A/N: Hello fellow writers and readers,
Everyone's probably wondering where in the world have I been. And I don't mind telling you. The fact is I've been in a depressing slump for a while. I had to start online classes due to circumstances with my school and whoever said online classes were easy is a moron, it is by no means easy. I missed out a whole summer, doing online school work so as I could graduate early. And my last day sof high school, basically, sucked eggs. I don't blame so much my school, but most of my classmates that could have done more for it and slightly the faculity that could have done their jobs. Which in way still means I blame my school. And when I finally finished, my computer gotten a virus and thus erased all the stories for this one and my Higurashi one. So months the plot bunnies been annoying the crap out of me until I got a new.
Now why I deleted the original Eternal Love. Well, the fact is...I didn't like how it started anymore and it didn't have the same effect as other writers that I read during my hiatus year had, while it could have been done better. But I still hope that the readers that I did have would like it still and new ones would like it too.
Also, anyone that happens to be a artist, I like to encourage you to possibly draw Lightning and PM me so I could see. I have lately gain a whole new respect for them and hopefully would like see the image they have of my character.
So, without further wait, here is the rewritten version of "Eternal Love of Guns and Roses".
The Eternal Love of Guns and Roses
By Alice
Prologue
The world was spinning wildly when the little girl opened her eyes, it nauseated the world seemed to shift in her sight. 'The world is being mean to me' she childishly, feeling the powerful throbbing in her cranium. 'it wants to hurt my head.'
Sound was mean too, ringing loudly in her ears, dulling what was going on around her. The world and sound hated her for some unexplained reason, how they twirled, how it rung, how it made her sick.
"Stop!" she whined.
It took fifteen minutes, the world reluctantly obeying her, slowly coming to a sudden stand-still, and her ears heard beautiful silence once again.
She blinked. The little Girl hadn't expected it to take such a long time, but she was relieved that everything was clear again.
Moment before she attempted move, she felt a sharp pain shoot through her body, like something had bashing at her limbs. It surged through her arms and each side of her ribs making her flinch.
Strangely, she could barely move. She had been able to before, or at least she was sure that she had been able. When was the last time she'd walked? She couldn't remember.
She tried to process the thought but nothing came to her, and her mouth slightly hung open. An unbelievable amount of string questions quickly scampered into her head. Where was she? How did she get here? Why couldn't she move without feeling pain? What was her name?
What is my name?
She couldn't think of a name that belonged to her. She started listing names, listing until she started rhyming them. Still nothing, but why? Why hadn't she found a name that belonged to her? Shouldn't she know?
Why wasn't she panicking now? Was it was because of a delayed reaction or she didn't know how to react? Maybe both…
She turned her head to the side, buildings were crumbled, sand dusted across them harshly and the sky was dark purple above her. She turned to find the same image on her other side; trying to ignore the stiffness in her neck as she looked.
She waited until her thoughts were vivid, not so scattered by confusion, then she started shifting again. She looked for anything that could help her get to her feet, but had to rely on her own means of standing up. The ground was rough, and when she turned over the dirt made the wounds on her legs sting. Difficult at first, but gradually finding the ability, she finally made it to her feet and everything ached as she struggled to walk away from the decayed street.
As she continued her search for any sign of life, she noticed that world around her looked so… horrible. There was no way to tell which buildings had been businesses and which had been homes. A smell emanating from the wreckage that made her stomach twist in disgust. It was clear that this place was no longer fit for the life it may have once had.
She passed more rubble, finding nothing and no-one, only more of the desolated city and the wretched stench.
'What am I going to do?' she thought, clutching her injured arm. It hurt. It hurt badly. She walked for a few more blocks, the pain became too intense and she had to rest. Sliding down a large wall, she landed, once again, on the ground.
She pulled her unharmed leg to her chest and rested her head on it, she was tired now and needed a breather. 'It'll help' she thought.
'No one's here…' her eyes started to droop shut. 'I'm alone…and in pain.'
Her blue eyes cracked open once more, willing herself to stay awake longer. A beam of light flashed across her side from down the empty street. 'What is that?'. At the end of the road a pair of round lights were coming. They became bigger and bigger and she found herself fascinated by the light. A rumble filled her ears, following closely behind the bright round lights. It wasn't long before truck after truck moved past her. The first truck caught her interest.
Through the window, someone had caught a glimpse of her. It was only for a moment that their eyes met, but it didn't stop the truck from going past.
Sea-foam
…
The sea-foam green-eyed person ignored her, like she was nothing. They passed her one-by-one, like she was trash.
"W-…Wait…!" Her throat dry. She never imagined her voice would be so scratchy. "Wait…Wait…"
She wasn't able to move anymore, she'd fairly lost lot of her strength. She was hurting even more now. The person in the truck would go along and she'd still be there rotting.
'I'm going to die. All alone…' she fearfully deduced, tiny droplets beading at the corners of her orbs.
"I thought I heard something."
