Kiya was smiling as she ran up the steps to the roof top of the performance building. Today was the third day she had known Todd but already she knew she loved him. She finally reached the roof of the four story building. With his back turned to Kiya, Todd stood in the moonlight. Kiya excitedly walked over to him and smiled. When he didn't smile back she looked up at him worried. "What's wrong Todd?" Todd turned slowly and grabbed Kiya's shoulders. Bringing her closer he looked her in the eyes and said, "I love you and you love me. And we want to spend eternity with each other right? Then why wait until we're shriveled and old? Lets keep our youth and beauty!" Kiya looked up at him puzzled "But how?" He smiled one of his charming smiles. "By ending our lives together!" Kiya was shocked "Why would you think such a thing?!" The young man looked down at her "Because I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you!" Kiya struggled and tried to get away but Todd was to strong for her. Todd looked into Kiya's dark, blue eyes and she looked into his bright, green ones. Todd smiled again and whispered, "Please." All Kiya could do was stare, she loved him but did she love him enough to take her own life? "I-I'll do it. For you." Todd smiled satisfied "Very good. Now may i tie this around your head so I can cover your pretty little eyes?" He pulled out a long, silk scarf from around his neck. Kiya nodded. "Now hold still." Todd quickly tied the scarf around her eyes. "Can you see anything?" "No." Todd leaned down so his mouth was leveled with her ear and whispered "Now I want you to walk forward until you reach the edge of the roof and when I count to three we'll jump off together." Kiya swallowed hard "Okay." Todd held Kiya's hand and guided her to the edge of the roof. "Are you ready Kiya? One. Two. Three." Kiya jumped, her skirts ruffled in the air as the wind rushed past her. She finally landed and a loud snap sounded as her neck snapped. Todd stared down at Kiya's limp body and spat before walking back inside. Kiya stared at her body then back up at the still breathing Todd. How could he? He betrayed me! I loved him! She fell to her knees beside her dead body and wept, though no one could hear.

Kiya shot up wide awake and breathing hard. She looked around and saw she was leaning against a wall in an ally way, cars rushed by on the busy streets. She hugged her legs to her body Why do I keep having that dream? I don't want to remember! After a while she stood up. Kiya walked out of the alleyway with her head down. She past a few humans but was unseen to them. Though this wasn't unusual, she had gotten used to being alone and unwanted. Sighing she thought to herself, I really need to find a piano...

The calm water of the lake lapped gently against the shore, some unseen movement causing them to move in the first place. As Lauren looked out, his legs swinging off the side of the dock, the thin, silver crown tilted on his hair. This was how he had been all day, and all night, and all the day before. It seamed as though there was nothing for the little boy to play with in this town anymore... As the mist around him swirled lightly, hiding him within the grey of the lake waters, a single drop would fall from his light hair as he remembered the day he was held by that loving father, but just below this waters at his feet.

It was the day of his mother's funeral, as well as the funeral of his unborn brother or sister. Lauren's mother had said it would be another boy. She said God told her through a dream, and then killed herself with the musty horse rifle kept outside. His father had always loved him, but, with his mother gone, every time he would set eyes on his child he would cringe. It was his boy's fault his wife was dead, so he must die. As the days before the funeral passed, his anger grew, and grew as his son remained blank as to what was happening. But, when everything was left, his mother's headstone at the base of a pile of dirt, not ten feet from the pebbly shore of the lake, his father grabbed him. Lauren was drowned by his father, kicking and splashing as his father held his neck below the cold, December water until he stopped his struggling, his grip loosening on the man's wrists, and he was dead. But, his spirit did not leave immediately, not until his Father had left the scene in a hurry, and his body had floated under some willows. And, that was that. His spirit wandered his way to the place he had lived so long, crying and sobbing, but, not after long, his cries turned to laughs. Evil laughs, but obviously childish. Lauren's blond hair went grey, his eyes silver in madness and agony. Taunts and jeers as he laughed rained down upon those he choose to play with, but, now... Where were his little toys? None of them provided any entertainment, now...

