A/N: This is a story my friend Grace (Defying-Gravity-Girl on here!) and I are writing together. It's still a work in progress, so please be nice/forgive us for any errors! I write all of Branwen's parts, and Grace has written all of Lucy's. Hence the little titles, letting you know who the hell is talking. (There're much more of Grace's stuff here than mine, because I haven't finished writing the following scenes XD.)

Enjoyyyy!

Lucy

Walking along the twilight lit path, I felt immensely empty and alone. I couldn't place the feeling, but it had been sinking deeper and deeper within me since Branwen and I moved in together a few months before. While the sky was nectarine, the light it cast was dull grey and painful blue. I paused as the edge of an immense puddle—the remnants of a long passed rain. My pale reflection frowned back. I fiddled with my hair and traced my bland features. Movement beyond my face caught my attention. I tossed my head back to see a flittering black creature in the sky. I wondered if it was a bird, but the wings moved so frantically and without pause. I was entranced by its lost, purposeless patterns. I smiled as it did a neat figure eight. I pictured the personality behind the fragile wings as unique and lost, but free in ways not another soul could see. I couldn't help but beam and began to twirl along with the bat. It began to swoop close, as if it, too, were investigating me. And then it abruptly spun higher and higher, and flew swiftly behind a tree. A laugh bubbled from my throat s I dashed behind to tree to see its destination, but could not find it. I looked around desperately in search of my winged friend, but he was gone. My smile melted away. I cursed and cast one last sweeping glance around in search. Above me, something stirred in the branches of the intricate system of branches. It was too large to be the bat, but I still felt my lips turn up fondly. As I headed back home in the suddenly sweet night breeze, I was singing sweetly and softly to myself, and whoever else would listen.

That night, my mind wasn't in the right place. It seemed distant, like it belonged somewhere else, or in someone else's head. I lay in my bed, tracing imaginary patterns in the shadows, like bats flying through night…

The sharp cold of the night woke me up. Even under my covers, icy air bit at my flesh. I awoke with a freezing gasp, sitting up and clutching my covers close. It wasn't long before I saw my curtains billowing from my gaping window.

"…Well that's origin—" I let out a cry of surprise when I spotted a dark figure silhouetted in the shadows behind my gauzy curtains. As soon as the sound escaped, the figure was gone, and a smooth, fiery hand covered my mouth. However, I didn't scream. I sighed, as if I was relieved by the action. It didn't make sense to me or my guest, because his hand slid away. From outside, I heard a snigger.

As the hand slid away, someone slid to sit on my bed with one leg dangling casually off the edge. He lay is hands in his lap with care, like he was unsure of what to say. My lips parted in pleasant surprise. He just stared at me for a long time, and I did the same without complaint. Moonlight made his pale skin silvery white. It caught his dramatic almond shaped eyes and made the aqua irises shine like blue-hot flames. Every feature was smooth and angular—as if he carefully chiseled from stone. Wild stands of choppy black hair tangled with his eyelashes as the wind continued to torment our silence. It hissed through the trees outside and howled against my window like demons begging for entrance.

"Well say something, idiot!" Another hiss rode on the wind.

My head snapped to find the source, but before I could focus, another burning hot hand caught my chin and jerked it back to face the young man before me. My mouth opened to protest, though I never expected words to come out. His open expression led me to believe that he was just as shocked as I was.

"…Hi…"he said at last. His jaw tensed on the last letter.

"Hi," my response was more dragged out and cautious.

"Uh…"

"May I ask who you are?"

"Of course you can." He didn't respond beyond that. I thought I heard a slapping sound outside—like a hand against a forehead.

"So…who are you?"

"Oh, well…My name is Erebus. Or Erelus. I'm not horribly particular. Really I—who are you?"

I was taken aback and took my time before answering. It seemed to me that he was changing the subject awfully abruptly.

"L-Lucy. I'm Lucy."

Erebus…Erelus…He had dropped his hand sometime ago and now I extended mine for him to shake it, but he eyed it uneasily.

"No thank you," he raised his eyes to look straight into mine as I dropped my hand in a daze. We stared for a long time again, both fascinated by the other. At last he drew up his leg and leaned in close.

"You saw me today," he whispered.

I blinked. I had never seen this beautiful creature before.

"I'm sorry? I didn't—"

"You saw me. And I mean…you saw me. Really saw me. That was amazing. I know it sounds stupid but people…you realize people see things and just accept them or something ridiculous like that? Or they…shun or turn away something…? I just," he leaned back but didn't break eye contact. "I was just relatively impressed, or…or something…" He finally bowed his head and gradually broke away his gaze, suddenly cautious. Realization dawned on me and I leaned forward on my hand and knees.

