The days passed by slowly and uneventfully. Everyone noticed the steady change in Aria's demeanor, though none could tell if it was good or bad. Her clothes were dark and lacy again and she had gone back to the signature dark make up she wore when she first moved. Her hair was always in an edgy disarray which always cast ominous shadows over her face, giving her a naturally scary look.

Aria was already naturally intimidating. Any who knew her all feared her to a degree. Only those closest to her dared to confront her about her personality set back.

It was late one evening, Aria was insentiently drawing on her desk in the corner of her living room when her front door suddenly burst open. Having the worst habit ever of forgetting to lock her doors, she was used to the sudden intrusion of her friends at all hours of the night. Though after that one instance where a drunk stumbled into her house, she usually kept knives hidden everywhere now. Just in case. It still didn't do anything to appease her friends' concerns. Concerns she never understood considering they all took advantage of her habit.

She didn't bother to look up from her drawing as various footsteps shuffled through her front door and made themselves comfortable throughout her small two bedroom house. It wasn't until two pale arms slammed down on either side of her paper that she finally snapped out of her trance. Following the slender arms up with her gaze she was shocked to lock eyes with none other then her long time best friend Destiny. Aria blinked stupidly up at her as Destiny's grin widened by the second.

"What the hell are you doing in my house?" Aria asked flatly. She had not been informed of her friends intention to visit. Destiny's smile dropped as she rolled her eyes, completely used to her friends lack of filter.

"Good to see you to short stack, it's been what? Four months and you still haven't invited me up here?" A gentle laugh escaped her perfect lips. Aria glared up at her, annoyed with the childhood nickname despite Destiny only being two inches taller all their lives. Aria used to threated to cut off part of her heel to shorten her when they were in high school. Biology was especially scary for their friend group that year.

"Well, y'all never bothered to come visit me when I lived ten minutes down the road. How was I supposed to know you'd be down to drive two states away?" Destiny frowned at her friends blunt words. Aria was right, none of their friend group had bothered to visit her much when she used to live in Texas. Despite the fact that Aria was undoubtedly the reason the group lasted so long, none of them ever really showed her the same friendship and love she had so loyally showed them. It was a major regret shared between the group.

Destiny wasn't as ignorant to her friends loneliness as everyone thought. She knew their friends lack of returned friendship towards Aria had been some of the final pushes over the edge, but they had all been to selfish to care. They used her and took advantage of her loyalty till she had nothing left, then turned their backs on her when she needed them most. Destiny was the only one who stayed friends with the smaller girl, but even she hadn't been a true friend.

Destiny knew of the jealousy that Aria always harbored of her. She knew that she had been toxic and horrible and was the one who used Aria the most. Destiny had taken any guy that Aria liked, had befriended any of her friends, and had even taken the affection of her oldest friend. Destiny had been craving the attention and relished in all that she got. She knew it hurt Aria but she had been greedy and selfish. Aria had never complained, silently loathing Destiny but still being there for her when she needed a friend. Aria had been the truest and most loyal friend Destiny had ever known, and she deeply regretted that it took her so long to realize. Destiny frowned down sadly at the girl sitting before her. Her dark brown hair fell in loose waves around her shoulders and spilled on top of her desk where she sat hunched over her drawing. Her eyes, the weirdest colored eyes Destiny had ever seen on a person, showed flecks of yellow and purple towards the iris. From the iris out her eyes faded from a light green to light blue and then finally a deep murky blue on the edges.

Aria had a weird ability she could do with her irises. She could make them move or dilate at will. It was a weird ability that scared the shit out of most people. It was how she established fear in her victims and gave her the nickname "Demon of Richland". It was a subconscious thing she did when she was angry, happy, sad, or upset. It was scary to watch, but not nearly as unnerving as her stare. Destiny gulped as Arias eyes started to un focus. She stared blankly up at Destiny with absolutely zero emotion in her gaze. It scared the shit out of Destiny and confirmed everyone's fears. Aria was starting to turn into her old self.

Suddenly movement from the kitchen seemed to catch Aria's eye for her gaze quickly snapped back into focus and she turned her head sharply to the right. Standing in the door way stood a bald black man who leaned casually against the door frame as if he owned the place. Aria let out a snort before placing her hands firmly on the desk and pushing herself up into a standing position.

"Not you to." She groaned with an amused glint in her eyes. Frank beamed at her before closing the distance between them and encasing her in a giant bear hug. His larger frame easily encased her much smaller frame and soon she was suffocated by his muscles and cheap after shave. She laughed freely as he swung her around before putting her back on steady feet.

"Duh, you've barely called or texted me in weeks! I had to make sure you were okay!" Frank exclaimed with mock hurt. He even put his hand over his heart to add to his dramatics. He knew damn good and well that she was okay, but he was excited to see his ADHD firecracker fully let loose again. Despite everyone's protest on her state of personality, Frank relished in it. Aria was fun and unexpecting on a normal day. Give her a broken heart and freedom to be a bad bitch? Oh the possibilities were endless. He was excited to see her back in the game. To hell what everyone else thought.

