Sarah (v/o): "People once believed that when someone dies a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead. But sometimes something so bad that a terrible sadness is carried with it and the soul can't rest. Then sometimes, just sometimes, the crow can bring that soul back to put the wrong things right."

Chapter 1 New Friends meet old ones

January 13, 2007

Bastian Blair is a fairly short guy with his black hair just past his eyes which are black as well. He is athletically built and a punk rocker. He was walking down Liberty Ave. when he was stopped by a familiar face. It was Lilly. She was his best friend since he came to the town and that was 14 years ago. Bastian was only 4 years old at the time.
"Hey! Where have you been?" Lilly asked.
She was a sweet, caring girl. Her hair, though just past her eyes and spiked on the top of her head in little ponytails, was the color of the snow on the ground and her eyes matched the greyest of the clouds in the sky. She only had 2 piercings out of the ordinary but they were hardly noticeable unless you looked for them. She had the bridge of her nose pierced and the right side of her lip on the bottom.
"Does it really matter? I'm not thinking that it does at this point. My life is ruined and I must die!" Bastian said in a monotone.
"What are you talking aboot? What happened? Did he stand you up?" Lilly asked worried.
Bastian just looked down at his feet and Lilly heard him make a noise. When she lifted his head, he was crying.
"Oh, Honey, what's wrong? Are you OK? C'mon! We're going to my place to talk aboot this. C'mon." Lilly said leading him with her arm around his shoulder.
It took awhile but they finally made it to Lilly's place.
"Lilly, I'm so sorry that I didn't take your advice!" Bastian cried.
"What's wrong, Baby?" Lilly asked wondering what advice Bastian was talking about.
"We were 9 and you told me to never let anyone get me down. I was there in this little place right next to the Babylon. It's called Trowbridge," Lilly nodded showing Bastian that she heard of it. "And this guy looked at me. It wasn't a cute look like most of the guys wore that night, but it was a malicious look. It was a look of pure evil and hatred. He walked over to me and said 'you stupid faggot. Your gonna die if you ever look at me that way again.' That's when he did it. That's when he took out his knife and dug it into my abdomen. That's about the time Maurice came in. He looked at me and at that guy and ran out. I think that he thinks I'm cheating on him or something. I hope that that's not true because I have thought it through and have come to realize that I love him."
Lilly put her hand to her mouth and a tear fell from her eye. "I'm so proud of you! I'll make sure that he knows the truth since he is my brother. He can be stubborn at times but I'll try my best to get some since through his head."
"Thank you so much! So how was your day, Hon?" Bastian asked focusing on Lilly and putting pressure on his abdomen.
"Ugh! It wasn't as good as it could've been. Much better than yours though." Lilly chuckled. "I'm just kidding." She got up and went to get a first aid kit for Bastian.
"What went wrong?"
"Well, I went to the record store, and my first customer ended up being Ryice. He said that he came to talk aboot the state of our friendship and I told him that it was over as far as I knew. Then when LaRae came out from the back to work the register with me, she seen Ryice and I. She seemed upset that he came back. 'D'ya want me to have him kicked out?' she asked. I declined because I thought that he might have some explanation as to why he did this to me."
"Did he?" Bastian worried.
"He couldn't talk right at that moment but he wants to talk to me either later tonight or early in the morning. I hope he has a good excuse for the things he has done to me!" Lilly exclaimed fixing Bastian up.

Chapter 2 Ryice's good excuse

January 14, 2007 2:15 a.m.

