Chapter One-The Beginning

"La Morte Non è L'Estremità, Morte È Soltanto L'Inizio..." Nick muttered the words over and over again in Italian. "Death is not the end, death is only the beginning.." he rolled his eyes and pushed his short blonde hair back from his face and spun around in the chair. His blue eyes were filled with frustration and curiosity. Ever since he was murdered he had always wondered who it was and why they did it. He sat alone in his mansion, every day seeing people come in and out looking at it, wanting to buy it. Some of which not knowing the horrific tale behind the house. The tale of his murder. It surprised him how many people didn't know of it. He tapped his fingers on the computer keyboard and laughed to himself. The clicking echoed throughout the empty building. The only reason the computer was still there was for the sellers or others to obtain information on the house, or to contact someone. That's it. The computer was Nick's in the first place. "Had I not been killed..." he started to say. He shut up just as three people walked into the house. The first person he saw was a young woman, maybe 20 years old, with long, cornflower blonde hair and hazel eyes. Following her was a young man, this one's hair was bleached a platinum blonde and instead of hazel eyes, he had gray eyes. The final person was the realtor he had seen many times before. She was in her mid-to-late forties with silver hair and friendly blue eyes. As she went on about the house, the young woman asked, "Has there been any crimes committed here?"

"W...what?" the realtor asked, obviously startled by her questions.

"Yeah....have any crimes been committed here?" the man, obviously her boyfriend, asked.

"Umm, yes. There have been. Two years ago there was a murder that took place here," Nick winced as the woman told what she knew of his murder. The couple seemed strangly interested in hearing it. Before long, Nick felt himself being taken somewhere. Before he knew it, he was standing in front of the Angel of Death, whom the other spirits occasionally called Guardiano di vita, or Guardian of Life. Nick never understood why he was called Guardiano di vita, but he never bothered to ask.

"Nickolas," Guardiano di vita said with a questioning look.

"Yes sir?"

"You wonder why they call me Guardiano di vita, am I correct?"

"Yes, you are."

"They call me that because I have another job besides being the Angel of Death. I am to help you finish what you could not in your life. And yes, I do have a name. You may call me Antonio. It does not sound correct, I know, but it is my name and a name is nothing but something that one calls you," Antonio said, his brown eyes smiling warmly at Nick's confused expression. "Don't fret, my child. You will understand it all in time."

"Why am I here?" Nick asked, his expression changing.

"Those people, the couple you saw in your house, are not what they seem. They are children of the Diavolo. They are after you. You know something that could lead to the Diavolo's destruction," said Antonio with a frown.

"I was just a singer, what could I possibly know?!" Nick exclaimed.

"You're friend Alexander is your first clue, Nickolas. Go to him. I warn you, he is in grave danger as well." With that, Antonio sent him on his way. Instead of being in front of his house, Nick was in front of AJ's. He went to the door and started to knock, but moved away once he saw a young woman with a bouquet of flowers come up to the door and knocked. AJ opened the door, his brown eyes reddened and his hair longer than usual.

"Hello?" he growled at her slightly. The anger and pain in his voice shocked Nick.

"Um, I'm looking for an Alexander McLean?" the soft voice asked.

"Yeah, what?"

Nick saw her wince. Her pale blue eyes closed for a second as her dark auburn hair blew into her face from the harsh wind that just arose. "These are for you," she said calmly to him as she picked up a large bouquet of white flowers. The card on the flowers read 'Our Deepest Sympathy'.

"Oh, thanks. I'm sorry, I just lost a good friend," AJ said to her. She nodded.

"I'm sorry for your loss, sir," she replied, then added, "I hope things will turn out better for you and the family."

Nick couldn't help but smile. She was adorable and thoughtful at the same time. Suddenly, Antonio's voice echoed in his head.

"She will help you when you are in need of it. Her name is Athea. She is an angel. She knows of your presence as you know of hers."

"What?" Nick asked with confusion.

Athea looked up and over at the rail of AJ's stairs. She had seen Nick wander inside. She shook her head and laughed without AJ knowing it.

"Goodnight, sir," Athea said as she walked back to her truck. AJ sighed and went back inside, setting the flowers with the others.

"I don't see why I don't just burn them," he said as he sat down and picked up a photoalbum. he fingered through it for a while until he felt a cold hand on his shoulder. His body immediatly tensed up. "W...w..who's there?" he stammered.

"AJ, it's okay. It's me, Nick."

