We walked out of the shabby apartment, down the stairs, and outside in silence. I could tell Angie was silently sobbing mentally. She hated it when our mom beat either us, her verbally or me physically and verbally. She always wrote me little sticky notes every now saying how much she wished she could be there when mom beat me.

"So, where are we going?" I asked, which broke the ice. She grinned big, grabbed my wrist gently, and pulled me behind her. I laughed as she ran forward, telling others 'excuse us' and 'pardon me.' Finally, a panting Angie stopped. I gathered my bearings (and my breath as well) and looked around. She had led us to the same ice cream place we had been to all those years ago. It was only a local place, named 'I cream You cream,' a pun off the old saying 'I scream you scream we all scream for ice cream.' It had improved a lot, but never changed its old logo. Angie looked at me and smiled. I smiled back and brought my phone out from it pocket. She understood and walked toward me.

We posed with the ice cream place behind us. Her teal colored bob blew in the wind as she puffed up her cheeks and crossed her eyes. I stick out my tongue, scrunched up my nose, and gave Angie bunny ears. I clicked the button on the camera, and the screen flashed white. We stopped posing and looked at the picture. We giggled at the picture. After that, we walked in and got the ice cream. We talked, laughed, and made jokes as we ate our cold desert.

After we did so, we walked around a small shopping center, trying on clothes, making goofy poses and taking pictures. We spent the rest of the day goofing off and having fun.

Around ten pm, we were walking home after a fun girl day when we passed a store Angie really wanted to check out. Unfortunately, I couldn't go in. Angie was kind of sad about that, so I told her she could check it out, that it was fine with me. She told me to stay under a street light while she quickly checked the store out. I did so, scrolling through the photos on my phone we had taken that day, snickering at our goofiness.

---

I pulled the hood of my black cloak down farther, staying in the dark shadows. I couldn't be seen, otherwise it might jeopardize what I'm about to do. I couldn't do it to anyone else, they wouldn't understand. But her.. she would. She could save us. I crept closer. Her snickering made my heart jump up to my throat. 'Think about what you're supposed to be doing. You need to do this. Give her the necklace, and get out before he gets here,' I thought to myself.

I looked around. The older one was nowhere to be seen, and there wasn't anyone else around. I dashed out of the shadows and in front of her. She jumped and backed up, gasping and losing a hold on her phone. My hand darted out and caught the small object before it hit the ground. My ring showed, and I mentally cursed at myself. I shoved the phone at her, which she took. I then grabbed the necklace in my hidden pocket in the cloak and thrust that in her hand. "Take this. Protect it with your life, and don't let anyone know about me." I spoke softly. She started to speak, but the door to the store behind her started to open. I dashed away quickly, holding my cloak around my head so she couldn't see me. I ran into the woods, and jumped into the small hole I'd created when I dim-jumped.

---

Footsteps approaching me made me look up. My eyes, well.. eye widened at the sight of a tall person in a black cloak running towards me. I gasped and backed up, losing a grip on my phone. The persons hand shot out from under the cloak and caught the object. It was a woman's hand. Her hand was bony, thin, and a ring was on her middle finger. It was a small silver band with five teal stones on it. She then shoved the phone into my chest, which I grabbed. She then gave me a necklace with a single charm; a necklace with a blue and green center and gold on the outside in the shape of s' and small dots. She told me to protect it with my life and not let anyone know about her. "W-who are-?" My words were cut off as she suddenly glanced behind me and ran off into the shadows. Holding the necklace in one hand and my phone in the other, I stared off into the darkness where the strange person ran off.

"Thanks Lyra, for lettin' me check that out." I jumped slightly when I heard Angie's voice behind me. I turned around, hiding the necklace and my phone behind my back. Angie had a grin on her face, but when she saw my shocked expression it faded. "You okay?" I faltered. Should I tell her about the strange woman?

"Y-yea. Thanks for taking me out, I had fun Ang." I forced a smile, hoping it was genuine to her. She took it as such, and we walked home.

The lights in our apartment in our house were dark. Our mother was on the floor in front of the couch, asleep. She must have fallen off. Angie and I tiptoed to our room in darkness. When we got there, I whispered, "Do you have to leave to work now?" She nodded sadly. She waited patiently while I got into my pjs and quickly got into my bed. She bent over my and kissed my forehead.

"Love you Ly." she whispered, giving a small sad smile. I replied back with a 'love you too.' She quietly walked out of the room, turning off the light and cracking the door open slightly. I stared out the cracked door and listened. As soon as I heard the front door shut quietly, I reached over and grabbed the necklace. I stared into the center of the sun, wondering if this had a hidden camera in it. I tapped it and looked all around the charm, but didn't see anything. I gave up and set it down on the bedside table between the two beds. I laid on my side staring at the necklace. Thoughts ran through my head about what its importance could be. 'But that's impossible, it's just possible in storybooks.' I thought. I sighed and laid on my back, staring up at my picture. I stared sadly at my father's face as my eyes softly closed and I fell asleep.