Rin Hayashii's Story

Rin shivered as she finally started to come to her senses. Opening her eyes ever so slowly, she found the cold snow around her and the horrible pain of a migraine starting behind her eyes. Sitting up with one hand on her head, she tried her hardest to start thinking.
"What the hell happened....?" She mumbled as she rubbed her eyes slightly. Slowly, she started to notice where she was. She was laying on the forest floor outside her village. Immediately, she felt a horrible pain as she started to recall her memories.

"O-..... oh no..... D-..... did I kill anyone?... Oh God.... God!.... I didn't ask for this...." She mumbled as she rested her head on her knees. She wished it never happened. That it was only a dream... But sadly, she knew it was impossible. She knew that she just destroyed half of her town and probably killed many people. She shivered slightly as she looked up at the bare branches.

Suddenly, she heard a crack from not that far away as she saw someones eyes through the forest.
"Who's there!?" She yelled at the noise and grabbed at the hilt of one of her swords. Her eyes narrowed as she scanned the area. What on earth was out there!? Could it be bandits or, worse, could it be a vampire? She bit her lip as she continued looking in the area she heard the noise. Her grip tightened on her sword as she drew it out slowly and got ready to kill whatever came out after her.

Len sat down on the branch he was standing on, still cloaked in shadows.
"Sorry if I frightened you.... names Len Taka- ... Eh..... Last names aren't important now. Anyways, I'm here to offer you protection on behalf of the Chikyuu no Mirai." He said, his face emotionless like usual.

"Sorry if I frightened you.... names Len Taka- ... Eh..... Last names aren't important now. Anyways, I'm here to offer you protection on behalf of the Chikyuu no Mirai." The mysterious responded.

"The Chikyuu no Mirai? Pfft, like they'd even be up here. And if so, why the hell would they offer me protection?" She said coldly to the man. Rin wasn't known for her kindness at the village. She also wasn't know for her sense of direction.... but that was beside the point. She didn't like this "Len" and she wasn't going to randomly act nice to him.

Suddenly, Rin noticed an eagle circling up above. Smiling, she whistled and it swooped down. She knew Alex sent it out to her for whatever was tied to it's leg. Carefully loosening the string, she glanced at the paper while keeping partial attention on Len.

"Heh, Rin can you believe this? I'm writing on dirty paper, well anyways this hurts a bit and I think I'm going to be unconscious for a bit. Take my eagle with you, I'll catch up with you by tracking the eagle as long as you take it with you the whole way."

Rin slightly teared up but quickly denied herself the chance when she remembered the stranger in front of her. Alex was in pain. Alex was with her when she was walking to school. She blew Alex away with her sudden power. Alex was in pain..... She caused that pain. Those thoughts swirled in her head and her face went pale. She had injured her best friend. How could she do such a thing!? She took a hand away only to find a sticky material stuck to her hand. Looking at it, she found the crimson liquid used to write the letter on her thumb. Alex wrote the note with his own blood.

A golden essence quickly pulsed and surrounded her, destroying the trees that were close enough and attacking anything that got close. Keeping the eagle close, she protected it from the harm she was doing. Pain shot through her as she knew she was overdoing it. She had to stop but she knew no way to do so. She was not trained in this sort of thing.

Vaansyan noticed the horses had just been summoned "A summoner! Well met!" He got his horse and continued "I am something of a summoner myself. Although I my expertise is a field of work sadly undervalued in Kuusou. If not quite straightforwardly hated" He released a maniacal cackle, snorting whilst laughing. He proceeded to pet the horse "Do you name your conjured friends? Alexander?" He looked to the beautiful green hills that could be seen in the distance, and gleefully noticed their contrast with the burning city, he then commented "What a pretty scenery, albeit a bit sad".

Alexander commented about wanting to use the demon's feathers as pillows, Vaansyan released a cheerful giggle "Well, if you do, be sure to send me a pillow myself!" He laughed potently for ten seconds. Before getting serious and resuming his conversation with Alexander "Although it might be best if we avoid picking a fight with it." He sternly looked to his newfound accolade and told him "I peeked into your soul when you were unconscious." He shifted his sight to the road ahead, noticing how the path was made of cobblestone, and made a pretty contrast with what remained of the cities formerly green roads. Vaansyan lifted his eyes from the cobblestone into the horizon, and then continued to elaborate for Alexander "I peeked into your soul friend. It is a unique soul I tell you, very rarely do angel and demon meet." he said soothingly, as if trying to be sensitive with the angel, considering such a union was scorned by both angels and demons, he then continued "But I also noticed it is restrained, bind to that lovely pendant on your neck."