Maybe this time he would actually have to look for them...

So, Lauren pushed himself off the dock, his boots not making a normal chunking noise as he walked, a ghost, back to the shore, making sure to kick dirt on his mother's grave as he passed it, heading towards the town through graves and the mist around his disappearing more with every moment, his clothing and looks remaining their grey and black colors. Like a shadow, he would watch, and like a child, he will play.

Arabella sat in the darkness of the alley. She was hunched over in a small ball underneath the bowing ceiling of a cardboard box. The weather around her was like a tempest and the rain blew sideways. Holding her notebook close to her, she began to write a song. She was writing about nothing in general when she heard a noise. She looked up to see a small boy whose entire body was faded. He was supposed to have brown hair and brilliant blue eyes, but the palor of death had taken him. Smiling reassuringly at the young boy, Arabella closed her song notebook and made room for the boy next to her underneath her box.

The boy's look was one of surprise as he went over to her and sat down. "You can see me?" He asked, tilting his head to the side. Arabella nodded and the boy smiled. "I'm Milos. The rain is annoying when it passes through me." He looked out at the rain as if it were a normal day and he was complaining about getting his clothes wet. Arabella looked up at him with her purple eyes.

"Hello Milos, I'm Arabella. How did you die?" The boy scratched his head and tried to remember the thought that the ghosts often tried to ignore. When he finally remembered, his face contorted into an expression of pain.

"A train wreck." Arabella nodded and looked him in his eyes.

"Do you want to cross over?" The boy nodded and Arabella sang a lullaby that she once heard a mother singing to a crying infant. It was soothing and the boy began to sway. She wanted to reach out and touch the boy, but his face began to glow.

"I see a light!" He exclaimed. Arabella told him to follow it and he began to disappear. After the brightness of the ghost was gone, Arabella was mostly alone in her cardboard box. Except Chapin. Her pet mouse squeaked next to her, obviously disturbed the ghost's presence. Chapin also hated the rain.

"Don't worry, we'll find a place to call our own soon." She reassured the rodent.

A shadow looms over her, black and menacing, full of rage, lust, and hatred. There's something in his hand, a broken lamp. Blood drips off the remaining bits of the lamp in his hands. The circle of black shrinks gradually but not fast enough as pain and numbness fight for control over her body. Soon the world is black, the last thing in her vision the man's sick and twisted grin, blood splattered across his evil face. Numbness finally wins over the pain and the world disappears.

But then it reappears again. Only instead of feeling numb, the girl feels like she's floating. It's because she is. She floats behind her murdered and step-father, staring in confusion at the broken, naked, and bloodied body slumped against the wall and floor at his feet, bits of glass and porcelein sticking out of her hair as red continues to pour from the wounds until it slowly reduces to a trickle. The man turns and walks through the free floating girl, not seeing or feeling her.

Time seems to flash by and suddenly another woman enters the scene, the man long gone. A horrible scream of horror and anguish escapes the woman's lips and-

The scene changes. The woman's screams are replaced by the yowling of a cat. "Ugh... Shut up..." Fallon mutters, glaring at the cat. The cat hisses at her but runs off in search of new shelter. Fallon sighs and slumps against the tree behind her, putting her hand in her chin. Secretly she was glad that cat yowled at her. She had slipped into that dream state of hers again, her last day alive six years ago replaying through her mind just like it seemed to do every day at now almost regular intervals.

Fallon looks around the park she's in. The sand under the playset is turning to mud as the rain pours down. The place is completely deserted, like it normally is whenever it rains. Sitting under the shetler of an old oak tree at the edge of the park gives Fallon an uniterrupted view of pretty much everything in the park. The old benches where couples like to sit, the see-saws children are constantly fighting over, the swings that are too tall for the little kids but too short for the older ones, the parking lot on the far side, and the apartment buildings surrounding the park. Including one achingly familar one that Fallon herself used to inhabit.

Before she was murdered.

