Sunny September, Prologue.

  I’m screwed, so screwed that I’m sure you’ll see the face of a Jamaican boy with dreads, high cheek bones and distinct pouches under his eyes pictured right next to the definition of screwed in future dictionaries.

  The world becomes a blur as a hand slams my head into the bonnet of a police car.

  My arms feel like a knot behind my back as I’m restrained, the handcuffs snapping closed on my wrists with a suffocating squeeze.

  The L.A.P.D. officers roar command after command that fly over my spinning head, the sirens drowning out their words as they thrash my ears. I feel a thud come from across the other side of the bonnet. The officer restraining me removes his hand. Raising my head, I admire the impression of my devilishly handsome face that’s left behind.

  Looking across the bonnet I see the idiot who got me into this mess rise to meet my gaze. His silver eyes show no signs of guilt or regret, a smirk forming across his lips.

  ‘Don’t ask me why I do the things I do. Life needs a touch of chaos and thrill to make things more fulfilling.’

  Like an old video tape that flickers on a grainy screen, his words from last night replay over and over, flickering through the turmoil in my mind. Tell me Okimoto, is this the touch of chaos and thrill you’re looking for?

  As I make a mental list of the charges I’ll be facing I smile back at him, knowing that what we’ve done will go down in history. I’m sure my face will be on the news in a few hours but I don’t care anymore, just like what will become of me when I get out of prison, it doesn’t matter.

  My life flashes before my eyes, the images slowing down when today replays. Even now I’m still haunted by the image of her fazing through the wall, the spider legs growing from their eyes and those things that tried to kill me at the party. The entire day was like a fever dream that never ended.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  I still don’t know why that girl looks so much like my best friend, why they have the exact same rosette shaped mark on their right cheek. Watching the idiot resist the officers while demanding they give him a cigarette, I think it must be either the mark of the devil, or a brand given to demons from hell sent to drag me screaming into the fire.

  I scowl when the officer grazes my ass while patting me down. I smell the exhaust of the police cars mixing with the burnt fumes from Okimoto’s motorcycle. Smoke billows from it as it lies in a wreck underneath a police car that’s crumpled against a tree a few feet away.

  After the two of us are thrusted into the backseats I stare past the glass barrier into the rear view mirror. The Hollywood sign is missing all but one letter as it shimmers in the night sky.

  “Ahh shit they got my precious Cinderella!” Okimoto whines as he sees an officer slip his pink revolver into a translucent bag. “Don’t be so rough with her you piece of shit!”

  I lean my head back as I close my eyes. Unlike him I won’t be getting charged for brandishing an unlicensed firearm, I at least was dumb enough to leave my gun behind with the septuplets. Instead I will be charged with vandalism, some variation of grand larceny and domestic terrorism alongside him. I wonder, will they try me as an adult? I sure hope not.

  It’s crazy how much your life can change in twenty for hours, I mean it was literally only yesterday that I ran away from detention after getting in to a fight over a girl. That was so mundane compared to this. So mundane compared to what I did a few hours later. I remember the Hollywood letters tumbling down the hillside like a massive stack of cards. The maniacal smile on Okimoto’s face that was soon followed by even more maniacal laughter.

  That’s right! We were the ones responsible for the destruction of one of America’s most iconic landmarks. I honestly can’t tell you why we did it. Well for Okimoto, it was probably just for the sake of it. He’s a true agent of chaos, after all it was his idea in the first place. As for me I guess I wanted to start my high school years off with a bang, or at least that’s what I’ll say to the judge.

  Two officers slide into the front seats. I avoid eye contact and look outside the window. Even now I still can’t get her off my mind. I don’t have a crush on her or anything, hell biracial Asian girls aren’t even my type. Nah, it’s the image of her sprouting two sets of wings and a tail before soaring off into the night sky that’s fresh on my mind.

  The car drives off and as we turn a corner what’s left of the Hollywood sign comes directly into view. Maybe it’s better if we start there, where it all began. When me and my best friend, the asshole I got into a fight with and four others all came together at the base of the Hollywood sign and decided to blow the whole damn thing up on a whim…