Angel, Demon or Pure Evil (An RP Story)

You've just been hanging out with your friends for practically half the day, and it's about time you got home. You wave goodbye to them and head home on foot. 'I'm glad that Jenna dragged me out the house,' you think.

As you walk, you hear something rustle in the distance. Curious, you look in the direction from whence it came. You see nothing, so you figure it must've been your imagination. You continue on your way until you see you an alley. A huge poster is stuck to its wall. It reads: "SHORTCUT TO YOUR HOUSE. Not a trick!" You think, 'Hmm.. i dunno.. it looks a little creepy.. but then again, if it says so...'

Well, the suspense just drives you wild and you end up walking down the alley. A huge gust of wind howls behind you and it practically lifts the t-shirt and jeans you're wearing.

You look back, but nothings there. 'Weird...' you think, so you shrug it off and continue on your way when suddenly a hand claps over your mouth and the other grasps your waist. You panic and black out shortly. You awake later to find that you've been locked in a large and drop-dead gorgeous room! It's a pretty much a normal room, only grander. It reminds you of yours, kind of, but it does have a nice charm to it!

You get up out of bed and realize you're not wearing the same clothes anymore. You completely freak and think, 'WHO THE HECK CHANGED ME!?' You instantly spot a gorgeous dress laying on the bed (whatever color you want) and you decide to try it on. After you finish dressing, you look like you just walked out of the 17th century. Then that eerie gust of wind picks up again. Nervous, you turn around, still nothing, and you look forward again. You see a man, he has tall spiky hair, a deep black, and his eyes are blood red. You also happen to notice his pointy ears and fangs as he says, "Yo." You mutter, "Umm...hello...?" before you blush and look down.

He smirks, and places his hand around your waist, and gently walks you out the door. You recognize the feeling of his strong grip, and realize he's the guy that kidnapped you! And yet you do nothing. You allow him to walk you to wherever he's leading you--you're too nervous to move.

You eventually reach a room a little homey, so you start to relax. You notice another handsome man sleeping on the floor. He has HUGE dog-like ears and a shaggy tail. He's snoring very loudly and kicking in his sleep. You think, 'Fascinating...I like the ears!'

The man kicks him really hard in the knees and the dog-guy howls very loud. Your kidnapper begins to speak. He says, "Get up you mutt!" And the demon begins to growl, "Shut your face, Haiiro!" 'His name is Haiiro?' you think. 'How weird...'

The dog-guy notices you and glares at you for awhile. You glare back at him, giving him an attitude. Haiiro asks the dog-guy, "What do you think?" with a smirk on his face. He stares you down for awhile then smiles. He says, "She's alright." You blush and say "...Um...th-thank you..."

You end up making both of them smile at you. They both begin to lean in, and they say "I like you" at the same time. annoyed, they begin to argue with each other. While they aren't paying attention to you, you just stand there, too confused to move.

Well,finally you decide you're not gonna stick around. You slowly step away, and see the exit downstairs. Overjoyed, you rush down to the exit, you're home free! Before you can leave, you notice a trail of feathers leading to a door. You feel as if you want to follow it, thinking it may lead you to some place very exciting.

Once again, the suspense overtakes you and you end up following it anyway. It leads you all the way back upstairs, and you walk past Haiiro and the dog-guy, they're still fighting. You finally reach the door, you feel a little nervous and yet very anxious to turn the knob. But you do it anyway, ignoring your racing emotions. You twist the doorknob and open the door slowly. Like almost every door in a huge house, it goes Crreeeeeaaaakkk...You finally can see the entire room. It's very dark, because thick curtains are blocking the sunlight. You do happen to see a bright light though, and it's coming from your right. You're drawn to the light, surprisingly you find that it's coming from a man. He has long white hair, yet it's tied up in a pony-tail. His eyebrows are completely black, and he has two white stripes on his cheeks. He also appears to be sleeping. You are thinking 'Is he...ya know...dead?'

As you continue to look at him, you seem to be somewhat entranced and can't move away. He slowly opens his eyes and you observe that they are grey (the cool kind ;P). Suddenly two giant white wings sprout from his back as he yawns. After he's done stretching and yawning, he notices you. You're thinking, 'OH MY GOD! Ah! I didn't mean to say God's name in vain! Oh my God! Oh my God! Ah! I'm sorry, so sorry!!'

Shocked to see you, he ends up sending his wings back in his body. He's looking at you like he can explain without you freaking out... but you can't help but be scared. 'OK, I'm definitely getting outta here!' you think, and you begin to dart out of the room, but run into Haiiro (literally!) and you fall to the ground. He holds out his hand to you. You hesitate to take it, and thank him for it as soon as you stand up.

The white-haired man approaches you and Haiiro and says, "Haiiro, you are not thinking of doing something sinful like last time, are you?" His tone is very concerned and he has a very dreamy voice. Then again, so does Haiiro and dog-boy. You think, 'What does he mean "something sinful"?!' Haiiro roles his crimson eyes and replies, "Gawd, Ih'kuaren. What are you? My mother?" So the white-haired angel guy is named Ih'kuaren. Dog-boy instantly rushes over to you. Haiiro is a little annoyed and speaks again, "Sit, Kirune-ra!" Now you've learned all their names, you say, "So your names are Haiiro, Ih'kuaren, and Kirune-ra? I'm Kiara. Sorry I didn't tell you!"

You get all three of them to smile again. Kirune-ra grabs your hand and says, "I love you! Marry me!" You react by blushing, but Haiiro stops it by grabbing Kirune-ra's tail and throw him out the door. Haiiro locks the door, and Kirune-ra begins banging on it. Ihkuaren is a little confused. Haiiro then turns to you and squints at the angel as if warning him. He wraps his arms around your waist again, only this time they are wandering around and it's pissing you off.. You immediately SUPER BLUSH and takes his hands off politely, muttering, "Could you please not do that?"

