1. Then

I woke up with a soft jerk. My hand was covered in blood.

"What the heck?" I asked myself. A soft rumble came from the kitchen area of my large Victorian house. "Probably just Jas making some sort of breakfast."

I sighed and got up. I noticed as I looked out the window that it was raining. Ugh. I liked it when it was cloudy and no sun shone through but did it always have to rain on Saturdays?

"Bella come on." I jumped. Jas was in the doorway smiling at me.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"You of course."

"Jas, have you been making breakfast?"

"No, why?" That was strange. What were those noises I had heard?

"I heard something – in the kitchen."

"Probably just the wind."

"Yeah right." I knew it wasn't just the wind. I could feel that something was not right and I know Jas felt the same way. Someone was here – in this house. I walked over to Jas. He took my hand and we walked down the steps to join the rest of our family for breakfast. It was a good thing Jas didn't cook; he was never good at it. But now that I think about it, neither was I.

2. Now

"Don't leave me." Jas whispered in my ear. "Don't ... leave ... me."

Three years after that strange day, many things have changed. Me – for one – became deathly ill. I was diagnosed with OCD for some unseen reason. Now I was in the hospital after going through some sort of breakdown over milk being spilled on the counter. My body was shutting down.

I closed my eyes and fell into what felt like a deep sleep – even though it was way more than that. New York – the city we live in – has been taken over. Things, we don't know what they are, came. They took over some of our bodies and others were held captive by them. We call them Stellars. They take over our mind and cause us to become a whole new person but the same on the outside. We become soulless. Never wanting to be around anyone and spazing out over little things. I am one of them - a Stellar.

My body lay limp on the operating table as the doctor – called a S-H for Stellar Healer – cuts me open. I am deeply sedated but I can feel the knife slicing me open. Jas's hand is placed in mine as I scream. Theres nothing the doctor can do. Stellars feel pain no matter what.

The S-H gasps. I lift my head and gasp as well. A silvery liquid is pouring out of my body. It looks somewhat like mercury. My organs are all silver with black lines where my veins are.

My head falls fast onto the table. A loud bang fills the air. My eyes go black. The S-H pulls Jas out of the way and they both bolt towards the door. Jas puts his hand on the window once he is safe outside the room. He is screaming and starts to cry. I lift my arms up and the straps holding me in burst apart. I jump up and bolt toward the door like the S-H and Jas did. My hand smashes through the glass and Jas screams. I grab him by his neck and choke him nearly to death. Then my eyes become mine again and my hand falls limply to my side.

Jas opens the door and walks in. He wraps me in his arms.

"Oh Bella." He starts to cry once again. I lean my head on his shoulder and cry with him.

3. Stellar (8 Years After)

Its funny now. When I look back and think about all that happened back then. I know I have skip around a lot when I tell you my story but I don't want to bore you, per say, by telling you all the details. It is unnecessary! So I will skip ahead to know and continue my life as I tell you what happened in the "compound" days.

I was called a Stellar as you already know. I had an IQ of over 300 and was able to pick up a car with my bare hands. In the Compound days, which is what we call the period of time when humanity was succumbed to them – the Stellars, everything was hell. Pure fiery hell. Nothing really mattered back then. Your life would be taken away one moment and then given back the next. The Stellars decided to leave – they somehow never found enjoyment in killing of an entire species. Most of humanity has been restored and the ones who lived had their minds erased by them. But those of us who were bitten have to live with the truth. It roams around inside our heads and we try to destroy it but it stays there. No matter what we do.

Our government kept this all a secret. I could probably get murdered in an instant if they knew I was writing this to you. I would call it a novel but it is more like a blog...somehow.

Well, now that I am done catching you up on what I can, we can move on to the Compound days.

4. Compound Days

My heart raced up and down. I reached down to my chest and felt it beating rapidly against my rib cage. I moaned. I was back on the operating table with a new S-H standing over me.

"Hello Miss Khertz." He said to me. His breath smelled like vomit, sorry to put an image in your head.

"What are you doing to me?"

"Usual Miss Khertz." He smiled at me. Ugh. "Just doing my job."

"Well you -" I stopped there, not wanting to make it worse for him. After all he was just doing his job. Sigh.

"You look perfect! Your previous S-H -"

"My previous S-H was absolutely correct about his findings. I know what I as well as Jas saw."

"I am not trying to tell you your not right Miss Khertz."

"Yes you are." I got up off the table and left without looking at him.

I grabbed my cell phone and flipped it open. I called Jas. He answered at the first ring.

"Hey." is voice made my heart skip a beat.

"Jas, I need my old S-H back."

"Honey, you do know he is dead right?"

"No he isn't."

"Bella -"

"Jas he is." I moaned. No one believed my theory. Others ,unlike myself, loved being what they are. People like Jas and I don't. Jas has to try to fit in with the rest of society in order to stay human. I was the unlucky one to be infected.