Instead of dwelling on the memory again, Fallon gets up and strolls out from under the tree. She raises her arms to her sides, palms up and watches as the rain falls through her nearly transparent form. A sigh escapes her lips as she tries to remember what rain feels like when it falls on bare skin, but the memory doesn't come. She continues walking, her destination the old previously abandoned mansion on the other side of town. There were people to talk to there, to distract herself. There were others like her there. Who longed to be alive again or to just move on, but unable to do either.

Maybe someone there would help her get her mind off her murder. Rage still burns deep inside Fallon at the thought that her step-father was able to get away with what he had done, somehow having secured an alibi with one of his friends and managed to pass the blame onto someone else. An ex-rapist who just happened to live in the apartment above them. Poor guy.

Fallon shakes her head, emptying her mind of all these thoughts and focuses only on her destination and who might be waiting.

Before she knows it, she's back at the old building. She slips through the doors, a grin appearing on her face at the thought of how cool it is to be able to walk through doors and solid objects. It's one of the only upsides to being a ghost. Well that and you get to eavesdrop on people's conversations without them knowing you're there.

Not seeing anyone right away, Fallon wonders where everyone might be. "Hellooo? Anyone home?" she calls out.

"It's raining." Daisuke muttered blankly into the window, green eyes fixed on the silver droplets of water gliding down the glass.

"Oh my, it's really coming down." Kyoko, his latest foster parent commented, her voice was high and giddy, glad the scrawny boy had said anything, whether it was aimed at her or not.
Daisuke remained silent, not even bothering to agknowledge her comment with a nod. A silence passed between them, filled only by the muffled pounding of rain on the ceiling overhead.

"Are you hungry? You never touched your dinner. I can make you some ramen noodles." she offered, breaking the silence.

"No thanks." Daisuke murmured, his breath fogging the glass.

"Oh, okay. Let me know if you change your mind." Kyoko spoke in a shaky voice. She had lost all hope on him, it was obvious by now. It wouldn't be long before he was dumped in some other foster home where the same procedure would continue.

Before Kiya stepped out of the dark alleyway she tilted her head to the clouded sky, allowing the heavy drops to fall through her transparent figure. She stood there, head tilted back, palms facing upward, for a while trying to remember how rain felt. It had been over two hundred years since she had felt rain or anything in general. That is, besides heartache and regret. This she felt nearly every day after her death. Blinking her dark blue eyes hard, trying not to remember the dream she had awoken to, she turned her head away from the dark clouds and walked out into the busy streets.

Kiya walked down the sidewalk looking down at her feet and the tiny splashes the rain drops made beside them. She knew this town by heart; every house, every shop, every street or alleyway that's what happens when you aimlessly wonder a place for over two hundred years. Sighing she looked around to find herself in a small neighborhood filled with nice little homes. She continued to walk on the sidewalk and would occasionally look up at the houses she was passing.

As Kiya passed some houses she suddenly stopped. Looking up from the ground she peered through the rain and her eyes settled on a thin boy about her age or at least the age she died as. Kiya tilted her head to the side slightly as she examined the boy. There was something different about him. She wasn't sure what it was but she knew that something was different.

Daisuke lifted his head slowly, eyes meeting those of a ghost. She peered curiously at him as the rain fell continually through her clear figure. Daisuke stood slowly and walked to the front door. He lifted the hood of his jacket over his thick black hair and stepped outside, the musky smell of rain hitting him the moment his flesh met with the cool thick air. He made his way over the the ghost, bare feet splashing through puddles of gray water.

"Hey. It's been a while since I saw a ghost around here." he said casually, stopping beside her. "That's right, I can see you. Are you surprised?" he smirked, kicking at a pool of water beside his feet.

As Lauren hunted for his new prey, he only became more and more depressed. All of these people didn't give off a feeling of believing in ghosts, and it was to early in the day to scare a kid, even if it was dark because of the rain. So, as he wandered from house to house, knocking things off counters and stealing pieces of jewelry, only to put them somewhere else, he happened upon a large, old manor.