Lilly got off of her futon and walked over to the door. She opened it and there was Ryice standing there.
"What're you doing here at this time in the morning?" Lilly asked him.
"What're you doing up so late in the night?" Ryice asked her. Ryice is 117 years old. He's a vampire and a cute one at that. His hair is crystal white and his eyes are black. He's very powerful and he's a lead singer in Bastian's band.
"Let's not turn this around on me!" Lilly stated.
"Are you gonna let me in or am I gonna stand out here all night?" Ryice asked.
"Fine! C'mon in. Now what did you want to talk aboot since you came all the way out of YOUR way just to talk to me?" Lilly asked annoyed.
"I came to explain why I left you and didn't tell you the rules. There are certain rules that you have to follow being a vampire."
"I NEVER WANTED TO BE A VAMPIRE! I JUST WANT TO STAY HERE AND BE NORMAL! WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME?" Lilly screamed.
"You seemed like you loved me. You told me that you'd do anything to be with me. Vampires are not meant to be with humans and YOU agreed to become a vampire so you could be with me." Ryice explained.
"I DID NOT AGREE! Yes, I do remember saying that I'd do anything to be with you, but that was not in the cards. At least not in my deck! I'm sorry if I sent you the wrong message." Lilly said coolly.
"It's too late now, isn't it, Lilly. I'm just gonna say what I came here to say and then get as far away from you as possible."
"GOOD! I don't want you here anyways!" Lilly exclaimed.
"You better sit down because this is gonna take a while to explain," Ryice said while he lead Lilly to her futon which was pulled up like a couch. She jerked her arm out of his hand and sat down at the far end of her futon-couch. "Now that your sitting down, I can finally tell you. The whole reason as to why I left you is quite complicated really. It was time for you to see your last sunrise." Flashback: Ryice walked out of Lilly's home and he's seen walking into the graveyard. The sun is rising and Lilly is standing on her balcony watching. Her eyes are, at first, red then they suddenly change to their normal dark grey color. She shields her eyes because the sun is so bright at first. She feels the warmth of the sun all over her skin. For the first and last time in her whole life, she actually appreciates this glorious moment. For a second she wonders why she hasn't appreciated it before now. She realizes that Ryice isn't there anymore and she goes to find him leaving the sun to rise on it's own. She searches all over her home and then decides to go to the graveyard since that's where she first met Ryice. That's where he lived. She went to his grave house and walked down the steps.
"Ryice? Are you there?" she asked. There was no answer nor anything in this grave home. It looked like he packed his things and got out of there. Looking all around and not paying any attention as to where she was stepping, Lilly heard a crunch below her foot. She looked down and it was a singe black rose. Ryice was known for his black roses. That's the only way she ever let him do this to her. Flashback ended.
"I was scared and afraid. The main reason I went with you that night was because you were a sweet girl and I didn't know that you were gonna care for me as much as you do or did.
"See, I have this reputation for making women have an eternal life. I do not fall for these women, they are merely just girls in my eyes. Nothing else. I have turned over 300 women into everlasting beings. All of them just girls in my eyes. All of them, until I found you.
"I knew that I had to turn you. I knew this. And yet, finding out how was the difficult part. You were a sweet girl. You lived alone and your best friend was gay. I had to take your mind off of the things you cared about because I realized that you were falling for your friend, this child I sang for in his own band.
"You were really nice when I said hello to you. Even when I handed you the black rose you simply accepted and took my hand. Right there is when I did something wrong. Something that shouldn't have been done, EVER: I followed.
"I'm not a follower, I'm a leader. I was supposed to lead you into eternal life, not follow you into it. I couldn't resist what was going to happen next. In fact I knew what was going to happen and I knew what was already happening but I had no control over it as all men don't have control over it. For once, I was just like a regular man.
"You told me that you wanted me. You also said that you'd do anything to have me. And I asked to make sure that I heard you correctly: 'Anything?'
"You nodded and I walked over to you. I tilted your head and bit your neck. I drank the blood from within your body. It was so warm and tasted like blood I have never tasted in my life. It was addicting and I almost couldn't stop. I could hear your heartbeat slowing down and I knew that it was time for you to drink mine.
"I bit my wrist and the blood slowly ran down from the two holes. I put my wrist to your soft lips and you drank. It was a wonderful moment and you and I were finally united as one.
"Your body was dying and the vampire in you was awaking. It was hurting you and I knew it. You can't really stop pain. It has to stop on it's own. But you can help it along. I held you in my arms while your body died. I felt your pain and this was new to me. It made me flinch.
"You looked up into my eyes and you warmed my cold heart. When you touched my face, you made realize that I was falling in love with you.
"I'm not supposed to fall in love! I have a cold heart! I'm supposed to merely turn you then ditch you! I was so scared at that moment. I had never been in love before!" Ryice explained.
Lilly touched his face which was looking to the floor of the room that they were in. "That's why you left, isn't it?" She said when he looked at her.
"Lilly, I am so sorry! I didn't mean to leave you there. I meant to come back when I got things straightened out. But the days turned into weeks and that into months. Before I knew it, it was too late to go back to you."
The telephone rang and Lilly got up to answer it.
"Hello?" She said. Ryice could here her talk. "Oh hey! Yeah. He's here. I know I should. But I can't. NO! Ok, fine. I do. But it's not my fault! Yes, it is a good excuse but it's not gonna change the things that have happened. Ok, I'll talk to you later then. Love you, too. Ok, bye Bastian." Lilly hung up the phone.
"Well I better get going. It was nice talking to you." Ryice said as he grabbed his trench coat and walked out the door leaving Lilly alone once more.