"N..Nick?" Tears welded up again in AJ's eyes as he turned to see Nick standing there behind him. He jumped up and hugged his friend so hard that it almost knocked the wind out of Nick.

"Whoa there, AJ. I'm gonna be here for a while, I think." That only confused AJ more.

"What?"

"I'll explain later. You know anything about..." Nick was cut short by a loud crash in the other room. The smell of smoke filled the air and AJ coughed as he ran to the door and tried to open it. It wouldn't open. He ran to every other possible way out and nothing opened nor broke.

"Oh God.." AJ coughed harder as the thick black smoke filled his lungs. Nick couldn't be seen. Antonio had called him out again.

"AJ IS DYING AND YOU CALL ME HERE!?" Nick screamed at him in outrage.

"Calm down, Nickolas," Antonio said calmly.

"CALM DOWN!?" Nick screamed. A thousand emotions ran through his veins at once. "HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO CALM DOWN?!" Nick looked over at the viewer in Antonio's room and saw AJ fall to his knees, his breathing weaking. He was witnessing AJ's death right before his eyes. What he saw next filled him with an unknown hatred. He saw the blonde from his house kiss AJ as he was dying. He saw her stroke AJ's cheek and play with his hair. Her words tortured Nick.

"Death is not the end, death is only the beginning, il mio amore."

"No," Nick started to say.

"STOP HER!" Athea screamed at him.

Chapter Two-Emotions and The Devil's Words

"Devo lasciare questa anima per il diavolo. Maggio le profondità più scure lo invadono, lo gestiscono, lo assassinano. Temilo me, dato che sono un bambino di Satan. Amilo, dato che sono il vostro soltanto savior," Athea repeated the words that the blonde woman had said to AJ as he was killed and transformed. Antonio stood with her and translated for her.

"I must leave this soul for the Devil. May the darkest depths invade him, control him, murder him. Fear me, for I am a child of Satan. Love me, for I am your only savior."

Nick's eyes flashed in warning. He paced around the room. "SHE KILLED HIM!" he screamed. The anger invaded him.

"Nickolas, we must calm down..this will not.." Before Antonio could finish, Nick was in his face and growling.

"How am I supposed to calm down? HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO CALM DOWN?! MY BEST FRIEND WAS JUST MURDERED AND TURNED INTO A DEMON THAT YOU SAY I MUST DESTROY! AND YOU ARE TELLING ME TO CALM DOWN!?"

Antonio threw him back in warning. "DON'T YOU DARE ATTEMPT THAT AGAIN, NICKOLAS!" he screamed. Nick backed down and sat. His eyes were wide with fear.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Only a lesson can be learned when a mistake is made, Nickolas. Remember that," Antonio said, relaxing once again.

"The thing that angers me the most," Nick started. He took a deep breath and continued, "Was that she said my love to him..."

"I know that angers you, Nick," Athea said to him, laying her hand on his shoulder.

"But we have to get passed that and stop the three of them. Even if it means killing him for good."

"You just don't understand," Nick said as he got up and walked over to what appeared to be a window. He wasn't sure about anything in this place, whatever it was called. He wasn't sure whether or not what he saw was real or a figment of his imagination.

"What do you mean we don't understand?" Athea asked, walking over to him.

"AJ was like a brother to me...in fact, he was my ONLY friend when we toured," tears appeared in Nick's eyes, only to fall and disappear.

"I know, Nick. I know...but you have to move on. You're no longer alive and nor is he. You'd be doing him a favor by killing him," Athea tried her hardest to convince Nick that what he had to do was not wrong.

"But...oh God...can I go see the others? And Aaron? And my mom? PLEASE?!" Nick begged.

"All in time, my friend. They need not see you now. Only one may see you, Brian. He will house the clue that AJ once did. You must go to him, he will have it for you once you arrive," Antonio said in his usual, confusing tone.

"Brian?" Nick asked. He forced a small smile as he once again disappeared. He appeared in front of Brian's house. Toys were scattered in the front lawn, both child and dog, as well as a swing set and gardening tools. Nick smiled and shook his head. He walked up to Brian's door and rang the doorbell.

"WHO IS IT?" Brian called from inside. He opened the door and gasped. "In the name of the Lord.......Nick?" Brian asked in pure awe.

"B-rok...I need to talk to you..." Nick said as he walked inside with Brian. Little did either of them know, they were being watched.

