CHAPTER V: REUNION
"M-m-mom?" she stuttered in disbelief. Tears sprung up in her eyes. "Is it...is it really...you?"
Smiling warmly at her daughter, she nodded.
Jasmyne pondered this for a moment. are you pondering what I'm pondering, Pinky? 'Wait...don't get your hopes up too high...she could just be posing as her for some strange, sick reason. That's probably it. Why wouldn't she have come to me earlier, like when I was with that damn asshole Stanley? She knew I was a seer of spirits...' Jasmyne was well aware of the fact that spirits were only truly honest about one half of the time...the other half, well...they were filthy liars. Their souls were corrupted and destroyed from the anguish of death.
"How can I tell if it's really you? I don't have any proof."
"Of course it's me, Raindrop."
At the sound of her mother's childhood nickname for her, she burst into sobs and fled into her mother's open arms. This worked because she was an angel, not a ghost, so she had some substance to her. Her mother stroked her long hair lovingly. "My sweet little Raindrop, how pretty you've grown...you look more like me every day...ohhh...how I've missed you..."
Jasmyne breathed deeply and smelled her mother's own rose petal perfume that was unmistakable hers. Jasmyne recalled distinctly this aspect of her mother; she had once spilled some on her bed and it had eternally smelled of rose petals, a constant reminder of her mother when she went to sleep. kinda from Anastasia, but oh well... Jasmyne was vaguely listening to her mother's voice as she drifted into thoughts of her distant past.
She was a little girl again, not even yet three. Yes, the carefree blissful era. She was playing outside in the scorching summertime heat. She could smell the lilacs and roses that her mother planted every year in front of the house to keep their garden cheery; they were Jasmyne's favorite. She plucked a delicate cluster of purple blossoms and held it close to her nose. The petals tickled her skin, making her giggle with joy. She looked up into the endless, cloudless sky, the bright noontime sunshine blinding her huge grey eyes. Shading her face from the overwhelming rays, she continued gaping into the vast cerulean sky. She noticed a flock of birds soaring overhead.
"Hey, birdies!" she greeted them, waving her hands excitedly and jumping up and down. She then lay down in the sweet scented grass; her father had just mowed it and the entire lawn was filled with the smell of fresh-cut grass. She rolled around and down the gently sloping hill of her yard, shrieking with glee and she sped downwards. She played this way, examining bugs, picking exquisite blossoms, tumbling in the grass, for hours on end in her idyllic childhood world. Billowing rain clouds suddenly filled the sky and blocked out the welcoming light of the sun. A few wet droplets pipped on her face, and soon the sky and the air were a cascade of falling water. She twirled around and around, her hair and clothes quickly soaking and dripping with water, drops flying everywhere as she spun around. Her mother, who had been gardening nearby, sprinted over to her.
"Sweetheart, Jasmyne, maybe we should go inside...you could get a cold."
"But why, Mommy?" she inquired, as if not already knowing that she could get sick. "I like the rain. It's pretty. Dance with me Mommy! Dance with me!" and she resumed prancing and leaping around the lawn, occasionally slipping on the saturated blades of grass. Her mother stood firm where she was. "C'mon Mommy! It's just a little water! It never hurt nobody!!"
Grinning, her wonderfully carefree mother threw her head back and laughed her silvery laugh at her daughter's innocent antics. She took her daughter's tiny hands, and together they whirled around and around without a care in the world.
Her mother had dubbed her Raindrop ever since that day, for her smoky eyes that gave one the impression of a thunderstorm afoot and her daughter's irrepressible love for the rain.
"What are you thinking about, Jasmyne?"
Jasmyne brushed her childhood memory away and answered, "Oh...nothing. Just memories...of when I was a kid..." 'When my life was normal and happy,' she thought with spite.
The spirit shook her head again, this time in disapproval. "Memories are nothing to be taken lightly, my dear. They are very important."
