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A crowd of hundreds. The music blasting so loud. And yet...the only one I could make out was the little girl. She couldn't possibly have been more than five years old. The adorable blonde pigtails streaming down her face. she cold have been so cute if not for her enormous blue eyes staring past me in terror. The rest of the dance team twirled around me, not noticing the child. Why should've they? One tiny face in an ocean? And I couldn't pull myself from her gaze. Reluctantly, I stopped mid-twirl, into another girl. She made a bad face warning me to watch out and continued with the dance. I knew I'd hear about that incident later, but I didn't care. My confusion left, and the child's fear became my own: he was here. The flowing black hair and deep violet eyes sent ice cold fear throughout my body. His signature smirk slithered across his lips as he noticed my realization. I knew that with him here, devastation would soon follow.

My mind searched for a solution to the grizzly situation I was in, but my panic defecting my thinking abilities. Suddenly, it came to me, in such a short and powerful burst that I didn't even get the chance to consider the consequences.

"BOMB! Everyone run! There's a BOMB in the building!" I hollered as loud as I could. To my astonishment and gratitude, people actually began screaming and running in a combined panic towards the next exit. I should have expected such a response from yelling the "b-word" in front of a crowd of on-lookers, but the sheer chaos was something that no one could've foreseen. Within minutes, everyone in the gym was gone, and I was left in the bright spotlights: alone, with him.

"Well, hello, Rose. Quite a pleasure seeing you here," smirked the demon of death, his arrogance glinting off of his razor sharp teeth and bold eyes.

"Derek," I stated, attempting to combine all of my loathing and confidence into that single word. My eyes narrowed, gazing into his- remembering the first time I saw those eyes.

I was four. Five at the oldest, when the orphanage headmistress took me to the supermarket for the first time. We were on our way back, and I spotted a man. I couldn't tell you what he had been wearing- it seemed so unimportant. His eyes were a strong and confident shade of violet and the sun radiated off of his hair. I was immediately afraid and perplexed by this strange, yet beautiful man. The headmistress did not even shake a hair at the intimitating man in the alley, and it became clear that she did not see him. It was obvious that he noticed my stare and waved me towards the alley he stood in. At that moment, the headmistress released her grip on me, and I was off, following the man into the dark corridor of the city. As I approached where he had been, a hand grasped my shoulder. The purple eyes were narrowed in an intimitating way, and I fell right for what he was going for. I was afraid.

"So you can see me...good. This way I can show you. Stay clear out of my way...," he took a slight breath, looked like he may hurl, and resumed his posture, "or this, "he gestured "will happen to you."

As I followed his gesture, a man stepped into view, screaming for help. Another man, appearing to be his friend, took out a large sword, and held it, ready to strike. I closed my eyes quickly, but could still see the image clearly in my mind's eye. Tears streamed down my cheek as the man with the purple eyes knelt down next to me, gazed deep into my soul, and asked, "Understand?"

Chapter 2
The next time I saw Derek, the angel of death, was outside the orphanage. It was free-time and I noticed him immediately. Although I hadn't seen him in over 2 years, I recognized him right away and needed to get something off my chest that I couldn't say the last time I'd seen him. The age gap between five and seven-and-a-half had done wonders to my appearence and confidence level.

I opened the gate from the yard to the street outside. I had been outside on my own plenty times before to head to the supermarket, but this street seemed to be more silent and sinister as ever. I took an uncertain and fearful step towards the man with purple eyes. Taking a large breath, I walked the rest of the way to the man and stopped within a foot of him. He towered over me, a sneer marking his handsome face.

"Who are you and how dare you come so close to my home? After what you did to me...did you know I was traumatized?! How dare you! I should get the-" I exploded with fear and rage. I couldn't stop until he place a long and surprisingly gentle finger across my lips to silence me.

"Miss Spellman, I presume? You certainly have grown," he mocked, a smile spreading across his face from a joke that only he knew, "Now, I know you're angry, but I have a proposition to make it up to you. Are you willing to hear?"

Uncertain if he was actually asking me to answer, I nodded slowly, suspicious of his every word.

"Great to hear. I'm willing to offer you fame, fourtune, and glory. Everything you could ever want and need. All you have to do is come with me and do everything I say. Is that simple enough?" he posed the question as if he already knew the answer. But none of that sounded appealing to me.

"All I want is a family," I said, bluntly. I was casually aware of how stupid I must sound to this man. I was afraid he would strike me, or worse.

"And, of course, you'll have one. I can be your family. I'll take care of you and love you better than any mortal father or mother can do. And better yet, I can give you all you could ever want," his smirk staying on his face so long, looking like it was painted on.

He knew what I wanted. I knew what I wanted. And he was offering it to me. And yet, I couldn't take it. The solid mass laying at the pit of my stomach lurched, and I felt like I would be sick. I shook my head, my long blonde braid scratching my face lightly. I stepped back, and his face showed how used to being rejected he was.

"Oh, really? No? This is what I say to that," he sneered as he gazed up. I followed his gaze to Nikki, a fellow orphan and new found friend. A loud sound of squealing tires came from down the block and the car that was coming was moving fast. I could hear it approaching and Nikki didn't move.

I knew what was coming, but I had no chance to prevent it. The car crashed straight through the gate of the orphanage yard, pinning Nikki to the wall of the orphanage. The remaining orphans in the yard screamed, fleeing either for their lives or to Nikki's side. The shock of the situation grasped me, and I screamed as deep and loud as I could. Turning to the man, I noticed the smirk had not left his face.

"I recommend you reconsider your choice to join me, or another "accident" like this will occur," and with that comment, he was gone.

The next few days after Nikki's death were difficult. My friends' and disfunctional family's lives depended on my decision. I would lay on my bed at night, knowing it was my fault for Nikki's premature death, and knew that if the man would come back, more death would follow.

So I fled. Left for nowhere. Nowhere even remotely near the people I had learned to love. And I knew that for them to live, I could never see them again. I left the town I'd grown up in and all I'd ever known.

Unfourunately, I was unaware of the pair of purple eyes following my every move. If I had thought I could simply run from him, I was very wrong.