So...
First of all, sorry for the delay (if you're liking the fic, obviously). It's just that I haven't been in the mood.
Second, maybe you noticed that my pen name has changed. But that's no big deal.
Third, there's a bit of gore halfway, but I was feeling gothic when I wrote that. And will be explained when I want it to be.
Give yourself away to the thrills of life. They make it fun.
Most of the time.
---
"Start," I said dryly, impatiently waiting for Jeremy to start. We were in his room along with the rest of the group, all of them looking at me interestedly. Ulrich was leaning against a wall, tense and observant; Jeremy was sitting on his desk's chair with a look of concentration in his eyes, while Yumi was sitting on top of the desk, hiding her nervousness and sending me supporting stares. Odd was sitting relaxedly on the bed, like it had nothing to with him, while Aelita nervously sat on the bed's edge, bitting her lower lip. I was on the middle of the room, trying to look as cool and casual as possible, but I have to confess, it was a bit uncomfortable. Surrounded by people looking at me with such grave faces, I felt like a criminal.
"Okay. Hum, do you remember, I don't know, anything strange?" Jeremy asked with some difficulty, the words not wanting to come to him.
"Like a feeling of déjà vu?" Yumi added. I raised an eyebrow.
"And you would know about that how?" I asked, curious.
"We are the ones who ask the questions here, okay?" Jeremy interrupted before anyone else could. His voice wasn't noticeably aggressive, but had a small touch of acid. "Did you or didn't you?"
"Yes. Like I was living the same day two times."
"What was the strangest thing you saw?" Jeremy asked, his stare never leaving my eyes. I locked my eyes onto his, with much hostility as he looked to me.
"Hornets. Big, green, many wings, no legs and shot lasers." He pondered about my answer, looked at the ground for a few seconds and then turned his face to the ceiling, letting out a heavy sigh.
"You can go now." I nodded and turned around, opened the door and left the room, keeping my questions for another time. Although it is not my habit to meddle in other people's business, I couldn't resist but to stay and hear the talk.
"So guys, we tell him or not?" All the sound in that room stopped; I guess they even stopped breathing for a second, surprised at the suggestion. But that only lasted a second, and Odd got the first word.
"No. I mean, Kev's cool and stuff, but guys, you remember what happened the last time someone joined our group, don't you?"
"But he's not like William! He's not a cocky jerk, and I trust him. I say yes," Yumi replied in my defense. I felt touched with the proof of trust, but there were three more persons voting.
"Odd's got a point. And we don't know what he'll do. What if he decides to tell everyone? I say no," Ulrich stated with the emotion of a rock.
"I…" Aelita started, causing a moment of silence while they waited for her. "I say yes. I mean, he trusted me, without even knowing what I was doing, and that's enough for me. Besides, he is valuable help, and even with return trips he won't forget anything, which I must confess it's a bit strange, but I still say yes."
"Well, I say no," Jeremy said confidently. "He's got some explaining to do about the return trips, and I agree with Odd for once, last time the results weren't good. That makes three to two. No telling."
I quickly ran to my room to avoid being seen, and silently thanked the girls for the trust they had put in me. I had to get some rest; the "return trips", as they called them, needed a bit of investigation.
---
They quickly erected a third device, and laid my helplessly frozen body on top of it. I only felt the cold leather straps being tied around my wrists and ankles, the muscles in my body flacid and unsubmissive, as I felt my soul being locked away along with the rest of my body. I avoided looking sideways, because seeing the skeletons again would make the pain I was about to suffer unbearable.
The gears spinned, intertwined, in what would be a monotonous dance weren't my screams of pain entertaining them, as I felt every muscle stretching to unimaginable lenghts. Arms, legs, torax, abdomen, every mucle sending bolts of pain as I felt miserably unable to do a thing but wait for the torture to end, for death's embrace, the last embrace known by men…
An eternity followed with the same repeating scenario: the nothingness in front of me, the screech of the rusty gears pulling the ropes, the cold leather that quickly turned hot and sweaty, and the putrid smell of the skeletons beside me. And somehow I knew I would join them, wherever they were. Only the pain wasn't contant, as it grew at the same rhythm my muscles got more and more stretched.
