Chapter 1:

"Mana...Mana... wake up!" came a small child's voice.

It was very cold.

Freezing.

Allen sat teeth chattering and body racked with shivers.

It was the middle of February, one of the coldest months, and Allen and Mana were homeless sleeping under a tree at the park. All Allen could see was white all around him. Even his brown hair was beginning to lighten. The tree limbs weighed heavy with the pounds of snow resting on them. It was early in the morning; the sun hadn't even come up yet. The sky was gray and there was a mist of white fluttering in the air. Mana rolled over on his spot on the ground. The dirt was freezing and uncomfortable. Allen's fingerless gloves offered no protection from the stinging weather. His jacket was full of rips and tears. He made a mental note that he would definatly have to get a new one soon. His pants cut off at his ankles and his shoes were brown. The inside of his right shoe was ripped open exposing his foot. His laces were a matted mess of black and spotted white. He never took off his shoes. No need to. They had been living on the streets always moving, traveling, never stopping. Mana had said this was because he couldn't be "tied down and not continue to move on with his life." The small group of two had formed when Allen was just a small boy. Ever since he could walk, he had been with Mana. They never had a home and never had money.

"Mana..." Allen offered shaking the man.

"What..." came a sleepy reply.

"It's cold out here. I'm freezing. The ground is covered in snow...what do we do?"

"Just lie down and go back to sleep son..." Mana said barely above a whisper.

"But Mana I'm so cold..." Allen whined. He could barely feel his fingers and they were tingling and red. His feet were the same way.

"Mana we need to move...we have to keep walking..." Allen urged.

"Aah..." He replied.

"I'm hungry father!" Allen pleaded his eyes beginning to sting with tears. "Get up!"

"Fine...fine..."Mana said lifting himself from the ground.

"Can we get something to eat father?" Allen asked. His stomach rumbled and his cheeks tinted red.

"Ahahaha...Yes let's go find something for my cute little son to eat." Mana said extending his hand to Allen. Allen grabbed it eagerly and they went on their way to find food.

-*BEEP BEEP BEEP*

"Uuugh…" A grown was heard from underneath the covers.

"Is it time to get up already?" Allen whined. He reached over and hit the snooze button allowing him to sleep another five minutes.

*BEEP BEEP BEEP*

After five more minutes the alarm went off again. This time Allen got up still half asleep and shuffled over to his dresser. He looked at his reflection slightly tearing up; he had dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep, a big black, green, and purple bruise under his left eye, and a strange red scar over his right eye that extended down over his eye lid and about mid-way through his cheek. As if this wasn't the first time, Allen grabbed a bottle of concealer he had conveniently placed on his dresser and began to apply it to his bruise.

"Aah!…" Allen winced slightly in pain as he touched the tender area. He dabbed his finger in the moist liquid again and applied it under his eyelid. Slowly but surely the darkness was going away hidden under the concealer. This was a daily process for young Allen. Could you imagine this sweet, young, seemingly innocent, sixteen year old boy walking into a convenience store and buying cover up? Well this is what he had to do, sad, I know.

"Guess I better get ready for school, today is the first day..." Allen said to his reflection, confident that the makeup looked natural and everything was hidden. He pulled out a pair of black skinny jeans and a white V-neck T-Shirt. He slowly pulled one leg through the hole after surveying the bruises on it, then the other. Next came his T-Shirt. He pulled it over his head careful not to get any make up on it. He grabbed a whit belt and put it on. After his clothes were on and he was satisfied with the look, he went across the hall into his bathroom. Allen pulled out a roll of medical tape and began wrapping his left arm. When he was younger Allen was in a fire and his arm was burnt very badly. He was quit self-conscious of it. After wrapping his left arm he wrapped his right wrist because it was bruised as well from where his Master, Cross Marian, had grabbed him last night. Satisfied with the doctoring, Allen went back into his room and to his closet. He pulled out a black jacket with white trim and put it on.

"Time for breakfast I suppose….If we have anything that is…." Allen said halfheartedly while walking down the stairs and into the kitchen at his right. After raiding the fridge and pantry, deeming nothing eatable, he slid on his converse, grabbed his backpack, and was on his way to school.

"Oh hey look! It's the clown boy!" A guy yelled from his car, his friends laughing in the background over the loud music that was blaring. Someone must have thrown something at him because the next thing he knew there was yellow all over his jacket and tires screeching. The music from the car faded away as well as the laughing.