You want to let him continue holding you but he gets too friendly, so you shove him away. Sort of confused, Haiiro looks into your eyes as if looking for an answer. He begins to lean in and the door blows open, and in the dust stands Kirune-ra.. AND GOOD LORD HE HAS A BAZOOKA!! Ih'kuaren and Haiiro sprout wings, grabs you quickly and flies through the window, breaking the glass. You do absolutely nothing, over-ratedly stunned and blush, thinking, 'Oh! Is my face red!?'
Haiiro disappears, leaving you in Ih'kuaren's arms. Eventually you find the courage to ask him where he's taking you. He tells you that he's taking you back home. You feel a sense of anxiety, wondering what will my parents think of you being gone this whole time.

The neighborhood starts to get familiar. You know exactly where you are, but what you don't know is how he knew where you lived. Surprisingly, your window is wide open, and Ih-kuaren flies in. Once you land, he still has you in his arms, and his wings slide into his back again. He leaves a little pile of feathers are your carpet. "Ahem," you say, signaling for him to put you down. The angel blushes, brightly responding by placing you down and saying, "Oh! Yeah. Sorry." Once he places you on your feet, you lose balance since you've been flying for some time. Before you fall, he catches you, and it feels like somewhat of an embrace. You blush and regain your balance. Still red, Ih-kuaren tells you, "You're truly a fragile beauty..." and begins to lean in, only this time no one's there to stop him. You continue to blush some more, unable to think. This was too… too...too...

His lips brush against yours, it's very gentle, almost as if he wasn't there. It feels like a cool breeze, like winterfresh on your lips. Your entire body feels as if a warm light is resting inside your stomach. You're getting redder and redder by the second! He lets go gently, and you feel entranced, as if he put a spell on you. You try to slap your red face in order to make it stop--you're SO embarrassed! You start to giggle similarily to a giddy school girl, leaving Ih'kuaren a little dumbfounded. He tells you that he has to leave and that you should take care of yourself. His wings spread, and they seem to be glowing in the sunlight as he flies away. You think, 'Hey, come back soon, alright?' Your eyes sparkle as you watch him disappear.

You realize that you've been missing all last night. You rush back downstairs and find your parents crying hysterically. You walk slowly into the room and say, "Mom? Dad? I'm back.. I'm sorry. Let me try to explain..."

After awhile, you make up with your parents and head up back to your room. You lay on your comfy bed and sigh deeply, 'Whoo! Whatta day!' You fall asleep instantly, even though you haven't brushed your teeth, changed, or taken a shower. Soon you dream about you wandering around kind of lost. There is a lot of feathers floating down from the right, and there's a bright light. Then you see Ih'kuaren...he's smiling...you smile...

*

You awake, and the sun is glistening in your eyes. You moan to express what a nuissance it is, and fall out of bed purposely. ~THUD~ You grumble and get up, and begin your morning ritual. You have school--again--so you dress into your usual clothes, nothing too out of the ordinary today. You walk downstairs, still a little grumpy, and a bitter look on your face. Your parents smile at you and offer you breakfast. You take it and thank them. You haven't eaten in a whole day, anyway!

You either gobble down breakfast and head out to school. You decide to walk, you feel that you have a lot of stamina right now. As you walk, you suddenly think of Kirune-ra, wishing you got to know him better. Come to think of it, he is pretty cute.

School is pretty easy for you today. You're very excited and anxious to make it through the day passing every class, as if you were trying to impress someone. As the last bell rings, releasing you from your awful prison, you realize it's Friday! Whoo hoooo! This means no homework! Your friends ask you if you want to join them at the movies, but you decline, in hope that you might get kidnapped again. As you begin to walk home, someone calls after you. It's the hottest guy in school! What could he want? You decide to be polite, no matter how anxious you are to get home. You turn to face him.

He asks you if he could walk you home. You reject him at first, but he keeps coming back. He looks really eager. You allow him to walk you home, and almost the entire time that awkward silence lingers around you. You finally reach your door, and he stops you from entering your home. He says, "I like you a lot. I dunno why, but I have strong feelings for you right now." He smiles and tells you he has to leave. He walks off, waving goodbye. You blush, thinking, 'Why am I always red when I'm around beautiful men?!' You blush even redder

You walk inside, and you notice the house is completely empty. You scan the walls of your house, for any notes from your parents. BINGO. It reads, "Dear Kiara, went out for the night. Hope you don't mind. Call us if you need anything" 'That's weird,' you think. 'Did they get drunk and decide to go party, or something!? Sometimes they can be such wannabe teenagers. A little upset, but relieved you don't have anyone to boss you around the entire evening, you have fun downstairs for awhile by pigging out on ice cream, playing video games, watch a movie, call you friends, whatever you feel up to. Around 11.28 p.m., there's still no sign of your parents. Where could they be? You shrug it off and lock the doors, and retire to your room. You start the shower, and hop in. After awhile, you get out and get dressed. You turn off all the lights and hit the sack. You're beat from all that laziness and are ready to fall asleep when you instantly hear music begin to play. You say, "Oh God, what now!?"

You instantly flick on the lights, grab a bat, and look around your room. THERE! IN THE CENTER OF YOUR ROOM! IT'S! IT'S--Kirune-ra? AND HE'S SINGING TO THE RADIO! And what song is playing?! IT'S..."Girls just wanna have fu-uunn!" OMG...you think, 'Umm.. are you okay?'

He stops singing all of a sudden, and looks at you. You look at him, and he looks back at you again. You just stare each down for what seems eternity. Then he announces, "Got milk?" Either embarrassed, confused, or just fricken PISSED OFF, what he says practically trips you. You correct yourself, and say as you blush, "What are you talking about!?"

