Once she cried out my name she was done.
Never again would she be able to live without me.
Just as the moon to darkness, she was mine.
Never to stand straight again, for she was fallen.
CHAPTER 1
"So are we going anywhere in particular?" stated the woman as she glanced in the rearview mirror.
"I guess not" I said with a sigh looking out the window at the passing scenery. We were currently traveling through the countryside toward an old estate that once belonged to my late grandmother Kite Casway. Last time I had been there was the day I turned eight. It's was the year I ran away from my so-called 'home'. How I had ended up there still haunts me 12 years ago on this day my mother died. I plugged in my iPod and hit play as the song Evil Angel played I closed my eyes as a lone tear slide down my cheek before drifting off asleep.
It was the cut off of the engine that woke me. Stepping out of the car I yawned and stretched before taking a look around. Forest. That was it. Nothing else. Taking a deep breath I could smell the pine soil and a lite musk from nearby animals and a hit of salt. Closing my eyes I could hear the crickets the wind and the sound of the ocean. A small smile crossed my features, maybe I could disappear and be back before Mimi came back. Without thinking about I took off as an uneasy feeling settled in the bottom of my stomach. 'No!' my inner screamed 'Not again!'
A long time ago when I was three my mother and I visited my grandmother's estate I was playing in the yards my mother watched me. She had just shown me how to make a crown out of flowers when there was a scream followed by a loud bang. I froze as my mother stiffened "Mama?" She smiled weakly as she looked down at me there was something in her eyes I couldn't place as she stood "Where you going?" She turned to me "I'm just going to check on grandma, I'll be back in a few but stay in the yard, don't go near the forest and be quiet. Okay." There was something in her voice that made me want to obey. "K!" And with that she took off into the house as I watched after her
'ne-cha-cha-oh-cha-cha me-a-ka-mu-ta me-ka-ka-oh-cha-cha i-ka-ka ne-cha-cha me-a-ka-mu-cha no-cha-cha sa-cha-cha me-a-ka-mu-ta' I sang as I played with the small crown in my hands. 'me-cha-cha oh-cha-cha me-a-ka-mu-cha' SNAP! My head snapped up to see a small blue ball roll into the clearing followed by a boy. He was a few years older than me and wore white shorts and a pale blue polo. "H-hello!" He shrank back at the sound of my voice "Are you lost?" He shook his head but continued to stare at me in a daze; I rubbed my face with the back of my hand and look to him confused as he burst out laughing. As he calmed down he wiped his eyes as he closed the distance between us and knelt down in front of me as he picked up his ball.
"Gomen, gomen. I didn't mean to laugh or intrude, but you really should be more careful of whom you let come into your yard..." and then he smiled patting me open the head. "Be careful, there are lots of bad people in this world... some not as kind as others." and with that he ruffled my hair and stood up as my mother came out the back door and onto the porch her face turned surprised as she took in the boy.
"Can you promise me something?" I nodded and his face turned serious as he stuck up his pinky "Promise me you'll grow up to be strong, careful, and smart, cause you're already beautiful. Promise me that no matter what happens or where you go you will always remember who you are and that you'll never lose sight of your dreams. Do you promise?" "Aha" "Than stick out your pinky and link it with mine." And so I did. The second we pinky swore, a gusts of wind blew around us, encircling us in its wind and all the while the boy's face was serious and something told me there was no turning back now...
As the winds calmed I felt all my energy drain from my system as I fell forward into the boy "Wo!" He said as he caught me "You ok?" I nodded "Easy now-" he said as his arm found its way around my waist as he held me to him his other hand finding its way to my head where he held my head in place. He was a stranger, and yet I felt comfortable around him. Almost as if, the world had never existed.
But it did, for at that moment my mother chose to speak "Excuse me, your-" he brought his index finger to his lips and my mother was silenced. Whatever made her quiet must've been important because at that moment a group of men dressed in black stepped into the clearing carrying baseball bats with nails sticking out of them, knives, and guns.
"Well, well, well, lookie here boys... Looks like we've finally found 'em." My mother moved to stand in front of me as the boy moved beside her, his fists and jaw clenched. One of the men laughed "Looks like the one we want is the little girl." The sound of his voice sent shivers down my spine. What happened next was just a giant blur, but a shot rang through the air and I took off into the house as my mother fought and the boy screamed after me to run. I remember as multiple shots rang out and feeling a sharp pain rip through my shoulder as I fell to the ground in pain shouts of my name and "We need her alive rang through my ears before I blacked out...
As the woods thinned I slide to a stop as a blue sky was all that's stood before me. I took a deep breath as the memories came flooding back; this was the very spot where my mother had died.
When I came to several minutes later I was being held by the back of my shirt over the cliff as my mother knelt before me bloody and beaten as three men stood behind her holding her in place. "Your rain ends here madam, but don't worry my people will take good care of your lands." And with that he laughed sinisterly as he released his grip on my shirt. My mother screamed as she shook them off and dove off the cliff after me. She held me tight as she told me how much she loved me and then looked to the sky to see four bodies join us as she whispered something before making contact with the ice cold ocean.
I turned to see the beach my mother and I had washed up on. I had woken up not only by my mother but also in the arms of the boy. When he realized I'd come to, he said a pray of thanks and held onto me even tighter as I broke down. Three days later I woke up in the hospital to find out my mother was dead, I had been in and out of surgery due to a gunshot wound and loss of blood along with several bones being at angles they shouldn't had. And to my disappointment, no one knew where the boy was...
I sighed as I stared at the beach failing to notice as to how the wind had picked up as I stepped a little closer to the edge. "SAKURA!" I jumped and my foot slipped and the cliff gave out from under me "INO!" I screamed as I held onto the cliff "HURRY!"
"SAKURA!" She was closer now "OVER HERE! HURRY! I WON'T BE ABLE TO HOLD ON ANY LONGER!" And true to my word I couldn't for the moment Mimi stepped foot on the cliff and saw me she ran to grab me, but as my luck would have it the section of rock I was holding onto gave out and in one last ditch effort to save me Ino dove for my hand but it was too late. I had already begun the free fall into the rocky waters below me.
I heard Ino holler my name again as turned head first, if I was gonna die I couldn't help it but go head first into the so-called 'after-life'. Several thoughts crossed my mind like; 'I guess I'll never get that family I always wanted or get to see (/) 's baby'. No. I never would. But I continued my descent toward the water I couldn't help but think of my mother... Is this how she felt? Completely at ease? Not afraid? If not was she hopping for a better future? One where things like what occurred all those years ago never happened to anyone? I didn't know, and I'd never know. I closed my eyes and held my head high. I wouldn't die afraid I'd die proud like my mother before me.
I heard a soft tap as if someone had jumped followed by the sound of air being cut fast approaching. 'No Ino, you shouldn't have jumped... You had something to live for.' And the next thing I knew a pair of arms found their way around my waist as I was drawn into something hard. I heard a soft chuckle as something else wrapped around me. I no longer felt the cutting wind nor the cold air. I opened my eyes to see a smiling face and amused eyes hinting at the slightest disappointment. I turned to realize that we were surrounded by something soft but gray, the sensation feeling oddly comfortable. I closed my eyes. I guess it is normal to hallucinate when you're about to die.
I heard a sigh as the arms tightened around me "I thought you promised me you'd be careful..." He sighed shaking his head "And I guess it would be a little hard to remember things from all those years ago..." He hesitated "especially those of the day you want nothing more than to forget... I know it hurts you, but it hurts me too. Especially me..." My eyes flew open as a single thought flew through my head 'No! He couldn't be!?'