[u][center]Kenan Private Girl’s School, Kenan’s school district [/center][/u]

[center][i] Forgotten Heart...and Greatest Regret.[/i][/center]

[b]Olivia and unwanted company[/b]

The outside of the Kenan Private Girl’s School looked to be an ancient castle structure. Its walls were made from aged stone, grimed from times and weather worn, which protected its precious students despite its grand life. Surrounding the main building was a large wall. It stood over several meters beyond the reach of the average six foot man with black iron pike heads that prevented over curious people from climbing over it, trespassing into the lush gardens and well-kept lawn below. Throughout most the grounds were winding paths made from cobble stones and traced by flowering bushes that turned into a variety of places, going from the outside swimming ponds and student gardens, from the dormitories to the tennis courts where sounds of a game’s on goings could be heard. It near the railed gates with the twin gargoyles glaring towards the outside where Olivia stood, pressed against the damp surface and in an inattentive expression watched the older girls volley the florescent tennis ball back and forth. It had stopped raining hours ago but the ground was still saturated heavily with water that it felt like a thick blanket all around. 

Naturally Olivia was dressed in the plain school uniform provided, the crisp white blouse, matching plaid neck tie hung tightly against her throat and knee high skirt and ended in black dress shoes. Her socks, discreetly hidden ankles, didn’t quite follow the dress code. Instead of the pure white, they were bright red dotted by orange kittens. It was this unseen secret she was staring at when she bowed her head and waited patiently for someone to come for her. Her toes tapped against the darkened sidewalk before she tossed her red head upright, her bright brown eyes noticed the groundskeeper’s bent over figure shuffling his way to the gates. Gingerly she pushed away from the wall and started to shorten the distance between them while she held tightly to the satchel’s strap across her narrow chest. Immediately she watched the elderly man’s crowfeet tighten into a smile when she drew near then spoke, kindly. 

“Guid weather the’day, Ms. Olivia. Ah take it ye waitin’ on yoor brither to pick ye up?” 

“Yes, Mr. Findley. He’s a little late which is usual.” Olivia admitted her voice filled with concern at the abnormal situation. Usually her brother was very prompt in his time for her and an unsettling knot borrowed itself deeply within her middle at his absence. She soon slowed her pace until she was walking easily beside Mr. Findley, his legs stiff and ridge from both work and years weighted upon them. For as long as she could remember, he had been a part of the staff like many of his family’s generations to the school. She found it rather curious why anyone would like to continue a legacy as old as that but was careful not to mistakenly insult him over it. 

“Ah sure he’ll turn up, lass.” He said to soothe over her worry and halted at the gate. Cautiously he retrieved his numerous keys from his dirty pale blue overhauls, then scanned for the one to open the lock. He paused in the middle of his motion before he turned to Olivia, his wiry white eyebrow lifted in question. “You sure you want to stand outside? Ah could talk to the head mistress and we could have a dorm bed all made up for the night.” 

Olivia shook her head, the small amount of flowers within her hair shifted loose a bit. “That’s alright. I’m sure he’ll be along shortly and besides, if I’m not out there then he’s bound to get worried.”

“Ah don’t like you being left out here alone. It’s not exactly safe..”

“It won’t be for long, besides I have a cell. If I need to, I’ll call Uncle Darius. He’ll come get me.” 

Mr. Findley was quiet for a moment, either to absorb her assurances or deciding to stand alongside her, Olivia wasn’t sure, until he answered back. “I sure hope yoors brither gets here soon. If you need me, just ring the bell and Ah will come running back, alright?” 

Olivia smiled. “Of course.” 

“Stay safe.” He opened the door for Olivia to rush outside. In her hasty steps, splashes of water to drench his pant legs causing her to stop and look at the damage her rush had caused. 

“Oops, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for that to happen.” 

“Tis alright, lass. Just remember what Ah said.” His last words as he shut the gates, his figure vanished down the cobble path back to the warmth and dry institution’s shelter.

