An Unordinary Adventure of An Ordinary Girl

The morning finally came, yet, you didn’t feel rested at all. Half of the night you had weird dreams, almost nightmares, and it sent shivers down your spine even in your sleep. You dreamt of being dragged down into the shadows, which seemed to creep up your body, trapping it in the darkness. You also remembered there was a guy among the shadows... he was slim and skinny, with tattoos on his arm and face, with spiky black hair and grey cat like eyes. His mouth was covered with a black cloth, hiding the lower part of his face. But what scared you the most was his right arm, which didn’t seem to have any skin on it. Instead, it was a naked black bone, starting from his shoulder and ending with claw-like fingertips. You shuddered at the memory of that hand reaching out to you... No, you must forget that dream. You splashed some water on your face and sighed. It was time for school again, yet, you still haven’t found any way to unmask Asiel. What should you do with him? You were sure he wasn’t a normal human, but there was no way to prove it.

You sighed as you cast down your head:

“Why is everything so complicated?..”

“Then let me help you...” You hear a soft whisper and look around nervously, fear creeping in. No one is in the bathroom beside you.

“I can help you,” the whispers return and you frantically look around, searching for its source.

Nothing’s in the room, but you feel shivers run down your spine as you start questioning your senses. You turn to the sink and wash your face once more, enjoying the feeling of cool water. You then look around once more and, having found nothing suspicious, leave the bathroom.

Leiru is standing by your bed, looking somewhat grim. You look at him worriedly:

“Is something wrong?”

Leiru looks at you intently:

“I feel a faint scent of demons around.”

“D-Demons?” You stutter.

“Don’t worry,” Leiru says, smiling gently at you, “I’ll make sure nothing harms you.”

You nod, but the chilling feeling returns and you feel fear making its way back to the corners of your mind. You look around the room uncertain if you actually want to leave it. But you don’t have much choice and half an hour later you go out of your house and fake a slight smile at Asiel, who’s been waiting for you by the gates. Every morning he comes to your house and you both walk to school together. This morning was no exception and you two head out to school, Leiru tailing behind you.

Most of the way you keep quiet, looking around nervously. Asiel tried starting a conversation a few times, but you answered shortly and quickly, other things on your mind. You felt as if you were being watched, followed even and that was creeping you out. Right now you were incredibly glad Leiru was here for you and even Asiel’s company didn’t sound that bad any longer.

You entered school together with Asiel, who was greeted by a bunch of girls. Meh, fan-club. Asiel got surrounded and you were pushed aside by the eager girls. You looked at his smiling face, somewhat hesitant to leave. The feeling of being stalked was still there and you needed more company.

‘Aya? Are you ok?’ Leuru touched your shoulder and you nodded.

“I’m just… I’m having this really bad feeling…” You whispered quietly as fear refused to leave your mind.

“Well well well… What are you standing here for, honey?” You flinched as Kyo’s arm circled around your waist and he leaned onto your shoulder.

You pushed him aside as you whispered: “I’m not in the mood, Kyo.”

He looked at you surprised, his voice now low and with a serious tone to it. “What’s wrong?”

You shook your head frantically, having no idea how to explain this strange fear.

“I don’t know, I just don’t know…”

Kyo looked away, a slight blush coming on his cheeks as he suddenly grabbed your hand and dragged you towards the doors. “Well, I’m here, so you have nothing to fear, got it?”

You looked up at him surprised, but couldn’t see his face. Yet, the warmth of his hand felt real and for a moment there you calmed down. ‘My stupid imagination, running wild again,’ you told yourself as you slowly returned to your normal self.

As you reached the doors of your classroom, Kyo abruptly let go of your hand and cast a quick glance at you. “So well… well,” he suddenly turned around and left in mid-sentence.

Somehow that made you chuckle as you realized he felt embarrassed. You had no idea why, but that was the impression you got. You watched as he took the corner and then turned to your classroom. You took your seat and just after a few minutes Asiel walked in as well. He sat down beside you and glanced at you somewhat hurt.

“Why did you leave me there all alone?..”

“Well, you seemed to be… preoccupied,” you giggled and smirked at him.

Asiel only frowned as he turned away. Yet, soon he turned to you again: “Are you ok today, Yuki? You seemed kind of weird this morning.”

You looked at him somewhat surprised, and then shook your head. “I’m fine. Just had a nightmare, that’s all.”

You turned to the blackboard to listen to the teacher, yet, you couldn’t really concentrate. The lesson seemed to pass incredibly slowly and you found yourself counting the minutes till its end. Leiru seemed somewhat restless all the time as he kept looking around and you almost physically felt his anxiety. Still, you were too afraid to ask him.

As you sighed once again you noticed a piece of paper fall onto your desk. You took it and unfolded: “Cheer up!” A weird smile was drawn underneath and you giggled, glancing at Asiel. Really… No talent for art. You smiled at him mouthing “Thank you” silently. Asiel merely winked at you and you chuckled once again.

Your mood picked up a little, yet, the weird feeling of being watched didn’t disappear. After the lesson you went out to the restroom to wash your face. You felt like you needed a cold shower to wake up from this strange feeling; it’s a pity you couldn’t take one in school. You sighed as you turned off the faucet and looked at the mirror. An unfamiliar face with brown eyes stared back at you and suddenly you felt really down. You missed your own face and your own body, you missed your family and your friends, and most of all you missed yourself. Sometimes you felt as if you were stealing someone else’s life and losing yours. You heaved another sigh as you bent your head down.

“Do you want to go back?.. ” The blood in your veins seemed to freeze as you heard a hoarse whisper just beside you. “Do you want… to forget?..”

You turned around, yet, there was no one in the room, except you.

“I can help you… Aya.”

You felt shivers run down your spine as the voice seemed to penetrate you deep. More than that… he called you by your name… he called you Aya, not Yuki.

“Who,” you whispered in a slightly shivery voice. “Who’s there?”

“Does it matter who I am?” the voice seemed to whisper right into your ear and you jumped away flinching. “What matters right now… is that I can help you…”

“Help me?” You looked around frantically, still seeing nothing but empty space.

“Yeeeessss…” the voice trailed off. “I can take you home.”

“Home…” you echoed shocked.

“Home… home… home…” the voice echoed together with you and you could hear more quiet whispers all around, though you couldn’t make out what they were saying.

“Don’t you want to go home, Aya?” The voice sounded right behind you and you whisked around fearfully, the hair on your back standing up. Your eyes widened in surprise in shock and you took a few steps backwards, shivers rocking your whole body. There, the freaky guy from your dream stood grinning at you, dark shadows rising from the ground behind him.

“No… no…” you whispered, shaking your head slightly, fear overcoming you. You could deal with psychotic teachers; you could deal with cocky brats in school and even mysterious childhood friends out of nowhere… but to be faced with a demon eye to an eye was bloodcurdling.

“Come, Aya…” the guy crept closer, his eyes boring into yours, almost hypnotizing you. “Come, my dear… take my hand,” he reached out a black bony arm, his long nails making a slightly clacking sound. “Take my hand and let me help you… No more pain, no more secrets.”

You shivered as you tried stepping back, yet, instead, you felt your body move forwards. Panic and fear seemed to almost choke you as tears rolled down your cheeks and in your mind you frenziedly called out for help, any help, just help...