After some time, when I thought I had realized the true meaning of "unbearable pain", the rusty gears stopped screeching, although they were still pulling. For a second, I blessed the event: the noise was so annoying, making my head hurt in a way the machine couldn't. But that only lasted a second. Because after that second, I wished with all my might to hear the rust sound again.
A new noise came in to fill the new-found silence, a sound similar to the sound of tearing up clothes. Only it weren't clothes that were being shredded apart. Along with the torturing noise, a new wave of pain came in, the one with a feeling of open wounds, the hot blood on my veins in contact with the cold air in the room. And I knew what they were doing. I wanted to be as oblivious to that knowledge as I could, but reality stroke me like a bolt, along with the pain, and I screamed.
My muscles started tearing apart.
I screamed like the miserable being I was, helpless to the force of those demons. The air tuned hot, my wounds made me scream as I was pulled apart like a rag-doll in the hands of a little boy. My shoulders made that horrible noise of living flesh being teared up, then my legs, but they never got loose. No, they were waiting for the real fun to begin. The part where my stomach was ripped in half like an old piece of paper. I closed my eyes and screamed, the pain unbearable, and when I opened them again-
A dark blue ceiling, blankets wrapped around my intact legs, as were my arms and the rest of my body, all free from restrainig leather straps and never-ending waves of pain. I breathed in and out a few times, trying to control my wild panting, and then got up to stretch my legs, glad that they weren't teared up like a sheet of paper after a ride in the triturator. I walked to the desk and grabbed my phone to check the time. 00:10 AM.
Five minutes? I sleep for five freaking minutes and get mind tortured like I was damned to Hell? If I had slept the whole night I'd end up dying in my sleep! Frustrated, I dressed my usual clothes and sneaked out of the dorm, heading to the forest. The cool air managed to calm me down a bit, but I was still burning inside, both for the nightmare and the fact that I can't sleep five minutes without paying a little visit to the Devil and play a game of Poker with him. And with my life at stake.
I forced my way into the dephts of the woods, random twigs scratching my face, and all types of roots making me trip and almost fall. I wandered without route for some minutes, trying to get the anger drained from my soul by stomping the small piles of snow and dirt. And then I heard a noise, the rustling sound of something moving among the leaves, a noise that made me stop. Scanning the area with a little more attention, I discovered a clearing nearby, weakly iluminated by the stars and half-moon. But that wasn't the thing that caught my eye.
Sitting on one of the roots of a big oak, Aelita looked at the stars, apparently absent-minded. I struggled if I should interrupt or not, but ended up risking.
"Finally, I thought you'd never come," she said, not looking at me. I sat on another root, not very close to her, but close nevertheless.
"Were you waiting for me?" I asked, also not looking at her, but at the stars.
"Not specially, but company's always welcome." I gave a short laugh, and slowly my face became normal again. My doubts emerged and I thought that maybe there wouldn't be another time to ask about them.
"I thought about what happened yesterday, or today, or… whenever that was," I started nervously. That was sure to get her attention, even if it was to get an "I'd rather not talk about it". She crawled to my side, but left a space between us. "I've been trying to crack it, but there's no rational explanation." She laughed and smiled sadly, in an oh-only-if-you-knew way.
"I can give you some answers. Some," she insisted. I nodded.
"What happened to Yumi?"
"She…wasn't herself." I understood she wouldn't elabrate, so I moved on.
"Let's see, you won't talk about the beasts, nor the sewers, nor the factory, or anything strange that might have happened," I counted.
"Sorry, but I can't." With resignation I searched a topic of interest among the events of that day.
"You were saying Yumi gets along with me better than with the rest of the group, but I thought Ulrich was, I don't know, her best friend or something." Aelita's face turned into a sad expression, as she started to speak.
"Don't be afraid to say it," she started. "They could be dating. However, some time ago, Yumi told Ulrich she wanted them only to be friends. And none is dealing too well with that. After that they haven't been as intimate as they were before. So I guess you come first." I nodded in the darkness and she turned her head at the stars again, exposing her neck.