****

His red eyes gleamed in the darkness. Only his silhouette could be seen by the human eye. "Soon enough, Nickolas. Soon enough we shall meet," he laughed evilly. The hatred in his voice echoed in the night. He knew that soon he and Nickolas would meet, but first he must rid of Athea. "She has assisted him too much," he said. "She shall be the first to fall into my grasp." He pushed the hood of his cloak away from his handsome face. His long black hair blew in the strong wind. A sudden chill grew in the air and the stench of decay rose up around him. He looked up towards the near-full moon and laughed. A black rose appeared in his gloved hand as he disappeared with these final words burned into the ground:

Fear overcomes strength

****

"You mean to say...that I must find a garden of roses and find the only black rose?" Nick asked in confusion.

"Yes....now lower your voice!" Brian hissed.

"A single black rose in a garden of roses...where?"

"I can't tell you exactly where...think...well...you're there..."

"The cemetary...Victoria Sails Cemetary...the garden outside of my...my..you know!"

"Your grave?" Brian asked softly.

"YES!"

"SHHH! Well go! You don't have time..they know!"

Nick hugged Brian and left. He had a mission and indeed he would complete it. It wasn't until he was almost out of the gate that he saw the message and gasped. There, right next to the message, was a black rose. Nick shook in fear as he disappeared once more.

"He knows!" Nick exclaimed.

"As do we, Nickolas. We are taking the necessary precautions to ensure that no one is harmed," Antonio said. Worry hid behind his brown eyes and his tightly drawn lips. Antonio's worry forced Nick to start to worry more.

"Fear overcomes strength...what did he mean, Antonio?" Nick asked.

"He meant that...you cannot fight him as you would a normal mortal. He is not fought that way. The part about fear you must figure out yourself. I cannot explain it to you in terms that will make it clear."

Nick sat and thought in wonder. He wasn't sure what he meant, but then he remembered Brian's clue. "There's another rose, right?" he asked.

"Yes, there is," Athea replied.

"I'll be back, I promise," Nick rose from his seat and disappeared to the cemetary. He searced for the black rose. His search ended shortly after he came to the cemetary. There the rose was on a vine right above his grave.

Chapter Three-The Final Clue

Nick sat alone once again. He stared at the rose wondering why it was his first clue to destroying the Diavolo. He remembered the rose in front of Brian's and the saying he left. "Fear Overcomes Strength," Nick muttered to himself. Soon enough he was back in front of Antonio. "I don't understand what this has to do with destroying him still," Nick said in confusion.

"The rose, as you know, is decaying in a sense that we have yet to understand. It decays and yet its beauty still remains in tact. Where else does something decay but it's beauty remains in tact?" Antonio gave Nick another of his confusing riddles.

"A museum?"

"BOOM!" Athea said with a laugh.

"A museum? What does that have to do with anything?" Nick was even more confused than before.

"Come on, this is where I help you," Athea and Nick disappeared to the museum. Once there, Athea lead him to the back display of the angels and their battle with the Devil. "Who do you see that should not be there, Nick? That is who you go to next," Athea said and disappeared. Nick stared at the painting for what seemed like hours, but then found who was there.

"HOWIE!" he exclaimed. He disappeared and reappeared in front of Howie's condo. He walked up to the door and knocked. "Howie?" he asked.

Howie answered the door in a pair of black silk boxers and a purple silk shirt. He yawned and then gasped. "NICK!?" he exclaimed. "Oh my God! Come in," Howie said as he moved out of his way and let him in. He shut the door after him. "A heart of gold covered in blood, I fear nothing but the shock of the flood, you find me under the broken glass, with my golden heart shattered by upper class," Howie said. "There's your clue...it's good to see you again Nick. Good luck," Howie opened the door and let him out before he had a chance to talk to him.

While Nick was walking away, he repeated Howie's poem. "A heart of gold covered in blood, I fear nothing but the shock of the flood, you find me under the broken class, with my golden heart shattered by upper class.....what?" Nick was more confused than before with the rose. Again he was in front of Antonio.

"We have very little time, Nickolas. And you have only one clue left after you figure out this one."

"I can't figure it out," Nick whined.

"You've barely tried. Try, Nick, and you'll get it," Athea said.

"How can you be so sure?" Nick asked while raising an eyebrow.

"Because you're smarter than you credit yourself as."

