Remember Me

Chapter VII

        I've gone numb. I finish reading the note and just stare at it, unable to move, because I fear if I turn around I'll see Scarletstar holding a knife to Nicholas's neck. She's closer than we think... Nobody has been able to sneak up on me since the day I completed warrior training. My sense of hearing is too fine-tuned for that. Not one person has managed to get by me unnoticed, except her. If someone came into the gym and left this note without me hearing them, it had to have been delivered by Scarletstar herself.

        "Then she's in the school," a shaky voice says behind me, making me realize I'd been voicing my theory. "Right now."

        I turn around to see it's Nicholas, who had gone as still as I had. He looks like he just saw a ghost. Not that I blame him, for who wouldn't be scared after reading a threatening note from an insane killer?

        I put a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. "Maybe," I say. "But she could have brought the note here a long time ago. We were practicing for awhile, after all."

        The comment flies over his head. He starts shaking like a leaf, eyes brimming with tears. I give him a hug.

        "She's not going to kill you. Not while I'm alive," I whisper to my best friend. "I promise."

        He pulls away quickly. I assume he's just very upset, but he's not.

        With a small smile, he says, "Pinkie Promise?"

-two months before leaving for SoulsClan-

        This Art Club meeting is outside, so I find a shady tree to sit under and work. I take out my colored pencils and begin sharpening them. I'm looking through my newest creations when Nicholas looks over my shoulder at my sketchpad.

        "What're you drawing?"

        I quickly close and hug the book. "It's nothing!" I can't have him finding out my latest interests. Talk about eternal judging!

        He looks at me suspiciously. He knows me way too well to believe my lies. "Yeah right. Come on, you're a pretty good drawer. Just show me!"

        "Nope!" I say, getting up and running to a different tree with all of my supplies.

        After ten minutes he's behind me again. "Show me!"

        "No!"

        "I wanna see!"

        "Too bad!"

        "Why not?"

        "Because you'll tease me till the end of time for it," I grumble.

        He sits down and gives me a pleading look. "Please? I swear I won't make fun of you."

        I sigh. Trusting him, I hand over the sketchpad.

        Nicholas opens it and flips through the pages, without a hint of a smile on his face. Until he reaches the last one. Still looking at the drawing, he asks for verification, "You like My Little Pony?"

        "Yeah," I say. "Warn me if there's gonna be an onslaught of jokes."

        He laughs. "There won't be. I'm not a fan of the show, but I do like your drawings. What's this one about?" He points to the last page. It's Pinkie Pie. Along the bottom it states the Pinkie Promise.