The Devil's Pride

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Are you ready, Clarrisa?" Asked her father as he walked her out the door. Clarrisa wiped her tears and nodded.

It had been 4 months since her best friend committed suicide, and 2 months since her aunt was kidnapped.

Clarrisa didn't really want to go to her funeral, she hated it when people saw her cry.

She was so sensitive when someone spoke about death. Since her mother was murdered when she was 7 years old.

"Do you have your speech ready?"

"Yeah." She croaked.

Her father, Mr. Peterson, nodded and continued walking to the service with Clarrisa attached to his arm.

Be calm, don't cry. Be calm, don't cry. Clarrisa told herself over and over again. Maybe if she just focused on something other than death, she could actually get through the speech and the service.

But when she was 7, she hardly knew what was going on. Now, she's more aware of what death meant. She knew that it wasn't just a vacation that they would return from eventually. It was forever. They'd never ever come back. And knowing that made Clarrisa even more depressed. Becky was her best friend, the sister she never had. She was the one person she could tell everything to without worrying about being judged.

"Everything's gonna be okay." Mr. Peterson said to his daughter.

Clarrisa nodded her head but knew it'd never be okay.

When Clarrisa finally reached the double doors, she pushed them open and when she walked in, everyone was still finding a seat and settling down. When everyone was seated, she made her way to the front and faced everyone. She cleared her throat and began.

"Becky was loved by everyone. She was friends with everyone. She was so likeable... She never seemed sad, or upset. That's why I can't imagine why in the world she did what she did. In my opinion, funerals, or memorials, should be celebrating their life. Not that they died. So instead of saying how much we'll miss her, which we will, very much, but I'd like to reminisce in all the good memories, not the bad ones." Not thinking she could go on much longer, she stepped off the stage and ran out the doors and outside into the rain. It was only sprinkling though.

She took off her heels and began running, and of course people gave her why-the-hell-are-you-running looks.

As she rounded a corner she ran into a boy who looked to be around the same age as her with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes with a stunning face. Who was quite muscular.

She looked up and frowned. "Sorry," she said quickly.

"It's cool... Why were you running? If you don't mind me asking," the stranger said.

"Just needed a breath of fresh air." She replied.

He nodded and said, "My name's Riley. Yours?"

"I don't tell strangers my name."

"C'mon, I thought we were friends." He said with a gorgeous smile.

"Not really."

"I told you my name."

"I didn't ask for it."

"Fine, Clarrisa. If you want to be that way." He said walking around Clarrisa to wherever he was going in the first place.

"What-how did you know my name?!" She said turning her head so fast she could've given herself a whiplash.

He kept walking but turned his head and gave her a smirk and shrugged.

Clarrisa stood there stunned. Had she somehow let it slip? Or was it written on her somewhere? There was no way he could've known her name. Maybe they'd met before. But she would've remembered.

As Clarrisa stood there thinking, she had no idea what was being planned against her. Who was watching her. And she certainly had no idea that it was history repeating itself.