Confused, he explains, "I MEANT do you have any milk! Ya' know, the kind you drink from cows?!" You become less tense, and ask him what he wants with milk and he says "Milk helps you grow strong bones!" with an unsure smile, and you can tell he's thinking, "Real smooth." You smile back, and lead him down to the kitchen. The house is really dark and you can't help but step on something, or almost kill yourself walking down the stairs. Fortunately for you, Kirune-ra can see in the dark. You finally reach the living room, and the light suddenly clicks on. There! Sitting on the chair! It's Haiiro! And he looks very pissed.. The first thing that comes to you mind is, 'HOT DAMN! Both of my lovelies are here!' with a super smile on your face!

You instantly run over to Haiiro and hug him tight. For some reason, you feel you can do that around him. He smiles at you and pets your head as you cling on to him, he then turns his head rapidly and glowers at Kirune-ra. He says, "You thought you could pay a late night visit and NOT GET CAUGHT YOU BACKSTABBER!?" Kirune-ra looks a little nervous and says, "I-I don't know what you're talking about! I just wanted some milk!" Haiiro replies, "YOU HATE MILK YOU FAGGOT!!" Just then Ih'kuaren falls down from the ceiling. He makes a loud THUD sound. You wince and say, "...ouch..."

He laughs unsteadily, and gets back up on his feet, brushing himself off. You can tell Haiiro is super pissed now, "Well, well, well.. look who decided to show up. Planning the same thing, were ya?" Kirune-ra retorts, "WELL, WE WEREN'T THE ONLY ONES PLANNING SOMETHING NOW, WERE WE, MR.HYPOCRITE?!" They all start arguing like crazy again. Boy, you feel loved. You get in the middle of them and push them away from each other! Such children!
They eventually come to a halt, but are breathing heavily. They practically screamed their lungs out, even Ih'kuaren. You tell them that you don't want to hurt their feelings, but they have to go. Your parents could be home any time. Just as you say that, the front door began to open, and you were all thinking, 'Oh shit!' Haiiro, Ih'kuaren, and Kirune-ra begin to get jumpy, sort of yelling quietly, asking you what they're going to do. HOW SHOULD YOU KNOW?! YOU'RE FREAKING OUT TOO!! You're all running around the room trying to find a hiding spot. YOU SPOT ONE! You quickly gather them and hide them under the sofa and tell them to keep quiet. Obviously there isn't any room left whatsoever, so they're practically whining at you to find another spot. "SHUT UP!" you whisper, and sit on the couch, almost squashing them to death. You're parents walk in laughing happily (obviously drunk), and they greet you and go up to bed instantly. You think, 'You could've gave me some for me and my lovely!'

Little sounds of pain are coming from underneath your couch, OH MY GOD! YOU FORGOT ABOUT THEM!! You instantly jump off the couch, and pull them out from beneath its body. They're gasping for breath and Haiiro is cursing A LOT. "YOU COULD'VE WARNED US!" he shouts. You shush him, worried your parents would find you with THREE men downstairs. Wouldn't that be great? You're a little annoyed they all showed up at once, but relieved. They beg you to allow them to stay the night, saying, "It'll be a sleep-over! An INNOCENT sleep-over!" Yeah, right. You shrug it off, praying they don't do anything to you in your sleep. Feeling a little sympathy for them, you decide to sleep downstairs with them. You eventually nod off to sleep. Soon you dream about being in the dark. It's dark...you're lost. Then there's a light...and then...Ih'kuaren..

*

You awake, only to see Kirune-ra up in your face. Startled you scream, ``YOU!`` and he turns to face Ih'kuaren, who is cleaning the house, to announce, "She's up!" Ih'kuaren greets you, and smiles sweetly back down at you (he's cleaning the ceiling). You notice a delicious aroma drifting about in the air. You follow your nose, only to find Haiiro cooking in the kitchen. His black feathered wings revealed as he flips pancakes, whistling. You're thinking, 'Mmm...Something delicious is in the kitchen.'

You decide to get dressed, but warn them not to follow you. They promise, but each of them has something written on their faces that is deceiving. You walk up the stairs, turning around every five seconds, glaring behind you. Eventually, you reach your room and begin to unbutton your top, but realize you're being watched. Haiiro, Kirune-ra, and IH'KUAREN are peaking through your door, one head above the other. You SLAM THE DOOR IN THEIR FACE! "Heh, that'll teach them," you mutter with an evil smirk.

You eventually get dressed, and remember your parents. Uh-oh. you run to their room, they're not in it! You suddenly hear their voices downstairs. Uh-oh! Problem...MAJOR PROBLEM. You begin to panic, 'Please, please, PLEASE don't let them see all those guys!!'

Nervous, you hesitate to advance any further downstairs. You stomach is jumping with butterflies. You find the courage to approach them, and accept whatever fate has in store for you. You walk toward them, searching for any of the guys that you've met.. but they're nowhere! Something from the celing falls down, it's a feather. You look up instinctively, and notice they're clinging to the ceiling!! Ih'kuaren is holding Kirune-ra. They're signaling to you to remain silent. Your expression just hollers, "HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!" Your parents greet you, and thank you for the breakfast. Confused, you say, "Uh...your welcome?" A black feather lands on your mother's head. She picks it up, and observes it, she begins to tilt her head in order to glance at the ceiling..You, panicking, suddenly blurt out, "Um...someone's at the door, Mom! They're looking for you!" You seriously praying, 'Please dont let her find them...'

You grab her attention almost instantly. She looks at you, then rises from the couch and walks to the door. You sigh with relief, and silently yell at them. THEY ALMOST GOT YOU IN BIG TROUBLE. They quietly try to move into the other room, by practically crawling on the ceiling. Your dad walks by, tossing a baseball in the air, and begins to tell you about his days as a child. Not really interested, you try to focus on something else. Suddenly your dad throws the baseball all the way up to the ceiling, hitting Kirune-ra in the face. He howls loudly. Confused, your dad asks, ``What was that!?`` You reply, "Umm...the dogs next door, you know how rowdy they can be...heh..."

