DISCLAIMER: I do not own Heroes. Obviously. The show, and all the associated characters, are the intellectual property of Tim Kring and NBC. I own only Kairi, and the characters associated with the dance academy.
Kairi's Chronicle Chapter 1: The Beginning
"Very good Kairi, that was exceptionally well executed," remarked Madam Zhavago in a matter of fact tone. Kairi glowed at her comment. To receive such a remark from her stern dance instructor was something; Madam Zhavago didn't give compliments too easy. Most of the time she said nothing to her dancers, except for complaints about their forms. Behind her, Kairi could feel the poisonous glares of the other dancers. If looks could decimate anyone, Kairi would be nothing but ashes. Among the young dancers was Kairi's self-proclaimed rival, Jessica Pierce.
She was a confidently pretty, size one blonde, with a bone to pick with Kairi from day one. She hated Kairi with a passion beyond passion, to her Kairi wasn't a real dancer. She had only started dancing when she turned ten, and started to pursue it her freshman year at Lauguana high, while Jessica had been dancing since she could walk. "I expect you to audition for the lead in the school recital," continued Madam Zhavago as if not suggesting, but already deciding for Kairi. "Of course,'' replied Kairi with a sheepish smile. With that she turned away, dismissing Kairi.
Making her way to her bag, a frizzy haired red head deliberately crashed into Kairi, nearly sending her down to the ground. Fortunately, Kairi stopped herself. "Ops," laughed the red head. "I'm so sorry; I wouldn't want to hurt your pretty perfect little head!" Jessica and the other dancers laughed with contempt, with the exception of a few who weren't complete bitches. Kairi smiled her sweetest and kindest to the frizzy red head, her dimples flashing and giving her an innocent and good girl look. "That's alright, you can't mess with perfection." Nora Burns, Kairi's best friend, snorted loudly at her remark, in which she returned the smile. Kairi wasn't entirely alone in her class; there were a few girls who actually talked to her. Nora was one of them. She was a sweet tempered girl, who smiled easy, and laughed easy.
They had met her freshmen year, and had been inseparable since. She glanced over at the cliques. "Nasty mean girls, aren't they?" "Mean?" said Kairi. "More like psychotic bitches." Nora laughed at her blunt honesty toward the girls. Kairi spoke with a slight European accent. She spoke English very well, but if anyone listened closely, they could hear this slight French accent. "You're funny." Nora also wasn't native to New York; her parents were Canadians, her father a mechanic and her mother a nurse. Nora had been born in Maryland. From the moment their eyes met, Kairi knew they were going to be good friends.
They both knew the other was special. The first thing that drew Kairi to Nora was her smell; strangely, it was the first thing that drew most people to the doe-eyed beauty. It was very odd, but whenever Kairi felt out of place, the scent that Nora would give off when she tried to comfort her always calmed her down, and evoked a pleasant memory. A perfect memory to her would be the ocean, and sure enough she would smell the ocean. Not just smell the ocean, but relive that moment, feel the breeze of ocean in her face. It was puzzling. "You smell like honey bun," said Kairi as they walk out the door. "Really?" she replied lightly. "My mom says I smell like carrots." "No, you smell like honey bun." Kairi leaned in and smelled her. "Mmm...Honey bun."
Nora laughed. Kairi had a thing about being constantly hungry. It was always about food!For a girl so petite, she could eat like there was no tomorrow. She had a glazed look in her eyes. Nora could never tell if she was pretending or not. "Maybe you're just hungry." "Maybe you're right." she smiled, baring her teeth. "Let's get something to eat after we go to our lockers." The two girls had taken a detour to the bathroom, before going to their lockers. Kairi stood in front of her locker with a sense of dread. This was the moment she had dreaded the most in the day, the opening of her locker and the surprises that she would find. Kairi fished out her key from her bag. The lock that she had had installed looked expensive and over priced, but that was little in order to protect her privacy.
