The Taste of Death

"No matter how many times Death steals my soul, my heart will forever be devoted."

-Claire

Nothing made sense about the situation Claire was in or even how it came to occur. Her once neatly folded clothes she had spent time stuffing into the wooden drawers were now sprawled over the floor. Even the new set of undergarments her mother had bought her had been ripped apart, as if the attacker had some unsettling grudge against them. Not that she didn't mind. She had planned to throw the cheap fabric material away weeks ago. But this, this was just wrong.  

“Crap!” She screamed, not that anyone would care about why she was so distressed. No one should have cared enough to even do something to her. She was a freshie, in terms of attending seniors. The only reason why someone would break into her room would mean they had a serious grudge against her, which she highly doubted.    

Claire stepped forward and noticed just how bad everything was. It was a total wreck. It would take more than an hour to clean everything up, especially with how disoriented her day had been.  The drawers were broken and a few chiseled pieces were sprawled over the old linen carpet.  

“Shit!” Claire wasn't one to curse but in the current situation she was in, it was impossible not to. Whoever had broken into her dorm was looking for something. What,she really would have liked to know. The only valuable object she kept with her were a few dollar bills left over from lunch yesterday. The place had charged way over the amount she had expected. But, she had to admit, the food was decent and satisfied her more than her mother’s constant casserole lunches could. If a couple of cash was what they wanted, then wrecking her room was a bit intense. A bit too intense for her to handle.

Claire leaned back against the door, closing her eyes to gain even the least bit of composure she could muster. This had to be a sign. Out of some out- of-the-ordinary-experience, the universe was trying to tell her that transferring was something impossible for her. Not that she belived in the universe's sense of stability. But maybe, just maybe, it just could be right.

"You should report this to the principal."Claire jumped, her body stepping forward in shock from the voice behind her.  Pulling her arm to her chest, she tried to calm her rapid heart, feeling her muscles tense in uneasiness. 

"Didn't mean to scare you." She turned around, taking notice of the boy standing in front of her. His tall yet masculine build towered over her small frame- his short ruffled black hair framed  the tight cheekbones of his face. He seemed almost perfect.. too perfect to attend a school like this. His lips were tilted into a crooked smile;a smile that would make anyone melt at the sight. Heck, she would be too, if it wasn't for the fact that her room had been ramsacked.

"It's fine. "

The boy nodded, moving his head to catch  a sight of the mess in front of her. 

"So what happened anyway?" he said.

"I think someone broke in." 

"Seems like it," he turned to grin back at her." But like I  said, you should report this."

She nodded, turning her attention to her blue sneakers. Nothing was special about the worn down pair. She just didn't want to meet his gaze, especially since the principal's office seemed impossible to find.

"You don't know where the office is, do you?" She could have died right then and there. She wished she could have come up with some excuse, any excuse to divert herself from answering the question truthfully. But, lying wasn't going to get her anywhere and she doubted this mess could be dealt with on her own.

She bit her lips, stalling by playing with the braclet on her wrist. The thick brown lace was tied loosely in a knot; the intricate box-like design stood out with the Jewish star facing the front.  She hadn't even relaized she was wearing it; the old metal piece given to her by her grandmother when she was little.

For protection, she had said. Well, Claire hadn't felt so vulnerable than she did now.

"Yeah. I'm new so I kinda don't know where the office is." At all. He nodded, his eyes glinting as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. The action surprised her, yet gave her the first amount of comfort since she had entered the building.

"I guess I'll just have to show you. I'm Erick by the way."

 I'm Claire." He grinned, his perfection giving an almost unbearable glow.Claire smiled with him. Maybe, just maybe the universe wasn't out to ger her.Either that or a massive wave of deja vu was storming her way.