Quarantine is a conspiracy between Japan and Mother Nature, a fake virus being used to distract us with anime so that the earth can heal.

Wake up, America.

By no means was Dimitri adventurous. In fact, most people who knew him would call him the exact opposite.

In most situations, nothing would be able to get him to break into his high school around sunset, but here he was, squirming his way into a window he'd left unlocked that morning. Here he was, tumbling into the room with a yelp and a crash.

Once he was sure no one was there and he wouldn't have to jump back out, Dimitri dug into his jacket pocket, searching it until his fingers wrapped around the right piece of paper. He held onto it gingerly, as if his touch would make the thing shatter into nothing.

He read over the words once more, thankful for the dark room as his face flushed a brilliant red before finally exiting the classroom. Each step was just a little too loud for him, the only thing keeping him going being the piece of paper he held closely to his chest.

God knew he was terrified, but he could REALLY use some closure on this whole thing right now. Each step made him wince, hell, any and all sounds sent anxious shivers up his spine. Each footstep echoed, each unlocked door creaked in its hinge, and every single cold breeze that blew past his knees-

Dimitri felt his body stiffen up, head whipping around with wide eyes as he shivered. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake the feeling that someone, or something, was watching him.

He walked backwards, unwilling to break eye contact with the suspicious locker he swore had been rattling about, "Lilith, is that you? C-come on, this isn't f-f-funny."

For what it was worth, he'd meant to sound demanding, not sickly.

Regardless, Dimitri finally forced himself to turn back around, eyes scanning the paper he'd all but crumbled in his clenched hand, only to shove it into his jacket pocket as he felt something brush up against his leg. With each passing second, this stupid thing was becoming more and more ridiculous-

Dimitri jumped as a bony claw-like hand came down on his shoulder, a dark cackle filling the air as hot breath blew past his right ear.

"Boo."

The moment he heard her voice, Dimitri's vision whipped back to that lightless street, the absolute fear that had consumed him in that moment.

Before he knew it, he was running. He didn't know how he was doing it, where he was going, or how he was going to get out of this. He just knew that he needed to get as far away from that maniacal laughter echoing through the halls.

"Oh, you're going to make this fun for me? Great!"

He nearly slipped as he tried to make the sharp turn, ramming his shoulder into the locker, "Oh god, fuck!" Dimitri said, almost scrambling on both hands and feet in order to escape. He avoided the classrooms, even if they were unlocked, there was a good chance he'd just end up cornering himself.

But, being how not all of these stupid nightmare hallways were endless, he wasn't exactly sure which route would be the best.

The locker to his left rattled before a head of black stringy hair popped out, shark-like grin on her face as she made a grab at him on his mad dash past, "You know, you make this a lot more fun than big sis does!" She cooed, an echoing voice barely heard over his own labored breathing.

He felt like his lungs were able to contort in on itself, unable to function with how much air he had been trying to take in.

He barely made it to the quarter mark for the mile, how the hell was he supposed to make it out of this on this own?

He yelped as something closed around his feet, falling chin-first to the grimy floor. He turned around in horror as the hands around his ankles tightened, those haunting eyes twisting with her smile, "Gotcha."

She giggled as she slowly slid back down into the floor, pulling Dimitri down with her. He didn't realize he'd been screaming until his throat went raw, fingers clawing at the cold tile floor in an attempt to pull himself from the dark pool threatening to swallow him whole.

"Yes, louder, scream louder. Good, wonderful! Here we are, just a little longer, now…

Dimitri didn't even register what the darkness was saying, too busy trying to escape by any means possible.

He almost missed it when someone grabbed him, mind too trapped in his panic to notice he'd been yanked out of the goop. He could barely open his mouth to scream as he was thrown back into some lockers, the thin metal creaking and bending under the force.

"Yay, yay, yay, She's here~!"

Before he could speak, the figure grabbed him, pulling him down the halls with a plethora of curses. He had no time to talk as he was whipped around, being pushed and pulled all through the hallways as they bent inwards towards them, as if they were trying to crush him.

If he hadn't been guided through, he would have been impaled, crushed, trapped and/or completely obliterated.

"Don't lose your heads!"

Finally he was pushed into a classroom, all but thrown against a desk before the door was slammed shut. He hadn't had a good view of his saviour up until now, and while at first he assumed it to be Lilith, now that he was looking, he wasn't too sure.

The mask threw him off, especially when he caught the sight of what looked to be the bottom of someone's face.