He looked at the pendant "I could release it... or try at least... if you like of course, it is a lovely pendant after all" proposed nonchalantly. For the rest of the journey the Angel was commenting on some things that he had enjoyed, amongst which numbered being bitten by a vampire and being tossed by an explosion. Vaansyan was about to comment strange experiences from his life, not to fall behind, but immediately something caught his attention. "Huh? A strange presence... not exactly human... but not demonic either. Care to take a look?" He then jumped off of his summoned horse. And walked into the woods that stood near the edge of the road. He continued while saying "It is likely going to be a long walk, but it's probably worth taking a look at. I have never sensed a soul like this... Vaansyan is pumped at the prospect of finding something that could make him stronger!" He yelled with a nascent eager demeanor, there was power here unlike what he had ever seen "I wonder if it is sentient..." he spoke to himself. After a long walk, they finally found a girl, notoriously disturbed, crying by the shadow of a tree, he warned his companion, Alexander "There it is! Hmm.... be careful, it does look human, but the soul is not exactly human... not Vampirical either. In contrary, it seems the properties of this particular soul would act as a magnet for vampires, it is strongly pulsating." He sighed "And guess what mate... Vampires incoming... oh dear... and here I am without an undead thrall to protect me. Well, I am glad I am with an angel at a time like this" He laughed noisily, snorting whilst he did. "Prepare for contact Alex, here they come... thirty by the looks of it, Vampires all of them! I can't fight without a thrall, so you'll be on your own! Unless that girl cares to help us and put those twin swords to good use!"

He then heard "Demon-" he shifted his glance to another survivor "Oh bugger, just what we needed, the demon is here too!"

"There it is! Hmm.... be careful, it does look human, but the soul is not exactly human... not Vampirical either. In contrary, it seems the properties of this particular soul would act as a magnet for vampires, it is strongly pulsating." a man said not far away and Rin's ears twitched at being called an it. Turning on the man, the golden essence surged around her more. Her eyes were taken over by a golden hue until she caught sight of the person she was depressed about.

"A-Alex!?" She yelled. She charged over in what seemed like a sentiment moment until she punched him extremely hard in the jaw, throwing him into a tree.

"You idiot! You insane idiot!! How the hell am I supposed to stay calm when you write your note to me in your own fucking blood!?" She yelled as she grabbed him by the collar angrily. Now, to normal people, this would seem like Rin was extremely pissed at her friend, but to her and Alec, this was Rin's only way of showing she cared.

"....Just... Be safe next time..... And don't you dare make me worry about you again!!" She yelled as she dropped Alex to the ground and handed him his bird.

"I believe this is yours...." She muttered.

Suddenly, Rin's ears twitched again as she looked up and saw a giant bird flying at them.

"What the hell....!? God damn it! Can't we get a break?" She questioned to herself as the golden hue lingered in the air around them.

Blood dripped from his mouth "My blood tastes so strange." He didn't care that he was just punched into a tree, Rin wasn't hurt from the explosion. He turned to the necromancer with a serious expression " Never touch my locket or I shall tear you limb by limb till there is nothing left of your body. " He said this with a devilish look in his eyes, but this look and his anger quickly disappeared. "We should probably try and break the birds wings and someone will need to take care of the vampires." He used the blood that dripped from his mouth to cover the edge of his sword. "Oh and Rin, please don't punch me too hard. I don't think I'll be able to sleep much if I keep getting hurt." He said this as if it actually meant something important.

He let his summoned creatures disappear and summoned a fox to aid him in fighting the vampires. Pitifully the fox dies a painful death being mauled by vampires. "Should've expected this." He noticed he probably wont be much help against a vampire that is clearly faster then him. "Well, I am definitely not going to be able to help in this situation. I'm just not fast enough." Alex lays down and decides to sleep for a bit. "Wake my up later." He was now asleep, which was virtually impossible to wake him up from. The rest of the people there would not be able to count on him for help in fighting this horde of vampires. The demon was now looking at Alex and prepared to strike the hybrid going for the kill. If by some miracle the demon didn't kill him, someone else probably would for sleeping in the midst of this battle.