Once out, Olivia bit her lip until she watched the man’s figure become completely obscured. Where was her brother?

For a few minutes, the sound of the tennis ball being hit back and forth was the most prevalent noise in the area. Then, not far away, a gun went off. Several moments later, a new sound appeared, rapidly approaching. Someone walking through the puddles of water towards Olivia. The [url=http://www.wallpaperup.com/uploads/wallpapers/2013/02/19/41868/742940168420f43e691ff5c6b0f7be0c.jpg]woman[/url], looked distinctly out of place as she walked towards Olivia. Aside from the obvious, she had an expression of wistfulness and grief, as if she longed for something, but thinking of it brought bad memories up. Regardless, she stopped next to Olivia and looked down at the girl. Both of her swords were sheathed on her back. “I used to be a teacher once. Back when earth was just earth, and we didn’t have to deal with the petty rivalry between the feathered freaks and the monsters with the maturity of children. Back when ‘The Surface’ belonged primarily to us, and they kept their disgusting noses out of our business. I taught children about your age. History, to be exact. Oh, how most of them hated that class. ‘The events of the past have no effect on the future’ they would say.” The woman blinked, and shook her head as if to clear it. “I’m sorry, where are my manners? My name is Ashley. I was sent to pick you up, and ensure by any means necessary that nothing was to happen to you.” 

She smiled at Olivia. It was friendly in a maniacal way. 

“But before we go, what do you think of history? Do you agree with my deceased students? The events of the past have no effect on the future?” Plop. A red liquid had dropped from one of Ashley’s swords into a puddle of rain water it was over. The former teacher’s head snapped towards the sound, and then cocked to the side, as if puzzled by this development. As it slowly dissipated throughout the puddle, she said “Hmm. I must have not cleaned my blade properly. One must always have a clean blade. The less well used a weapon looks, the more likely people are to underestimate you. But anyways,” she turned her attention back to Olivia. “ Do you agree, or disagree?”

Olivia leaned against the wall. The back of her jacket had dampened until she could feel it through her shirt, followed by a small chill up and down her spine as her chin settled firmly on her chest. Her eyes continued to stare, unfocused, at her sock’s secret with her bag, a dark pick and red satchel nearby. Already the bag’s bottom was darkening by the water it absorbed through the demi fabric. Likely drenching her gym clothes and other items not shielded in containers. The girl sighed, a mix of worry and irritation. Again she tried to chase the budding signs of her shivering with a positive thought Emmet would be here any moment and they would be off soon, heading somewhere warm hopefully. Olivia continued to let this thought shove the sensation something was wrong deep down inside herself. Emmet was rarely, if ever, late on his visits. 

Her attention was snatched when she heard a loud, distant pop then footsteps towards her direction. Instinctively she jerked her eyes to see a figure approach. Halfway, more out of habit then realizing it, Olivia had bent down to snatch up her bag before she paused in mid motion. Ahead of her, boots eating away the distance and scattering water from puddles, was a woman she didn’t recognize. A complete stranger. 

It shouldn’t have bothered her much, men, women, and even young children passed by the Academy on their daily lives. Yet the woman caught her eye easily with her solemn expression and soon, came to a stop right beside her. Immediately Olivia stood straighter, her bag forgotten for a moment, to face the woman who had started to address her. She scanned and absorbed the facials, from the short dark hair and blue lipstick to the torn state of her curve fitting clothing. Even the two swords sheathed on her back were eyed where the handles peered over her slender shoulders. There was nothing Olivia, as she predicted she wouldn’t, could find familiar at all about the woman looking down on her. 

