La douleur de rêves: Part 3

A/N: Age range is 10 or 11- 17. Just a side note, some of you might start hating me soon. Sorry.

Warning: Contains references to cutting, children handling weapons, blood, and a fight scene.

A new home. Two women start a children's home for the newly orphaned. Luka goes to live here. She doesn't think of it as home; it's a prison. She can't live by herself yet, so this will have to do.

The other girls in her room stare at the blood stained t-shirt she's wearing. She screams at them to back off. No one understands what it's like. They don't bother her anymore.

Luka can't be her name anymore. Luka died. It's time for a change- a new name. Raelne. That's Rae, like a sun ray, like Hikari, and Lynn. No one gets it right. If you mess up the name, you will pay. People relearn quickly. Long brown hair gets cropped and goes blonde. The only thing that stays is the cyan eyes.

A baby is found. No one has any idea where she came from; it's a mystery. Mystery…it becomes her name. They put her in Raelne's room. A smelly, noisy, annoying baby. Worst of all, the baby starts to like her the most. No, don't let it mess with you. No feelings, no weakness. She tries to listen to the voice, but something keeps her from acting on the command. This small kid does something no one has been able to do; she overcomes the wall. Mystery takes a part of my…her heart.

Myst was found at about a year old. She's almost six now. Raelne is almost 16, the age of freedom. Once she reaches it, she's out of there. She grabs some of her belongings and stuffs them into her backpack. The little girl sits on her bed, watching.

"Rae," (she's the only one who can call her that) "what are you doing?"

"I'm leaving for the night."

"Why?"

"I have to meet up with some people. I have to find someplace I can live soon."

"Why can't you wait until morning? You know the monsters come out at night."

"You know those are just stories," she lies. "They keep kids from running off."

"Some help it did for you."

She looks at the little girl. So much attitude for a little thing; she got that from you, her mind says. "Myst, listen. You can't tell anyone I'm planning on leaving. That would make me very angry. I know you want to protect me, but I can take care of myself." She pulls out a knife and shows her. "See, I can fight those monsters."

Tiny fingers touch the blade. A shiver runs through her blood. What am I doing? What am I teaching her? Way to kill the innocence. The fresh cuts on her body utter some of their pain. Would Myst ever do that to herself? Shut up, her brain screams. The thoughts stop.

"Who will protect me?" the tiny one says. Looking at her, I…Raelne remembers Hikari's daughter. Sure, red hair is now midnight black, and eyes are aqua rather than bluish-purple, but the look is the same. Tears gather in the corner of those eyes. Wipe them away.

"I will. I'll die before I let those things take you from me. Nothing will ever change that."

Myst wraps her arms around the bigger girl's neck. Raelne hugs back awkwardly before she stands up and steps out the window. Quietly walk over the roof. Drop into the street. Walk away from that life.

Living on her own was harder than she thought. Food was hard to come by and money even more so. Despite this, Raelne refused all forms of charity: no food giveaways, no money donations, nothing. She had to earn her right to live. Trash bins behind some groceries and restaurants had food, and money could be earned in fights in some of the backstreets or by running errands. When times were really hard, Mystery would bring her food. For months, she lived like that…and then she met them.

She had been coming from a market in town, the pack on her back full of a week's provisions. Things were good. Sitar music floated on the air; a boy played it in the square to earn money a couple times a week. He played very well, but Raelne hated the sound of the instrument. She picks up her pace to escape the noise. Rounding a corner, she collides with a man she's seen in the arena before. A string of obscenities come from his mouth as she stands and goes to leave. He grabs her foot and she falls to the ground. "Did I say you could leave?" he hisses. Raelne swings her other foot around and hits him in the jaw. The man cries out and she stands and begins to run. Through the door to the second district, hide your pack, hide to fight. The man burst through the door. She draws her knives and the fight begins. The two fighters are lost in the madness; the air echoes with the sound of knives meeting a dagger, the scent of sweat and blood merge together. Raelne jumps back to go in for another attack. The man sees this and dives for her. Raelne screams as his dagger rips her midsection. The pain is far worse than the cutting has ever caused. He stands over her with a sadistic grin on his face. "That will teach you," he sneers. Her blood temperature hits breaking point. As he turns, she throws a knife; he cries out as it cuts dangerously close to his eye. He raises his dagger to kill. A voice comes from the other side of the door. The man's eyes dart from Raelne, to the door, and back. It isn't worth it; he runs from the scene.

