Wake Up

Arianna's eyes were closed and her body was aching. Was she asleep? When did she fall asleep? Where had she fallen asleep? Wherever it was, it wasn't comfortable! Her body quickly tensed up, several thoughts were running through her head; the main one being: where was she? Keeping her eyes closed, Arianna listened to the noises around, hoping that it would help her narrow down areas. The first thing she noticed were a bunch of voices shouting and screaming at each other, some friendly, some not so much. The people who were talking were speaking a totally different language and she let out a deep breath of frustration; this was perfect! She was in a place where the people spoke a language other than English. The next thing she could feel was the hard, uncomfortable ground beneath her. Arianna could feel the tiny rocks and pebbles on the ground digging into her cheek, but she ignored it for the time being. She figured that she was outside because she could feel the sun's warm rays hitting her face.

Alright; I'm in a country that doesn't speak English, I'm outside, and from what I can tell nobody is bothering me. Arianna knew that she had to figure out a way to leave wherever she was, so she opened her eyes and took a quick look around her; she could see that all the buildings surrounding her appeared to be older than the buildings she was used to seeing. They were made out of wood or stone and the people around her were wearing very conservative clothing; everything was covered up! Letting her eyes drift downwards, Arianna was wearing her favorite pair of baggy sweat pants and a white tank top that was a little low, even for her personal liking!

Sitting up, she let a small groan out as her muscles ached and stood up, trying her best to ignore the stares that she was receiving. Just breathe. If you can breathe, you'll be able to make it. Arianna took her first step out of her hiding spot and began to walk in the crowd trying to blend in, but it was proving rather difficult. She was sticking out like a sore thumb; a very sore thumb. She could feel the stares burning into her skull, her own dark brown eyes making contact with the people looking at her. Quickly shifting her eyes to her feet, she noticed that she wasn't wearing any shoes; her semi-calloused feet were walking on the rough uneven ground. It could be worse I guess.

Arianna could still feel the stares on her body, but it wasn't nearly as bad as before, but now that there wasn't anything to distract her thoughts and questions, they began to bombard her relentlessly. She was alone here with no one around. Had she been kidnapped? Why couldn't she remember how she got here? And if she had been kidnapped, did they kill her family to get her? Arianna felt a pit grow in her stomach at the thought of her family being killed because of her. She was so worried about what had happened to her and her family that she wasn't paying any attention to where she was walking and soon did something that turned her face bright red: she bumped into someone.

She was embarrassed to say the least, even though she probably did more damage to herself than to the person she had run into; the body was pretty solid and didn't even seem to flinch. Should she apologize? Would the person even understand her if she tried to apologize? Her mouth felt dry and fuzzy and she kept her eyes towards the ground, trying to avoid the man's gaze.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to run into you." Arianna stuttered, her palms were beginning to sweat.

"Fine." The voice was deep and smooth and she felt her eyes widen at the word; he understood her? How come everyone else around her was speaking a different language?

Looking up at the man she had hit, she noticed that his clothes looked different from everybody else's: he was wearing a white robe with a red sash across his middle with leather also wrapped around it. He had on an arm brace and as she looked closer, she noticed that he had no ring finger. Shivering at the thought of how he lost it, Arianna tried to fight the impulse to look straight at the man's face, but it wasn't going as great as she had hoped. She wanted to see the face that was attached to the man's calm, slightly irritated voice. Quickly looking up, she let a tiny gasp escape her lips: the hood covered most of the man's face, but she could see that he had a strong jaw line and chin, matching the rest of his solid physique, his lips were set in a straight line, showing how annoyed he was to be disturbed. She wished she could see the rest of his face. She couldn't help but wonder what it looked like!

"I'll be on my way then." Arianna's voice quivered. She was trying to act brave, but she was failing miserably at it. Stepping around the big man, she continued on her way, her eyes still averted to the ground. Just concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other. It will help take your mind off of things. One step. Two step. One step. Two step.

While she was walking down the stone road, Arianna noticed that something was wrong; the voices around her were starting to diminish, but not the number of people. Was she reaching a quieter part of wherever she was? The facial expressions on the people showed that they were still shouting at each other. Was this some sort of joke? Was her hearing going as well? Gazing around her, she felt her jaw drop as everything and everyone beginning to fade into nothing. Everything, the stalls, the people, the buildings, the animals, they were all disappearing and what was left was just a white…area!

"Hello? What's going on? Is anybody here?" she called out. Arianna was crossing her fingers that there might be someone around that could help her get out of this nightmare. Just seconds ago she was in an old market and now she was in some random white oblivion and it was really starting to freak her out!