He laughs and says, "Okay, Kiara." He throws the baseball up to the ceiling this time he smacks Ih'kuaren on his face. He attempts to hold in the pain, and is fortunately successful. Your father tosses it high one more time, hitting Haiiro as well. Haiiro is really pissed off, and Ih'kuaren is having trouble holding both of them back from tearing your father from limb to limb. He eventually leaves for work, and they all fall from the ceiling with a loud THUD. You run over to them and ask, "Are you all right!?" with a worried expression on your face.

Once back on their feet, Ih'kuaren takes your hands and tries to apologize as sweetly as he can, "I'm truly sorry for putting you at risk of being punished! Please forgive my rudeness!" He's staring deeply into your eyes, you tell him it's alright. You know those eyes all too well. Jealousy begins to overtake Haiiro and Kirune-ra as they glower at you and Ih'kuaren. Haiiro takes action by shoving Ih'kuaren aside and grabbing Kirune-ra and locking him in the closet. Haiiro says, "Finally, I have you all to myself." He grins widely, and once again pulls you close to him. You can't help but turn red all over, and he kisses you gently, then a little rougher. The doorbell rings, and you've only gotten to taste his lips for 5 seconds! He lets you go, and hides behind the corner. He sparks fire from his hands. You answer the door, and who is standing there? IT'S THE HOT GUY FROM SCHOOL THAT REALLY LIKES YOU.. A LOT! You say, "Uh...I...um...uh...uh...h-hello...?" and blush.

He asks you if you can come inside, but before you can allow him, he walks in unexpectedly. 'OK...just waltz on in...' you think. He looks around your house, and can't help but notice the big crack in your wall where Ih'kuaren landed. He shrugs it off and asks you if you thought about what he said. You say, "I don't have an answer yet..." You feel sorry for him, and you can't just ditch those guys all of a sudden because the most hottest guy in school is crushing on you. A little disappointed, he places his hands on your shoulder and kisses your forehead. He tells you to try to find an answer soon. He then leaves. You blush and groan inwardly, 'Ohhhh...why do all these guys like me..?'

Okay, well Haiiro jumps down from the stairs, and asks you, ``Who the hell was that?`` You feel a little upset you didn't tell him, and respond, "He's...no one..." Satisfied, Haiiro smiles innocently at you. Ih'kuaren, however is hiding back on the ceiling. He can see right through your heart. THEN BOOM!! THE CLOSET DOOR EXPLODES!! OMG, KIRUNE-RA'S GOT THE DAMN BAZOOKA.. AGAIN!! He points it at Haiiro and Ih'kuaren. You're just slowly stepping away.. Before Kirune-ra can fire anything, darkness spreads throughout your house in a split second.
You're confused, then suddenly everything is quiet. The light of the angel is glowing brightly, as if he were a sun in your very house. He smiles reassuringly, but that smile ends when darkness circles his body. You just stare, asking yourself how to help, but nothing comes up, so you just continue staring. The angel hollers in pain as his light slowly vanishes. Once his light is out, the room brightens again, and the Ih'kuaren falls to the ground, but you all catch him. You're asking, "Hey...you alright? Come on, man, this isn't funny!" You glare at Haiiro, accusing him.

Haiiro looks a little annoyed at you and shouts, "I didn't do it! God damn! I thought you trusted me!" You begin to get much more teary-eyed and appologize, but still are a little doubtful. Ih'kuaren suddenly rises as if nothing happened. His wings sprout, only this time they're black like Haiiro's. Astonished, you notice his hair changes to the same color as well. He looks much more tense and you feel hatred and anger coming from him. He smiles at you, only it's not the same smile. It's something evil. He lifts Haiiro and Kirune-ra and tosses them aside as if they were rag dolls. They hit the wall and black out from the pain. You're worried now, very worried, and to top it off, Ih'kuaren is approaching you slowly. With tears flowing, you cried, "Ih'kuaren, please, try to remember! It's me!"

Ih'kuaren finally reaches you, and pulls you close to him. At first it's somewhat of an embrace, then he squeezes you harder and harder until you can barely breathe. You gasp for air but it's no use. He just smiles at you as your life slowly slips away from you. Before you pass out, you notice a dark figure behind Ih'kuaren. Then darkness consumes you. You have a dream of seeing Ih'kuaren. He's not smiling. Then he is slowly consumed by darkness. You try to save him, but he's gone...

Surprisingly, you awake, but you feel hurt all over. Kirune-ra and Haiiro are looking at you worriedly. They rejoice as soon as your eyes open and glance around the room. You ask, "What happened?" You try to sit up, but an extreme pain shoots through your body causing you to yelp and fall back down roughly. They lift you up and ask if you're alright. You reassure them by telling them you were, and ask them yet again. They tell you that Kirune-ra jumped on Ih'kuaren before you actually came close to the verge of death. Frightened, you listen much more closely. Haiiro tells you he managed to injure Ih'kuaren before he could deliver a fatal blow to Kirune-ra, but flew away before the final blow was struck. They tell you that they're going to hunt the angel down and that you should stay where at home where it's safe. You disagree by telling them that it's not safe because Ih'kuaren knows your house's whereabouts. You feel faint and a sense of betrayal. 'Why have you done this to me, Ih'kuaren?'

Being nighttime, you allow Haiiro and Kirune-ra to watch over you as you sleep. You drift into dream-land in no time. It's raining feathers yet again, but they're black and it's very dark. You're in a spotlight, and yet you see no one around you. You catch a feather, but it cuts you and your hand begins to bleed uncontrollably. The blood splats on your face...'Ih'kuaren why have you done this!?'

Meanwhile, Ih'kuaren is still an evil version of himself, he's panting heavily, and he continues to bleed from the cut received by Haiiro's sword. He's growing paler, and yet, he can't remember anything. Only his home...and his new mission...

