Chapter One

--

She felt as if she were falling, she couldn’t see anything and there was a strange beeping sound somewhere in the depths of the darkness.

Kyra shot up in her bed. Her alarm clock sounded like it had been going off for a while. She could still smell the stale air from her dream, it burned her nostrils. It was a smell of blood and death. It was horrible and kind of familiar to her but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Kyra threw the blankets off and sat up; her shirt was stuck to her back like a second skin. That dream, it had been awful. She stood up, but her legs were still shaky so she fell back on to her bed. She laid down with her mind totally on the nightmare.

"Good morning Kyra,” her mother said with a smile.

Kyra sat up. Her mother came in and was looking at her strangely. Her mother was slim with medium length brown hair and green eyes. Her cheek bones were high and accented by her mother’s precision and skill of putting makeup on. Her mother never wore eye shadow and Kyra wondered how she made her eyes look so stunning.

"Are you okay sweetie?" her mother asked coming further into her room and looking down at her.

"I’m fine mom," she said in a way that she hoped sounded sincere.

"Well I'm going to work now, don't be late for school," Her mom said giving her a concerned look.

"I won't," Kyra said in the same bored, sing-song manner as always.

"I’ll see you later then." Her mom planted a quick kiss on the top of her head and then went downstairs. Kyra heard the front door close softly and looked at her alarm clock.

"Crap," she said hurrying to the bathroom. If she didn't hurry she was going to be late; again.

.

She heard the bell ring as she ran through the cool autumn air. She just hoped that Ms. Tabitha would be in a good mood.

The school slowly came into view. She was used to the ugly green color of the building. At first she had despised it but it just kind of blended into the scenery now. The building looked really run down and the year before there had been an especially windy storm and it blew some of the roof off. School had been cancelled for a week. There were many huge oak trees scattered through the grounds and during lunchtime students would go outside and hang around under the trees. Now the grounds were bare, the wind was more than a breeze today and the occasional wrapper or chip bag would be bounced along the ground by the wind.

She went through the front door of the building and ran in the direction of her locker.

“No running in the halls!”

Kyra stopped running and opted to walk very quickly. She made it to her locker and grabbed her things for class.

"Kyra, this is the third time this week. Start getting to school earlier or I’ll have to give you detention," Ms. Tabitha said to her as she walked in the door. She didn’t even look to see who it was.

"Yes, Ms. Tabitha," Kyra said walking over to her seat. She was angry at herself. It was only a dream. 'Nothing to worry about'; that’s what she told herself anyways.

.

Kyra was walking down the hall to her next class. She hated the crowded halls and wished that there weren’t so many people. She had a strange sensation of wanting to just sit alone in the dark.

"Hey," Ethan said when he caught up to her. He didn’t know that she had been so deep in thought and could still see a gloss over her eyes, could see that she was still lost in her mind.

"Hello Ethan," she said her eyes rested on him but she didn’t really see him. She didn’t notice his shaggy light brown hair or his piercing blue eyes. She had seen them everyday for the past ten years. They were both in the same grade, eleven, and they were the same age, seventeen.

"What’s wrong? You seem really out of it today," Ethan said touching her arm to get her attention.

"Oh, I just had a bad dream last night," she said as she watched the people who were moving in the direction opposite her.

"What was it about?" he asked slowly. ‘Could it possibly be time?’

"I’ll tell you at lunch. I can’t explain it right now."

"Sure.”

"Come on," she said. "We have English."

.

Kyra and Ethan had found a spot under a big oak tree. It was huge all the way around and gave lots of shade. Kyra didn’t eat lunch out of habit and she’d never seen Ethan eat very much.

"About your dream…" Ethan prompted her. This is why the two had come outside in the first place; so that they wouldn’t be overheard by anybody.

"Yeah…" Kyra said shivering. "I don’t know if I should tell you, it was really weird."

"If it’s bothering you this much then you should tell me," he said looking concerned.

"God, you sound like my mother..." Kyra said looking at the wall of the building; she really didn’t like the color.

"So anyways tell me about this dream. No more excuses," Ethan said with a serious look.

"Okay then… if you really want to hear it," Kyra said seeing a nod in Ethan’s direction she continued.

"Well, I was in this strange world; I think it was the past, but I’m not sure. There were all of these people running around screaming. There were monsters burning houses and killing people; tearing them apart. There was blood and pieces of people everywhere. The city was engulfed by flames. It was almost like a movie. Well, until one of them ran up to me and tried to claw through me; like I was actually there. Like it wasn’t a dream at all; like it was real."

