Who are you?
What are you?
Those are questions that I can't answer, I'm afraid.
But maybe if you stick around long enough, you may learn the answer, my dear.
Sighing, the Dream Eater sat in his special velvet seat that only he had ever sat in. (He'd created it, as well as his own castle and servants, but it felt nice to pretend that the people he controlled saved that seat just for him.) Black and red candles floated around the room, the flames dancing playfully and casting flickering shadows on the nonexistent walls. His cold, yet enchanting, silver eyes flitted about the room, watching as a couple candles flickered out with the presence of a cold, unexpected breeze, before automatically relighting with a snap of his fingers.
"What's wrong, Master?" one of the female servants asked, bowing respectfully as she appeared out of thin air onto the grey floor in front of him. His eyes drifted over to rest upon her.
"There's nobody out there with a wish I can grant," the Dream Eater mumbled in reply, fiddling with the bloodred star-shaped amulet around his neck. "I have nowhere to go and nothing to do, and all this time to do it."
"Perhaps-"
The maid was cut off by the ringing of a telephone. Without a sound, she disappeared. The Dream Eater rose out of his seat, his black cape billowing behind him as he swooped to the only other object in the room and snatched up the telephone. He raised it to his ear, tugging on the hem of his black tuxedo with a grin.
"This is six-nine-six nine-six-nine-six. For what reason have I been contacted?" he purred, tilting his head into the phone.
"Um, is this the Dream Eater?" came a shy, uncertain voice. Female, around sixteen years of age. He paused for only a split second before speaking.
"The one and only," replied the Dream Eater smoothly. "How may I help you today?"
"Uh, I had a nightmare," the girl said quietly. "I want to forget everything about it."
"Aah? And who is it that I will be visiting tonight?" His voice was smooth as silk, just like a proper gentleman.
"Lenalee. Lenalee Lee."
"Lenalee, what's with you today?" Lavi whined. "You've been acting way too cheerful." Lenalee, Lavi, and Kanda were all walking together to school, since Kanda had forgotten his car keys at school and none of the others knew how to drive. That, and it was a nice day and Lenalee would have forced them to walk anyways.
"Oh, it's nothing," Lenalee dismissed Lavi's concerns easily, waving her hand. Her raven pigtails bounced as she skipped along towards the high school. "I just feel like I lost a huge burden overnight, you know?"
"Actually, I don't," Lavi muttered, putting his hands behind his head. Kanda 'tch'ed, just like everyone knew he would.
"Ah, speaking of overnight, what did Komui say about that sleepover?" Lavi said suddenly, dropping his hands to his sides. "He was fine with it, right?"
"Well..." Lenalee gave a small, exasperated smile when she remembered her brother's cries of 'I won't let you sleep with a couple of dirty men like that!'. She had had to knock him around a bit and swear to 'stay innocent' just to keep him off her back. "You could say that..."
"Yes! At my house, right?" Lavi grinned, wiggling his eyebrows mischeviously. "The old panda won't mind, I'm sure."
"The school's over here, stupid Rabbit," Kanda said gruffly, grabbing the back of Lavi's shirt and dragging him into the building. Lenalee followed, giggling lightly. She stopped laughing when she remembered what had happened the night before. She remembered that snow-white hair, those enchanting mercury eyes, that dark, alluring quality, even that bright red, star-shaped scar over his left eye. And the simple pleasure that boy had brought to her by simply 'eating' her memories...
She wanted more of that pleasant blankness he gave her.
I want to forget this...
I can't do this anymore!
I'll make your fears go away, but only for a price...
Ah, this time it was easy, right? Next time, I won't be so lenient...
"You burned the popcorn!" Lenalee wailed. "How do you burn popcorn?!"
"Well, you see..." Lavi began with a grin, starting one of his wild tales that were blaringly untrue.
"Don't answer that," Lenalee sighed, pouring the burned contents of the bowl into the trash. "Just let Kanda do it this time."
Kanda made a face as if he was going to protest, but decided against it and walked away into the kitchen. Sometimes Lavi wondered why that guy even hung out with them if he was going to be so grumpy all the time.
"So, what movie are we watching tonight?" Lavi asked with a grin. "Jaws? Hunger Games?"
"Jaws is old and I don't like it," Lenalee stated plainly. "Hunger Games will do."
"What say you, Yu?" Lavi called.
"Don't call me that!" was Kanda's predictable reply.
"Hunger Games it is!" Lavi said happily, digging through his wooden shelf full of different CDs.
A while later, Lenalee's eyes were wide with horror as she clutched at her pillow, watching the mutts tear someone apart. Lavi was already asleep, sprawled out on the couch and snoring loudly. Kanda had been seated on an armchair, looking grumpy as ever as the movie started, but he had nodded off with his arms crossed and he was quietly sleeping with his head in an awkward position. Lenalee was the last one awake, and as soon as the movie was over, she turned off the television and tried to force her fast-paced heart to slow down enough so she could sleep.
But as she lay on the floor with a blanket pulled up over her head, she couldn't stop seeing those salivating, massive jaws opening and closing on her flesh, tearing her to pieces and feasting on her remains. Then the image of herself became her friends and her brother. Then she began to remember moments of her past, tied to a bed while someone injected her with a syringe in her wrist...
She inwardly screamed to herself as she held her head, forehead pressed against the floor, the images proving to be too much for her. She slipped out of her cocoon of comfort, then dashed on silent feet over to Lavi's house phone.
She picked up the phone and dialed the number she had seen on her bathroom mirror a few days ago. She had taken a hot shower to try and forget about her nightmares, and when she exited the shower, the steamed-up mirror had a telephone number written on it;
'The Dream Eater: 696-9696
For when it all become too much to handle.'
