Skylar woke up just as the first rays of sunshine kissed her through the lacy curtains. She rubbed her forehead, her eyes squeezed shut in pain. She could not remember the nightmare she had the previous night, but the unbearable pain made her remember that she had woken up in the middle of the night. She sighed sadly. It was nothing new to her. Having nightmares was a curriculum in her daily life.

Skylar got down the bed and took a shower to get over the headache. She was lost in thoughts as she dried her hair, staring at her reflection on the mirror when her eyes fell on the newly cut gash on her forearm. Skylar squinted her eyes and touched the gash as it burned under her fingertips. If she was not mistaken, she did not cut herself either consciously or unconsciously and she was sure that the gash was not there yesterday. Confused that when she will be able to get out of the number of surprises that centers her, Skylar changed into her usual black jeans, white t-shirt and black hoodie and tied her lace on her white sneakers. She picked her school bag and scanned the room once more, making sure that she had her phone with her, fully charged, and that she had not forgotten anything.

Henry was already woken up and was waiting downstairs for her, when Skylar skipped the last steps and stood before him. He smiled with her as she bid good morning and went to have breakfast together. After a quiet meal, where Skylar gulped down the pancakes and kissed her father goodbye, she went out of the home, reminding her father to lock the door behind him.

Skylar played her most recent playlist and skipped down the lane towards her school, her hands deep inside the pocket and lost in thought. Ever since she had learnt the bitter truth, life had not been normal for her. Even the most normal day of her life had at least a nightmare to welcome her during her sleep. Worried that the continued stress and the pressure of keeping every secret for herself, Skylar sighed as she wondered whether it alone would drive her mad, ensuring she received a personalized cell for her in the asylum. Skylar shook her head thinking she was just reading too much into the matter when she stopped dead.

Skylar had just come across an overgrown bush which was near her school. The most surprising part of it was that she was sure she had seen it somewhere else before. Skylar took a step closer to the bush, trying to remember how she had not ever seen the bush before, but sure that she had seen it some other time. She was confused. Skylar rubbed her forehead as she remembered that she had never seen the bush before, near her school. How can a bush grow overnight?

Suddenly Skylar was knocked down and she landed heavily on the pavement, bruising her palms. She looked up as anger boiled inside her head. How could she be so careless? It was definitely one of the two men from yesterday. Skylar squinted at the sunlight and shielded her eyes from the rays when finally, her eyes landed on the large bicycle tire before her and its rider peeked from behind the handle grips.

"Heyy Sky!!" Skylar's breath hitched on her throat when she recognized the unmistakable voice of her so called best friend.

"What is wrong with you Reree?" Skylar hissed as she stood up, slapping her jeans as pain shot through her waist. "Have you really gone mad?" she asked again.

Reese grinned sheepishly at her pissed friend. "Good morning to you too Sky." She started. "And that is what we call as 'revenge'," she finished, air quoting the word, when Skylar looked puzzled at her.

"For the love of God, why in the world do you want to take revenge from me Ree?" Skylar asked, trying to maintain her temper at bay.

"For not answering my calls yesterday, and for ignoring me," Reese smirked at Skylar as reality dawned on her. Of course, she should have expected the worst, knowing Reese for almost all her life, Skylar was surprised how she could have forgotten what her best friend was actually capable of.

"Have you finished giving me the punishment I deserved for not answering you yesterday, madam?" Skylar asked sarcastically as Reese's lips lifted up in pride.

"Learned from the best, haven't you, my child?" she asked, tying her hands around herself.

"Of course, from the 'Queen of Sarcasm' herself," Skylar played along, knowing that was the only way to get through the loophole from Reese. What she said was not even a lie. Skylar had actually learnt sarcasm from Reese and indeed she roasted from anyone to everyone, right onto their face.

Both Skylar and Reese stared at each other for a while and bent for two in laughter. Indeed the two of them knew each other the best, and many people who looked at them even mistook them for sisters. From Reese's witty comebacks to Skylar's 'oh so famous smirk', they were the best couple anyone could hope for.

"By the way, why were you staring at that bush when I knocked you down? You would have burnt it by staring alone, if it was not for me," Reese smirked looking at Skylar when her eyes darkened and her face fell in shadow.

'Did she know?' she wondered. 'No, there is no way for that to happen', Skylar thought and trying not to test her luck, she laughed loudly. "No Reree, I was just looking for the cat who hid under it," she said even though she wondered how the lie she came up with sounded almost as though it had happened. 'Maybe it's deja vu,' she shrugged the thought away. She had more pressing matters to wonder about and a cat was the least on the list.

"Anyway," she changed the topic. "Did you catch the news yesterday?" she looked sideways at Reese as she snorted.

