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I spent hours, wasting valuable homework time reading through the demon section, the underworld section, I even skimmed through the witch section in my desperation but nothing, nada, siltch.

I didn't know why I was trying so hard. There was just something in Christian's eager face that made me want to find this for him. Especially after all the times he tried to cheer me up when I was down; I felt like I owed it to him to do something back.

My eyes were so blurry by the time I reread the page about roots to kill the evil in your soul that I nearly collapsed. My face was already an inch from the book and I was about a second away from falling asleep on it.

"Rose, it's only nine o clock, how are you sleepy?" Christian asked wide awake. I should have known Christian would be as fresh as a wipy. He was a night owl choosing to stay awake most of the night. I always thought he was an idiot for doing so but he did have a point. His parents couldn't catch him doing the riskier things when they were sleeping.

"Fine, I'm going home then." I stood up to leave when a sudden thought hit me. "Christian mind if I take the book with me."

"What?" His eyes widened in surprise. The look of shock was almost comical on his face. But I couldn't blame him, since when did I want to take home a book to read? I was shocked myself at my request but I guess sleepy me was a masochist if she would willingly give up sleep to read a book that just about fried her brain.

"You heard me, give me the book so I could find the missing piece."

"Fine." He said, his voice was a bit wary from my odd request but otherwise had no problem with it.

"Here." He passed me the book like if it was a precious baby and looked me straight in the eye. "If anything happens to her I am holding you accountable for it." He reprimanded. But the warning sort of lost its meaning when he referred to the book as her. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Her, what the hell is it a person now. What happened to the good old days when books were only objects? All of a sudden they're your new friend."

He shrugged. "Books are nicer than actual people. They don't talk shit about you like people do so why not make them you're friend."

I had to admit he did have a point there.

"Ok fine whatever you say, Christian. I'll see you tomorrow." I waved as I grabbed the oversized journal and made my way out of his room. I was almost out when something on his dresser caught my eye. There was about a million cloths stacked on top of it but if I craned my neck I was able to make out what it was.

It was a book that looked almost identical to the one I was holding but the title was different. The book on Christians dresser title was worn out; you could barely make out what it said. But I was sure the title said The Seer's Handbook.

I quietly tiptoed down the stairs. Christian followed. He was adamant that he should walk me all the way home because it was night. I quietly told him that it was fine but I was distracted enough with Christian that I didn't see the person at the bottom of the stairs until it was too late. I collided against a hard chest. Two arms reached out reflexively to steady me. Their hands felt rough against my skin; their fingers butchered with thousands of paper cuts.

I looked up into my perpetual saviors eyes and saw the same blue eyes that Christian had, the only difference was the message they were sending. His kind face was a stark contradiction to the fear bulging out of the rim of his eyes.

"Sorry." I rushed out. "I didn't mean too."

"It's ok Rose." He said. I didn't miss the fact that he turned his face away from me.

"I was just going." I nodded to the door but Christian decided that it was the perfect time to ask his dad to give me a ride home.

"Honestly you don't need to bother yourself. I only live four blocks away." I rubbed the back of my neck reflexively.

"Its fine Rose, I could give you a ride." Mr. Ozera said slowly, almost unsurely.

"See Rose, my dad could take you home, and I'll come with you guys. Besides, you being alone at night is like an open invitation for rapists. "

Christian left me no chance to protest, he pushed me along to the garage and made me go into his father's minivan with him. I climbed into the back seat, Christian took shot gun, and buckled myself in. The car smelled like the strawberry car freshener that was placed next to the radio. The smell always made me dizzy. I cracked the window open to let in some air—and to get the god awful car freshener scent out before I barfed.

The ride home was quite but not uncomfortable. My head drooped comfortably against my seat, nearly falling asleep until Christian tapped me in the shoulder. I looked up annoyed, and noticed that we were outside my house.

I quickly jumped out and thanked Christian and his dad before going in.

When I went in the house it was dark. The only light came from my sister's room; her lights shined from underneath her bedroom door. My parents were predictably asleep already; they always slept at promptly nine o clock.

I went to my room in a hurry. I was exhausted to say the least and my eyes literally gave up halfway up the stairs. I felt my way to my room. My fingers brushed along the prickly walls. The chipped paint came off easily when my nails scratched against it, and I felt it. There was heat blowing on my face making it water down my neck and pour into my chest. Dust made its way down my throat clogging it, my lungs filled up with dirt. I managed to crack open an eye and that's when I saw it, him, the shadowed man. He was in my house, come to get me at last.

I wanted to scream for my mom, my dad, hell I'd even scream for Mia but my mouth was pressed against something.