Raelne lets a sigh of relief escape her; she winces at the pain it brings to her midsection. So much blood, she thinks to herself. The cut isn't too deep, but the wound is serious.

"Hey, are you alright?" a voice asks. Raelne looks up and sees the boy that plays sitar. He looks like a hippy with his tangled dirty-blonde hair and his ratty clothes hang on his skinny body. His cyan eyes are the only attractive part about him. Those eyes grow wide as he looks at her and the amount of blood.

"I'm fine," she says as she struggles to stand.

"I highly doubt that," he replies, putting out his hand to help her. She refuses his help, stands, and leans against the wall, holding her stomach. "That doesn't look too good. You need to go see someone."

"No," she snaps at him. There is still fire in her, but it's fading fast. "I'm fine." She takes slow steps over to the crate she hid her things in. As she walks, a trail of blood is left in her stead. Push aside the top, reach in and grab the bag. Was it always this heavy? "I don't need any help," she utters. The world is growing dark. She feels herself falling into it.

The air reeks of incense; Raelne opens her eyes and finds herself in a darken room. Panic hits her and she tries to escape. She tries to move, but the pain is too great. She bites her lip to keep from screaming.

"Relax," a voice says in the dim room. "You're fine; nothing is going to hurt you." Raelne searches the room for the source of the voice. At a small table against the far wall, a young woman stands holding a bottle in her hand. "Here," she says, handing the bottle to her. "Drink this." Everything about this woman is intense: most of her hair is buzzed and dyed red, with a jetty mohawk that's put to one side which falls to her shoulder; her eyes are the color of fire; a tattoo of a raven in flight with its wing tips on fire is on her neck. "Stop staring and drink the stupid thing," she barks. Surprised by the change of manner, Raelne obeys. The drink tastes bitter at first, but turns sweet as it goes down her throat. After she finishes, the woman takes away the empty bottle.

"Where am I?" Raelne asks.

"You're at my home in the fifth district. You've been here since you were in that fight, five days ago."

"Five days!" Panic starts to set in again. What must Myst be thinking? "How did I end up here?"

"My brother brought you, said you refused to go see a real doctor and I'm the next best thing."

"Your brother? You don't mean sitar boy, do you?"

The woman laughs. "Yes, that's him. His name is Edym (E dim)."

A thought comes to Raelne's mind. "Could you have him do something for me? There's someone I need to get word to that I'm alright."

She nods, writes down the info, and goes to leave. "Oh, and one more thing; I've removed everything from this room you could possibly cut yourself with, but I can see you're a smart girl. If you do find a way around me, I've recorded every cut on you. I find any new ones, and girl, you DON'T want to know what I'll do."

She tries to hide, slightly embarrassed. "What's your name?" she asks, trying to change the subject.

"I won't tell you my real name. Most everyone calls me Carrion, though. I'll make sure my brother delivers the message. Sleep tight."

Waiting in the dark. The door opens and a raggedy haired head peeks in. "Hey," he whispers, kinda like a five year old. "You awake?"

"What do you think? I've slept for the past five days and I've got a cut that gives me constant pain. Yep, I'm a regular sleeping beauty."

He enters the room like a scared puppy. "Well, I have some good news for you; that little girl knows your okay now." She props herself up, despite the pain, to get a better look at him. "She asked if she could come see you. I decided against it."

Lay back down. "Well, at least you aren't a complete idiot."

Silence. "I'm Edym, by the…"

"I know; your sister told me." More silence…then sitar music. She grits her teeth. "Hey, could you stop?!"

"Sorry, I thought it might help you sleep."

"Well, you were wrong."

"But I know one that might work." She goes to protest, but a soft melody floats through the air. It's probably the most beautiful sound she's ever heard. She listens to the gentle sitar until sleep takes her over.

A/N: Let me know what you think; I value your opinions. Also, I may start asking for suggestions soon. Keep your eyes open.