At first, she spoke to Olivia as if the young girl’s confused expression didn’t exist or went unnoticed. Mention about being a teacher then drifted to demons, angels, and how humans lived before they had arrived on earth. However that was impossible she had existed back then. She would be too old and dead, unable to breathe easy let alone wield the pair of swords upon her back like some pack animal. The stranger blinked then seemed to clear out the fog in her head, her attention focused to what now seemed to be the present. She introduced herself and then said something that made Olivia’s gut twist, coiling in on itself until she couldn’t ignore it. That smile only worsened the intense fear she felt, shown through slight trembling. [i]Brother…where are you when I needed you?!?[/i] 

The last straw, the very final thing which caused her to take a step into retreating was the blood that dripped from the sword. It meant the woman had killed quite recently. The unlucky victim likely laying out somewhere dying slowly from a fatal wound, her head raced with a number of scenes, each more gruesome then the last until Olivia felt she couldn’t take it anymore. Every single one fueled by her own wild and panicked imagination. 

Thump… [i]“Think, Olivia."[/i]

It was a small, helpless voice that tried to override her fluttering heart. Instinct, the word seemed to pop out of nowhere and was foreign to her at first. Bit by bit, it started to make sense while it continued to fight the losing battle against her fear, the very thing which rooted her to the spot. 

….Ba-thump…[i]”She’ll kill you if you don’t!”[/i]

She couldn’t. Olivia felt as if her mind had stopped cold instead follow the small, little voice’s demands. Not a thought, no matter how much it screamed at her, came to the surface and her eyes merely widened in fright at the blood dripping from the sword. More than anything, she wanted her brother who’s face hovered in her mind’s eye. At the sight of it, the voice made one last and desperate attempt to forced her reaction. 

Ba-bump….[i]"THINK DAMN, YOU! RUN, DO SOMETHING!” [/i]

She felt her foot move backwards, the hold of her fear’s spell fading painfully slowly with each new one. However, whatever sense of the situation Olivia had left knew it wouldn’t go unnoticed for long and something about the woman’s words, the ones ‘I was sent to pick you up, and ensure by any means necessary that nothing was to happen to you’ made her think the crazy woman wasn’t going to just let her slip away. For some reason, likely fear and panic, she over looked the key words about ensuring no harm was to happen to her. Then again, the woman and herself might have two complete different meanings when it came to safe. A fact Olivia didn’t want to discover. 

Her eyes narrowed on the woman’s question about history affecting the future. There was only one way to buy time and a head start, something she hated because it required her to think to a higher degree then a flight or fight reflex. It needed brain power she couldn’t seem to muster up for the task. Every fiber inside her wanted to dash for the gate, rattle it until Mr. Findley came and dart straight into the school’s safe boundaries. Only then could she calm down, free of the murderess before her, safely having the iron gates separating them. Right now, she had force herself to focus on making this through alive. The thick lump in her throat was swallowed hard before she tried to form the words within her uncooperative mind. 

“Y-y-yes. It does, it’s a hard to argue w-when I’ve seen…seen it t-too often.” Olivia knew her words were coming too slow, her panic and want to flee showed clearly in her body. It betrayed her intentions far too easily and her instincts were screaming at her to stop it. But she couldn’t, merely hope her next words would distract the woman enough. Pray really. “Right now… I-I-I know wh-wh-ho didn’t send you and that’s enough.” 

Without any more words, Olivia felt the bars upon her back as she twisted about and rattled the gate bars. She screamed loudly for aid while her hand slammed down on the buzzer, a loud ding like a church bell rang out. “MR. FINDLEY! Mr. Findley!”

Hearing the bell and her shout of alarm, Mr. Findley’s aged head turned into her direction. His eyes were widened in shock as his old body began to rush towards the gate in a pace beyond his aged body’s ability. She knew, despite her rash action, he wouldn’t make it. The gardener was still too far off and couldn’t close the gap soon enough. A sense of dread filled when she realized far too late, she didn’t think he would stand well against this mad woman.