The boy knew it, of course. It was just beginning to be built when he died. Great to see it now... Perhaps he could see the inside-

Oh! What was that? A voice floated to his ears from inside the house, making a grin come to his face. It was a girl... Alone? Yes, she was alone... The perfect play-thing... So, silent as a ghost ((Excuse the lame pun.)), Lauren drifted through the front door and up that grand staircase. It was a nice house... Livable even for the people today. But, the lights were all off, so, from the outside it must appear empty. Only made it better... So, Lauren quickly made his way upstairs and into what appeared to be a boy's bedroom, curtains a midnight blue to match the mahogany bed canopy. Perfect... Mere seconds didn't have a chance to beat him as he curled his small frame up by the head of the bed and put on his best terrified and worried face, eyes even watering slightly as his arms hugged his legs. And, that was it before he manifested himself into a visible form, taking energy from the heat of the room.

Silence like usual greets Fallon. The old manor was never home to anyone. No one but the few random spirits who may seek the place as shelter, much like she had the past few years. She strides out of the main foyer into a side parlor, not noticing the other ghost boy enter the house behind her. Fiddling with the chess pieces on the old board set up on a side table, Fallon quickly bores and decides to go upstairs.

Normally she goes straight to the room she had claimed as her own, but something compels Fallon to stop and enter a room she normally wouldn't. It appears to be a boys room. She moves silently to the dresser, looking at the antique, untouch toys resting on top. Moving around the room, she finally ends up at the bed. What she sees surprises her.

The boy in the bed looks terrified out of his mind. Not wanting to scare him anymore than he already seems to be, Fallon steps awake quickly, making sure to not manifest into any kind of visible form. She watches the boy instead, wondering why he was there and who he could be.

The rain beegan to worsen and the top of her cardboard box suddenly caved in. Arabella stood up and tried to shield her few belongins from the rain so that her song notebook would remain dry. She began running down the street, looking for any possible way to stay dry. Coming up to a mansion, she stopped on the porch. Something had drawn her to it. Something other than the rain. She reached up and with a delicate hand, she knocked on the door. She hoped that they would let her sleep at least on their porch.

Kiya tilted her head to the side as she examined the boy. "I- uhhh- you can see me?" She slowly walked towards the boy and began to walk in small circles around him"How odd... in all my two hundred years of wondering in this town i have never met someone who can see me. Well i've heard about people like you but still, I would never have dreamed you were real...." Her transparent hand mindlessly reached out and slowly began to near the boy. Her hand shot back "I'm sorry how rude i shouldn't touch." she looked down at his bare feet. "Aren't you cold? its raining and you have no shoes on..."

Daisuke watched the ghost pace around him in slight amusement.
"No, I'm fine. It must feel odd to have rain fall through you." he smiled, looking through her and into the street where murky puddles were collecting.

He lifted his face to the sky, closing his eyes softly and holding out his palms, the water sliding through his fingertips. He looked back at her suddenly with distant curiousity glinting beneath his forest green eyes.

"How did you die?"

A normal question upon meeting someone may have been What's your name? Or How are you? But this was no ordinary encounter, and for that matter Daisuke was no normal boy.

Kiya smiled to herself as she watched how the rain formed small drops on the boy's eyelashes before falling to the ground and how the rain splashed on his upturned palms leaving small streaks as they flowed off his fingers. "Not really... I can't really feel anything now a days..." She chuckled to herself "You know, I can't even remember how it feels to have the rain cool your skin." She imitated Daisuke's movements and tilted her face to the clouded sky, trying to remember how the rain felt on her skin when she was alive.

Kiya's head snapped back down to look at Daisuke, her small smile fell from her face and she was now wearing a serious expression, as soon as the word 'die' flew from the boy's lips. "Y-you wish to know how I died? Honestly I wish that I could forget. But you really wish to know?" Kiya looked away from the boy before whispering a single word "Suicide."

Daisuke starred back at her, dull curiosity glimmering in his eyes.

"Suicide?" he repeated. He looked down at his feet, submerged in the icy puddle of water.

