'Get up, Tabatha.'

I heard my own voice ringing in my ears as I sat there on the cold, cracked floor of my school bathroom.

'You gotta go to class…'

Suddenly the voice was Renee's. Then, it shifted once more.

'You have to get up!'

Now it was Luce's. With her voice, I also saw her face. Her light blond hair, warm eyes, her-

Luce…Luce! I completely forgot about meeting up with her at five. I probably would've gone home and left her there in the cold. I felt so stupid, so weak, so…tired. Yes, that's it. I was tired. I felt like passing out again. More than anything, I wanted to go home and sleep until my life was over. Until I was ready to die and go live with my grandfather in Hell.

Slowly, I pulled myself up, glancing over at the nearby clock. 3:15. School would let out soon and I would have to go see Luce at the overlook. I would have to apologize and return the necklace to her.

I shook off the wild thoughts and nervous feelings and crept over to the mirror to see if there was any special way I could part my hair so that my newly-acquired horns wouldn't show. Unfortunately, I had no such luck.

I glanced at the clock once more. I was supposed to be at my last period class now. History. Nevertheless, I forced myself to march out that door and into class for its final fifteen minutes.

I walked in on a lecture about the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima barely being noticed. People were so half-asleep that seldom paid attention to me as I walked through the door. But Renee did.

As soon as I sat down, she passed me a note.

"Where have you been?"

I wrote back in the laziest handwriting I could, "Too much to write down. I'll call you after school."

She gave me a quick nod upon seeing the note. I turned back around and listened to the monotonous voice of our history teacher with a Polish name that I can barely pronounce. The clock told me that there was only five minutes left of class and I could barely hold on any longer. Those five minutes felt like five hours.

When the bell finally rang I let out a deep sigh and stood up to speed out of the classroom. My hands were so sweaty that they slipped off the doorknob once or twice before I could finally get it open. Once I did manage to get it open, however, I glanced back and Renee, giving an apologetic smile, and dashed out fast.

Throwing my backpack to the floor, I sat down on the bed and kicked off my shoes. I didn't know why I ran all the way home. My thoughts were so bewildered that I suppose I just needed a long run. It made me feel strangely better.

However, it was getting late and I didn't want to look like a sweaty pig when I left to go meet Luce. So I sat up and began to peel off my layers, one by one.

Spring was coming, but the winter didn't want to leave. The temperature outside was in the lower thirties, so I pulled on my oversized black sweater over my striped orange and black t-shirt. I started to run a brush though my hair before it got caught on one of my abnormal horns.

"Tch…" I spat, remembering the events that took place this afternoon in the girl's restroom. I then realized that I didn't want Luce to find out about any of this. I needed to cover these protruding things somehow.

I looked all over the room, but I wasn't one for wearing hats. Glancing under the bed, I saw an orange beanie that I remembered belonged to Renee. She must have left it behind when she left the orphanage. I figured it would be better than having Luce gawk all night and freak out at the awkward-looking horns atop my head.

I wished I would've had time to make myself look a bit more presentable, but it was already 4:45 and I didn't want Luce to think I was going to blow her off. So, I grabbed some money for the bus ride and set foot out the door.

Luce locked the door behind her as she stepped inside her pink and white themed bedroom. She smiled to herself, thinking about how she was going to see Tabatha again tonight. How they were going to make up and become friends again. Luce never wanted to lose Tabatha's friendship, and she'd give her life to protect it.

Not wanting to appear before Tabatha that night in her school uniform, she stripped down and dug through her dresser to find the perfect thing to wear. She didn't know why she wanted to impress Tabatha so. She just knew that she had to. Perhaps to save their friendship. Perhaps for something more…

Nevertheless, she slipped into a pair of white jeans and a pink long-sleeved sweater that could most likely pass for a dress. She pulled her hair out of its long ponytail and combed it out until it was straight and perfectly evened out on both sides. She fixed her make-up and took a long, hard look in the mirror. Smiling at the reflection, she realized it was getting late, and scrambled to grab her keys and head out the door.

"You're here rather early."

I turned around just as Luce parked her car and stepped out. The wind blew threw her soft, blond hair, which made the beauty look even more astonishing in the late afternoon. She walked over and gave me a hug. Surprisingly, my muscles didn't tense up like they usually do when people try to have physical contact with me. Though, I didn't hug back.

I smiled. "It's good to see you too."

Returning the smile, she stepped back. "So what did you want to talk about?"

Suddenly, I remembered the reason why I called Luce over here, and coughed. "I…um…first wanted to apologize to you about the way I acted last time we were here. I didn't mean to, I was just…startled."

Luce blushed a rose-colored blush and fidgeted a bit. "N-no, it's my fault. Something just came over me, I didn't know what I was thinking. S-sorry."

I nodded. "I-it's alright."

There was great tension between us before I pulled the box containing the necklace out from behind my back. "There's also this."

Luce eyed the box before realizing it was the necklace she gave me for my birthday. "Oh, your birthday present? What about it?"

"I…I can't accept it," I said quietly. "Believe me, it's beautiful and I love it, but it's just so expensive and-"

Luce stepped forward and put her hands on mine, enclosing my fingers around the box. "It's yours. It's for you."

I swallowed and looked up at her face. She really was beautiful, and I felt like I needed to catch myself before I fell hard. She grabbed the box from my hands and gently placed it in my pocket before looking up at my face as well.

"What happened to your eyes?" She asked, placing a hand on my cheek. "They used to be so brown and cute. Now they're a deep red, so vibrant and beautiful."

I didn't know what to say besides, "I don't know…thank you, though."

My heart thumped insanely loud and quick in my chest, I felt like it was going to burst. I needed to slow it down. I needed to do something. So I brushed the blond hair away from Luce's face, and kissed her gently.

She didn't seem surprised at all, and kissed back the moment I laid my lips on hers. It was so real. Something that I've never felt with any guy before. The whole thing felt so beautiful, it made me want to cry and I didn't know why.

Suddenly, the beauty turned into passion, and I got a bit more comfortable with the feel. I kissed her harder, and, again, she just went with it, as if she was shadowing my actions. My thoughts flared and I never wanted to let go.

Until I felt the wave of heat.

I let go and glanced over Luce's shoulder, gasping at what I saw. She turned around as well, mimicking my actions.

The entire forest behind us was engulfed in large flames that produced a choking smoke that filled my lungs and made my eyes water. I panicked. How did this happen? How are we going to make it out alive?

Luce shouted, "How-what…Tabatha!"

I felt like shouting myself. The whole sight was making me begin to hyperventilate, which was difficult in the smoke-covered air.

My eyes and throat burned as I backed away slowly from the raging fire. I vaguely remember Luce shouting to watch where I was going and beckoning me back to where she was. But I wasn't listening.

Not until Luce screamed into the sunset, "Tabatha!", and I suddenly realized why, too.

I had backed up too far and plummeted off the edge of the cliff.

Were the characters speaking a bit too proper in this chapter? Let me know, because I've been reading and watching and fangirling over Black Butler in the past two months or so, and my friends are telling me that I'm starting to talk like it, too. Haha, I'm weird.

So, I don't know if anyone reads my other JTHM story, "Claire", but I recently put up an author's note explaining how when I'm done with this story, I'm switching all work over to my new account, Sweet Effervescence. So, I'm going to be updating this weekly now. Yay!

Please review or some shit because I'm working hard here! Just kidding, I'm a lazy ass.

Thanks much! And remember to pray for Tabatha and see what'll happen to her next week. She has to live, because she's the main character, though, right?

…or does she?

(Epic foreshadowing is epic)

~Nikki