Death's Embrace

I must have walked until dawn when suddenly I found myself standing in front of my school. I hadn't planned on coming here, but something had pulled me to this horrid place. Oh, I wasn't bad at school or anything. In fact, I had grades a lot of my friends would kill for, but alas, like everything else in this forsaken life, I hated it! The little bratty teenagers running amuck at this school sickened me. All 2,700 of them! Yes, I thought this, even though I was technically still one of them.

So insecure, so arogant, so immature. Those little babies did not realize what the world was going to be like for them! They had been sheltered by caring parents and this wretched school to a point where they thought they knew everything there was to know about the world. Ha! Not me. I was an exception. I knew what the world would be like- cruel, but I was also painfully aware that I didn't know everything- and that terrified me more than anything.

I walked toward the school. Not all of them were that bad though. I had my chosen few, the group of guys. Guys were so much easier to get along with than petty girls who would have half the school convinced you were a slut by the end of the day if you so much as looked at them the wrong way. Guys, you could sit there and glare daggers at them and they would be oblivious. I loved it! They were all just good friends though. Trust me, once you see them eat, you lose any other kind of interest. One more good thing, they kept away those jerks who thought they could move in on me.

I walked through the side door, headed up the stairs to the balcony, and looked at the courtyard below. Oh how easy it would be...Death...

"What now, witch?" a cold voice said behind me. I turned to see Death standing before me. Somehow, even in the dawnlight (for it was now just breaking dawn), he made the hall appear dark and well- deathly.

"I am sorry. I didn't mean to call you again." I wiped a tear away. I turned to walk down the hall. A few rays of sunlight touched my skin as I walked on, warming me the way nothing else in this world could. A cool autumn breeze rippled past me; I closed my eyes and remembered a time when I was happier. Oh so much happier...

"You know-" Death began but faultered as my eyes flashed open and fixed themselves upon him. He was blocking my path.

"What?" I bit my lip to keep back the tears. I watched his eyes travel to my lips then back to my eyes; he walked up to me. His hand cupped the side of my face as a slight smile crossed his pale lips.

"I think I know why I can't kill you." he whispered, once again so close his cool breath stirred my hair.

"Why?" my dark eyes looked into his. His spiky brown hair was ruffled by the wind as a ray of sunlight slid across his face, somehow making him look even more wonderful. Ironic, I thought death was beautiful. I must have been a really sick little girl...

"Just say you'll come with me?" his eyes traveled to my lips in longing. He leaned in, but pulled himself back slowly, exhaling in what sounded like agony.

"Tell me I won't have to come back here." I whispered, feeling a light hand on my waist. He pulled me forward gently.

A pained expression crossed his face, "I can't promise that yet. If you come with me though-" he finished in a whisper. His eyes seemed to say he knew more than he was letting on. His fridgid hand traveled the length of my cheek, but it felt marvelous to me.

"What have I to lose?"

"Just your life." Death smiled slightly. Ha, death had a sense of humor (even if it was rather dark). He seemed to want to say more, but just looked down at me.

"Lea?" I turned to see my friend, Paul, walking over. I looked back to see Death still standing there, a peculiar look on his face. I frowned slightly in question; his eyes met mine sadly. Realization hit me and just about knocked me over.

"Paul, tell me quickly! Do you see anyone here?" I studied his green eyes that stood out in a tan face surrounded by dark, slightly curly hair. I watched in horror as his eyes traveled over to Death. If he could see Death then that meant he was about to die. Don't ask me how I knew that but I did...

"Who is this?" he answered my question without realizing it.

"P-Paul, this is D-"

"Drear." he said quickly. I glanced back at him, then looked at Paul. Paul was sharp; he realized that wasn't what I was about to say.

"Nice to meet you." he looked a question at me. It was that typical is this guy bothering you look. Death- Drear- looked slightly amused, sort of appreciative, and more than a bit annoyed.

"It's fine, Paul." I glanced back at Drear. "You should probably leave."

"You sure?" he stared at Drear with hard eyes.

"Ya, it's all good." I smiled, Paul nodded and sauntered off to one of the inner halls. Drear watched him leave before turning to me.

"You know what this means, right?" his face was stone again.

"Please, not Paul! He has such promise in his future! The world needs more people like him!" I pleaded. Paul was, perhaps, one of the most genuine people I had yet met in the world. Death couldn't just take him!

Drear shook his head sadly and just walked down the hall after Paul, disappearing as he stepped into the shadows.

"PAUL!" I ran after them. My heart was pounding in my ears, outstripping the beating of my feet on the pavement. "PAUL, WAIT!" I darted past a few confused people and turned a corner. I grabbed the rail and used it to pull myself into an even sharper turn to take the stairs. I jumped the last four steps and ran into the courtyard.

"Paul!" I screamed. He was on the other side of the courtyard now. Several people turned and pointed at me as I zipped by. A dark shadow seemed to be stocking him.