"Girl I know you have alcohol, where you hiding it?" Shawn called from his burial deep in the fridge. He knew for a fact Aria always had alcohol and snacks stored away in her fridge for nights like these.

"You drank it all dumbass, remember? After Brando broke your heart!" Aria smirked as Shawn shot her a pointed glare. Shawn went through boyfriends like water, but it still never stopped him from having a broken heart when things ended. Aria never understood it and quickly learned to go along with it.

"Well let's go get some! I want to get wasted!" He huffed as she peered into the fridge from around his shoulder.

"First explain why you walked into my house with my Texas friends. Did you go get them?" She asked with a raised brow. Shawn had been unusually quiet these last few days but Aria had never dreamed he would've gone to Texas to fetch her friends.

"Well, we didn't know what else to do with you and we certainly didn't how to deal with your new personality so we called in the experts." Aria cracked an annoyed brow before crossing her arms in a huff.

"Deal with me? I'm no child!" She glared dangerously up at her friend. Shawn gulped as he realized he was trapped between her and the fridge door. If she attacked, he was fucked.

"I'm sorry but what else was I to do? How should I know if this Aria is safe or not?" He huffed in annoyance before pushing past her to join Gabby on the couch. Aria glared a moment longer before relenting. Maybe now everyone would fuck off and leave her alone.

"Hey Aria, who is this boy?" Destiny called from where she was still standing at Aria's desk. She had picked up the drawing Aria had been working on and was studying it with a confused expression. "I didn't know you could draw realistically now. When did that change?" She asked as Aria crossed the room to look at the drawing. Aria had only ever been able to draw in an animated style, and even then she could only draw if she was looking at a picture to copy. She had never been able to freehand before.

"I-I don't know." Aria stammered as she took the drawing from Destiny's hands. It was a young boy, maybe eighteen or nineteen. He has curly hair that framed his face and covered the tops of his ears. His lips were pulled back into a slight smirk and his eyes were teasing and playful as one brow arched in a bemused expression. The drawing was only of the boys face and in pencil. Aria quirked a brow as she studied the drawing of this strange boy.

"I drew this?"

"It's what you were working on when we came in." Destiny folded her arms across her chest and stared at her friend. Aria was definitely on the boy crazy side though she would never admit it. She always informed Destiny if she had seen a cute boy during her day. But Destiny couldn't recall Aria telling her about a boy with this description though he was definitely her type. From the big elfish ears, to the pointed teeth, Aria had drawn up her idea of the perfect guy. Destiny quirked a quizzical brow at this.

Aria's face had gone red with embarrassment at being caught doodling some strange boy. She quickly tucked the drawing away before turning towards her friends.

"Why don't I go get us some more alcohol and you lot stay here and get comfortable. I'm going to need time to prepare if I'm to deal with you four." She laughed and closed the front door to the shouts and protests of her friends.


"Thank you, have a good night!" She called over her shoulder to the clerk as she made her way out of the liquor store. It was late and the full moon shown brightly overhead. Despite her friends waiting for her back at the house, Aria was not in a hurry to get back. It had been a hard day for her, the struggle not to check his social media had been annoyingly hard today and the amount of rude criminals at work today had been aggravating. She had been recreating a drawing of an old anime character, or at least she thought she had, when her friends had barged in. She had no memory of drawing that boy and that unnerved her. Whoever he was, she had drawn him almost like a picture.

Aria was sure she had never seen him before, though studies stated that it was impossible to create a face you had never seen before, and that all the faces in your dreams were people you'd passed at some point in your life. Though Aria knew she'd never forget a face like that. So who was he?

It wasn't until she nearly crashed her car into the park sign that Aria realized she had subconsciously driven to the park Shawn had shown her not to long after she arrived in Kansas. Since then it had been the trios hang out spot and Aria's solitude spot. She often came here late at night when she needed to clear her head. Nestled deep behind the park was a secret beach. Aria loved to go there and sit on the log while starring at the night sky. The cool breeze always brought sprinkles of the water on the wind and she loved the feeling of her feet sinking into the cool sand. Silently she got out of her car and made her way to the hidden staircase that lead to the beach.

Keeping a careful eye out for any homeless people she soon came to the light post that marked where the staircase was. She picked her way slowly down the stairs, carefully choosing her steps when they gave way to stones. Finally her feet thudded down into the loose sand and she made her awkward ascend to the log.

The winds were unusually high tonight, causing small waves to form out on the lake. A feeling of unease settled over her as she stared out onto the water. She never felt unsafe here despite being surrounded on all sides by homeless villages and yet tonight something was definitely off.

She perked her ears and listened to the sounds of the forest around her, trying to find any indicator of something out of place. She froze as a twig snapped nearby.

Every hair on the back of her neck stood on end as she stared hard into the shadows, trying to make out a shape. She was being watched, that much she was sure by. Her gaze hardened as a figure loomed in the shadows a few feet ahead of her.

