Shelly Cullen owns the plot and chapters 1 through 10 I am continuing. So the story will not end.

Shugo Chara

Hell's Lingering Kiss

ShellyCullen: Back on track. Sorry for the too long update. We had English grammar quizzes. -_-

Oh, and Amu is supposed to appear a little…weird, if you know what I mean.

Aio: ShellyCullen don't own shit. Now, read!

Shelly: Eh…hehe…Yeah, uh. Chapter three.

Chapter Three:

Worry

Dear God, You know how easily I fall into worrying. Teach me to catch my worries before they run away with me – and then give them to You. If my life is in Your hands, then I have nothing to fear. Amen.

It was raining today, and this really pleased me.

It's not that I loved the feeling of soaking socks in my school sneakers. Or the cold shivers it sent down my back. No, I didn't fancy the weather at all; it was more of a point. Nothing like the rain to wash away your troubles and worries.

I arrived home; hearing heavy droplets hit the roof. My whole body was filled with water, the extra weight dragging onto my skin. My body temperature felt like something below freezing and I tried to keep the goose bumps from rising.

I quickly shook the wet, sticking strands of pink hair away from my cheeks and grabbed a towel from the closet, shaking my hair out and placing it rolled up in the fabric. I descended back down the staircase, to notice a difference in the house.

The house was dark; the only light appearing from the already too dark sky and it was quiet. No one appeared to be at home.

The first thing to process in my mind was fear. An overwhelming emotion that had me feeling weak and breathless. Something was making me feel insecure. Wanting more than anything to hide out in my bed. I shook my head, covering my face with a cold hand.

I was being paranoid, I'm sure. But I couldn't help to take a few precautions.

I walked up to the front door and clicked the lock. Then I headed over to the living room, placing my hands on the couches back and glaring out the window.

With the smearing rain covering the transparent glass, it was almost impossible to see anything. All that revealed were gloomy colors of uneven green grass and a familiar gray road. The window suddenly fogged up as I realized my breathing had accelerated.

I wiped up the condensation and drew the blue curtains over. Then I turned on the lights all over the house, feeling a bit more calm as each glowed and lit up the darkness.

Breathless now, I entered the kitchen when my knees gave out and I sat, curled up into a ball, on the tiled floor. My body trembled, still stuck in the same dripping wet clothes as earlier. My body wouldn't listen to reason as I sat, frozen in some kind of phase.

I feel so alone now…and I think no amount of help will deal with it.

My eyes started to blaze over with frozen tears.

Get up.

A strained voice commanded from the air. This voice was unfamiliar to me. It occurred that somewhere around here, someone was talking to me. Either that or I had gone crazy.

You have to get up. You have to go…..

The voice trailed off, lower than a whisper. It seemed to flow into the thick air, pushing me so I stood. I hugged my shoulders, before losing my balance slightly and grabbing onto the counter's edge.

I let out a weak sigh and leaned over the sink, closing my eyes. The lids were thick with heat and made my head throb in pain. The sopping wet clothes still too cold and heavy weighted.

Something was happening to me. And I didn't like it.

The door swung open and mom appeared in a yellow rain coat and black umbrella. She didn't notice me at first, looking around the house.

"Why are all the lights on?" She muttered to herself. Her eyes finally fell on me before she gasped. "A-Amu? What's wrong?" Her voice reeked with concern as she ran over to me. She examined my face carefully. "Your lips are blue. What happened, Amu?"

I shook my head, walking pass mom and heading up the staircase. Mom followed close, before I talked her into believing I was fine. I came into my room, forgetting the salt smelling and damp uniform I wore and sank onto the bed.

I laid there for a while, considering the idea of skipping school tomorrow. Though I knew that was impossible. I had already taken too much time off after the incident.

I sat back up and shrugged out of my regular raven colored blazer, lightly pulling the clothes off. It was harder than usual, seeming to have that sticky appeal again.

I tore off my punk belt next, dropping it onto the wood paneled floors and removing the leg warmers that clung to the lightest hair on my skin. I left the high knee socks on, too lazy to even bother.

I fell back on the light pink bed I had, knowing I'd need new, clean blankets to use to go asleep. I tried to consider what exactly happened down in the kitchen. What that helpless, terrified emotion that fell over me was caused by.

The feeling was horrible. It made me feel like everything was hopeless. Like life wasn't worth living. Everything had collapsed on me at once and I couldn't bare any of it.

What was wrong with me?

I shifted and laid on my left side, staring at my bedside table. On it was a blue leash.

The dog!

My eyes widened and I stood, searching for my canine friend. But there was no trace of the animal anywhere in my room. The balcony doors were closed as they should be and my door was locked up all day.

I began to get flustered, worried for the dog. What if something happened to it and I just found it dead outside or something?

I shook my head. Positives, Amu. Positives. Though my light mood was never here to begin with.

I checked the bathroom, yet again to see a quick movement on the ground. I sighed relieved, before staring at the thing fooling.

It wasn't the light coat of the golden dog. Instead, in its place was something smaller.

A tiny, thin black cat curled up on the bathroom rug under the sink. Its fur was blazingly shiny, striking in its appearance, though the texture was thick and the strands were flipped in different directions. The tail curved up to its also black nose as the cat slept soundly.

