Chapter 2

He was thrumming with adrenaline, there was blood dripping into one eye, sweat stinging his other. All he saw in front of him was this grotesque monster, it's enormous ungainly claw reaching out for him, trying to knock the life out of him. Incredibly, he moved to avoid it….then there was another creature, and another. They screamed and shrieked horribly…and lunged at him…he knew he was battling for his life….he was wielding a massive bone like structure in his hand…..

The scene shifted, he was lying in bed, soft silk sheets beneath him. He slowly opened his eyes, and felt more than saw, the body lying next to him. He reached out to stroke obsidian smooth hair, a pair of eyes opened and gazed at him, and he was lost…staring into deep pools of liquid mercury. Those eyes drew him in…he leaned forward, felt his lips brush softly against another soft delicate pair. A second kiss, this one more demanding, more urgent, followed, and he felt a hand stroking his chest. He pushed out against it, inhaling deeply, a soft groan escaping his lips. The eyes pulled back and the mouth opened. He could sense that words were being said, but he couldn't hear them. Was his name being spoken?...What was that name?! He needed to hear it.….

He was back in front of the monsters, down on one knee. His breathing was becoming harsh and labored…he barely made out a large solid object hurling his way…then we was flying through the air, crashing through the roof of a small building…..

The redhead awoke, sweat drenching his entire body. He breathed heavily, his mind a mess of images in no apparent order. He sat up, placing his feet on the cold wooden floor and leaned over the side of his bed, head in his hands. He took a quick glance over to the clock on his nightstand…5:23am….more nightmares. He sighed.

Standing up, he walked over to his bathroom, turned on the faucet and quickly splashed some cold water on his face. He looked up at himself in the mirror…half-crazed red eyes stared back at him. He swung the mirror out, to get to the medicine cabinet behind it, and pulled out the plastic orange container with the safety cap. Geodon 80mg…Take one capsule twice daily for schizophrenia….. Grudgingly, he opened it up, and popped one of the capsules into his mouth, taking a quick sip of water with his hand to wash it down. Soon, he'd feel the numbness that came with the drug, and hopefully get some more sleep.

It had been only a week since he had been discharged from the hospital…no, make that psychiatric institution. The doctors and nurses had done their best for him, and he was grateful that those kind people had taken so much interest in him.

He was told that he had been among the wounded in the great Karakura earthquake a year ago. His head wounds had been extensive, and he had lost a lot of blood, which is why he had been transported to the trauma center located in the next city, during the chaos following the earthquake. No records were kept of who went where during the confusion, or if relatives or friends even knew where their loved ones were sent. He had just been told that no one had reported him missing, no family had come to claim him. He had lain in a coma for two months.

It was the healing after that, however, that was most difficult. Blinding headaches, extensive physical therapy to rehabilitate his unused body, and the constant images that would play in his head, hampered his recovery. It didn't help matters that he had no recollection of who he was, or where he came from. He didn't have a driver's license nor government identification card.

The doctors and nurses at the hospital had nicknamed him Tora, for his red hair and distinctive tattoos. Too obvious, and embarrassing, he thought. But, the name had stuck amongst the nurses especially, who giggled whenever he blushed at being called Tiger. The name too, had tickled something in the back of his mind….someone else had called him that….but no image of who or when that was accompanied those thoughts.

Eventually, he spoke of some of the disturbing imagery that would filter through his consciousness to the physicians at the hospital.

Sometimes he'd hear things, other times, at night, he'd feel a pulsing throughout his body that brought on even more vivid images….of a giant skeletal snake, or a dragon made of ice. He could almost palpate the danger, the oppression of the atmosphere weighing him down…and then it would dissipate.

The doctors diagnosed him with schizophrenia brought on by his traumatic head injury-- "abnormalities in the perception or expression of reality". They assured him it was common for this disease to include auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, and disorganized speech and thoughts. There are good medications currently available that can alleviate his symptoms, they said. It took a few months, and different cocktails of medications, but eventually it led to what he was currently taking. At least the Geodon allowed him to function, although it made him feel a little sluggish, he had gotten used to its effects and for the most part felt like himself….or what he thought was himself.

He sighed again. He hated being labeled as schizophrenic. At times, he skipped his meds, thinking he could will himself into being "normal". Whenever he did that, the images came back, stronger and more realistic than ever. But the images couldn't be real. There were no monsters, or magical creatures. People did not have the ability to float in the air, or have mystical weapons. This was the 21st century, dammit, not some fantasy world he may have believed in when he was a child.

Today was the first day he was back in Karakura town. Maybe he didn't have family or friends here, but this was his last known place of existence. The redhead really didn't know where else to start and try to piece his life back together.

Ahhh….he started to feel the mind numbing effects of the drug. It felt like a heavy blanket covering him, enfolding his body into itself. If he could envision his spirit, he'd have seen something erratic and agitated, being coated in a jelly-like substance, being concealed from those around him.

He fell back into sleep, in a few hours he'd make his first journey out to the streets of Karakura. He hoped he'd find some answers.