"What did the demon look like?" Ethan asked her looking like he’d seen a ghost.

"Actually it kind of looked like him, only more pointy and bloody..." she was pointing to a guy who was walking by at that moment. He wore all black and a trench coat. His clothes were ripped and it looked like he’d been attacked by something with big claws. She looked at his face to see if he was alright. His face was perfect, not a scratch. Not just that either, he looked angelic but he was very pale and wore sunglasses. His head turned in her direction and she suddenly felt warmth rush to her cheeks. She could tell that his eyes were on her even though she couldn’t see them. He pulled down his sunglasses to reveal blood red eyes.

Ethan looked at Kyra and saw them looking at each other.

The guy had stopped walking. He was confused, how could this girl see him. He had already tested her for the powers of the prophesized one. Kyra, he’d found this girl interesting and learned her name from one of her friends calling out to her. Sometimes he would just watch her… much to the displeasure of her male friend.

He walked up to Kyra and Ethan who were still sitting under the tree.

"What do you want?" Ethan said rudely to the boy.

"Ethan… what is wrong with you?" Kyra said. Ethan was usually so nice to people.

"I’ll have to tell you later Kyra…" Ethan said not taking his eyes off the boy in front of them for one second.

"Hey," the mysterious boy said in a smooth, low voice.

It was sexy, just the right tone to turn anyone's mind into mush. "Hey," Kyra said in a perky voice. He had talked with such a know-all voice, conceited, yet insecure. She was captivated by him; his eyes were so hypnotizing.

"My name is Saffron," he said extending a pale hand down towards her.

"Kyra," she said grasping his hand. It was cold, so cold. "Why haven’t I seen you around here before? Are you new or something?" Kyra asked him wondering why he was so cold. His hand made the autumn air feel warm.

"Not exactly, I’ve been around," Saffron said with a cocky smirk.

The bell rang and they had to head back in for class.

"Well, I’ll see you later," Kyra said smiling as Ethan pulled her away. They reached the building and, after looking to make sure that Saffron hadn’t followed them, Ethan leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"You should stay away from him. He’s really dangerous."

"Why? How do you know?" Kyra asked him confused. Saffron hadn’t seemed dangerous. A little on the angsty side but other then that perfectly fine; and he was kind of cute too.

"He’s a demon Kyra," Ethan told her. She blinked, a demon? She couldn’t think of anything to say. Yeah sure, he’d had creepy red eyes when he took off his glasses but they could’ve been contacts… "You saw his eyes and you know I’m not lying. Trust me."

"A demon? How could you say he’s a demon? You don’t even know him," Kyra said angrily.

"You have to trust me on this Kyra, please," Ethan said with a pleading in his voice she rarely heard.

‘Could Saffron really be a demon?’

.

"Saffron, what are you doing here?" Kyra said surprised to see him leaning on her locker door. "And how do you know where my locker is?" she asked tilting her head a little.

"Lucky guess," he said smiling. Kyra felt herself blush. Saffron was so… intriguing. She moved him out of her way and opened her locker, shoving all her stuff in her locker.

"So, why are you here? You obviously aren’t a student," Kyra said quietly as not to attract attention to herself.

"Oh, I’ve been looking for someone," he said, he didn’t have the sunglasses on anymore and his deep red eyes intimidated her. "And I think that you’re the one I’m looking for Kyra."

"I can’t be," was all she could say before Ethan all but ran up to them.

"Can we help you?" Ethan said staring Saffron in the eyes and glaring.

"What's wrong with you Ethan?" He just continued glaring at Saffron sending the stay-away-from-her look to him. Saffron took this as his cue to leave. "What is wrong with you?" she asked Ethan again once Saffron was out of earshot.

"I think I specifically said to stay away from him," Ethan said accenting the last word that came out of his mouth spitefully.

"He has a name," Kyra said very frustrated. "Saffron was here in front of my locker when I got here, it’s not like I brought him here."

"Oh." Ethan said feeling a little stupid.

"So what is it that you have against Saffron?" Kyra asked after the two of them had been walking for a while. "He’s a nice guy."

"He’s not human," Ethan said agitated as he looked up at the calm sky. It was a beautiful day. There were a few clouds, the sun was shining brightly and it was quite warm.

"Yeah I know, I saw his eyes, but what does that have anything to do anything?" Kyra asked she was confused.

"The fact that you saw him is... There is a prophecy that tells of a mortal girl becoming extraordinary, with enough powers to stop the demons from taking over this realm."