"You're the bat!" I nearly yelled but caught myself.

He raised his eyes to look at me through the curtain of shining bangs between us. I smiled as I had today.

"But that doesn't make sense! How could that be? Are you like a—" I was cut off as his scorching lips met mine in a rush of motion. They were so hot, at first I thought that they were freezing cold, but then immediately wondered if they would actually burn my flesh. However, the pain, the fire, was sensational. It burned and scorched my soul and my mind. I didn't even think about how strange or irrational all this was. A flawless hand slowly brushed a strand of hair from my face—tracing a line of fire as it did so—and then rested at the base of my neck. My eyes flickered closed to savor the wildfire devouring me. I felt Erelus force me back until at last, I was lying on my back with him nearly on top of him, feeling nearly crushed by my own weight all of a sudden. My eyes struggled to open beneath the flames. All they could see the brief second they were open were the eyes that had shined so bright blue not a moment ago, only now they were scorching. White-hot with flames that devoured everything else. His lips parted beneath mine and unconsciousness swept over me. I did not wake up the rest of the night, but was grateful for the cool breeze.

I was groggy the next morning when Branwen's ringtone penetrated my misty dreams. I rubbed my eyes and struggled through the mental haze to the contents of my dreams. One of them had been splendid and intriguing, yet I couldn't put my finger on the memory.

I flipped onto my stomach and searched beneath my pillow for the phone.

"Hey, where are you?" I groaned and checked her bed across the room which was, obviously, empty.

"I'm downstairs. It's nearly noon, and you've slept enough. Get your ass up and come down for lunch."

"You couldn't just come up here?" I began to ask, but she had already hung up. I sat up and stretched and my eyes landed on the foot of my bed. The shadow of someone sitting there filled my head. I sighed.

"Bummer." It hadn't been real, which means he hadn't been real, which was a real shame.

I stumbled straight from the stairs to one of the metal chairs in our petite kitchen to the smell of burning pancakes.

"Mm," I murmured, "Soot. My favorite."

"Shut up, they're fine, but for that you get the only burned one." Wen stabbed a crispy pancake and left it on my plate with the fork still standing victoriously from it. The thing about Wen that I adored was that there was so much fierceness inside her 4 foot 11 body that nobody ever saw coming until it was shrieking at them several centimeters from their face. Or whatever part of them she could reach without jumping. She threw herself into the seat opposite me with no less than four pancakes on her plate. I knew better than to comment.

"Hey, why'd you sleep so late? Usually you're first up." Her voice was more concerned than accusatory and she only looked up from her pancakes once or twice.

"Oh, yeah. I had weird dreams. You wouldn't believe." I poked my black pancake and allowed the crunching noise to hypnotize me while I tried to remember the dream from that night that hovered like a ghost at the edge of my mind.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

I paused; I almost had it in my grasp, the whole thing…

"Luce?" and it vanished.

I didn't look up from my breakfast but scowled at my now obliterated food.

"Hey, Wen, I'm not all that hungry. Sorry." I got up and dumped my plate into the sink.

"I can give you another pancake. I was just joking about the burned one…."

I smiled.

"No, Wen. It wasn't the pancake, honest."

"Ok, well…do you want to talk about it?" There was an awkward quality in her voice. It was surprising how little of what Wen and I said to each other had any purpose or depth. I paused, considering this.

"Why not!" I threw myself into my chair and leaned over the table with determined intensity. "Ok, so like…I've been in this weird mood lately, you know? And then yesterday I saw this bat flying around and around and it was really cool and I was like, bonding with it or something but then it disappeared into this tree that I think is by the cemetery. But that's beside the point. So, last night I think I had a dream about the bat and there was this guy…I think…and then another…and…damn it! I can't remember any of it, though!" I leaned back in worn out defeat. Wen lifted her head from her last remaining pancake and stared at me thoughtfully. She squinted for a second.

"You know I think somebody's following me?"

"Wen!" I threw up my arms incredulously. "Were you even listening?"

"No, no, I was! That's the only reason I'm saying this: I think that they're related. I don't know I just… Okay, look: you've been in this weird mood for the last few days, and then yesterday you like, connected with a bat or something—which is freaking awesome, by the way—and yesterday I could have sworn that somebody following me! Think about it," she lifted her whole pancake and took a bite. "I fink vey're commected."

I crossed my arms and stared at her. She looked like she was pretty serious. Wen was crazy, there was no ignoring that, and it had only been a dream but still…Maybe there was a connection? At last I closed my eyes and shrugged.

