Prologue

Scott took a small sip from the paper cup in his hand. It had, he recognized, more kick than fruit punch was supposed to. But such was life. So someone spiked the punch. It was senior prom, how could anyone expect the drinks to not be spiked?

Selena was mad, he knew. Her demeanor had changed since they'd gotten there. Or, rather, since he'd been "caught" hugging Hayley. He hadn't been doing anything wrong. At least, he didn't think so. They'd been hugging, who cared? But Selena had flounced off jealously and, to Scott at least, obnoxiously, to the women's restroom. It was exceedingly frustrating. Why did she always just assume he was cheating on her? It pissed him off.

Frowning, Scott headed into the restroom to chill himself out. He didn't want to let Selena's drama – queen issues ruin his senior prom. He got into the small, tiled room and turned the faucet on. The argument with his date had given Scott the mother of all migraines. He splashed some cold water on his face and was wiping it off when his friend Mike found him in there.

"Dude, Scott, I saw what happened? What is her deal, man?"

Scott turned and shrugged.

"I don't know," he replied, sounding frustrated. "I mean, I was just hugging her. She's my friend, why shouldn't I?" Scott ran a hand through his carefully arranged hair.

"Selena's the possessive type, I guess," Mike assessed, nodding seriously. He looked up at Scott. "Dude, are you okay?"

Scott was a little pale. His head was still pounding. Even worse than it had been seconds earlier. He closed his eyes, which felt like they were…burning?

"Scott?"

Scott opened his eyes and looked over at Mike, who now staring at him in wide-eyed horror.

"Dude…your eyes…they're red. Not just the white part, man, they're all red."

Confused, and a little nauseas now, Scott turned to look at the mirror. His eyes were red and his pupils were gone. Scott closed his eyes and shook his head a little, willing his eyes to return to normal. When he opened his eyes again, not only was everything red, but also the wall he was looking at was…gone? Cement and brick was blasting outward from the wall. Suddenly Scott realized that the red was coming from him. His eyes. And they were blowing apart everything he looked at. The wall burst forward as did the one behind it, and the one behind that.

And People were screaming.

Scott clenched his eyes shut and felt his way through the rubble. Then he ran.

In retrospect he didn't know how he'd managed it, but he Scott found himself in the guy's locker room. People were still yelling, he could hear them clearly from where he stood. Scott fumbled around blindly until he found the end of the third row, his locker. He pulled his keys from his pocket.

He was still panicked, his heart pounding heavily in his chest, but Scott had realized something in the few moments since he'd blasted out the bathroom. He had to leave, quickly. He had to get the hell out of Dodge.

As the key slid into the lock and turned, Scott felt it click open and he pulled his gym clothes out. Blue, mesh shorts and a white t-shirt. Scott hurriedly pulled his tux off, his eyes shut the whole time, and pulled on the casual clothes. He shoved the formal wear into the locker and, after pulling his backpack out of it, shut the door.

He had a backpack, his wallet, with his credit card and fifty dollars cash, and some clothes.

And he had to leave.

Scott, forgetting himself for a moment, opened his eyes to look for a door. As the wall blasted away, and the need for a door disappeared, Scott slammed his eyes shut. He again stepped through the rubble he caused, and out into the cold night. He paused a moment, to get his bearings and to pull his sweatshirt out of his backpack. It was his lucky one. Then he pulled out a roll of duct tape, still in there after its use in the senior prank. Scott ripped a large chunk off and placed it over his eyes. He hated how it felt, but it would have to stay.

Scott futilely tried to calm himself down so he could visualize where he was. He knew he was on the basketball courts; the bus stop would be west and about a block away.

Zipping his backpack and pulling it on, Scott ran.