"Not again!" Allen groaned as he took off his backpack and set it on the ground. He took out a rag and a water bottle, wet the rag, took off his jacket, and began cleaning it. Thank God it was black or he would've had to walk around with a big yellow stain and be teased all day for God knows what. Allen always carried around a towel, just in case. He also drank a lot of water so having the water bottle was a plus. Once the jacket was clean he put it back on, threw the towel away, and grabbed his backpack. Back on his way to school!... Once Allen arrived at school it was 8:30, his first class didn't start until 9 o'clock. Seeing as he had another thirty minutes before class started Allen decided to go to the library. One inside the library Allen walked over to the librarian.

"Good morning Mrs. Miranda!" Allen smiled politely.

"G-g-g-good M-morning Allen!" Miranda stuttered.

"I'm sorry did I scare you!" Allen asked.

"N-no!" Miranda said.

"Well how are you this morning then?" Allen said with a smile.

"Fine and you?" Miranda asked.

"Just fine thank you!"

"Would you like a cup of coffee?" Miranda asked. You see Allen was special. Allen, who came to the library for early morning study every day, got to have a cup of coffee and a snack. He was just so cute that the teachers felt like they had to give him SOMEthing. After making his coffee the way he wanted it, Allen grabbed a doughnut and walked over to a couch and sat down. He took a few sips of his coffee and a bite of his doughnut and placed them on the coffee table in front of him.

"Time to get a book and study a little bit." Allen thought.

He reached into his backpack and pulled out his Math book a sheet of paper and a pencil. After twenty minutes it was 8:55. Allen placed all his belongings back into his backpack, zipped it up, crumpled up his napkin, and grabbed his empty coffee cup. On his way to the door he threw away the cup and napkin then headed to his first class.

*DING DING DING DING*

The tardy bell rang signaling that the first class had started. Anyone who was late would have to go to the dean's office to get a late slip to get into class. Allen's first period was Anatomy and since he knew well enough about the human body he put his head down. His eyes feeling heavy, Allen let sleep consume him.

"Walker…. Allen walker! Wake up! The bell rang! It's time to go to second period!"

"MMmmmh….Let me sleep more…" Allen said still not fully awake. The person shook him again this time a little harder.

"Allen you need to get up you're going to be late!"

"Aah!" Allen said and jumped up startling the person who was trying to wake him. "Lenalee!"

"Yes. Now Allen we need to get to class." Lenalee said.

Lenalee Lee was one of Allen's friends and often looked out for him.

"Right lets go." Allen said grabbing his backpack and getting up from his desk.

On to second period. Man this was going to be a long day. Allen thought.

He had played the rest of his day pretty much the same way.

Sleeping whenever he got the chance.

The final bell rang letting all the kids be free to go home or where ever they went.

All except Allen.

Who sat sleeping at his desk. Again. The teacher decided to leave him there to sleep while he got on with grading papers and what not before he woke Allen up.

"Walker….Walker….Wake up!"

"I'm up….I'm up…"Allen said standing up and grabbing his backpack. He looked at his watch. 4:40. Oh was he going to have hell to pay when he got home. Cross was going to be so pissed that: One he was late and two he hadn't had his whisky and or liquor on time.

"You best be going home now boy before it gets dark outside." His teacher Mr. Jo said.

"Yes sir." Allen said and bowed. After bowing Allen left the class room.

Every so often his God Father Cross, would make him stop by the liquor store on his way home. If he didn't manage to get something there would be consequences when he got home. Based on the amount of things that could happen, he chose to take the best possible route to avoid taking anymore of Crosses wrath.

And so he began his lonely walk to the liquor store to try to bribe the salesman into letting him get some high quality liquor for his master, lest he get beaten when he got home empty handed.

Allen walked in and grabbed a bottle of wine off of the self and walked over to the counter pulling out his fake ID he had acquired. He handed the ID to the sales person and the guy immediately scanned it. Allen saw the guy reach his hand up and pull the bottle away. "I'm sorry but I can not sell this to you."

"Please!…you don't understand! If I go home empty handed my father will beat me!" Allen pleaded with the salesman.