The locksmith had suggested a coded lock, but Kairi found that she had trouble remembering her own safety code at home. She had told him that she much preferred a voice activated one, but unfortunately there weren't any of that kind available. So she took the next best thing, which was the tricked out lock that she had now. Nora watched her best friend unlock her locker and open it. She could see Kairi tighten her grip on the door, and she was silent for a time. "Kairi?" "My planner is gone, and so are my extra flats." She reached into the locker and pulled out something. "Again?" asked Nora with a sigh. Kairi crumple the red envelope in her hand. "I was okay with the notes at first," started Kairi softly, then tensely. "But now I'm just pissed. Whoever this is, it isn't okay anymore."
Kairi dropped the envelope to the floor, and closed her locker door with annoyance. "Useless lock!" How was it happening? How could someone get to her stuff without actually opening the lock? By the looks of it, the lock had not been tampered with, it was perfectly untouched. Nora came over to her and looped her arm around Kairi's. "Come on, we'll figure this out. Let's go eat."
There is a shady figure that watches her. He has no name, or at least nobody knows his name. Anyone observing this individual would probably just describe him as a watcher or creep. He sees her coming out of the school, arm hooked with another girl. The other girl, he has seen with her before, and he hates her. Hates this girl that is so close to his beloved. He imagines himself locking arms with his beloved instead. She has her hair curled and pulled into a messy bun today.
He notices how the light hits the color, causing it to shine beautifully. Beautifully! She wore a dark trench-like jacket over her leotard and tights, her flats she had taken off and slung over her shoulders casually. It was like him to notice everything about her. Everything he did, he did for her, and she was his life now. She is talking openly, her face smiling and laughing. The brightness of her smile to him equals that of the sun. What was making her so happy? What could he do or say to give her such an effect? He must know the secret, the secret of making her laugh to him.
It is late in the afternoon and the girls slip silently into a quite little cafe. They take off their coats and take a table near the window. The waiter takes their order. They are regulars at Kat's Cafe, and Nora orders mocha like she always does. Kairi settles for hot cocoa, and of course orders a honey bun, since she does not particularly like coffee. They drink quietly at first, Kairi savoring the sweet taste of the blueberry honey bun. On the T.V, a young politician is speaking. He looks arrogant, but he also looks charismatic. Kairi frowns. She doesn't like him too well, and there is something untrustworthy about him, even for a politician.
"Do you think it's Jessica?" asked Kairi suddenly. "I think that you are giving her too much credit,'' replied Nora carefully. "She would have to be some kind of code cracker or a bank robber to get through one of your overpriced gadgets." Kairi smiled thoughtfully at Nora's logical response. Of course, Jessica lacks the brain cells to pull off anything that complicated. The thought of it was ridiculous, it was comical. "I'm glad we're friends." The girls lapsed into silence, and Kairi blew at her cocoa. Lately things had been strange, and Kairi wasn't sure, but she felt a change in herself. The news on the TV changed to a murder.
A young man had been killed. A woman was crying. Her son was the victim, and she was overcome with grief. "Sad isn't it?" frowned Kairi. "I'm sorry for that woman." "Yes, it's sad." replied Nora, who was also watching. "I feel bad for the family left behind." The news woman continued to speak about the murder. Apparently the killer had cut off the top half of the victim's head. Who could be so cruel?thought Kairi to herself. How can anyone take another's life? What kind of monster was this killer?"Do you think any human being can be so horrible?" "Evidently this individual was." "I wonder why he or she did it?" Kairi looked into the face of the grieving mother. She wondered if the killer was watching. Do you care? Are you watching right now? Does it make you sad that you destroyed more than just one person's life?
"What would you do if that were me?" asked Nora thoughtfully. "Would you be sad?" '' Of course I would be sad!" said Kairi incredulously. "I would avenge you." She waved her fist to emphasize her seriousness." I wouldn't stop until I found the killer!" Nora knew Kairi was only joking, but somehow she knew Kairi would fall through with it, if it ever came to it. She took a sip of her coffee. This whole murder thing reminded her of something she once saw on Wicked Attraction. It was a series about murdering couples, and she always wonder how anyone could love a murderer, to the point where they would disregard everything else because of love.