He slowly approached the figure, pale skinny arms holding the door shut as a string of soft curses trailed from their mouth. Leaning against the door, they reached one hand out, only to have the fingers shake under some unseen weight, "Fuck."

"...Lilith?"

"No, I'm the fucking Easter Bunny. What do you think?" Yep, no doubt now, that was Lilith. Maybe it was the form-fitting tank top she had on that had thrown him off, or how her jeans had been traded in for… Were those sweatpants?

"Aww, you can't tell me you showed up just to run away, big sis! After all the effort I put into this little game for us?"

All the while Lilith cursed to herself, glaring down at her trembling hands as if they'd personally insulted her, "What the hell are you even- You know what, forget it, we need to get out of here."

The two of them froze as something scraped against the floor outside, slowly growing louder as it approached, "W-why don't you do your whole teleport-shadow thingy?"

"You think I'm not trying to do that right now!?" Lilith hissed, instantly shutting Dimitri up as she continued to aim her hand around, as if she was using her palm to look around, "Come on, just a little more, that's all we need right now-"

Dimitri instinctively ducked as something came down against the door, Lilith nearly being thrown from the door before throwing her back against it, cursing through her teeth, "W-what's wrong? How can I h-help?"

"You can start by shutting up and looking for something to defend yourself with." Lilith was waving her hands out in front of her, only to let out an irritated grunt, "God, come on, not now."

He glanced over to the whiteboard, eyes darting about to look for anything else, before making a grab for the meterstick that sat with the rest of the markers. He was sure that, from her body language to the way her head tilted to the side, Lilith was about to verbally tear him down.

That was before Lilith was grabbed by the shadow on the door, the darkness wrapping around her waist before throwing her against the whiteboard. A dark cackle came from the door as the skeletal girl crawled right through it.

"You're going to try and fight now?" She cooed, giggling as Dimitri raised the meter stick like some sort of flimy kendo sword, "That's adorable!"

Out of nowhere, Lilith tackled the girl down, ramming her shoulder straight into the boney girl's gut, "Back off, Lizzie!"

"What the hell is she!?" Dimitri didn't realize how loud he was until Lilith winced, giving him a look (At least, he was pretty sure she was glaring. This mask was no easier to read than the last one).

"Aww, don't be like that!" Lizzie cooed, laughing up at Lilith's face as the other fought to hold the smaller girl down, the room growing darker with each passing second, "I couldn't help but notice how much time you give him, it's your fault I get jealous!"

"Shut your fucking mouth!"

Dimitri yelped as his foot fell through the floor, slowly backing away from the shadows that seemed to eat up the floor, "Umm, Lilith?"

"Busy!"
Dimitri could barely hear her labored breathing over Lizzie's cackling, hands shaking as he raised the meter stick to… No, what was he going to do? Whatever this "Lizzie" thing was, it seemed on the same level, if not stronger, than Lilith was.

Which, in turn, made him want to pee his pants.

He stood there, meter stick raised to the sky with his shaking hands, eyes blown wide with fright. His mind raced and went still at the same time, unable to fully comprehend what was happening anymore. What was he supposed to do? He needed to help, but should he? What if he only made it worse? What if-

Had she only shouted his name, he would have missed it completely. With that said, in hindsight, he was more than thankful when Lilith tackled him down, pushing him into the floor. Lizzie's irritated shriek was cut off the moment that the darkness enveloped the both of them, spitting them both out seconds later in a familiar grassfield.

He laid there, chest heaving as he mentally took in everything that had just happened. He could feel Lilith gulping down air from where she was lying on him, her head tucked into the side of his abdomen.

Had he not been more occupied with other things, he was positive his face would be red for a different reason.

Finally, Lilith peeled herself off of him, stumbling to her feet with a hand on her forehead before letting loose something between a pained groan and irritated shout.

Dimitri pulled himself up to sit, unsure exactly what to say as Lilith began pacing about, looking like she was on the verge of sending him to the moon, "...Nice mask?" Looking back, he wasn't sure why he said that. Especially when all he could feel was the excess dread of facing that… Thing.

But, if he had gone out to get her to stop pacing, it worked. She whipped around with an expression Dimitri could visualize so clearly, even if he'd never seen her face, "Nice mask." She repeated, as if she was making sure that those were the word's she'd just heard.

"That CANNOT be the first thing you say to me after all of that." Dimitri could do nothing but stare, still petrified by the girl that had chased him down the halls of the school. In his absentminded mental state, he could see the shadows around her writhe, the wind whispering warnings into his deft ears, "After I go out of my way to save your ass at the school-Oh yeah, that's right, what the flying FUCK were you doing at the school at NINE PM!?"

