Part 7

…He took the knife and got ready to take his life and placed the knife against his skin.

"Stop! Whatever it is, it isn't worth it!" A female voice called as the form of a young woman materialized out of the fog….

****

Rowen didn't even look up when the girl had cried out.  For that matter he didn't even hear her.  Holding the knife he studied his arm and debated the best way to cut it.  Thinking back to a book on suicide he had read he reposition the knife and was just about to let it break the skin when a warm hand covered his.

"Just let me take the knife." The voice told him.

He finally glanced up and noticed the girl.  His eyes wondered back down to where the knife was covered by her hand.

"Please let me." He said softly.

"Um, nope, sorry." She said. "Drop the knife." She then ordered.

His grip on the knife lessoned and she took it from him.

"I'll ask later why you would do something that stupid." She told him, not leaving his side. 

It was then that Rowen realized his virtue was glowing.  Since his head was still pointed up a little he realized she could see the virtue.  He quickly lowered his head.

"I'm not going to ask about that blue glowie thingy so don't worry." She told him.

The night sky was slowly filling with clouds, and the night chose that exact second to make the night as dark as possible for the city.  The light blue glow was clearly visible.  She chose not to mention it.

"Come on." She told him and gently took his hand to try and get him to stand.

"Why?"

"It's going to rain, and I for one don't want to get wet."

Rowen closed his eyes, it was going to rain, he could tell it.  He didn't care if he got wet though. 

"Come on, don't just stand there."

Rowen re-opened his eyes to look at the girl, she had brown hair as well as brown eyes.  The concern she had in her eyes was clear for him.  But why should she care about him? 

He finally stood and then looked confused.  It was like he was in a fog, he couldn't think clearly.

The girl still held on to his hand but slowly began to push him to one of the ladders.

"How you got up here is beyond me." She muttered.

"I just climbed." He told her, slightly distracted.  He was still fighting the fog.

"Yep I'm not going to ask, or about the fact how you jumped the fence, dude that was one big fence."

Rowen's mind went back to the fence.  He hadn't even thought about it and had just done it.  If Ryo knew what he had done he would be dead, someone could have seen him do that and it seemed someone had.  Well he wanted to die right?  Why not have 'death by a pissed Ryo'?

"Come on." She told him again, he had stopped when he began to think.

"I don't want to."

At that comment the sky opened and rain poured down around them.  The girl yelped and began to drag Rowen to the ladder.

"I don't wanna get soaked!"

Rowen let himself be dragged, he didn't really mind the rain.

The girl led him down the ladder then across the construction site.  The falling rain was causing the site to make it usual weird noises.

Rowen found himself being led across campus and into a dorm.  One of the ones he had never been in, Gladdings Residential Center, or GRC.  The girl took his ID from him and signed him in and led him to her room.  She lived on the apartment side.  Rowen was in such a fuzzy state he didn't even question when she went up stairs, down stairs, to the left, to the right, down stairs then into her apartment.  None of her roommates were in for a change.

The girl made him take off his jacket and handed him a warm cup of tea.  "You're just lucky I got the munchies."

"What?"

"Well normally I don't go out at 4 am, but I was studying Chem and I got hungry."  She paused to take a sip of her tea.

"You should have just left me alone."

"Oh to kill yourself?  I think not."

"I just want it all to end."

"What?"

"My life."

She put down her tea.  "Now why would you want something like that?"

He pulled out the letter, "They're all dead."

"Who are?"

"My family."

"How do you know?" She asked, sitting next to him on the floor.

"I got it in a letter."

"What does it letter say?"

Rowen unfolded it and began to read, he tried to keep his amazement from showing up to much.

"Well?"

"They're not dead, she lied, Sage is coming to America in two days."

TBC

*************

A/N: Sorry but I had tests and am now going to be away from the computer for a while, so that's all you get.