Destruction

Comments:

Daewen98: Thank you. You flatter me. And here's the next chapter for you. /smile/

Shadowlark71: Isn't it a fun one, though? And thank you! Count D is the hardest to write so far. Haven't tried Orcot,but I'm sure he'd be hard too. They're personalities are just so defined that I can't do whatever I want w/them like I can w/Amanda and Ellie...

Amarathine: Glad you're liking it so far. Hope you continue to. /smile/

.oO0Oo.oO0Oo.oO0Oo.

In the morning, Amanda jumped on Karen's side of the bed. "Mornin' Sunshine!" she cheered. "You've got roughly an hour before school starts." Then, she skipped over to the closet.

Karen rolled over and faced the window. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up with her elbows on her knees and yawned. Then she allowed herself to tip forward and land heavily on the mattress.

Amanda laughed. "Here. You can borrow one of my uniforms until you have a chance to get your stuff out of your cousin's house."

Karen propped her head in her hand and stared at her friend, suddenly realising that she had barely packed enough to last her the week. She hadn't remembered her toothbrush until she was nearly out the door again. Now she didn't know how long it would be before she could get more things. She doubted that Mrs. Kelly was still keeping the house. For that matter, she didn't know if the police had strung the place up with Crime Scene tape or not. After she left, she had avoided Edward's house at all cost.

It wasn't like she missed her things, anyhow. When her house burned down, she had lost everything that was dear to her. Edward had been kind enough to buy her the necessities, but now that she looked back at it, he had bought her only the necessities. She had not thought anything of it at the time—she was just grateful to have a home—but now she realised that he didn't want to waste money on her.

Amanda looked at her curiously. "You okay?"

"Yah. Just thinking about Edward."

"You shouldn't do that, you know. Just remember the good times and let the rest disappear into oblivion."

Karen smiled weakly. "If only it was that easy."

.oO0Oo.

Amanda's mother handed the girl's their lunchboxes. "Y'all be safe and learn a lot, okay?" she said.

Karen smiled and petted Dreizehn's head. "You have to stay here, okay?"

The Doberman obediently sat down.

Amanda hugged her mother "good-bye" and joined Karen by the front door. Just as they shut the door behind them, they heard Dreizehn whimper softly.

"Why can't he accompany us to the school and then just wait around for us in the park or something?" Amanda asked.

Karen looked at her friend. There would be no problem with that idea if Dreizehn was, indeed, a man. However, since he was, instead, a dog, she wasn't sure how he would fare in the city park. In fact, she wasn't sure if he would be content to leave her at the school.

"I don't know," Karen answered. "We'll see how he does at the house. If this goes well, then there's no sense bringing him along. I don't want to spoil him, after all."

Amanda laughed incredulously. "Spoil him? You talk like he's your child instead of a grown man. I doubt letting him accompany you to school, since he is your bodyguard, is even going to affect him…besides allowing him to stay in shape. You don't want him sitting at home getting all weak and flabby, do you?"

Karen chuckled. "One day of inaction won't make him fat all of the sudden."

"No, but if you do this all school year…." Amanda threw her friend a look to finish the sentence. Then, looking ahead and putting an extra spring in her step, she continued, "And besides, I wouldn't mind walking with him. Won't all the other girls be envious?" Amanda smiled evilly at the thought.

"You're shameless."

"Better than being shy and secretive."

"Are you calling me shy and secretive?" Karen challenged with a laugh.

"Well, what would you call it? Evidently not 'shameless'." Amanda grinned and winked.

"I call it 'smart'."

"Karen!" a girl's voice greeted them from across the street.

"Ah, Ellie," Karen returned with a wave.

The two girls waited until Ellie joined them on the sidewalk and then Amanda began. "Ellie, you've got to help me convince Karen to let her bodyguard accompany her to school. She left him at home today!"

Ellie raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Well, that's simple. What good will a bodyguard do if he's not with you?"