"I'm sorry son but we don't sell liquor to minors." Said the gruff looking man behind the counter. He looked to be in about his late forties and had huge bulking muscles under his tight white shirt. He looked to be a very hairy man and reeked of cheap cologne and cigar smoke.

"I really have to get something! I beg of you! I cannot go home without it!" Allen begged.

"No can do kiddo why don't you go home now." Said the gruff man.

Sighing in defeat Allen left the store empty handed ready for the torture he was to face when he got home. Taking out his key Allen unlocked the door to his house and slowly stepped in. It was weird. None of the lights were on and he couldn't hear his father yelling at some women or someone he might have brought home for the night, Cross wasn't 'gender exclusive' per say.

What's going on? Allen thought.

"This is weird…normally the lights are on and master is yelling at someone…" He slowly walked past the kitchen and began to ascend the steps when a light came on in the corner of the room.

"Allen…." A voice said slurred and dripping with hatred. "Why are you so late?"

"M-Master?" Allen asked and he began to shake.

"Why are you so late?" Cross asked again.

"I-I fell asleep in my last class." Allen stuttered.

"Where is my whiskey idiot boy?"

"I-I don't h-have any…" Allen said still shaking.

"You what?" Cross asked standing up and slowly started walking towards him.

"I don't have any! I'm sorry! They would not give me any! Master ple-" Allen was cut off and sent flying across the room. He hit his back hard on the wall.

"How dare you come home so late and on top of that without my whisky!" Cross's voice boomed across the room. Allen was used to this kind of treatment and shut himself down.

It'll only last a little while! I just have to wait for Master to pass out or get tired!

He began numbing his body and waiting out the pain. This was going to be lovely in the morning.

Allen awoke late the next morning to a searing pain in his back and shoulder. He slowly stood up. Using the wall to support himself, he made his way over to the staircase limping as he did so. After climbing up the stairs and into his bedroom, he grabbed a fresh pair of clothes. Back across the hall he went. Once in the bathroom he pealed the blood stained clothes off his body and surveyed the damage done this time. Normally Cross didn't hit him this much, unless he had a bad day or something went wrong at work. Judging by the bruises on his chest, back, and shoulder, as well as the busted lip, Allen guessed it might have been both.

"Man this really sucks..." Allen said turning on the hot water. Once he was satisfied that the water was just the right temperature Allen got in and began washing his hair. Ten minutes later he was out of the shower and getting dressed. Once again he re-did his left arm and reapplied his cover up. Time for the second day of school. Once again with no food Allen left the house. This time he made it to school an hour early and began doing the homework he had not yet done due to the fact he had been knocked out when he got home.

"Allen aren't you here early!" Miranda said surprised.

"Yes Ma'am!" Allen said with a smile.

"So what brings you here this early?" She asked.

"Oh just finishing up some homework I didn't get to do last night." Allen smiled again.

"Well hurry and finish it now!" Miranda said walking into the library office. Allen could hear the coffee machine start and soon the library was filled with the alluring arouma of fresh coffee. After about ten minutes Miranda set a cup of coffee and a slice of blueberry cheesecake in front of Allen.

"Thank you!" Allen said and grabbed the coffee. After taking a sip of the hazelnut flavored coffee, Allen took a bite of the cheesecake. Nothing like having something sweet in the morning to get you going.

"It's good!" Allen said mouth still full of cake.

"I'm glade you like it!" Miranda said smiling. She then headed back to organizing books on a near by book shelf leaving Allen to do his thing.

Allen put down the cake and picked up his book. Back to the homework.

"Let's see... I do this problem like this..." Allen mumbled to himself. The library was filling up and a couple students were talking amongst themselves. The first floor of the library was normally pretty quiet considering that the only thing many people seemed to be doing in there was studying. There were rows upon rows of tables with multiple chairs lined up against the windows. There were a few two person couches and one person chairs in little rectangles throughout the room. Allen looked at his watch. He had 15 minutes until his first period class started and he just finished his math homework. His coffee and cheesecake still sat on the table in-front of him, so he began finishing it. He savored each bite, for that was probably the only food he would get today. Once he was done he had five minutes to get to his class. On his way he went. His first period, Anatomy, with Dr. Johnny, was boring again today. The class held many "idiots" and today was note taking day. Of-coarse many kids didn't know what this and that was, so the sea of endless questioning spilled like a dam that had been shattered into a millions tiny pieces. Lenalee sat beside him and they passed notes for a while. His first period drug on for what seemed like 2 days before the bell finally relieved them. Packing up his stuff in his backpack, he got up and left. Each of his classes were only 50 minutes long and he had a 10 minute break in-between to get to his next class and either go to the bathroom or get a drink of water or something along those lines. The rest of the day seemed to pass rather quickly; more or less due to the fact that Allen resigned himself to sleeping again.