You fell asleep, but were instantly awakened, by Haiiro. He tells you that him and Kirune-ra were going to leave to oppose Ih'kuaren. You glance at the clock it's 1:07 am. You're thinking, 'You're not going anywhere without me!'

Before they can leave, you grab both of their arms, stopping them. They turn to look at you as if searching for an explanation. You tell them you won't allow them to leave you behind. Kirune-ra opens his mouth as if he wants to say something, but suddenly your window BREAKS open! You all turn your attention toward the crash. Getting up, without any scratches whatsoever...is...is...EVIL IH'KUAREN!! AND OMG HE'S NO LONGER WOUNDED!! IT'S LIKE MAGIC! He begins to snicker, grinning at you as he advances toward you. Petrified, you huddle inbetween Haiiro and Kirune-ra. Angered, and yet confused as to how Ih'kuaren healed, they continue to glower at him, their teeth clenching. Suddenly, you lose sight of the evil angel. He's gone! Terrified, you cling to both of them. You're all searching around frantically, when Ih'kuaren comes out of nowhere charging at full speed. Kirune-ra shoves you and Haiiro out of the way, in hopes he may overcome the angel. He fails, and falls to the ground rough, howling in pain. You scream and try to break free of Haiiro's grasp, tears flowing rapidly from your eyes, screaming, "Ih'kuaren, this isn't like you!!"

Your parents' door opens, and they make their way down the hallway, calling out for you. CRAP! It's too late to hide! Ih'kuaren might attack at any given moment! Kirune-ra struggles to get back on his feet, but manages to stand. Panting, he casts a spell upon your parents, causing them to faint. 'WTF?!' you think. Feeling proud he mentions, "Raw skill, baby, it's all about the skill!" Haiiro argues, "YOU LEARNED THAT FROM ME YOU BITER!!" You ignore them, because you're focusing on something much more important.. like, I dunno...THE KILLER ANGEL?! Ih'kuaren is still grinning and he reaches to grab you, but Haiiro kicks him with an airborn kick. Ih'kuaren falls to the ground from the impact, but regains his balance. He begins to flew towards his home. Haiiro grabs you, sprouts his wings and takes off after him. Kirune-ra runs fast below you. You're thinking, with a worried look, 'Oh, Ih'kuaren...'

You eventually reach the manor, and see Ih'kuaren practically crash on the roof. You and Haiiro fly toward him immediately, and landed easily. Kirune-ra is climbing the manor quickly as you await his arrival. Ih'kuaren stands, laughing maniacally. He begins to speak nonsense, "Heh...you'll all perish before me...stop smiling!!" He begins to clutch his head as if he is terrible pain. You try to help him, but he attacks you by swinging his claws at you (yes he has those too!). You fall back, and cry in pain for a split second. He charges after you but Kirune-ra manages to punch him right in the face. Angered and bleeding, the angel returns the attack by summoning spirits. Deadly spirits swarm all around you. With tears still flowing uncontrollably, you think, 'Ih'kuaren...please...come back to me...'

Haiiro and Kirune-ra waste no time to charge at the demons. You, on the other hand, have an attack of your own. You know Ih'kuaren loves you, so you casually walk over to him and hug him, sneaking a little kiss. Ih'kuaren is astonished by your actions, and light begins to swarm around him. You back away, watching with amazement. You notice his hair turn white again, but you also observe his wings disappear. He looks down at you and begins to cry. He is completely aware of what he's put you through. You smile and the tears just POUR now.

You realize Ih'kuaren no longer has his wings. You ask him why. He replies, "Every angel must pay the price for sin. Even if they weren't themselves. I am now human." Shocked, you step back sorry that you probably caused him to lose his eternal life. You say sadly, "I'm sorry...I've done this to you..."

You have a group hug and decide to go back to your place. A week has passed since this incident, and you're walking back from school. Mick, the hot guy, tries to stop you again. He asks you if you thought about it NOW. You say with a little attitude, "Ya know what? I've found someone else!" You then smile and leave him dumbfounded, proud you stood up for yourself. You reach home, and your parents are waiting by the door. They greet you by saying, "There's someone special waiting for you in your room" with pleasant smiles. Excited, you eagerly rush up to your room, tossing you back pack to the side. You run to your room, but no one's there.. A little confused, and yet disappointed at the same time, you search your room, but no one. You sigh depressed, but then you're instantly grabbed from behind around your waist and are lifted into the air. You laugh, and you are then set back down. You turn around...and it's him, the one fate has destined you to be with, and he's smiling...

The day you went back to your house was the day you made you final decision--the on you want to be with. And you chose Ih'Kuaren. Although you let Kirune-ra and Haiiro down, you still remained close friends. Haiiro was recently dubbed King og Hell (Satan was re-elected) and is having a great time. Kirune-ra is attending your school, but for some reason, they don't seem to mind him being a demon. Ih'kuaren, however, was turned back into an angel as soon as you were given permission by God himself to ask to. Ih'kuaren recently became a guardian angel, and who is it he guards?

You.

The two of you couldn't be happier.

The Legend of the 12 Brides

THE WITHERED BRIDE
She is the first of the 12 Brides. Born under the sign of Aquarius, she is artistic yet mysterious. She became The Withered Bride when her husband-to-be died on the way to the church on her wedding day. She had no idea what had happened to him and when the news hit her, she couldn’t accept it. She continued to wait for him at the place where they first met, regardless the weather or the seasons, believing that he would come back for her. When the people found her body cold and stiff on the snow ground, she was surrounded by withered flowers, and her bridal dress looked almost like the withered flowers about her…

THE TORN BRIDE
She is the second of the 12 Brides. Though born under the sign of Capricorn, she is a torn and tortured soul with full of hate to the world. She became The Torn Bride when she was sadly married to the man she thought was nice and sweet. Her family was deceived by his wealth and power and pretence kindness and she had to pay the price when she discovered that not only he married her just to be famous for having the most wives in his village, but also she was abused sexually and physically by both her husband and the wives before her. Her death was caused by the first wife who tore her heart out right from her chest.

