Start of a Nightmare

The next day Nyra woke up to the usual routine of searching for her phone, and getting ready for school. She was in such a rush that she had forgotten all about the shinigami in her home. By the time she had gotten to the lowest step of the stairs, something white had caught her eye that she jumped with fear and cursed, only to realize it was Hitsugaya.

"Well good morning to you too." He said in his usual monotone voice. He was sitting in the middle of the living room, his sword before him and his arms crossed while his eyes closed in concentration. He was trying to reconnect with his zanpaktou. But with her here, he might as well try again later. "You look like as if you've seen a ghost." He said with disinterest.

"Hmph. Tell that to your hair." The words started to come out without her even thinking about. Monday mornings always made her more cranky and irritated than any other morning. Nyra stared daggers at him before heading toward the kitchen to make breakfast. At the same time she made another bowl of cereal for him, which she gave to him with a silver spoon in her mouth.

"Eat up before my dad gets here. You have 10 minutes." Nyra said the spoon still in her mouth, making her words garbled and slurred.

"Nobody can understand you when you're talking with a spoon in your mouth." Hitsugaya had to say it slowly to stop himself from yelling. If his clenched hands weren't enough to show how hard he was trying to keep himself from exploding, then the vein popping out on his forehead should.

Nyra gave him a stare, her spoon swinging to the other side of her lips where she took it out. "Just eat your food." She said to sum up what she said before. "And quick, you got 5 minutes before my dad get's here to drop me off at school." She hesitated before she continued on with the rest. "You're welcome to come with me if you want to; my dad drops me off in a pick up truck. All you gotta do is hop in the back."

~BLEACH~

After Nyra's dad dropped her off at the side of the high school, Hitsugaya soon followed afterwards with the use of his shunpo. She didn't expect for him to actually come, but at the same time she hoped he did. Nyra was just about to tell him about the school when she remembered she's the only one that can see him. If she talks to him now, she'd be the biggest gossip story in the school.

So Nyra refrained from even acknowledging his presence and went straight to her first period in one of the portables outside the main building, right where her dad dropped her off. Her first period teacher taught world geography in the most boring way that she had to fight off sleep more than she can count. Most times Hitsugaya was tempted to wake her up by whacking her with his sword, but thought the better of it and decided not to.

Her second period was Choir, where Hitsugaya remained in the back of the room; his stance unwavering and still, even when he's surrounded by girls. Nyra watched him from a few feet away where she and other girls had put their backpacks at.

"Nyra!" A girl with dark skin shouted waving her hand in Nyra's face; causing her to switch her gaze from him to the friend next to her. "Are you ok? Because you were spacing out again." She said putting her backpack down. She wore a sleeveless shirt with black fingerless gloves, and shorts. It was definitely against dress code, but the school or the teachers don't do much about it except give a warning.

"Yeah. Sorry Sora, I was uh you know concentrating." She said lamely, knowing her excuse won't cut it, but it was better than nothing. Her friend looked at her with a funny face as she looked in the direction Nyra was staring at only to see nothing, but she was actually staring at the white-haired shinigami who briefly looked her way.

"C'mon. Let's go class is starting." Nyra said dragging her friend to their seats.

After second period, she and her friend went out through the back door in the classroom that leads to the outside portables. Nyra has third period Spanish in the small classrooms outside, while her friend had Pre-AP English in the main building. The two girls were talking about rather mundane stuff when Nyra's friend switched to a more sensitive topic that should only be between them two.

"Hey you know Alex in Biology?" Sora asked raising her eyebrows, and nudging Nyra in the ribs. She knew Hitsugaya was within ear shot to hear their entire conversation, but she couldn't stop her friend to tell her that her favorite bleach character happened to be right behind them, and invisible to her. So Nyra only nodded in reply.

"Well I dare you to sniff him." Hitsugaya's head snapped to attention when he heard Sora. "If you do I'll sniff Amobion."

"What?! That's not fair. You've known him for a long time, and even dated him." Nyra argued, but in the back of her mind she thought doing the dare would be rather amusing. "Fine." She sighed, giving into her friend who cheered in satisfaction.

As they neared the one of the many huge doors to the main building they said their good bye's and promised to meet up at lunch with the others, like they always do.