By the time Allen knew it, it was lunch and his stomach was rumbling. After all who wouldn't be hungry after not eating for three days, except the cheesecake he had had that morning.

"Allen! Over here!" He heard Lenalee call. He looked around the room only to see her waving in the back right corner. He waved back and made his way over.

"How are you Allen?" Lenalee asked as he sat down.

"Fine and you?" He asked.

"Fine thank you!" Lenalee said.

"What's for lunch today?" Allen asked.

"Teriyaki chicken and a rice bowl." Lenalee said while offering Allen some.

"No thank you. You eat it!" Allen said refusing the offer with a smile.

"Allen you eat it! You haven't been looking well these past two days…Are you alright?" Lenalee asked.

"I'm fine really thank you!" Allen said before grabbing the spoon and taking a bite. The food tasted so good. His first bit of real food in three days! The rest of the day went by relatively slow for him after that, and the last bell took forever to ring.

*DING DING DING DING*

Well time to go see if I can bribe the salesmen at the liquor store again today...

"Welcome!" said the voice from behind the counter.

Sounds like someone new?

This was his chance.

"Hello! I would like one of your most expensive bottles of whisky." Allen said in his most professional voice.

"Can I see your ID?" asked the much smaller man behind the counter. This one wasn't nearly as tough, nor did he smell like cheap cigars.

"Come now do I look that young to you sir?" Allen asked in a bit deeper voice handing him the fake ID.

"N-no sir?" The man stuttered.

"Then I'll take your most expensive bottle of Whisky please!" Allen said and smiled again.

"Yes- Yes sir!" The younger man said and walked into the backroom. After a few minutes he returned with a big bottle of whisky. "Will this do sir?" He asked.

"Yes that will do!" Allen said and grabbed the bottle. "Put it on my tab!" Allen said and walked to the door. "It's under Cross." He said and walked out.

"Wait Sir-!" The man tried to call Allen back but it was too late the boy was already out of sight.

"Ha ha ha ha..."Allen took a couple of seconds to catch his breath.

"That was a good one!" He said whipping a tear from his eye.

Now time to get home...

Allen arrived at his doorstep sixteen minutes later and unlocked the door to walk in. "Master!" Allen slightly yelled. He heard a noise coming from Cross's bedroom and ventured closer.

"Uhn...Ah...AH!..." a voice said from within.

OK! TIME TO GO AWAY!

Allen raced back into the kitchen and put the liquor on the island.

Well I guess I can go get on my computer for a little while.

He exited the kitchen and went up the stairs to his room. He turned out his light leaving the fan on and flipped the switch on his desk lamp on. Allen hit the power button on his monitor and tower then waited for the machine to boot up. The screen flashed blue and the monitor read,

ALLEN

And had a picture of him above it. He clicked on his name and entered his password. The screen turned black then flashed blue again as his desktop popped up. Allen moved the curser to the AIM running man and double clicked. After a few seconds it popped up and Allen typed in his username, W#ite_CL0wN, and then entered his password. It took a few seconds but his name popped up and his list of friends showing that no-one was on.

Well what to do now...

Allen moved his curser over to the internet browser and double clicked. Once the page pooped up he typed in Amazon and began browsing the selection of new clothes. After about twenty minutes of looking through the clothes Allen's AIM had a new window popup blinking orange. Allen clicked on the window and it read 'FunnyBunnie0173' would like to chat.

ACCEPT. CLOSE.

Allen clicked accept just because the username was interesting.

FunnyBunnie0173 writes: Hey! Do you want to talk?

W#ite_CL0wN writes: :) Hi! Sure I have nothing to do right now. How are you?

FunnyBunnie0173 writes: I'm good how are you? I just got out of school.

W#ite_CL0wN writes: Really? So did I. I'm fine.

FunnyBunnie0173 writes: Sweet! Oh hold on a second my Grandfather is yelling at me telling me to do my homework.