With that, Nick was once again on his own. "A heart of gold covered in blood....a locket? A locket from a dead body? Or something else...." Nick thought for a moment. "I fear nothing but the shock of the flood...the old mansion on Fourth!" Nick exclaimed. "You'll find me under broken glass...a broken window...with my heart of gold shattered by upper class...high schoolers!" Nick nearly jumped with joy as he appeared in front of the Mittials Mansion on Fourth Avenue. He ran inside the reckage and found the only window that still had it's frame and some glass. There a note was. Nick picked it up and read it out loud to himself. "Dear Nickolas, you have come so far to have found nothing but this note. I'll tell you what, come to Eighteenth street and I will help you out, K....K?" Nick asked himself. "Who's K?" Again he was in front of Antonio.

"He reached it before. That clue was the Dagger of Andrew Heart. It's something that we can ignore for now, go to the last person available to help you, Kevin," Antonio said to him with a sigh.

Nick nodded and was off to Kevin's. The sky was black with storm clouds as he approached his mansion. Nick knocked and the door swung open. A sudden chill went up Nick's spine, but he figured that it must have been from the coldness of Kevin's house.

"Nick? Oh my God!" Kevin hugged him tightly. "Come on in," he said as he stepped aside to allow Nick into his house. He shut the door behind him and handed him a map. "There's your last clue, Nick," Kevin said almost evily. With that, Nick disappeared. Kevin sat down on a large chair and smiled as he picked his book back up and began to read once again.

Chapter Four-Saving A Friend

Nick looked at the map and tried to follow it. He just didn't understand why it lead to AJ's house. "Wow, Nick. You're really getting far. So far you've been able to figure out hardly any of your clues and now this one has you so confused it's not even funny. Why would the map lead to AJ's? Well I guess the only way for me to find out is by going there," Nick said as he disappeared and arrived at AJ's burned mansion. He crossed the yellow police tape line and went inside. There he felt the same chill he had felt at Kevin's. A loud crash made Nick jump and the glimmer of something metallic caught his eye. Even in the dimming light he made out the handle of the dagger. The dagger was gold with a heart on it. And the heart was red with a side shattered! Now the clues started to come together. The Dagger of Andrew Heart was in AJ's house, but why? Nick approached it carefully and picked it up. Just as he did a loud scream pierced the quiet air. "What!?" Nick exclaimed as he turned to see AJ's blood red eyes staring at him.

"AJ, oh God..no..." Nick stammered as he dropped the dagger and started to back away. AJ approached him further and picked up the dagger. He spun it in his hands and smiled a wicked smile.

"It's been quite some time now," AJ said softly to Nick. Nick stammered, but couldn't get anything out. He stumbled backwards over AJ's table and fell. "You think I'm going to kill you don't you?" AJ asked. Another wicked smile spread across his pale face. "Maybe you're right." Nick struggled to get back up, but only managed to slide across the floor before he got stuck on a broken floorboard.

"A...A...AJ....p...please....d...don't..." Nick stammered. His blue eyes were wide with fear as AJ proceeded towards him. Athea's voice rang in Nick's ears.

"You have to get the dagger from him, Nick. It's the only way."

"I can't just KILL him!" Nick exclaimed. AJ looked at him and laughed wickedly.

"Still talking to yourself, aren't you Nick?" he asked with a small, evil smile. Nick stood back up and glared at AJ.

"I don't want to have to do this, AJ, but it's the only way," Nick said as he went to make a hit at AJ's face. Before Nick could even blink, AJ's hand had grabbed his and flipped him to the ground. As soon as Nick regained his vision, he saw AJ's evil eyes staring down at him. He was being straddled with a dagger at his neck. He felt the cold blade pressing down harder on his throat. 'I thought I was dead,' Nick asked himself. 'Why can I feel this?'

"Because you are in your mortal form as it was the day you were murdered, Nick. Not only is this the same day, it is the same month. Your murder takes place only hours from now," Antonio said.

Nick's eyes widened with confusion as he kicked AJ off him with an unknown strength. Down the dagger fell only inches away from Nick's hand. He rolled onto his side and reached for it just as AJ brought his fist down into his face. Nick hissed as he managed to stand once more. AJ once again had the dagger in his grasp.

"You're a fool to have thought you could beat us," a tiny female voice said from behind him.

"W...who are you?" Nick stammered.

"I am Victory."

She was the girl from his house! She was the girl he saw kill AJ! What sickened Nick was that she and AJ kissed.