"Oh guys, quit it," Karen protested superficially. "I don't need a bodyguard anymore. Even Count D agreed with that. He's just there for companionship. Later—"

"But our coolness factor will shoot through the roof," Amanda interrupted, grabbing Ellie's arm to make sure that her ally was in agreement.

"No kidding!" Ellie joined in. "Oh my goodness! I can just see Claire's expression now. She will be positively green!"

"See there?" Amanda turned to Karen. "You just have to bring him to school!"

Karen looked from one girl to the other. "Well, maybe once won't hurt. Though, I can't imagine what he'll do while I'm in class."

.oO0Oo.

There was just something about Literature class that made Karen sleepy. Perhaps it was the pompous, old-English style of poetry, or maybe it was the fact that it was the last class of the day and she was tired of studying, but whatever the reason, Karen usually found herself in a daydream that was somewhere between asleep and awake.

Today, her thoughts strayed to Dreizehn. Karen and Ellie both saw him as human. The fact that they thought he looked fierce, smart, and handsome was what had first made her somewhat more comfortable around him. Also, it had prompted her to see for herself what he looked like…and to discover his poor cut ears. However, they still thought he was a man, even after she had figured out the truth. That, she did not understand.

After a few minutes, she gave up trying to reconcile that fact and chose to simply accept it. It was certainly easier that way, given Amanda's obvious crush on him. She chuckled to herself. If only her friend knew the truth…!

But Dreizehn presented a problem of his own. Yes, Count D wanted her to keep him, but she wasn't sure that Dreizehn would be happy that way. The poor dog did not understand that his guard-duty was over and she didn't know if he would be able to understand her spoken word, even if she explained it to him. He was really a dog and whatever illusion she and her friends were under (and still were, as the case may be) did not refute that fact. He was a highly trained military dog, accustomed to obeying commands, but he also had a strong sense of duty to protect his master—with his life. He had proven that when Edward—no, she would not think about that! He had stayed like she told him to, but he surely felt like something was wrong and maybe even felt guilty for not being at her side. Yet, she couldn't take him to school with her. No animals were aloud on the grounds, no exceptions.

She sighed. There seemed to be no answer that would make Dreizehn happier.

The bell rang, startling her from her reveries. Gathering her things together she joined the rest of the students as they poured into the hallway.

"Karen," Ellie called from her locker. "Want to go for shakes?"

"Sure," Karen answered. "Amanda know?"

"Not yet. I'll tell her."

Karen nodded and returned to her locker. Dropping her backpack on the floor, she worked the combination on her lock and swung the door open. Then she grabbed her hairbrush and turned to the mirror on the inside of her locker door. There, on the glass, was a note scrawled in strange handwriting on a short slip of paper.

I'M WATCHING YOU!

She slammed the door shut and looked around at the people in the hall while she listened to her heart pounding in her ears. Everyone seemed to be watching her as they passed by and around her. The boy leaning against the wall with his ball cap pulled low over his eyes was definitely staring at her. Neither Amanda nor Ellie was in sight.

Suddenly, she wished she had Dreizehn by her side.

.oO0Oo.

"Gosh, Karen," Amanda said. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Karen glanced over her shoulder again and then made a conscious effort to walk normally to her chair. The effect was more like a stiff corpse suddenly discovering that it can move.

"You okay?" Ellie asked.

"Yah!" she chuckled nervously. "Couldn't be better. What'd ya'll get?"

Amanda eyed her friend with concern. "A chocolate mint shake."

"Eggnog," Ellie answered.

"Ah. Sounds good," Karen lied. Her stomach was in such knots that she didn't know if she could drink a whole shake. "Would you get me a…uh…cherry?"

"You're not going to?" Ellie asked, tipping her head.

"Oh, I guess I can. It's just that I just got here."

"I'll get it," Amanda offered.

"Thanks," Karen breathed, truthfully thankful.

"So, what are we going to do this afternoon?" Ellie asked, trying to fill the silence that threatened to take over.

"Oh, I'm going home, well, to Amanda's I mean, and get Dreizehn. He needs a walk."

"Oh good! Can I come?"

"Sure! The more the merrier!"

