Her room looked exactly the same, except for the messiness. A pile of dresses and skirts was scattered all around the floor. We stood in front of her bed, and the only source of light was the street lamp that exactly shone into her room.

I wanted to begin our conversation, but the strange sound from her closet alarmed both of us. She looked at me panicky as if she were hiding a monster in there. She opened the closet door to find a girl with long pink hair sitting in the bottom corner. She looked drunk.

Madeline grabbed her by the arm with zero gentleness, seating her at the edge of the bed. Madeline looked furious, and I'd never seen her frown like that. After all, we didn't know each other that well.

"I went looking for you, but you weren't where I thought you might be, so I opened this huge door and fell inside." The girl said, giggling. Madeline had to hold her shoulder as she wasn't able to sit straight.

Madeline simply shook her head with a sigh. But when her eyes analyzed the girl's outfit, her hand flew across the girl's cheek. I gasped in shock.

"What the fuck are you wearing?!" Madeline burst out, but the girl's mouth turned into a grin. She wasn't angry or scared of Madeline. She looked like she enjoyed the slap.

"Isn't this outfit so slutty?" The girl said, grabbing her breasts. At first, I didn't understand, but then I took a better look at what she was wearing, and I was taken aback. She was wearing a see-through top, and on top of it was a lace bralette with chest straps. The only thing she was wearing at the bottom was her panties.

"Get changed," Madeline commanded her.

The girl quickly left the room, leaving us alone. When her gaze shifted to me, I slightly flinched.

"What did you want to talk about?" She wondered with a sweet, innocent smile, but that well masked what was beneath it. Something she didn't want me to discover, but now I did.

"About your absence, I thought something happened to you," I said.

"Well, if you were so worried about me, why didn't you call me? You have my number." She roamed her fingers through her crimson-red hair.

I had no good argument against that.

"What? Did you lose your tongue?" She provoked. In the blink of an eye, she stood in front of me, attaching her hand to my back.

"You can't keep doing this..." I kept pushing against her chest to stay away from her.

"What am I doing? Is it sinful to you?" She whispered into my ear when my hands couldn't keep her away. She sounded outraged and displeased, and her touch was rough. I ducked my head, as I didn't want to look into her eyes.

I could feel my heart racing as I tried to think of an answer. I felt guilty, but I also felt tense about this whole ridiculous situation. I stammered, trying to find the words to explain it. Finally, I managed to say, "W-Why are you like this?"

She chuckled and drew me harder against her body. Her chest was rising up and down quickly. And the only sound that was heard was the subdued music coming from the living room. Her breath was shaky and weak, tickling my ear.

Her hands shifted on my arms, and their squeeze was hurtful. It was like she had to bore her fingertips into me, otherwise she would collapse. For a brief moment, I thought she was about to squish me. It hurt too much.

As soon as I tilted my head upright, her hand blocked my vision, and with her free hand, she turned me around. Then her touch was gone.

I swung around to see where she went, but she was nowhere to be found. The doors were fully opened, and in a couple of seconds, the girl who was sent off to change stood on the threshold.

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"Where did she go?" I frowned, looking around.

The girl came up to me and took my hand. "She felt sick. But no worries; she will be fine. Let's go outside for some fresh air before you get sick as well." I accepted her leading me outside, and I felt much better once I inhaled the icy air in my lungs.

I remembered what a ridiculous outfit this girl wore, but when I glanced at her, she wore a completely basic outfit. Just some oversized white shirt and black leather pants with boots.

It got suddenly awkward, or it was just me thinking so. She pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lighting one between her lips and offering one to me. I took it because you don't refuse a cigarette when it's freely handed to you.

The mood turned out to be lighter as both of us got lost, staring at the night sky. The stars glittered like millions of diamonds, and the moon shone brightly in the sky.

"Are you friends with Maddy?" I asked, looking at her.

She giggled and then cleared her throat. I didn't know what was funny about my question, but I let it go.

