• Luciana Dupount had been in the human world for just under two weeks, not having met any humans that she could stay with. True, she had met a few, four, in fact, but they had screamed bloody murder when they saw her climb out of a mirror in their living room.

    She let out a rough, papery laugh as the thought of her first moments in the human world came again, brought to her by the whistling breeze from the brook far to her left. The wind tickled her human face and played with her raven black hair, which cascaded down her back and hung prettily to her arms and the branches of the old tree she lay in.

    The bark of the tree dug into her arms and back, leaving deep creases in her flawlessly white skin. The wind picked up force and wrenched young leaves from their bright clusters on the branches above her, sending the leaves spiraling lazily downward to caress her nose before falling to the earth. She grinned and wrinkled her nose before sitting up and throwing her feet over the side of the large tree branch, which had effectively held her slight figure above the ground for more than a week.

    She had been living in various parts of the forest near the house she had ran from. She hadn't been able to contact Casius in the time she had been here, as she had promised. She was sure he was worried for her safety and she wondered vaguely, as she leapt to the ground, if he would come to get her.

    Luciana bounced to the small brook and stooped to dip her hand in the cooling water. The water bubbled up against her burning flesh and flowed past her wrist, sending tiny shockwaves up her hellishly hot arm and throughout her body. She cupped her hands and brought them out of the water to wash her face, shaking her head as the water sizzled against her mouth and cheeks.

    She let out a contented sigh and made her way to the tree when the sound of crunching leaves made her jump. She scurried silently to the nearest sapling and peeked around its width at a human boy with parchment in his hands. She cocked her head and bent low to the ground, allowing her flowing hair to effectively cover her naked body.

    The boy scratched his head and murmured human words which she could not understand while turning the parchment around in his hands. Luciana frowned lightly and stood straighter, moving her left leg slightly to maintain her balance.

    A small twig snapped under her foot and she closed her eyes tightly just as the human turned to face the tree she hid behind. Her sensitive ears caught the sound of his approach, though she made no move to leave. Her breathing slowed as he drew nearer.

    "Hello?"

    She jumped a little at the sound of his voice, soft and flowing like the wind. She opened her eyes wide, looking to her right at the surprised human. His dark brown hair was rumpled and shaggy, covering his eyes and caressing his cheeks. His skin was darker than hers, but not by much.

    His gaze traveled over her in a way that gave her goosebumps.

    "Do.. Do you need help?"

    Luciana jerked her head up slightly, while laying her hands on the smooth fabric of his black jacket. She pinched the material between her fingers and leaned her face towards him, touching her lips to his. For the briefest of seconds their breaths mingled in the air and she caught the heady scent of soap, sweat, and mint that made her dizzy.

    She drew back and cleared her throat delicately.

    "M-my.." She began, closing her eyes. "My name is Luciana. I need a place to stay."

    "Wow." He breathed.

    She allowed her eyes to flutter open and she stared into the boyish face which gazed unseeingly somewhere off to the right of her head. His eyes rolled back in his head and he fell to the forest floor with a thud that sent dead leaves flying in every direction.