"I see you know each other?" AJ asked Victory with an evil smile.

"Not really, but I've heard about him," she replied.

"Shall we dance?" AJ asked her with a wicked grin as their eyes flashed. Before Nick had a second to absorb in what he saw, Victory had her hand at his throat and shoved him against the wall, planting kissed on his face.

"I hate to destroy your soul completely," she started. "But it's what I must do." Her hand went to his throat in a flash and he found himself no longer able to breathe. He soon gathered what remaining strength he had and shoved her into AJ. It wasn't until she screamed and fell to the ground that he noticed he had shoved her into AJ while he was holding the dagger towards him. A small smile spread across his face as AJ glared back up at him.

"This is not the last time we meet, Nickolas," AJ said, but before he had time to disappear Nick had the dagger in his hands and into AJ's chest. AJ's eyes went wide before he fell to the ground-dead at last. Nick now knew his soul was at peace.

Chapter Five-The Battle Between Black and White

Before Nick could even accept what had happened, he was back at Antonio's.

"You have one final task, Nickolas. You must confr..." Before Antonio could finish, there he was standing dressed in black with a top hat and a cane in his hand.

"You've done well, for a mere child," he said. Nick's eyes widened. He recognized the voice, but it couldn't be.

"K....KEVIN!" Nick screamed. Tears threatened to fall and they did.

"How pathetic you are, my child. You're tears fall for me and, yet, I have been dead for so many years," Kevin's eyes were still the beautiful shade of green that they had always been, but their glow was unnatural. The smile on his face was inhuman. "It hurts, I can imagin, but I am Death. I am the one who haunts you in your sleep. I send your demons, those who brought you down. Those demons that took you to the life of sex, drugs, and greed. That was I."

"H..how? How, Kevin? WHY!?" Nick exclaimed, his emotions invading him.

"How? I died in a car accident 12 years ago. Why? Because it was my only chance at living again," Nick saw the tiny glimmer of life in Kevin's eyes, but that was soon pushed away by the demonic gaze.

"But..."

"Nickolas, you must destroy him.." Antonio said with little fear. They glared at each other for what seemed like a decade.

"But..."

"There's no buts in this game, Nick! You MUST destroy him!" Athea screamed.

Kevin and Nick exchanged glances. Nick's hand was on the dagger the entire time. He never wanted to kill those so dear to him, but he knew now that it was never Kevin. Maybe at one point in time the loving arms that embraced him when he was only a mere teenager were those of the real Kevin shining through, or maybe it was all just an act.

"Go ahead, Nick," Kevin showed no fear as he grabbed Nick and shoved him into the wall. Antonio's voice echoed in Nick's head.

"He cannot be destroyed, Nick. He can be sent to the darkest depths in which he can do no harm for centuries to come."

Nick nodded to Antonio as he slammed the dagger into Kevin's chest. Kevin gasped and flames rose around both he and Nick.

"YOU CANNOT WIN!" he screamed in outrage. Nick was thrown by an unseen force to the far wall. Before Nick could get back to his feet, lighting flashed hitting Kevin with unbearable force. His screams pierced the night air. "NICKOLAS!" he screamed as his disappeared with the lighting. Nick was in tears by now.

"He's really gone now, isn't he?" Nick asked.

Antonio turned to him and replied, "It was for the best, Nick. His soul is at peace now. As is AJ's."

Nick nodded as tears continued to fall.

"Now you have a choice, Nickolas," Athea said. "Live your life as another, or join us."

Nick looked over at her with confusing tearing apart his saddened gaze. "Join you?" he asked softly.

"Yes, join us," Antonio said to him. "You will be the Il guardiano Dei Cancelli-the Guardian of the Gates."

Nick glanced at Antonio with a look of despair. "Live as another?" he asked.

"Yes. In return you will not have the life you had before nor the family you had before. Aaron would not know you."

"Then no, I'd rather stay with you here. If my brother can't know me, then I'd rather be here."

Antonio smiled as a light flashed around Nick. "You are my companion, my brother. And you shall see your friends. Including the real Kevin," Antonio smiled. Nick smiled back. His blue eyes were bright and cheerful and all pain was erased from his heart. He, Athea, and Antonio walked away into the light behind them.

Chapter Six-Clues and Confusion

Nick looked at Antonio with a confused look on his face. "Only one of the clues made since..and you said they would help me destroy the Diavolo."

