• As if there was a reason it came down to this.

    "i didn't do it..." She cried, looking at the cold body. "I'm no killer like you all... I am human!"
    Jareth grabbed her arms. "You are a killer, Alice."
    "You are one of us." Karen urged on.
    "You are a killing machine."
    A man with a dark face came to me, his long raven hair trailing behind him as he held a gun up.
    "Jareth!"
    I looked about my room, the pink walls glinting in the silver moonlight. It was just another bad dream.

    "Hey Karen." I waved. "Have you seen Jareth?"
    "he's with Hadien." karen smiled back as she caught up with me. "Rerember Haiden from his neighborhood in 5th grade? She moved back. The two are best friends again."
    "It's nearky been a decade!" I counted in my head.
    "Nine years," Karen smiled back. "We're seniors now, Alice."
    I nodded, mouthing 'i know'. As we talked, I looked around. The aroma of the area was so unfamiliar, but I've been to this mall a million times.
    There he was.
    Standing by an ATM, he slipped his phone in his pocket and sighed, looking around. When he saw me looking at him, he turned away.
    "What are you looking at?" Karen tried to follow my eyes.
    "Sir," I murmured when we got close to him. "are you lost? Because-"
    "I'm waiting for someone that bailed on me now." He laughed. "Oh, how rude of me not to introduce myself." he held out his hand. "Naoki Kobayashi. Call me Nao, like 'now'." He smiled. "but spelled funny."
    "Karen DiCamio." karen held out a hand.
    "Alice O'Ryans." I nodded, shaking Nao's hand. he had beautiful icy eyes and a warm smile, his hair was long and deep, thick and black. It was the most beautiful hair I have ever seen.
    "Are you just going to leave?" Karen asked after a few minutes. "You can hang with us."
    Nao shrugged. "Okay."

    Nao walked in an opposing direction. "I'll be right back, okay?" He called.
    "All right!" I called back as Karen pointed down.
    "We'll be here!" She retorted.
    "he's cute." I smiled as we sat on the bench. "I like him."
    "We should invite him over." Karen cheered. I'm gonna sleep with him."
    "Karen!" I called.
    "What? is it because he's asain? Would you rather me sleep with someone who has a bigger--"
    "Karen, seriously!" I hissed. "We just met him."
    "He's a fine boy." Karen retorted flatly. "I like him alot."
    I narrowed my eyes to her.
    "You have to loose your virginity some time, little Alice. And I think he likes you."
    But he was the same guy from my dream. "Well, I-"
    "Hey there," Nao popped up. "what we're you talking about?"
    "Nothing." I smiled. "Our friend Jareth."
    "Jareth?" Nao looked confused. "Is that a name?"
    "As much as naoki is in america, you Jap-o." Karen laughed.
    "Rasict!" Nao said back with a smile. "Yeah, I'm like 80% Japanese. I don't quite know what the other 20% is. I don't know much of my family history."
    "Why is that?" I asked back.
    "My family died when I was young in a house fire. My two sisters, brother, mom, dad and grandparents all went up with the flames. I wasn't home, I was at a health center. As a young child, I was very unhealthy, just because of the way I was born. I was around 4 then. I was adopted soon and moved out of Osaka, my hometown in japan, and all that." Nao shrugged. "But once that happens, you learn to get over it."
    "Have you ever dated?" Karen bursted.
    "Karen!" I hissed again. "Uhh, sorry about her, how old are you?"
    Nao laughed. "i'm 18. My family just wont let me have my own car. Eventually I'll move out."
    "Karen and I are both 17." I smiled wide.
    "You look older," Nao looked at me in the eyes deeply. Just then, my phone rang.
    "Oh, one sec." I pulled it from my pocket. "It's Jareth. Hello?"
    "Hey..." he breathed deeply through the phone. "I need you to get back here. Where are you?"
    "Where are you Jareth? You should be with us!"
    "Their after you, and you two need to be protected Alice."
    "Jareth, what's going on?" I called.
    "Is everything okay?" Nao asked.
    "Jareth, where are you?" I ignored Nao for the moment.
    "In my house,"
    "I'll be there, I promise." I said.
    "No, don't--" And the line was cut.
    "What happened? Nao looked concerned. "Is he okay?"
    "let's hope," I looked ahead. "We have to get to his house. I think he's in trouble."