21 XX

Opening my eyes was harder than it had ever been before. The brightness of the lights flashing caused me to shut my eyes again and let out a groan.

"Rosie? Are you okay?" I heard a panicked Angel say. I shot up with her voice and saw four men fighting in front of me. Only one was unfamiliar. Week's eyes were getting brighter by the second as he shot off magic like it was the easiest thing in the world. Levi was starting to get tired, I could see it in his stance and his face. Kai was standing taller than normal and was about level with Week's own ability. The other man was the one who caught my attention. He was definitely older than us. One of his eyes was red while the other a bright silver. His hair was fiery red and he had a muscular build. He seemed to be glowing black and that frightened me.

Levi then took my attention as he collapsed to the floor, obviously drained. I went to stand but I was like a fawn getting used to my legs. I was pulled back to the ground by Angel. Her brown eyes were warm and she just grabbed me and held me to her. This was the first time she had ever done this, so I relaxed into her arms.

I watched the boys fight and Levi came over to me and let me heal him. After that, he jumped back into the fight. Most of the fight after that was a blur.

I opened my eyes again to see Levi and Week we're still standing in front of us while Kai was working on moving me, Angel, and the boy with us. I started walking with him but decided to get one last look back. I watched as the man across the field started to glow brighter, yet Levi and Week were on the ground. They seemed weaker, almost dead.

I tore away from Kai's grip and ran towards the boys.

"Rose! Get your ass back over here!" I heard behind me, but I was faster than him. I stood in front of the boys and held my arms out, blocking as much of the hit as I could.

Ringing filled my ears after that and the world slowly fell into the darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Everything hurts.

Why does it all hurt?

"Rose, hey, can you hear me, love?" I heard. The voice unfamiliar in my ears, yet I longed for whoever it was who spoke. I tried to open my eyes to see whoever was talking, but the lights were blinding.

"Rosie girl, you need to wake up, please."

Am I Rose? Is Rosie girl a nickname for me?

"Rose, please just open your eyes."

I slowly fluttered my eyes open to the world and took in the boy with me. He held me in his arms and his eyes were dull red, as if some part of him was missing. I felt something wet plop on my cheek and I finally registered the fact the boy was crying.

"Rose," he said, pulling me closer to him, "you can't die yet. Don't leave us like this, don't leave me like this."

I reached up a hand and wiped his tears away and finally noticed the darkness tugging at the edge of my mind. I looked over his shoulder and saw a man firing a blast of magic towards us. I held up my hand and it dissipated as it hit. I hissed back in pain and noticed the blistering forming on my hand. Then darkness started taking over.

"Rose, no. Please."

I couldn't fight whatever was pulling me down and gave into it. I took in one final deep breath before my world finally fell silent.

~~~~~~~~~~~

I gathered Rose in my arms and screamed. Everything hurt, it was as if a thousand bullets just hit my heart, yet I was still alive and breathing, but she wasn't. Someone started to pull her away and I growled at them, gripping her closer.

It took me a while to recognize it was Levi. His eyes were wet and he placed a hand on my shoulder. I let him take her and he held her close for a second before setting her to the ground between us. She looked so broken with her hair matted and red from dried blood. The glow of her cheeks was gone, replaced by a dull hollowness that looked wrong on her face.

I stood up and heard the man talking to me, trying to reason with me, but I couldn't register his words correctly as I felt the demon inside scratching for the surface, begging for release, and I let it out. The blackness took me in as I released the killer inside me. I was too late to save her. Too weak. Why wouldn't I save anyone that I cared about?

I don't know how long it was before I was thrown back into my own skin, well in control. The man stood above me and smirked.

"I tried to warn you, little man, even the others put up more of a fight than you."

A rumbling stared to make the earth below me tremble. I looked over and saw Rose's body glowing. It was something I'd never seen before. She slowly rose up and stared blankly at the man above me.

"So troublesome. I thought you were dead, girl. I'll be sure this time," he said, throwing a strong blast of power at her, only for it to dissipate as it hit her. My eyes widened and so did the mans above me. The earth started to tremble again as her eyes began to glow a bright blue and huge black angel wings sprouted from her back, ripping her shirt and it hung limply around her body.

The man fell to the ground, fear clouding his eyes as he stared at her.

"He said her angel side was asleep, but it's so strong-"

His words were cut off as he fell to the ground, no longer breathing. He slowly started to disappear into dust which I had never seen before. Rose's body started to do the same and I ran to her, reaching her too late as the last of her slipped between my fingers.

I blinked and she was gone, yet everything in the world seemed to have gone back in time to before the man destroyed everything, as if none of it had ever happened.