W#ite_CL0wN writes: Okay! :)

Allen waited a few minutes and decided to go back to browsing the net. Allen began looking through the shoes and after about 10 minutes his chat blinked orange meaning the person had gotten back on.

FunnyBunnie0173 writes: Ok! I'm back!

W#ite_CL0wN writes: Welcome! I like your screen name by the way! :)

FunnyBunnie0173 writes: Thank you! I like yours as well.

W#ite_CL0wN writes: How did you think of that? Your sn that is.

FunnyBunnie0173 writes: Well one of my buddies said I reminded him of a bunny and I always make people laugh so I put two and two together and got this! :)

W#ite_CL0wN writes: That's cute :)

FunnyBunnie0173 writes: How did you come up with your screen name?

W#ite_CL0wN writes: ...

FunnyBunnie0173 writes: ...?

W#ite_CL0wN writes: Haha yeah it's nothing! This is just a nickname I was given and it kinda sucks.

FunnyBunnie0173 writes: Ok? well I like it :)

W#ite_CL0wN writes: Thank you!

FunnyBunnie0173 writes: No problem! Hey I have to go Pops keeps nagging me to get on with my homework.

W#ite_CL0wN writes: Alright! Well I hope to talk to you again! :)

FunnyBunnie0173 writes: Yeah it was nice talking to you! Bye!

W#ite_CL0wN writes: Bye!

*FunnyBunnie0173 signs off*

After the 'FunnyBunnie' person logged off Allen exited out of AIM and continued browsing through the shoes. After finishing looking through the selection and finding nothing to interesting, Allen shut off his monitor leaving the machine itself running. His eyes began to feel heavy and the pain in his shoulder was beginning to worsen. Allen got out of his computer chair and walked over to his bed. He flopped over on it and kicked his shoes off leaving his feet to hang over the edge of his bed touching the floor. Soon after that, he passed out sound asleep. Allen awoke later that night when his cat Timcampy, a golden looking slender cat with brilliant green eyes, crawled on-top of him.

"Tim..." Allen gowned rolling over knocking the cat off of him. He laid there for a while tossing and turning not succeeding in falling back asleep. He decided to get on his computer after seeing that his alarm-clock read 1:58 AM that was displayed is bright green digits. Pressing the power button to his monitor he waited for the screen to come on. Once the screen was on a message popped up saying,

'FunnyBunnie0173 sent you a message while you were away'

ACCEPT. CLOSE.

Allen accepted it.

FunnyBunnie0173 writes: Hey when you get back on I just wanted to let you know that I want to be your friend. Will you be my friend?

FunnyBunnie0173 writes: Hey you're on!

W#ite_CL0wN writes: Haha yes I am! As to the answer to your question, Yes. I would love to be your friend. :)

FunnyBunnie0173 writes: SCORE! Haha Alright!

W#ite_CL0wN writes: You're most welcome! :)

FunnyBunnie0173 writes: What are you doing on this early?

W#ite_CL0wN writes: ...My cat woke me up and I couldn't go back to sleep. What about you? Why are you up this late?

FunnyBunnie0173 writes: I'm in school. You have a cat?

W#ite_CL0wN writes: Yes! his name is Timcampy! He's a golden orange color.

FunnyBunnie0173 writes: Nice! All I have is an old panda...

W#ite_CL0wN writes: Really! That's so cool?

FunnyBunnie0173 writes: No... Not really I wish though! I was just talking about my Grandpa

W#ite_CL0wN writes: Oh nice :]

FunnyBunnie0173 writes: Haha yup!

W#ite_CL0wN writes: For a minute I was under the impression you had like an actual panda!

Much to Allen's dislike his eyelids became heavy once more saying sleep was going to consume him soon.

W#ite_CL0wN writes: Well it was nice talking to you again but I'm getting tired now so I'll be going to bed. Good Night!

FunnyBunnie0173 writes: Alright. I have to go too class is changing. Goodnight. Sweet dreams.

Allen exited off of AIM, shut down his computer, and turned off his desk lamp. Once the room was completely dark Allen crawled back into his bed, the right way, and got under his covers. Not too long after that Allen let the much needed sleep consume his entire body. Timcampy waddled his way closer and rested his head on Allen's chest. Both Allen and Tim contently slept that way for the rest of the night.

Ok! So here's chapter one of yet another story! I hope you all like this one!