I struggled to sit up right, I was sprawled on my stomach, my mouth pressed against the cement floor I was nearly licking the dirt off it. I tried to keep my eyes on the shadow. He was with Natalie again but she was already dead. Her eyes were glassy and lifeless. You could see right through them. Her pale green eyes were no longer vibrant, and the cream color of her skin was already paling.

I watched in disgust as he placed his hands in her blood and proceeded to smear it on the floor. It was almost like he was finger painting. My nostrils flared, I had to do something.

I couldn't move, couldn't speak. The only thing I was capable of was blinking. Maybe he shot me with a tranquilizer, that would explain why I was so numb.

I managed to peak at the drawing and saw an intriket crest with two spades going through it. And above it there was something like a word, if only I could move my head a little I'd be able to see it.

I managed to move my hands a little, though it still caused me to go out of breath from the exertion, my hand accidentaly touched one of the candles and I recoiled in pain when my fingertips brushed along the fire. The movement caused a candle to be knocked over.

It was like in slow motion I saw it tumble slowly to the floor, and then, impossibly so, the small thud it made on the floor caused the shadow to freeze. I felt fear pump in every one of my veins as I saw him slowly turn around and just when I was about to see his face a loud noise blasted close to my ear.

It was screeching, horrible, a sound straight from hell. I turned towards the noise and opened my eyes to see my alarm clock ringing the ungodly sound.

I sat up quickly rumpling my sheets and hit the alarm clock with my fist to shut it up.

I couldn't take this; I didn't know what was reality and what was dream anymore. I thought for sure I was there, I didn't even remember falling asleep.

Did I even go to Christian's house yesterday? I looked around my room for something to prove that what happened yesterday actually happened. That it wasn't some dream when my eyes landed on it.

The book, it was right there placed on top of my desk. I knew I had to get ready for school but when I untangled myself from the covers I didn't go to my closet like I was supposed to. I went to my desk—don't ask me why because I don't even know—and opened up the book again.

I didn't know what I was looking for; I had practically memorized the whole entire book, but there was something there that didn't feel right to me. I flipped through the book like a possessed woman and saw the page I was looking for.

In my exhaustion last night I had barely registered it but now my fingers were itching to find it. You would never know the difference if you were passing through the book, hell I didn't even see anything wrong till about the hundredth time of going through it but there it was.

It was the last page of the demon section right before the witch craft section but something seemed wrong about it like it was unfinished.

I scanned through the last paragraph again reading the words I knew so well.

They are an evil so tightly bound only mortal blood could sustain it in its depth. It lurks in the fiery pits of the other world doomed to live eternity enslaved to their heathen lord. But their shadow rises and brings them forth to our world where they too will enslave our souls.

It was the shadow part that got me. It was the first time they ever mentioned anything about a shadow but they didn't explain it any further. I nearly scratched my brains out in frustration until I noticed it. There was a tiny microscopic fold in the corner of the page. It was nearly invisible. There was a corner of another page sticking out, one that was underneath.

I tried to fold back the page more and noticed that it was stuck. The two pages were stuck; there was another page underneath.

I couldn't believe it; how could I miss that? I opened up my desk drawers and looked for something to pry open the pages without ripping them. I ended up finding my bitten and chewed on lucky pencil from elementary and figured that would do.

I slid it under the fold and popped it up like a cork. I was kind of surprised at how easy it came up; it didn't even pitch me a fight.

I smoothed out the page and read it in a hurry—my clock was still ticking and although I wished it would stand still for a moment it wouldn't budge. I didn't know why I was so excited to read it; I just knew that I had too, I felt it. But that initial excitement faded quickly when I got to the last paragraph.

I couldn't believe it; I didn't want to believe it. Whatever the reason, fate was laughing at me now because this couldn't be right.

This had to be some freaky coincidence. I needed to talk to Christian, now.

I was a bigger mess than usual; my hair was an untamable dark beast and the bags under my eyes were deep purple making it seem like I hadn't slept at all which was odd considering I had more than eight hours of sleep.

I waited for Christian beside the big red wall that held us in prison. I had called him right at seven with the news. Remembering it now he didn't seem like he got much of what I was saying. He was still about ninety percent asleep.

I had grabbed my silver cell and went to the only person on my contact list that wasn't my mom or Mia. Pretty pathetic to have only three people on your contact list but it always made it easier to find the number.

"What?" Christian mumbled into the phone when he answered. He sounded like he was still dreaming which was odd considering we had to be in school in like half an hour.

"Christian it's me Rose I have to tell you about—"

"Of course it's you."Christian interrupted; his voice still rough from sleep. "Who else calls me but you?"

"Yeah, I know but now is not the time; I have to show you something about the book. I think I found it."