"You have information that I seek."

That voice! She knew that voice! Spinning around, Arianna gave a surprised look at the man. How come she could hear him perfectly? See him perfectly? It didn't make any sense! None of this is making sense. This whole thing isn't making any sense! "What information? I don't even know you!" Of course she didn't know him and he didn't know her! Great witty comeback. Maybe next time you can smack him with your purse and run off!

"Don't say that. You know the information that I want. Tell me and maybe I won't have to take it by force." The man said, taking a step towards her.

What did he want to know? Did he want to know that she lived with her single mom, her mom's boyfriend, her little sister, and her pet goldfish? What school she went to? That she failed her latest algebra test?

"I have no information to give you! I don't understand what you're even talking about!"

The man gave a frustrated sigh and before she could blink, a blade was at her throat, ready to slice it at any given moment. "I shall give you one last chance. Give me the information that I seek or I'll take your life here and now."

Arianna couldn't move muscle; she was terrified! If she moved, she would die. If she didn't give this man some important information, she would die. And even if she did give him the information that he was looking for, she didn't know if she was going to live. Perhaps if she just gave him some random bullshit about herself then maybe, just maybe, she would make it out of this with her head still on her shoulders.

"I live in a three bedroom, two bathroom apartment with my mom, Dayita, my little sister, Hasina, my mom's boyfriend, Barry Jo, and my goldfish, Frank. I go to St. Joseph High School; it's a girls only Roman Catholic high school in Brooklyn, New York and I play the clarinet for the band. I'm on the soccer team, president of the Anime Club, and I'm top of my class. That's all the information that I've got!"

"That information is useless to me! Tell me about Templars! Where are they hiding?" the man asked, his blade pressing deeper into her throat. I've got to think fast! Think fast, think fast, think fast!

"Templars? You mean like the Crusades? What are you talking about?"

"You make no sense. You are one of them, aren't you? Or have you completely gone mad?" The man sounded genuinely curious. Arianna decided the best thing to do would be to play the role of the crazy Templar who knew nothing! Even though she was pretty sure she was only digging herself a deeper whole.

"I don't know who the Templars are or what you're talking about! I'm not crazy! I'm completely normal!" she threw in a nutty laugh for good measure.

"Well, I guess I have no use for you then." He whispered and before she could blink, the blade had left her throat and straight into her back.

Arianna felt a sharp blade pierce through her back; it was like fire ripping through her. Cold and hot at the same time. She could hear the man whispering something to her that she couldn't make out and she could feel the darkness creeping up on her…growing closer…and closer until…

"Arianna, it's time to wake up!" a voice cried out.

Jerking upright, she gasped breath, trying to figure out where she was. Was she still dreaming? She couldn't be dreaming! She could feel something soft underneath her and noticed that it was her bed and her multitude of blankets around her. Looking around, she saw her bedroom walls, which were covered with posters of anime, Michael Jackson, and pictures of herself as a little girl. She saw her bookshelf with all of her personal junk sitting on it still collecting dust like always and her terrified gaze turned down towards the floor and she saw that it was messy and that her school uniform was still sitting right by her bed; it was in the same place as she had tossed it. Everything was still in its right place.

"Arianna, did you hear me?" That was her mom! What day was it today? Wednesday? Thursday? Groping in the dark for her cell phone, Arianna was able to grab it and saw that it was 6:30 AM, Friday. It was only a dream. A very, very bad dream. Hopefully I'll never have it again.

Raking her hand through her unruly ear length brown hair, she stood up from her bed and turned the light on, planning on getting ready for school, but when she turned back around a scream got caught in throat: there was a small patch of red on her sheets where her back had been moments before! Without thinking, Arianna's hands flew to her back and she felt her blood run cold when she felt the sticky substance on her white tank top and she nearly fainted when she saw it on her hands. She quickly took her tank top off and her hands once more went to her back, but she couldn't feel anything! There wasn't a cut, scrap, scratch, nothing! Nothing to show for her bleeding! What the hell is going on? This is exactly where the man in the robes had stabbed me! How am I going to hide this from my mom? From my teachers?

Arianna decided that the only thing she could do at the moment was to tear off her sheets and toss them in the wash before her mother found them and questioned her about the blood, but she wasn't too worried. Usually Barry Jo was the one who did all the laundry and her mom did practically everything else and Barry Jo learned a long time ago to not ask questions when there was blood on the sheets because it meant, in his own words, that "Aunt Flow was coming for a visit!" She hated it when Barry Jo treated her like she was just a little girl. In fact, she just hated Barry Jo all together. There was no redeeming quality about the man and she couldn't understand what her mother saw in him! You'd think after two failed marriages and two kids later, you would have figured out what kind of man you would like. Sighing, Arianna saw that the blood had actually bled into her mattress and she knew she had to tell her mom now; she had no choice!