She thought it was oddly convenient, but she was desperate and had dialed the number on her mobile phone.
Now, she stood before Lavi's old house phone, dialing the same number and wincing as the buttons beeped thunderously in the silence. As she finished off the number, the dial tone began ringing.
Before it had even finished the second ring, the line clicked. There was a second of silence.
"This is six-"
"Dream Eater!" Lenalee gasped. "I need your help again!"
"Aah? Ms. Lee? What can I do for you today? Or should I say tonight?"
"I want you to get rid of these... these memories!" Lenalee whispered desperately. "I... they're scaring me! Please come and take them away!" Over the phone, she could hear the Dream Eater clicking his tongue.
"Now, Ms. Lee, are you sure you want to go through with this? The price for-"
"I don't care! Just please, help me!"
"...As you wish, Ms. Lee."
Are you the Dream Eater?
Please, help me!
Ah, but what will you give for it?
What if the price becomes too high? Will you deny it, or will you give in?
"...Lenalee, you've been acting really weird lately..."
"Eh? How so?"
Lenalee smiled, wide and innocent. It had been two weeks since the sleepover. Lavi was staring at her, concern obvious in his gaze.
"Well, it is summer and everything, but you've been... well..."
"A little too happy," Kanda put in for Lavi. "Have you been... you know... on drugs?" Lenalee gaped at them.
"Of course not! Why do you think that?" she demaded, feeling hurt and insulted that they would ever suggest that. Lavi raised his hands up in a placating gesture.
"Hey, calm down, we were just-"
"You think I would do something like that?" Lenalee interrupted shrilly. "Can't you just be happy for me and leave me alone?"
"Lenalee, we just-"
But Kanda found himself talking to thin air as Lenalee turned around sharply, marching off with her head held high.
"Six-nine-six nine-six-nine-six," Lenalee muttered to herself, dialing each number she spoke. She swallowed as the dial tone began for the eighth time, pulling her knees up to her chest as she sat on her pink bed and huddled under her warm comforter.
"This-"
"Help me," she said as soon as she heard his voice. "I want to forget. I need to forget them."
"Ms. Lee. Nice to hear from you again," the Dream Eater said. "I'll be right over."
"Lenalee...? Listen, we're sorry about what happened yesterday, but-"
"Do I... know you?"
Lavi and Kanda gaped. Lenalee stood in front of them, her hand under the strap of her bag, gazing at them with confusion.
"Sorry, but I have to get to school," she said, nervously stepping around the stunned duo and running off. The boys turned and watched her leave.
"Did she just...?"
"I'm afraid so, Lavi."
As Kanda spoke his name, Lavi sobered completely. Kanda would only say his real name if the situation was serious.
"We need to do something. Now."
"Thi-"
"Dream Eater," Lenalee sighed, gripping her phone in both her hands. "I don't know what to do. There are these two guys that say they know me, and they do know me! I mean, they know everything I like, but I don't know who they are or what they want! I don't know what to do!"
"Ah, Ms. Lee, I see you are once again in need of my help. Very well, I'll take care of it."
"...Thank you... Please help..."
"Who's that girl?"
"Has she always been here?"
"Is she new?"
As Lenalee walked down the school halls, these were the questions that followed her. People that she would sit beside in class, people she would be paired with for a project, none of them knew who she was anymore. Her throat felt tight, and her eyes stung with tears. The two boys that said they knew her the day before turned away from her without a word.
She was alone.
"Dream Eater!"
Before the person on the other end of the line could even take a breath, she had gasped out her request.
"Nobody knows me anymore! I can't take this!"
"I'll be right on it, Lenalee."
She was too distraught to realize that he had used her first name in such a friendly manner. Like those boys she had spoken to the day before, until they forgot all about her...
You're the only one who can help me!
I can't live without you, Dream Eater.
Ah, but you could have, before you let yourself be consumed by your desires.
And now that I've fulfilled my side of the deal, how about yours...?
She didn't even know who she herself was. The wood floor was cold and unforgiving, so she stayed curled up upon her bed. There was a persistent knocking on her door and a pleading voice, but she ignored it, and it eventually left her alone. She only knew was these white walls, and the pictures of unfamiliar people placed lovingly upon her dresser.
That, and the phone number burned into her mind.
Picking up her mobile phone, she slowly dialed the number and held it up to her hear.
"Lenalee?"
"...Help me..."
"...I'm on my way, Lenalee."
She let the phone drop onto her bed, curled into a fetal ball, and cried.
As he played with his newest toy, the Dream Eater pondered.
He pondered why humans were so foolish. They asked and begged and pleaded for his help, though they knew it was wrong. He pondered why they continued to reach out to him, just so they could forget.
He absently flung the doll with the dark pigtails to the floor. Lenalee was her name, and she had been the most recent victim to the unattainable dream of blissful nothingness. One of the servants scurried forward and picked it up gingerly, then brought it to his doll room. The doll room was filled to the brim with little puppets and figurines that represented all of the people desperate enough to give themselves to him just to forget. It was mesmerizing, the way the toys' eyes seemed to follow the every movement of whoever dared to disturb them.
Just as he let out a sigh, the phone rang. With little effort, he stood and lifted the phone to his ear, his snowy bangs falling over his face and masking his malicious expression. The star-shaped scar on his face flashed with a bright red light, mimicking the way his amulet reflected the candlelight.
"This is six-nine-six nine-six-nine-six. For what reason have I been contacted?"
"Is this the Dream Eater?" Female, young, and vulnerable. The most common prey. Easy pickings for someone like him.
Allen Walker, Dream Eater of the Past and the unforseeable Future, smiled an evil smile as he thought of the ways to play with his newest customer's mind.
"The one and only. How may I help you today?"