Karina was dead. Gone. Just like that. No trace. Nothing left behind. The blue orb I held in my hand disappeared along with the black background around me.

"When it strikes twelve tonight. Tonight will change forever." echoed Cericles' voice. The other question I need to think about later, is how I keep ending up in an alley. I wiggle my foot to get rid of the banana peel stuck to my shoe. Yuck. I dashed out of the alley. Now I remember where I was. Waverly. Rhodes Street was just a turn around the corner. I must have been in some kind of trance because I walked through the front door. I would expect my Father to be the first thing I see when I entered the bakery. But no, it was so much worse.

Great. Why are they here at a time like this?! I need to focus on other matters! Someone's gonna die tonight unless I figure out how to stop it from happening. I love my friends and all, but I really need my own space right now.

Aria, Camille, Nina, and Yuki were standing right in front of me. They were looking at me like I did something wrong. Ugh. They always do that to me. I don't really get it. I smiled at them with my most innocent grin. I knew they were gonna make me talk. They were gonna have me tell them what was going on. Hell no. I'm a damn good liar. If they expect me to play fair, then they have another thing coming. I stood there expecting them to burst out yelling at me. They surprised me though; I wasn't expecting them to give me giddy grins.

"I can't believe you didn't think you could tell us!" exclaimed Yuki. She sounded a lot happier than usual.

"Zina's got game." Camille smirked.

"I'm so happy for you!" Nina squealed.

"Zina, you dog." Cooed Carlos. Everyone jumped and parted away to reveal Carlos, standing right behind them. Since when did Carlos get here?! I thought only the girls were here.

This is taking too long! I need them to leave like right now!

Yuki laughed hysterically. "I forgot to mention that the boys are upstairs." I looked at all of them as they continued giggling. I felt like I totally missed something. It didn't help that the customers were looking at us too. They obviously found us amusing.

"Ha ha," I began sarcastically, "I didn't invite you into my house."

"We don't really need permission for that, do we?" Camille queried.

"Nah, we just let ourselves in." Yuki smiled. I just wanted them to stop shouting cause the customers were looking at us. I waved them with my hands to the spiral staircase. Carlos made a silly face and Nina chased after him like a child. Yuki almost got toppled over if she hadn't grabbed onto Camille.

"Remove your nails from my neck!" Laughed Camille.

"Stop the raging little monsters!" Giggled Yuki. I think it's official. We are all high. And when I mean "We" I mean them. Not me. Totally cool here. I just didn't understand what they were so happy about. The noise we were making as we went up the stairs sounded like a herd of buffalo. Aria lead me or more like dragged me into the game room. Of course that's where all the boys go. Wow. They weren't even playing any video games here. They didn't touch my switch controllers. Good. I didn't want them messing with my game. That's beside the point. When I walked into the room I heard a lot of shouting.

Carlos ran around before putting his arm around Hunter. Hunter got up from the bean bag with a big look on his face. Carter wrapped his arm around Carlos's neck. They started swaying around like a bunch of dorks. What caught me off guard was what they started chanting.

"ZINA AND KARINA! SITTING IN A TREE! K-I-S-S-I-N-G! FIRST COMES MARRIAGE-"

"What the fuck is going on here?!" I shout. I didn't know what was going on. I felt like I missed a chapter...again. They all stopped rejoicing to star at me.

"What do you mean by that?" Aria asked.

"We know your little secret." Chimed Yuki. I rolled my eyes with annoyance.

"Can you guys just tell me what is going on?" I complain. Camille gives a weird look.

Nina spoke up, "Germaine showed us footage of you with this girl, Karina. We should have known you were acting weird! You're in love!" She clapped her hands in a dreamily sigh.

That's what this is all about? I don't even want- I mean I don't even have the time to focus on anything like that! I didn't want to deal with this. I didn't feel like I could deal with myself. I really need to process what I just learned. The memories of Camille and Yuki were scary to watch and...if I didn't do something about the whole Karina dies in a fire tonight scenario, I would feel like shit. I don't have time for this, so I should do something about it.

"Uh, no I'm not!" I say angrily, "For your information, I don't like her. I despise her! She thinks she can walk all over me. She thinks she can use me as her guinea pig. Bio chemistry? Give me a break. She acts like she's the boss of me. And..and she's so cliche with that third rate biker outfit she likes wearing! I mean come on! There's like more colors of the rainbow than red and black!.." I ran out of breath. Nobody decided to answer me. They were speechless for what felt like forever.