Still stuck in his own head, his hands obliviously patting at his jacket. He could understand the question, but formulating an answer was a whole different subject, "Well, you see I… I just had to… Someone left me a… Yeah."

Lilith huffed, "Words. Use them. Correctly. Now."

Unable to do so, Dimitri pulled the crumbled piece of paper out of his jacket, silently offering it to Lilith. She all but ripped it out of his grasp, uncrumpling it as best as she could before scanning it. Each passing second seemed to only add to the tension, until finally, Lilith tossed the paper over her shoulder, "You've got to be kidding me."

"Well, I mean," Dimitri stammered, still swimming through the haze in his head, "I just… I really wanted to figure out why… I needed to know, and-"

"I'm just gonna cut you off there," Lilith snapped, holding a hand to her face, letting out a muffled shout. Dimitri wanted to try and help (how he'd do it, he'd have to figure it out as he went), only to jump back when a dark chuckle filled the air, "I just… I can't right now. I really can't. I got off my ass for THIS."

All Dimitri could do was laugh nervously, to which Lilith shut him down quickly, "No, NO! You have no right to laugh right now, this is anything BUT funny!"

Dimitri gulped, feeling like he was going to choke on his own spit. He felt the need to say something, even if he didn't know what.

"I, I umm-"

"Riddle me this, Hart," Lilith spat out the T, all but yelling into the dark night at this point, "Who the hell sneaks into their high school at night because a love letter told them to!?"

Dimitri's mouth went dry at that.

Yeah, he really didn't have a viable answer to that one.

He watched as Lilith kicked the side of the shack, cursing to herself as she let loose on the flimsy wood. Honestly, it was a testament to the thing's stability.

"You know what, no." Lilith muttered, whether to herself or to him he had no clue. He watched as Lilith ran her hands through her hair, nearly tugging it out in the process, "Nope, not going to do this. I am not physically or mentally prepared for the hell I want to rain down on you, so you better count yourself lucky-"

She was so stuck in her own head that she didn't realize it when Dimitri tugged gently at her jacket sleeve, like a child about to ask for something.

Despite their similar heights, Dimitri couldn't help but feel that Lilith towered over him, especially with the irritation and anger seething off of her very being, "What?"

He took a shaky breath as his overwhelming emotions finally crashed down on him, throwing his arms around Lilith's waist. He felt Lilith go rigid, but he didn't care, "I, I umm… Thank you. You know, for saving my ass all the time."

He expected her to push him off, maybe deck him in the face while she was at it. After a few more tense seconds, Lilith let out a sigh, patting the top of his head. "Yeah, sure whatever."

Despite the words, that was probably the most heartfelt thing he'd ever heard her say.

Finally, Lilith pushed him off of her, taking a moment to dust herself off before giving him a look, "... Quit doing stupid shit." And with that, she vanished.

Dimitri almost fell over, staring at the spot Lilith had been before letting out a light chuckle. With his chest feeling 10 times lighter, he looked around, letting out a wistful sigh, "Alright… Which way is home again?"

The next morning started with Shad pulling her out of bed.

As if that wasn't already a garbage way to begin the day, she didn't even feel like she got any sleep the night prior. It wasn't an issue of being tired or not, cause after the added tension of last night and the multiple incorrect locations she'd popped up in (both on the way there and back), she was out the moment she fell face first on her bed.

But it wasn't a restful night. No, it felt more like she'd blinked and, all of a sudden, Shad was dragging her out from under the sheets.

"Come on, little princess! We agreed on training in the mornings on weekends, now up you get!"

Words couldn't even begin to comprehend how badly she wanted to punch him in the jaw.

She almost fell asleep when Shad gave up on tugging at her arm, more than content to go right back to sleep. Maybe, if she was lucky, she could get another blink in-

Lilith yelped as the bed underneath her seemed to drop, opening a void to swallow her in and spit her back out against the door. "There we are, finally pried you off of your covers! I don't know how you do it, sleeping right through the hell I rained on your door, but here-"

Lilith yawned, rubbing her eyes with the back of her head as her mind slowly took in the sudden shift in Shad's posture. He seemed to straighten up a bit, but honestly, it was a bit hard to tell when her eyelids were so… droopy.

The moment she'd found balance, the ground below her gave in again. One second, they're standing in the middle of her room, and the next, the cold,stale air of the basement invaded her lungs. She wheezed and doubled over as Shad tore through the shelves, yelling for the Doc.