Feeling the blood beginning to soak into her sweat pants, she pulled them off too and picked up a towel that she had left on the floor from her last shower and dashed towards her and Hasina's bathroom, hoping that her little sister wasn't in there. Giving a relieved sigh, she opened the door and quickly locked it; she wasn't in the mood for someone to walk in on her. Arianna dug through the meager medical supplies that the family kept, but she couldn't find anything that would help with the bleeding. Either she wore the towel underneath her uniform, or she could play sick until she figured out a way to stop the bleeding. I swear, if I see that man in my dreams again I am going to smack him so hard! This is such a pain!

"Ari, I need to use the bathroom!" Hasina's voice drifted through the door.

"Use the other bathroom!" Arianna called back, her voice seething with frustration and irritation. She had to stop the bleeding now! Hasina would flip out if she saw her back!

"But Mommy is using it!" the child whined. Instant gratification. Wrapping the towel around herself once more, she ran out of the bathroom, ignoring her sister's confused stare.

What was she going to do? What was she going to do? She needed to figure something out something quick, or else she would have to have a very awkward conversation with her mother later on. Walking over to her vanity mirror, Arianna turned her back towards it and craned her neck over her should, trying to get a good look at what was happening, but much to her surprise, there wasn't any blood there! It was all gone! It was just there! How could it all be gone? This has to be some kind of joke! This is absolutely nuts! This is even weirder than my dreams!

Shaking her head, she threw on a black tank top and then her uniform and walked casually into the kitchen, where Barry Jo was standing making breakfast for all of them. Arianna had to admit, the man might be a lazy slob who practically used her mother, but he could cook! He could really, really cook!

"Hey there, baby girl! How are you this mornin'?" Barry Jo's thick southern accent rang throughout the small kitchen. "I was wonderin' when you'd wake up." Barry Jo was an unimpressive man of 45 who had a small beer gut and was completely bald. He had chubby, boyish facial features and kind cloud gray eyes. Arianna could kind of understand how her mom fell for the man, but she still remembered the first time she had met him: she thought she was going to have a heart attack! He was the exact opposite of her and Hasina's father! Both their fathers had a muscular build and had thick hair! This man was pudgy and bald!

"I'm fine. Where's Mom? I heard her yelling at me just a minute ago?"

"She should be in the bathroom getting' ready for work, at least that's when I last saw her."

She gave a slight nod as she took a seat at the tiny dining table as Barry Jo placed a plate in front of her and she began to eat, smiling as the warm food slid down her throat. Closing her eyes, Arianna saw the man in the white robe standing in front of her, his sword pulled out as if ready to strike her. Opening her eyes, she gave a strained laugh when she saw nobody else at the table or standing in front of her. I need to get more sleep!

Finishing up her breakfast, Arianna grabbed her red school bag that had a picture of Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist on it and ran out the door. She wasn't in a huge hurry, but she wanted to get to school before all the other students did; it was her favorite part of the school day! She would sit in the library with her laptop and do last second homework and not be interrupted for at least an hour. Placing her earphones into her ears, she turned on her music and set it to her heavy metal playlist and walked at a leisurely pace down the streets of Brooklyn. Her dream was suddenly brought back into her mind and instead of seeing the tall skyscrapers of New York, she saw old, crumbling buildings of the city she had just been in and the people passing her were once again wearing their conservative clothing and again, the man in the robe was there, looking at her with a blank expression.

"What do you want from me? What do you want me to tell you?" she whispered, terrified that he would attack her again.

"Altair." Was the only thing he said before he and everything else vanished and she was once again surrounded by skyscrapers, girls in short skirts, and her heavy metal death music playing in her ear. Arianna could feel sweat beading on her forehead and people were staring at her as if she had grown a third arm! Picking up her pace, she made it to St. Joseph High School in record timing and she nearly collapsed on the stairs leading up to the building. Was this going to happen all day? Was she going to keep seeing random visions of that damn city and that man?

We're done! Yay! I finally wrote it! It's finally done! I know I'm acting like I just finished a story, but I've been so freaking lazy lately this is a miracle that I finished this! This is my little Assassin's Creed story and I had way too much fun writing this! And I had to add in my Fullmetal Alchemist fangirl thing! I just had to! So, I hope you guys enjoyed this first chapter and I hope that you enjoy the later ones! Love ya all!

^.^