped. A four-poster bed and an antique Victorian-era set of nightstand, dresser, and armoir sat on the polished mahogany floor, along with a giant, overstuffed, velvet love seat. On one wall, on both sides of her headboard, sat floor-to-ceiling bookshelves crammed with all sorts of books. On the wall where the door and armoir was hung hand-woven tapestries. Across from the bed was a huge fireplace and 3 wall-mounted plasma-screen TVs, one on both sides and one above the fireplace. The last wall showed the rising sun through beautiful French windows that led onto a balcony where a black iron table and 2 matching chairs sat. Jonah walked in behind her, saying, "If you want something different, we can buy you whatever you want." Ash shook her head, speechless. Jonah shrugged and ran a hand through his shaggy blonde hair, then left, closing the door behind him. A moment later, he popped his head back in. "Oh, we run on a nocturnal schedule around here, so you'd best sleep. You have testing fist thing in the morning. That's around 9:00 p.m." He left again, leaving Ash in hear magnificent room. She unpacked her bags into the dresser and armoir. She opened a door near the left plasma screen TV, finding herself in her own private bathroom with a full-length mirror, marble floor and countertops, and a 7-setting Jacuzzi bathtub. She shook her head, thinking, "At the rate they spend money, it's a wonder they aren't broke already." She left her marvelous bathroom and started getting dressed for bed. As she slipped off her pants, leaving her in her mismatched bra and panties, a low whistle came from behind her. "Hot bod, Mama. I want a piece of that." She jumped and turned, then bolted to hide in the bathroom. A ball of something black hit the doorknob before she could touch it, melting it. She turned and faced Acid. He was a Hispanic boy, about 19, with short brown hair and golden eyes that ran up and down her body, settling their gaze on her breasts. Ash attempted to cover herself, and Acid laughed, laying on Ash's bed. He was wearing black boxers and nothing else. "Come here, Mama." She shook her head. A thin layer of ice crept over Acid. Ash thought she heard a soft, seductive voice whispering, "You can do better than that, baby... Come to me... Come to me..." Acid grinned and stood up, shaking the frost off, then saluted to Ash. "See you later, Mama." He left her room. Ash made sure to lock the door behind him. She got dressed into a long-sleeved shirt and pajama pants instead of the flimsy nightgown she was planning on wearing, but she still felt exposed. She didn't want to sleep under the same blanket Acid had lain on, so she took it off of her bed and tossed it across the room. She found another blanket in the armoire and remade her bed. When she curled up under the sheets and thick blanket, she thought she would never sleep due to fear of Acid returning and lack of exhaustion, but she immediately fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

    "Wake up! Get dressed! That means ALL THE WAY!" Jonah's voice yelling in the hall woke Ash. Jonah knocked on her door and tried the knob. A few seconds later, he unlocked the door and poked his head in, covering his eyes. "Come on, Ash, wake up, you have testing after breakfast." He closed her door, leaving her alone. Ash groaned and sat up, stretching, then headed towards the bathroom. However, the doorknob crumbled at her touch, leaving her holding metal dust. "Uh, Jonah? Can you please... uhhh... help me...?" Ash called out. Jonah came in her room and saw the demolished doorknob. He sighed, shaking his head and saying, "Right, Acid has a habit of trying out the new girls. I assume Frost kept him away?" Ash nodded. Jonah came over and touched the dust, and it reformed into its original shape. Then, he touched the knob to the door and twisted it, opening the bathroom. Ash stared at him, not realising that he was another test subject. He grinned and bowed, then left. Ash locked her bedroom door again to prevent Acid from returning, then got dressed in black jeans, a skin-tight black tank top, and black combat boots. She brushed her hair and teeth, then looked up into the mirror. Staring back at her was a tall, willowy girl with skin so pale, it looked as though it had never seen the light. Her knee-length hair was black as a raven's wing at midnight when there was no moon, as her mother always said. Her ears had 7 piercings in the left and a acid-green dragon winding around the right, with ruby blood drops dangling from its claws, teeth, and tail. A ruby pierced her nose, and she had black spider bites. Around her bare left arm was a tribal design, and her right was devoid of any tattoos. On the right side of her neck, just under her ear, peeked a dragon's head. On the other side of her neck, one of the dragon's claws sank into her skin. The other claw was on her right shoulder, as if the dragon was holding itself on her. Under her shirt, on her back, was the body of the dragon. Its wings were folded, making it look like it was her own wings. It had taken a month to get this extremely detailed tattoo done. Her eyes were an odd combination of purple swirled with red. Dragon's eyes, her father had said. As she stepped into the hall, she saw Jonah knock on the last door, saying into it, "You have a job today." He tried the knob and found it locked. "Do you hear m..." The door opened partially, and a soft voice whispered something that Ash couldn't hear. Jonah walked into the room, closing the door behind him. Curious, Ash went forward and wrapped her hand around the knob. Just as she was about to open the door, a voice came from behind her, murmuring, "Unless you want to die, I would move." Startled, Ash let go and leaped to the side. She turned and saw Flame behind her. "Come on, time for breakfast." He turned and walked down the hall, not looking to see if Ash was following. Ash looked back at the closed door, then followed the boy. Downstairs, in the dining room, was a huge circular oak table with 8 cushioned chairs around it. Frost was sitting in Acid's lap. Cham was sitting in another, completely visible. "Sit down... What's your name?" Flame asked, "And your Gift?" Acid said, "Her name's Mama and her Gift is being sexy." He whistled, looking over her body, as Willy fell down the stairs and landed on his head. Ash saw him and winced. "Nice bail, Coyote," Frost purred. Willy got up and saw Ash. "Hey baby, how come you weren't in Daddy's room last night?" He cackled with laughter, then yelped and swatted at his butt, which had abruptly burst into flame. Acid threw something at Flame, and Frost slapped Acid, freezing his head. Ash got hit by Acid's projectile across her front, and she yelled. Suddenly, everyone and everything stopped moving. She cursed, wiping the acid off her shirt, then put out the fire on Willy's butt and the bit of fire that had spread to the carpet. She unfroze Acid's head to the best of the ability. Then, she moved Frost to sit across from Acid. She put Willy across from Cham, next to Frost. She took Flame and sat him between Cham and Frost, leaving a spot between Flame and Frost, and 2 places between Acid and Willy. Then, she went into the kitchen and made breakfast, placing a serving in front of everyone. Finally, she cleaned up the mess and sat down. Right as she was seated, everyone unfroze and looked around, confused. Then, they looked at Ash, who smiled. "My name is Ash, and my Gift is that I can control time."