"Wait! Please! If only for thirty seconds, stay here, and hear me out!" Anna pleaded.

A shadowed figure stopped at the window.

She saw me… But, she can't stop me. I can disappear right now! The figure thought to itself.

The figure leaned toward the window.

"Please! I only want to know why you ran away to begin with!" Anna cried.

She stayed right beside the attic door, knowing that any little move she made could cause him to leave… but every muscle in her being screamed for her to go to him.

The figure lingered by the window, seeming to shake with frustration, but it did not move.

I want to run… I should run… But… I can't find it in me…

"Please… was it something I did?" Anna asked. "Did I hang around too much? Was I a burden?"

The figure whipped around right there, a strange anger in its blue eyes.

"Never!" It roared. "Believe me! If I were running of my own accord, I'd find some way to visit you!"

Anna winced at the dark tone in his voice, tears coming to her eyes.

"S-So…"

"Listen to me, Anna…" Damien said, admitting that his identity had come forth. "It was nothing you did… If it was, I'd be dead right now… I just… can't see you anymore…"

"But, why?" Anna retorted. "Just tell me that much! I'll never come looking for you again if you just tell me why you're running!"

Damien looked her over, feeling a strange burn in his chest as he watched her.
Anna… his best friend… she was here… right in front of him… Two bounds and he could be right at her side, sitting down to talk with her like they used to…
The very thought of being with her again made his frustration boil higher because he wasn't allowed to.

"Anna, please, just let this be!" Damien said. "Can't you deal with knowing it's not your fault?"

She stared at him, glad to know he hadn't left because of her… but still curious as to how she lost her only friend.

"Damien… You're my best friend… my only friend, really…" Anna said. "You should know… I can't leave until I know why my best friend is avoiding me?"

Damien's eyes found hers… and he felt every little brick of the wall he was trying to build come tumbling down. She was so deeply hurt, and he could see it… Try as he might, though, he couldn't fight it.

Damien slowly crouched down, and turned to sit in the window sill, deciding it was alright to sit and talk to her… just as long as he didn't get close to her. He wouldn't be able to leave if he got too close.

"It's… quite a story…" Damien said. "You… You might not even believe it."

Anna shook her head, and began trying to stop her tears.

"If you say it's the truth, I'll take it!" Anna said. "You've never lied to me before… I trust your word, Damien."

Damien sighed, beginning to pick his words for beginning the story. At this point, he could probably lie to her… tell her something down-to-earth and more realistic than what his story was… it would probably settle her mind a little better, too…

But… what could it hurt? Damien asked himself. If I warn her about Myra, she won't say anything. I could always trust Anna to keep a secret like this. I can't be sure how she'll take it, but she'd definitely keep it a secret.

"Many months ago, when I was just getting settled in this school, I was attacked by someone… you've seen her before, I'm sure. Myra Jackson…"

Anna listened closely as Damien explained how he came into his second-life, and why he was running. Damien watched her expression closely as he told his story, waiting to see her react somehow… she never moved, though.

"… So, now, I'm stuck… running and hiding for the rest of eternity…" Damien said. "Myra wants me dead, but I'll have no trouble keeping her off of me… These so-called elders will be after the both of us, but, as long as they don't know about you, I'm perfectly fine with them catching me…"

Anna watched him, still unable to move. Damien watched her, allowing her to be the first to move.

I don't believe this… Anna thought to herself. Why... why does it have to be so difficult?

Anna gave a brief little smirk, and gathered her bag in her arms, turning her face toward the shadows.

"I-I see…" Anna said. "So, that's how it is…"

Damien nodded, watching as she tried to hide her face. He already knew this gesture well. She'd done it many a time when they spent nights in alley ways. She did this when she was trying not to cry about having been hit or yelled at by her foster parents.

"Well… I promised, didn't I?" Anna said, opening up the attic door, and swinging her legs down through it. "No more from me… Good-bye, Damien… my friend…"

Damien's heart sunk a little bit as she slipped down, back into the world of normal human beings, daily routines, and simple lifestyles.
Once more, his best friend was slipping away from him… and, this time, she'd promised that she would never visit him again…

He listened as Anna slowly walked away, and returned to her room.
Upon hearing her door click shut, something went off inside Damien. The expression that grew in his eyes was that of pure rage. His hands turned into fists, and he couldn't smooth them out no matter how he fought with them.

In a second, the window sill that he once sat in was crushed, and Damien was falling down toward the school yard.

Why did I wait until she promised that? Why did I hurt her like this? Damien asked himself. I know I'm not supposed to see her again… but I didn't want to leave her like this!

Damien landed on his feet, and took off running into the dark of the evening, feeling destructive, but knowing better than to destroy anything where humans could catch him. Anger raging out of control, and his mind unable to work through it, he set his gaze in one direction, and ran that way, deciding he'd worry about where he was going later…

In Anna's room…

Tears streamed down Anna's face and she fell to sit on the floor, trembling too hard to keep standing. Her hands found their way up to cover her face.

Why… couldn't he have just said 'no'? Anna thought to herself. Why'd he have to make up a story like that? Does he hate me that much? That he would make up a story like that, knowing I wouldn't believe it?

Anna began sobbing, her heart crushed to pieces. Too many painful questions and too few soothing answers filled her mind… all she could think to do was sit there and cry.

Damien… I worried about you… I know you don't like that… But… is it really worth being so cold like that? Anna asked him in her mind.

She couldn't quite guess what he would say. This made her feel even worse about the destroyed friendship as she realized that she didn't know what he would say if he'd heard her question…

If we were really friends… I'd know things like that… wouldn't I? Anna asked herself.

Her sobbing stopped. Slowly, her hands fell down to her sides, and the trembling began to stop.

But… it wouldn't hurt this bad if we weren't friends… would it? Anna added in her mind.

A sudden crashing sound, followed by a brief earthquake caught her attention.
Jerking her attention over to the window, Anna stammered to her feet and over to the window.

Nothing had changed outside. The hole from before was still being filled in.

That hole… it showed up the same night I heard Damien singing… to me… Anna thought to herself.

Quietly, Anna stepped back and seated herself on her bed.

Well, then… I'm confused… Why is he behaving like this? Anna asked herself. If he doesn't hate me… why'd he make up that story about becoming a vampire?

Her gaze trailed over to her desk where everything was all neat and tidy. She hadn't touched her papers or notebooks in quite some time, which is why everything was put away neatly. But, that was just about to end.

Anna sighed heavily, stood up, and approached her desk.

"I'll never sleep with this hanging over my head anyway…" Anna whispered to herself.

She seated herself at her desk, and began pulling out papers and writing things on them, helping to document each path her thoughts took and come to some form of temporary conclusion…