"Yeah...whatever. They're the only things that keep me alive now anyway..." She ranted, "But why the hell did you decide to come to me now, Mom? If you knew so much about my shitty life for those six years on the streets, why didn't you try to help me then? I was almost killed by that bastard Stanley...and it wasn't too great after him either...actually, it got worse...Oh, wait, you're so smart, you already know everything. I've been trying to contact you for years...ever since I learned that I could see spirits...I even tried a bunch of attempted sŽances...but then again, they didn't work too well because I didn't have any candles or anything that belonged to you...but I did everything else right! Why didn't you come! For Christ Sakes, I had to cut my arm up to use my own blood for the ceremony! And you didn't come! You were my last resort before becoming absolutely miserable. I-"
"Calm down, dear. Let me explain-"
"NO! You listen to me! I needed you! More than I need you now! If you had helped me, then maybe I wouldn't be trying to kill myself out of sheer misery! I still can't believe that you never came to help me! I don't ever want to see you or talk to you again for what you put me through...you and Dad just had to die and then I got stuck on the streets hanging around filthy assholes who sold drugs and used me! You didn't come to me then, so why come to me now?!"
"Darling, listen to me. You really need me now; I knew that you were going to get through on the streets because you're my strong little girl and-"
"Yeah, but I sure didn't want to have to be your 'strong little girl!' I just wanted to live a normal life like Seto and Mokuba did with that damn rich guy and Seto even got his own company and he's really famous and nobody even knows who I am! Why are you trying to stop me killing myself, anyway?! You can't stop me! I-I lived on those damn disgusting streets until I was nearly twelve! I-I-how could you-you POSSIBLY think that I didn't need your help?! Did going to Heaven like mess with your head?! Did Saint Peter say, 'I'm sorry, but when you enter the pearly gates, you have to lose all reason and go nuts.' My life was hell! And now I'm like permanently scarred for life thanks to it! I-" she blurted out. "You know what! I bet I don't even have to kill myself; Seto will probably do it for me, my loving big brother. And then he'll bury me in the backyard!"
FYI- just to inform you suspicious little brats out there who think that I copied this idea of backyard burying from Englasu, I didn't. I made this up all by myself before she even told me about it. And no, she didn't copy it from me either; she didn't even know I was writing this story because I wouldn't let anyone touch my little notebook I wrote the rough draft in. I guess great minds really do think alike.
Seto was smashing into the turf with a hot pink plastic beach shovel that you use to dig holes at the seaside.
"Seto, can I have Jasmyne's room? I wanna put my toys in it 'cause I'm a spoiled brat who has everthing."
"Nope, sorry, you can't. I need it for my metal briefcases that work as both paper carriers and damn good people smackers. Two uses in one! I also need to put in my obscenely huge collection of trench coats that I spend all our money on so you have to wear striped convict clothes that don't match. Yeah, the next charity shipment should be coming soon. Act weak and cold, remember? I also need it for my card deck, complete with display cases for my Blue Eyes...oh! I also need the room for my many implements of killing for my business murders...I mean! You didn't hear that, got it little brother?!"
Looking incredibly confused and frightened, the ten year old replied, "Ummm...OK...but...how are we gonna fit her in the hole that you dug? Isn't-isn't there s'posed to be some kinda funeral box or somethin'?"
Seto looked up at his little brother, wiping his sweaty brow with a soil-covered hand. "Uhhh...yeah...you're right. Here...we'll use...ummm..." he glanced around hastily. "Aaha! We'll use one of my briefcases. Help me shove her in."
"But-"
"Just do it. I won't miss one briefcase. It doesn't matter. Wait-this knife she used is really nice..." he quickly snatched it out of her neck, slicing the cut even deeper as he yanked it out. He then secretly pocketed it within the unknown depths of his trench coat. Then, with a heave ho!, they picked up her carcass and tossed it into the briefcase like a hunk of raw meat. Seto then hurled the metal box into the hole carelessly and slapped his hands together in the 'All done!' fashion.
Her mother looked at her with pity. "You really are hopeless. Your brothers would never do that; you know that. They love you; they're your brothers. Maybe you should seek help..."