"Like I don't have anything better to do," she rolled her eyes and Skylar slapped her arm.

"When will you ever grow up?" she hissed through her teeth as passers by stared at them and Skylar pulled the hood over her head. She really hated being under the gaze of a stare.

"Not anytime soon darling, I am just seventeen you see," Reese whispered back as Skylar rolled her eyes at her. "Anyway, what was so interesting about the news?" Reese looked at Skylar.

"Oh," she thought back, wondering whether to share it with Reese or not. Getting better of herself, Skylar spilled the beans.

"It was news of a murder," she said as Reese's eyes grew large in horror. Her perfectly styled eyes shining behind her lashes. "It had happened not far from here. Just around half a mile," Skylar added.

"Oh," Reese replied, speechless for once in her lifetime.

"Hmm," Skylar drawled lost in thought.

"Do you have any idea who might have been behind it?" Reese questioned.

'Many,' Skylar thought silently, as she stared at the blank wall behind Reese. 'Hundred possible options and everything different from one another,' she thought.

"Sky," Reese whispered softly as Skylar looked at her.

"Oh," she said, startled. "No idea Reree. Even the police had not found anything yet," she finished as she saw Reese's eyes dart behind her and she wrinkled her eyebrows in confusion. Skylar too turned towards Reese's line of vision in confusion wondering what might have made her look like that.

*

Skylar turned her head to her left and saw the reason behind Reese's gaze. It was Mr. Elijah Donald. He was their English literature teacher and Skylar's eyebrows further furrowed looking at him. He was quite tall, the tallest in her school to be exact and was lean with a slight beard and mustache. His dark eyes were more pronounced from behind his black glasses. Skylar did not feel comfortable looking at the smirk playing across his lips as he passed the two of them. Reese started to slow her walk as Skylar pulled her along with herself. She did not want to dawdle anymore. She turned behind and looked once more at Mr. Donald and saw that he was still staring unblinking at her. A shiver went down Skylar's spine as she turned front again, and found herself face to face with a smirking Reese.

"What?" she barked at her.

"I know," Reese answered, shaking her head for both sides with a proud smile on her lips.

"What do you know?" Skylar asked, trying not to be mad at her stupid friend.

"Someone is having a crush on someone," Reese replied in a sing song voice, succeeding in getting a burning glare from Skylar. "Oh! No need to burn me girl," she replied rolling her eyes, her hands in the surrender mode as Skylar relaxed. They fell into steps side by side once more.

"Do you know why he was staring at us?" Skylar asked Reese, confused about his behavior.

"Of course darling. I told you, didn't I? Our teacher, Mr. Elijah Donald, has a huge crush on someone," she smirked again as Skylar rolled her eyes.

"Get a grip on yourself Reese. I don't think that is the reason," she drawled lost in thought.

"Then give me a valid reason," Reese said crestfallen as she knew she had pissed off Skylar again. She waited as Skylar stared thoughtfully into the wall before her. They were standing in front of the building of their class and the wall was decorated in many graffiti that had drawn on the school through out the years. The largest of it was the cartoon of a girl running away from a large fire monster. The girl's feet were emitting flames and the image was confusing as to whether the girl had fire below her feet because of some poetic powers or whether the fire monster had flamed her. Reese looked at the wall before her and turned towards Skylar to look at her gazing unblinkingly at the running girl.

"Sky," Reese called softly. She didn't hear her. "Sky," she tried again, shaking her shoulder. That jerked Skylar to herself again and she stared around her, wondering who had called her and her eyes finally fell on Reese. She was worried.

"Are you alright, Sky?" Reese whispered softly as Skylar shook her head, breaking the moment.

"Yes, yes Reree. I am okay," she bent down to tie her loosened shoe lace, not wanting to meet Reese's gaze. That image had always troubled her.

"Hm," Reese said, not arguing with Skylar, even though she knew that Skylar was not being honest with her. "Shall we go to the class, then?" she asked Skylar as she stood up, bringing her bag closer to herself.

"Yeah, yeah we should," she said, turning to look at the image once more. Reese took the lead and stood a few paces before her and waited till Skylar joined her. With great difficulty, Skylar broke her eyes from the image and went towards Reese. The walk to the class was silent as both of them were lost in their own thoughts. Skylar thinking of the image which troubled her daily and Reese worried about her best friend.

The morning hours finished after a very tiring session. All of their teachers have given them too much homework and Reese groaned loudly when their mathematics teacher assigned them two different tests to complete before the next day. Skylar smiled softly to herself. She never found the lessons to be a problem. Not having a lot of friends, and having a best friend who was always ready to ditch her for some or other party, it was not much that Skylar had to do after her school ended for the day in the evening.

