He awoke screaming bloody murder. That horrible nightmare lingering in his mind, those unspeakable images he could never mention without breaking..blood..falling..her face. He felt the sweat on his back. His breath heavy in his chest, gasping for air, his mind reeling, his heart pounding in his chest.
He looked around the room he was in. The walls were painted a deep red. Posters and photos hung from the walls. A samurai sitting on its stand mounted to the wall. A bay window, the curtains open. Random articles of clothing on the hardwood flooring. Shelves on the walls with random objects he didn't recognize sitting on them. A mirror, and many other things he could not recollect.
"What the hell?" He said out loud, he was taken aback at his own voice. It didn't sound the way it used to, at least from his perspective. His heartbeat returning to normal speed.
He looked down at himself. His eyes widened in shock. Clothes, no gloves, no rings, a black t-shirt, dark red pajama bottoms. He ran his hands through his hair. Too confused and in shock to say anything. He stopped, and looked over at the mirror.
He stood up fast, too fast, his knees buckled, his legs gave way, and he fell to the floor.
"Damn.." He muttered, sitting up. He crawled the rest of the way to the mirror, and looked in it.
He saw an unfamiliar face; a teenage boy around 15 with black hair, one icy blue eye and one amber eye, and tanned skin. That was what he looked like?
He touched his own cheek lightly, as if he were scared of himself. Which he kind of was at this point.
A strange surging sensation spread throughout his entire body, especially his head. Suddenly memories from his supposed past came to him. He remembered his name, why hadn't he remembered that before?
"I'm not looking at Shadow," He muttered to his reflection, "I'm looking at Ryder."
"Yo Ryder! Wake up!" A male voice yelled from downstairs. Ryder looked at the door questioningly.
The surging sensation came again, this time it didn't come with any sort of warning, it just hit him like a semi truck. He grimaced. He remembered that it was his older brother that was yelling at him less than thirty seconds ago. He remembered his other siblings too, and his parents. The last time he checked, he had no experience with being someone's sibling or child.
This was going to be an interesting day.
"Hey, Hellraiser, get down here!" His older brother yelled.
Ryder raised an eyebrow.
(You're going strait to hell!)
Random flashbacks hit him, words echoed in his mind. He stood up, leaning against the wall just in case his legs decided to turn to jelly again. He opened his bedroom door slowly, it didn't creak at all.
(Is that so? Well then, it will be a date to DIE for!)
He crept down the wooden steps.
(It all starts with this, a jewel containing the ultimate power.)
"Get down here!" Screamed a slightly higher pitched voice than his own. Another brother of his, younger brother.
Ryder reached the last step, and stepped down slowly, seeing his two brothers, their faces nearly glued to the TV. He slipped into the kitchen without being seen.
(Some things just never change, do they?)
He gazed out the window, leaning against the kitchen counter. He saw a cloudy sky, a trampoline, a small play set, and a broken skateboard, which was probably his own fault.
(I now understand why I am here. I made a promise, and I'm here to keep it. Today I put my past behind me.)
He suddenly felt the felt the surging sensation come back on again. He remembered things from his childhood. He remembered the time his brother "accidentally" shoved him off of the trampoline, of course he didn't break anything. Also the time he hip-checked one of his younger brothers into a bush, and into a car, and into a teacher at school once. The time he accidentally held up his middle finger, when he was saying to a friend that they had one minute left, but he used the wrong finger and a teacher almost caught him. The time he shoved (?) into the pool at a friend's birthday pool party. These he remembered, and a few others.
A soft object rubbed against his left leg, it was obviously not very tall whatever it was, it was no where near his knees, it was much smaller. He turned around to face the soft object, looking down he saw a tiny fluffy thing. The fluffy thing looked back at him. He blinked. It was still there. It made a small high pitched noise.
More memories surged into his conscience. The fluffy thing touching him was a..a..a kitten. Kittens..meow.
"Oh." Ryder muttered, still looking down at the tiny being.
It meowed once more.
"What do you want from me..?" He asked the kitten.
It meowed again, circling his legs.
As if it were going to answer him logically.
Ryder nudged the kitten to the door, and shooed it out to where his brothers were.
"There, go bother them." Ryder murmured.
Suddenly his younger brother burst into the kitchen.
"Hey Rylie!" His younger brother, Jade, said jokingly.
"Hey, Jada."
"Don't call me that! Ry!"
"Jada."
"Emo!"
Ryder was gone before Jade finished that word.
"Damn little.." His voice trailed off as he went up the steps and into his room, closing the door and locking it. He was going to go wandering outside. He slipped on a black shirt with white striped sleeves, collar, and bottom. It had the number 19 in white on the front. It was also a few sizes too big, oh well. Next he put on black jeans, he then searched for shoes. He eventually found a pair of red and black shoes and put them on.
Somehow he managed to slip out the front door and out of sight without being noticed and or questioned, which was nice, considering.