"Alex in Biology is it?" Hitsugaya teased light-heartedly only to get hit in the stomach with Nyra's backpack as she pretended to readjust it back on to her shoulders. Her triumphant grin stayed on her lips till she got to Spanish. Once third period finished and the bell rang, everybody who was in the portables flooded the sidewalk as they rushed to lunch. Only Nyra got stuck in the traffic while the captain went on ahead. Once again she cursed his abilities.

After Nyra dropped her stuff at the usual table she saw her friend Sora again. Who was sitting at the table at playing fruit ninja on her Kindle fire. Like every other day, Sora asked Nyra to buy her some food.

"I don't know…" Nyra replied to her friend's request. "I'm not sure if I have enough money in my lunch account." She told her friend apologetically. Suddenly an arm came out of nowhere and wrapped itself around Nyra's neck. It belonged to a girl with emerald eyes, and tan skin.

Out of instinct Hitsugaya reached for his sword only to stop halfway. He realized the girl was not an enemy, but rather a friend with violent tendencies.

"I swear, I will bite your arm Ren!" Nyra shouted her mouth wide open as it tried to make contact with flesh. Despite having her right eye covered with her hair, her aim was as accurate as a person with both eyes.

"Okay! Jeez, I'm sorry!" Ren exclaimed as she released her hold on raven haired girl. "Wuss." She added afterwards before running away to line up for lunch. Nyra chased after her instigating an endless slap fight.

"How lame, getting all worked up over one little insult." Hitsugaya said to himself as he leaned against one of the walls, his body facing towards the table where Sora now sat alone. That is until two boys walked toward her, putting their bags and books on the table.

One wore a t-shirt with the words "Black Speed" on the front that is outlined with fire over red basketball shorts. He had dark skin, dark brown eyes and a fair amount of hair like any other African boy, but it wasn't an afro either.

The other wore a bright blue shirt with the "Vans" logo on it in black over black jeans. He had light brown skin and sandy brown hair that were very short and curly. He was half African and German.

"Heeey Sora." Iro said giving her a hug. He gives hugs to any girl he knows, and he knows many.

"Let's go eat." Said the one in blue, as he nodded toward the lunch line that stretched into the halls. "I'm starving." He put his hands on his stomach for emphasis.

"Really Amobion? Okay fine be that way." Sora said feeling offended that her friend only thought about food.

"Okay, fine." Amobion was going in for a hug when she put a hand to his face. Practically shunning him, but he gave her a forceful hug anyways. "Oh there's Nyra and Ren, let's go cut." Iro agreed and they both left Sora at the table alone again.

"So they're her friends huh?" Hitsugaya said aloud, not worried if someone might hear him. The cafeteria was the loudest place in the school, as well as the number one place where anything can happen. The shinigami was starting to get comfortable in his little place until he had to move. He was standing where the delinquents go to line up for food since they'll be the last to eat.

As he tried to maneuver his way to an empty seat at the table he ended up slipping from someone's spilled slushy. He tumbled straight into Sora, suddenly knocking her off from the chair and onto the ground. His fall caused a ruckus and not to mention a very embarrassing moment for the both of them. It's a good thing he was invisible to everybody else, because his face landed in an area where Sora is most teased for because of its size, her chest.

Hitsugaya quickly got up, dusting his haori off while quelling the heat radiating in his face. Sora in the mean while just sat there on the ground shell-shocked. She didn't know whether it was from embarrassment or the unknown cause for it.

"Oh my god! Are you ok?" Ren asked laughing in between words. She and the rest had just come back from getting their food, just in time to see Sora fall off from her chair by an unidentifiable source. Iro, and Amobion both put their trays down in haste to help their fallen friend.

"Dang girl. What happened?" Iro asked once Sora regained her footing. He also fixed her chair so it stood upright again.

"I don't know." Sora said sounding confused as she unconsciously touched her collarbone, right near the area where Hitsugaya's face once was. Nyra shot a look at the still blushing shinigami, he caught her gaze as she tried not to burst out laughing at her friend's expense. "Maybe it was the wind?" she guessed as she sat back down.

"Maybe it was a ghost." Nyra teased as she handed Sora a pizza in a paper tray that's also used for the fries. Sora gratefully thanked her friend, momentarily forgetting the event a minute ago.