"I don't know Wen. Maybe you've got something. However," I stood and stretched. "Until there are any further developments, I'm going to go take a shower. Good luck with your stalker."

As I headed up the stairs, her high voice followed me.

"Yeah, okay. But when I disappear, YOU KNOW WHY!"

I laughed to myself as if it were nothing, yet throughout the day our conversation and the dream that prompted it haunted me.

The next day I awoke again with the poignant feeling of a dramatic scene I could not remember for the life of me. I also slept just as late.

"Okay," Wen complained when I told her about the dreams, "If you sleep this late again I'm going to go insane."

"I'm sorry. It's just that these dreams are driving me crazy…I don't get it. It's like…They're crazy vivid but not. If I could just get one night of solid sleep, I would be so grateful."

"Believe me: so would I."

"Well I'm so sorry my sleep patterns aren't convenient to you, Wen!" I snapped, gripping the table until my fingers were white. Her eyes widened and she looked away.

"Whoa, someone's irritable."

I sighed in frustration.

"I told you already. I need sleep."

"Okay well, why don't you just stay up really late tonight and see if that helps?"

I glared at her for an instant.

"Oh yes, Wen. That's a great idea. Less sleep is sure to help me!"

She stuck her tongue out.

"No. I mean stay up late, so by the time you sleep you'll be too worn out to dream, and I'll let you sleep in the next day, so you'll get a good, healthy chunk of sleep."

I paused and considered her idea.

"And you'll let me sleep in?" I asked at last. She nodded cooperatively. "Alright…yeah." I perked up. "This could be fun!"

So that night Wen joined me in staying up late as we possibly could. We watched T.V. and made about five different batches of cookies, coffee (which neither of us enjoyed), and tea (which I loved but Wen did not enjoy). No matter how much sugar and caffeine we took in, however, Wen was out by 2:30 am. We were watching a sitcom when I turned to make a witty remark and found her passed out. I threw a piece of popcorn at her. She didn't move. I threw another piece and then a handful. She remained still and I proceeded to pick the popcorn off of her and eat it. During the process, Wen awoke with a start and cried out. I yelled back, just as shocked. We then both broke into a fit of giggles.

"Go to bed, babe," I told her.

She rubbed her eye and yawned.

"No, I'm staying up with you," her words were faint like she was already falling asleep. I chuckled.

"No you're not. Now go to sleep before you hurt yourself."

She nodded like a child and shuffled up the stairs. I stared at the T.V. for about a minute before deciding that it was no use. More lame television would put me right to sleep. So I dumped the popcorn, locked up, and headed up the dark staircase to our room. When I opened our door, the room was only barely lit by a silver slant of moonlight across the floor. I wasn't hot, yet I walked over to the window and opened it as silently as I could, then pinned the curtains back. I stared into the darkness, past the ill tree whose skeleton branches threatened to reach in and grab me. I sighed and sat on my bed without pulling back the covers. For a moment, I just listened to Wen's soft, even breathing, like that of a child. I was at a strange tranquility in the silence and darkness with the cool wind breathing freely through my window. I smiled to myself and examined my home from where I sat, perfectly at peace with the emptiness.

A gentle fluttering suddenly pulled my attention to the window. I wondered if I should close the window to keep out any animals and wondered once again why I had opened it in the first place. I decided to close the window when suddenly a pale hand emerged from outside and gripped the top of the frame. I froze, strangely enough, not with fear but excitement. For some reason, this was familiar to me. I had anticipated this without even knowing it. A dark image came to mind of me tilting my head to the side inquisitively and asking someone if they wanted me to leave the window open the next night. Tonight.

A familiar pale figure swung in through the window and then nodded at the window with obvious satisfaction. He looked at the bed then away again and did a brief double take. He blinked.

"Lucy," came his silken voice. His name rolled easily off of my tongue.

"Erelus, yes?"

He smiled and nodded once.

"You're awake tonight. You weren't waiting were you?"

"Uh, no. No, I don't believe I was. I," I chuckled awkwardly, "actually, I was staying up late so that I could sleep more." I nodded with a self-conscious smile.

"I see," the only sign he showed of how little sense this made was slight crease in his brow. "Then, would you like me too…" he gestured over his shoulder at the window.

"No! No," I patted the bed before me. "Come on and sit. I guess you have…you've been here the last two nights, haven't you?"

He sat down as he had the first night—with one leg tucked neatly beneath him and one hanging casually off the end. His legs were long and stretched easily to the floor.

"Yes. Yes I have." He folded his hands in front of him.

I shifted to sit on my heels and leaned forward in intrigue.

"Why?" I whispered.

He blinked.