THE DOUBLE BRIDE
She, the third of the 12 Brides and born under the sign of Gemini, is playful and sweet at one occasion, then dark and evil at the other, which was how she became The Double Bride. Before, she had a twin sister and she and her sister both married the same man who worked as a soldier in the king’s courts. Her twin sister was sweet and nice, but she had high ambitions to be on the throne and often plotted terrible things to eliminate the king and get her husband to replace him (as The King trusted him very much and that His Majesty had no heir). When her evil plans have been discovered, she was sentenced to death and her vengeful spirit attached herself to her twin sister, making her a double personality person. Her poor sister then was condemned insane and sent to the asylum where she killed herself, intertwining her spirit deeper with the evil twin.

THE PROUD BRIDE
She is the fourth of the 12 Brides, with an air of dignity and pride among her wake under the sign of Cancer. She will not tolerate anything that defies her logic and would not admit it even if she was wrong. She earned her title as The Proud Bride when she married a very important person in a very high-classed state. Her husband’s influence towards the people of the lower classes influenced her to rule over them with an iron fist and forced them to succumb to her proud, arrogant ways. She cared nothing but herself and many came to feel distaste for her. Finally some of the people couldn’t stand her pride and arrogance and ambushed her when she was on her way to her relative’s house, making it look like a bandit robbery. They threw down any filthy thing that might ruin her pride at her and finally killed her in the most degrading way they could possibly think for her.

THE PRINCESS BRIDE
She is bright and cheerful and good at sweet-talking people to do her bidding as well as acting spoilt. In fact, she is so good at being spoilt, she got her title as The Princess Bride, the fifth of the 12 Brides. Born under the sign of Leo, she was only a rich commoner who charmed a prince to marry her and got herself to become sort of a half-princess. She had done her equal share of being good to the world, but she didn’t realize that her small spoilt attitude one day had got her into trouble. Her husband tried to win her request to get her a truly rare and expensive doll from India but caught a very serious illness on the way home. He died in the midway and the doll she requested came together with his body. She was so devastated and with people criticizing her behind her back about killing her husband, she was soon found dead hanging from a willow tree beside her husband’s grave, clutching the doll tightly in her arms…

THE ILLUSIONIST BRIDE
She, the sixth of the 12 Brides, is born under the sign of Virgo. She is cunning and witty, and very swift. She plays with illusion like she plays with her toys, which is why she became The Illusionist Bride. She was the bride of a very famous illusionist (some say she could be the wife of Harry Houdini or David Copperfield himself) and she had learnt almost everything her husband could teach her about illusions. Occasionally when her husband had to go somewhere else to perform, she would do her own simple illusions to the public or to entertain children. She soon got ambitious and decided to indulge herself in Black Magic to increase her ability in the illusion business. Her indulging in the Dark Arts got her into trouble when finally she was so engrossed in this Art that she lost control of her sanity and used her illusions to kill people. She was soon arrested and hung in the gallows.

THE WISE BRIDE
She, The Wise Bride, lives up to her name as being very wise and fair to the people around her, just like the child born under the sign of Libra. She is the seventh of the 12 Brides and acts older than her age, being wise and all. In life, she was The King’s wiseman’s daughter and like a counselor to The King when her father was busy about other things. She wasn’t too beautiful and all but The King fell in love with her just the same for she was smart and filled with wisdom. The other counselors of the castle were displeased at this for The King rather would listen to his wife than their advice. They decided to frame her for a crime she did not commit and The King was forced to sentence her to death. The day after she died, those counselors suddenly died in mysterious circumstances. Some say, the wife’s spirit sucked the brains out of the counselors which caused their death.

THE PERFECT BRIDE
She is the eighth of the 12 Brides and she is perfect in every way, like a Mary Sue figure. She, The Perfect Bride born under the sign of Scorpio, is perfect both physically and mentally. She walks perfectly, she talks perfectly and she acts perfectly. She is someone everyone would wish they would become. She wasn’t that of a perfectionist at first. She was trained to do so in order to be fit as a member of a high-classed family. She never liked being perfect at all. In fact, every perfection she was forced to endure was a torture. She may seem like a Mary Sue, but inside she hated it all the way. One day, out of curiosity, she sneaked out of the house dressed in just nice and simple clothes and mingled with the usual people and discovered the joy of being simply just herself. But she was soon discovered by her family and she was abused terribly to death for betraying the family tradition.

THE FROZEN BRIDE
She is the ninth of the 12 Brides, and is born under the sign of Sagittarius. She is cold, wicked and heartless, and has no emotion whatsoever, which led her to be The Frozen Bride. It was said that she was born, bred and married in a place as cold as Siberia where she had endured countless perils such as an abusing family, a tongue-lashing mother-in-law and a drunkard husband. All those torture had trained her to be cold and heartless and feel nothing for the world, as she thought that the world felt nothing for her anyway. She soon fled and married a kind ambassador. But that didn’t change her cold attitude. When her child was stillborn, her heart hardened even more and she used her power as the ambassador’s wife to spread her coldness around, starting from her own family. At her attempt to kill her final victim (her ex-husband), she was buried alive in an icy-cold avalanche.

THE BEAUTIFUL BRIDE
She is the tenth of the 12 Brides and, like her title as The Beautiful Bride, is truly a beautiful creature to behold. Born under the sign of Pisces, she is elegant, charismatic and of exceptional beauty. No one, not even the other Brides, could compete with her looks. Before, she was the apple of everyone’s eye and she was the prized jewel everyone wants. Everyone wants to marry her and take her as their lawful wedded wife, but it was a five-by-five simpleton who didn’t look too handsome nor too smart either that had won her heart. Everyone was jealous and unsatisfied for him to be able to marry such a beautiful bride that people started to make his life uneasy. Someone even accused him of using Black Magic to charm her into his heart and requested authorities to arrest him. This also happened to other people that had taken her as their wife, until finally she couldn’t stand it anymore. She peeled off the skin of her face before throwing herself into the sea.