"Help??!!!" she yelped. "I don't need help! I maybe needed yours a few years ago...it's not my fault the entire world detests me!! You're forgetting I can read minds, mother...I know that nobody cares about me...if they did, I would find something about me in there. But I never do. Never have; never will. Stop lying to me...maybe if you won't let me stab myself, I can find some sort of potion or spell to-"
"No! That's why I came to you!! To stop you. You definitely should not be using you powers to kill yourself...besides, there's no suicide spell that I'm aware of...and I know a whole lot more than you do...not one without a lot of pain, anyway...but what I need to say before I have to leave you is that-"
She choked, "You have to...to leave me? But-but why?"
She smiled. "I thought you hated me and didn't want to see me ever again?"
"You know I didn't mean that...you're my mother..."
"I knew you'd say that. Now, I need to say this before my time runs short; I don't have much time as it is. I want to inform you that your brothers do love you and no one really hates you. But the thing I really have to tell you is that...I need to warn you of something. Something terrible, unthinkable, is going to happen. Something even worse than death. It-"
Curiously, "Could you tell me what it is?"
She sighed. "I am still unsure, but you may get a premonition later. You must do something to stop it before-"
"How the hell am I supposed to be able to stop something if I don't know what it is?!"
"Just...be prepared, my little Raindrop. Now, I must leave you..."
"No!! Don't leave me!! I have so many questions to ask! Please!! Don't go!! I need you!"
Ignoring her pleas, the apparition slowly began to dissolve, evaporate into the air, until Jasmyne was left by herself in the room, afternoon sunshine spilling onto the floor and all over her body. She collapsed on her side, weeping uncontrollably.
"Mom..."
Yeah, sorta sappy...but who doesn't love a little sappiness? Besides, t'was sorta fun to write...anywho [DIE!] I'm gonna stop writing for a little bit because I'm posting like 35 pages at once and I wanna wait for reviews...review now!! I'll post more story when I get a lot of reviews...if a lot are bad, I'm just gonna go dunk my head in kerosene and light myself on fire.
"M-m-mom?" she stuttered in disbelief. Tears sprung up in her eyes. "Is it...is it really...you?"
Smiling warmly at her daughter, she nodded.
Jasmyne pondered this for a moment. are you pondering what I'm pondering, Pinky? 'Wait...don't get your hopes up too high...she could just be posing as her for some strange, sick reason. That's probably it. Why wouldn't she have come to me earlier, like when I was with that damn asshole Stanley? She knew I was a seer of spirits...' Jasmyne was well aware of the fact that spirits were only truly honest about one half of the time...the other half, well...they were filthy liars. Their souls were corrupted and destroyed from the anguish of death.
"How can I tell if it's really you? I don't have any proof."
"Of course it's me, Raindrop."
At the sound of her mother's childhood nickname for her, she burst into sobs and fled into her mother's open arms. This worked because she was an angel, not a ghost, so she had some substance to her. Her mother stroked her long hair lovingly. "My sweet little Raindrop, how pretty you've grown...you look more like me every day...ohhh...how I've missed you..."
Jasmyne breathed deeply and smelled her mother's own rose petal perfume that was unmistakable hers. Jasmyne recalled distinctly this aspect of her mother; she had once spilled some on her bed and it had eternally smelled of rose petals, a constant reminder of her mother when she went to sleep. kinda from Anastasia, but oh well... Jasmyne was vaguely listening to her mother's voice as she drifted into thoughts of her distant past.
She was a little girl again, not even yet three. Yes, the carefree blissful era. She was playing outside in the scorching summertime heat. She could smell the lilacs and roses that her mother planted every year in front of the house to keep their garden cheery; they were Jasmyne's favorite. She plucked a delicate cluster of purple blossoms and held it close to her nose. The petals tickled her skin, making her giggle with joy. She looked up into the endless, cloudless sky, the bright noontime sunshine blinding her huge grey eyes. Shading her face from the overwhelming rays, she continued gaping into the vast cerulean sky. She noticed a flock of birds soaring overhead.