"Could you ever love a murderer?" Nora asked suddenly. Kairi gazed at her friend thoughtfully. Could she ever love a murderer? She always thought it was ridiculous how some women could love men that were killers. It never made sense to her. Were people so lonely that they had to settle for loving a murderer?"Never." "Never?" "What if your soul mate was a killer?" "That would be my luck, wouldn't it?" Kairi drank the last of her cocoa. She wanted to talk to Nora about something, but she couldn't remember what it was. Maybe she would remember later.
.....................................
Kairi walked Nora half way to her apartment, before letting her walk the rest of the way. Out on the streets, a moving truck was parked outside a house. There were boxes outside, big and small. A little girl played by herself as movers carried stuff about her. Kairi assumed she was a part of the family moving, as she passed by the movers earlier. The girl looked up at Kairi, her dark eyes penetrating through to Kairi's soul. She had never felt so exposed before. The girl didn't avert her eyes until Kairi forced herself to speak: "Hello, I'm -" "On my drawing." Kairi stared down at her feet. Sinister eyes gazed back up at her.
A distorted looking cartoon character of a man with strong dark brows and a twisted grin stared back at her. Kairi jumped back in shock. It was only a picture, yet it had scared her. The little girl fixed Kairi with an unreadable gaze, and Kairi wished she would stop. Under her eyes, Kairi felt insecure. It was strange how a child's eyes could have such an effect on her. It was as if they were forcing her to see the truth within herself. All her secrets, all the things she didn't want to reveal. If she spoke now would they all come tumbling out? "Is this your house?" asked Kairi, breaking her gaze. She glanced at the house. "Was," came the girl's response. "But not anymore." Kairi opened her mouth, but she couldn't find any words to say. Luckily, the girl spoke for her instead. "We're moving very far away."
"Oh, where?" The girl didn't answer Kairi for the longest time. Instead she bent down to sketch something on the side walk, but when she spoke, her words were profound. "I can't tell you, but I can tell you why we are leaving. Do you want to know?" "Sure," said Kairi, not aware of what the response would be. In a calm, matter-of-fact tone, the little girl said: "There is a man who wants to kill me. He wants to cut my head open." The little girl motioned to her head, and then made an eerie slicing motion across her forehead with her finger. The expression of horror on Kairi's face could not be put into words, as far fetched as it was to believe.
Something told her that this extraordinary girl wasn't lying. She gave her a dead serious answer. Again the girl was silent, her little fingers chalked up with a powder of blue and grey. "You want to know why he is after me, don't you?" She had no response for her. What truth there was, the little girl had see it on her face. . "Why are you telling me this?" "Because you're very special, like me." She put the chalk down. "You're lucky he doesn't know about you yet, but maybe you two will meet soon." Her insides felt like mush, and it suddenly occured to her that she was speaking of the murderer from the news. Special, what did she mean by that? How was she special? "I'm scaring you. You're shaking," observed the little girl. "Don't worry, you're not meant to die anytime soon, but someday. We all do." "Somehow that doesn't comfort me," Kairi replied.
"I didn't mean to comfort you, I was only telling the truth." "You're very blunt." "Honesty is my best virtue." She gave Kairi a self assured smile. How can such an innocent little child be so frightening? She got up and wiped her hands on her skirt, and walked over to Kairi. From her pocket she pulled out a marble. The marble glowed like the color of the ocean. "For me?" Kairi held out her hand. "No, I'm lending it to you." "Oh." Kairi took the marble from her out reached hand. "We're not moving yet, but we'll leave soon," she said. "I expect you to return it to me." "When?" "You'll come find me soon enough," the girl replied mysteriously. "You will want to see me again." The conversation would have ended there, but the girl had more things to say to Kairi, before she would let her go. "They know you're here Kairi. Soon they will come for you. Will you be ready to face them when the time comes?"
End Chapter 1
A/N: So, what do you guys think? This is my first fanfic, so please be nice! Please review, too!