THE WIZARD BRIDE
She is the eleventh of the 12 Brides and she has the most power of all the Brides, for she is The Wizard Bride. Born under the sign of Aries, she has a majestic aura at her wake and has more magical powers than you can ever imagine. In life, she was adopted by a normal family who only discovered her abilities when she was 5 years old. She soon found out about her real family background as a whole family of wizards (even women in her family are considered as wizards). She could do loads of stuff like reading palms, predicting people’s future, bending spoons, chanting spells and cursing people. At first her whole purpose of using her magical powers was to do good for the people and many people liked her (she was even engaged to a wealthy merchant), but the religious men hated her powers and influenced the people to turn against her, saying that her powers came from the Devil. They all gathered around her on her wedding day, arrested her and burnt her on a stake, her wedding clothes and all. Before she breathed her last, she swore to become the most evil and strongest wizard ever lived and cursed the people who betrayed her to suffer 100 years of famine.

THE WOODEN BRIDE
She is really in touch with nature and really loves the flora and fauna of life. She is more in touch with the trees, which is what people born under the sign of Taurus would generally be. She is called The Wooden Bride because at first she was born and bred in a family of carpenters. When she somehow discovered the wonder of wood and the nature of its origins, she immediately fell in love with it. She had nothing against her family cutting wood to build things to earn a living, but if she could, she would definitely save a few trees and flowers at her wake. She got in contact with nature so much that she somehow had the ability to communicate with the plants. She was rendered crazy and was forced into an asylum. It was a devastating thing to do too, because she was almost getting married. After about 3 days in the asylum, she somehow escaped through a certain magical help from the nature she took care of and when the people tried to look for her, they found her stuck on a willow tree—dead—her body became part of the tree bark.

Thursday Night

A recruit’s life is tough and torturing. Though a freshman, he is expected to attain the soldier’s discipline as soon as his hair is cut. ‘Tekaning’ is usually being used by the instructors to instill discipline in the recruits. Beside that, a recruit is also expected to obtain a high level of fitness as the training progresses. Physically weak recruits will enjoy ‘special treatment.

It was another routine of chin-up sessions before lunch. Ronnie’s platoon sergeant, the infamous sadist maniac, has come to see their progress personally. Everybody was trying their best not to anger him.

“Recruit Ronnie Ong! You swine! Call yourself a soldier when you can’t even do one single chin up! Might as well wear skirt! This platoon is a bunch of weaklings. How can I expect a hundred percent pass in your IPPT?! All of you drop fifty. Recruit Ong, you drop one hundred! Down!”

All eyes were on Ronnie as they carried on their push ups. They were filled with anger. How they wish Ronnie would just disappeared from this world.

Ronnie, the platoon sissy as he was called, was the weakest in the platoon. ‘Sabo King’ title was honourably given to him as he always get the platoon into trouble. How they hated him. How they detested him. Gradually, he was being isolated by everybody.

“I must pass! I must pass!” Ronnie would always mumble.

After the incident before lunch, Ronnie was more determined to prove he was no weakling. He hated to be left alone. Tonight he would give himself extra training.

It was Thursday night. The night where the school’s rules stated ‘No training. All recruits and instructors are to be in bed by 2200 hours’. Nobody had ever questioned the ruling before and nobody knew the reason behind it. In fact, nobody had ever disobeyed this rule before. However, Ronnie was going to make an exception tonight.

It was raining cats and dogs. Ronnie, putting on his physical training attire, waited impatiently for the rain to subside. Just as his eyes were getting heavy, the rain ceased.

“Must do it tonight! Do it or never!” he mumbled as he reluctantly left the warmth of the bed.

It was an extremely chilling that night, with mist forming around the chin-up bar. The effect of the dim light from the cookhouse made the surrounding very eerie. Ronnie shivered. The atmosphere had reminded him one of the horror scenes in a drama series shown a couple of years back. He remembered how he dared not sleep that night after the show. He was young then. Now, he was a soldier. He must be brave, and besides, such things were non-existing. Picking up his courage, he approached the chin-up bar.

“Pull! Pull up, useless arms!”

In his anxiety and anger, Ronnie failed to realize that his hands were losing grip. In just a split second, he fell, lost his balance and fell headlong onto the curb. Blood flowed profusely from the gash on the forehead. Struggling to stand up, he stumbled and fell into the drain in front. There he lay unconscious…

It was rumoured that ever since the fated accident, dogs had gathered around the chin up bar, howling on every Thursday night. It was such a spectacular sight. Dogs from nowhere would surround the chin up bar, like witches surround their pot of magic, howling. Sometimes, they even dance a tribal dance around it.

Somebody had once said it was an evil sight. According to him, dogs would only dance around the place where spirits are fierce and revengeful. The more dogs there are, the fiercer the spirit.

*

A year had passed. The accident was long forgotten. People were using the chin up bar again. The Thursday night ruling was also abolished after a change in command for the military training school. However, one practice still remained. All recruits still do chin-ups before every meal.

"C’mon Lee! Two more. Pull!” the platoon cheered on. Recruit Lee tried hard to do the additional chin-up. His sergeant was staring at him quietly.

After a long struggle, he gave up. Four only. He knew his sergeant was unhappy, disappointed with him. He had done his best, but “not good enough!” his sergeant would say.

“Recruit Lee! If you fail your IPPT tomorrow, I’ll have to put you on remedial training every Saturday until you pass. Is that clear?!”

“Yes! Sergeant! I will pass, sergeant!”

How was he going to pass if he failed the chin-up station? Sighed, he shook his head and went for lunch.

“I’ll do it tonight. When everybody is sleeping, I will still carry on pulling until I can pull six.” Determined, Lee waited for night fall patiently.