The girl slowly turned her stiff neck, watching a young woman stand ever so casually against the wall next to her. She was a pretty woman with long dark hair and eyes the color of honey. Her hands were in her pockets and she coyly stared at the girl for a good while before strolling over to her. "Tsk, tsk, tsk," she teasingly whispered, "What do we have here? A little girl alone in a place like this. How shameful…"
The Girl blinked.
"You must be hungry, right?"
The little girl nodded.
"Well, I know a place that will give you food and shelter. Some place safe and sound, almost like a new home for you." the woman cooed her sweet promises.
"R-really?" the girl asked, a loving hope had made it self present before her. What luck! What joy! She wasn't going to die!
"Really. If you like you could come with me now…would you like that?"
The girl nodded slowly, trying not to hurt herself more.
A very sweet but odd smile stretched across the woman's face. "Good. Now, why don't we go then, hm?" The woman stretched out her hand, waiting for her to place her tiny palm in hers. The girl reached out, trying to touch the lab-coat wearing woman's hand. She could smell the woman's perfume, it overpowered a strange bleach smell. She could only strain for the woman's hand as new pain hit like a wave, causing her to double-over.
"Oh…" she gasped, almost mockingly. "You're that injured? That won't do! That won't do at all," the girl glanced up at her, desperate and pitiful to the older woman, "Too bad, we can't take someone like you in. Sorry, but you're going to be staying here." Much like how she arrived, she daintily walked away, leaving the girl in pain. She spoke with such lack of luster, calming and without a single care in her speech.
The girl was shocked. She wasn't fit for that place because she was injured!? This couldn't happen, she'd now been harshly brushed off by two people in one day. No…Not this way. She couldn't stay like this.
She began to despairingly crawled to the woman, struggling catch her. It was then she decided that she wasn't going to die in this unknown, terrible place. She was going to live. She was going to survive.
The woman happened to watch the girl's vain attempt, finding it amusing. The girl's struggle was pathetic, and it tickled a little part of her, more than the other children that she had taken on. Still, she saw no use for a child that would need so much time to heal a broken body. She didn't care, why should she? She'd still gathered a good amount of test subjects for her experiments…losing one didn't bother her.
'Maybe…nah.' she thought, shrugging as she walked on.
The girl watched as she continued on, the painful wheezing hurting her chest and arms as she stared after the woman. It was all too much for her and she wanted to shut down.
"N-n-not f-fair…" she wheezed as the lady scientist disappeared.
"I know, right? She doesn't like when new toys are broken. Well, unless she's the one breaking them. She can be quite the sadist when she wants to be." A man no older than the woman stated. He'd appeared beside the girl and she hadn't noticed at all.
She practically jumped out of her skin, jerking back from the raw agony of the motion. In the most comical way possible, the man laughed and stooped down to her level.
"Sorry about that." he chuckled "That must have hurt. I should have been more careful, knowing that you're in pain. I suggest that you try not to move again." he playfully wagged his finger, teasingly scolding her. He seemed to be the type of person who was laid back, yet he wore the same overpowering bleach smell on his coat that the lady had tried to mask. 'Probably over washing it' the girl thought.
The man tilted his head, curiously watching her pale slightly. "You know, you don't look too good. Well, after the mess this place been put through, I'm not surprised." he mused to himself.
"What are you… talking about?" she asked curiously.
The bleach-smelling man waved his hand. "Not important. What is important is that you get medical treatment."
She was confused. "Is this…" she stayed as still as possible. "…a game?"
The man blinked and snickered before releasing a hearty laugh. His arms had snaked to his sides; he was trying to calm his quickly aching stomach. The irony of his laugh was cruel. He laughed hard enough to wake the corpses that littered the city.
"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't." he murmured so softly that the girl didn't hear. "Anyhow, let's get you to your new home, shall we?" The man carefully shifted her on her back, trying to avoid reopening any of her wounds. It made it easier for him to carry her in his arms like she was a newborn, so delicate, as though she might break.
"You're really taking me?" she asked.
"Obviously." he smirked. "I'd leave you to die if I didn't want you. Unless you want me to?" The way he said it made the girl feel like he had cut her tongue out. She shook her head furiously, paining no mind to the pain.
The walk was quiet. Neither of them felt the need to start a conversation, especially the girl; she didn't want to give him a reason to abandon her, like the two that already did. One of the doctor's fingers was pressed painfully into her bruised side, forcing a groan to try and claw its way out of her throat, but she bit it back. She needed to be quiet. She didn't want to press her luck.
A truck awaited them a few blocks down from where he'd found her, with a guard lazing around on the rear bumper. The guard wasn't armed, he wasn't expecting anything to happen in the dead town and he sat idly even though it was against rookie protocol. He didn't care, it wasn't like his boss would either.
And speak of the devil…
He hastily straightened up, catching a glimpse of his superior walking up to him. For some strange reason he looked proud. He'd always thought his boss was off his rocker.
"Sir, most of the other faculty has headed to back to the Institute." The guard promptly responded.
"Hah, I figured they would." He said, readjusting the girl in his arms. The soldier raised a brow, looking past the man to see if he had any other children following behind. There were none, there was only the little girl that the doctor was holding?