Please let him live! Please! He was one of my best friends in the whole world! He always listened to what I had to say! Anything but this! Please! I would give anything!

I skidded to a hault as Death- Drear- stood in front of me. "You really mean that?" he tipped his head quizically.

"What?" I panted, glaring at him. A group of preppy girls walked by, whispering and throwing nasty looks my way. I ignored them.

"You would give anything to save this human?" he eyed me thoughtfully.

"Y-yes." I stammered, confused at why he was asking me this.

"It is done then." he smiled in a way that made my hair stand on end.

"Wait! What's-" I heard several gasps as Drear took on his human form. I looked around at the ten people staring at him. I knew it must have looked strange; a man just appearing out of thin air.

Drear turned to glare at them. I had to school my face to remain smooth as they ran off screaming, actually screaming! That was just shocking. Death wasn't that scary!

"Starting to see how different you really are?" he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. We were alone now. Drear stepped toward me. I was too shocked to move.

"They- you aren't going to-"

"Take them?" he pressed his fingerstips to my lips to stop my stammering. "I will eventually, but not right now. No, you owe me something I intend on collecting."

"What are you talking about?" I tried to pull away from him as his hands wrapped firmly around my wrists.

A devilish smiled crossed his bloodless lips, "Just wait." he whispered. I frowned and began to protest, but he just kissed me and disappeared.

"Lea?" a few of the kids from earlier peered out from behind things like garbage bins and tables. People were so weird...

"Ya?" I turned to them, more concerned with what Drear had said. What was he going to do? What on earth did I owe him? Why did he appear like that before these people and leave ME to explain things?

"He's gone right?" a junior girl with long black hair called.

I blinked at her, "Who?" and walked away pretending like guys normally appeared out of thin air here.

By mid morning, everyone in the school had found out about the incident. That was pretty impressive for a school that size. Generally it took until mid afternoon...

"Pst! Lea!" a boy named Ryan hissed in Calculus. "Is it true?"

"Is what true?" I tried to move my lips as little as possible, all the while keeping an eye on the teacher at the white board.

"That guy you were with really works undercover for the government?"

"WHAT?"

"Excuse me Miss Brenett?" Mr. Norman turned to look at me over his glasses.

"Oh, uh. I misread what you wrote and-"

"Try to restrain yourself next time then!" he turned back to the board. I felt my ears redden as whispers rose around me. Mr. Norman didn't seem to hear them.

I was so happy when the bell rang for lunch, that I nearly knocked down Ginger Adams on my way out. "Hey, Lea. Is it true that guy was with AL Queda and he-"

"No!" I stormed off. Terrorists, really! You'd think they could come up with something more inventive!

I made my way out into the courtyard with my bag lunch and waited for the guys to show up. Charlie and Zack strolled over from their Lit class on the other side of the court. "Sup, Lea."

"Nothin'." I said in a small, tight voice.

"That guy from ealier-" Zack sat down in front of me. "Is he really a ninja sent to kill us all?"

"Sorta, he is death incarnate."

"You don't have to be sarcastic!" Zack glared.

Charlie laughed, "Seriously, Lea!"

"Seriously..." I whispered, but no one heard me.

By now the other five guys had made there way over. Lan, Jacob, Evan, Edd, and Mike. "What's up?" Evan sat next to me.

"Oh nothing, Lea's just seeing death incarnate." Charlie threw a sly look in my direction. I stuck my tongue out at him; he smirked victoriously.

"Well that's the craziest thing I ever heard!" Mike said. "So about that guy, was he really Hilary Clinton in disguise come to recruit her own personal army to take over the country?"

I gave Mike such a look, he shuddered and inched away. The others all howled with laughter. "Come on man, she's not that scary!" Zack laughed.

"Ya, you're not the one sitting next to her! She looks about ready to kill me!" Mike tried to smile to make it seem more like a joke, but failed.

"Where's Paul?" I looked around, trying to change the uncomfortable subject.

"Finishing up his work in Economics." Lan answered. "Why?" he asked innocently.

"Just curious." I answered, pulling out a turkey sandwhich. "Hey!" I said indignately as Edd and Evan reached over to look inside my paperbag.

"Nothing, as usual." Evan sighed. "You really should bring more food."

"First off, why the hell do I need more food? So you can eat it? (Evan grinned) Secondly, I'm not a teenage guy. I can't eat like you all do. I'd get sick!"

"Whaz dat supoz do meeen?" I glanced over at Edd as he shoved half a sub into his mouth.

"Gee Edd, I really don't know!" I shook my head and laughed.

"Waf?" he looked around, but everyone else had started talking about something else.

I sat quietly for the rest of lunch. The guys didn't really notice, I was generally like that. I thought about Death- Drear (I still wasn't used to that)- and sighed. I hoped he wasn't planning to do something horrible. The bell rang and I got up to head to Chem.

