Rain poured outside. The dark clouds loomed overhead. The streets only began to flood.

Kira waited inside by the front door to the school. Other students rushed out with their umbrellas to try and get home quickly, but Kira had no choice but to wait.

Nina and Anne passed by her.

Anne waved her hand and said, "Hey, Kira. I'm gonna jog over to my Karate club."

"And I'm going to head home. I got some homework to finish and I don't want to be stuck here. You sure you don't want to come with us?" Nina asked.

Kira shook her head.

"No. I'm going to wait a while," she replied.

"Oh, right. So, when you going to do on a date with him," Anne teased in good fun. The two knew about Harry, but often left Kira alone about it.

"Wha- We're not like that," Kira said with a bright red blush.

"Knock it off, Anne. Let's leave those two lovebirds alone," Nina said.

"We're not lovebirds," Kira replied still blushing, "We're just... friends. Yeah."

"Okay. Okay," Anne replied, "Just get home safely. This rain doesn't look like it's gonna get any better."

"Right. Don't worry."

And so Anne and Nina left in a hurry carrying their own umbrellas. They waved good-bye and left.

But Kira was worried. Harry usually isn't late, but she was sure that maybe he was helping one of the teachers with something. She didn't think that he would have left without at least telling her. Kira texted him, but there was no reply.

Ten minutes passed by and Kira's worry grew. The rain was getting even heavier. It looked almost like they would have been stuck there if Harry took any longer. So, Kira left her umbrella by the front entrance and went to look for Harry.

Most clubs were cancelled because of the rain and Kira knew that he didn't attend any. The school was mostly quiet. The janitors cleaned up the halls. The lights flickered and some bugs crawled out from holes in the corners.

Kira was about to yell his name, but she felt embarrassed about it and decided not to. She looked through the windows of every classroom, but most were empty. Kira checked her phone, but there were still no texts. She then thought about the chance that maybe a Night Demon was around, but erased that thought immediately. She would have sensed one if there were any nearby, and she didn't sense any for the entire day while she was at school.

As she scanned the area, the was one room that was still lit up. Some sounds made by students could be heard inside.

"C'mon. These feet won't massage themselves," a voice said inside the room. It was a girl's, but Kira didn't recognize it at first.

She thought it was strange that there was still a club going on, but she just wanted to know where Harry was. Maybe, one of them inside that club would have seen him walk by, Kira wondered.

She braced herself as she felt a bit of unease. She never liked to walk into random classrooms unannounced. And she especially didn't like to ask strangers anything, but her desperation forced her.

Kira gently knocked on the door and slowly crept in.

"Hi," Kira said quietly and embarrassed, "I'm wondering if any of you have seen another student walk by here."

And to her surprise, the first thing that Kira saw was Mary sitting atop of another middle-school boy. He looked like he was in a trance and was frozen in place. He was on his knees and hands as Mary just sat on top of his back. There were two other students who stood behind her as she was getting a back massage. There were other students and even teachers just gathered around giving Mary treats and fanning her like some kind of godly queen. She wore her school clothes, but her black and purple eyes were hidden by sunglasses.

There were large windows to the side where they could see the rain just keep falling.

Then, another girl just started to take off Mary's shoes and give her a foot massage, but when Mary saw Kira at the front door, she kicked the girl in the face.

"Leave the foot massage for a moment," Mary said, "Welcome to my club. There are plenty of positions open. Oh, wait a second. You're that Light Guardian. What do you want?"

"Uhh," Kira said while rubbing her eyes thinking that she must have been asleep but after realizing it wasn't she continued, "I'm looking for a friend of mine."

"Friend? Well, that's not very specific," Mary replied, "I could help, but I'm very bust at the moment."

"I, uh, can see that. I guess I'll be on my wa-," Kira said, but froze as her eyes laid upon her friend. He was among the crowd of students hidden in the back.

"Hey! Harry! What are you doing here!?" Kira yelled.

Mary was confused for a moment, but quickly realized what was going on.

"Oh, right. You're looking for your friend. Which one of them is Harry? It's hard to remember names especially when they're not as important as myself."

Kira yelled angrily, "I don't know what kind of twisted magic you're using, but you're holding my friend! Let him go!"

Mary paused for a moment and began to think about what she should do. She smiled and replied, "Alright. Harry, come over here," Mary said and a couple of boys began to walk forward, "Wait. I meant the one that knows the girl by the door. I hope they all don't know ya."

And with that, Harry began to walk forward. He stood up right next to Mary.

"This one?" Mary asked, "He looks so boring. Well, who am I to judge?"

"Yeah," Kira said preparing to fight, "Give him back to me. I don't know what you did, but he's not some slave."

"Slave? That's ridiculous," Mary replied. Then, she looked at Harry and asked, "Do you feel like a slave?"

"Yes," he replied and Mary froze.

"Yikes," she said, "I mean, uh, do you want to leave?"

"Yes."

