Chapter 1

Cecilia sat at the lunch table intently staring at what claimed to be macaroni
and cheese. She was snapped out of her daydream by the sound of a girl's
voice behind her.
"Her? Astrid, you can't be serious!"

Then another girl, quiet and commanding, "Fuck off, Christina. This is my
department."

And then a guy, "Shut up, both of you. What do you think Blake? She right?"

"As far as I can tell" A guy's quiet, deep voice answered.

"I'll take it from here." said another girl, her tone pleasant but irritated.
Joking choruses of "Yes ma'am" and "Of course, your highness" followed her
as she began walking towards Cecilia.

Cecilia heard footsteps behind her, and then a voice, "Uhh... Hi!" She slowly
turned on the bench to see the speaker behind her. A Hispanic girl wearing
really beat up jeans and a black tank top.

"We just wanted to know if you want to come and have a coffee or
something with us after school at the Samhael."

"Where?" Cecilia asked, she had lived in this town all her life, yet never
heard of any coffee shop called that; but it did remind her of something...
But what?

"The Samhael, it's a cafe a few blocks from here. Just meet us at the flag
pole after last period." and she walked away, to be joined by the rest of the
group.

Cecilia watched them walk away, so cool, calm, collected. And kinda edgy
too, they looked like they belonged in one of the karate/sci-fi movies that
she loved. She could almost imagine them as part of the resistance to the
Matrix or something... *Could this be a cruel joke?* she wondered, *No,
they don't really seem the type... Only the 'popular' kids do that... Besides,
they’re cool, there’s a chance they're into the same things I am... I guess I'll
go... Where are we going again? The Samhael? That definitely triggered
something...That's it! Although she was not religious, she came from a
Jewish background, and Samhael was a name from Jewish folklore, she
knew it...The Angel of Death. That was it... She was going for coffee with a
bunch of Matrix wannabes to a place that was named after the Angel of
Death? This ought to be interesting...*