I know i've been gone for a while and im so sorry, but as i said before school is killer! and im hoping you guys enjoy this chapter! i experienced some writers block but im back on track! enjoy!

Chapter 7 encounter

Am I crazy? This thought bounced around in my head too many times to count, boggling my mind and making me go into a war of yes and no's. Well if I'm not crazy then what the hell is wrong with me? Am I ill? What kind of damn illness causes you to see and feel things that aren't even there?! I continued clutching onto Neji for dear life, I never noticed that he had taken me back to his dorm till I suddenly found myself on his lap as he was sitting on his bed leaning his back against the headboard with only the soft orangish glow of the single lamp next to the bed. I sat their sniffling in a little ball against his chest, he began to speak

"Tenten, what's going on" it was once again a demand, but it was interlaced with concern and worry and a need for an answer, I felt guilt bloom in my chest for keeping him in the dark for so long.

I pulled back to look at him with my hands splayed on his chest, I could feel the wisps of loose hair from my once tight bun brush against my face. He reached up and took my bobby pins out and put them on the nightstand next to the bed, my hair tumbled down my back in silk curls as I bit my lip and he asked again in a hushed whisper

"what is it". I then tightly shut my eyes and blindly scrambled off his lap to stand next to his bed to some how, symbolically, detach myself from him, I was annoyed that he kept trying to get this out of me! Didn't he understand that if I told him it would ruin our relationship!? He'd think im some psycho! A complete lunatic, he just doesn't get it!

" I can't tell you Neji, I just can't!" I heard the springs of the mattress creak and I turned to look at him

"what do you mean you can't?! I saw you out in the court yard at" he grabbed the digital clock "2:30 in the morning screaming bloody murder and crying hysterically on the floor and yet you can't tell me!" he stood "just what kind of fucked up logic is that!" I gritted my teeth

"you just dont get it and you never will so but out!" he stepped forward

"and how do you know I wont understand if you haven't even told me!"

"just what makes you think anythings wrong anyways! I'm perfectly fine thank you very much! Stop being paranoid!" he growled in irritation

"then stop being so dense and look in a damn mirror!" next thing I knew he grabbed me and yanked me in front of his full body mirror

"let go Neji!"

"look Tenten" he grabbed my face and forced me to stare at my reflection, he let go when I stopped struggling. "look at yourself, you don't eat, you don't sleep, and yet you practice each and everyday relentlessly, and don't tell me that none of that's true because the proof is your body" he pointed at my eyes "these, these dark circles never existed when you first came here, these blood shot eyes weren't even apart of you" he then pointed at my collar bone "your becoming skin and bone, you're not eating, and I would know because I sit with you, and while everyone else eats you use the period for nap time" he lifted my arm "your skin, where you once had a tan, now you've become a ghost from how pale you are, you are literally waisting away to nothing Tenten, you are becoming a living corpse" he grabbed my shoulders and turned me to look at him "now look me in the eyes and tell me that there is nothing wrong with you, say it to my face" I searched his intense gaze with my wide eyes, how, how could I tell him I just, i'm so lost, he'd never accept me...what should I do..his gaze was becoming too intense it was piercing through my very soul, I felt naked, like he could see everything "say it to my face" he repeated again, my lip trembled...i'm sorry.

I violently pulled away from his grasp and ran out of the room slamming the door shut behind me running down the various halls and stairs of the boys dorm and sprinting out of the building to the girls dorm across the street. I ran up various stairs and finally made it up to my room, I slammed the door shut behind me then rested my back against it, tears were flowing freely down my cheeks as I slid to the floor, I then began to loudly sob. I had never felt so guilty and awful, the emotional pain was unbearable almost surpassing the physical one, I had never felt so alone at that very moment, I cried harder, and it was all my fault. I picked my self up from the floor and went to my full body mirror to stare at myself again, he was right, I was literally becoming a corpse, and yet at that moment I saw it, the version of me that I left in the courtyard. I starred in complete mortified shock as I starred at the perfect reflection of the hideous monster I saw outside, it was here now standing right before my eyes, I screamed in terror and ran to the bed hiding under the covers shaking uncontrollably repeating over and over to my self

"it's not there, it's not there, it's not there, it's not there, it's not there, it's not there, it's not there..." Am I crazy?

I don't know when or how, but I soon fell asleep. I woke up around noon and was thankful that we didn't have classes Saturdays or Sundays. I literally crawled out of bed and dragged myself over to the mirror. My face was streaked black from mascara and my eyes were red from the salt of my tears and the sting of the running makeup, I had bags under my hollow eyes with dark circles, I looked pale and sick, I had to get out. Picking myself up, slowly but surely, I made it to the bathroom and began to take an ice cold shower. When I finished I put my underwear on and then went to put on my clothes. My out fit was a loose thin grey sweater that I tucked into a pair of high waisted black short shorts with a thin brown belt, I wore black tights beneath the shorts with black thigh high stockings and black flats I wore a thick black infinity scarf and a black barrette to finish off the look. I looked in the mirror and even though I was all snuggled and warm I still looked pale and ill... and it only made me think of Neji. My eyes stung with tears and soon enough they were falling but I quickly wiped them away and pulled my self together, you have no one to blame but yourself.