She barely noticed the two arguing before someone grabbed hold of her arm, gently leading her over to a familiar metal table.

It was almost like the cold metal woke her up. The moment she was pushed to sit down on it, her skin felt like it burned from how cold the metal was. She jumped, a shiver forcing its way up her spine, shocking her system out of its groggy state.

"Ah, look at that, she's finally responsive."

She gave the Doc a weird look, about to respond only to freeze up when Shad slammed his hands down in the table space next to her, "Where the hell did you go last night?"

"...What-?"
"Don't try to dance around it, Lilith." She blamed her shivering on how cold the basement was, but Shad's furious gaze was doing nothing to help it, "You're on the verge, and I knew you weren't this exhausted when we ended yesterday."

The Doc gave him a look, before turning to scan Lilith, "...You look like crap, and I'm going to guess you don't normally wake up looking like this."

"Couldn't sleep, so I went out." Lilith muttered, unwilling to meet Shad's gaze, "Ran into Lizzie, wasn't pretty, dipped as soon as possible."

Shad didn't even react to that. She didn't have a chance to try and read his expression, casting his eyes to the corner of the room before disappearing outright.

Dr. Smiley shook his head, "I tell you, if they have anything in common, it's their flair for being dramatic." He muttered it to himself as he scanned his shelves, leaving for a moment, "Do lay down if you feel like fainting, yes? I'd rather you lie on the table rather than going splat on the floor."

Lilith gave a grunt of agreement before lying against the cold metal, squinting under the glaring lights above her. She was pretty sure that she'd knocked out at one point, if the "sudden" appearance of a needle in her arm and an IV drip meant anything.

Each time she blinked, Dr. Smiley appeared in a different spot over her, each time looking down and jotting things onto a clipboard.

"You're lucky, you know." Dr. Smiley murmured, eyes locked onto whatever he was writing before sneaking a glance over to the IV, "I'm not an expert in Shade biology or anatomy or whatever you call it, but going off of the notes Shad gave me, I'm surprised none of your limbs had gone black yet."

Whatever smart comment Lilith had ready died in her mouth, only growing more uncomfortable with how easily Dr. Smiley had stated it.

"Oh one hand, it would be a real shame if you had died due to Aphotic Discharge," The Doc only sounded more ominous with the sound of a pen scribbling against paper, as if he honestly couldn't care less, "But on the other, I've never had the pleasure of inspecting a proper Shade corpse-"

"Keep Jane in that stupid incubation tube and maybe you'll have something close to inspect."

Shad's tone was as dead cold as his aura, eyes cold as ice as he turned to look Lilith over, "You're lucky Slender isn't in his office. I won't tell him what you did, but knowing the guy, he'll probably put two and two together."

"Thanks?" The words felt dry in Lilith's throat, unsure of what else to say.

"This isn't a favor, so don't treat it like one." Shad snapped, taking a moment to hold his face. It was almost like he was struggling to keep himself in one piece, physically forced to hold himself together.

Lilith just kinda stared at him, unsure of what to do. She turned to the Doctor, hoping he'd add in something helpful, only to watch him shrug and return to his clipboard.

Finally, after a few more awkward seconds of silence, he sighed, "How much longer do you plan on standing there, Shadow Lurker?"

Shad scoffed at that, biting back his wisecrack in favor of throwing Lilith one more venomous look. He tugged the top of his hood down, muttering something under his breath before dropping through the ground.

Lilith couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. She could feel the tension in Shad's whole form, fighting to break through and… Well, do whatever Shad did when he was seething with rage.

"Worry lines don't help the scars on your face." Dr. Smiley muttered, tapping the area between her eyebrows with his pen, "Now hurry up and feel better, I have other things to attend to."

Lilith closed her eyes with a huff, all but melting into the surgical table. Never once had she found the table comfortable, but regardless, it was becoming harder and harder to keep her eyes open. Maybe just a quick nap wouldn't do her much harm…

God, I remember the early days when I first started on this site. I lived and breathed for reviews and people's approval, and wrote whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. Not to say much has changed, if anything I'm saying little has changed. I still love people who take the time to review and tell me what they think, and it still makes me happy to get those ocassional messages about how my stupid old story helped them somehow. I guess little changed but it feels like a lot has changed, I guess?

..Yeah, that makes sense.

Quick shout out to the person who left a review, I honestly thought that no one read this anymore. Only reason I'm still going is to finish, so it's nice to know someone out there likes it.