Disclaimer: I do not own KH 1 or 2 or any of characters. They all belong to Square Enix and Disney. I only own the idea of the story. that's all!! :)
Chapter One: Looming Nightmares and Unsafe Situations
Kairi woke suddenly, uncomfortably sticky from sweat. She glanced around herself, still slightly disoriented. She could see that it was her small, but safe room. She ran her pale fingers through her unusually tinted reddish-brown hair, and pushed her covers off her. She stood up and examined her bed. It was so damp with sweat that you could've mistaken it for something else... She covered it up with her sheets, embarrassed, and walked slowly over to her mirror. It showed a slightly frightful reflection. Kairi's cheeks were flushed almost to the point where it looked unnatural, and there were several blotches here and there covering her face. Other than the blotches, she was completely pale, if not too pale, and her eyes seemed to dull a bit from their usual bright state. Her thin, white, night dress was wrinkled and misshapen, an effect of her frantic tossing and turning. She was biting her lip out of force of habit; it was what Kairi did when she was upset or troubled.
This was the millionth time she'd had this dream, each one with the same outcome. It was becoming so regular, so routine, that even while asleep, she tried to run away. But she couldn't. The nightmare wouldn't let her.
The silence made her worried; the nightmare she'd just had was still very vivid and intact. But when wasn't it intact? Anyone else she'd ever known who'd had nightmares realized that the images faded away gradually, making the dream seem a bit sketchy, vague, and foolish. For Kairi, it was very different. The realness, for one, made it very hard to rid the pictures from her mind. Secondly, since the nightmare was so repetitive, it didn't give her time to rid of it before she had it again. It was forever engraved in her memory. And with that, she became skittish, jerky, and hopeless. Her friends worried for her health, but no longer visited her. She was too unhappy to be enjoyable company.
She grabbed a robe from her small door and paced into her small kitchen area. It was yellow, with small yellow tiles. There was a white cabinet or two, and they were stained with age. She moved right past the undersized refrigerator, the place in which she usually surrendered to in the morning, and opened a small cabinet under the sink. She grabbed the thick, thin paged phonebook. The flipped through it for a while, and then realized that the internet would be a much easier thing to use, instead of the yellow pages. She sauntered out of the kitchen and back to her room at a fast pace. She sat down and pressed the machine's "ON" button. Her out-dated computer took for what seemed an eternity to load its front page, so she eventually gave in to the refrigerator that seemed to be calling her name. She was hungry!
Kairi grabbed a bowl of cereal and sat down for the second time at her computer. She clicked the button that brought her to the internet, and typed in, "magic".
You typed in "magic"
Results:
Will this help?
-Magic spells
-Conductors of magic spells
-Charms
-Curses
-Hexes
--The Magic Hairbrush will work wonders on scraggly, brittle, and frizzed hair. It will leave your tangles silky smooth after just one pull of The Magic Hairbrush!
Kairi clicked 'Conductors of magic spells'.
Conductors of magic spells, charms, curses, and hexes are often referred to as witches, wizards, sorcerers, etc. In general, they are referred to as conductors or creators of magic spells, if you may. Conductors of magic spells are those who can conjure up spells or anything to do with magic. Not everyone can do this successfully; no one even knows HOW they can do it, or how they are different from others who can't. This can be genetic in most cases, but some others can develop "powers" through much practice and training.
-article by Marc Greene
--Find a wizard!! Click this link to find a location near you!
Kairi clicked the link. A new window popped up, showing all of the locations of people in the magic profession. She sifted through the long list of people, wondering whether or not if her tantalizing dream was really worth what she was looking through. But just thinking about the nightmare she had shoved shivers down her spine. Maybe it WAS worth all of this after all. Whatever it took to make the dreams go away, whatever cost, she would pay it gladly. She scrolled down the list some more, and found a name and a street just outside the city. Her eyes were sparkled with anxiety as she combed her hair out and pulled it back into a small ponytail (her strangely tinted hair wasn't very long). She pulled on some clothes, and headed out the door.
Kairi climbed into her small, indigo car and drove towards the outskirts of the city, through the congested streets of the place she'd lived in all of her life. She had just turned fifteen, but unlike most others her age, she lived completely alone. (Author's Note: somehow she was able to obtain a car even though she is under-age…the government let her own one because she lives alone…?) Her parents were murdered long ago, by an unknown force. She could remember the police reports she had received when she was only seven years old. There were cuts and scrapes covering both of their bodies, she had been told. She was offered pictures; even as a little tyke, she had known to refuse them. Those horrible words written on those uncaring pieces of paper telling her exactly how they had been hurt would some day, even if that day was still very far away, would leave her memory. But pictures of the murder scene? If she had seen those, they would certainly engrave themselves into her mind forever and ever to come.
Kairi reached the city limits; she had only 10 miles or so until she reached her destination. The streets here were still cramped and small, but slightly more spaced out than the city she lived in. Instead of cramped apartments and condos, there were small houses with cute front yards. There were trees here and there, complimenting the small space. She went through the city's downtown, which was really just the main intersection of the town. It had a couple restaurants here and there, and little shops with white picket fences in front of them. There was a city bell, surrounded by a small, white, narrow gazebo. Kairi drove a little farther, and turned onto the street of the magician and slowed down her small car. Though she was a bit too young to drive in general, she was a skilled driver.
