Chapter 10: Help Me Remember

Author's Note: I got caught up with this manga/anime named X/1999. Check it out on Youtube! It's totally awesome! And Papa to Kiss in the dark!

After a good while of sleep, I started hearing noises.

"Knock it off," I said groggy. I didn't care who was making the noise, I just wanted them to stop so I could sleep.

The sound stopped temporarily then it got louder.

I finally looked up from my pillow and looked to my left. I saw a blurry dark figure and said, "Stop with the noises."

I was irritated that whoever he was, decided to disturb my peace.

The noise kicked up again.

This time, I was so annoyed, I wasn't even going to try to being nice. I opened my eyes and turned to the still blurry figured that was standing beside my bed.

"I'm trying to sleep so you can take that whole 'noise-making' thing crap somwhere else," I said annoyed.

Then I finally looked at his eyes. And they were the only thing I could make out, and I don' t even know how I could miss such a detail. I couldn't even tell what his facial features looked like, nor what he was wearing.

His irisis were blood red and were glowing super bright. I gasped when I saw him open his mouth and reveal canine-like fangs.

I jumped out of the bed immediately and ran to hide in the closet.

Which was really stupid of me.

I closed the door and walked the farthest end of the closet, which was the back, and laid down on my side. I laid my face away from the creepy red-eyed man, and closed my eyes as tight as I could.

I started to sob when the banging and ghostly moaning noises were extra loud.

"Go away," I begged weakly.

And when the noises didn't quiet, I started feeling lightheaded. I decided to turn my body over to the darkness that would soon engulf the pain I felt anyway.

- ~ | ~ - o - ~ | ~ -

Something just didn't feel right. I felt groggy and disoriented as if I had just woken up. But I wasn't awake, my eyes were still closed and I was still enclosed within this weird darkness.

I could feel every part of my body screaming for me that it was time to wake up. But why couldn't I? Why couldn't I open my eyes? Was there something wrong with me?

"Nothing's wrong with you," answered a sweet voice, it was femalish voice and rang like a windchime.

I saw her appear right beside me. Her body gave off a plae glow that almost made her look like a night-light or something close to the such.

"Who are you?" I asked, standing in fron of her.

"You," she answered simply, with a friendly smile on her face.

"What do you mean 'me'?" I asked confused.

She pulled out a mirror from the black around under us and faced it toward me. Hiding her entire body behind it.

"This woman you see in the mirror is you," she said, her voice rining sweetly.

I looked at the woman in the mirror. Her hair was a soft blue-like snow with royalblue tips, as long as the height of her body. Her eyes even matched the soft blue-like color. Her skin was extremely pale, that it would've actually looked like snow, if it weren't for the purple and blue spots.

I looked at my body and the blue and purple spots I saw on the woman in the mirror, were located exactly on me.

"And the woman you see now, is still you," she said.

I looked up and the reflection changed.

The woman was now a brunett with wine-colored eyes. She looked much healthier than before; her skin looked like it finally had life in it and her body was still shaped the same, like a dancer.

I didn't pay attention to the size of her boobs 'till now. They were a perfect fit for her body, maybe a little bigger. And heer hair was somehow a little shorter.

Her ski onger had the blue and purple spots. There were no traces of the spots that were there before.

Then the mirror disappeared back into the darkness. And the woman from the previous reflection came to life, she smiled softly at me. Which almost made my heart stop, I broke eye contact for her to look at the purple and blue spots on my body.

"What are these colored spots on me?" I asked the woman. I poked one of them and winced when it stung sharply from my touch.

I looked back up at the woman, her smile was no longer there. Her expression held sadness and she sighed, "Those spots are called bruises."

"Bruises?" I questioned confused.

"Yes, bruises appear when a vessel under the skin has broken. Or when a part of the body has irritated the muscle underneath when it's been hit too hard to remain a normal shade; unable to defend the tissue," she furhter explained, sadly.

"What do you mean 'hit too hard'?" I asked, "And 'unable to defend the tissue'?"

"You got those bruises because you were abused."

"Abused?..But by who?" I asked.

"From your first mother," she answered, tears streaming down her creamy colored skin slowly, as her voice nearly cracked.

"You mean she - abused me?"

"Yes," her voice cracked.

"Why did she do that?" I asked, "Did I do something wrong?"

Her eyes became blank as she stare out into nothing as she said flatly, "But out of jealousy; you were so much more beautiful than her. Both inside and out. And no, you were the most behaved child."

