Chapter 2 - Welcome Home

"hmm..." Everything's dark...

"I'm dying to live..." Where is that voice coming from..?

"Come rescue this innocent victim, please..." I notice a light...

"Everything is blackened here..." The light is flashing my eyes... I can't see...

"I am here..." I-

... I open my eyes... it was just a dream. God dammit.

At first I don't recognize the room where I am, but after a few seconds, I finally do. This is Edward's living room. He let me sleep in the sofa last night... He offered his bed initially, but I agreed to sleep on the sofa. I don't want to cause any trouble in here while I try to remember.

I get up with ease, in comparison to yesterday's difficulty to move. Seems like the headache has finally disappeared. I can remember what I was thinking of before falling asleep. I should try to "live" normally in here for a few days, and maybe I will eventually remember. It's not a bad idea, but how do I do that? Going to the school? I can't do that. But, wait...

The club... That's right. Sayori told me to go today to the club. That's maybe a good start. Also, she told me to write a poem... I'm not sure how it will end up like, but at least I should try writing something. But before...

Why not exploring the house? Yesterday I got a glimpse of the bedrooms and the kitchen, and of course, the living room. I should check out the rest of the house.

I take a few steps, trying not to make much noise, just in case Edward's still sleeping. Maybe he's left for school already?
Could be, but I'm not sure. The only way to know is to go up myself and discover it.

I turn around and face the stairs. To my surprise, Edward's standing still, looking at me, with a tired and lazy expression written all over his face.

"Morning." I quickly wave to him. I realize that he probably didn't notice me until I talked, since he wasn't paying attention to me, due to the somnolence. He now looks down at me, and waves back, without saying a word.

Then, he enters the kitchen, and I follow him. The kitchen is big, with a few chairs and a table in the middle. There's a stove, an oven, shelves with plates, forks, knives...

While I'm looking around, Edward suddenly talks.

"Want something?" This question is really a surprise. He's holding a couple of forks and plates, while checking the big fridge on the corner of the room.

"No, thank you." I'm not hungry at all. I haven't eaten anything since... who knows? And the only thing I've drank is Yuri's tea, back in the clubroom. I find myself with strength, so I don't think eating would make much of a difference.

"If need anything, just ask" He then sits down in a chair, with his plate full of food. The noise of his jaw, opening and closing while he eats fills the room. Eggs, toasts, a slice of cheese... Seems like a normal breakfast.

"Where is the bathroom?"

"It's up the stairs, left side, first door." He asks me without looking up at me, instead, looking at his plate, like a hunter looks at his prey. I thank him, and start walking.

I go up the stairs... turn to the left... open the door... Wow. The bathroom is big as well. The bathtube is huge, and could hold more than one person in there for sure. The walls are of a blue color, while the ceiling is white. There's light, coming out from a window next to the sink. There's a wooden closet, which seems old, and out of place in this modern bathroom. I open it, to find shampoo, toilet paper, hair combs, a razor, shaving foam... I close it, and turn around to a mirror, just above the sink.

I can't recognize myself. Why? It's like yesterday. I looked at me and couldn't recognize myself... Is this really my face?
... I rub my chin, only to notice I could use a razor.

Well, seems like I could use the one in the closet... I hope Edward doesn't kill me for this.

I turn around to the closet and open it, grabbing the razor. I don't think I'll need the shaving foam, there's not much to shave. I quickly wet my chin, cheeks and neck, and let my hand do the job.

"Aw!" I accidentally cut myself in the chin. The blood is spilling in the sink, mixing with the water, making the crimson colored liquid disappear as it flows. I... I recognize this feeling... It's familiar...

I finish shaving after a few minutes, looking at my reflection with proud. The small scar of the cut is there, but it's hard to notice unless you look real close.

I step into the corridor, hearing noises coming from below. I go down the stairs, and realize Edward's watching the TV in the living room. He's watching...

...

"Goodbye!" I wave to Edward while he's leaving for school. I can see before closing, that he's getting close to Sayori's , I don't want to interrupt anything, so I better get back inside.

I shut the door behind me... And what now? The club will start in hours, and I have a lot of spare time meanwhile. I could write the poem... well, that would work for some time.

I immediately start scavenging for a pen and paper. After a few minutes, I find a blue pen, and some papers. I grab one, and sit down in the kitchen. I get lost deep within my mind, thinking of anything to write...

... I got it.

Chasing Cards

They call me the high roller,
Living on the round wheel.
Unleash the energy on the field,
Draining fast on the board.

Day has come, pack the things,
time is due for me to leave.
And you know I won't come back...
For me is over, goodbye my luck.

Now I only possess a dark past,
one that I'm sure will never die.
Now I live up to the ghost I am,
wandering the remains of my memory...
A trip to waste.

I lived my whole life,
For... your life.
A thief out of prison,
And now I'm on my death row.
Hammer crushing down...

This is definitely... trash. I'm sure everyone else in the club will write much better stuff than I will, but this is my...
first time? I don't know. How can I? Anyways, I take a glance outside the window. It's a sunny day, like yesterday. No clouds on the sky, just pure blue.

