Riana
The putrid smell of decaying roses hung heavy in the air. Like a blanket. Smothering. There was a sweet tang in the air as well, that came with the fog. A smell that pierced the nose if you inhaled too sharply. Riana inhaled, scrunching her nose. Not being able to place the smell she sat against "her" tree sighing. Of course it wasn't actually hers. But she'd been coming here to think and write as long as she could remember. So it my as well have been hers.
Weird she thought, people left roses to decay and die in the place of the dead. The graveyard. She laughed slightly to herself. A very dry and fake laugh. Riana leaned her head against the tree. Her tree. It was a monstrous tree to say the least. It's trunk so thick it would take three or four people to wrap around it. With low hanging branches that draped almost to the ground. Acting as though a protective barrier from the outside world. Riana needed that sometimes.
And not only was the tree odd, but the placement of it too. Placed in the middle of the cemetery it sat among the graves. With no other trees in sight it stood out like a sore thumb. But despite that the tree was also good at hiding. With a hollowed out middle Riana liked to climb into and hide from passerby's. That's probably why she was so fond of it. It protected and hid her. Left her alone with her thoughts. Which could sometimes be quite dangerous.
Riana waited in the confides of the tree as she always did. And only when she heard the familiar "caw" came, and she saw the shiny black flash of feathers, did she take out her notebook to write. She smiled as the crow landed on one of the low branches near her head. The branch bent slightly under its weight and the bird fluttered it's wing anxiously. Having gained its balance Riana per the crows head gently. It cocked its head to the side leaning into her touch. "Hello midnight" she greeted the crow. Midnight cawed again as if saying hello back to Riana, and with that she began writing.
Midnight flitted around in the tree while Riana wrote. But when she down her pencil awhile later he perched on her shoulder as he always did and looked at her paper as if reading it. And it read:
Blooming only to wilt
Growing only to be plucked
The red seeps out from a rose petal as it bleeds
Leaving a new, white lifeless rose in its path
Midnight chirped in approval and pecked at a strand of Rianas long red hair.
She got up brushing the dead leaves from herself with a sigh. She dreaded going back to school. She thought about just ditching the rest of the day. The crow landed on a grave near the tree and cocked its head at Riana. She offered a weak smile, stuffing her notebook in her already cluttered backpack. "Bye Midnight" Riana waved slinging her bag over her shoulder. She headed off down the gravel path out of the graveyard. The gravel crunched in protest as her black converse touched it.
Riana pulled her jacket tighter around herself to protect from the cold bite of the late fall air. She saw a flash of something dark out of the corner of her eye. She looked back and not seeing anything she continued walking. Riana kept seeing the flash of dark the whole way to the school. But every time she looked over her shoulder there was nothing there. Your being paranoid, she thought to herself. And pushed open the big double doors to the school.
The familiar smell of school rushed into her nose as she inhaled. It was the smell of carpet that had been vacuumed to many times, and old rusty lockers. She banged her fist against her locker once and it popped open. Causing looks of disapproval from her peers that drew a glare from Riana. She continued to scowl as she walked to first period. She saw the black flash out of the corner of her eye once more as she walked into her class.
She was beginning to get anxious. What was that? And why was it following her? She sat down in her regular seat at the back of the room. Her mind wandered from the shadowy flash as she focused on doing her homework. The thought was completely gone from her mind until the bell rang for lunch later that day. Riana kept her head down and hoodie up, watching her feet as she walked to lunch.
The blow came from the side. Riana was flung into the locker to her right. She rubbed her shoulder and looked up for the person who had shoved her. She saw him on her left towering over her. Because even though Riana was seventeen almost eighteen. She was very short. Standing at a whopping four feet eight inches. And he was tall. Derrick was tall. Almost six foot. He shoved her again into the locker. Her shoulder was already throbbing and she looked around the hallway for help. But everyone had already gone to lunch. Helpless, she thought to herself. She hated that feeling. Derrick was taunting her now. Something about her being a goth geek. But she tuned him out. Still looking around the hallway for somebody. Anybody. Empty.
Helpless.
Riana saw the black flash again just before Derrick went crashing to the floor. Her eyes followed Derrick as he fell. She saw a tall black haired boy walking towards the now frightened Derrick. She watched in surprise. Derrick was cowering away from the boy. Derrick got up ready to take off down the hallway but the boy grabbed the collar of Derrick's shirt. The boy leaned in close to him. "Hasn't anyone ever told you not to hit a girl?" Said the boy. He let go of Derrick's collar. Derrick took off down the hallway.
After the boy felt he had successfully scared off the bully he turned, facing Riana. She finally got a good look at him. His hair was black as a night without stars and reminded her of feathers, silky and came to just under his ears. As he came closer walking towards Riana, she saw he had yellow eyes. They were glued to his feet as he strode over. He was graceful, she observed, as if walking on air.
He stopped about one foot away from Riana. Too close. He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans and finally pulled his gaze up from his feet. His black hair lay just below his brow. Freckles dotted his nose, black freckles. Sprawled on his cheekbones like paint that someone splattered mindlessly onto a canvas. And what a beautiful he was. His jawline sharp, his features chiseled.
He cleared his throat and she met his gaze, flushing. Obviously waiting for her to speak. She took a step back so he wasn't so close. "Um, thank you," Riana said. The corner of the boys mouth lifted slightly. "Your welcome." Riana shifted nervously from foot to foot. "Yea so where'd you come from, I haven't seen you around before?" She asked. He sat down against the locker sighing. "I..." he paused, thinking. "I'm new." Riana sat down next to him. "Well you make a good first impression" She said hugging her knees to her chest. She glanced over at him, he was smiling. "So what's your name new kid?" "Azter" he replied. "Azter" she repeated, "interesting."
"Yea" he grinned. "And you are?" "Riana" she replied. "Pretty name" he mumbled. Riana blushed pink. He smirked. What are you doing? Riana asked herself. You just met him. But all the same she was drawn to him. This is the part where you thank him and leave, her sane mind was telling her. Screaming to her. But her body wouldn't move so she stayed.
Obviously he was listening to his mind though because he stood up. "I uh, better go.." he said. Riana stood up awkwardly. "Yea of course.. thanks again" "anytime" Azter smiled. She loved that smile. And he was walking away. Turning the corner. Gone.
Azter
Az didn't want to go. But Riana looked uncomfortable with him there. He wanted to tell her the truth. You'll scare her off. It was true. He would end up scaring her if he dumped the truth on her all at once. But nevertheless he ached to tell her. Soon. Soon you can tell her. But soon wasn't soon enough.