If this is what it takes to get them out of here, then I would do it. I have to figure out and interpret what O'Verir showed me. I needed to figure it out.

Yuki was the first to say something, "If she's bullying you...then why didn't you say anything?" I rolled my eyes.

"Why do you assume that first of all?" I growl, "I simply owe her a debt. I got myself in trouble that's all." That's all you need to expect from me. They need to expect that I'm just a bad girl. I am a bad girl. I'm cruel, I skewered whatever pride Amari had. They must believe it because I believe it. I'm soo sorry, Yuki!

"Camille.." Yuki began, "Please have everyone leave this room." Hunter seemed offended by this.

"Excuse me?" Hunter said with a mock tone, "Do you think we don't deserve to hear this?" Aria pulled him out of the room as he struggled. Can't mess with Aria, she's really strong. Nina stayed in the room along with Camille and Kano. Carlos and Carter began to exit the room. I saw Camille tug on Carlos's shirt. She whispered something inaudible and Carlos went the opposite way Carter was going.

What are you planning, Camille?

"Nina close the door." Camille commanded. She did as she was told. I stood in the middle of this room. I felt like I was being put on trial. I felt like a criminal. Whatever. I threw myself into this. This is who I am...am I doing the right thing?

"My, the temper of flames never seems better." Kano commented.

"Agreed." Yuki stated, "Zina, can you just tell us what's going on?"

"There's nothing going on." I spat.

"Ay, Camille can you douse the flames before they bite?" Kano pleaded. He seemed to be begging her. Why is he begging to her? What put him in this situation?

"Sorry, Kano." Camille sighed, "It's just going to get worse."

"Only if you make it." I taunted. Camille shuddered when she heard me. I feel sooo bad about this, Camille! I just need you guys to get away from me.

"Woah, woah, woah, woah!" Yuki shouted. She waved her hands to cool down the tension. "Cool it! We are going to have a mature discussion about our feelings and our problems!"

"Tell that to all of the annoying humans burning down the rainforest." Muttered Kano. Yuki whirled around and glared at him.

"Not helping." She commented. "The thing is Zina we just want you to stop lying about everything, please."

"It's natural for humans to lie. It's inevitable." I respond. "What makes you think I'm lying anyways? Hmm?"

"You've been very shifty about what you're doing." Nina spoke quietly, "It just worries us that you might not be okay or.."

"I assure you, I'm fine."

"Says the girl I caught crying in their bathroom, Friday night," Camille mentions. It was my turn to flinch. Okay, not the time to call out my Mommy issues.

"So what?" I growl, "We're teenagers, we are going to cry over useless shit."

"That's not something to think about lightly." Nina mentioned, "I mean the crying part."

Camille looked at me with kind eyes. "I mentioned to you last time, Zina. It's better to have help then to go it alone."

"Heh..." She got me. I had no way to come back from that. No it just took me a second.

"And yet things get done more efficiently when you work alone."

"That's because you don't know how to work with others." Camille walked up towards me. I walked closer to her.

"I like to call it being efficient." I smirk.

"What you call efficiency is what's hurting you. It's hurting your pride."

"It's not hurting my pride. You simply don't like how I work."

"It's unhealthy to keep things in."

"Tell that to the world. Look how destroyed it is."

"Doesn't mean we have to be."

"You can't see the clear picture. Go get glasses like Yuki."

"I believe your the one who doesn't see the clear picture. You ignore everything that bothers you."

"That's what I have you believe. I see everything. I can see the world for what it is."

"You only see the darkness. You run from the light."

"That's because I'm simply another one of the world's broken pieces."

"You're not. You just had some troubles. Everyone deals with that."

"..." I didn't know she would talk me into a corner. She's clever I'll give her that. I didn't want to show her that she was right. What could I do? I didn't have a snarky response to cancel out hers.

"Get the hell out of my house!" I shouted. I shoved her to show her I wasn't kidding. Yuki ran right in between us, to stop me.

"Enough!" Yuki shouted. Kano and Nina looked on with horrified expressions.

"Clearly, we can't have a mature discussion." Yuki sighed. "Guys, let's go. She needs to cool off." Kano and Nina followed her order and left the room. A second later, Carlos appeared and exited. I'm guessing Camille allowed him to listen in.