"Really," Christian said. His voice was wide awake now.

"Meet me in the side of the school. Please get there before the bell rings I don't want to be late."

"You got it." His voice held the excitement I knew he was feeling.

I just hope that Christian honors his agreement and gets here before school starts. There's nothing more awkward than arriving to class late. Everyone's eyes are always on you when you enter late.

I paced back and forth impatiently looking up every once in a while hoping to see Christian's messy black hair. I almost gave up and left six minutes later until I saw Christian running towards me.

"What was it?" Christian asked breathless. He leaned against the wall to catch his breath; his face was flushed red with the exertion.

"Look." I opened the book and pointed to the page. His eyes scanned the words before looking up at me.

"Do you know what this means Rose?" His eyes were full of wonder and something else, recognition?

"Well it's how to open a portal right?"

"Exactly." He grinned showing his creamy white teeth.

"Yes but it's not like we could ever open one. Did you see what you would have to do? Its barbaric, a ritual straight out of hell."

"Exactly, a ritual to open hell would have to be hellish itself." He shrugged like if it was no big deal.

"But its murder."

"It's a sacrifice." He argued. "Totally different than murder."

"Christian you're not planning to do it, are you?" I asked warily.

It took him a while to answer but when he did I wasn't too convinced.

"No." He answered, but his eyes held a longing that scared me.

"Can I have the book back?" He asked impatiently. I already knew everything in that book. I didn't need it anymore so I gave it to him.

He left shortly after and I used the short walk to class to ponder over what I had read. What Christian didn't know was that I've seen it before. The scripture read:

Shadows use the ancient rituals of the heathens to unleash their masters. They must light there path on a darkened night. The blood of a virgin will be spilled in the heat and her blood will open the gates to the evil underneath.

It was too similar to my dream; my skin crawled with fresh jitters as I recalled the shadow.

I made it to class in a daze. I was too lost in my thoughts I didn't notice the empty chair next to me till I heard Mason's voice behind me.

Mason, my desk partner, was sitting in Dimitri's empty chair talking to Eddie. I found it strange that he wasn't sitting in his usual spot. Mason had sat next to me for half a year, and never had he and Eddie talked to each other.

I looked around the room and noticed what all the other girls were thinking. Where would Dimitri sit? It didn't seem like Mason was going to move, he had strapped his back pack to the back of the chair and his materials were spilled on Dimitri's desk.

I knew what was going to happen; they were going to try to sit next to him. My sister—apparently the leader in the plan—made it so that all the seats were taken except for the one next to her. I could see the disappointment in the rest of the girl's eyes but she was the queen bee in this hive.

The minutes ticked by, I heard the impatient taps of girl's fingernails on the table, the grinding of a chair against the tile floor. Finally when the tardy bell rang everything stopped. It became clear that Dimitri was not coming; I could hear the girl's collective groans.

I on the other hand couldn't care less. My head was already too confused with shadows and portals I didn't have time to be deciphering his weird stares.

I took out my notebook and began to doodle in hopes that it would distract me. All I managed to draw was a book before the air around me stilled.

Dimitri entered class late and handed our teacher a late slip. Mr. Nagy was still taking out his multiple lesson plans from his man bag when he took the slip and I had a strange suspicion that he mixed it in between his many manila folders that held our lectures.

Dimitri turned to go to his seat. I could practically hear Mia bounce on her seat with each step he took. And then the most amazing thing happened. Dimitri who's face was always stern it looked like it was permanently molded that way, smiled. His cheeks lifted and the slight dimple in his chin became more prominent.

When he smiled the female student body seemed to share an intake of breath. I didn't know what the big deal was. Sure his smile was like melting butter, big deal. He was probably smiling at Mia, anyways. It was every guy's dream to sit next to her and Dimitri didn't even have to try.

I looked up into Dimitri's smiling face and felt my face burn red. That was when I noticed he wasn't smiling at just anyone, he was smiling at me. He reached my table quickly, his strides long and powerful before he sat down in the empty chair next to mine.

My heart gave a nervous flip and I could feel the daggers the rest of the girls were shooting me. Nobody thought to take my seat probably confident on the fact that Dimitri wouldn't sit there. Especially when the seat next to Mia was open.

My cheeks flooded with color and all I could do was sit there like an idiot and stare straight ahead. I felt him lean sideways and if seeing him smile was a shock what he did next electrocuted me.

He spoke, his voice was like melting chocolate and it made me quiver all over.

"A reason why your blushing Rose." He asked. His face was back to being serious but his voice held a slight playfulness to it.

I was too shocked by his voice to come up with anything smart to say. Instead I said something stupid.

"You talk?" Idiot of course he talks, what the hell kind of question is that.