Her smile turned slightly less manic at Olivia’s words. “Good. Few people realize how much the past affects the future. Now, time to-“ Ashley sighed as the girl called for help, and the aged man began running towards them. “You shouldn’t have done that, child.” She reached out and clamped a hand, gently, on Olivia’s arm. Naturally, the girl struggled. In the fight to keep her grip without actually hurting Olivia, one of the girl’s gloves came off, and her exposed hand caught on Ashley’s necklace. Immediately the girl slackened and went limp, her eyes glazing over. Ashley paused, keeping Olivia up, and looked at the girl in concern. She didn’t seem to have passed out, her eyes were open, but she wasn’t exactly in the present time either. “Olivia?” Ashley asked, gently shaking the girl’s shoulder. Nothing. Olivia was seeing something from not so long ago.

There he was. Sir had been right. There would be someone sent by this ‘Darius’ to pick up the girl. Well, that wouldn’t do at all, would it? She drew a sword from her back and stepped in front of him. The man was clearly armed, and his hand immediately went towards his gun when he saw her step in front of him with a drawn sword. He hesitated just short of pulling it out. His mistake. Before he could say anything, Ashley ran at him. His eyes widened in surprise, and he began pulling on his weapon. Too late. Too slow. To give him credit, he actually got the gun out before her sword went through his neck. She yanked it out, blood spraying everywhere. The gun went off in a reflexive tightening of the finger, and then he fell over. Ashley wiped her sword off on the man’s back, missing a drop, before returning the sword to it’s sheathe on her back. Now to go get the girl.

The vision blurred, and then turned to a dark interior. A building of some kind, long gone to ruin. The only light source came from one of [url= http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2013/364/e/5/demon_lord_by_chevsy-d6zzv3x.jpg]it’s occupants[/url]. Where the red light didn’t reach, there was only shadows of unknowable depths. What sounded like water dripped from somewhere to the left of her as she looked up at him. She was careful to keep her gaze from staring directly into his eyes, staring at his chest. His voice alternated between high and low, between male and feminine, rough and smooth, with complete and utter randomness. “Yes, this, ‘Darius’ will do nicely. He likes to play children’s games, pretending to have power. Well, let’s see if he really does. Olivia is apparently the sister of his favorite pawn, and his hold over her. Or at least, that’s what James tells me he’s learned from his…questioning. Bring me the girl. If James is right, it’ll be a way to force Mary to come back, or force people to bring her back. If James is wrong…well, we might just see if I can repeat what happened with Mary. Though, I doubt it.” He turned his gaze towards the sound of the dripping, and she sighed in relief before following his look. Hanging from the wall was the corpse of another girl, her long black hair covering her face, and her naked breasts, but not the damage to her body. It was still dripping blood from fresh wounds, pooling beneath her feet, while old ones had long scabbed over and looked infected even from here. Bones could be seen sticking out, gleaming in the red light. “She expired last night. Fifth one in as many days. I’m afraid that Mary appears to be a fluke. Luck. I have to have her back to figure out just what made her so…receptive to the Abyss. The feathered fools of Heaven and the cowards of Hell won’t get their punishment from only one of her walking around.” He returned the gaze to her, and she dropped her own quickly. “You have my orders. Bring the girl. Let no harm come to her. Kill anyone who tries to stop you.”

She nodded her acquiescence. “Yes Sir.” 

Olivia was going into seizures, and the old man had finally reached the gate, so Ashley gently put the girl down, removing her hand from the necklace. Turning towards Findley as he ran at her, she smiled sadly. He was pushing himself beyond his body’s limits to save this girl. She admired that. She remembered a time when she would have done the same for her students. She felt no pleasure when she stepped to the side and quickly forward, grabbed his shoulder, and drove a knee into Findley’s chest and ribs as hard as she could. It lifted him off the ground, but she kept him from getting away. His fragile sternum and ribs shattered like glass, doubtlessly puncturing his lungs and every other important organ. He fell to his knees, blood coming up as he puked. Gently, almost tenderly, Ashley stepped behind him, and grabbed his head. “You’ve earned your rest. Take it, and rest easy knowing I will protect her.” Then she snapped his neck. As the body fell to the ground, she looked to see Olivia running for her life. Running was a loose term, as the puddles and her mindless panic both served to make her stumble and fall repeatedly. Ashley sighed again, and then followed after the girl, walking fast enough to keep up, but not running after her.

