1 Chapter #1

The cherry blossoms began to hide behind the shadows of dusk, only sometimes revealed by the misty hue of the moonlight. My eyes blurred when attempting to focus on the gravestones in front of me, engraved with the titles, mother and father. Before I had a chance to reject them, lone tears drizzled down my cheeks.

"WIll you stop crying dammit!" I fell to my knees, burying my head into the grass.

"I hate you! You took my family from me!!" I wasn't quite sure who these words were aimed toward, but I felt like I was screaming at the world. I lifted my head to focus my words. "You told me you'd both watch me grow up, but you abandoned me before you even had the chance!" By this point all my surroundings had mixed into a blur.

"You left me all alone..." Darkness arrived, caging me in with my own whimpers and sobs, as they echoed into the night. "Why were you in such a hurry to leave?" It's been a year since then, and I still can't escape it. That night. That one simple night, that had pain and suffering hidden just below the surface. It was my fault. I shouldn't have been outside the walls. I should've told my parents what I was doing, then they could have stopped me. Then they wouldn't have had to fight for me. They would be safe and sound. They would still be alive. "I'm so sorry." I weeped. "Just come back to me, I need us to all be a family again," I knew that things could never go back to how they were. But still, that was the only wish I wanted in the whole world. My cries were finally silenced by the need to draw breath, and the flames burning in my throat died down.

"I promise I will avenge you. I'll find the devil who stole you away from me, and they will beg for my forgiveness." There was no lie behind those words. I knew that the only way for me to move on, was to get revenge. My vision returned, and my hands guided me back through the empty hours of night.

"Rin," my uncle's voice called from outside my room. "You need to eat something, or you'll starve to death," My eyes fluttered open and my voice tried to respond, but no words left my tongue. It was like I had been completely robbed of speech. My attention was drawn to a shadowed figure lingering in the corner of my room. I wanted to hide under my covers, and scream at the top of my lungs, but my body lay unresponsive, mesmerized by the scene unfolding before me. It moved closer, letting me see the features of its face. An intimidating gaze, fueled by a single amber iris, resembled an uncontrollable forest fire. A black patch covered his right eye, evidencing a past full of war, and pain. His eyebrows were arched, casting a fierce expression over the rest of his face. And the closer he crept, the more prominent his face structure became. He had a defined V- shaped jaw, and chiseled cheekbones, that screamed 'no mercy'. I could feel my whole body tremble in fear, as his nails grazed over the palm of my hand.

"Rin," his voice was low, and threatening, and the hotness of his breath boiled the blood that had been tickled by it. My body continued to lay completely still, but I could feel my heart pumping blood to the tips of my fingers. This strange man was terrifying, yet almost intriguing.

"Rin," I had no other choice but to wait for this torment to end.

"Rin,"

"Rin! Wake up!" Light flooded into my room, bringing me back to reality, and waking my body from its restless slumber. My uncle continued to shake my arm, and snap his fingers to wake me up.

"Rin did you seriously not hear me? I shouted your name like three times!" His voice wasn't the same one I heard just moments ago.

"Uh yeah, sorry. I must've been day dreaming…" More like trapped in a nightmare.

"Well, get up. You've been hidden in this room for weeks on end." What he said was true. Though I had no reason to get up. Why should I? Oh, let me just get up to walk around this same damn house just to come back to bed. Reasonable...I stretched my arm out in front of me, spreading my fingers out. Huh? What's this stinging feeling? I twisted my wrist, revealing a fresh slice across the palm of my hand. What the heck? That couldn't have been real, could it? What? Of course not! Snap out of it Rin, you're still dreaming. I slapped both my hands against my face to test my theory. Nope, definitely awake.