Vaansyan released a panicked yelp when the vampires and the demonic bird first came to sight. He shifted his sight quickly throughout the surrounding land about hit. There was Alexander, who had completely forgotten about danger it seemed and gone to sleep after one of its summons got horribly killed. There was the mysterious girl with a unique soul, he spoke to himself "I hope she knows how to hold her ground against vampires!" He tried to hide behind her, bending his larger physique to try and fit behind her, pulling her in front of him with his gloved hands. He commented to her "I think the survivor is beneath the summoned horses! He might still be alive so don't neglect that! Well... its up to you now! Kill them, the vampires and the beast both!-" That's when he panicked for real and ran for dear life, letting out a stereotypical little girl shriek as he sprinted with his hands waving over his head "Bail! Abandon the angel and the wounded survivor, and the girl too!- who am I talking to then?-" He jumped to a nearby bush and hid in the leafs, making sure not to make a sound.

Rin's eyebrow twitched as she heard the annoying masked guy... But he did say something that set her off. Vampires. She quickly whipped out her twin swords and started fighting off the vampires flawlessly, her golden essence surrounded her and attacked whatever she wasn't attacking. She was in the middle of fighting the vampires until she heard the bird demon getting close. Her eyes narrowed as she put her swords together and her essence surrounded it quickly. When she felt there was enough power, she slashed at it's general direction and her golden essence made a huge wave of destructive energy that wasn't going to burn out. As soon as she saw it going in the correct direction, she turned back to the vampires and continued fighting them. A pain slowly started to fill her mind and body as she continued fighting. Rin was starting to get to her limit.

Alex woke up from his deep sleep, since the ground there was clearly uncomfortable and he needed a better place to sleep. His mind was clearer then before and his body was faster from getting rid of the lack of sleep. He grabbed his sword and cut his thumb to let some blood drip onto his sword. "I'm hoping this will do something, but Rin I don't want you exerting yourself." This was one of the times he acted serious, instead of his unpredictable normal self. He removed his locket from his neck, since he didn't want to stain it with vampire blood. A slightly insane smile spread across his face, but he wasn't going let his demonic insanity completely free. He didn't want Rin knowing the actual sort of monster he could be, like when he almost killed everyone in the orphanage he was in at age six. He grabbed a vampire by the neck and laughed in it's face, but he didn't care if it was scared of him or not. It would soon be a dead undead. All the rage in him allowed him to use his intelligence correctly. He cut the vampire's fangs off and stuck his sword through it's heart, where Alex's blood and the vampire's body met sizzled. The vampire screamed in pain at the blood burning him from the inside out. Alex wasn't very strong, but he knew exactly where to hit. He hit the heart, since it was the place where his blood could flow through the vampires veins easiest.

He did the same for some other vampires, but it wasn't very fast. "Now I remember why that vampire that bit me before was screaming in pain." He said that as if remembering a nostalgic memory. The suppressed demonic rage he had came out in this moment when he let loose his rage. Alex was truly a monster, but he never went into a murderous rampage without a good reason too. After killing a bit of the vampires using his blood, he became a bit lightheaded and was losing speed and rage, but at least he managed to kill a good amount of vampires. He returned to his normal state, or normal for him at least. "Vaanysyan use your necromancy, but don't fail this time." He was unable to properly stand, but he managed to allow Vaanysyan some subjects for his necromancy, that is if Vaanysyan could handle this. There was still a bit of vampires coming towards them, but they could probably handle them. Hopefully.

Vaansyan watched from amid the bush, he noted to himself "so... that was the light I saw from earlier!" He suppressed a laughter to avoid detection, for the duration of the long and bloody fight, he extended his gloved hands and channeled his magic to the grass under the bush. He really put his all into the following spell, a very, very long spell to cast, he commented "I am glad I took a sample of the angel's blood! I never imagined he would be this powerful!... and what's more here are two other beautifully prefect ingredient! The girl's power is completely unique!... and the boy-" he directed his eyes towards the survivor they found earlier, who had gotten up and was firing pure magic projectiles from his guns, fighting intensely. He maintained his gaze on the boy and spoke to himself "... if Vaansyan is not mistaken... that soul belongs to the Sun Lion! Of course it does!" he cackled with happiness.