I left my dorm and noticed how silent it was, but what did I expect? It was a Saturday and noon, obviously everyone was sleeping in or just relaxing on their day off. I made my way out of the building and began too walk to the school gate when I saw a girl sitting on the rim of the fountain, crying. Her dark hair was down and she was covering her face with her hands, but I swore it was Hanabi, concerned, I ran up to her

"Hanabi, sweetheart, whats wrong? What is it?" I put my hand on her shoulder as I squatted down in front of her "did someone do some thing to you?"

"please help me" she whimpered, it didn't sound like Hanabi's voice though, it didn't matter anymore, the girl was in pain.

"little girl what can I do?"

"the pain...make it stop" I smelled iron

"it hurts so much" I looked down at where she sat and almost screamed when I saw the are where she was sitting covered in blood that was beginning to bleed into the fountain and drip off the rim of the seat "she never stops" my eyes shot back to the little girl in front of me, this time I couldn't help it, I did scream.

I screamed as I ran from the girl through the school gates across the empty cobblestone road to an alley across the street, I leaned against the brick wall and breathed heavily with perspiration on my forehead. What I saw, I couldn't fathom the thought of what I saw, I didn't want to recall, I shook my head and began to tremble, I whispered to myself

"it's not real, it's not real, it's not real, it's not real, it's not real, it's not real, it's not real.." with courage that I dont know where it came from I looked to the fountain to see her running towards me crying hysterically screaming

"no! Please! Don't leave me! No more! I don't want any more!" tears sprung in my wide eyes as I ran down the ally and out to a different cobblestone road, I soon stopped infront of a bakery window and bent down breathing heavily while furiously wiping away my tears while repeating the same statement from before. I turned around to see nothing behind me, no more little girl, no more blood, no more screaming, no more tears. I sighed as I grabbed the side of my head with my hands, just what the hell's wrong with me?

I soon found myself seated inside the small bakery with a chocolate chip muffin infront of me on a small pink napkin as my right hand was holding a steaming cup of black coffee that rested on the table while my left elbow rested on the table and my hand supported my head while my fingers were threaded into my long hair. The steam from the black coffee entered my nostrils making me feel more nausea's then what I already did, I had no appetite and looking at the muffin I felt no appeal. A sigh that I began to let out was suddenly cut off half way as I heard the metal chair infront of me screech against the tiled floor, my head shot up to see the last person that I ever wanted to lay eyes one, Madam Melancolie.

She starred a me with cold eyes, her gray hair up in its usual tight grey bun as her lips were pursed in an unimpressed and unsatisfied manner as her old prude face wrinkled even more under every muscle that twitched. I broke the silence first

"...what are you doing here?" her eyes flashed with something I couldn't recognize

"so rude, as always, but what? I can't visit my student?"

"no" I immediately responded, a tight smile came to her lips

"well I can see some one doesn't miss me, and the discipline i've shown you has been slipping" she spared a disdainful glance at the poor muffin

"what do you want" I seethed, her eyes met mine with such a sharp look I felt the sting of the cut, before I could react she grabbed my scarf with one hand yanking me forward then brought her hand beneath it grabbing the large silver locket yanking me closer to her gritted yellow teeth as I felt the rigged metal dig in to the tender flesh of neck making my eyes squint in pain as I gritted my teeth. My left hand tightly gripped the tables edge to keep from falling over while the other tightly grasped the wrist of the hand that was holding my locket.

"let. go." I gritted out, she yanked me forward more making me hold back a hiss of pain.

"they're coming" she whispered to me quickly, my eyes widened

"who's they?" she snorted

"you'll know soon enough, but since you caught me in a good mood" it was my turn to snort, which earned me another painful yank "i'll let you know how to stop them" a cruel look came over her features "find the one who holds the key" I gave her a puzzled look that quickly became anger

"how the HELL is that suppose to help you old hag" she gave a satisfied look that only made me growl deep in my throat

"don't you like my riddles Panda?" the look she gave me made me want to punch her teeth out. In the blink of an eye she shoved me back and then quickly stood and began to walk away, as she got to the door and placed her hand on the medal bar she half turned to look a me. "Sper sa arzi in iad" with that she left, a cold gust left behind her that prickled through my clothes causing goosebumps. I sat their silently in my chair and thought her words over, when I suddenly jumped as I began to hear the awful scream from last night again, I looked to see the demonic version of me running towards me screaming with arms outstretched, I screamed in terror as I ran clumsily to the door wretching it open and the quickly running down the street. Am I truly insane?

Review please!

Btw: what madame melancolie says is i hope you burn in hell in Romanian