"Yeah, we are. We've known each other for years. It almost feels like an eternity." She answered, then inhaled the half-burned cigarette.

"What was wrong with her today? Is she always like this?" I felt goosebumps appear on my back, just thinking about what happened a few minutes ago.

"She's just mad that she screwed up something she wasn't supposed to."

The girl laughed in almost a mocking way, tossing the cigarette on the concrete. The cigarette slowly lost its spark.

• • •

On my way home, I thought about Madeline's behavior toward me. Why has she behaved that way? And I didn't understand why she was trying to be my friend when I clearly saw that she didn't need me. The pink hair girl knew much more about her and even her current problem. Madeline fucked up something, and now she's furious about it.

What I don't understand is what I have to do with it. And why's she mad at me?

I don't know which direction I'm heading. And whether it's the right road to take because if it's not, I'll be stuck and unable to get back ever again to the right tracks.

Once I got into my house, I first checked on Grandma in her room, seeing her sleeping peacefully, then I walked up the stairs into the bathroom for a quick, hot shower.

Feeling the heat burning my skin unfroze the coldness in my bones. I grabbed the cherry shower gel and applied it to my palm. Rubbing it into my skin, I realized how nice it smelled.

When I finished my shower, I decided to let my hair air dry and moved into my room. I slipped on a pair of black panties and an oversized sweatshirt.

I sat down in my desk chair, sighing in relief that I was home.

I lit my glass dome light with a black rose inside that Grandma gave me for my sixteenth birthday. She always knew I loved the black color, and I'm grateful she took the time to find a black rose instead of red. I stared into its numerous tiny lights, wrapping around the rose like a serpent.

If only I knew that this moment of peacefulness would be once again destroyed, I would stay longer at Madeline's apartment.

The lights inside the glass suddenly turned off, and a breeze of cold air blew through me. It was Death.

"Guess who came baaaack?"

In one swing, I was turned to him, facing him. He looked as usual. A dark, long cloak masked his body, and a mist of black shadow formed in front of his face. The one thing that was missing, though, was his scythe.

He got down on his knees in front of me while looking at me. My eyes widen, fear spreading within me.

What the fuck was he doing?

From inside his cloak emerged a pair of long charcoal hands. Swiftly, he placed them on top of my knees and wildly spread them. I took a sharp breath, peering at him.

My eyes dropped to his skinny hands and forearms. He slowly moved them higher, and my heartbeat quickened-its beat drummed in my ears.

I mustered all the courage that was left in me and burst out, "I don't want you to be around me!"

He giggled in his deep, husky voice, shaking his head down.

He looked up at me as he said, "Yeah, because you'd rather have me inside you." And squeezed my thighs. "You love to see me between your legs, don't you?"

I wanted to stand up and leave the room as fast as I could, but when I raised my forearms, heavy chains were wrapped around my wrists.

"You're a total psycho!" I yelled quietly to not wake up Grandma. The chains couldn't be real since he was not a magician or anything close to that sort. So how the hell has he managed to create them?

"Awww, thank you, Mademoiselle. What a compliment." He replied to me, his voice high-pitched. "I'll remember this until the day I die-" He abruptly stopped speaking and laughed loudly. "I forgot I'm already dead."

Suddenly, his gaze snapped to the window, and he let go of my thighs. The chains around my wrists disappeared into thin air, and I had no logical reason for their disappearance.

He placed his hands on his hips, sighing. "What a disturbance." Death mumbled for himself.

He then looked at me and reached his hand to my face. I pulled my head away as far as I could. His cold thumb brushed against my lower lip, and that sent shivers down my spine. I made the most ridiculous facial expression while peering at him, hoping he'd get disgusted by it. He didn't, though.

He gripped my chin. "Next time I visit you, kitty, don't try to run away because I'll hunt you everywhere you go. To every corner," he whispered against my ear. "of this fucking world. Remember that." He laughed against my ear and disappeared.