Chapter 3 Maurice and Bastian

January 14, 2007 3:20 p.m.

"Please answer the door, Maurice! Let me explain!" Bastian said through sobs at Maurice's door.
"Go away! There's nothing to explain!" Maurice said. Maurice has light brown hair and he has crystal blue eyes. He is so much in-love with Bastian, but Bastian hurt him.
"Maurice, I love you!" Bastian said for the very first time. There was a click and Maurice showed up at the door. By the way his face looked, you can easily tell that he had been crying.
"Do you really mean it?" Maurice asked.
"Will you let me explain what happened at Trowbridge?"
"C'mon in." Maurice said as he led Bastian inside. As soon as the door was shut, Maurice turned around and stared into Bastian's black eyes. "You don't have to explain unless what you said out there was a lie. I love you, too. Much more than you will ever know." Maurice said. Bastian walked closer to Maurice. "I would never lie to you, baby. This is swear!" Bastian took Maurice's face into his hands and planted a kiss on his forehead.
"Did you even know who that guy was?" Maurice asked. Bastian looked down (he was much taller than Maurice), into Maurice's eyes and said "He was straight and that's all I know!"
"STRAIGHT??? Not from the way I saw him with you!" Maurice screamed.
"Baby, look," Bastian said as he lifted up his shirt to show the wound. "Apparently I looked at him the wrong way." Maurice looked as though he was on the break of tears, again. He felt really bad about jumping to conclusions. He was willing to do anything to make it up to Bastian.
"I am so sorry! Is there anything I can do to make this up to you?" Maurice said with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Just being with me is enough. I love you, Maurice!" Bastian said with his hands still on Maurice's face. He kissed Maurice's nose, then his cheek.
"I know that this is a mood breaker, but it's been on my mind for a week now." Maurice said with a hint of sadness.
"What's been on your mind? Is something wrong with you?" Bastian asked worried.
"No! It's not me. It's my sister. You were the last one to talk to her out of all of us. Is she hurt that Ryice came back? Does she hate him? I'm asking you this because you know her better than I do. I love my sister and so does Ryice." Maurice said but as soon as the words came out of his mouth, he knew he said something he shouldn't of.
"WHAT? He loves her? I can't believe that. She was kinda upset to hear that he came back. That's very odd that he loves her. He surely doesn't show it because he isn't around when she cries. I'm always the one there when she breaks down. And." Bastian started when Maurice kissed him on the lips. When he pulled away, Bastian was shocked. It was the first real kiss that he had ever received. Maurice just happened to be the first person that Bastian has ever been with. He knew that he was attracted to guys since he was in his Freshman year at high school. Now that he just graduated from high school, he has only been with one guy but that still had been only for three days. Although they are still together, the action has pretty much left. They liked to hold hands in the hallway and get stairs. They loved the attention.
"What was that." Bastian started, but again, Maurice kissed him. This time it was much longer. Before it got into anything else, there was a knock on the door.
"What a loss cause. I better get that." Maurice said as he walked over to the door.
"LILLY! What're you doing here? Why are you crying?" Bastian said as he recognized the short, sad girl.
"He..He..He loves me..but...but he ran out.." Lilly cried. She was hurt pretty bad but couldn't put it into words. She had secretly loved Ryice her whole entire life. Maurice led her to his papasaun chair. She sat down and put her face in her hands. Bastian walked over to her and put his arm around her shoulders.
"Lilly, honey, I didn't understand you. Why did he run out?" Maurice asked. If Ryice loved her, he surely wouldn't leave her. He was secretly watching over her every minute he can.
"After..After I got off the phone with Bastian, he said he had to go and that it was nice talking to me. He left and the door still stood open. I just fell down right then. My world crashed. So I went into my kitchen and I got out one of those razor blades we have to use to get that wall paper down with, and I cut myself. I pretty much fainted from the loss of blood I'm guessing. As soon as I woke up, I came over here. That's all I remember." Lilly said trying to fight back tears. Maurice and Bastian looked at each other. Lilly doesn't ever act like this, to ANYONE! Did she really love him as much as she says?

