THEY CAME LIKE SHADOWS

A: this is just a little idea that popped up and wiggled its way into a story, so I hope you guys like it!

Chapter one: strange encounter

A girl at age of approximately sixteen years, almost seventeen, found her gaze wandering to the window in math class. Her reflection stared back at her, aggravated and irate. Her emerald gaze flickered over the glass, studying her lips. They felt raw from the cough she had had for the past few weeks and when she leaned in closer, she found, to her disgust, that they were chapped. 'Just what I need," she thought, 'chapped lips and a double period of math.'

"Ms. Summers!" came the teachers barking command, "come up here and solve the problem on the board!"

She gulped and stood. If there were two things she hated, was math and people watching her, and that was happening. Gingerly she rose from her seat and went to the board, stumbling halfway there when she banged her hip on a desk. She ignored the class's snickers, flushing, and took up the chalk. She stared blankly at the bored. 'Find the distance between point one and two then use it to solve how to find the volume of the prism… and do its surface area. Oh Goddess, I don't remember ever learning this!' she thought, her face starting to redden further from embarrassment.

She heard the fake coughs and the snickers, causing her to clench a fist. How she hated school and its stupid cliques, rules, and most of all, people! "I don't know how to," she announced, trying to sound unabashed.

The teacher, Mrs. Takemoto, looked at her, almost speechless, then instantly regained her composure in a matter of seconds. "What do you mean, you don't know!" she snarled. "We learned this last week!"

"Well I guess I didn't learn," she said coldly.

"Kei Summers!" the teacher shouted, her face starting to turn red with anger. "Principle's office! Now!"

She sighed and went to her chair, grabbed her backpack and marched towards the Principle's office. This was the third time this week; her mother would beat her for sure. It's not that she wanted to make so much trouble; it was just that she had a hard time stopping herself from opening her big mouth.

Kei sat down on one of the wooden chairs in the waiting room next to the Principle's. She cast an emerald eye around the room and found it had one other occupant beside the secretary, who hadn't even bothered to look up because she knew this was around the time of day she was sent in.

The boy had platinum blonde hair that tumbled down to his shoulders and amethyst eyes along with tanned skin. But that's not what made her jolt in surprise, even if it was a rare combination. It was his attire, which consisted of a white sleeveless that had double gold chains near the collar, earrings that reminded her of kunai knives, and black pants that she suspected were leather. His wrists were adorned with three golden links, a gold arm cuff on each arm and his throat with another three links. Even on a girl she had never seen so much jewelry, and was that eyeliner?

He felt her eyes on him and looked up. She shivered. His eyes were cold with hatred, yet somehow managed to look amused and good-natured. She immediately looked away, twirling around her finger a loose strand of black-blue hair. After almost half an hour of silence, she found herself starting to grow agitated by the silence. She looked back up at the strange boy and found he was reading a book.

"What are you reading?" she asked curiously.

He looked up at her briefly. "History on the Pharaoh Ramses II," he grunted, turning his purple gaze back to the book.

She blinked. A bookworm? In the Principle's waiting room? And what was with his strange clothes? Not to mention the makeup and jewelry. She tried again. "So uh, what are ya in for?"

He was silent for a moment, eyes still scanning the page, and then he doggy-eared it and looked up at her coolly. "I knocked a guy out this morning."

"And you're still here?" she asked in surprise, raising a brow. Normally he'd be suspended by now.

"Unfortunately," he sneered, "the idiot has been busy all morning with who-knows-what."

"I see…" she said slowly, her thoughts becoming jumbled. "Er… why did you-?"

"He made a comment about my apparel for the fifth time, I took a stand." His voice had taken a cool undertone so it wasn't as frosty, almost slightly amused and his lips were curled in a half-smile to a smirk. It was hard to tell.

She shook her head. So he was one of those violent types, the kind that always made you want to run before you angered them. She was going to have to be careful. "So is there um… a particular reason you wear that kind of stuff?"

He raised a brow. "It's Egyptian," he said promptly.

"So you're Arabic then?"