"You're gonna eat all that?" Amobion asked, his hands gesturing to the two pizzas, plate of fries, chocolate milk and water. She also had a brownie, and a small tray of fruits.

"Yeah. Why?" Nyra said not seeing the surprise factor from her massive meal. Amobion just shook his head at his friend's gluttonous behavior. When in fact, most of the food is for the captain of the 10th division. "Hey has anyone seen Aiyanna?" She asked scanning the cafeteria for an African girl who's tall and skinny as a toothpick. Her friends shook her heads no, she frowned a bit but her friend's absence gave her the perfect excuse.

"Oh, well. I'm going to go outside to look for her." Nyra said and just as quick she left through a glassed door that's framed in blue. It leads to an outside eating area, and everybody can see what's happening out there from the inside since it's a glass wall with two doors at each end.

Just before she left her friends she purposefully pulled on the sleeve of Toshiro's haori to get him to follow her. He understood the signal and followed behind Nyra, his steps quiet like a mouse. She even had to look back a couple of times to make sure he was there. Nyra guided him past the outside lunch are where he almost got hit with a soccer ball that went astray, behind the fenced tennis courts, and onto a cement path that lead them to an empty plain.

Nyra looked all around her to make sure nobody was in sight, once she made sure of that she sat down on the ground underneath a tree and breathed out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Nyra took her pizza and her milk from the tray, and held out the rest to Hitsugaya. "Here. You got to eat to you know?" She motioned for him to take it so he did.

"You didn't have to do this." Hitsugaya said in reply to her generosity as he sat down next to her. He took a bite into the pizza, and swallowed it gratefully. He looked up to the sky to see a crow flying up ahead and squawking noisily as it went by.

"You know people say a single crow forebodes a bad omen." Nyra said throwing it out there. "I think it's meant for you." She added looking his way with a sly smirk.

"Why?" He asked finishing up his food. Everything that was on the tray was gone; he even finished up the water. Nyra smirked at the fact that he had already forgotten about that scenario in the cafeteria and she was happy enough to oppurtunity to tease him about it.

"Let's see. Who was the one who landed on my innocent yet hugely "Endowed" friend." She made quotation marks on endowed to hint at what she meant. She merely laughed when the white-haired boy told her to shut up with a red face.

~Bleach~

After finishing their lunch Nyra and Hitsugaya walked toward a trashcan near the outside lunch area. It also happens to be where most of the couples hanged out at and where Nyra's friends are at. Her best friend Aiyanna was there too talking topics that would put any parent to shame.

"Nyra!" Aiyanna shouted giving Nyra a hug that made her gasp for air. "Where were you?" she asked letting her friend go who was glad to have oxygen back in her system.

"Looking for you." Nyra coughed feeling guilty for telling a half-truth. None of her friends seemed to notice it as they went back to their conversation. Hitsugaya was the only one who saw her uneasy smile as she listened to her friends.

When the bell rang for class, Nyra grabbed her stuff which consisted of a lightweight backpack and a binder that weighed a ton. Nyra always walked with Iro and Sora to their fourth period class since she was in the same class with Sora, while Iro's was nearby. The rest had classes in different areas.

Nyra and Sora both suffered in fourth period Algebra even though it was a pretty easy subject for them. The teacher was another thing though. After that was A.V.I.D., a four-year college prep class Nyra takes as a substitution for speech credit. It was the class that brought her the torture of lugging around a binder, filled to the brim with notes.

When sixth period rolled around, Nyra's friend Sora exaggeratedly sniffed Amobion. She then nodded toward Alex who sat two desks away from Nyra who sat in the second column; her desk seated next to Sora. Nyra just shook her head no and whispered later. Since they were in the middle of Biology class. Amobion just looked at both of him and shook his head at their ridiculous dare. After biology was pre-AP English, once she's done with that, the bell rang signaling the end of school for the day.

Hitsugaya wasn't around for these classes. He left before Nyra's fourth period began. When she asked where he was going he told her it was none of her business. He wanted to leave the school since he felt an odd aura nearby that was there one moment and gone the next. Tracking it down was going to take him awhile, but in his mind it was better to be safe than sorry.

