It all began one Halloween, when Gracie Jones asked her friend, Marlene Grayson, to go with her to a party she had been invited to. Marlene was reluctant, at first, but she eventually gave in on the condition she would be allowed to spend the night Gracie's house. She readily agreed to it, knowing full well that Marlene's parents would never have approved of her staying out so late for a party. Gracie's parents, on the other hand, they would be disapproving but they would let it go if their daughter went with someone they approved of, like her friend Marlene. They liked her cautious nature and she was one of the few people their strong-willed daughter would listen to and follow whatever advice they gave her. They also knew she would do her best to keep her friend and their daughter out of trouble.

     At the party, Marlene had a surprisingly good time in spite of Gracie's best attempts at getting herself into trouble. But she knew something bad would happen afterwards because of her 'unearned' good fortune. As predicted, the party lasted well past their usual curfews as well as the closing time of most of their town's local businesses. This left the streets dark, empty, and foreboding at that late hour and yet Gracie, in all her teenage wisdom, wanted to walk home. Marlene, however, knew better and wanted Gracie's parents to come and pick them up. It was only a thirty-minute walk to her friend's house but that was more than enough time for something bad to happen. Marlene told her friend as much, but Gracie had enough of her cautiousness for one night and didn't want to listen to her any more. Realizing this, Marlene gave into her friend's demands and decided to go with her. This way, if something did indeed happen, her bonded guardian Shadow, could easily protect the both of them from harm.

     And something did. Halfway there, on the edge of the poorly lit business section, the two girls crossed paths with a group of five drunken high school seniors. They had wandered away from the senior Halloween party and were now staggering towards them on the opposite side of the street the two girls were currently on. Marlene didn't like the look of them and wanted to take a different route back to Gracie's house.

     "You're being paranoid," Gracie told her nervous friend, turning to look at her and taking her eyes off of the seniors.

     "No. I am not." Marlene replied.

     "Yes, you are." Gracie told her. "I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"

     "Exactly." Marlene said bluntly as she looked over her friend's shoulder and crossed her arms.

     Gracie followed her friend's gaze and saw the seniors moving towards them. While they were busy debating, the five drunken boys had taken notice them and had decided to come over to them. Gracie looked back at Marlene and raised an eyebrow at her. Marlene simply mouthed the words 'I told you so' in response before the seniors got to them. Gracie stuck her tongue out at her in response.