She crawled through the narrow street, searching for the address she had written down on a small scrap of paper. She spotted it just as she was about to pass it completely and jerked her car to a jolting stop. It was a small, yellow house with off-white shutters, and a white door. It had a small, but very green front yard that complimented the home's cute look. She parked the car in front of the house and climbed out, checking the address once more, to make sure she had the correct numbers. She walked up slowly, using the footpath. She was careful not to step on the forest-y colored lawn. She knocked at the door, hard and slow, three times. Kairi waited a moment or two, and heard the lock click. The small, pale door creaked open a few inches. "Yes?" a small, thick voice asked.
"Um…is this…is this the home of, um, Mr. Richard Brown?"
"Yes, it is," the voice answered. The door opened several more inches, showing a curious man behind it. Richard Brown was a small, broad man, with a large nose and circular glasses.
Kairi had to tilt her head downwards a bit, to meet Mr. Brown's eyes. He was several inches shorter than her slightly under-average 5'4" figure. Besides his height, he seemed to be an average looking man.
She had hoped that the way he looked would've given her some sort of clue as to if he was a wizard or not. He was a regularly dressed man with regular-looking features. She felt embarrassed, but compelled, to ask him if his profession was something to do with magic or not.
"Um, Mr. Brown?"
He raised his eyebrows slightly.
"I was wondering if you were, um, a…magic person or not."
She internally smacked her head. She could've worded that a little differently. She could've said it in a more mature way. Her cheeks flushed a few shades deeper than her natural pale skin.
Mr. Brown smiled. "Yes, actually, I am."
Kairi closed her eyes and let out a huff of relief. "Then you are the one I am looking for," she said, opening her eyes again.
Mr. Brown smiled, and said, "Why don't you come in, and I can try to help you."
"Okay," Kairi said, stepping slowly into the man's house. In the back of her mind, she had a brief thought of how potentially dangerous it was to walk into a man's house alone; especially a man who seemed to live by himself. She pushed the thought away, attacking it with an argument that said he was a nice enough-seeming man who wanted to help her. But she reassured herself completely, remembering that she had a can of pepper spray in her bag. Just in case…
A small living room-looking space greeted her as she walked in farther.
"Have a seat, if you may," Mr. Brown said, gesturing to one of the cushioned chairs in the room. Kairi chose a small, blue chair and sat down, setting her purse in her lap. Mr. Brown chose the seat that was across from hers and sat down as well. "What is it that you are in need of magical performance?" he asked.
"Well," Kairi began, taking a deep breath, "I've been having this dream…this nightmare. And I've been having it every night now. It's always stuck with me; I used to get it just once a while. Now I get it every night."
"Hmm…that's an unusual case," Mr. Brown mused. He thought for a second.
This made Kairi nervous. She'd fervently hoped that this was just a common scenario that could be easily fixed. She'd prayed that there was someone—anyone that also had this problem. That wasn't the case though, it seemed.
"Hmm…" Mr. Brown said again. "Well, is there any common thing that you're afraid of? Spiders, bugs, loud noises, surprise birthday parties?"
Kairi shook her head. "No, sir."
"Hmm…" he said again. "This case is certainly one that is most unusual. I don't think I can help you much with your trouble, so let me recommend someone that has a bit more skill than I." Mr. Brown adjusted his spectacles and pulled a pen out of his pocket. There was a pad of paper on the small glass coffee table; he ripped a piece off and scribbled a name, city, and address with messy handwriting.
He handed her the paper and she put it into her purse. "Thank you for trying, Mr. Brown. And thank you for the new address. I appreciate it. Most people wouldn't direct a person somewhere else when it wouldn't present them with an advantage."
"You're certainly welcome…I apologize, I didn't get your name."
"Oh! It's Kairi; I'm sorry, I should've introduced myself earlier."
"It's alright, Kairi…what an unusual name." He repeated it again, trying out the sound of it. Kairi stood from her seat in the blue chair, and Mr. Brown stood as well.
"Thank you, Mr. Brown," Kairi said once more, turning towards the direction of the door.
But a force restrained her from progressing towards the door any farther. Kairi snapped her head around to see Mr. Brown gripping her upper arm. Mr. Brown pulled her to him in a forceful way, and smashed his lips against hers in a foul way. He smacked his other hand on her bottom.
Alarmed, she slammed her free fists against his chubby chest, trying to push him away. She bit his lip so hard that she tasted blood before she could free herself. She staggered backwards, catching herself before she fell. Mr. Brown wiped the blood off of his mouth.
Kairi yanked at her purse zipper, but it wouldn't budge. Panicky and at a loss of time, she ripped the strap off, creating a gap in the material. Mr. Brown waddled over to where she was, fists clenched and a cruel expression twisting his face. He looked like a monster. She grabbed the small, cold metal can and sprayed it right at his face. He slapped his hand to his face, covering his now highly irritated eyes. She kicked him as hard as she could in a very sensitive area and threw the empty metal can at his head. He fell backwards into the coffee table, moaning in pain.
"Nasty perv!" she called as she ran out the door. She slammed into her tiny car and jammed the key into the lock. Kairi yanked the door open and threw herself into the car. She slammed the door and smashed her foot onto the pedal.
Kairi went twice the speed limit; racing through the tiny streets of whatever the town was called. She wanted to forget everything about today; she wanted to block it out of her mind and never reach it again.
She quivered and shook, trying to control the moisture in her eyes that would soon spill over. She locked her jaw tight to keep from crying. It ached and pain shot through her mouth. She let it go. Tears gushed out of her eyes, making it extremely hard to see through the windshield. She was shaking so hard that her limbs became numb. She wanted to park the car before she got into an accident, but she couldn't. What if that horrible, nasty man came looking for her? She continued to speed down the streets, desperate in finding the safety of her home. Yes, it was the place that detained the images of her nightmares, but it was still home.