"Hold on… What!?" Kyra said extremely lost. What was he talking about?

"Today is a very important day for you," Ethan tried to explain it to her again.

"What has gotten into you?" Kyra said as she stopped walking. “Where did Ethan go?”

"Kyra this is not the time for questions. It’s time for you to listen."

"Oo-kay…" she said looking questioningly at her best friend.

"Hundreds of years ago there was a wise man and he had a prediction. It was said that the demons from Akuma Yochi would come to this world and destroy it. He also prophesized that a young woman would be born for the sole purpose of sealing the demons away. That only she has the power and determination to do this dangerous task." Ethan stopped and looked at Kyra she had a distant look in her eyes and she glanced at him noticing that he had stopped talking.

"How do you know that I’m this prophesized person?" Kyra asked him; she didn’t want to save the world.

"Because of your dream. The wise man said that that one woman would have a dream when she was prepared to learn how to fight the demons. She wouldn’t know it and would need training. The woman needed guidance so that she wouldn’t turn evil like the demons she was trying to seal away."

"Saffron…" she trailed off. "Why couldn’t anyone else see him?" she was very confused by demons and prophecies.

"Because he is from the other world, no one from this world can see him…"

"But me… How can you see him then?"

"I am from Akuma Yochi as well."

"You’re a demon too! No, you can’t be a demon… people can see you."

"No, I am not a demon. I am a human like you. I am from the human side of Akuma Yochi. The demons are in the bad side ruled by the Demon King. Your dream, do you remember, it was in a small village?"

"Yeah, the demons were there burning everything and killing everyone."

"That was a weaker village. The demons came and wiped it out. They are getting tired of killing our people and have started to make their way into this world."

"So there are demons in this city right now?"

"Yes."

"That’s scary."

"They’re harmless now; they have no power until the Demon King arrives. Then they will have the chance to start destroying everything and leave this town like the one that they destroyed last night."

"Wait a second… that dream actually happened?"

"Yes."

"Was I in the other world thing then?"

"You’re mind was, anyone who was there would’ve seen a see-through version of you. That’s probably why that demon that you saw ran right at you and you woke up. To get away from him."

"Could the demon have hurt me?"

"There is always a possibility of that happening. No one else in this world or Akuma Yochi can do as you do. We have only read about it. Or heard from the prophesier about it."

"Oh... well… what if I don’t want to seal the demons away?" Kyra asked him, inside she was petrified, she hoped that this was just another weird dream.

"Well, naturally they would start by destroying this city and then move on. These demons live to kill. They find pleasure and enjoyment out of it. They will rampage the world until there is only them left. We can’t let that happen. You have to agree to do this." Ethan said touching Kyra’s arm.

"But I’m scared," Kyra whispered. "What if I don’t have the power to stop them? I'm too young to die."

"You have the power Kyra; you've always had it."

She opened her mouth to say something.

"Not right now. I know you have a lot of questions for me. I will answer them. Just not right now. I know you probably don’t believe me, I have some proof for you and I’ll show you tomorrow when we have more time."

"I’ll see you later then," Kyra said pulling him into a hug. Ethan hugged her back but half-heartedly. The prophecy really sucks for me, he thought. They said that this couldn’t happen… how did this happen… I thought I told myself that I wouldn’t…

"See you tomorrow," he said starting to walk away, still fighting with his mind over the fact that he wasn’t…

"For the record, I kind of do believe you," Kyra said to Ethan's retreating figure.

"I know," Ethan said turning around for a second and then turned around again. Sometimes he wished that the prophecy hadn’t come true; especially where he came into the picture. He didn’t mind this world; it wasn’t as dangerous as his. Being around Kyra, it was painful, especially when you knew that she would lose herself to some demon…

.

Kyra didn’t know what to think of what Ethan had just told her. She was so confused and her mind so muddled that she looked like a zombie as she walked in the front door. Kyra went straight up to her room and laid on her bed facing the ceiling.

"Are you sick or something sweetie?" her mother asked feeling her forehead.

"Something like that," she said turning onto her side. Her mother was looking at her and doing a good job in making her feel uneasy.

"Do you want something? Anything?" her mother asked looking down at her daughter trying to think of what could be wrong.

"I think I just need some time," Kyra said, her eyes were fixed on a picture of her and Ethan. Kyra was left alone to think about what Ethan had said and if she really believed him or not. She decided that she would find out tomorrow and soon enough she fell into an uneasy sleep.

--

--To be continued--