Chapter 4 Ending up with the wrong person

January 20, 2007 7:23 p.m.

"Why did I have to tell her?" Ryice asked himself. He was wandering in his graveyard home as he always did when he was thinking about Lilly. He heard someone outside in the graveyard and walked out only to see a very strong looking man. The man that Ryice had noticed was 6'3 and had brown hair and eyes. He looked very ruff and he was most defiantly straight. Ryice only noticed these small details since he was in a band with Bastian and Bastian was very much attracted to men. Now Ryice notices these things more than often.
"Whose there?" the man hollered.
"What're you doing here?" Ryice asked this stranger.
"Who are you?" the stranger called back as Ryice stepped out of the shadow of a tall grave stone.
"My name is Ryice. May I ask you yours human?" Ryice said.
"Um..M.my n.name is Drake." The man called to Ryice.
"What're you doing here, Drake? Don't you know that you shouldn't be in the graveyard after dark?" Ryice sniggered.
"I.I.I was just walking around." Drake told Ryice. Ryice was suddenly right in front of this man. "This is where you took a wrong turn!" Ryice said to him.
"WAIT!! I could help you with whatever you want! Please just don't kill me!" Drake cried to Ryice.
"What can you possibly do to the most powerful vampire in the history of the world?" Ryice asked with his hand around Drake's throat.
"V.Vampire? Oh, I know wha.what I can d.d.do!" Drake stuttered.
"What might that be, Drake?"
"I..I know this kid that no one cares about and I can lead you to him to kill. And I know a bunch of other people like this as well. Just don't kill me!" Ryice stood for a minute thinking about this. "You know what, I might consider this." Ryice let go of this man, but as soon as he did, he got paid for it. He felt someone kick him from behind and he got punched as well from the front. When he fell to the ground of the graveyard, he got kicked many more times in the stomach.
"And tell your faggot friends what they have in store for them." Drake said as he kicked Ryice again and turned to leave.

Bastian, Maurice, and Lilly are all sitting in the hospital waiting. They were waiting for Ryice. Lilly finally left Maurice's house and was wandering through the graveyard to catch a glimpse of the man she loved and got hurt by. When she found him, he was gasping for breath and Lilly ran over to him.
"I am so sorry for running away, Lilly!" Ryice cried. Lilly just held him in her arms as they cried. He did hurt her, but he was hurt as well. He was bleeding and it was staining her white shirt. She didn't care because Ryice was dying in her arms and she had to get help fast. She screamed at the top of her lungs and Maurice and Bastian came running. Next thing she knows, she's at the hospital waiting to hear that Ryice is alright. A doctor came out of the E.R. and Lilly got up.
"Are you Lilly?" Lilly nodded as the doctor asked this. "Ryice is alright, he has a broken wrist but other than that, he's fine."
"Can I go see him?" Lilly asked.
"Of course. He's asking for you anyway." The doctor led Lilly back through the doors just after Lilly turned to her friend and her brother and gave them the "thumbs up" sign. Ryice was lying on the bed with tubes running all through him. He turned his head when Lilly walked through the doors. A big smile spread across his face.
"Lilly!" Ryice said as a tear went down his cheek. "Watch out for Bastian and Maurice. Some guy is after them. He told me that he was gonna hurt them in some way. Please watch out for them. You must go now and watch them." Ryice said as Lilly turned. She didn't want to go, but she did as Ryice said. Of course she would, she'd do anything this man told her to do. She loved him with all of her heart.
"Wait!" Ryice called out after her. Lilly turned around and Ryice beckoned her closer to him. He grabbed her hands and pulled her down until there noses were touching. He moved closer to her and kissed her lightly on the lips. "I just want to know that I did that before something bad happened." Lilly smiled as she began to leave again. "I love you so much!" She thought as she turned to get a look of her face. Something was wrong and she might not see him ever again. She hopped that this wasn't the case, but bad things always did happen to Ryice even if he didn't want them to.