"Rose." He tsked. "You know better than that." It was unsettling how he said my name, like we were old friends.

"Apparently I don't." I bit back. "Besides how would you know?" I watched his eyes rake me before he leaned in closer and signaled with his finger so I could do the same. I didn't know if I should obey but my body seemed to have a mind of its own because it quickly did as it was told.

"Rose." His cool minty breath washed over me like a waterfall. "What better way is there to pass the time in this dump than to observe someone." He winked. I couldn't believe he was openly admitting to watching me—or that he could make something that was supposed to be creepy sexy.

"You observe me?" I should have been freaking out instead I felt my lips curve up into an involuntary smile. Well that is until I heard his next words.

"Don't be so egotistical, I never said I observed you." He licked his full lips before meeting my eyes. "I of course was observing your sister Mia." He stated nonchalantly. As if he didn't just rip out my last shred of dignity.

Of course it had to be Mia, when isn't it her. I held my head high and pretended like it didn't affect me—I already had lots of practice in this area.

He surprised me when he laughed, and it wasn't even a quiet one, it was one that echoed throughout the classroom and interrupted the teachers lecture. Everyone, including me, looked at Dimitri in shock.

"Mr. Belikov, do you have something to contribute to this lesson." Mr. Nagy asked. He too looked baffled at Dimitri's outburst but recovered faster than the students.

"No Mr. Nagy." Dimitri responded once his laughing had subsided.

"Then do you think my class is funny. Do you not know that once in here you are to remain silent?" Mr. Nagy stated.

"Yes sir." Dimitri said unaffected. "It was just that Rose here is quite a comedian, isn't that right Rose." He slugged an arm around my shoulders and gripped me tightly. The room went scary silent; I felt hard stares puncture holes on the hand around my shoulder. The tension was so thick I could almost smell it. I wanted to shake Dimitri's arm off but he gripped my shoulder with a vice, not allowing me to move.

Mr. Nagy went back to preparing for the lecture, but I couldn't care less. I was too concentrated on the arm around my shoulder.

My heart beat faster and I almost died when he finally let go. I felt the glares on my back more intensely. I just wanted to crawl in a hole and die. But there was one more thing I had to do before I died, because if the hole didn't get me the army of angry girls surely would.

"So I'm a comedian now." I smirked.

"Of course," he glowered. "How could you think I was interested in Mia?" He asked; his face had an expression of disgust.

"Because you said so," I said it more like a question suddenly unsure.

"No; I said what you believed was true." He inquired. He gave me a lopsided grin and turned back towards the board. "Besides I have more interesting people to observe than your sister." He gazed back down at me and this time I knew exactly who he was talking about. Me.

"So I was right."

"Don't get cocky Rose, both you and I knew you were right." His eyes were intense but something in them softened. "You should stop being so unsure of yourself, your so much more than what everyone else thinks." He whispered.

I felt something warm and wonderful spread throughout my body, like a spark was ignited with his words.

We spent the rest of the class in silence, the hectic assignments kept us busy but there were times that I swore I could feel his eyes observing me as I worked.

The piercing sound of the bell jolted me out of my oblivion. Dimitri sped out of the classroom in his usual routine as soon as the bell rang without even telling me goodbye or showing any signs of having talked to me. He was back to being stone faced Dimitri

I was actually starting to doubt my sanity; had I even talked to Dimitri or did I imagine everything.

I watched him walk away, even with his tall frame he was graceful; his long strides were intimidating and taken with a purpose. He disappeared outside of the classroom.

"Rose." Someone yelled in my ear. In my Dimitri haze it took me a while to realize it was Mia. "What were you doing?" She whispered urgently.

"Nothing." I hissed.

"It didn't seem like nothing; you were talking to Dimitri." She grabbed my arm and pulled me closer. "What did he say? Did he ask about me?" She whispered urgently.

"Well—"

"Wait, why did he put his arm around you?" She asked incredulously; as if barely now remembering.

I honestly didn't have an answer for that.

"Rose." She sounded upset now. "Dimitri mentioned me, right?"

"Yes." Technically, he did mention her.

"Good." She said relieved. "You see, I should have seen that he wasn't going to sit with me, not when he's shy around me. I'm a very intimidating person you know."

I stood up and gathered my stuff while Mia yapped about how anyone would be intimidated by her beauty.

I always wanted Mia to come talk to me, so that way it would show that she was my sister first and a social light second but now I think fate was mocking me because I wanted nothing more than to be left alone.

I hauled ass out of there as soon as I was free from Mia's clutches. I was just glad that she didn't ask any details.

High School was hurriedly becoming interesting, maybe I wasn't so much of a freak after all.