Camille lingered and shook Yuki off. She slowly made her exit. Yuki followed. I swear this is the best move. I know I did the right thing but...why does it hurt so much? I hate this pain. Why do I feel guilty? I'm not supposed to feel guilty. They are. They did this to themselves. So why do I feel so alone?...

"In your wickedness, you have broken the ancient commandments and crafted a bond with one of the light. Our laws are clear. They demand you be eternally imprisoned. As for the impure child, she must be kept from the path of the dark arts forever."

"..."

"..."

"Rise my child! Rise to realize your true potential! Unleash your power and awaken the Eyes of the World!"

It's really hard to think when Hunter's playing Bayonetta in the background. After I shouted at everyone, I allowed Hunter to stay. Well... he asked me if he could stay. He just wanted to continue playing Bayonetta. I enjoy the game. It's got a lot of gore though. Of all days to be playing this awesome game, I had other things on my mind.

Karina Al Vine. It's six o' five pm right now. That meant that Karina has about six hours left before she dies. I know how she dies. I just don't know where she is right now. I don't have her phone number. I have no way of contacting her. The reason why I was so weird today is that Karina dies today. It disturbs me to know that someone dies and I can't do anything about it. That's why I couldn't stand having my friends in my house. I needed them to go away so I could come to terms with my situation.

I sat in a chair in front of a PC. Hunter was in the middle of the room, on a bean bag, playing Bayonetta on the big screen. He didn't bother me. He knew I was angry but was happy that I allowed him to stay. I kept biting the end of my pen as I tapped the keyboard with no purpose.

"Whoa, What a day!"

"Damn it!" Hunter shouted. He got up from the bean bag. "I got a bronze trophy. Stupid Enzo." He sat back down. I giggled. It was a hard game. No doubt about that. I need to focus though.

Karina was surround by rickety old places. That would mean-

"Fleur de Cirey, Eau du Parfum. Such a wonderful floral bouquet, with its subtle hints of Rosemary. You know, in the language of flowers, rosemary equates to remembrance. Which doesn't quite equate to you, now does it, Bayonetta.-"

"I can't hear myself think." I mutter. Hunter pauses his game.

"Do you mind telling me what's going on?" I looked at him for the longest time. I didn't want to ask for help. Why should I? My mom can do just about everything on her own. Why can't I?

"Stress. Hunter. Stress." I mumble. He looks at me with a gentle smile.

"Why don't you just listen to the dialogue then?" He suggested. "Perhaps it can ease your mind?" I nodded. He decided to continue his game. It's a little ludicrous to think that video game dialogue would have the answer to what I needed right now. It never hurt to look at things differently though...

"I'll tell you a little secret, Cheshire."

"The name is Luka."

"You need to hone your sense of smell, my dear. There's no rosemary in my perfume. After all, rosemary's a demon repellent."

I don't really understand how watching this would help me, with what was going on. I knew the dialogue all too well.

"Whoa! What a day!"

I knew that he just completed chapter two. I also knew that chapter three; The Burning Grounds, was what he was playing now.

8:45. About four more hours before I'm responsible for someone's death. I shouldn't feel responsible for this. There's no evidence that I would be a murderer, but it was what I heard. O'Verir had whispered that tonight at twelve changes everything... so I have to assume that I am going to become a murderer.

"Phew!" Hunter exhaled, "Time to take a break. What time is it?"

"About five minutes to nine." I say absentmindedly. He doesn't really pay attention to me for a second. He's busy shutting off the console and putting the controllers away. When he was done cleaning, he came up to me.

"Hey, can you tell me what's bothering you?" He asks gently, "I feel useless and like a horrible friend, when you don't tell me things."

"Fine." I say weakly. I think it was time to say something. No matter how much I wanted to prove Camille and Yuki wrong. I could really use another opinion on the matter.

"Here goes nothing," I mutter. I slowly take my hat off. As if on queue, I sprouted ears. Hunter jumped back in shock.

"S-since when could you do that?!" He squealed.

"Since Friday." I respond, "You see, some weird creature bit me. I ended up with powers. I grow ears, the tail, the feet... and well, I went to this shop called Fathoms. I met Karina there. Her father and her were helping me with this situation. Now I went to this O'Verir guy who restored my missing memory and showed me that Karina dies tonight. Also, Cameron can't remember his time at our school."

"Whoa." Hunter says blinking rapidly, "That's a lot to take in. And this happened over the course of three days?!"

"Yes. Also, Karina has like only three hours left before she dies in a fire!"

