Chapter Twenty-One

~ Death the Kid ~

Soul grabbed his skateboard from his locker also. So together we raced out the school's main entrance, and skidded the corners towards the hospital.

The rain roared against the streets, water splashing at my skinny jeans and the wind tearing at my vest. But as I inched closer to the hospital, I couldn't find the slightest will to care.

Quickly we skidded round the corner and jumped out into the road, alarming cars as the wheels of our boards skidded the moment we leaned to abruptly dodge from being hit.

My heart was racing fast, hammering against my ribcage with every push I took off the ground beneath me.

Soul stayed close behind me, the wind grabbing at his Neck Deep jumper, as if the world around us were prepared to strip him down, like it were in the hands of Liz.

I pushed my weight down on the tail of my board, quickly braking against the drenched concrete.

"Soul," I said as he braked beside me. "Why did you decide to come?"

He grabbed the tip of his board in his hand, letting drips of rain stream down the wood and the stain the ground beneath the both of us.

He sighed, "Liz…"

"What!" I snapped.

His eyes averted themselves away from me almost immediately. Like the spark of my rage was that of Medusa's, and had the ability to freeze him forever.

I breathed deeply. "What about Liz?"

~ Maka ~

"One…" I struggled to breathe.

The bandages around my wrists ached deeply, specs of water seeping into the wounds that I had stained against my fragile body.

I gripped the strands at the back of my neck. "Two…"

The park I walked through was deserted, despite its isolated location, I knew there were extra reasons for its neglect. And as I walked through it, I was happy to relate.

"Three." I smiled.

I walked towards the slanted tree in the corner of the field. The only thing within the entire park to seize hold of my attention.

I stammered, "three…"

My veins throbbed with every step I continued to take, like they urged so badly to be released in the grasp of the air around me. Like they wanted to be free.

So without thinking, I scratched at the fabric wrapped around my arms, feeling the threads snap beneath my uncut nails within seconds.

The rain forced the bandages harder to the mud covered ground. Watching as the blood stained fabric blended with the mimicking dirt, and created a sight that was too deadly even for me - to fathom.

I couldn't feel the tears, but I knew I was crying.

I placed my hand against the slanted tree. "Three."

As the rain brushed my wrists, I felt everything inside me scream. Everything inside me explode as my wounds were touched by the piercing cold rain.

My knees hit the ground. "Three…"

I was cold and afraid. And I felt dead and alive.

I sniffed as tears ran across my chin. "Three…"

~ Death the Kid ~

"I don't believe this!" I exclaimed, seizing attention from those who passed by.

"Calm down." Soul sighed, "she said she wasn't going to do anything."

I couldn't stop pacing back and fourth. "I don't think it takes a genius to figure out that Liz is not the one I'm worried about!"

My arms froze with rage at my sides, occasionally they jerked as I struggled to keep my hands from clenching into fists.

The rain dripped from Soul's clamped jaw. I wasn't stupid, I knew every single word that was going through his head in that moment. Every word that was directed towards me, for supposedly caring too much - about her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I snapped. "I swear to-!"

Sirens blared throughout the deserted street. A police car racing past the both of us, as we remained fixated on its sudden appearance. Watching it even when it disappeared at the end of the road.

But still - she was all I could think about.

I grabbed my board.

"Kid!" Soul exclaimed.

But as he lunged out to grab me, my foot was already pushing off the ground, as I jumped onto my skateboard.

~ Maka ~

I hated the fact that this was my reality. I despised the fact that no matter how many times I closed my eyes and held them tight, I was still sitting up against a slanted tree, and praying that I wasn't.

Rain was all I could hear. It was all I could see. And it was all I could feel.

My veins stung like they never had before. Acid burning in my blood, boiling my insides as if god wanted me to suffer and burn within myself.

I thought of him. His golden eyes, his soft and scruffy black hair. I thought about everything that made him who he was, and everything that made him who he wasn't.

His hands brushing against my face with every strand of hair he lightly placed behind my ear.

The way he smelt as he sat in that chair beside me.

And the way he watched me. The first ever person to watch me, as if they cared.