*October 1996*
A scream of agony pierced through the cold autumn air and a flock of birds darted out of the trees into the clouded sky.
Silence followed.
A girl, aged sixteen, stood motionless in the middle of a deep forest, the body of a boy laying at her feet. She stared at the boy blankly, her feet rooted to the damp grass. Her eyes were glazed over as if she couldn't see who it was in front of her, even though she was staring directly at him. When her vision cleared, her body began shaking wildly as she took in the sight in front of her.
The boy was dead.
"No..." She breathed, her voice barely a whisper. She shook her head in jolted movements.
"N-n-no. No!"
Her legs gave way and she stumbled onto the ground next to the boy's body, her long blonde hair falling in front of her face. A quiet sob escaped her lips and her breath caught in her throat. She clutched at the boy's light blue shirt, her fist clenching the fabric desperately. His matching light blue blazer and trousers were slick with mud and no longer able to be deemed a 'light' shade of colour.
"You can't leave me." The girl whispered to the boy. He didn't reply.
She shook his body as if trying to get a response from him.
"Y-you're okay. You're fine. You'll wake up any second now, you have to. Wake up, wake up!"
The forest watched the girl as she pleaded for the boy. The birds had gone silent and even the trees seemed to stop their leaves from rustling in the wind. The world around them had stopped just as the boy's heart had.
"Please!" The girl sobbed, shaking him again.
A silver chain half fell out of the boy's shirt, glinting in the moonlight. The girl's shaky hand reached over to tug the rest of it out from his shirt, not daring to touch his skin that was gradually growing cold. She gasped when she saw the delicate piece of jewellery that was lying in her hand. At the end of the chain, a small pendant in the shape of a dragon glowed a vibrant blue in the dark of the night.
The girl felt an urge to keep the necklace; she thought he would want her to have something to remember him by. She carefully reached behind his neck, trying not to pay attention to his soaked curly brown hair sticking to his neck, and unclasped the necklace. She lifted it and placed it around her neck, the pendant cooling her overheating skin.
The sound of approaching footsteps echoed throughout the forest.
The girl's face shot up and she clambered to her feet, pulling her wand from her pocket.
A boy, a few years older than her, appeared between two trees, his short light brown hair blowing lightly in the wind.
His brown eyes casually glanced down to the body lying on the grass and looked back up at the girl. There was no emotion in his eyes; the body did not surprise or upset him.
The girl's body started shaking violently again, this time out of pure anger. She could barely hold her wand still and her pulse had risen dramatically.
"How...how could you?!" Her voice faltered slightly.
"It wasn't me." The boy droned out, sounding almost bored.
"This is your fault!" She gestured to the body behind her.
"I did nothing to hurt him."
The boy strolled aimlessly towards her.
"But-"
"He came here by himself, it's not my fault if he gets himself killed by failing to protect you."
The girl's left hand balled into a fist, her other hand tightening its grip around her wand.
"You sold me out to them! Felix is dead because of you. You could have at least stopped him! He was trying to protect me and you let him walk to his... his death." She chocked on the last word and her eyes sparkled with unshed tears.
The birds started chirping again, whispering words of comfort to the girl. She couldn't hear them though: her racing heartbeat was pounding in her ears, deafening her from everything but the boy's voice which was only just about close enough for her to make out.
"If anyone is to blame, it's you. You could have just turned yourself over to them and he would still be alive." The boy spoke with a smug tone, angering the girl even more.
His words made something deep inside her flare-up, itching to be released. Her body was heating up insanely fast and her skin felt like it was burning. She trembled, her breath laboured and short. Stars appeared in her vision until everything around her went black.
Blazing hot fire erupted out of her very soul, piercing the night sky above with a flame so bright it was almost blinding.
The boy didn't react at all; his face was blank and passive. The only sign that he was surprised was a small twitch of his left eyebrow. The girl, on the other hand, stared down at her shaking hands with a horrified expression.
"Leave!" She screamed at the older boy. "Go!"
Surprisingly he obeyed and left the girl alone to cry for the loss of her friend. Her sobs filled the silent night, and the animals of the forest joined her in mourning.
Days later, in the place where the boy's body had laid, a single flower grew, the petals a shade of pure white.