"WHAT?" Hunter exclaims, "THEN WHY WERE YOU FUCKING SITTING HERE THIS WHOLE TIME?!"

"BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!"

"Then why didn't you ask for help sooner?"

"..."

"You don't know, do you?"

"I guess I don't." I say defeated. Hunter looks at me with a quizzical glare.

"You know when someone's life is in danger.." he began, "You have abilities, you know she is in trouble."

"But I don't know where she is!" I cry, "I don't know where she'll be!"

"Then let's figure that out!" Hunter shouts, "Pull up a search bar on that PC." He points to the one I'm sitting in front of. I do as he says. I'm glad that I opened up to someone about this problem. Now I'm getting somewhere. I start typing in old houses in the Chicago area.

"Can I ask you something?" Hunter begins. He's looking over my shoulder as I scroll through the results.

"Why do you act so cold sometimes?" he says gently, "You know Yuki and Camille and the others try to help."

"Do you hate Yuki?" I question. He glares at me with a look of disbelief.

"She gets on my nerves sometimes," he answers, "But I don't hate her."

"I see."

"Did you think I did?"

"O'Verir showed me something different."

"Then how do we know he isn't lying about Karina?"

"It felt too real."

"Oh my god, you're in love with her."

"Love is for the weak."

"You can be strong and love people, Zina. I don't understand why you think it can't be any other way."

"..."

"Look, Hunter. I'm no hero. I'm not gonna be able to save Karina." I say sadly, "It's not in my genes."

"I'm sad to hear that, Zina." Hunter says sarcastically, "If you didn't know that she dies today, then it wouldn't be your problem."

"I only look out for myself. This is new territory for me."

"That explains a lot about you. You ignore the big picture, you ignore people who try to help you, you ignore just about everything. It's sad really. I feel sad that you trapped yourself in a cage."

"It's nothing for you to be sad about." I mutter, "The world did this to me."

"You let it." He sighs, "But now it's giving you something good to do."

"I'm only looking out for her because she might be able to cure me." Hunter slammed his hand down on the table, so loudly that I flinched.

"I just about had it with your shit!" He states, "So what if Karina can cure you? It's still the right thing to do, to go help her. But noooo, you're sitting here trying to find an excuse to ignore the problem, your problems! Stop running from your problems, Zina! You can't run away from this. This problem is bigger than you can ignore, and it will only get bigger, unbearable if you turn a blind eye. If your parents could see you now, they would be disappointed. They would wonder how the hell did this happen?!You want to know something? We, as in your friends believe you are an amazing person. You helped Nina out when she was too afraid to come out about her sexuality! You helped Carter with his annoying uncle who harassed him! You were there. You were there for me when my sister was killed! So when you say your not a hero, Zina, that's a lie!! Your a good person! Cause your our HERO, ZINA!"

I didn't know what to say. I was frozen. When someone usually yells at me. I fire right back at them. This was different. Hunter being so mad, was something I had never seen in my life. The fact that he...

"W-why?" I say weakly, "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I feel, that you can become a hero." Hunter said with a reassuring tone, "Besides, are you really going to pass this up? I know I want to help." I smile at him. I never knew Hunter thought so highly of me. It felt nice. It felt like something was right with me after all. But...that's not me. The person he sees is only a mirage.

"I'm sorry." I say quietly. "That's not me. What you see is only a disguise." Hunter looked at me like I just punched him in the gut.

"FINE!" He growls, "Then let Karina die! Let that sit on your conscience." He storms out of the gaming room, furious. Why did it feel wrong to break, that hope out of him? I don't really know.

10:17. About two hours before Karina dies. Now you can't call me a criminal. I don't have any dirt on my hands. I'm simply a bystander in all of this. Nothing more, nothing less. I haven't known Karina that long. So why should I care? Because she might know how to cure me. Possibly. If not, then saving her would be pointless. How do I deal with that? The uncertainty of not having the outcome I wanted? How? How do people live with that?

It was awhile later that I realized.... I dozed off. It wasn't until I looked on the tv which I forgot to turn off, that I saw something terrifying.

"This just in, a fire mysteriously appeared on Turo street's abandoned house. The reason for the fire is unknown, but sources say there is a couple of-"

I dashed out of the game room and into my bedroom. I went through my room like a hurricane! Socks, shirts, pajamas, and all flew everywhere. I was looking for something to wear! I had pjs on! The reason why I'm so heavily in a rush all of a sudden is that the crisis is on Turo street. Turo street is where Hunter lives! He's not that far away from my street. Just a couple of blocks away.

