"YOUR MOTHER!"

"Love you too, Alec. Bye." Lace hung up to one of her most intolerable 'friends'. She sighed and put her headphones in, laying back on her bed. She'd much prefer being outside and doing…well…anything, but the weather had been stubborn lately.

She scrolled through her songs and sighed once more. Her group at college hadn't exactly been swerving the bumps, and it was putting a lot of stress on her—depression, self-consciousness, pessimism yadda yadda. She had found herself thinking really uncomfortable thoughts. How did she get rid of them? By blasting them out with music, of course! And it worked.

Sort of.

"Finally." She whispered as she found a good song. As the song started playing, she looked out of her window. If you were to personify the wind, you'd say that it was beating the crap out of an apple tree and robbing it of its leaves. She laughed and closed her eyes, listening to her music.

Hey kid! Do I have your attention? I know the way ya been livin'.
Life so reckless, tragedy endless
Welcome to the Family!
Hey! There's something missin'! Only time will alter your vision.
Never in question, lethal injection
Welcome to the—

BANG

She opened her eyes and ripped the headphones out of her ears. She looked around in bewilderment, then started laughing once she found the source of the noise.

She ran to the window and gazed at the defeated tree. "You're a freaking 20 foot tree! As if the wind is that strong!" she said and shook her head. She was turning away when she saw something under the tree.

Oh God.

She ran down the stairs of the apartment at a speed that would make Superman proud and straight out into the cold. She had no trouble getting to the tree—it was next to her window, but the body that was there earlier had disappeared. She searched under the branches and through the leaves—but nothing was there.

She stood back and frowned.

"Everything alright, dear?" she turned around to find her elderly neighbour looking at her with worry.

"Yes, Mrs Han. Everything is ok."

The old lady walked towards her. "I saw it too. The body." She said and Lace nodded in appreciation. They stared at the tree for a few more moments, then Lace began to shiver. She noticed Mrs Han looking at her, and smiled.

"It's been very cold lately." She stated bluntly.

The old lady nodded. "My son would love this weather."

Lace looked away. She rarely spoke of her son, and when she did, it was about him and the cold.

"Would you like to come over and have some tea?" Her neighbour offered. Lace smiled.

"I'd be delighted."

-o808o-

"More sugar, Lacrymosa?"

"Thank you, ma'am." Mrs Han was one of the only people that called her by her full name. The other two being her mother—which went missing two years ago, and her older brother, Kuai, who had gotten lost in a snow storm.

Every here and there, she would come over to Mrs Han's and keep her company—but for an old lady with a deceased husband and one child that never visits, she seems happy and content.

As she sat down, Lace couldn't help but ask. "Mrs Han?"

"Yes dear?"

"What is…how does…why doesn't your son visit you?" At this, the lady sighed.

"He…has other things to do."

Lace looked down. She could never get a true answer from Mrs Han. No matter how secretive she was or how hard she tried.

She went on through the rest of the afternoon with her neighbour, talking about textiles and jewels, when they somehow got to the topic of ethereal beings and extra-terrestrials.

"Mark my words, Lacrymosa, there are things in our universe that either prefer to keep hidden or want to control us." Lace smiled unsurely. These subjects are the ones she tried to avoid. She didn't deny them, but tried to keep away.

She had seen her share of spirits and strange men, and she would struggle to sleep the nights that followed.

"Have you seen anything otherworldly, ma'am?"

Mrs Han studied her cup. "Indeed." Was all she said. Silence fell on them.

Way to kill the moment, Lace. She thought. Breaking the silence, she set her cup down and rose from her chair.

"I should be leaving. It's getting late." She checked the time after she said that, and it was only four in the afternoon.

Mrs Han nodded. "Come back any time." She said smiling warmly, and Lace left.

She never really knew how to leave someone's house, and she didn't know if she should've helped put the tea cups away, but she was already heading towards the pizzeria across the road, so there was no point of thinking about it now.

When she opened the door, she immediately smelt the familiar scent of wood-fire and spices. The room was warm, and there was a fair bit of people, but she managed to get a spot on the window alone.

After a few minutes the waitress, Kate, came and took her orders, and she knew she was going to have to wait five centuries and a day until her order actually got to the chef, so she took her headphones out and looked through her playlist. It was raining outside, and she wasn't really bothered for Thrash or Rock n Roll, so she turned to an artist she hadn't listened to for a while.

Evanescence.

Like always, she couldn't decide on what to listen to, so she looked outside for inspiration. The first thing she saw was cars and pedestrians. She shook her head and smiled. Past the sea of people and cars was the fallen tree outside of her apartment. Council workers had already come to clear the place up. Unexpectedly, however, raindrops began to come through the window.

Listen To The Rain it is. She thought, and chose her song.

She was studying the table, the patterns of the wood, when she felt the floor vibrate. She frowned for a few moments, then went back to noting the table's textures. This time it wasn't a rumble that distracted her, it was the people. Outside and inside the pizzeria, people were staring and pointing at a…she didn't know what it was, so she herself stood up and went outside. And only then did she realise that it was a portal.

As the opening reached it's full size, men with razor teeth and bladed arms came running through.

"Maybe we should talk to them." A lady next to her said, and ran up-to one. "Excuse me-" the man looked at her, and without hesitation, he cut her head off.

Yes, let's all go talk to them. I'm sure they'll co-opercutyourheadoff! Lace thought, and ran.

Five minutes previously, she was sitting, waiting for her pizza. Now, she was running in a random direction away from—she stopped.

Extra-terrestrials. She had had a conversation earlier in the day about them.

Could it be a coincidence? She wondered. She will never find the answer, as one of the savage men appeared in front of her, and she stumbled backwards. She was backing away, when she fell something against her back. She looked up, and found an albino looking down at her.

She gasped and ran forwards.

"Baraka. Leave." The albino said to the other man, and to her surprise, he left. She looked at the man in front of her.

"You…know those creatures?" she said, confused. Besides the ultra-pale skin, the man looked human. He nodded.

"Indeed." He looked at her. "Your eyes-"

"Yeah, I know, their violet." She said, backing away from him. Relentlessly, he came closer.

"What is your name?" he asked.

Where is your accent from? She wanted to ask. Instead, she looked down.
"Why should I tell you?"

The man smiled. "Because I can keep you safe."