"Bella, you need to listen to me. I just spoke to your dad. He said he tried to contact him but he was in government captivity. They are running tests on him."

"What kind of tests?" I asked. How could they have captured him? He worked for the government.

"They think he was hiding the truth – he isn't really an S-H. He is a Stellar."

"That can't be true. He helped me survive!" How could he be a Stellar? I almost died in Jas's arms that frightful day, but Jas knew where to take me.

"I'm sorry Bella."

"Oh God."

"What."

"I have to go ... now." I whispered.

Three men in black suits were coming at me in a formation very much like the S-Squad, which are a group of people who lead all the S-Hs and the Biters.

"Hello Bella. My name is Agent Loughlin." The tallest man strode uo to me and held out his hand. I screamed.

Another agent grabbed my mouth and picked me up. I dropped my phone. Jas was screaming into it.

"BELLA?"

Bitten

Jabbing pain in my hand. What was that?

Crying, thrashing.

Screaming. Fire. Irresistible urge to die.

Dark man standing over me.

"Welcome to the family."

More screaming. More Pain.

"Oh don't hurt yourself Bella. We can't have that."

I woke up from my horrid dream expecting a dark man still standing over me. And he was. I studied the agents face and started screaming – like in the dream. Except it wasn't a dream at all. It was a flashback – to when I became dead, soulless. The last day of my life.

The agent coughed. I looked around the room and realized where I was. In the exact room that I was in when...when...

"Bella. Long time no see." The agent spoke directly at me. I backed away from him. His breath stunk.

"You need a mint." I told him, but he disregarded it.

"I wish we didn't have to speak on such harsh circumstances Bella, but you see I run a tight schedule around here." I scowled. Who was this man anyway?

"I am an agent of the federal government Miss Khertz and it is my responsibility to ... check up on you every once in a while. You see Miss Khertz you are a very special lady. Yes indeed. You posses certain ... talents that others don't. I am very interested." He leaned down to me on the ground.

"Don't touch me you filthy -"

"Bella – lets not use vulgar language." I growled. Then it happened and for the first time in my life I was happy that it did. I jumped up off the floor and smiled.

"What the -"

"Oh no. We don't use vulgar language."

"Who are you?"

"Oh I thought you knew. I am Miss Khertz." I leaned down to where he fell backwards. I reached in my pocket and took out a mint and stuck it in his mouth. "That's better."

"Who ... Wha- ... Ho-" He stuttered.

I rose up and towered over his filthy body.

"Welcome to Stellar world Mr. Kent. Watch your step on the way out."

I raised my arm and balled my hand into fists. A laser beam shot out of my middle finger and sliced the wall in two. I bent down about a yard from the agent and traced a line wall to wall. I waited a few seconds. With an ear-drum shattering crash the floor gave way. I jumped and my body flew through the air toward the now demolished wall.

"Goodbye Mr. Torture. Looks like you are having a really bad day."

"Wow that was a bad dream." I said rising up from my bed in our hotel room.

"What happened?" Jas walked over to me and sat down.

"Well, I had a dream about my turning and then I kinda woke up. So it was more like a dream inside a dream." I paused thinking through the awful scene that took place. Man was that corny. I was like some kind of superhero or something. "You know I actually shot a laser out of my knuckles? How bad is that."

Jas laughed. For the first time in over three years I actually felt safe here with him. He had after all rescued me from the "agents" which is where I must have gotten this weird and highly box-office crasher dream. Only one part was true – my turning. But even that was somewhat altered. I wasn't bitten by a "special agent". Stellars are made Stellars by Biters. Another group of insane people – the ones that started this entire mess.

An allegiant force of about 200 people gathered eight years ago and formed SFA or Stellar Forming Association, which is a horrible name. The SFA later became known as the Biters. There was once a story about the man who started the SFA. He had "special powers" that gave him the ability to turn people into the horrid monster I am today. He would bite people on their hands and they became like me.

First, he changed all of the 200 allies he had gathered – mostly by force. Then he had all of them at his command. That's how it all started. After that the world was never the same. Thousands were changed daily. Then millions. The man – named Jonas – recruited more.

Then you know that rest. All but a select handful are Stellars. If anyone bites someone else without being recruited by the Biters – they are history. They will be killed. But only around 100 or so are still humane, Jasper included. They keep off the streets and always in buildings, they risk being caught. They usually stick together in packs of 5 or 6. Jas never liked strangers so he sticks with me, which is unheard of. Usually, someones mate is changed and the other escapes.

The Biters have been quiet recently but they have recruited more, only about ten, who are called Searchers. They find the "leftovers" and bring kill them. Jonas believes that the humans who don't want to be like him should be killed not bitten.