He watched the three, fight fiercely "Impressive! They are all really strong!" He peeked again from a slit in the bush, he could see fierce swings charged with a yellow spiritual power coming from the girl. And he noticed Alexander's wrathful strength, all pleasantries had gone out the window when his friend's life was in danger. All the while the survivor boy released his massive power, hidden away in both his soul and one of the sun lion.

Vaansyan tried to keep an eye out for trouble while the three others fought fiercely. "This is not enough..." Vaansyan noted, while his hands shook from the sheer amount of power coming from them, which created a cryptic purple flare of ethereal fire around his hands that noisily thundered powerfully, and flowed with impressive strength into the arcane magic seal he was casting, resembling a circle with the symbol of a snake. He was slowly blacking out from exhaustion, thing which was extremely rare, for Vaansyan was prodigy when it came to enchanting and arcane runes. The spell was finally complete, he then released it, a massive purple flame covered the bush, but burnt nothing, then it faded, for the flame was merely the byproduct of a powerful spell of a different sort "Soul snatchers, today you go free! Feast my dear children!" He exclaimed, as snakes of pure purple black magical power, slithered away to the battlefield.

The snakes approached his allies, who were to distracted fighting a horde of vampires and a berserk demon to notice. "Here goes nothing-" Vaansyan thought out loud, as his soul snatching minions sneaked through his friends backs and painlessly and noiselessly bit them in the back of the neck, draining as much of their magic power as possible. "...Their souls can't be taken so easily... they are too strong. But the magic they generate has just about the same properties, except they can regenerate it! So no harm done in the long run." He giggled maniacally, before remembering he was hiding and shut up immediately.

The purple snakes used some of their recently stolen magical power to fade to near invisibility, slowly fading from sight. For the long battle, his friends grew tired faster than usual, a huge amount of their magical reserve energy was being leeched by soul snatchers. Something happened that surprised him though, without noticing it herself, Rin split the demon bird in half with a powerful airborne magical cut, as a result, the demonic bird burned in black fire, before converting into a rose and a dead pigeon, the containers Vaansyan had used. Vaansyan shuddered at the sight "...I am so going to regret this... boss... you better reward Vaansyan for this..." His soul snatching minions returned engorged with overwhelming amounts of stolen magical fuel from his comrades. He then mixed all the power he had found to summon a long dead ghost.

He heard the angel say "Vaanysyan use your necromancy, but don't fail this time.". Vaansyan got up from the bush, ears ringing from exhaustion from the spell he was casting, and warned his newly found friends "I am sorry Alexander. And I am sorry too lady..." he said looking at the newly found girl with glowing yellow power. And then turned to the survivor armed with two guns "Kid, I deeply regret this...". During his fight with the Leader of the Chikyuu no Mirai, Kenpachi, a long time ago, he managed to search his soul, and found out about the many people he had killed, those souls were bound together by a string of despair and vengefulness. It was fairly easy for him to remember the one who stood the most in Kenpachi's scarred memories, a female vampire who had long betrayed him, thing which lead to Kenpachi's father figure's death, as well as Kenpachi being possessed by a demon and henceforth becoming a demonic.

He used the collective magic he had stolen from all his accolades during the fight, and pulled from the depths of the realm of the dead every unforgiving soul he could muster, who Kenpachi had killed, bound them with the soul of the female vampire, whom he could enthrall safely. He lost all strength in his own reanimated body as the portal to the world of the dead was opened, which released a thundering roar as it was pried open, which caused his body to fall flatly on its knees, but he still managed to keep his hands bursting the combined stolen power from all three survivors. The noise of such a spell was overwhelming, but he successfully pulled the soul of the lady vampire alongside with the string that held all the souls he was able to withdraw that Kenpachi had killed while they yet lived, and who had not yet forgiven him. A massive mix of yellow, white and red from all the stolen magic from his accolades lit the land with an orange hue, as a small noisy tornado of their combined magical strength knit together a spectral body for the revived souls to use.

Vaansyan, stood up with fiery determination on his eyes "Ladies and Gentlemen, you have all dug your own graves, you are exhausted! And it is your own magic that has made this undead specter's being possible. You might as well surrender now... my boss will want to speak to you very soon, and you people have a lot of answers to deliver to us."