It was raining heavily after dinner. Lee waited. It was nearly midnight and Lee was about to give up. Suddenly, the rain stopped. It was very strange. Usually rain would subside then come to a stop, slowly. This rain just ceased abruptly as Lee’s watch struck twelve.

As quick as lightning, Lee changed. He was determined to carry on. Putting on his shoes, he went down to the chin-up bar. Strangely, a mist had formed around the chin-up bar. Dogs were howling around it. Stunned at this scene, Lee backed up. He was hesitating, when suddenly a strange mysterious force drew him nearer towards the chin-up bar. The dogs were howling even louder, louder than ever before.

Subconsciously, Lee mounted the bar. The dogs were no longer dogs. They were his platoon mates cheering him on. There was an unfamiliar face among them. A face he had never seen before. The face was smiling.

“Pull! Pull up, useless arms!” cried Lee.

To his surprise, he could not even do one chin-up. He struggled. Angry with himself, he did not realize that he was losing grip.

THUD! Lee fell. A pair of hands from somewhere grabbed his feet, gave him a quick jerk and made him fall headlong onto the curb. Blood flowed from his forehead, partially blinding him.

“Damn!” cursed Lee as he clumsily got up his feet. The face was staring at him, grinning.

“Give me a hand, will you?”

“No…problem…!”

Laughing out loud, the ghostly figure of Ronnie pulled Lee down the drain. There Lee laid unconscious.

“Ha! Ha! Ha! Company at last! I’m no longer alone. Ha! Ha! Ha!”

The mist clouded into fog. Laughter heightened. Howling deepened. Dogs from everywhere gathered around the chin-up bar, dancing their tribal dance, singing their favourite song.

“What is all this commotion?!”

“Nothing! It’s just another Thursday night! Ha! Ha! Ha!”

(Taken from Tekong Nightmares)

Six Dinner Sid

Sid the cat lived in Aristotle Street No. 1. He also lived in No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6. Sid lived in six people’s houses and ate six dinners. Every night, after eating chicken at No. 1, he would go to No. 2 to have fish, mutton at No. 3, minced meat at No. 4, fish again at No. 5 and finally boiled beef at No. 6.

The people in Aristotle Street did not get along, so no one knew what Sid’s little secret was. They all assumed that they were the cat’s owner.

Of course, Sid had to pay a high price for six dinners. Being six owners’ pet was not easy. He had to remember six different names, and show six different personalities. When he was called ‘Prince’, he had to act proud and princely. When he was called ‘Waiter’, he had to start working. When he was called ‘Demon’, he had to be devilishly naughty. When he was called ‘Dumbo’, he had to act silly. When he was called ‘Black Sugar’, he had to act all cute and cuddly. But when he was called ‘Rebel’, he had to be very fierce.

Having to act so many roles in a day was very tiring for Sid. But he didn’t mind. As long as he had six dinners, his effort was all worth it, especially when he got to have six different parts of his body being stroked, and got to sleep in six different kinds of beds. In fact, to Sid, life in Aristotle Street is perfect, until one day…

The weather got cold and wet and he caught a heavy cold. He had to see the vet. Poor Sid! He had to go to the vet not only once, not only twice, but six times! Six different people, using six different methods of transportation, took him to the vet. The vet said his cough did not sound as bad as it should, but just for precautions, he had to have a spoonful of cough medicine. Of course, Sid not only had one spoonful, but six spoonfuls!

To be honest, black cats are common around the parts. But to have the same cat showing up six times does create suspicion on anyone, including the busy vet doctor. When he checked the record, he found out that the coughing cats all lived in Aristotle Street. He immediately called every owner to make some verification.

Uh oh! The cat’s out of the bag! When they found out what Sid did, they were angry, and said that he should not have so many dinners. They came to an agreement that he will only have one dinner a day.

But Sid was a six-dinner Sid, so he moved out to Pentacles Street No. 1, and No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6. Unlike Aristotle Street, the people in Pentacles Street get along well, so everyone knows Sid eats six dinners from the very start.

And since everyone knows about it, nobody minds.

(Translated from a Chinese adaptation of the original Six Dinner Sid by Inga Moore)

Observe and Absolve

There is an abandoned mental hospital at the top of a hill in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Once every five years an old rusty box spring appears within the courtyard of the hospital.

If you can sneak inside and sleep through the night on the bed, in the morning a man with a shirt that reads “observe and absolve” will take out his wallet and give you a picture.

This picture will show you how you will die.

If the picture is of the man standing before you, running won’t help.

Death's Truck

Some people have been known to communicate with Death. There is no way for you to reach him; he must come to you. You have no control over whether he does or not. One day, however, you may be approached by him.

It will happen when you are alone, perhaps walking down a lonely country road after someone you love has just died. You will hear the sounds of a noisy automobile that will slowly grow louder and louder. If you turn around, you will see an old, rusty green truck approaching. If you do not turn, you won't see the truck before it reaches you. And reach you it will.

A man will get out of the truck, a tall man with his eyes hidden in the shadows of an old baseball cap. He will introduce himself as Death and you will know that this is true.

Death will give you the opportunity to go down into Hell with him and reclaim a lost soul. If you decline, he will nod politely and go on his way. You will live out the rest of your life normally, but wonder every day what could have been. If you accept his offer, you will descend through a mad underworld before battling through a hellish labyrinth for the chance to reclaim a lost soul. Nobody knows what happens if you win.

Thirty-Third Birthday

On your 33rd birthday, go to your local gas station and pick up the newspaper.

The classified ads will have a small segment commemorating your birth and asking you to turn around.

Upon looking behind you, a man dressed in a black cloak will be advancing in your direction.

If you choose to run away, he will hunt you for the rest of your life, eventually killing you.

However, if you await his arrival and show no intent of fleeing, he will give you a small package.

Inside, you shall find the object you most desire.