"Oh, well, uhh... just say you're not my slave."

"I'm not your slave."

"See!" Mary said, "He's happy here. I didn't force any of these people. I just... persuaded them."

Kira clenched her fist and said, "You're disgusting. Just let these people go. They're not yours to control."

"Oh, like you'd do anything about it. As far as I know, we're not enemies. We have some kind of truce. Do you want that to change that over something so uncool and insignificant as this?" Mary asked.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Kira relaxed herself. She didn't want to do anything just yet. She needed to tell Nina and Anne, first. She didn't see the other two Light Guardians either, so she thought that maybe they didn't know. Either that or they didn't care.

Kira wasn't going to leave without Harry. She couldn't let him stay with her anymore that he already has.

"Fine. Just give back Harry and I'll leave," Kira ordered.

Mary shrugged and replied casually, "Fine. I'll let him go."

She pushed Harry a couple of steps as Kira let her guard down. She had nothing personal against Kira and had planned to let him go, but she wanted to have some fun before she would do that.

"I can tell just by the way you're looking at him that you're in love with him," Mary said to Kira, "But let's see if he feels the same. I'll ask."

"Wait. No," Kira cried out not wanting to know. She was too afraid that Harry might not love her and so didn't want to know the answer. And, more importantly, Kira wasn't keen on having this other girl force the answer out. She began to run forward to stop her, but she wasn't fast enough.

"Tsk. Tsk," Mary whispered, "So forceful."

"Three of you jocks tackle and hold that Kira girl down," Mary ordered, "But make sure to lift her head so that she can see."

Three of her biggest students who were in the American football club tackled Kira to her surprise.

She was suddenly on the ground. She struggled, but their grip was tight and strong.

"I can tell that you don't want to hurt any of these innocent students and I don't plan to hurt them or you. And don't worry, I'll let him go in a bit," Mary reassured, but Kira began to get angry.

"Stop this!" she yelled.

Mary quickly grabbed Harry's arm. She stood up on the back of one of her students to have her face right next to Harry's.

"Tell me, boy. Do you have feelings for Kira?" Mary asked.

Kira was stuck in place and no matter how much she struggled, she couldn't break free. If she transformed into her Light Guardian form, then the blow-back from the transformation might injure some of the students. And she couldn't assure that Mary wouldn't use those same students as human shields if they did fight.

Harry opened his mouth. "Yes."

Kira froze in embarrassment.

"You do?" Kira whispered, but her words didn't reach Harry's ears.

"Well, congrats, Kira. Was that so hard? Now, you know," Mary said, "Harry, do you have feelings for anybody else?"

"Yes," he replied.

"Oh, you have rivals, Kira," Mary said, "You better hurry before he decides to go after them."

"Stop it. You've done what you wanted. Now, let us go," Kira pleaded.

Mary laughed as she was having too much fun. She had fun in bothering others. Fun to make others squirm. It was fun when others begged. It was fun not to be on the other side.

"Stop? Now? I can't do that," Mary said as she threw her sunglasses down revealing her black scleras and purple eyes, "After coming back from the dead, I've been having trouble figuring out my place in the world - my purpose. If I had come back at a different time, then perhaps it would have been to kill the ones who killed me. I would have enjoyed getting revenge, but instead I'm stuck here, so I plan to at least enjoy my stay. Besides, you should be aware that if I did something, then God allowed it. God probably even enjoys this more than me for all the violence in this world. I just spent a couple of minutes on the internet and saw all the terror and chaos happening. Even without the existence of Night Demons, these people are just as ugly. There's so much of it, so why wouldn't He enjoy it. If He hated it, then He would have gotten rid of it, but instead here we are."

"Stop it. Stop your rambling. Just let us go before you regret it," Kira threatened.

"We both know that you can easily get through all of these guys," Mary replied, "You just need the courage to do it. Their lives are meaningless compared to people like us, anyways. So, what's the big deal about it? Just transform and beat them all into submission. You'll probably send some of them to the hospital. At worst, kill some, but as I said, their lives just aren't important."

 "You're a monster!," Kira yelled.

"You're not the first to call me that, so try being a little more creative," Mary said, "Maybe, I can give you some inspiration."

Mary grabbed onto Harry's shirt.

"Have you ever kissed anybody before, Harry?" she asked.

"No."

And in that instant, Mary began to kiss him passionately. Her tongue began to swirl inside his mouth. All while she looked straight into Kira's wavering eyes.

Kira looked in horror as the boy he liked was being forced upon. Then, that horror turned into anger. Without a second's thought, a bright light enveloped Kira. She transformed in a fury as the beams of light pushed the jocks away.

Kira was filled with anger.

"Get away from him!" she yelled as she conjured a number of daggers in her hand.

Mary smiled and stopped kissing the boy.

"Everybody line up around me," Mary ordered and so the students and the few teachers began to run to make a formation around her. She created a living shield of humans just like Kira predicted.