Karen sighed deeply, finally able to relax a little now that she had company. Everyone around was still watching her, but at least now she had someone to watch her back. The note was probably just some crazy boy that had a crush, but…a crush would've written, "I like you", not "I'm watching you" with an exclamation mark, no less. And how did the paper get attached to her mirror anyhow!

And why had she left Dreizehn at home?

"Here you go," Amanda said cheerily as she handed Karen the shake. "You owe me $2.50."

"Thanks. I'll get it to you tomorrow."

"Tonight?"

"Uh…right. I guess I am living with you." Karen chuckled again. "Tonight, then."

"Hey, Amanda," Ellie cut in. "Karen's going walking with Dry-Drize—"

"Dora-chan?" Amanda asked.

"Yah. Him. You wanna come?"

"I might. I'll have to see how easy my homework is."

"I can wait until later in the evening if you need," Karen offered.

"We'll see," Amanda said with a wink. "We don't want to keep Dora-chan cooped up longer than necessary. Poor guy's probably dying to move from his spot on the floor. He's kinda funny that way, you know?"

"Military training," Ellie commented, as if that explained everything. "Hard telling how strenuous the training in Germany was."

Karen ignored her friends in favour of contemplating the strange note some more. She wanted to believe it was just a crushing boy, but no matter how she tried to rationalise it, she couldn't dismiss the fact that it was more than a little creapy!

Maybe he was handsome like Dreizehn. It'd be really funny if she married him and told her kids someday, "The first note your father gave me sounded like a psycho stalker!" She smiled. That was supposing she even liked him in return!

.oO0Oo.

When Karen and Amanda arrived back at the house, they found Dreizehn eagerly waiting for them. Karen immediately gave her Doberman an enthusiastic hug. "Oh, how I've missed you today," she cried.

Dreizehn just accepted her affection, glad to see her, but not about to show it in the presence of Amanda and her mother.

"You got a package in the mail, today," Amanda's mother informed her.

Karen's heart skipped a beat as she looked at the square package wrapped in printed fabric.

"A strange young man brought it by today?"

"A strange young man?" Karen repeated, eyeing the package warily and making no move to accept it.

"Yes. He was a nobleman of some sort. Said his name was D, or something."

"Count D?" Karen cried, jumping up to take the package. She undid the clasp on the top and let the fabric fall to the floor. There in her hands was an ornate, wooden box with little Chinamen and Chinese characters painted on it. Carefully, she opened the lid and then chuckled.

"What is it?" Amanda asked, walking to her side to look for herself.

"An incense burner."

"Incense?"

"Yah, it's what Count D uses in his shop. Well, his burner is nicer than this one, but his would look strange in our house. Oh and look, here's the incense."

"What kind of incense does he burn?" Amanda's mother asked.

"I don't know, but it's very pleasant. Not too strong, but not too sweet either. I really like it."

"Here's a note," Amanda said, picking up the small card. "'A small gift to keep you and Dreizehn together.' I wonder what that's supposed to mean."

Karen took the card. Two strange notes in one day? She wondered if the Count had written the note on her mirror. No…he wasn't a stalker and had no reason to watch her anyhow. Besides, this one was more like a blessing than a warning. "Let's set it up in your room."

The two girls went to Amanda's room, followed by the ever-loyal guard dog. Amanda moved a few bottles on her dresser and Karen placed the burner in the vacated spot. She filled the burner and then lit it. Lying on her stomach on the bed, she watched it burn while she petted Dreizehn. Yes, this is how it felt to be perfectly safe.

.oO0Oo.oO0Oo.oO0Oo.

Last notes: Hmph! This is starting to remind me of a shoujo manga. I'm not sure if that is good or bad, but…like…Fruits Basket? Yah. All I need to do is include a beach, public bath, or hot springs chapter and voila—classic shoujo! Anyhow, Karen is too introspective, no? Say "yes", because she is!lol But maybe now that I've introduced her stalker, she'll stop worrying about the past and start worrying about the here and now.

Sorry if the next update takes a little longer...I'm preoccupied with painting a mural...