"Sort of."

"Cool, never met an Arab that spoke Japanese before." She held out her hand. "I'm Kei."

He looked at her then held his out, grasping hers lightly. She was surprised to find his hand rather soft and warm, not hard and cold like she had expected, and his grip was nicely firm. "Marik," he said as he let go.

The secretary looked up. "Quiet you two," she snapped, then went back to her paperwork.

Kei scooted into the seat next to him so they could continue talking. "So uh, when did you transfer?" she whispered.

"During the summer. My…" he paused for a second then went on, "father got transferred here."

"Ah. Was it a hard move?"

Before he could answer the secretary looked at her watch and then at them. "You may go in now," she said, almost spitefully, taking her pen and going back to her never-ending mound of paperwork.

Marik stood silently, slinging his bag over his shoulder and going into the office. Not even a minute passed before he came back out, a strange smiled on his face.

"Done already?" Kei asked in surprise. "What was the consequence?"

"I didn't get one. The principle has been incapacitated," he said, chuckling softly.

"What?"

"He's dead."

Kei stared at him in silent horror, jaw dropping. She moved her lips to speak but found no words coming out. "W-what do you mean!" Was that her? No, it was the secretary. She had stood up and was starting to close the distance between her and the Egyptian boy.

"Just what I said. He's dead. See for yourself," he said coldly.

'He's way too calm to be normal.' She thought, her insides freezing. 'Did he… kill him?'

The secretary gripped the handle of the door, opening it wide, and then stumbling back, her lips moving wordlessly. "C-c-call an ambulance! Call 911!" She shouted shakily once she found her voice.

"It's too late to call the hospital," Marik said, his voice still unnervingly calm, "I checked his pulse, and his body is stiff, he's been dead for a long time. Heart attack most likely."

"That's impossible! Harold was barely in his thirties!" the secretary said shrilly, her eyes were wide, as if she had just realized what had happened.

"You may want to calm down and call the police," he said coldly, ignoring her previous statement.

The secretary did just the opposite; she fell to the floor and collapsed into a fit of sobs. He looked down at her in disgust and sighed, going to the phone and dialing the police. As he talked into the phone calmly, Kei went over to the poor woman, trying to comfort her. The lady latched onto her, leaving her feeling very awkward indeed.

"They're on their way," Marik said as he hung up the phone.

Kei managed to break away from the deranged secretary. "Think we should go and leave her here?" she asked, indicating the sobbing woman.

He looked down at her unfeeling, then shrugged. "We can stay till they come I su-"

The police arrived, breaking him off. After a brief account of what they knew, they were permitted to leave after filling out a witness form.

"Do you need a ride?" Marik asked suddenly.

"What? Yeah, okay, thanks," Kei said. She immediately regretted it. 'What if he was the killer…he might kill me! But… he seemed okay… except of course that was overly calm about everything. Besides, we would've heard a struggle. Plus, it's a far walk home… way to far for my physical capabilities…'

He led her to his black and red motorcycle and handed her his only helmet. "Here, I'm used to not having one." He sat down and looked back at her.

Kei was staring. 'Uh oh… mother would hate me for this. Ah, what do I care, she's a bitch anyway to me…' She handed him back the helmet. He raised a brow and put it in his bag.

"Not riding?"

"No, I don't want to use it." She sat behind him and put her arms around his stomach, clasping them in the middle as he gunned the motor and started to speed out of the parking lot.

"Where do you live?" he shouted over the harsh winds. She leaned over so she would be closer to his ear and told him the coordinates. He nodded and headed in that direction.

Kei put her cheek on his back as they rode, closing her eyes tiredly. What a day. She met an odd, yet hot guy who more than likely could care less for her yet for some reason was giving her a ride home, her principle was killed, and her lips were chapped. She yawned. She had a lot to explain to her mother when she got home. That was her last thought as she drifted off into a half-conscious state.

When she came round, she found they had stopped, and they were nowhere near home.

Author: hm… I wonder why… (insert evil laugh) yeah well, tell me if you like it and I'll update soon.