"Show yourself!" Aria shouted to no reply. She readied herself in a defensive stance, prepared to fight off whatever was watching her. Despite her smaller then average size, Aria had never had any problems with squaring up to bigger threats. She was always down for a fight. No one belived her though when she admitted that she had never actually been in a fight. Many had challenged but none had gone through with the threat. It aggravated her to no end. Her friends always told her it was because she was to intimidating that no one wanted to cross her. It was very well known that if she ever were to get in a fight, she would do whatever it took to win.

Slowly a large figure made its way into the light of the moon. Aria swallowed hard as the giant man loomed ahead of her. Something was seriously off with him. He was tall and broad, with wild curly hair and beady black eyes. He stared hard at her, eyeing her small body. Aria felt hot under her gaze and instantly became angry.

"Oi! What the fuck do you want?" She yelled at the man. He halted for a second, caught off by her sudden anger, before continuing his slow advance. Aria's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. She would be at a serious disadvantage in the sand. Her techniques in spars usually relied on her feet being on solid ground.

Suddenly the man pulled out a long curved blade with a wooden hilt. Aria blanched as the man suddenly lunged forward and started running at her. Holy Shit mother of donkeys! She panicked at the speed of the large man. Her feet scrabbled to get a good hold in the sand as she quickly tried to run away.

Aria hated running with a passion, something no one could understand since she was a natural soccer player and loved the sport. No matter how many times she explained that she was a sprinter and not a long distance runner, people just couldn't seem to get it. No matter how much conditioning she did, she couldn't run for long. Mostly because of her terrible habit of holding her breath when she ran. Yes it was bad, yes she tried to fix it, but for some reason Aria could not for the life of her run and breathe at the same time. It was embarrassing to admit. Despite that she was incredibly fast. The more breath she held the faster she could run.

It was ass backwards and normally didn't bother her much but this time she really wished she could run normally. With the added struggle of the sand, Aria was barely managing to stay ahead of the strange man chasing her. Finally she left the sandy beach behind and entered the forest surrounding the lake.

Every instinct in her screamed to stop and climb a tree, she had never been in this part of the forest and had no idea what was out here. But the man was gaining on her and she feared that if she stopped to try and climb he would catch her.

Leaves whipped around her face as she raced through the trees. Now that her feet were on hard ground they carried her easily through the forest and soon she began to loose sight of the man. She was just starting to smile and cheer in victory when she suddenly came to a skidding halt. Her feet scrambled on the loose pebbles as she fell to the ground in her haste to stop herself. Her hands gripped wildly at rocks and weeds as her body slid to the edge of the cliff. How is there a cliff here? I didn't run up a hill! Her legs dangled dangerously over the edge as she finally managed to stop herself from tumbling over the edge. With shaky legs she slowly stood up and peered over the edge. Dark angry waters crashed into the cliff fifty feet below, the white foam from the waves sizzling out upon contact with the wall. Aria could see deadly rocks jutting out of the water and knew it would be nearly impossible to miss if one decided to jump.

She was so focused on the water below she didn't notice the man walk up behind her. She gasped as he let out a deep menacing laugh. He clutched the sword in his hands as he advanced on her yet again. Aria took a tantalizing step back and peered over her shoulder at the waters below. She was a damn good swimmer but she knew even she would have trouble surviving that.

Thunder clashed over head as lighting struck the sky. Rain poured heavily down as the two stared at each other with baited breath. Aria was terrified, but her pride refused to let even this stranger see her fear. She squared her shoulders and braced herself for an attack.

"Well," She glared, "Have at it then." As if he had been waiting for an invite the man advanced forward and raised his arm to strike. Aria winced and closed her eyes, waiting for the blow that was sure to come. But before the blade could make contact, the ground gave way beneath her feet and she plummeted hard and fast into the dark waters below. Her eyes starred horrified at the sky as she hit the waters surface hard, all her breath knocked out of her lungs.

She struggled against the currents but it was no use. She couldn't tell up from down. Her body was jerked around as the waves threw her around like a rag doll. She struggled to hold her breath. Just as her esophagus was about to burst with pain a pair of strong arms grabbed her by the shoulders and hauled her up to the waters surface. The stranger drug her up onto shore and dropped her unceremoniously onto the hard sand.

Aria's limp body layed there a moment more before the sea water forced itself out of her lungs. She coughed and sputtered as she heaving the liquids from her stomach. When it was all out she collapsed back onto her back with exhaustion. Through heavy lidded eyes she noticed a dark silhouette hovering above her. Behind the figure the sky was alight with orange flames. Aria could feel the heat of the fire somewhere above her head and smelt the burning of wood. The figure loomed over her in a threating manner, studying her state. She couldn't make out anything of her rescuer except for what appeared to be angry red eyes.

Aria screwed her eyes shut as drops of water fell onto her face from the new comers hair. She tried to muster up words of thanks, but her throat felt dry and scratchy after the assault of sea water. Without a word the figure turned and started walking away, leaving Aria alone. She turned onto her side and reached a pleading arm out to the fading figure but couldn't find the strength to move anymore.

"Wait.."

Everything went dark.


Holy cow this is the longest chapter I think ive ever written. let me know what you guys think, is the chapter to long or should I make them shorter?