Chapter One: The Forgotten Past

There was a crash, followed by a girl's scream. Mai immediately jumped to her feet and went running towards the noise. It didn't surprise her that she had been laying on the floor of a strange room, nor did it surprise her that when she entered the room where the noise had come from, objects were sailing through the air, floating, as if attached to puppet strings. Something felt familiar about everything around her, eerily familiar.

She assumed it was one of her dreams, but there was something different about this one. It felt almost as if she had dreamt this very same dream before, but had forgotten all of the details. Sort of like déjà vu, but perhaps even more intense.

Mai took a step back and watched as a baseball flew past and crashed into the wall beside her. Her breath caught examining the rough edges of what was now a hole torn in the wall. That had almost been her head that got squished.

Her eyes trailed to the left and she let out a heavy breath. It was as if Mai had no control over her thoughts or actions. Her mouth formed the words and she called out "dad?!" when her eyes found the crumpled form of a man up against the wall. She ran to him and bent to expertly check his pulse and breathing. She pressed her bare fingers against the man's skin, favoring the wrist in her search for a pulse instead of his throat. There was too much blood for her to even think about getting near his neck or head.

Mai could feel her emotions becoming more desperate at the sight of the blood slipping against her fingers, but at the same time she was detached enough to notice just how small her hands were. A child's hands, young and feminine. Her own sob brought her back to the emotions waring within her, and the task her body had taken up without her: searching for any sign of life. There was none. This man was dead. As she finally allowed her eyes to trail up and really see the bloody mess that was his upper body, she saw that a shard of glass had nearly severed his head from his body.

Mai didn't know what she was doing, or why she felt everything inside of her break. Did she know this man? Why did this death seem tragic to her, but completely unsurprising? She had called him dad. Was this her father? Mai tried once again to detach herself from the feelings welling in her body, reminding herself that, more than likely, this was somebody else's life she was living right now, somebody else's pain. And yet, once again, something about all of this seemed so familiar.

Mai turned and wasn't surprised to see the figure of a young girl standing in the middle of the room, objects swirling around the girl's head as if she were producing her own personal tornado. The girl was sobbing, letting out loud wailing cries.

I'm sorry, Mai heard the voice, but the girl's mouth never moved. The words sounded as if they were coming from her own head, but she recognized almost immediately that the words belonged to the other girl. I didn't mean to. Please help me… I didn't mean to.

Mai stepped closer, warning bells going off in her head. Something was really dangerous about this girl, but this was her sister. She had to be there for her sister, no matter what. She had promised.

And Mai realized then that the girl was her sister. Not only that, but this was her twin, her other half. The girl's face mirrored a younger version of herself, but her eyes were haunted with things Mai knew she would never understand. As Mai approached her sister, something pushed her away, a force similar to heavy wind. But this force had no physical properties, and it made it more and more difficult to get close.

With each step she took her thoughts battled each other.

She killed our father.

But she's my sister.

She's a murderer.

But she had no control.

She could kill you.

But I promised to protect her.

No one can protect her.

Mai stopped in front of her twin. That's not true, she thought. You know how to protect her, you just don't want to do it. She looked into the broken eyes of her sister and knew it was time, time to tell the truth, time to step up and do her part. Protecting her twin was more important than anything. It was more important than her own happiness, or their need to stay together.

Mai wrapped her arms around the small frame of her younger sister. Even if they were only a few minutes apart, Mai would still always be the oldest. Her sister's sobs shook both of their bodies and Mai stroked her hair.

"I'll protect you. I promise," she whispered, "Everything will be okay."

Mai woke with a start, jumping up in bed and gasping for breath.

Mai bit her lip, not at all sure what to think of her dream. It had disturbed her, the way her family's past had gotten mixed up with all the supernatural stuff she dealt with for work. It had felt so much like one of her psychic dreams, and yet all of the faces had been so familiar.

She took a deep breath. None of it was true. None of it was real, she told herself. It was all just a dream. A really creepy, really realistic, dream. And if it was just a dream, then she knew she shouldn't dwell on it any longer.

Looking to her left, she caught a glimpse of the face of her clock. She sighed. Four more hours before she had to get up for work. It would be the first day back to work with Naru. She needed all of the sleep she could get before dealing with that stress.

Lying back down, Mai forced herself into a restless slumber for the rest of the night.

A/N

Wow. So I apparently started writing this story when I was about 15/16. So... almost ten years ago? What? That is absolutely insane. And what is more insane is that I HAVENT FINISHED IT YET. For real. What is wrong with me? Literally since starting this story I have graduated high school, got my BA in English, met the love of my life, married him, bought a house, and had a child (who is now almost a year old). And yet, I cannot for the life of me finish a stinking fanfiction.

Well, I am determined for that to change. This story will finish, and it will be finished soon. Even if I have to fight tooth and nail to get it done, even if I hate it, it will be completed.

Obviously, my writing style has evolved since beginning this, so hopefully it improves as it continues. I've gone through and done some quick edits of the earlier chapters, mostly just for my own sake. I had to reread it anyways to figure out what I had already written. There are no major changes, but a few more details. I'll put a copy of this author's note at the first chapter and at the beginning of the first new chapter so that new and old readers can get this message.

Anyways... please enjoy. Please pester me so I keep updating.