"Well…well I explained that."

Now I blinked dumbly as I struggled to recall this.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have a fantastic recollection of what exactly had happened on your previous visits. Re-explain, won't you?"

His eyes fell guiltily. Before he could answer, I cut him off.

"You wouldn't happen to have anything to do with this slight memory loss, would you?"

His eyes remained down for an instant and then flicked to my face and down again.

"Yes." He murmured.

I leaned forward so that I was on my hands and knees and inches from his face.

"But why?" I hissed in fascination.

His eyes had been down so I guess he hadn't seen me. He lifted them with a remorseful expression but jumped back when he noticed our proximity. His eyes grew wide as bowling balls and I noticed that his pupils weren't even large in the poor lighting, as I imagined mine were. He gawked at me for some time without speaking.

"Why did you do it?" I repeated.

"I'll tell you when…I'll tell you in a moment." He swallowed. "I'm sorry, but would you, kindly, back up, just the littlest bit?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry." I leaned back and changed to sit cross-legged. "So?"

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, reopening them when he released it.

"I did it because, frankly, I didn't want you telling people."

"Telling them what? A handsome man was sneaking into my house and talking to me at night?"

There was a pause. A tight smile graced Erelus features and I felt my neck get hot with embarrassment.

"I didn't mean to mention the handsome part," I whispered.

Erelus chuckled but still avoided my eyes.

"That's alright. With me, anyways. I don't mind. Obviously. I mean…" he stopped smiling and began to talk in a nervous rush, "Yes, well… I'm not sure what I expected you to do. I just wasn't sure how wise it was for you to remember these visits too well."

I continued to whisper, suddenly very aware of Wen's slumbering presence. He already spoke incredibly softly.

"I wouldn't tell anyone anything. Not if you didn't want me to."

"What of your friend?" His voice dropped even quieter and I struggled to hear him. He jerked his head towards Wen and looked at my face, though ever at my eyes. "Haven't you told her?"

"As far as she needs to know, the dreams stopped after I stayed up so late tonight." I smiled conspiratorially. "That was the point, after all. She'll be awfully proud." I heard a scoffing from outside and leaned to get a good look. "Who's your friend out there?"

Erelus hand shot to my arm, distracting me. As soon as he had my attention again, he dropped it.

"He's not my friend."

"Oh, so there is somebody out there?"

He sighed.

"Well, evidently, yes."

"Who is he?" I smiled.

Erelus paused in what appeared to be thought before finally answering. "My brother," he sighed.

"Oh! You have a brother? Can I meet him?"

"No." Erelus and his bodiless brother replied in unison. Erelus' expression was frank.

"Well, why not?"

"You aren't missing much, believe me. I often wish I'd never met him."

And with that we began to talk. One subject led to another and I soon learned almost everything about Erelus. He had a younger brother of about a year, but he wouldn't give me his name. They both lived somewhere far off that I "wouldn't know about." Apparently, they came from a large royal family there and had come to this area to get away from royal family issues. These, too, he wouldn't specify. Okay, so maybe I didn't know everything, but I felt like I did.

In return, I told him all I could about myself: I didn't have any parents and had never known them, having been dropped off at the orphanage at a young age. While growing up there, Wen and I connected like sisters and adopted one another as such. Never wanting to leave the other, we weren't adopted and lived together our whole lives just fine. As soon as we were old enough, we moved into the house we now lived in.

In next to no time, the moon had disappeared and Wen's sleep was becoming restless. She mumbled something in her sleep and we froze until her breathing picked up again.

"I suppose that's my cue to leave." Erelus stood and smoothed out his dark clothing. He looked up at me, finally meeting my eyes with his own, which glowed like fiery blue beacons in the dark room. "Goodnight, Lucy," he whispered.

"Goodnight." I whispered back with a wistful smile. I found myself leaning forward hopefully. Erelus turned and prepared to exit through the window. "What," I stopped him, recalling another small bit from the nights before, "no kiss goodnight?" My smile became sheepish.

"You said you wanted to remember this," he shrugged.

"Oh! Cool trick," I exclaimed. "Like Superman."

He nodded cautiously, as if he had never heard of Superman, which was ridiculous, of course. You'd have to be from another world to not know Superman.

"Yeah," he grumbled, "You're welcome to have it."

Before I could question him, though, he swung out the window into the night air. After he was gone, I smiled somewhat proudly to myself. When I closed the window, my eyes lingered on the dark night sky, as if looking for a friendly face in the obscurity.