"He wasn't much of a kisser, anyways," Mary commented while holding Harry's shirt tightly to taunt Kira further. She knew that she wouldn't attack innocents. She could tell that Kira was still a kind girl.

Kira's hand gripped her knives tightly and then threw them to the sides. The knives pierced the walls surrounding the room.

"Ooh, going to grow something? Grow some vines and drag them to the walls, perhaps? I wonder if you'll be able to do that without snapping any of their bodies in half. I don't think you have that kind of control over your plants," Mary said.

Kira did think of that, but had another idea. From the knives, some vines began to grow out to the walls surrounding the whole room. Then, from the vines, flowers bloomed. White flowers. Some kind of Jasmine. The pleasant scent filled the room.

Mary had no idea what they were or what Kira was planning, but one thing was for sure - Mary was getting bored of waiting.

"Are you going to bore us to sleep, Kira. Fine, then. I'll make the first move. First row and Jocks charge at her. Now, you'll be forced to defend yourself," Mary said.

They began to charge, but after a few steps, they began to tire out. Right before they reached Kira, they fell to their knees.

"What's going on?" Mary questioned, but then she noticed everybody else beginning to fall asleep. Even she was beginning to feel drowsy.

"You were right about one thing," Kira said confidently, "I do plan to make you sleep. The smell of these Jasmines have been made to put any human to sleep."

"Shit," Mary exclaimed as the scent filled her nose. A dark shadow enveloped Mary to Kira's surprise. It was not like any other transformation. It felt almost as cold as a Night Demon, but that feeling faded a moment after it was finished. Mary finished her transformation and felt ready to fight - no longer feeling the effects of the flower's scent.

Mary and Kira stood in place. The room was filled with vines, but Mary was confident that she could cut down any that stood in her way. Meanwhile, Kira was fully ready to fight as the whole room was in her control.

Mary smiled with glee as she felt enjoyment in teaching this child her place. However, the mask prevented Kira from seeing Mary's facial expressions. Only the black and purple eyes were visible. Kira only crossed her arms and watched Mary like a hawk looking at it's prey waiting for her inevitable charge forward. Kira looked down at Harry lying next to Mary's metal boots and knew that she needed to finish this fight quickly and get him home safely.

And without surprising Kira, Mary charged forward with her claws sharpened and out.

Vines from all around the room sprung up and tried to latch onto Mary's body, but she cut them down instantly. She dodged large sharp branches, and was making her way forward. When she dodged and was in the air, Kira threw a dagger towards Mary. She instinctively flicked the dagger away with her claws, but as she touched it, vines began to tangle itself onto her claws. She tried to scratch them off with her other hand, and as she did, she didn't foresee the large branch coming right for her. It smacked her head on and pushed her back onto one of the walls filled with vines. As she landed, the vines grew thorns and stabbed into Mary's back injecting some kind of poison. She tried to scream, but not air came out. Only blood. She landed on the floor trying to fall back, but the constant barrage of vines and plants made it very difficult. She continued to dodge, but the fight wasn't going in her favor. As they fought, the vines dragged the students out of the room, just so that they couldn't get hurt, but Mary was too far distracted to notice.

She kept breathing heavily, but the poison caused her to be in constant pain. It wasn't deadly enough to kill, just enough to weaken her.

"Had enough, yet?" Kira asked.

"Not even clo-" Mary was about to say, but was instantly attacked by a group of slithering vines with heads of venus flytraps. They bit into Mary's legs and stuck themselves there even after Mary cut their roots.

She now knew that she had no chance to win. Kira was able to make far more different and adaptive plants as the fight progressed.

Mary had no choice but to retreat. She knew that she couldn't go through the front door. The closest exit she saw was the window covered in vines.

She quickly dashed towards the window and Kira realized she was planning to escape. She threw a dagger towards Mary, but she dodged it and cut right through the vines blocking her path. She, then crashed straight through the window as shards of glass pierced her body.

Kira ran over to where Mary had leapt from, but as she looked down, she could see Mary slowly tread along the field leaving a trail of blood. Her whole body was bleeding and was on the edge of death. Kira wanted to finish her, but felt that she needed to see whether the other students were alright.

She ran over to the students and began to notice them waking up. Kira transformed back into her regular form. The vines covering the room disappeared in a flash. She went up to Harry and asked, "Hey. Are you alright?"

"Wha- What happened?" Harry wondered, "Did I doze off?"

The students were no longer under Mary's control, but they had no recollection of what happened either. Kira actually say this as a good thing. At least, Harry wouldn't remember what Mary did to him, she thought.

Kira grabbed Harry up and lent him her shoulder. The other students woke up from a daze, but Kira was pretty sure that they were all fine.

"Take it easy. Let's get back home, Harry," Kira said.

"Yeah. Okay," Harry replied.

And so, Kira and Harry walked out of the school along with a bunch of other students. The rain was still heavy, but had lightened up. Some clouds dispersed and the sun was seeping through.