The girl hadn’t noticed she had managed to stand upright until her eyes met Mr. Findley’s for the final time. Moments ticked painfully slow allowing her to see the silent pleads, fear and sorrow in his face. Blood dribbled down his chin leaving an image which would haunt her for a long time. Guilt swelled in her chest, a faded attempt to suffocate her, as a violent sound snapped her out of her shock. It all happened so fast and never had she tried to save him, just a silent witness to it. After that, Olivia knew she killed him. It was all her fault. If she hadn’t called him then Mr. Findley would still…Olivia’s thoughts trailed off, but the snapping of the old grounds keeper’s neck continued its echoes within her ears and shortly, her guilt gave away to fear once more.

Her fear was what made the choice for her. 

“Get away from me… “ She whispered it then repeated it in a scream. “GET AWAY FROM ME!” 

She ran.

Her feet slammed into the pavement, the ripples strong and her knees too wobbly to support her weight for very long. Olivia managed one step only to come crash into the pavement where she kept running, now scrambled to all fours. It would likely leave a bruised her knee throbbed in protest, but didn’t slow her down much. She ignored the pain that tried to hinder her. Hands became curved like claws and tore to give her more ground, likely nails bleeding in her frantic escape. Dampness spread when her knee slapped the puddle, soaking through the thin material and soaked her to the bones leaving a chill behind. 

Olivia continued on for what felt like ages, yet it likely had only been a few minutes. Still dazed by her talent’s effects, it seemed like the memories she received had used a sledge hammer to penetrate her skill and enter her brain. It was throbbing with no sign of mercy which only made it harder to focus on keeping a straight path. She swayed like a city drunk side to side, falling often onto the pavement where she kept going. It was her own fault. It had been years since she last allowed it to be used and now she was paying the price, the last regret likely she would ever have. Exhaustion had started to catch up now. Her arms and legs seemed to be weighted down by the muck and water stuck to her clothes, slowing her down. Each breath had heavily settled in her chest where it failed to help her and instead felt like there was nothing inside her chest. Her bones were filled by needling pain with each step, but she couldn’t stop. Not after what had happened.

Unlike her, her legs trembled and unsteady, the woman’s steps hounded in her wake at barely a jog. Like a scavenger, Ashley seemed to wait for Olivia to collapse and what panicked her worse was the fact the woman didn’t have to wait long. She can’t stop now. Despite her inward pleads, her will had started to falter. 

She had been yelling the whole time and it didn’t take long for her throat to become raw, her voice hoarse now. It seemed no one was around or able to hear her. Not a soul in sight. Her adrenaline had faded and now her mind noted the aches which told her where she was bruised, unable to ignore it anymore. It was now, her mind tried to make sense of the memories she received. Most of it was still a jumbled mess in her shock, making it impossible to complete understand it. Dizziness settled into her head followed by blurring vision, her hand jerked out to touch the nearest wall and force herself upright again. She made one last effort to escape and poured all her reserved energy into her legs, finally managed to stand by some miracle. Not sure how long she could stay standing, Olivia pushed herself off the wall and made a final dash to the alley’s other end. 

Thump! 

Olivia hit the pavement hard. Her breath was knocked out from under her while pain needled across her arm, pinned under her in her fall. She let out a small, pitiful whimper before she rolled upon her side. Water farther soaked through her clothes and caused her to shiver. Her eyes lowered to see her arm cradled closely to her middle, unable to move it without wanting to scream. Olivia bit her lip to stop the sound at its source before she glanced backwards. Any chance to catch her breath failed at that moment. Her eyes widened at the slouched figure of Hank, the man Ashley had killed earlier, with his collar bloodied by a hole in his neck. His blonde hair was wavy and short, plastered to his forehead from the short rain. His large, thick arms hung loosely at his sides with palms facing the sky while his gun -the very object she tripped over- had been sent towards Ashley’s approaching figure. 

