Thunk!

Kyle stood up, panting. In his hand was a bloody hatchet. In his gut was a massive knife. He glared at the person in front of him. It was someone he knew well. Blue, or Steela. They have been friends for years and now...

....now....

....Now she was his enemy. 

A hatchet's head was embedded into Steela's neck. He put it there. At the same time, Steela had stabbed him in the gut with a large butcher knife. Unfortunately, even if the wound Kyle has may be fatal, Steela's was by far worse.

Steela had a shadow over her face and wasn't moving, breathing in small garbled gasps. Behind her was a frightened girl wearing a white and black sailor uniform. She stared wide-eyed at the scene in front of her, her mind not quite caught up to what is happening. All around her were dead bodies, with some of them being her friends. In fact, all of her friends were here, including Kyle and Blue, the two killing each other. She was wondering how this all came to be when Steela started chuckling, coughing up a bit of blood.

From her shadowed face, her eyes started to glow. Grey and shaped like a diamond. 'Devil Eyes'. She gently reached forward with her free hand and caressed Kyle's bloody cheek. Kyle's eyes widened and he tried to comprehend what was happening.

"Oh, poor poor Kyle. Y-you never ceased to amaze me with your amazing bullshit!"

Steela's eyes hardened and she giggled, showing a crazed yet hurt smile. In one swift movement, she ripped the knife free from Kyle's gut by slicing upwards and through his right shoulder like he was made of butter. Kyle stumbled back, letting go of the hatchet and falling to one knee.

"This is your fault, Kyle. All of it is your fault."

Her words turning into a snarl, Steela tossed the knife to her left hand and flipped it around so the blade was facing downwards. She raised her arm up and Kyle saw the blade of the knife glitter in the moonlight coming in through the kitchen window behind Steela, saw his life flash before his eyes before the knife came crashing down into his right eye, killing him instantly.

----------------

Kyle woke up with a gasp, clutching his red shirt where his heart is. After a bit of calming down, he wiped the sweat from his brow and got out of his bed. He couldn't go back to sleep after getting a nightmare. He never could. So he decided to do something to clear his mind. He went over to his drawer and unplugged his cellphone and turned it on. After a bit of messing around, he opened the phone app and called his friend, Owen. He knew he would be awake at this hour.

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After a solid ten seconds of waiting, the call was answered.

"Hey, Kyle! I kinda expected you to be calling me. Did you get another nightmare?"

Kyle let out a sigh, his eyes drooping.

"Y-yeah. What about you? What are you doing still up?"

Kyle looked at the time. Three-thirty. Yikes.

"Me? I'm just up playing games."

"...At three-thirty in at night?"

"...Yep!"

Kyle chuckled.

"Yeah, that sounds about right."

"So, what's up? Why'd you call? Did ya just want to hear my voice?"

"Nope. Sorry, bud. I'm here to check up on my friends."

"Aw. Do you expect me to know everything about our friends today? Do you take me for a stalker?"

"Yes."

"Well, you got me there. Hold on a minute, I accidentally knocked over the book and my room is kinda a mess right now."

Kyle walked over to his window and took a look at the town outside. He let out a sigh remembering all the times he looked out this window at night. Tonight was the last time he would ever see this view.

Did it always look this pretty?

"Alright. Here is the rundown."

"Snow is doing fine, though she seems to be isolating herself again. She's still the same quirky genius little girl that we know. Marry is doing fine. She even went a bit further into the forest again. When you arrive, we should all go on a hike together and show Marry that the forest is nothing to be afraid of."

Kyle smiled at that. 

"That sounds like a good plan."

"Really? It was Pop who made it. I'll tell her that you thought so tomorrow. Anyway, back to the scheduled report."

"Pop is, of course, doing fine. She's spending more time at the shrine with Marry and Cinder. Irene is fretting over school but other than that, her strong sense of justice and cheering attitude hasn't changed in the bit! Cranberry hasn't changed in the bit. Though I did hear that she's been using her money to try and get your house settled sooner. Kuromi is also doing the same. And Green is still recovering, though she's still as cheerful and wild as ever."

Kyle frowned a little. He didn't quite recall Cinder that much.

"Hey, Owen. Who is Cinder exactly?"

"Ah! You weren't there most of the time when she was around. She is that goth-shrine combo girl with the red eyes who is best friends with Marry and Pop. She kinda blends in so I don't blame you for not noticing her. Well, that and she doesn't really talk much unless it is to Marry or Pop."

Thinking back on it, Kyle did recall someone matching that description sitting on the window's ledge back in the club room. He felt bad that he couldn't recall who she was.

"...And Steela?"

"...Pachimo is still depressed. We're still trying to cheer her up but it's hard when you don't even know what she's sad about. We do know that she's looking forward to you coming here. She even cleaned up her house in case you decided to live with her until your house is settled."

Kyle closed her eyes.

"With something like that, it is kinda hard not to pick her."

But I don't want to burden her. If I go there, I may cause her more stress, which is the last thing she needs.

"And how about you, Owen? How are you doing?"

"I'm still just my plain old chipper self! I can't wait until you arrive here tomorrow. This is going to be a blast!"

Kyle chuckled at the happy outburst his friend was having.

"Well alright then. I'll leave you to it. I gotta go back to sleep."

"Alright! Have a nice nap since you're waking up at six-thirty if you like it or not!"

"Heh heh. I'll try my best."

With the conversation done, Kyle turned his phone off and went back to his bed. Tomorrow, he would put this town behind him. He will move into the town where his friends are. With that thought in mind, Kyle managed to go back to sleep for the first time in a while.