"I know the clues made no sense to you, they weren't supposed to. This was a search only for you to regain your strength. You proved yourself to us. You saved your friends' souls, that was what you were to do when you were alive. You just never could. You had to join us."

Nick just looked at him. "So you're saying that I was supposed to be able to save AJ and basically...exorcise Kevin?"

Antonio chuckled. "Not exactly that, Nick. I can't even tell you because I don't really know." They sat at a small glass coffee table with a deck of cards in front of them. "The Dagger Of Andrew Heart was supposed to be the only thing you were really supposed to get," Antonio started. "Because you are Andrew Heart. Or...well...you were."

"I WHAT!?" Nick asked.

"You and Andrew Heart are the same person. You couldn't tap into his memory enough to realize it until I told you, but I could sense you knew the power of the dagger when it was in your hands. Andrew Heart was 21 when he was assassinated. He was alive in 1202. Somewhat was he like the political figures of today, but he was not in the same sense. You have his blood in your family, so your being the first male child born to the Carter family, you received his gift. The gift of song as well as the gift of love. You're love for people was strong enough to keep them able to see you when you needed them. Brian, Howie, and AJ all knew that you needed their help because you told them. You're heart reached out to them and told them because you loved them so greatly. Kevin knew of your love even though it was not he who was with you all that time."

"You're only confusing him more, Antonio," a familiar voice said from the shadows. There he was, the real Kevin. His hair was short and spiked up, not long like it was before on the demon.

"You...you're Kevin?" Nick asked.

"Yes, I'm Kevin," he said as he walked over to him and embraced him. Nick embraced him just the same. He knew that hug, it was he who was there when love was shown. "Hey kiddo, you finally figure it out?"

Nick chuckled and nodded. "You managed to break through, didn't you?"

"Not even the Devil can take someone's ability to love away," Kevin said as he sat down with them. "I have something to share with you, Nick, and I think you may want to hear it."

Nick looked at him and nodded. "What's that, Kevin?"

"You have a clue who killed you?" he asked.

"No."

"I do."

Chapter Seven-The Murder and Nick's Final Words The creaking of the stairs as Nick walked down in his pajamas was enough to creep even the bravest man out. Nick had forgotten to leave the kitchen light on, so he walked blindly through his house not even hearing the scraping sounds of feet being dragged. He made it to the kitchen and flicked on his light. He then heard the scraping. He turned to see what it was, but then it stopped. He shrugged and went over to the fridge. He stared into the fridge for five minutes then grabbed a bottle of water. He shut the door and sat on a barstool drinking his water slowly. He yawned and heard the slamming of a door. "What the.." he started to say. He felt a hand over his mouth and metal pressed against his head.

"You think you have everything figured out, don't you, Nick?" the raspy voice asked. Nick struggled to get from his grasp. "You think you're mister popular just because you're loved by more people than I am. Well guess what, you're screwed. You'll be known for being murdered."

"Who are you?" Nick gasped.

"You'd love you know wouldn't you, Nick?" he leaned in and removed the hood frm his face and smiled. "Just because I'm not the cute blonde one doesn't mean I can't have my fun," he said as he pulled the trigger against Nick's skull. Nick's eyes widened, concious for only a few seconds before falling to the ground dead.

"Too bad things had to end this way, Nick," Howie said as he pulled his leather gloves off. "Honestly, though. We could have been friends, but you were just too damn stubborn. Don't worry, I'll help you later on though," he said as he used the glove to open the door and leave the house. "I'm not that evil..." his laugh echoed throughout the now empty house.

Nick's Final Words

"So it was Howie," Nick said, dumbfounded.

"Yeah, it was, Nick."

"Well, I can understand why he did it now. I had my place here. And had he not, I would never have met the real you. I'm not angry at him, I'm happy. I want to be here. I know this is where I am supposed to be. Come on, I'm bored. You wanna play some video games?" Nick looked at Kevin as they both walked off, laughing at Nick's childishness. "I know, I'm allowed to be a kid right now, I never got to live it really then, so I might as well now," he smiled as he walked away. A white rose was where he once sat with a note addressed to him.

Nick,

I thank you for not being mad at me. I knew this would be for the best for the both of us. For all of us. Surprise, surprise, I'm here with you now. I'm a guardian, Brian's to be honest with you. I was told that I was to kill you and tell you those things to force you to wonder. It worked, didn't it? I'll hopefully be seeing you around, this time on the good terms.

Howard D. Dorough