Erelus returned various nights after that, and they always went the same. I would wait for Wen to fall fast asleep, open the window, and wait for Erelus' sharp figure to emerge from the shadow, when we would talk calmly and continuously until it was obvious that my handsome friend would have to leave. And sure enough, I began to sleep much better. Good job, Branwen.

Branwen

I gulped and glanced back over my shoulder. I was sure someone had been following me.

The wind suddenly became harsher, ripping through my thin jacket and causing leaves to twirl around my feet. It sounded as if another pair of feet was walking along with me. I stopped walking, and the only sound was the harsh wind. I continued, my boots tapping against the cement. The other footsteps followed. This time when I stopped, I made sure to whip my head around to see if anyone was following.

"Gah!" I jumped when I found someone had followed me. The darkness concealed his features, but he seemed to be about two feet taller than me.

"W-what are you doing?" I gasped, still breathless from holding back my scream.

"Walking." The person said. I was startled by his voice. It was gentle and controlled on the surface, but there seemed to be something darker under the surface. And somehow almost… crooning at the same time.

"But-but why are you following me?" He shrugged and kicked a pebble to the side with his shoe.

"You can finally see me. I'm glad." He began to walk toward me, and as he did, the moonlight illuminated his face.

His features were sharp and delicate. Almost like an ice pixie I had seen in fairytale books, but infinitely more beautiful. His layered black hair fell to the base of his neck and shielded half of his face.

"Y-you didn't answer my question." I stood up straighter and jutted out my chin. I wasn't going to let some pretty boy turn me into a pile of mush.

"Who says I have to?" He smirked, and his dark purple eyes glittered like the night stars. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. As sexy as that smirk was, there was no way I was going to let his rudeness slide.

"Nobody, it's just common courtesy." If anything, his smirk intensified and his dark eyes shimmered even more.

"I'm not familiar with this 'common courtesy' concept."

"Hmph." I turned and decided to just ignore him, continuing to walk.

The next time I looked behind me, he had gone.

"Lucy—Lucy, would you stop—stop singing!" Lucy had been singing quietly to herself all day and I couldn't get a word in.

"Hmm? Oh, what's up?" She blinked and had a bright smile plastered on her face.

"I found out who's been following me."

"Ah…" She returned to drifting lazily around the kitchen, humming.

"Yeah he—he's some crazy guy. My age. Freakin' tall. And…" Lucy obviously wasn't paying attention to me. I sighed and grabbed my coat. "I'm going out! …Alone! …With a stalker! …I'm not wearing any mace or a knife or anything to protect myself!" More soft humming.

"I might DIE!" I closed the door and marched outside. The street was quiet and I saw nobody during my walk. A black bat suddenly flew in front of me, a streak across the blue sky. Weird, bats are nocturnal.

The orphanage Lucy and I grew up in was closed up. Blue tarp covered everything and the front door was boarded up. I strolled to the back, wondering if the gate that led to the backyard was locked.

It was, with a huge silver padlock. Thick chains crisscrossed over the wooden gate. I found an old box and pulled it over to the fence. The box held my weight as I struggled to climb over.

The grass was full of weeds and it looked like all the flowers had been viciously ripped out. All of the trees had been chopped down, leaving a small, empty stretch of land.

The left side of the garden was filled with tiny gravestones, where the orphanage had let everyone bury their pets. Most of the tombstones were crumbled, the messy writing unreadable. When I was around six, Lucy and I had buried my goldfish here. I walked to the end of the row, where we had buried the fish.

I blinked when I reached the place my fish had been buried. A new grave stood in the original tombstone's place, its remnants wrapped in a plastic bag next to the new grave. The paint still looked wet.

"Here lies Rosie. R.I.P."

Unlike the grass in front of the other graves, Rosie's was still green. Newer flowers and even wilted flowers decorated it. Someone must have been coming here for years.

I doubted Lucy had, because she would've told me about it. Maybe one of the caretakers who used to work here?

"What was I thinking, naming her Rosie, anyway?" I said.

"Just what I was thinking, Maris would have been more appropriate." A voice suddenly said to my left.

I screamed and looked around. The guy who had been stalking me had popped up, again.

"What are you doing?!" I said. "Seriously, this stalking thing is just—"

"Oh, please. I'm not stalking you. I'm Hayate, by the way." Hayate grinned and held out his hand for me to shake.

"…Wen," I said, gingerly clasping his hand. Swiftly, he bent forward so his lips brushed against mine. I scooted backwards, scraping my bottom along the grass. "Don't worry. I promise I won't hurt you."

"Wh—why did you—" I stuttered, standing. Is he going to rape me!? I quickly brushed the grass from my bottom, feeling the angry words I wanted to scream burn in my throat.

But when I looked up, there was only Rosie and I.