Hello! I hope anyone who is reading this currently is enjoying the story. I've got a lot of editing to do for the future chapters I have planned, but hopefully that doesn't take too long! If you like what you're reading please feel free to comment I always appreciate feedback :)

Keep it Sparkly!

xoxo

Sparkles


I sat in stoic silence in the library as people shuffled about trying to get research materials on subjects I've never heard of before. I don't know when I started crying, but now the tears would not stop falling. They dripped down and stained the cotton of my skirt. I know that the last bell has rung and I know I should be heading back to the dorms, but I just can't move. In that moment when I sliced through those two boys Ramla's soul awakened for the briefest of moments and I have never seen anything so…so…so…

"Helena?" a small voice called out to me. I was so startled I jumped from the chair, hit my head on the lamp above me, and fell on the floor. "Helena!"

"M-Maka?" I say unbelievingly. Soul, her weapon was right behind her as she crouched down next to me. I saw her other friends were not far behind her, except for Death the Kid. "Wh-what are y-you doing h-here?" I say fearfully. 'Did they want to beat me up because of that fight earlier?'

"We wanted to check on you. Holly and Namoki said they hadn't seen you since lunch," Maka says worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"N-no," I squeak and fresh tears begin to fall. "I-I'm so sc-scared!" I fling my arms around her neck and sob into her shoulder. Maka wraps her arms around me and pulls me closer while murmuring soothing words into my hair. Tsubaki, Liz, and Patty also join us on the ground as they quell my hysteria.

"Hey Ramla was really out of line with how she treated you," Maka comments. They didn't understand, I wasn't scared of Ramla I was scared for her.

"Come with us to The Gallows, we're having a little get together," Liz offers when my tears finally stop.

"I-I couldn't in-intrude," I mumble.

"Nonsense! It is just what we need! Now if I could only find my tech…" she mutters darkly. "Probably trying to straighten some kid's teeth." Maka pulls me up into a standing position before we exit the library. We walk out into the courtyard and see Death the Kid leaning against the entrance. "There you are Kiddo!" Liz tries to say angrily. "We thought we lost you."

"Sorry about that Liz, Patty," he smiles at his weapons. His smile did not touch his eyes though as he turned away and started heading down the stairs. "Let's go."


I kick open the door to the shitty apartment I managed to rent. "Oi! Ramla if ya gonna ruin shit make sure it belongs to ya!" my sassy roommate snaps.

"Can in Candace," I growl. I stomp over to the fridge and grab a water bottle. "Aren't you supposed to be at work anyways?"

"I'm waiting on Sissy right now as a matter of fact," she huffs at me.

"Don't you mean a John?" I cajole.

"Shut up," she hisses at me. When I don't make a retort she stomps into the kitchen and stops dead in her tracks. "Ya don't look to good," she examines. "What happened?" There was something to be said about Candace's perception abilities. The moment I ran into her on the streets last night she didn't give me a choice but to move in with her.

"I need a roommate and I just nominated ya!" this crazy woman with wild rainbow hair screams at me. She was smiling from ear to ear as she dragged me behind her. Men were whistling at us and asking for prices, but she didn't even turn her head. "Ya look like you needa place to hang for a while."

"Lady I don't even know you!" I snap as I try to claw at her hand.

"Nah, I can see it in ya eyes. Ya don't have anywhere ta go right now." At that I stopped fighting and let her drag me behind her.

"Nothin'," I lied.

"Liar," she snaps. Damn.

"Don't worry bout it Candi," I sigh before recycling the bottle.

"I'm gonna worry bout it all night now. Tell me what happened," she insists.

I look at her wearily before sighing and digging around in the cabinets. She stands at in the doorway with her hands on her hips. "You know you aren't wearing pants right?" She looks down briefly before shrugging.

"Nothin' ya haven't seen before. 'Sides I don't really need pants," she waggles her eyebrows at me suggestively.

"Gross," I gag.

"If ya don't tell me what's wrong I'm gonna have to beat it out of ya."

I snort, "I'd like to see you try."

"Ramla," she says frustrated.

"Just drop it Candi, please. I just had a bad day," I reply. A knock came at the door stopping her further questioning. She glares at me before moving to answer the door.