My mind was still stuck the 'abused' and 'out of jealousy' part, my legs gave way.

The woman caught me in her arms and rubbed my head softly as I cried hard.

"But you're going to be fine now, because you're where she ca onger hurt you," she said in a gentle tone, her voice cracking at some words.

I pulled back to look at her through blurry vision."You said, 'from your first mother', are you saying I have more than one mother?"

"Yes."

"How many?"

"Three."

"What did my birth mother say when she saw the bruises?"

"She cried," the woman said, then her voice started to crack again, "but when she saw the scar on your back, she just about had a heart attack."

"How did I get the scar on my back?"

The woman kept her mouth closed and continued to let the tears fall.

"Tell me," I begged, crying, too.

"The first mother used the iron that she used to iron your clothes," she almost whispered.

Everything seemed to have shut down and died. I couldn't believe this!

"And the other mother? What did she think of the bruises and scar?"

"She tried to overlook them, but she couldn't. She cried every now and then and felt the need to protect you from anyone or anything that were to hurt you further."

I swallowed, At least the other two cared about me.

I remained still and quiet in the embrace of the woman that held warmth and love. But I felt empty; no emotion.

She pulled back with a sad and tired expression on her face as she said, "Now that you have learned the truth, do you wish to return?"

"Return where?"

"Back to your body. This is the Realm of Truth. It takes a soul away from his or her body so that they can know what is hidden from them. But we don't keep them here; we return them back to their body," she said.

I ignored the explaination and said, "May I go now?"

"Of course. Close your eyes."

I did so.

"Now turn your body over to the features you would feel."

I thought about how groggy I would feel a moment before all this happened. I breathed in a shallow breath and opened my eyes slowly.

It was still dark, but I could see the feature of the wall.

Suddenly, a thin line of light appeared on the wall I faced. It began getting wider and wider.

"Oh my god, Auryanna, what are you doing in the closet?" came a familiar voice.

I looked over my shoulder slowly.

I wanted to smile when I saw Kaien's face, but all emotion and control of what I do to my body had disappeared. I felt no meaning.

"Why aren't you in your bed?" he questioned.

I couldn't answer, I just looked at him.

Suddenly, all of what I remembered from last night came back to me. I gripped the sides of my head, curling onin on myself, whimpering and trying to make myself forget what I had witnessed.

"What happened?" he asked. But somehow his voice reminded me of a woman. I had to look up to make sure a man was in my room instead of a woman.

Yep, it was a man.

But the voice sounded so familiar that I jumped up to hug the high part of his waist.

"Are you alright?" he asked again, prying me away from his waist to look me in the eyes, "What happened ? Is something wrong?"

I still couldn't answer.

He pulled me gently out of the closet and into the actual room. He turned me around so that my back faced him.

"It's amazing," he muttered, "The scar on your back has healed, only leaving a scar behind."

He zipped the back of my dress back up, then I faced him.

"How did you do that?" he asked me.

I saw him as a different person. A dark figure, with glowing crimson eyes and sharp teeth.

I cringed away, whimpering.

"What?" Kaiens appearance returned and he looked behind him.

"I should probably get you out of this room. Something weird is going on,"he said and took my hand.

I fallowed then suddenly my body froze.

He picked me up bridal-style and went into the living room. Zero and Yuki were sittin on the couch, watching the tv.

"What happened?" Yuki asked.

"I don't know, she won't tell me," he said.

I stared blankly at the tv screen, not really seeing the moving pictures, as he set me down to my feet.

"There's something wrong with her," Yuki says,

"What makes you think so?" he asked.

"She looks alot paler than before," Yuki answered.

Something's wrong, a voice told me, Get to the bathroom quickly.

Before I could question the voice, I felt the food coming back up and I zoomed to the bathroom, only having enough time to close the door before I hunced over and threw up in the toilet.

There was a knock on the door, followed by a, "Auryanna, are you alright?"

"Gah!" I gasped as more food came up, answering his question.

He opened the door and I stood up, flushing the toilet then walking to the sink to rinse my mouth.

"What happened?" asked Kaien.

I looked up at him and it felt like I was looking through him.

"You don't have to tell me if it makes you hurt.. but I would like to know," he said, his voice so soft, it was almost a whisper.

I continued to look at him.

Could I tell him? Should I? What was I supposed to tell him anyway?

I looked away from his eyes.

"Is there something wrong with your voice?" he asked, trying to catch my attention.

I nodded.

"Do you want me to see if there's a way for me to fix it and make it better?"

