Prologue

*BEEP* *BEEP*

Men and women rushed around, dressed all in white. Allen couldn't see them, but he heard them. He sat there with his knees drawn up and his face buried in them as the doctors and nurses rushed around him.

*BEEP* *BEEP*

He felt his tears staining the knees of his shorts. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up at the doctor.

*Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeep*

The solemn expression on the man's face was all Allen needed for more tears to well up and a broken shout to escape his throat.

Allen opened his eyes and looked up at the social worker in front of him. The older woman held out a hand to help the young boy up from his seat with an unreadable expression on her wrinkled face. "What is it?" he asked. "Where are we going?"

The woman- he thought she had told him to just call her Mother- took his hand and led him along. "Meeting with an old friend of mine."

Allen blinked his big gray eyes in confusion. "Huh? Why?"

Mother was silent for a moment before finally answering his question. "He's a little crazy, but he's a good man. I told him your story and he said he wanted to meet you."

He looked shocked. She had told someone about Mana's death? Who had she told? And, why did he want to meet him?

Did…Did somebody want to…?

A month had passed, and Allen was still getting used to the thought of his new life as he packed his bags. Cross, Mother's friend and his new guardian, had decided to go home to America, and he wanted to bring Allen with him. He really hadn't minded that much, since there weren't very many people in Oxford that he was attached to.

It didn't take him as long to pack as he'd thought it would. In fact, they'd had time to make one more stop on the way to the airport. Cross had agreed, without question, to take Allen to Mana's grave one more time. It was a long, tense visit for the poor boy. But, it helped him. After that, he readily left with Cross for his new life…