New fear clawed its way into her body and gave it a dim energy. She used her uninjured arm to drag herself backwards, determined to get away before she felt something large and heavy stop her. The wall. Unable to move anymore, Olivia’s mind sharpened while her body became like lead. She noticed she had lost a shoe in the chase but didn’t care while she looked into Ashley’s face, her figure drew nearer and nearer with unhurried steps now. The features blurred together not a great comfort for her in the end, if anything it made Olivia feel more helpless and weak. Emmet, please help me brother. Where are you?

“W-why does he want her so bad? Enough to kidnap me? Enough t-t-to kill them…” Olivia screamed in a hysterical voice, slightly crying in her words, unable to do much of anything else. “None of my family knows this Mary person! Just leave me alone!”

Ashley followed Olivia at a safe distance, carrying the forgotten school bag. If she tried to take the girl now, she would doubtlessly injure herself further by trying to resist. So she followed and waited, keeping an eye out for anyone else who wanted to interfere. It pained her to see Olivia hurting herself so much, in desperate fear of her, but she couldn’t approach yet. Still too much fight left in the girl, even if she was rapidly losing steam. Luckily for Ashley, no one seemed to be out and about in the aftermath of the rain. Or at least, no one who was cared for the screams of a young girl. A twisted smile crossed Ashley’s features. Now if that doesn’t say that they have changed us, I don’t know what does. She thought. She recognized where they were headed, and sighed again. Olivia wasn’t going to like what she found if she continued at this rate. One of Olivia’s shoes came off, and Ashley picked it up without missing a beat. They couldn’t afford to stop to get the girl new shoes. Not when Darius realized Olivia had been taken. She tried to call out and warn Olivia where she was headed, when she started to run towards the corpse of Darius’ man, but it was too late. Ashley winced as Olivia collided with the ground again, and slowed to a walk.

When Olivia was finally trapped against the wall, she slowed even further, until she fell to her knees in front of Olivia. Before Ashley could begin to see what Olivia had done to herself, she screamed her question. Ashley paused, tilting her head as she looked at the girl. “Now how do you know about that?” She shrugged, explaining as she examined Olivia for any major injuries. “You’ve made a mess of yourself…Mary is the vessel for Sir’s solution to the Angels and the Demons. As I’m sure you know they have a fixed set of souls that get recycled every time one of them dies. Sir’s solution is to stop the cycle. The Abyss, which is in Mary, consumes their souls before they can go through the cycle. One less Angel or Demon to be reborn, one less problem for the Surface world.” She gently, carefully, reached for Olivia’s injured arm and examined it. Tsking, she said, “We’re going to have to immobilize this until I’m sure it’s nothing serious.”

Spider like webbing began to shoot out of her mouth, and she deftly wrapped the stuff around Olivia’s arm until a make shift caste was on it, preventing her from moving it overly much. “I’ll fix the rest of you later. Right now, we need to start heading to Loom. Or, the ruins of Loom at least.” She gathered Olivia into her arms, careful to avoid putting the girl’s hand on her necklace again, and set off at a sprint, the world blurring around them as she used her unnatural speed to it’s full ability. Whoever this Darius was, she didn’t want to be in the city when he found out Olivia was gone. That would have just been a bigger mess than necessary for her to clean up.

Olivia was too tired to fight anymore. Not that she didn't want to but after all the running and screaming, her body felt just like a torn up rag doll. All she could do was flinch when her skin crawled as the woman emitted thick, gooey thread from her mouth and spat it upon her arm. She felt it start to harden rapidly leaving it immobilized. Her eyes began to become heavy with the need to recover the spent energy, despite her will to stay awake. In moments, the wind of Ashley's movements and speed breezewd by her form while darkness floated her away... her last thoughts were of her brother followed by the deep sorrow she might never see him again.