I stared at it for a moment, watching its body go up and down before a fragrance like no other wafted my nostrils. I closed my eyes and inhaled, trying to identify the scent. Something like mint, perhaps or maybe pine. I took another sniff when I noticed the cat stretching.

Sitting on my knees, I gazed at the kitty. It began licking its paw with care, still not even taking me into perspective. I continued to look, waiting for the feline to acknowledge my presence.

Instead, the cat finished its bath short and curled back up into its previous position. I sighed, slightly disappointed.

I quickly smacked my forehead. What was I thinking? I wanted a cat to notice me? I really had lost it.

I sighed again and filled up the old dog dish with water and placed it on the floor of my bathroom. Then I silently closed the door of the room and turned back to bed.

::~0~::

The land was hot, making me pant at the overbearing heat. My breaths came out slowly, prolonged into letting fresh, cool oxygen enter my lungs. Of course it didn't happen though. It was just my blind hope.

I wiped the sweat of my forehead, wetting my dry and cracked lips yet again and felt the gravel under me heat. Where was I? And what was I doing here?

"Hey." A voice, almost as if called by some strange, old memory, spoke.

I felt a pair of fingers lightly touch my cheek. But this didn't make me jolt up in surprise. I grabbed the hand because of the coolness of it. The exaggerated cool didn't seem possible in a place like this.

I began taking the back of the hand and placing it on top my forehead, as if being blessed. Then letting the palm cup my cheeks and send shivers down my spine. I rubbed the freezing temperature onto my neck and shoulders; letting it linger down to my chest, and feeling something else touch just where my heart was.

The face bent down and cold lips pressed right on my overbearing chest. I sighed, pleased. The coldness was refreshing and even if it were a stranger touching me…I couldn't get rid of the new emotions of pleasure coursing through me. I closed my eyes again and laid back.

Beep Beep Beep Beep

"Ahhh!" I yelled, sitting straight up. My head quickly shook to every corner of my surroundings, my heart beat raising to fast for me to hear anything besides a hollow ring.

I let my hands touch my face, wet with moisture. Was it tears?

No, I couldn't remember being scared or hurt in the dream last night. In fact, I felt a great release. I pulled the blanket off me and walked to the bathroom, finding that my head was drenched in sweat from my hairline to the base of my throat. I quickly washed and rinsed with water, before trying to make sense of it all.

Was it some desire I had stirred up inside me? Had I been neglecting myself in the suffering of that tragic accident not to long ago? Why was everything different?

A new coat of sweat came to my head as my cheeks burned bright red in the reflection. The dreamland itself was embarrassing enough without such…disturbing things racking my brain.

I sighed, and looked around the room, feeling my lips form a thin line.

Just like my bizarre fantasy, the cat had just faded away into the air itself.

::~0~::

"You're on time, Hinamori."

I looked up at sensei, who appeared to be reviewing today's lesson. She looked at me through her oval glasses.

"I…guess so." I stated, heading over to my desk. It was only until I set my bag down that I noticed the classroom only had a few other girls in it. I glanced at the clock, surprised I wasn't just on time today, but I was in fact early.

This was a first.

I stared down at my notebook before becoming frightfully embarrassed again. It was only a dream…I told myself.

Yeah, a very graphic dream. My mind countered.

When class finally started, I had a hard time concentrating on anything. Just looking somewhat attentive had its drawbacks. Ms. Oshinge didn't seem to notice though, to busy reading off lyrics and showing us a quick film. By the end of class, I got up stiffly.

The familiar golden locks passed my view as I saw Mashiro staring at me intensively. She stood just two feet away and watched as I stared at her bewildered.

Her mouth opened to speak.

"Hinamori? Mashiro? Get to class." Sensei called.

"Hai." I answered, annoyed for her rude interruption. I suddenly wondered what Mashiro's voice sounded like and, if anything, what she was going to say.

::~0~::

Lunch was normal. Eating alone in utter silence. The rest of the day dragged on and, of course my thoughts kept drifting to…well, the thing.

I was thankful that school had ended, but also a bit sad. Now I had absolutely nothing to distract myself with and the walk home came with unwelcome company. My very thoughts.

I got home, taking off my sneakers in the usual place and heading to my room. I was desperate for something, anything to take my mind off that so-called "fantasy". I grabbed my ipod and, blasting the music up listened to a rock band play.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the blasting drum and bass, along with the singers boasting words. The song reminded me a bit of Kukai and I was surprised, yet again, by how much I missed talking to him. Talking to any friend, for that matter.

After listening to pointless other things that had been installed into the device a while ago, I headed to the bathroom, in need of a bath. I shut the door and started the water.

But, turning, I peeked down to see that stray, black cat sleeping on the fuzzy rug, as if it had never even moved in the first place.

ShellyCullen: I hope you all liked chapter three. I'm trying to keep this story in line, making sure its not going too fast or too slow. I'm hoping everything seems in order to you.

Shelly: Sorry again for unanswered questions. Keep reading and you might just figure it out. ^-^

Also, I hope the approach seems alright. Tell me if something seems too long or short. I'm always trying to improve on my skills.

And weirdest thing someone's every told me? Hmm…..

"Miss, please put your shirt back on."

Amu: …

Ikuto: No comment there.

Shelly: I had a shirt on! The teacher must be frickin blind. Um, anyway, reviews please! ;3

Shelly