The splashes of rain and the rumble of distant thunder made Gryphus Riddle sigh. It was Sunday evening and his pile of school books stared at him accusingly from the table. Frowning slightly, he picked up his planner and began flipping through the pages. Break. What was this? In trepidation, he double-checked to make sure all the dates were correct. Oh God, he was in big trouble. He cursed under his breath, quickly grabbing his textbooks and tidying up his desk. It was two weeks before midterms and it had completely slipped his mind that he had a large workload to make up for. Grimacing at the freshly made dent he had removed for his workspace, he began scribbling as fast as he could. "Tch!" he hissed suddenly, as a drop of blood squeezed from a fresh cut of paper on his finger. Grimacing, he quickly sucked the blood away and frowned. It really wasn't his day. He returned to his work, but before he knew it, sleep overcame him. It was in an alley. A dark, dingy place that no one wanted to be trapped in, especially at night. Trying not to panic, Gryphus looked down and noticed that he was dressed in black so dark he could almost blend in with the shadow. “Hey,” a voice called from above him. Turning around, he noticed a girl his age, sitting at the top of a fire escape, about ten feet off the ground. She was dressed like him, and he gasped when she jumped off the tracks to stand next to him, as if ten feet was no big deal to jump from. He noticed that the way it moved was agile and fluid, like a snake. "Uh... who are you?" he finally squeaked. Her eyes were so blue they were almost purple, and he felt uncomfortable being around her, as if she were a wild animal. We have his most basic instincts... in the middle of paper... just how Destiny works. I too... I too died a day before my sixteenth birthday. Some might say it was the worst kind of death…” She sniffed suddenly, and Gryphus noticed the film of glassy tears decorating her eyelashes. “How… how did you die?” he asked. She scoffed. The wind grew stronger again and the tables began to shake. "Too late." Whisper. "It's too late." He was facing a new person. This time, a boy, and he was smiling. “Before you ask, Gryphus, my name is Christopher Anathema. We only have a few moments. You have to choose. Immediately." Gryphus shook his head wildly: “No, no! I refuse to die! This is just a dream, isn't it? I was doing my homework and I fell asleep!” he breathed desperately. “It's time for you to choose,” he repeated. “You can't fool fate.”.