"Hey, Lea! Wait up!" Ryan called. I didn't look back at him, but I had to acknowledge his presence once he jogged up to me.

"So you and that guy, are you two-"

"What?" I snapped.

He faultered but quickly regained his confidence, "Are you two together?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes." a new voice said. I jumped as Drear stood in front of us, arms crossed and a scowl painted across his face. His eyes slid over Ryan with firm disapproval.

"Drear!" I gasped. "Don't do that!" I clutched my rapidly beating heart. Ryan sort of went stiff and backed away slowly.

"S-sorry, I'll just be g-going now! Bye!" he ran down the hall to class.

"What are you doing here? Trying to give everyone on campus a heart attack?!" I hissed as several girls pressed themselves against the wall as we walked by.

Drear looked slightly amused, "That would be an interesting project, but no. Besides, what do you care? You hate everyone here."

"Not everyone." I caught sight of Paul waving from down the hall. I waved back as he disappeared into his history class.

We walked to Mrs. Ryan's classroom. I stopped outside the door and looked at Drear. He raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to say what we both knew I was going to say.

"You can't go in!" I whispered.

"Why not?" he smirked.

"Hello! CHEM LAB! EXPLOSIVES!" I hissed. He laughed silently.

"I thought you didn't fear death?"

"I don't, but that doesn't mean I want the same for others!" I replied opening the door.

"Well come on in you two!" Mrs. Ryan said from her computer. "Today is Lab Day!"

"Oh, Mrs. Ryan, Drear isn't in this-"

"Alright everyone, we have a new exchange student!" the portly, kind faced Mrs. Ryan stood and clapped her hands for silence. She looked back at us with shocking blue eyes and motioned for Drear to come to the front. "Everyone, this is Drear- uh, how do you pronounce your last name dear?" she glanced at the sheet she held.

"Amanar." he answered.

"Very good! Very good! You can just take a seat next to Lea there. She'll help you if you need anything."

I froze halfway down in my seat. Drear made his way over to the empty desk next to me. I sat down heavily. He was smirking...

"Now class..." Mrs. Ryan started.

"Amanar?" I blinked.

"It's Romanian. I did a lot of work there a couple of centuries ago." he whispered, not looking at me.

Mrs. Ryan handed us the instruction sheet for the lab. "Do you mind being Drear's partner dear?" Mrs. Ryan placed a light hand on my shoulder.

"Um, not at all." I smiled painfully at her. Why did she choose me to work with him! Well, whatever I wanted I wasn't about to get it so I followed Drear back to the lab. I noticed the other students trying to pick a lab station as far away from us as possible. Well, this would be a pleasant class...

Drear and I recieved bonus marks for being the first group to finish. Drear smiled ingratingly at me as I started to clean up, "See, I'm not so bad to have around."

"Don't you have a job to do or something?" I grumpled as I sprayed the disinfectant onto the counter and became destracted in my search for a paper towel.

He shrugged, "Nothing to worry about. I'll take care of it while you're sleeping."

"Speaking of which, I have a question for you. Why the interest in me?" I whispered as we made our way to the front to hand our report to Mrs. Ryan.

He didn't answer. "Thank you, dears." Mrs. Ryan glanced at the clock. "You can go ahead and go to your lockers if you want. The day is almost over." Yes! A double period of chemistry had it's advantages. I all but ran to the door, gathering my stuff on the way there. I made my way to my locker, right across the hall. Drear leaned against the lockers watching me as I struggled with the old, rusted lock.

"You have a real problem with locks, don't you?" I glanced up at him; he just looked at me with an unreadable expression on his face. This was such a change from last night. He had been openly hostile. Now he was just indifferent, or pretending to be. My stomach started twisting again...

"It's not my fault! The lockers are all like five years old and always stick." I tried the lock again, hit the locker, then finally it opened. "See! I'm not so inept!" I tossed all my books in my locker. Strangely, I didn't have any homework. I made my way out to the parking lot then remembered I had left my car on the old abandoned bridge. It should be fine, but now I had to walk home and, of course, retrieve it later tonight. Drear was right next to me the whole way, silent as the grave.

Finally, I couldn't take it anymore, "What do I owe you anyway?" I asked, glaring at his strong profile.

"You'll see, my little witch." he laughed. I glanced up at him, but he continued to look ahead. Witch was used almost like a term of endearment now. Earlier it had been an insult coming from him.

"And why are you acting so kind all of a sudden? Well, kind for you at least."

He didn't answer.

"Then, why were you so horrible last night?"

Again, no answer.

"Hey! Can you hear me?"

Drear suddenly appeared in front of me, too fast for me to react. I collided with him, then tried to push myself away. He held onto me and smiled wickedly. A strange thing happened then; his face looked murderous for a split second. That is, until he touched me. "I'm sorry." he whispered. His eyes taking in my wind-blown hair and startled expression.

"What for?" I tipped my head curiously.

"Just wait." he backed away and melted into the shadows.