"I'll be right out!" Candi giggles completely changing personalities as she breezes by the kitchen to her room. There was another girl that walked past who had a scowl on her face.

"Hey Sissy," I mutter as I finally found something to eat.

"Ram," she says airily. Her voice is light and crisp which contrasted hilariously with her serious mannerisms.

"Sis, Ram-Ram had a bad day today!" Candi chirped from her bedroom. "But she won't tell me what happened!" she sounded so offended that I snorted.

"Would it happen to do with the news that some crazy meister has enrolled at the DWMA?" at the word 'crazy' I bristled. Candi walked back into the living room and stood next to Sissy, they both stared at me.

"I'm not crazy," I hiss.

"No you're not."

"Yeah! We like ya!" Candi laughs lightly. "But what happened Ramla?"

"I got carried away," is all I said before I shoved my sandwich in my mouth.

"We gotta go Candace," Sissy says before moving to the door. "I'm sorry you had a bad day Ram."

"Thanks Sis," I say drily. They both turn to leave, but Candi hesitates at the door. "What?" I snap.

"Ramla, I'm glad I met ya yesterday," she smiles at me. Before I can reply she walked out and shut the door behind her. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply before moving into my room to continue my research on that drug.


"Bye!" Patty screamed at everyone as they walked down the drive. Helena waved enthusiastically at her as she walked next to Tsubaki. "Kiddo I'm going to take a shower now!"

"Alright Patty," I reply with a smile. Liz follows her in while I stand on the porch for a moment longer. I was still mulling over the strange conversation I overheard between Stein-sensei and that Ramla girl.

"Bastard! How dare you speak of it! You weren't there! You—you weren't…there…just leave me alone…"

Her words rattled around my head giving me a headache. I rubbed at my temples as I enter the mansion and close the door firmly behind me. Patty and Liz took turns bathing and getting ready for bed while I cleaned up after our impromptu party. It was ten before I was satisfied with the house. Liz and Patty went to bed only a few minutes ago, but I needed to shower.

It was almost midnight when I was feeling clean enough to go to sleep. I brushed my hair and teeth and I fluffed up my pillows before lying down. "I can't sleep," I declared tiredly after fifteen minutes of tossing and turning. I got up and threw on my robe before padding barefoot out into the hallway. I quietly opened Liz and Patty's doors to see them sleeping soundly. Satisfied they were deeply breathing I tiptoed down into the front living room. I was going to read until I couldn't keep my eyes opened until I saw something surreal out the window.

"What is that?" I murmur softly before placing the book I pulled down back into its spot. I move to the window and pull the curtain back farther and am startled by what I see. "Ramla?!" I yell before I remember my sleeping weapons. I turn to make sure no one was stirred before I sprinted out the front door. I briefly saw a flash of her mass of curls turn the corner and I rush after her. I watch in stunned silence as she walks across the street without looking both ways and enters a park. "What is Death's name is she doing?" I mutter. "Ramla! Ramla—wait up!" I run after her.

I run around the park trying to find her, somehow she gave me the slip. "Damnit," I curse loudly. I circle again when I see something shining in the light of a lamp. "Ramla?" I question cautiously as I approach the bench. "Ramla what are you…doing…?" She was passed out on the bench with her arms and legs draped over the armrests. Her breathing was ragged and her face was drawn up tight in obvious distress. However, that is not what I was focused on. "Wh-wh-wh-wh-what is wrong with your limbs?!" I cry out in distress. I poke at her right leg and it twitches and she grunts. Her left arm started flailing and smacked me in the face.

"Stop it…Meoaisr…" she mumbled the last part of her statement. I was clutching at my nose cursing while she flipped over and grunted. "It's not….you—hamburgers in th…." She sighed in what sounded like annoyance. Her frown never eased away as her sleep talking continued. I shook her and even pulled a few curls on her head the most I got out of that was another smack to the face.

"Dammit!" I hiss as I grab her up in my arms and start walking back to The Gallows. She curled into my and even grabbed the collar of my robe, her head fell heavily on my shoulder as her breathing evened out.

"I've missed you so much," she whispers softly into my neck. Goosebumps formed in the wake of her breath. No mumbling, no slurs I heard her clear as day. She nuzzled her face into my neck and sighed contently. I gulped loudly as I tried to ignore how she cuddled closer into my body.

