I couldn't sleep. Slowly, like a creeping predator, the panic and fear in my chest had built, and I had begun to get scared. I'd already pinned a sheet over the tall mirror across from my bed to hide the image of what I was. I was terrified, of myself.

I was walking circles in my bedroom, shaking my hands out and trying to shake the full-fledged anxiety attack shaking my entire body. I looked at my hands, willing my skin to turn back to normal from the black and cracked flesh. It didn't help either that random flashes of the strange memories I didn't know were clouding my thoughts too. Why was everything crashing down all at once?

I knew that even though it was nearly four in the morning, someone would notice the strange soul in the student dorms. The security, if anything. I knew the DWMA had meisters on part time duty. "Damnit..." I whispered, my voice sounding strange and alien even to me. It was like there was someone else's voice box in my throat. Deeper. Quieter but... deadlier.

I looked at my phone on my bedside table, my thoughts running at lightning speed. If someone found me, I would want it to be someone who wouldn't kill me on sight. But who? I looked out my window into the sleeping city, my heart starting to pound in my ears. I looked away from that reflection, too. I was terrifying. I would kill me on sight if I didn't know.

I lifted my phone, taking in a breath as my chest hurt bad from the stress of everything. I was about to click on someone's number when another flash of the memories poured over me. I fell to my knees, the images actually hurting this time.

"(Y/n)." a voice said. I looked up through the darkness, not seeing anyone. I touched my face, felling the tears that were streaming down my cheeks. "(Y/n)." the voice said again... Mari?

"Mari. They're all dead." I said, my voice echoing in whatever place we were in. I couldn't see anything.

"I know." I heard Mari cry, his voice breaking as she mumbled the names of all of our friends.

"It's my fault." I said, and my voice broke. She hugged me, his tears dripping down onto my cheeks as she shook. She whispered 'no.' over and over again into my ear, and about how 'it was all Arachne's fault'. I didn't feel anything.

Mari was saying something else now, maybe a ray of hope in her words. "(Y/n)... I could fix everything. I could turn it all back." Her wavering voice said. "I don't know... like a different time line. You'd be different, changed, maybe not even a weapon. You might be something twisted like a keshin or a demon even, but everything would be okay again. Right again. And I'd remember." She said. "I could find you and make you remember everything."

I looked down at the person held in my arms. For some reason, I couldn't see their features. There was too much blood, and it was too dark. "Would he be there again?" I asked, and she nodded. "Okay. Do it." I said, wiping my tears.

Magic began to pour around us, Mari's magic, dark and sweeping about me like caressing hands. Pain tore through me, but it was calm, and then everything was bright and...

I gasped and dropped my phone to the floor, gasping for air as my entire body shook. I looked at my hands, seeing how they were shaking uncontrollably in the dark of my room. Everything was completely quiet, Skye scratching at my door where I pushed and then locked him out. I held a hand over my mouth, holding in a scream as the pain wracked my mind, burning and leaving a path through my memories. The pieces flowing into my mind seemed to stick and force themselves to be mine.

I lifted the phone again and hit the call button for the number on the screen. I waited, shaking, until the person picked up. "(Y/n)? Why are you calling at four in the morning?" Stein asked.

"Stein." I said through my hand, my changed voice echoing about my room. "Help me." I said, my voice wavering.

"Who is this? Does someone have (Y/n)'s phone..." and then, he paused. "Oh." He said simply. "(Y/n)." he said, and I nodded although he couldn't see me. "I'll be over there in three minutes." He said. "Okay?" he said. I didn't respond because I was shaking so bad. "Okay (Y/n)? Answer me." He said, deadly calm.

"Yes professor." I said.

"I want you to call James and tell him to come to your apartment. I want him to wait with you until I'm there, okay?" The older man said in his calm but firm voice.

"Y-y-yes professor." I said again, shaking. He hung up and I looked at my phone, going through it until I reached James' number. I dialed it and then waited, tears brimming in my red eyes as the anxiety continued to ravage my body. "James?" I asked as the line picked up.

"(Y/n)? What's wrong with your voice?" he said, his accent coming through clear and half asleep. A mumbled voice asked what was wrong, and I realized it must've been Mari.