"And about you?" I inquired, curious.
"She talks to me a lot, but more in a relief sort of way than a real conversation. In my opinion, she needs someone to cool down her temper. And your temper is so cold it'd freeze a volcano," she added ironically. I sensed it was the right time to ask her what I'd been wanting to ask for so long.
"Another thing. That… move, of yours, what was that for?" I asked, trying to sound as casual as possible. Aelita nervously got up, walked to the other edge of the clearing and came back while making naturally nervous gestures.
"I uh, I was thanking you, isn't it obvious?" she asked, nervous and blushing; how much, I didn't know, because the slim light showed only a smal part of the rose on her face, but she was definitely blushing.
"If you want my sincere opinion, I think it was something else," I said, also getting up.
"What then?" Aelita asked, suddenly defiant. I raised my eyebrow.
"I don't read minds. And I think I deserve another one." She assumed a bit shocked stance, putting one hand on her waist.
"And why would you want another one, Mister?"
"'Cause I saved you two other times," I replied calmly. She smiled for a few seconds before replying.
"Then I think I'll do it. But just this time," she said, smiling.
She swiftly advanced in my direction, the wind dancing around her hair as she aproached her face to mine, my heart beating at the pace of a racing horse and my face getting redder and redder, and the breathing faster. I didn't move, I don't know if by my order of because it didn't have any order. Finally, our lips touched, her soft lips against my rude ones, and I stood still while she touched my face gently, her slim fingers striking the hair covering my scarred eye, the part of my face that I hated. And as we opened our eyes, I saw hers widening in surprise as she stumbled backwards.
"I'm uh, I… I have to go, I'm… I'm so sorry…" Aelita mumbled, confused and scared, and quickly fled the scene. I closed my eyes and bit my lip with so much strength and so fiercely, I thought I would rip it. After punching the tree with much strength as I could, I controlled my breath and walked out of the forest and into the streets, only one despairing thought not wanting to leave my head.
Everything was ruining up.
I couldn't sleep because of the nightmares that haunted me all night, forcing me to know the sky by heart. I almost didn't eat because of the nausea of remembering the dreams, which wasn't properly hard. And now my scar had scared away the girl I most cared for in the world. And what an impression she must have taken.
While walking low-headed in he deserted streets, a wind gust put a challenge to me, like if it was trying to make me stop and go backwards. But that didn't work, so it brought me a page of an recent newspaper that hit me right in the face. Sighing I took it away and looked at the first page, recognizing two persons there, and a pain I hadn't felt in a long time rising to my chest.
Mother.
Grandfather.
---
The graveyard's decrepit gates screeched in the wind, pushing away all the silence in the air. I shivered both from cold and antecipation while my steps echoed in the dark field. The atmosphere was heavy, like the whole graveyard had come to make a clinical analysis of each of my movements, and thousands of invisible eyes stared at me from all possible angles.
According to the rest of the news, they had died in a car accident. Apparently my grandfather was driving in the highway with my mother on the passenger's seat, they hit a gas station and the flames burned them until the end. No one could determinate if he was drunk, tired or distracted, because no one was around and they burned for some time before the owner of the station came from the bar where he had been, some five hundred meters away. They had joined the parts of the corpses that remained and use them for the funeral. Another traffic accident, absolutely normal.
Except for two little things, that possibly only I had noticed.
First, no one mentioned a son or grandson.
Second, the people were the same, but the names weren't.
Because, according to the newspaper, the deceased were Leonard and Melissa Evans. And I had never met people with such names. That made me shiver. What if it were them? That meant they had been hiding something for a very long time.
Stopping among the stone plates and buried decaying corpses, I realized I had no idea were to look for. But that didn't make me wonder too much time.
"You finally came. I was getting bored out here."
Fourth, Ax*insert character's name here* lovers/shippers, I'm sorry, but if you don't like it, don't read more. It's gonna get a lot worse.
Lastly, you can tell I like suspense, don't you?