"Pierre?" I turn my head to see my best friend, Josef, with a great big grin on his face, walking towards me with his backpack over his right shoulder. "I thought that was you! You weren't in third period."

I look at him, turning in my seat slowly. I look down and nod, pulling my sleeves down on my arms.

"You alright, Pierre?" He asks me, kneeling in front of me, looking at me with a concerned look.

"I'm okay, Josef. Just reading. I forgot it was a school day." I look at him, smiling softly. He looks at me with such happiness, it kills me inside. "What did I miss at school today? Anything interesting happen that I should know about?" He jumps up, perked like a rabbit jumping out of its hole. He nods and pulls a seat out, setting his bag on the table, and scooting close to me.

"There was a murder that happened last night. One of the guys off of the Turney team got gutted in the south alleyway. By the tavern. No one knows who did it. No suspects were made, not even witnesses or testimonies. It's wild!" He looks at me with such worry and interest.

"Who was the guy?" I ask. Intrigued by who this boy is.

"Tye Coremen. Why?" He tried to make eye contact with me. But I look at the doorway and shake my head.

I look at Josef and nod. "Tye was a Silver blood."

He looks at me, eyes go wide and he shakes his head. "That can't be. He would have been caught and ha-" He stops and comes to realize what I was hinting at. I nod at him, turning to rest my elbows on the tabletop. I shake my head and play with my mother's ring I wear over my neck.

"He got murdered. Someone must have found out about his blood. If a Silver was in with the Crimson and Gold bloods...we would have known sooner and we would have helped him." I shake my head once more, I grab the bible and walk to a shelf. Josef jumps from his seat and trails behind me.

"Who do you think could have done it?" He whispers, trying to keep quiet. I look at him and place the book in a wedge between books, shaking my head.

"Inside job? Damned if we ever find out. But we can't let anyone find out that we have suspicions over this matter. The King will jump off his seven-winged horse and have our heads on a blood-ridden platter."

"But Pierre!" He grabs my wrist and looks at me, so energetic.

"Not a word." I look on either side of us and pull us both deeper into the aisle. "Don't say a word to anyone else. Promise me that. If they find out we kn-"

"I promise, Pierre Waltz. Not a word of the matter. You have my word." Josef grabs my hands and nods, giving me a smile of comfort. I smile back at him and nod.

My fears of losing my only friend haunt me. I have nightmares of losing my family to the King. He is generous. But oh above all of the snowflakes that land on the gravel ground of Mhare, he would do anything within his power to crush the rumors of the kingdom he so proudly rules over.

And Josef and I were the two, that was starting to get vaguely curious about this murder of Tye Coreman.

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The murder of Tye Coreman has been on my mind every minute of the day since Josef had told me. I tried to make scenarios in my head about who may have done it. I tried to make up a list of suspects in my notebook. And all of the suspects...kids from school. My school is dangerous. It's known to be the worst school in the town district. 

But it is what my mother can afford. 

I walk onto the school property and look around to see that all of the kids are looking at me. Giving me a mixture of dirty and curious looks. I scan the crowd of kids on the front pasture of the school. To see if anything would give me answers to everyone acting so strange. But nothing caught my eye that would help me dictate what the reasoning behind this could be. 

"Are you Pierre Waltz?" I hear a small and soft voice behind me, like soft rain. I turn around to find a fire-haired girl, with a bow to hold her ponytail. Small in height and milk of skin. I look at her and nod, giving a soft smile to the girl. She is wearing a floral dress, net tights, and black combat boots with a red sweater. 

"I was hoping I would find you here. I'm Coree Blossom. Can we speak? Alone?" Quietly asking me, she looks around to see everyone glaring over at us. I look around and nod.

"Yes. Please." I let out a little laugh, nervous about the conversation I was about to have with her. Coree Blossom leads the way to the doors of the school building as I trail closely behind her. She takes hold of the knob of the door and looks back at me. 

"Keep calm, Waltz." She looks me dead in the eyes and swings the door open. I look at her, confused as to what she had meant by that. I follow her once again as she leads the way through the doors. A mixture of students, teachers, and publicists rush in my direction, closing in on me like vultures finding fresh road kill. I tense up, coming to a stop in my tracks. I look to Coree and shake my head, nervous. Afraid. Pressured. 

"Mr. Waltz!"

"Pierre! Do you have anything to say?"

"Pierre Waltz! Mr. Waltz! Is Queen Jewal your mother?"

Hundreds of people surround me, yelling out questions. Accusations. Statements. Threats and quotes. Making me feel like a new toy that are all trying to get a fair use out of. A shiny...new toy. Coree notices my shock and stands in front of me, placing her hands on my face to make me look into her eyes. 

"It's going to be okay. Just keeping walking. Look at me. And breathe, Pierre." She tries to calm me down and I breathe heavily. Feeling suffocated, I look around the group of people. Holding microphones, cameras, and notepads in my face. Hovering over each other to get the first word to come out of my mouth. I shake my head, continuing to look at Coree. She keeps hold of my hand trying to pull me through the crowd but I stay still. Forgetting how to walk. Forgetting how to breathe. I feel myself getting dizzy. Weak to my stomach. I look at Coree again and shake my head continuously. 

"Pierre, breathe!" She grabs my face and I shake my head more. I knell down and break down into tears. I lay down and look at the ceiling, feeling cold and heartbroken. Coree kneels next to me, wiping my tears away. She pulls me close to her body and kisses my head. I shake my head and close my eyes. 

"Go away! Go away! Leave me alone! Go away!" I yell at the top of my lungs. But the crowd doesn't go away. They won't quit with their words. Never letting down their guard to tear me away from myself. Coree hides my face away from the camera, making it impossible for the cameras to catch a glimpse of me. Of my complexions. My skeletal face. 

Coree runs her hand over my braided hair and attempts to calm me down. I start to become calm to her touch. Like she is using power against me to make me feel safe...and to my surprise...I enjoyed it. I close my eyes and feel my body start to relax as if I was falling into a night's sleep. 

There was no sound...

There was no light...

Just silence.

Pure...strong...silence.

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I wake up to find myself lying on a bed in a white room. One window with a fog sight through it. The blue curtains were tied with a red ribbon on either side of the window and a desk was set in front. A small lamp had taken a stand near the table's edge and a cup of old pencils and pens next to it. And to finish the view, a stack of yellow-tinted papers and a rickety old chair pulled out halfway. 

I sit up, looking around the room. Pictures of the human body, broken down in a million ways. Pictures of a small family that looked as if they were taken hundreds of years ago. A vase of black dahlias and roses. A bowl with a goldfish and a cage with a blue bird with black eyes.