"Why did you kill yourself?" he muttered, half to him self and half to the girl.

Kiya stared at the houses across the street and watched as little ripples formed in the puddles every time a rain drop fell into them. She absentmindedly began to move her fingers on her right hand as if they were playing the keys on a piano. Slowly, Kiya turned her head to face the boy. "I don't even know your name and you expect me to tell you something as personal as that?" Kiya hated explaining her death to others, she wanted to forget all about Todd and how he easily tricked her into her own death.

Arabella reached up and rapped on the door again, hoping that someone would answer her knocks. The rain was cold and her tank top was soaked through. The cold air chilled her skin and she shivered. Her bangs kept dripping into her violet eyes and she saw her breath.
"Is anyone in there?" She asked in the old abandoned mansion.

Daisuke's eyes meandered toward the ghost's fingers. They moved as if playing an invisible piano. He looked back up at her as she spoke. A devilish grin crossed his face for a moment, mischief flashing in his deep green eyes.

"If it's that simple then okay. My name is Daisuke Inoue." he said. "Now, tell me. Why would you want to kill yourself?"

Kiya smiled at Daisuke. "Well its nice to meat you Daisuke. My name's Kiya by the way." She glanced at his emerald colored eyes and could tell that he wouldn't give up until he got the answers he was looking for. The smile on her face slowly began to droop and then her pink lips were set in a straight line. Looking at the rain as it fell from the grey sky Kiya said,"Daisuke, have you ever been in love? Have you ever had the feeling that you knew that you would do anything for the one you loved? How you believed that they loved you the same and would do anything for you?" Kiya's sapphire blue eyes meat Daisuke's green eyes and she waited for him to respond.

Daisuke looked up, eyes locking on hers.
"No, I've never loved anyone." he said flatly.
"I mean...why love when you'll only be betrayed?" he paused, glaring at the ground for a moment before looking back toward the ghost, his eyes more distant than before.
"But what does that have to do with it anyways?" he asked, although the answer was already clear to him. He could tell by the dull ache deep in her eyes that she too had been betrayed.

That made two of them...

Kiya chuckled slightly, "Smart. Unfortunately i wasn't as smart as you when i was alive." She looked up at the clouded sky once more, remembering Todd, his beautiful eyes, his charming smile, and the way he so easily tricked her into loving him. She looked back at Daisuke, transparent, silvery tears began to form in her eyes giving them a glossy look. She laughed at herself and wiped the ghostly tears from her eyes. "Its been over two hundred years since i died and i still get choked up every time i remember my death." Looking at Daisuke she forced herself to smile even though she felt like falling to her knees and crying. "I'd rather not talk about it... I'll probably burst into tears if i do.... and besides once you hear my story you'd just laugh at my stupidity and how i got so worked up over nothing...." She felt a small lump in her throat forming threatening to choke her into a sob.

"Death isn't nothing." he muttered.
"I don't blame you for getting worked up." a heavy silence passed between them before Daisuke spoke again.
"I won't care if you cry. Cry all you want, I mean it's natural to cry when it hurts, and bottling it all up isn't good for you." he gazed up at the heavy rumbling sky, playing with his hands within his pockets.
"But if you don't want to tell me it's your choice."

Kiya looked at Daisuke with moist sapphire eyes and then moved them away from his face and to his bare feet. "I guess you're right about death...and how keeping something locked inside isn't healthy... so I suppose i could tell you why I died... but first lets get you out of the rain. It's cold and pouring out here and you have no shoes on! Would you like to go back into your home? Or would you rather i took you to a quiet place i know of?" Kiya remembered the old abandoned mansion a few blocks away and the large grand piano in the dinning room.

Daisuke glanced toward his house. It was suffocating. He couldn't stand to be in there. It was all pointless, he had given up long ago. He would never find anyone who he could trust enough to learn to love. There would never be a foster parent he could become close to.
"I'll go to the...quiet place." he said. The part he didn't add however was: And I won't come back.