"Uh, sir…where are the other children?"
"Oh, this one is good enough." he shrugged, speaking nonchalantly.
"Really…? Just that one?" he gazed at the two in disbelief.
The doctor looked around him, mocking the rookie's question. It was obvious that there was no one around him. "Yeah, just this one". The girl narrowed her gaze, not liking how they were lazily referring to her as an object.
"But the others, they have plenty of-"
"Now's not the time, open the truck."
The soldier didn't argue, deciding to keep his mouth shut and open the back of the truck. Not another word was spoken as he climbed inside and placed the girl in the upper left corner for support. After situating her he turned away, prepared to leave, until he felt a tug on his sleeve.
"What is it now?" he narrowed his eyes in the dark, expecting her to plead.
"I don't want to be alone." she squeaked.
His face fell, staring at her like a child that was told a surprising secret. He leaned forward, trying to find out what was strange about her. Normal children never acted like this with strangers. Normally they'd be screaming to go home, or for their parents. Normally they'd scream until their little faces were red. Occasionally there were battle-hardened children that had been raised to fight and didn't mind, but most others didn't really survive the first week in the Institute.
This girl, however, was different.
"Where are you from?" he asked, watching her.
"I…don't know." She stated simply.
"Do you know where you are?"
"No."
"How old are you?"
"I don't know."
"…Do you have a name?"
"I…I don't remember my name."
The doctor's eyes widened as he stood next to the soldier. 'Memory loss…' the doctor reached out, running his fingers through her hair to feel for abnormalities on her skull. His index finger brushed up against a large bump, causing his new patient to wince.
'That's the problem…'
"Listen" he retracted his hand, then pulled out and uncapped a syringe. "I'm going to give you something to put you to sleep. This should make it easier for the commute until you can be treated." he had a serious tone, a true doctor-like attitude. He pulled out an alcohol pad from his inside pocket, ripped it open and rubbed it on a large vein in her arm. The needle bit through her dirt-covered skin, injecting clear liquid. He pulled it out and it left a tiny lump.
The drug only took moments to work, making her eyes sleepy. Her eyes heavily started to close and she watched the dark-haired doctors' lips curl, much like when they met.
The brown-haired child soon fell asleep, deeply, quicker than the drop of a hat. The doctor hopped out of the back, closing the double doors behind him. He silently made his way to clamber into the passengers' side, the soldier slipping into the drivers' seat at the same time. The engine purred to life and the truck lurched forward.
"Doctor Vincent, sir…" the soldier glanced over to his superior. "I know you said you were fine with one child. Still, I'm wondering why that child. She seems pretty useless, being crippled and all."
The doctor turned his sharp gaze from the window, overlooking the dead city, to cut to the soldier's helmeted face. "You know that curiosity gets you killed in this business." he stated plainly, a dangerous tone hidden underneath.
"Uh, sorry sir." He gulped.
"But to sate your curiosity, I might as well explain…" Vincent's eyes glinted as he went back to watching the scenery. "How should I start…?"
"Possibly 'why her'?" the soldier replied.
"Fine, then." He said, pulling out a pack of cigarettes. He pulled one out and stuck the tiny stick in his mouth. "Think of an ordinary day, one where you didn't work at the Institute, where you have children of your own."
The guard cringed. He had children of his own, two boys, who lived with their mother.
"You happen get them a play set. The box gets home and you're the one that has to set it up. When you open the box, what do you find?"
"Well…the toy set."
The green-eyed man sighed, then chuckled, taking a drag on the cigarette and letting the smoke leave his nostrils. 'Idiot.' Rolling the cylinder between his fingers, he continued. "No. You find parts to the toy set. Parts…such as screws, the plastic that you put together, and other little knickknacks to you use to assemble it. You have to build it first...this is no different."
"But if that's the case, why would you want a broken one?" The soldier asked. The girl was clearly not in good condition.
"It's all about perspective. What may look broken to you isn't really broken to me, especially when I know how to fix it. It may take a large amount of time, but it is well worth it when the end product is perfect."
"I-I see." The soldier replied.
"Also, she has an advantage. She's a MTBI case."
"MTBI…?"
The doctor sighed. "Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. I'm not sure about the other symptoms she may have had, but she is definitely suffering from retrograde amnesia." The soldier looked confused. "Ah, retrograde means no memories of before her injury. She probably doesn't remember the incident itself. It can really happen reality, you know," he said, stopping the man with a raised hand. "Any more questions that you want me to drawl over?"
"No, sir…"
The soldier was silent after, looking straightforward and nowhere else. He had a feeling the man was nuts. All the institute's scientists were nuts in his opinion, and now he knew that Vincent McKnight was crazy and likely as demented as the rest of them. He suddenly realized that he shouldn't piss him off.
As for Vincent, he took another drag. He was inwardly pleased with the light brown-haired girl in the back. 'She'll be a good project' he thought, feeling it in his chest. It would take two or three months of healing and caring, maybe less if she was put in the hibernation chamber. At the moment he was content with his 'project', lightly humming a tune all the way to the institute, thunder soon quickly being heard.
