A Demon's Fate

Chapter 1: Into the Woods

School. It was a place I dreaded. I had almost no friends to speak of, I would be made fun of a lot, mostly about my scarf or my being canadian. I tried to shut it out, and I absorbed myself in my studies. Of course, no one wants to hang out with a nerdy scarf girl who adds 'eh' after every sentence.

Away from school, I was also alone; my parents disappeared when I was very young, and I haven't exactly settled in yet since then.

"Did you know this school is haunted?" I overheard from a lunch table nearby. "They say, if you write '666' on the boy's bathroom mirror and chant 'toilet water is tasty' three times, a ghost will jump out of the mirror and drag you into the toilet!" Immediately, I heard the skeptic groans coming from the other students seated there, but then the girl with the purple hair speaking continued and they fell silent again. "The ghost, is supposedly a student who drowned in the bathroom after being locked in by some bully!"

I gasped slightly under my breath. Of course, I know that ghosts can't exist, but somehow superstitious stories like these still seem to frighten me. I rose from my empty table and walked down the hallway.

Outside, the sun was barely peeking through the clouds, and I pushed my rust colored hair out of my eyes and firmly wrapped my similarly colored scarf around my neck and over my mouth. Briefly, I examined my watch and found I had another 15 minutes of lunch time left to wander as I pleased.

The campus of Kotoko High School was big and spacious, with several trees adorning the walkways and a large field for playing sports after school, and surprisingly comfortable benches. Personally, my favorite place was not on campus, but lay in the thick forest that used to cover this area, and that now resides behind the school. Deep inside, is a small pond, perfect for reflecting on things and being alone.

Soon, my feet carried me to this place; they knew the path by heart. 'Whew, there's no one here...' I thought. Setting down my bag next to a fallen tree, I picked up a rock and carved something in it with a pair of scissors. Next, I simply tossed it into the pond. This was ritual every time I visited the place, and it felt like all my worries would go with it, and settle at the bottom of the pond.

Today I felt almost confused as to why I carved the rock. The days had been slow and nothing has really happened lately. Maybe what I was feeling today was jealousy.

After all, listening in on the conversations around me, I heard what I was missing out on. I wanted friends, but I'd been stabbed in the back too many times. I wanted it, but knew I could never have it.

Maybe I didn't need all those friends though. Just one would be nice. Someone I could tell everything to, all my bottled emotions and inner thoughts.

I leaned back and sighed. Yeah, that was what I wanted.

A branch snapped suddenly from behind me. Had I been caught?! I snatched up my bag and whipped around like a frightened animal.

..... The forest remained silent. A sigh wheezed out between my lips. Then, I turned around and sat back down. After a few minutes staring into the pond and listening carefully for anything else, I finally decided I should head back.

"Gyeeh!" I shrieked aloud as I suddenly turned and came face to face with some man I'd never seen before! "W-wh-who are you?!"

He appeared to be around my age, and wore an all purple fur lined tailcoat. As he swept his dark hair aside, I briefly noticed the bandage over his right eye... "Why are you here? It's dangerous."

He spoke with a low even tone. I wasn't sure if he actually cared what happened to me or not.

"I've been coming here for more than a year now, I haven't seen anything..." I replied slowly. I then remembered my previous inquiry. "Ah, you never answered my question!"