Rin turned around quickly and her eyes widened in horror. In front of her was none other than a horde of dead. She immediately started shaking and took a step back, terrified. She tried to make a noise, but she only croaked. She knew she was in pain already, but she had to push it. She had to destroy them all..... Hmm.... Destroy....... What an interesting thought....

Her eyes took on a golden hue again as her eyes suddenly widened. The golden essence surrounded them all and grew thick. It soon became hard to breathe and the undead started getting cut up by this essence... Sadly, this wasn't the worst. Vaansyan immediately started to get surrounded by this essence and it soon trapped him. Smirking, she thought her job was done. She took care of the undead and the back stabber.... but what about that destroying thought? She tried to hide a sudden yelp as under her tattered sleeve, her golden marking glowed. Suddenly, Rin only saw darkness. She tried to quickly find her way out, but she was as lost as anytime she stepped in the forest.

Suddenly, Rin's body froze. A slight smile found it's way to her lips as Alex and the injured man also started getting cut up with everyone else.

"How fun.... To finally be out....." Rin muttered against her will as her power kept on growing by the second.

Alex smiled, his blood was making beautiful shapes on the ground. " So beautiful, yet I feel that I may not get to properly admire this for long." He walked up to Rin/Kuro "You are not Rin, but you have the same power as her. What are you?" His pendant started taking damage, but he managed to keep it not broken. His right eye glowed a white glow, while his left eye glowed a red glow. He stepped back trying to keep his pendant from taking damage. He was pretty sure he angered whatever being was taking control of Rin's body. The golden aura surrounding Rin was about to strike Alex and kill the hybrid. His eyes held amazement "Oh my, Rin is going to be pissed."

Just before the aura struck Alex. His genetic parents appeared, although before they were destroyed they said one thing " Sorry for not being there, but we've been busy." He watched his parents be burned by the great power coming from the being controlling Rin's body. He dropped to the ground and watched in horror as his parents died smiling a caring smile. He just stared into space, his eyes not looking at anything specific. He felt no emotion, he felt nothing. A single tear escaped his eye as his pendant his the ground with a slight ring. The one who gave him his pendant had just died, he did not know how to process this information .He dropped to the floor and went to sleep, for his mind couldn't comprehend what just happened.

Rin was snapped back to reality as she found out what happened. She slowly tried to reach out, but the man and woman were already dead. She tried to say something to her friend as the golden essence faded. She tried to think of something. She didn't know how to react at all. Her mind wouldn't process what had happened. She needed to respond. To say something to her only friend.... but nothing would come. No words of encouragement, no words of apologies.... Nothing. She killed her only friend's parents. Her friend was laying down, heart broken on the ground. Waves of guilt started to suffocate her as she stared blankly at what her powers did... What she did.

Tears slowly made their way down her face as she saw her friend hurt again by her.... Was destruction all she could do in this world? Her whole life, she only caused problems.... and here she was doing it again. She tried to choke down her sobs but they were too over whelming. Shaking, she took a step back.... then two.... Then she turned and sprinted away. She couldn't handle it. She couldn't accept it..... She didn't want to hurt anyone anymore.... She didn't want this. She continued to run off, leaving her destruction behind her. Abandoning her town, family, and her friend to a better life without dealing with her.

Alexander was snapped back to reality and used the commotion that just happened to escape from the mad necromancer near him. He summoned a horse and a mosquito, he used the horse to escape and the mosquito to distract the necromancer. He quickly escaped through the forest looking for Rin, he summoned his eagle as well to help him locate her. A minute later he located Rin he got his horse to run up to her and jumped off his horse. " Rin don't leave me, please. I don't know if I can handle losing my only friend after I lost my genetic parents. " He grabbed her trying to hold onto her so she wouldn't be able to run away. A tear went down the side of his cheek, his white hair was ruffled and messy. He wouldn't let go, unless she promised not to leave him like his parents did. He didn't care that his parents were killed by her, but he knew that this would be the last chance to keep Rin as a friend.

Rin yelped as she felt herself grabbed. Her eyes widened in horror as she saw her friend's face.

" Rin don't leave me, please. I don't know if I can handle losing my only friend after I lost my genetic parents. " He said as it hit a deep blow to her. After he lost his genetic parents..... Because of her. She started to fight against him and tried to hide her tears.

