A/N: Good golly gosh...no reviews? This makes for a very sad Ripple...well, at least y'all got to see two hosts this chapter, even if there was no interaction. Sawwy. :T

I burst through the door of my house, bolting up the stairs before my mom could even say hi. Down the hall and to the left was my bedroom, and I shut the door, locked it, and dove under the covers. Only then did I start to calm down.

Imagining things…that's what I was doing. My mind had been playing tricks on me. There was no other explanation. After all, ghosts weren't real….were they?

But what if she wasn't a ghost after all? What if she was something else…something more sinister. If so, I knew that I wouldn't be able to run from her. She'd find me here.

I knew there was only one way to check to see if I had imagined the whole thing, whether it had been an illusion. Pulling off my top, I twisted in front of my mirror to see my back. In dark blue letters was a single word etched onto my left shoulder, just next to the spine.

FEAR.

I sat back on my heels, wondering why it was there and what exactly it meant for me. That's when things got even freakier. I heard a quiet, soothing voice from inside my head.

The Fear….is an Emotion…she has chosen a victim…to inflict her Emotion on…for life…

Unintentionally, I shuddered. Victim? Inflict her emotion? Crap.

Crap. Crap. Crap.

That meant that Molly – The Fear – would do her best to make me as afraid as possible. For life. Not sure how often I'd see her, but…hopefully not very often.

May the Lord grant you a quick end… the voice whispered, barely audible.

I went back to my bed, pulling on a nightgown and curling up into a ball around my body pillow. She hadn't even shown up again and I was already scared witless. I bit down on my arm to stifle my crying as tears ran down my face. No one could know – who would believe me? They'd most likely send me to an insane asylum.

So I sat there in wait, passing on dinner due to nerves, and gritted my teeth harder every minute as it went by. Eventually, I began to relax. She wouldn't come back…she didn't know where I lived…right?

The giggle.

OHHH CRAP.

I heard a giggle.

Nooooooononnonononono. This is not happening.

But there she was. Molly. Standing in the corner of my room holding a bloodstained butchers knife in her tiny hand. She was grinning from ear to ear, and I'm sure all the blood drained from my face. Was she going to stab me? Carve me up like a thanksgiving turkey?

No, apparently not.

She was doing something worse.

Raising a hand, she pointed a finger at me and giggled again.

I began sinking. Into my mattress.

OH MY GOD I WAS SINKING INTO MY MATTRESS.

I took one last panicked gulp of air before I disappeared into it. I stopped sinking, but I couldn't move a muscle. Pinned where I was, I could barely get any air. I tried screaming, but no one replied. Spots flickered across my vision, and I fought to remain conscious. I refused to die. No way José was a little dead girl killing me.

A blade poked through the stuffing, stopping barely a finger breadth away from my nose. My heart jumped up into my throat as it ripped the covering.

RRRRRRRRIPPPP!

A slender hand poked through the hole, slipping behind my head and pulling it free of the stuffing. I gasped, inhaling breath after beautiful breath. Glory hallelujah, someone saved me!

My vision slowly swam back into focus as I wriggled my way out of my bed. I was met with someone I was NOT expecting.

"Angels exist?" I whispered, reaching out a hesitant hand to touch the gorgeous face. Lightly tanned skin stretched over a beautiful face framed by long dark locks. Steely gray eyes gazed back at me as my rescuer gently entwined my fingers in his.

"Believe me, I'm no angel," he murmured, moving my hand back down to the bed.

"Who are you?" I asked, brow furrowed. I was still feeling lightheaded.

The mystery man leaned over, planting a gentle kiss on my forehead. "A friendly face," he whispered before fading into thin air. …What? How does someone fade into frickin' air?

I laid my head down on my pillow, staring at my ceiling. Was it going to be like this every night?

Rolling over, I bit the fluffy white cushion and screamed into it until my throat was raw and the tears disappeared from my eyes.

Well then, I might as well keep a journal, so I know whether or not there's going to be a pattern to her visits and…actions.

I pulled out a pale green notebook my Aunt had gotten me last Christmas. Untouched, luckily. I grabbed a pen from the jar on my desk, scrawling the date onto the first page.

Sunday, 12 June 2011.

Sunk into mattress, cut free by guardian angel.

I know, I write a lot. & Yeah, he said he wasn't an angel, but I honestly thought he was. I mean, the kindness, the rescuing, the fading into thin air…the gorgeous looks. It was all right there staring me in the face – he just needed wings and a halo. Am I right?

Returning to my bed, I plopped down and closed my eyes, falling slowly into a restless sleep.

When I awoke the next morning, the night's events seemed like just another nightmare – but when I looked in the mirror, the brand was there, standing out starkly in a deep blue against the tan of my skin.

Shuddering, I changed into my school uniform, grasping my satchel and an apple and walking out the door. Mom was usually up late working, so she slept in. Dad left for work already, so no one was awake at my house at the time. Hopping on my bike, I headed for Sayuri's house. Was I going to tell her? No. Would she distract my thoughts? Probably.

I kicked up my bike stand, leaving it on her front lawn. I had long since mastered the art of biking in a skirt, so I just smoothed it down before knocking on my friend's door.

"Avaron!" she smiled as she opened the door. "How was swimming yesterday?"

"It was great," I lied, "But I wish you could have stayed longer…"

Her smile changed to one of apology. "I would have, but…Michi wanted to take me to that new sushi restaurant…"

I returned a smile. A fake one, but a smile all the same. "It's fine. We'd better get going, or we're going to be late for school."

"About that…Michi's going to give me a ride on his motorcycle…Sorry." she bit her lip, tucking a strand of stray hair behind her ear.

"…Oh…well okay…" I quickly wiped the frown off my face. "That's fine – I hope you have fun."

We traded smiles and I turned, going back to my bike and hopping off. About halfway to school I had to stop biking – I couldn't see past the tears in my eyes. I felt sick. I stumbled a few steps, putting my hand out against a gate as I paused to calm my swirling thoughts.

I looked over, through the gate, into the grounds of the extensive Ouran Academy. Students hustled by, heading to classes and whatnot. These were the upper end of society, those with 'pedigrees' and family names. I had a few glances shot in my direction, but they were full of disdain. Right – I was a commoner. No more valuable than the dirt under their feet, and as numerous as the ants in a garden. I bit the inside of my lip. They might look twice if they knew what I'd been through in the past twenty four hours.

The glint of sun off glass caught my attention. I looked, and my jaw nearly dropped to my feet.

….It was him. My angel. But…he was wearing glasses, and an Ouran uniform.

The blonde student walking with him noticed me, gesturing. My guardian turned, and I locked my brown eyes with his gray ones. He tilted his head up a bit, causing a glare to hide them. His lips pressed tightly together as the blonde grabbed his arm, walking towards me.

I hopped back on my bike, getting out of there as fast as I could. I had no idea who the blonde boy was, but the black-haired one…he had to be my angel…he had to. They looked exactly alike.

No…that was preposterous. That boy was the heir to some cooperation or title. Still, the resemblance was uncanny.

What if…

I fought back and forth all day, at war with myself. I think everyone else could tell something was wrong, so they all backed off and gave me my space. Thank goodness for that.

Not even waiting for Sayuri to blow me off, I biked home – a different route. I didn't want to see that boy…whoever he was. Whatever he was.

Pulling out my books, I set to doing my homework.