I shook my head 'No'.

"But if there is a way, you should want it," he pressed.

I sighed, He's trying too hard to make me talk, but I don't think it's really going to work.

I began to walk out of the bathroom, but he caught my forearm.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked me.

"Nothing," I nearly whispered.

"No, there's got to be something wrong."

"Leave me," I said in the same voice.

"Why?"

"Because ...I .. my voice is fading. It will not return whe it wants to," I said, my voice barely and able at the end.

I began to walk out again again, but this time , he let me go.

I walked back into the living room, and sat on the couch that was in front of the window , and stared out into the falling snowing.

I stared blankly out of the window. I didn't feel like myself . To be honest, I didn't even know who I was or who I was supposed to be. I didn't know anything about myself, save for my name. But, somehow, even though I didn't know who I was, things about this family was easily understood.

Like it was obvious that Zer really hated me. And I was pretty sure that he hated anyone who seemed different.

And theauburn girl named Yuki was kind-heartd. She was so gentle that it was so easy to love her, even though she wasn't my real sister.

The dirty-blonde named Cross Kaien was kin, too, but he seemed pety irritating at times.

Then I sighed aloud whe my real mother came into mind.

What does she look like? Was she as beautul as an angel? I though to myslef, And what about the second mother? Was she beautil, too? I wonder if they had children before me?

Yuki's PoV

I stared at Auryanna. She seemed very distant pr perhaps, devastated by whatever happened as she stared blankly out the window.

Then I looked over at Zero, who's face seemed to be twisted in disgust.

I walked over to Auryanna and sat beside her. But she continued to gaze out the window as if she didn't feel my prescence. I called her name, but she still didn't respond, she didn't even look at me.

When I touched her, she finally looked at me. But her gaze was still slightly clouded, as if she were still in a distant place.

"May I sit with you?" I asked her softly.

She unlocked her feet and opened her arms to me.

Auryanna's PoV

I felt pressure shift on the couch and a prescence, but I didn't look at the person sitting next to me.

I heard them call my name, but still I didn't respond.

Their scnet was enough to handle. They smelled sweet like a female. It might've been the auburn girl who smelled so good.

Then I felt a hand on my shoulder.

I finally looked, it was the auburn-haired girl.

"May I sit with you?" she asked me softly.

I unfolded my arms, uncrossed my legs, and opened my arms to her.

She crawled into my embraced and I wrapped my arm around her waist. She leaned her head back on my chest and I put my head on top of her head.

I could feel zero's ice cold glare on me and I was tempted to smile, but I fought against it.

A few hours passed and everyone had seemed to drift to a peaceful dream..everyone except me.

"Auryanna, are you awake?"a voice suddenly caught my attention.

I looked and Kaien was peering at me

"Yes," I answered with a monotone.

"Do you want me to take Yuki to her room?" he asked.

"No," I answered and started to get up. Careful not to wake her as I stood, I put my arms under her thighs and shifted her position so that she could still sleep comfortablely.

"Can you take Zero to his room?" I suggested as I went up the stairs to Yuki's room.

I shifted her weight to one arm and pulled the sheet back. I laid her in the bed and pulled the sheet back over her.

I began to leave out of her room when I heard her voice, "Are you planning to stay with us, Auryanna-san?"

I walked over to her bed, leaned down, and kissed her forehead. And somehow, I managed to smile convincingly.

Like I had a choice, I snorted sarcastically in my head. I had nowhere else to go. And I sure as hell didn't know if my family even lived in this area.

I walked out of her room and back down the stairs.

"Yuki is in her bed and asleep," I announced to Kaien.

"Okay," he said.

I walked the hall and turned the corner to my room and closed the door. I laid down on the bed slowly and hissed when some of my back muscles popped loudly. And instantly, I could feel them loosen and relax.

I got back up and pulled the cover and sheets back. I slid in between and pulled the cover and sheets over me. I burried the side of my face in the pillow, whilethe comforter was under my chin.

I wonder how I would sleep this time. Would I have another terrible nightmare or would I see the man with red eyes and canine teeth? The thought made me shiver. I didn't want either of those things to happen. I didn't want to be restless when I woke up tomorrow. And to be honest, I didn't like being tired, either.

I sighed and closed my eyes.

Think of a happy place. Think happy thoughts, I repeated to myself mentally.

Think happy. . and content . . . . thoughts. . . . .

So how was that? was it good? do I need to delete some stuff? Should I add some stuff? *desparation:* Tell me what I need to do?