"Let go of me!! LET GO OF ME NOW!!!!" Rin screamed as she started kicking and scratching, thinking of things that would send her friend away. Something that would hurt him to a point that he wouldn't come after her ever again. Something that would cause him to forget her and be happy he did so.

"I HATE YOU! I Never liked you! Let me go!! GO TO HELL!!" She screamed as she only cried more. She hated doing this. She didn't want to hurt him. She just wanted to be away. She elbowed him in the stomach as she pulled out of his grip. Drawing her sword, she turned it on her friend, blind by the want of her friend to be safe that she didn't care what she had to do to get him away.

"...Don't make me hurt you...." She said coldly. Her face mirroring the coldness in her voice. She knew it'd hurt to get him away, but it was for his own good.... She couldn't let him be hurt by her again....

Alex will never let Rin go no matter what she did to him. He was a kid with a fragmented mind and he wasn't about to lose the only person he cared about. He was used to being hurt at the orphanage. They thought of him as a monster and they were right, but they were the ones who made the monster. He hugged her ignoring her words even if it got him killed. If he was left alone he would probably cut himself and bleed to death without knowing the he was bleeding, but he didn't care if he died. He just didn't want to lose his only friend. His tears were going down his cheeks, but he didn't care. He was in a cold forest, but that didn't bother him at all.

He forced a smile "Rin let's go and I'm not letting you leave me alone. You'll probably get lost like you usually do." He didn't care that she had a sword. " Please, promise me you wont leave me alone. I can't handle that."

Rin teared up.
"I won't get lost y-.....you ass..... I've gotten..... better.... at......." She tried to continue but her body started going limp. The whole day was finally catching up to her and the worst time ever. She stuck her sword in the ground and tried to keep herself up with that. Sadly, it didn't work and her body leaned on the last thing keeping her up. Her one and only friend in this world. The only thing she actually still had in this world. Her eyelids started to close slowly as she continued to try and fight against is. In a matter of seconds, Rin was fast asleep.

Alex caught his best friend and smiled. " She's probably going to be sleeping all the time like me now." He grabbed her sword and put it on his back, so he wouldn't lose it and get punched by her later. He picked her up and put her on the horse he was riding, he then got on the horse behind her and let her sleep on him. They had a rough day and he wanted to get as far away from this town as he could. He felt tired emotionally, but he didn't want to risk his and Rin's lives just to rest. He slept quite a lot, so he had a lot of energy to use. The idea of sleep was tempting though, but his and Rin's lives were more important then sleep. He decided to clean the blood off of his body by jumping into a lake quickly, it was the coldest water he has ever been in. He then got back on the horse and continued riding. They were approaching a town(The town that has The Chikyuu no Mirai base near it.) It only took eight hours of traveling to get here, he got off the horse and un-summoned it. He carried Rin on his back and asked to rent a room in one of the taverns in the town, of course he hid his hair with a hat. He knew that people with white hair were rare, since there was only six people in Kusou who had white hair. It was even rarer to find a person who had red eyes as well as white hair, since red eyes were usually attributed to being a vampire. He paid the person there and got into a room and laid Rin on the bed. He then saw down on the floor and just stared into nothing, just thinking and waiting for Rin to wake up.

Rin snuggled into the comfy bed as she slowly woke up. It hurt to move much so she slowly opened her eyes. A bright light shined through the window as Rin's eyebrow twitched.

"Shut up light.... I'm trying to relax..." She mumbled, still tired but unable to sleep. Angrily, she tried to sit up only to find excruciating pain pulse through her body and let out a wimpy yelp. Slowly, her eyes scanned what she could in the room. Confusion took over her face as she found Alex in there. Where was she and why was he in this room with her!?

Slowly, ghost-like images played in her mind as she slowly remembered what happened before she fainted. Sadness crossed her face only to be replaced with guilt and then all expressions disappeared as she cut herself off from this world.

Rin looked out the window for what seemed like an hour or two. She couldn't stand this guilt in her heart. She hurt her friend horribly and it was her fault. Getting up, she quickly walked outside and into town. She couldn't stand being in that room or by her friend. Even though she killed his parents, he was still so nice and caring.... And it made her feel even worse... She was a monster and deserved nothing. She didn't deserve the tow, her friends..... Nothing. It seemed everything she worked for in life was destroyed in one day by none other than herself.

Sighing, she continued on her walk. She needed to get away before Alex showed up because he would just make it more difficult to leave.