"How can you smile Sky?" Reese hissed so that Ms. Barbara Spookes, their mathematics teacher, would not hear her. "She gave us a whole lot of stuff to do! And I can't even understand half of it," she wiped away a fake tear.

"I can help you if you want," Skylar suggested when Reese gave her a dark look.

"I know that," she hissed again through gritted teeth. "It's just that," Reese scanned the room around her to make sure no one was listening. Just to be more careful, even Skylar looked around her and turned towards Reese. "Its that, today is the party." she whispered, placing her head on her hands and making her look as though she was sleeping on the table.

"Which party?" Skylar whispered back when Reese rolled her eyes.

"The best party thrown by the most famous student at the school," she said slowly, her eyes alight as she even thought of the night. Skylar grunted.

"I'd better finish my homework on time," she said pointedly and turned a page on the book she was reading.

Reese snorted and turned her head the other way. 'Of course, Sky never changes,' she thought for herself as Skylar stared at the board in front of her.

The two friends remained in their own worlds when Ms. Spookes left and Mr. Donald entered the class for their next class.

Skylar rolled her eyes as Reese turned towards her, wriggling her eyebrows.

"Good afternoon class," he replied for a few feeble replies in return. Skylar did not reply, nor did she even raise her head.

"So, did you do the reading I asked from you last week?" he asked again when Reese nodded beside Skylar. "Hm, let's see," Donald replied and turned a page in the book.

English literature was one of the most lively classes they had, even though Skylar never shared her thoughts or participated in the class wholeheartedly. Even though without being able to put her finger on what was wrong, since day one, she did not have a good impression on him. Skylar was sure that Reese would never see eye to eye with her and only joke her about the assumed crush he has for her.

"Sir," Skylar turned towards the front of the class. It was going to be one of those long days, where the students would start any topic which was out of the syllabus and continue talking about it so that Mr. Donald would be distracted and that the time would fly. Skylar rolled her eyes.

"Yes, Peter," he turned towards the boy. Peter looked at Mr. Donald.

"Sir, did you watch the news yesterday?" he asked as Skylar stopped reading and opened her ears, listening intently.

Donald nodded. "Yes, I did, Peter," he said.

"There was news about a murder which had taken place not far from here," he said as Donald nodded.

"Yes, there was a news like that. What about it?" he asked.

Peter sat up straight. "Sir, if I was not mistaken, the details of the murder were quite confusing. It did not look like a killing," he asked and Skylar turned to look at Peter. He was sitting on the edge of his seat.

"Yes, it was different," Donald said though Skylar was sure she had heard him smirking.

"How?" Peter asked, puzzled as Skylar felt a chill wind go down her spine.

"Oh," Donald said. "It was as though a murder done by," he paused. Tension was building on the class. All heads were turned towards him. Even Reese was listening intently. Thirty nine pairs of eyes were staring at him, drinking in his every word as though afraid that they would go deaf suddenly and miss an important piece of evidence. Only Skylar was not looking at him. She was staring at the book in front of her. Donald swept his eyes around the class. His eyes paused on Skylar.

"A demon."

*

Donald finished as a loud sound of intake of breath from the whole class was heard as Skylar stopped her breath. She could feel Donald's eyes still staring intently at her. She started to shiver. Suddenly the class was too cold for her. She could still feel Donald's eyes drilling holes on her skull.

'How could he know?' she asked herself as she lifted her head and met his unblinking gaze. She wished she could punch that stupid smirk out of his face and suddenly she had a sudden urge to see a bloody patch on where his eyes were. She turned to her side and saw Reese staring at her. Fear was clouded in her eyes. She turned towards the class once more as Peter voiced his question again.

"Devils and demons. Isn't it one of those children stories you hear at night?" he said with a soft ripple of laughter. He looked around himself victoriously. Donald broke his gaze from Skylar and turned towards Peter. "Do you believe in those stories, sir?" Peter asked once more as Donald smirked again.

"Oh yes, why not Peter. If you have seen the world like me, there will only be a very little that you don't believe in," he said in a final tone as Peter sniggered behind his hand, covering his mouth. Donald looked at Peter, but Skylar could swear that his eyes found hers for a fraction of a second and many unspoken words of threat were behind them.

She turned to look at Reese as she stared unblinkingly at her. She started to shiver on her seat and a distant thunder jerked her out of her reverie. The class was drunk in darkness and suddenly Skylar felt the gash in her arm begin to itch. She tried to contain it within her as Donald continued the lesson but it was proving unable for her to do so. Reese sensed the uncomfortable feeling Skylar was feeling and she softly placed her hand on Skylar's.