I wasn't really paying attention to what I put on. I didn't care! The uncertainty that Hunter could be in that fire is what terrified me. If I had the power to do something about it, then like hell I would! I ripped off my plaid pj shirt. I swear I saw the shirt rip to shreds. I slipped on a black hoodie, grabbed some black and white yoga pants, and dashed out of my room. It only took me a second to realize that I forgot to grab shoes! It didn't matter anyways. It became an after thought as I climbed to the balcony of my house. I hopped. More like I leaned through the air.

That's when I realized, I forgot to put on a shirt! I mean a shirt under my hoodie! The horror!!! That can't stop me now though! I shook my head vigorously, to will myself on to keep going.

I continuously jumped from building to building. Sometimes I occasionally wall jumped to get a better view of things. My feet were not human. They had transformed to paws. More like the feet of a lynx. No wonder it was easy to maneuver! I had the agility of the animal itself. If I weren't worried for Hunter's safety..I would be enjoying myself right now. I would be basking in the beating air, going across my face. It felt good, almost like I was flying. I couldn't help it. I leaped high in the air.

It felt like time slowed down for a bit. It looked like I could touch the moon with my own hands. I smiled to myself. I slowly leaned backwards into the descent. I landed gracefully like a cat. That's probably because I am one...

Sniff sniff

I smelled the air. Something was burning. It had that rotting scent to it. I lunge forward like a cat. All fours and all. I must have been out of my mind. Nope. Just plain dumbass. Like this next description I give you is 100% dumbass move of the year!

I smashed face first into a brick wall. I was quickly greeted by the floor colliding with my back.

"Hello floor." I rasp as I climb to my feet. When I can finally see clearly, the house I bumped into, was right next to the burning one. A giant crowd had surrounded it. The firemen were trying to keep people at bay, as they dealt with the situation. I didn't see Hunter anywhere. That meant that I would have to go looking in that burning building. The best way to do that, was to go through the front entrance. The other ways to enter looked blocked off by angry flames.

I bit my lip.

"You dumbass." I mutter, "You better not be in there!" I pulled my hood over my face as I ran. The lynx ears popped right through the hood. At least I don't have to worry about it falling off now.

"Look!" Shouted a person from the crowd. Everyone else's eyes were drawn on me as I entered the burning building. If I learned anything from the Burning Grounds Chapter in Bayonetta, it's to avoid the fire at all costs.

My view felt like it was being cut off by the flames roaring around me. A piece of the floor came crashing down, behind me. I leapt out of the way onto the wall across from me. I think I grew claws because it was easy to stick to the walls. It hurt to do so too. The heat was coming off of the walls as well. The stairs were clear in my view.

I hopped onto the railing as the fire grew more intense, more angry if that was even possible. I ran like a scaredy cat as the fire chased me up the stairs. When I reached the second floor. I saw that most of the floor was gone. The debris that I climbed over was the second floor.

Hunter and Karina were in the middle of a plank. The remaining floor board that would still be considered the second floor. I was speechless. How was I going to save both... or was I not supposed to save both?

Maybe, just maybe, O'Verir showed me that I have to let Karina die in order to save Hunter. It's possible. It's most likely guaranteed.

"Zina!"

That snapped me out of my head. Hunter called my name.

"That's Zina?" Karina questioned, "Her complexion looks more white like freshly fallen snow...that and the tail's new. So are the paws, the claws, and outfit.

"You're about to die." I say as I leap onto the ceiling, "And that's seriously what you want to be discussing right now?"

"Do you have a plan?" She blankly says.

"Sorta." I groan, "I'm working on it as I go." I reached out my hand to grab one of them. The floor board underneath them creaked. I had to hurry before the-

The board snapped. I grabbed Hunter. Karina was slowly descending. It looked like it would take ages for the flame to reach her. I saw this happen. If I don't act like right this moment, then she's dead.

"Hold on!" I tell Hunter. I did the most reckless thing ever. Well, this would be the most reckless thing I have ever done in my life. I leapt right into the flames to save her. The fire started eating at my skin. The pain! I tossed Hunter away from the flames and shoved Karina out of there. I exited the building a moment later. Quickly, I patted myself down to stop the flames on my clothes from eating me alive.

What I didn't expect was a round of applause. It was a weird feeling that I had never experienced. What was it? Pride. I was proud. Who knew it could feel so good?