Dark Horizon

Note:I know this chapter's a little short, but I think you'll get over it. Enjoy and don't forget to review... even though I know you will... (breaks down into sobs) Why won't you review? Okay, sorry about that little episode... onwith the story!(And a thanks to Aspendragon and randomperson for the suggestion of a little tweaking of my original storyline)

Chapter Three: Promises

She was staring into the face of Yuki Sohma.

"I knew there wasn't a house out here," he said. "But I didn't exactly expect this."

"Oh… well, you see…"

"The last time I found a girl in the woods, she was at least in a tent."

Her cheeks colored. "You make it sound like it's happened before."

He shrugged.

"Why… why did you come out here? I don't believe this is just a coincidence."

"I wanted to see if you were telling the truth or not. I had a feeling it was not. Did you run away from home?"

Her eyes darkened. "It's none of your concern," she said heatedly.

"This really isn't safe. That building looks ready to fall down at any minute."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take. Now please go away."

"I think it would be best if you came with me. I don't know if Shigure will be happy with me for bringing you there, but perhaps you can live with us until you find somewhere… safer to stay."

"Absolutely not."

"Miss Silvers… I cannot in good conscience let you stay here."

As if to prove his point, a wolf howled in the distance and the shack gave a resounding creak.

"Yuki, I can't come with you. Even if I wanted to… I couldn't. You don't understand…" How could she make him understand without telling him the truth? "Everyone who gets close to me… they get hurt… eventually… they die, even."

"Are you trying to get me to believe that you… have some sort of… I don't know… curse?"

He spoke the last word with a strange hint of irony that she didn't understand, try as she might to read it in his face. "For lack of a better term… yes. My parents… my aunt and uncle… my grandfather. All of them are gone because of me. Because they cared about me. And my friends were all sick… until I left and stopped talking to them… they got better right away."

"Miss Silvers, that's ridiculous. It sounds to me as if you haven't had good luck in the past, and that is all."

She fought back her tears. "No… this is too much to be coincidence. I came here to get an education and to keep away from people. You're making that awfully difficult, Prince Yuki Sohma. Now please go away."

He didn't say anything for the longest time. Kara started to wonder if he was going to say anything at all, and then he walked in to the shack. She followed, not wanting him to see her things. It unnerved her to have a boy in her little hut, the place where she had lived the past few days.

"It's even worse on the inside," he noted. "But at least there isn't too much for the two of us to carry."

"I already told you I'm not coming with you! I even told you why I'm not, which is more than I wanted to tell anyone."

"You can't really want to stay here in the woods all by yourself, waiting for a disaster, can you Miss Silvers?"

He looked directly into her eyes when he said it, and his gaze was so powerful that she had to look away. She wanted so badly to have friends, and she couldn't. "Of course I don't," she told him truthfully. "But what I want isn't the point. If I go with you… then you and anyone else in that house will get hurt, possibly even die, because of me. But how about this… Yuki, I promise, that if I see or hear anything strange, or the shack collapses or something, then I'll go with you, okay? The second anything happens, I'll high tail it outta here and find you."

He stared at her for a minute, then pointed down the road. "Go that way for about a mile, then at the third road you see, take a left, then a right at the next… after a while of following that path, you'll see the house, and don't worry, you can't miss it. I don't feel right about this… but I guess since you promised that when something bad happens…"

Kara smiled. "You shouldn't worry so much about someone you don't even know, Yuki. But that's what makes you special, I guess… to all those fan club girls, at least. And if anything happens, I'll follow your directions, and show up on your doorstep. But, in return… you can't tell anyone where I am, okay?"

He hesitated, then said "Alright… but Miss Silvers?"

"Hmm?"

"Be careful."

"I will. Now get going, buster!"

She watched him leave, sadness in her eyes. If he kept this behavior up, she'd have to leave.

Grabbing her laundry, she headed down the road to a stream, planning to wash some clothes. She found herself looking at about five or six snakes. Well… this is certainly great timing for that… but I can't let it bring me down. I'll just… wash these tomorrow… yep… And she walked right back to the shack, panting a little due to her fear of snakes.

She'd always been an animal lover, partly since they didn't seem to be affected by her 'curse', but snakes had never been a favorite of hers. She liked cats, birds, mice, rats, and hamsters very much, but snakes… they gave her the creeps, for some reason.

"Well, nothing left to do but read for a bit and then go to bed." She yawned and then laughed, remembering how her father always used to yawn after mentioning sleep. She had an uncannily good memory, everyone she knew said so, but she just thought that it was her good sense of observation that allowed her to keep such good tabs on the past. Now that she really thought about it, though… it was a little strange that she could even remember her mother, though very, very vaguely.

I was just a baby, after all… a newborn… and I can still see her face so clearly… I got my eyes from her… although my… unique… hair color, I don't know where that came from. Her hair was blonde and dad's was brown.

With a sigh, she resigned herself to bed early, putting the troublesome thoughts of her past behind.

End note:Sorry if that was a little long! Anyway, I hope you liked it! Review please!