I get up, grabbing the poem I just wrote. My handwriting is lazy and sloppy... I can't help but dislike what I just wrote. But it's my first time probably, so I don't pay much attention to that.

I leave the poem on a small table, between the sofa and the TV, while laying down, looking up to the ceiling...

"What now?" I close my eyes, trying to think and remember. What I wrote... it was pure impulse. I wrote without any idea of what I was writing. I don't even know what's the message behind that... maybe it means something? Could be...

I will ask the others later about it, but for now... I've got an idea. I'll go explore Edward's bedroom. That's the last place left to see, I think.

I go up the stairs, and step into the corridor. There's a fresh breeze of air coming out from a slightly open door, to my right. I quickly take a few steps and open the door wide.

Wow. This bedroom is huge... There's a king sized bed, in the left side of the bedroom. Nearby the bed, there's a wooden desk with a computer, a few books, papers... and a white, metalic chair. There's a few manga posters, and some clothes laying around the room. I notice a TV and shelves full of books, music, anime, films, manga... wow. This collection is... amazing. More than 1,000 objects in total, probably.

I turn around to notice a big, white closet. I open it, finding Edward's clothes. Shirts, pants, jackets... Also, there are some pairs of shoes and what looks like the school uniform. This is here just in case he can't use the other one, probably.

The sunlight gets through a huge window, at the wall, nearby the bed. Outside, I can see some people walking by. It's quite interesting... The street is full of life.

I don't know why, but a smile gets formed in my lips. This sight makes me happy somehow...

Wait... I probably should take a shower... but I only got these clothes. I would use Edward's clothes but... I don't know, doesn't feel right if I just take them.

Wait. There's still one room I haven't seen yet... The second door to the left. Maybe that's another bedroom. I hope it is, so I can pick up some clothes and take a shower.

I get out of the bedroom, closing the door behind me, and walking towards the second door to the left. I notice some scratches and marks in the closed door...
Interesting, to say the least. Some scratches are quite deep, and some are merely noticeable at first glance. I sigh, and open the door...

...

Well, some hours have passed already. I've taken a shower, and now I have some different clothes on me. I hope Edward doesn't recognize these. I assume these are his father's clothes. A white shirt with some black text and a small pocket in the chest zone. The pants are black too, and seem to be quite old. They even had dust on them... Why...?

What seems like a police siren suddenly fills my eardrums. It's loud, and I can see through a window at my right a police car driving fast down the street. Interesting. Something has happened. Seems like every city in the world has it's own problems...

I notice a clock on the wall, which I haven't seen yet. I probably missed it, even if I walked in front of it a few times already. How dumb of me.

12:30 a.m. I'm still not hungry. And there's still some hours until the club starts. Well, what else can I do... I could maybe read something. Or take a walk outside...

I finally decide to stay inside for now. If something happened, then there would be no coming back. I will stay reading a book... Edward's room had plenty of them, so I don't think he'll care if I pick one up.

Going up to his bedroom, I feel the same fresh breeze of air coming to me directly through the slightly open door. I enter as I leave it open. I reach out to the desk, and notice a book with a red cover and shiny gold letters on it.

"Portrait of Markov." Sounds interesting. I flip the book, only to see there's nothing on it's back. Weird, books usually have some information summarized in here... well, maybe this is the exception.

I pick up the book and turn around to the door. I open the door while flipping through the pages, trying to see what the book is about. I shut the door behind me. I catch a few names and sentences, enough to see the book is quite of the mystery type. I'll give it a try. While I'm descending the stairs, I start reading the book.

Fifty pages in, the book is quite interesting. A little girl gets kidnapped by a group of mysterious men, and is brought to an abandoned factory. The name of the girl is unknown, although her surname is Gagarin. Inside there, she spends years inside the factory. Inside, there are men doing tests on persons of all ages. From 8 years old to 80. If the subjects die in the tests, the bodies are just dragged out of the facility and burnt afterwards.

The story is quite interesting, and the descriptions are eerily specific and familiar. Maybe I've already read this book, or there's a film or videogame about it. Who knows?

I take a glance at the clock. It's 2:17pm. The club should start in 13 minutes. Seems like time has flown past. Luckily for me, I still remember the path back to the school. I leave the book back in Edward's bedroom, again feeling the fresh breeze of air coming out of his slightly open door. I go back down the stairs again, closing the door behind me. I grab the poem I wrote earlier this morning, and wrap it, keeping it inside my shirt's pocket.

I open the house's door, and close it behind me as I go out.

I take a deep breath, filling my lungs with the city's scent. Fresh air, combined with... the familiar smell of a city. I start walking down the street, in direction to the school. Off to another day of class.

A/N: Hello! Zhalos, Inc. here! Hope you liked part 2! This one has for sure grammar mistakes, since I had to use a translator a few times. Anyways! Let me know what you think of this second part! I've tried to write down some details, and overall I like the direction of the story so far. In the next episode, we'll go to the clubroom and talk with some of the dokis. What will happen? I can tell you, in next episode there's going to be some key information for the rest of the story.

As well, I've dropped some hints of the story so far. Make sure to try to find them. Well, now it's time to finish this chapter! See you all next time!