"Death, what happened to you?" I muse aloud as I walk up the drive. I saw that I left the door open in my haste and sighed in annoyance. I entered the mansion and kicked the door shut behind me, I tiptoe back up the stairs and walk down the hall to one of our spar bedrooms. I set Ramla down carefully and pull the covers up over her body. Her brow furors as I move away a small whimper escaped her lips. "Ramla?" I quietly whisper. Her facial features relax again as I bend closer to her.

"Please…" her breath tickled my face. "Please don't do this," tears start to fall down her face. I was at a loss for what to do, so I did the only thing I could think of I placed my hand on her hair and consoled her the best I could.

"You're safe now Ramla. You're safe here," I whisper before removing my hand and retreating back to the door. I heard her sigh one more time, this time it sounded contented. I shut the door quietly behind me.


I awoke with a start. I could feel the cold sweat trickling down my spine and between my legs. I felt disgusting and confused. 'Where the hell am I?' I gaze around the room trying to discern anything familiar, but come up blank. I push the covers back and investigate my body, 'stay calm. Stay calm and figure it out…Soul Perception!' I hone in on the souls floating around my immediate area. "What?" I say dumbfounded. "They're…sleeping? Is that Death the Kid?!" I feel my eye twitch in irritation. 'Where the hell am I?'

I quickly jump out of the bed and run to the door. When I found it to be unlocked I let go of a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. I threw it open and ran quietly down the hall until I found a staircase without a glance back I hurled myself down the stairs and straight out the front door. I didn't even stop to close the door behind me as I sprinted down the driveway and out into the streets of Death City. I ran all the way back to the underbelly and into my apartment. This place was so rundown the damn landlord doesn't have a lock on the front door.

I run up the three flights of stairs and crash through my door. "Fucking Candace!" She did not lock the door again. There was some man snoring on the floor of the living room with a whiskey bottle in his hand. Someone was shuffling around in the kitchen banging pots and pans, I take a quick look to see it's just Sissy. I don't even say hi to her as I just run right into my room and slam the door. I pad around my room in bare feet making sure everything is where it is supposed to be. "Thank god," I sigh in relief. All of my tests have not be disturbed so I fall into my bed with a grunt.

The next time I woke up it was burning bright outside. "Shit," I mutter as I roll over and almost fall out of bed. My left arm fell asleep and I missed pushing myself up on the side table and instead slammed my face into it. "Shit!" I curse loudly.

"Ram?" Candace calls out.

"Yeah? What is it Candi?" I snap as I nurse my bruised nose.

"Ya okay in there? It sounds like a herd of elephants in there," she yells back.

"Bah!" I grunt as I stand up and fix my shirt. As I am attempting to tame my hair Candi bursts into the room and stops suddenly.

"Oh," she says simply. "I see you've been up all night. Where did ya go?"

"What?"

"Where did ya go? I heard the door at like…" she scrunched up her face. "Like five am and we were all here by that time."

"Huh? Oh that, nothing don't worry about it," I insist as I hastily—desperately—try to make my hair manageable. "It's nothing."

"Uh-huh just like ya only had a bad day yesterday?" she quirks her eyebrow at me. I jut my hip out and give her the sassiest look I could. "I'm just lookin' out for ya sweetie. Ya make it easy to worry bout ya," she gives a pointed look to my science experiments. I roll my eyes at her before giving up on my hair.

"What are you doin' today?" I say, changing the subject.

"We gotta go shopping. Wanna come?"

"Who is we?" I ask hesitantly.

"Me, Sissy, and a few of the other gals," she responds.

"You gonna be okay?"

"God, Ramla ya act like someone is tryin' to kill me every time I walk out the front door."

"You never know," I murmur as I pull off my shirt and chuck it into the hamper. Candi wolf whistles at me and I throw a pillow at her. "Nah maybe next time. I was gonna get a job today."

"Oh, ya know ya don't have to do that," she says.

"I know but I feel like I need to pull my weight."

She looks at me funny before turning around, "alright if ya say so. See ya later!" She walks out into the living room and I hear people trotting around moving stuff. After ten minutes the front door shuts and I slump down onto the mattress. I stare at my beakers and flasks as they gleam in the sunshine before I heft myself up and walk into the bathroom.