I ran down the hallway.
Takeshi's getting too close to my secret, I thought.
I kept running, my legs burning from the effort, then suddenly I tripped, and fell on the ground, scraping my wrists.
What did I trip over? I wondered, looking around. Then I saw a backpack on the floor. Now who's…
Suddenly my classmate, Daisuke Niwa, came running down the hallway. He smacked right into me, knocking me over again, and landed on me.
"Ow…" I said. "D-Daisuke, could you please get off of me?"
"Oh! M-Miss Valentine!" Daisuke exclaimed, jumping up. "I-I'm so sorry!"
"Call me Elyssa, okay?" I said, irritated.
I took several deep breaths, backing up against the wall, still crouched in a sitting position. Don't get angry, don't get angry…
"Hey, are you okay?" Daisuke knelt next to me, then noticed my bleeding wrists. "What happened? You're bleeding!"
"I tripped over your backpack," I said softly.
"Oh…I'm sorry, again…" Daisuke said. He pulled some bandaids out of his backpack. "Here, give me your hands."
"It's already stopped bleeding, and really it's no big deal…" I reluctantly held out my hands and he started to put bandaids on them, but then stopped.
"Your hands…they healed up already…" he said in shock.
I pulled my hands away from him. "Nevermind," I muttered.
I lost blood, I thought. That must be why my powers kicked in. I think I might pass out…
I got up, shaking slightly. I knew I had to leave before I passed out.
"Wait…Miss Elyssa!" Daisuke called to me.
I turned. "Yes…"
"What were you running from?" he asked.
I breathed a sigh of relief. "Takeshi."
"Oh…I'm sorry," Daisuke said.
"What? It's not your fault!" I exclaimed. This boy was amazing. "It was my own for letting him get those pictures."
"Miss Elyssa…I won't let him do anything, I promise," Daisuke said.
I shivered slightly. "Y-You don't have to call me…'miss.'"
Suddenly I sucked in a breath and passed out…and Daisuke caught me.
Daisuke immediately transformed into Dark.
"The girl is beautiful," Dark said. "Why haven't I seen her before?"
Maybe because she's a new student, Dark, Daisuke thought back angrily. And leave her alone!
He was walking past the swimming pool, when suddenly Elyssa woke up.
"Who are you?" she exclaimed.
Suddenly Dark was hit with an enormous amount of pain to his chest. He dropped Elyssa, and fell to the ground, slightly twitching, like someone having a seizure.
He went unconscious and transformed into Daisuke.
"No!" I yelled. I started running to Daisuke's side, but slipped and fell into the pool.
Is he dead? I wondered. I can't have killed him, I wasn't angry enough!
I grabbed the side of the pool, struggling to pull myself out, but in my weakness, I slipped and knocked my head against it, then went under again.
I felt myself fall through the water. I was sure this time I wouldn't see the surface again.
I wasn't afraid. The only upside to my curse is that no matter what people do to me, I can't die. So although I was underwater, and too weak to move, and I was about to pass out from lack of oxygen, I just felt like laughing. It was just…too much.
My eyes closed, and I succumbed to darkness.
Satoshi Hiwatari had been sent by the teacher to find out what had happened to Daisuke and Elyssa. He walked past the pool, and then noticed Daisuke passed out, twitching slightly.
He went into the pool area. He quickly called for paramedics.
Niwa's still breathing, he thought. But what could have caused this? Could it be one of….them?
The water in the pool rippled. Satoshi looked in and saw a girl in the water.
It's just as I thought, he thought, diving in after her.
I coughed, water and blood streaming from my mouth and nose. My vision was blurry, but slowly returned to normal. I looked at the boy who had "saved" me.
I knew him. The part of me that was cursed told me who he was: a Hikari, the one who made me this way. For once in my life, I didn't hold back, I directed all of my anger at him, trying my best to kill him.
He just smiled slightly. "Is that the best you can do? You think you can hurt me?"
He's not damaged at all? I wondered.
"Why did you bother saving me?" I asked. "I would've gotten out of it."
"What did you do to Niwa?" the boy asked angrily.
"He wasn't Niwa when I did that," I said. "I did not know there were others like me. I thought I was the only one."
"Don't compare him to something like you," the boy spat the words at me in anger. "You kill, destroy without a thought. Niwa wouldn't hurt anyone, and you hurt him anyway."
The words hurt. "I…do have a saving grace."
I pulled myself up, willing my body to heal, and knelt next to Daisuke. I concentrated energy into my finger and tapped his forehead. He stopped twitching, and his entire form shook for a moment, then went still.
"He should be fine," I said softly. "I…don't kill on purpose. It's like I was made this way."