"Are you alright, Sky?" she whispered so that anyone else would not hear them. Skylar nodded even though she felt her eyes burn behind her eyelids. She shut her eyes tight and let out a deep breath out of her mouth praying that the pain in her gash should subside. The itching started to grow by the passing second and it was very hard for her to contain herself any longer. Skylar knew that Donald was trying to catch her eye, and she was sure that she saw him smirking again and again. Skylar was afraid. She knew if she contained her temper inside her anymore, the effects would be very deadly.

Skylar let out a deep breath out of her mouth and closed her eyes counting the seconds. After one thousand four hundred and sixty three seconds, she heard Donald bid goodbye to the class. And only then, did Skylar open her eyes.

She stared at Donald's retreating back and as soon as he turned away from the class, Skylar listened intently to his foot steps and unmistakably she heard him going down the staircase. She stood up and ran out of the class, with Reese at her feet. Skylar did not stop however loudly she called and she increased her pace as she neared the girls washroom and bolted the door behind her on the empty cubicle.

"Sky, Sky," Reese banged on the door as Skylar removed her hoodie and stared at her arm. The gash on her arm had reddened and it looked as though hundred tiny mites had bit her on the gash. Angry red blotches had covered her forearm. Skylar felt hot tears root down her cheeks. She did not know why there was a sudden change in everything that happened to her. This was the first time that something like this had happened to her.

"Sky, will you please open the door?" Reese said softly as Skylar suddenly felt as though an invisible force was trying to remove her arm from her shoulder. She shut her eyes tight trying to forget the pain. Skylar took a deep breath. She knew that the pain would not subside, so she tried to forget it. She opened her eyes again and a fire which was not there in her eyes before, was shining through her glasses. She looked at her arm again. A hot gooey like substance which was neither liquid nor gas was issuing from her gash. She took a dab of toilet paper and wrapped it around her arm. Suddenly she remembered something and put her hands inside her jeans pockets and pulled out a white handkerchief. She tied the handkerchief around the toilet paper bandaged wound and pulled the hoodie over her head. She removed her glasses and wiped her eyes for stray tears with her sleeves. She took a deep breath and pulled open the door as Reese started knocking again.

"Sky," Reese whispered softly and put her arms around Skylar's neck as she tightened the grip around her best friend. "Are you alright?" she whispered afraid that she would disturb whatever that was happening with Skylar.

"Yes, Reree. I am okay," she replied halfheartedly and pushed her gently and went to wash her hands from the sink. She removed her glasses and placed them on Reese's outstretched hand and washed her face. As the cold water splashed across her face, kissing her soft skin, Skylar felt her heart beat slow down and get into its steady pace after a long hour. She wiped her face with her arm and drops of water dripped from her chin. She stared at her reflection and saw a pale girl with big fear filled eyes stare back at her. She removed her eyes from her staring reflection which tried to bore into her heart and smoothed down her hair. Dark blue strands were gone astray at her sudden change of demeanor. She turned towards Reese and took the glasses she wordlessly handed over.

"Are you sure, you are alright, Sky?" Reese asked again. Skylar nodded.

"Let's go Reree," Skylar said again as she opened her mouth to debate again. Skylar shook her head silently pleading her to let the matter go for once in her life. Reese nodded and snaked her arms with Skylar and they went to the class once more.

The day ended with not much action after the morning, and both Reese and Skylar walked towards the bike racks to get Reese's bike out of it. They walked silently towards their homes when they reached the bridge where they parted ways. Skylar turned towards Reese to bid goodbye when she found her already staring at her.

After a huge attempt Skylar conjured a smile up to her face. "Alright Reree, let's meet tomorrow then." she said as Reese squinted her eyes to look at her.

"Do you want me to come with you to your home darling?" she asked worriedly. Skylar smiled again and shook her head.

"I can manage it on my own Reree," she said.

"Shall I spend the night with you Sky?" she asked again as Skylar shook her head again.

"And kill me for the rest of my life because I didn't let you attend the party?" Skylar laughed as Reese smiled.

"I am serious Skylar," Reese asked, making sure her voice did not betray her.

"I am okay Reree. If I need someone or if I have any issue, I'll promise to call you anytime, alright?" she asked.

"Do you promise me?" Reese asked not taking her word.

"I promise you," Skylar said and put her arms around Reese pulling her into a tight hug. Reese too tightened the grip and when Skylar tried to break the hug, she did not let her go soon. Skylar smiled and patted her back. Finally, Reese let her go. She patted Skylar's cheek and got on the bicycle.

"I love you, Sky," she bellowed behind her, over her shoulders, as Skylar smiled and waved her hand nodding behind her. She remained where she was for a while and turned her back to walk towards her home. Her life was indeed miserable. But for people like Reese and her father, Skylar thought that she would go through her life again and again.