"You and Mari need to come over. S-stein's coming." I said. "Please." The last words was a sob and I heard the alertness in James' next words.

"We're almost to you." He said, ending the call. I dropped the phone to my bed, holding my arms as I continued to shake. This was terrible. The unrelenting panic and terror n me the worst part out of everything. I reached up to the bed and pulled the blanket on at the foot of it down and wrapped it around myself, covering my head and shadowing my face. I started to cry in earnest now. What was happening to me.

I heard the door to my school apartment open and two people walk inside. "(Y/n)!" James' voice called, and the bedroom door opened. "Shit, (Y/n)..." he said, and ran to me, Mari close behind him. He bent down, and I felt his strong arms wrap around and hold me over my shoulders from the right hand side. "(Y/n)... look at me." He said, but I just shook my head, staring to rock back and forth.

"(Y/n)," Mari's voice said, and I saw he legs and feet bent down in front of me in my line of vision. Her delicate hands gently reached out and held both my cheeks, causing me to flinch. She slowly lifted my face so she could see me, and I heard the tiny way her breaths changed. Was she scared of me? Frightened? I slowly looked up and met her eyes, tears still streaming down my cheeks.

"Mari..." I said in my changed scary voice.

She nodded. "Yes, (Y/n)? What is it?" she asked, and I could see tears forming in her eyes as well.

"Please." I said. "Help me. I don't know what's happening to me." I said.

She nodded and pulled me to her, embracing me tightly. "(Y/n). I promise I'll fix this." She said.

The door to my home opened again and I heard Stein's strong footsteps enter. He walked into my room and closed the door, kneeling down next to us. "Mari." He said, and the girl pulled away from me. Stein reached up and pulled the blanket about me down, revealing the true horror of what I was. He barely missed a beat. "James. I need you to do something." He said.

James nodded. "Yes?" he asked, looking like he would be ready to fight anything.

"I need you to harmonize with her soul. I think that that could reinforce the barrier keeping her human. I believe if you harmonize with her and the demon energy making her like this drains, she'll go back to normal." He said. James nodded and kneeled next to me, placing his hand on my shoulder.

"But he'll be sick!" I said, scared.

"I'll be fine." James said. "We're more worried about you." He said, and I swallowed. We both closed our eyes and I let out a breath in sync with James. Our souls started to harmonize, and it was like a barrier had broken and the darkness that had spread in my chest fully engulfed me. I gasped a little, unable to catch my breath, and then the soul link was established and my mind cleared.

I let out a held breath and opened my eyes. The room was even more blood red, and I felt sharp teeth in my mouth. It was odd, the way that Stein, Mari, and James looked in all red. I looked about me, feeling my mind pound with the energy of the darkness, my soul singing practically.

This seemed to go on for a while, the silence in the room save for my rasping breathing, and then, like that, I felt my body sway as my energy drain and the darkness started to slip away. I wavered, a small sound of pain emanating from my mouth as something burned hot in me. It grew, until I let out a scream and the connection to wherever the power was coming from snapped and James pulled away from me, the soul link broken.

I gasped, looking at my hands and seeing the normal tone of it was back. I felt my face, the smoothness of my skin back, too. I looked at Mari, Stein, and James, who hadn't passed out from harmonizing with me, and then I swayed again, my head feeling light.

Stein caught me as I fell, feeling my forehead and swearing under his breath. "Is she okay?" James asked urgently, wiping a tiny bit of blood from his nose. He waved Mari off and she directed her attention to me.

Stein shook his head. "Her temperature just spiked." He said, setting me on my bed. I felt rather light headed, like my head had been filled with helium.

"Stein..." I said, and rubbed my face weakly as he pulled something from his bag. He wrapped something around my arm and it tightened.

"Her blood pressure just dropped drastically." He said. That's why my head felt light, but I needed to tell Stein about how I was remembering things...

My head swam and my vision started to blur. Mari called to me, James gripping my arm, and Stein swore again. I fell unconscious. 

Ahhhhhh it has been quite a while since I updated and for that I am eternally sorry. Working as much as I can on this while trying to keep up with my school work and other storied I'm writing. Thank you for the support, and remember to always share my stories and leave some comments! Thanks guys! <3