Alice

"Are you serious?" asked Dan. I had just told them about my encounter with Shun back at the lake. "Of course I'm serious, Dan. What would I gain from making this up?" The four of us were sitting around in the hotel's lobby and waiting for Murucho to come back from today's presentation.

Dan asked, "Did you get anything out of him? Like, where he's been at for the past five years?" I shook my head. "No. All he told me was that he had been here and there. He never gave me an address or told me anything." It was strange.

For a few seconds after I ran into him, I thought Shun wanted to talk. But the longer we stood there, the more anxious he looked to get away. Dan leaned back on the hotel lobby's couch and said, "If he wants to be like that, then let him. At least we know he's in Wardington and can quit wondering."

I sat down on a chair and said, "All I do know for certain is that he didn't look well." Dan's faced turned from not caring, to worry for his friend. "Who are you guys talking about?" We turned around and saw Murucho standing behind us. Julie told him, "Alice found Shun today."

Murucho turned to me and said, "Really?" I nodded and caught him up on what we had been talking about. I knew Murucho wouldn't like feeling left out or behind, especially when one of his friends was involved. Dan was leaning forward and said, "You were saying something about Shun not looking well, Alice?"

Murucho set down the bag he brought with him to his parent's latest presentation. Their eyes and ears waited to hear me speak. I told them, "He looked sick. I don't know if he is or not." Murucho sat down next to Dan. He said, "I wonder if…You know…He may have the same thing his mother did."

The thought certainly ran across my mind when I spoke with him. I was worried about if he did have that illness. The shape he was in, wasn't the best from what I could tell. And that could mean that he wasn't seeking any medical help.

The possibilities rolled out of my mind and showed no signs of stopping. The others had continued on with the conversation while I had been lost in my thoughts. The lobby grew still and quiet when a flash of lightning lit up the windows. The chandeliers and other lighting flickered as the thunder roared outside.

Not long after that, the lights in the hotel went out, leaving us in the black. Julie made the statement, "I thought there wasn't supposed to be any rain tonight." The desk clerk turned on a flashlight and stood on top of a coffee table in the lobby.

Murucho told Julie, "I guess they got the weather report wrong." The desk clerk quieted the lobby down and reassured everyone that a generator would be turned on, and the lights restored. In the dead-silent lobby, I could hear the rain pounding on the ground outside.

People from the street started to run inside the hotel to seek shelter from the rain. It was already night when the storm started, and now the world looked even darker. I felt something brush past me, touching the side of my arm. It sent a chill up my spine.

Quit overreacting, I told myself. The hotel then hummed, and the lights flickered on. People clapped with the return of the light, but I was busy trying to find what walked past me and sent that chill down my back.

My heart jumped when a man at the elevator turned around. His eyes had to be blacker than the storm outside. His mouth turned upward into a grin, and he stepped into the elevator.

Shun

I pulled the hood of my jacket over my head. The rain popped up out of nowhere. The only warning it gave me, was a bright flash of lightning, and that was it. After that, it was a constant, heavy downpour. That didn't deter me though. Kuda had located an Akuma for me, but he found a weak one.

He said it wouldn't take as much out of me. But I didn't want a weak demon this time. I wanted a challenge. So, I took the matter into my own hands. I needed to get a better view of the city. My eyes looked through the darkness and found a metal ladder that went up the side of a building.

I grabbed onto the wet, rusted rungs and climbed up. The roof of the structure had about an inch or more of water collecting on it. But I knew there were drain pipes getting rid of as much water as it could. So, I had no worries about it caving in under my added weight.

I walked to the edge of the building and looked out over Wardington. The power was out, making it all the more dark than the night could have allowed. This was perfect hunting conditions for Akuma. It was pitch black, people were in a hurry to seek shelter, and the Akuma had a major advantage.

My body tensed when I heard a footstep behind me. I turned around to meet a backhanded slap. It hit me in the chest, and all I could compare the blow to, was being hit by a car. I was knocked off the roof, and landed on the ground two stories below.

The impact knocked the wind out of me, and I struggled to regain my breath. Whatever hit me, jumped down from the roof and landed in front of me. My eyesight in the dark wasn't the best, but I could easily tell this guy was an Akuma. I forced myself up to my feet, forming a sword in my hands. The Akuma was still in its human disguise.