"Its a shame really. That they don't want to me like me. Why would someone not want all of this? How could they not? The speed, the energy, the power." I remembered hearing these direct words from Jonas on the rare occasion that I was forced to see him. I was being interrogated. They wanted to know if I knew any Foreigns – or their word for humans.

The S-Hs came right after the Biters. They were meant for the sole purpose of healing those of us Stellars who are sick. All they have to do is touch us. Jonas gave them some sort of power that made that possible.

No one really knows where Jonas came from.

The government at first became furious and tried to rebel. That worked out well. Over half of their entire army got killed with the flick of Jonas's finger. Now there is no government – only Jonas. He took over and now the world is one entire nation. No one dared to stand in his way.

"Bella?" Jas's soft voice filled my ears. "Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"Hey. You were out for a while."

"Oh. Didn't notice."

"You OK?"

"Yeah." I said. "I'm fine."

There was a knock on the door. Jas got up and opened it – revealing hell.

Powers that Be

Jas's hand fell off the door knob. I shrieked. Right in front of us was (Classified).

"Good evening. I hope I'm not interrupting anything." The man asked.

He pointed his gun right at my face and shot. I held my hand up and the bullet stopped and fell. Jas gasped. I turned to face the door but I couldn't look. I knew what was coming. Jonas.

"Jas run!" I yelled. He ran to the other side of the room and opened the window. We were on the third floor but he jumped anyway. "Oh my God." I turned at slowly moved my face to where I could see them. Tears were running down my already scarred face. "What do you want?" I spit. Then with all my courage I looked up, but they were gone. How?

"You really didn't think we would let you off that easy did you?" The dark-haired one was right behind me. He was the one from the dream. I noticed he really did need a breath mint.

"Filthy mongrel." I turned around but he wasn't there again.

"Oh come on. You really weren't expecting a visit from us?" A wad of saliva dropped from the ceiling right to my feet. I looked up and saw that he was right there hanging from his hair.

"Your kind is unspeakable." I spat.

"Your talking about yourself there missy." He said back.

"Where's Jonas?" I asked knowing that I would not receive and answer.

"I am right here." A low voice came from behind me. I spun around to face a very tall man – Jonas.

"I knew you would come." The mongrel said jumping down form the ceiling making no sound.

"Yes. I do have business to attend to." Jonas replied, even though it wasn't a question. "Have your men acquired the foreigner yet?"

"No sir. We are working on it."

"Wonderful, Kyle." That was weird. Jonas never referred to his servants by their names. He made that very clear to me two years ago on my first encounter with him. Jasper was away, and this was before the epidemic really started. Jonas beat me almost to death to try and figure out something that I never knew. He thought I had some sort of special powers like him. Like we had a connection. He tried to force information out of me but I knew nothing.

"Wait." Kyle spoke again, this time by the window. I backed up to the wall so I could see both of them. Kyle's eyes were a dark red color and had no visible pupil. "I see him now my lord. He has escaped their hold and is running toward....wait. No. Yes. Yes, I am sure my lord." Relief spread through me like the ocean had been released from its banks.

Jonas grunted, clearly angry.

"I knew it." I mumbled under my breath. "I knew he could do it."

"What was that Bella?" Jonas asked me.

"Um..nothing."

"Right." Jonas spoke and stared at me with evil eyes. "Clear her memory Kyle."

"Yes sir."

Jonas left leaving Kyle to torture me however he wanted.

"Well, Bella. It seems your mate has left our grasp again. You know this makes me very angry. We have had this planned for a long time Bella." He spit at me like before. I wiped it off my face in disgust. "You have unnatural powers Bella. Your mate would be amazingly skillful as a Stellar -"

"You won't catch him." I interrupted.

"You don't know that Bella." He whispered. "You would be really great on our side, if you weren't so stubborn."

"I would never join you."

"Ah. Please Bella?"

"Never in my life."

Kyle laughed and put his hand on my face. It was hot and burned my skin. A weird sensation began at my fingertips and rapidly moved throughout my whole body. And then stopped suddenly. Kyle groaned and snapped his hand away immediately.

"What's the matter Kyle?" I sneered. He looked confused, as did I, but I soon wiped it from my face. I couldn't be confused, not now. Not when I needed to get to Jasper as soon as possible.

I got up from the floor that Kyle had knocked me onto and walked out the door. I ran. Ran for my life. I could hear Kyle's footsteps right behind me.

"Not for long." I thought out loud. "Not – for – long."

I ran until I couldn't anymore. I turned around expecting to be mauled in the face by a big ugly monster named Kyle – except he was no longer there.

That was the start – the start of the run for my life, I only needed to find Jasper so he could join me on this giant thrill ride. Oh will he be ecstatic!

Welcome to Hell.

Chapter 7 will be posted on une 18th.