~BLEACH~

After school ended Nyra began to walk home like she always did. Her dad worked late and couldn't pick her up, besides the house wasn't that far. On her way out of the school she saw Sora and Amobion walking together, thinking they were having a "moment" she decided not to say goodbye to them. She did see Aiyanna getting into a black SUV that had tinted windows and music blasting from its stereos that it could be heard within miles.

Nyra always wondered how Aiyanna's family was like but she never did talk about them, Amobion was the same as well. Nyra suspected that they were hiding something, but never asked. She thought they would talk about it when they are ready.

Once she was out of the school grounds she had entered the neighborhood surrounding the school. Nyra took a shortcut that divided her from the regular masses of walkers and into a less populated area. As far as she knew she was the only one there. She walked past houses of bricks till she came near a forest at the edge of the community. There were two paths in this forest, one lead deep into the woods and out onto the outskirts of downtown, the other took her back to her house.

Nyra liked coming into the woods since it was quiet and gave her a chance to think. The leaves on the trees were a mix of bright green and autumn colors. October was right around the corner and the woods were getting ready for it. She took a deep breath in as she followed a single path that would soon break into two once she passed a protruding tree root.

Everything was calm and quiet around her till a twig snapped in the distance. Nyra stopped in her tracks and looked over to her left to see a black silhouette of a figure hiding behind a tree.

"Hello!" Nyra shouted to the figure hoping it would get scared and run off. But it was unresponsive as it just stood there. After staring it down a few minutes it disappeared much to Nyra's satisfaction. She continued to walk again when she heard a noise behind her. She didn't want to look back but her curiosity got the better of her. So she did, she saw the thing that was hiding behind the trees to only be a few steps away from her. She saw it wasn't a person but a Shadow, everything about it was drowned in black.

Except for its red eyes and the creepy white grin plastered on its face as it crept closer toward Nyra. She couldn't move, couldn't scream, she was in shock at seeing such a gruesome creature, one that only belonged in nightmares. She stayed rooted to her spot, the fear grabbing a hold of her entire body making her unable to move as she stared wide-eyed at the shadow.

"Give….meeee….your sooouuuul." The creäture hissed its smile widening as it grew closer. Inch by inch it came closer to her, beat by beat her heart raced with adrenaline. "GIVE IT TO ME!" it shouted stretching a black claw toward her face.

She didn't have time to panic, or to scream. Her survival mechanism had kicked in. Dropping everything she ran, the eerie shadow screeching in displeasure behind her. She turned to look back to see it running after her, it had no legs just a black body that glided over the ground. She ran faster not seeing the tree root before her; she tripped and fell to the ground. She quickly got back up on both hands, the shadow screeched again this time it was closer to her.

Without even thinking about it she just followed the path before her, hoping it would lead her to safety. She ran and ran until she made it onto cement. She looked around, noticing a street light and a few lamp posts that were lit. She stood under one with a defective bulb, its light blinking off and on. She looked behind her gasping for air; she didn't see the shadow but heard it skittering among the bushes.

Nyra didn't think about where she was, all she thought about was escaping from it. She ran again, this time tears streaming down her face. She ran pasts old apartments, rotten trash, and a homeless man sleeping in a box. She turned to see the shadow a few yards behind her; she saw it pass by the homeless man as if he didn't exist. For all she knew, she was the target and it wouldn't leave her alone till it got what it wanted.

She turned a sharp right into an alleyway, where rats and cats were hidden among the garbage that laid in the dark expanse of space. She kept going straight until she couldn't any more. Before her was a brick wall that reached the fifth floor of the buildings on both sides of her. It's purpose is to prevent criminals from trying to escape if they were to run from the police by going through the alleys.

The shadow howled at the front of the alley; she looked at it seeing it watch her greedily. It prowled ever so slowly as if to tantalize her, it drank in all the fear that radiated from her aura as she tried to climb her way up the wall. Her efforts were in vain, the only thing she gained are broken fingernails that bled. Knowing the terror that would become of her she leaned forward, her hands on her head as she screamed. Her only way of escape was up, that one fact stayed in her head as she screamed while the nightmarish fiend came closer, and closer.

YESSS I AM DONE! THIS TOOK ME DAYS TO FINISH...I AM SO HAPPY IT'S OVER! OTL Anyways thank you for taking the time to read this chapter, and to my friends I hoped you enjoyed it, especially you "Sora" MUwhahahahaha. Till next time, Sayonara!