It growled and said, "Why are you in my hunting grounds?" We circled one another. I told him, "The same reason you are. To kill. Except my prey isn't the same as what you're after." I heard its bones crunch and crack as it shifted forms. The lightning flashed again, revealing the beast in front of me.

It had to be twice my height, an a forked tongue slithered out of its jagged mouth. That split second look was all I needed to know what this one looked like. It chuckled. "Oh, so you're the little twerp who has been killing my brothers. That will make it all the more enjoyable when I rip your limbs from your body."

Another flash of lightning showed me what my opponent was doing. It lashed out its long, forked tongue at me. I moved to the side to get out of dodge, but felt it graze the side of my cheek. Its tongue cut into my skin like a razor.

I felt my cheek start to burn from the cut, and brought my hand up and touched the wound. I felt my blood on my fingertips. I raised my sword and told him, "Alright, first blood goes to you. But that will be all you get." The Akuma laughed and said, "Your blood tastes like a pitiful disgrace to your own kind. I don't even know why I'm bothering wasting my time on you."

I could hear its tongue flicking in the air as we circled each other again. I told him, "You're obviously wasting your time on me because you find me as a threat." It threw its head back and laughed madly. It hissed at me, "You couldn't be more wrong."

I heard it run at me, and felt the weight of its body thrown on me. For such thin creatures, they weighed a ton. The Akuma had my shoulders pinned down, disabling me the use of my sword. The storm picked up, and more lightning cut through the sky.

The Akuma's face was right in mine, its forked tongue snaking around my face. "I usually don't eat my fellow kind, but I think you're an exception," it mused. I started to look around for options. My legs were free, but kicking this creature was pointless.

I had tried before, and it was the equivalent of kicking a brick wall. I then realized, I had no options. The Akuma's long, pointy fingers tapped the asphalt beside my head. "Where to begin?" I growled. Then it smiled and said, "How about the face? I don't like it when my meal stares at me."

It opened its mouth up and reared its head back. I smiled as a plan formed in my mind. The Akuma lunged at my face, and at the last second, I turned my head to side, causing it to receive a mouthful of solid asphalt. The creature screamed out in pain, and I could see drops of blood pouring from its teeth and mouth.

Using its moment of agony, I jumped up to my feet and sliced into its neck with the blade of my sword. Its head hit the ground somewhere and rolled off, while the body erupted with its black, sludge-like blood. It fell over and onto the ground, then vanished into thin air.

I stumbled back and leaned against the wall of a building. I started to chuckle and said to nobody, "Try and make a snack out of me again." My body was then drained from more of its life, causing me to slide down the wall and sit at its base out of weakness.

I tilted my head back and looked up, feeling rain drops falling into the burning wound on my cheek. I laughed weakly, and forced myself to stand.

Shun

Back at the apartment, Kuda was having a fit. "Why didn't you kill the Akuma I sent you after?" he snapped. The apartment had no electricity from the storm, and candles were lit throughout the room to provide light. I leaned against the door and told him weakly, "I wanted more of a challenge."

The room was spinning around me, my mind in a heavy fog. Kuda growled and said, "I found that Akuma cause he was weak and it wouldn't take as much out of you! But no, had to do go out and find your own. What's the point of having me around if you do that?"

I slid down the door and sat on the floor. I told him, "To deal with me." Kuda sighed and examined me. "Look at you. You're a pathetic mess." I looked down at myself. My jacket was soaked with not only rain, but that Akuma's blood. No longer could you see the green fabric; it was now black.

I saw little drops of red blood on the floor, and remembered my cheek. It was still bleeding. Kuda rolled his eyes and said, "You're on your own tonight." He then vanished through the wall. "Fine by me," I said to myself and stood up.

I was too tired to even bother to make a drink, and just went on ahead and collapsed on my bed. I rolled on my side and saw a candle on the nightstand. I watched the flame flickering back and forth inside the clear, glass votive. The little fire would suddenly get stronger, then it would weaken down again. Like me.

I continued to watch the flame dance around on the wick. Drops of water landed all around the jar with the burning candle. I glanced up and saw a leak in the ceiling right above the nightstand. Another drop landed in the melted wax in the candle's jar.

The fire flinched away from the splash it made. My eyes started to grow heavy, but I kept staring at the fire. An expertly aimed water droplet fell from the leak, landing right on top of the fire and extinguishing it. Lights out.

chapter title based off the sing Time Of Dying by Three Days Grace. oh gawd, i'm still geeking out over the new changes. ^^ eek! read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~