"Hey, birdies!" she greeted them, waving her hands excitedly and jumping up and down. She then lay down in the sweet scented grass; her father had just mowed it and the entire lawn was filled with the smell of fresh-cut grass. She rolled around and down the gently sloping hill of her yard, shrieking with glee and she sped downwards. She played this way, examining bugs, picking exquisite blossoms, tumbling in the grass, for hours on end in her idyllic childhood world. Billowing rain clouds suddenly filled the sky and blocked out the welcoming light of the sun. A few wet droplets pipped on her face, and soon the sky and the air were a cascade of falling water. She twirled around and around, her hair and clothes quickly soaking and dripping with water, drops flying everywhere as she spun around. Her mother, who had been gardening nearby, sprinted over to her.
"Sweetheart, Jasmyne, maybe we should go inside...you could get a cold."
"But why, Mommy?" she inquired, as if not already knowing that she could get sick. "I like the rain. It's pretty. Dance with me Mommy! Dance with me!" and she resumed prancing and leaping around the lawn, occasionally slipping on the saturated blades of grass. Her mother stood firm where she was. "C'mon Mommy! It's just a little water! It never hurt nobody!!"
Grinning, her wonderfully carefree mother threw her head back and laughed her silvery laugh at her daughter's innocent antics. She took her daughter's tiny hands, and together they whirled around and around without a care in the world.
Her mother had dubbed her Raindrop ever since that day, for her smoky eyes that gave one the impression of a thunderstorm afoot and her daughter's irrepressible love for the rain.
"What are you thinking about, Jasmyne?"
Jasmyne brushed her childhood memory away and answered, "Oh...nothing. Just memories...of when I was a kid..." 'When my life was normal and happy,' she thought with spite.
The spirit shook her head again, this time in disapproval. "Memories are nothing to be taken lightly, my dear. They are very important."
"Yeah...whatever. They're the only things that keep me alive now anyway..." She ranted, "But why the hell did you decide to come to me now, Mom? If you knew so much about my shitty life for those six years on the streets, why didn't you try to help me then? I was almost killed by that bastard Stanley...and it wasn't too great after him either...actually, it got worse...Oh, wait, you're so smart, you already know everything. I've been trying to contact you for years...ever since I learned that I could see spirits...I even tried a bunch of attempted sŽances...but then again, they didn't work too well because I didn't have any candles or anything that belonged to you...but I did everything else right! Why didn't you come! For Christ Sakes, I had to cut my arm up to use my own blood for the ceremony! And you didn't come! You were my last resort before becoming absolutely miserable. I-"
"Calm down, dear. Let me explain-"
"NO! You listen to me! I needed you! More than I need you now! If you had helped me, then maybe I wouldn't be trying to kill myself out of sheer misery! I still can't believe that you never came to help me! I don't ever want to see you or talk to you again for what you put me through...you and Dad just had to die and then I got stuck on the streets hanging around filthy assholes who sold drugs and used me! You didn't come to me then, so why come to me now?!"
"Darling, listen to me. You really need me now; I knew that you were going to get through on the streets because you're my strong little girl and-"
"Yeah, but I sure didn't want to have to be your 'strong little girl!' I just wanted to live a normal life like Seto and Mokuba did with that damn rich guy and Seto even got his own company and he's really famous and nobody even knows who I am! Why are you trying to stop me killing myself, anyway?! You can't stop me! I-I lived on those damn disgusting streets until I was nearly twelve! I-I-how could you-you POSSIBLY think that I didn't need your help?! Did going to Heaven like mess with your head?! Did Saint Peter say, 'I'm sorry, but when you enter the pearly gates, you have to lose all reason and go nuts.' My life was hell! And now I'm like permanently scarred for life thanks to it! I-" she blurted out. "You know what! I bet I don't even have to kill myself; Seto will probably do it for me, my loving big brother. And then he'll bury me in the backyard!"
FYI- just to inform you suspicious little brats out there who think that I copied this idea of backyard burying from Englasu, I didn't. I made this up all by myself before she even told me about it. And no, she didn't copy it from me either; she didn't even know I was writing this story because I wouldn't let anyone touch my little notebook I wrote the rough draft in. I guess great minds really do think alike.
Seto was smashing into the turf with a hot pink plastic beach shovel that you use to dig holes at the seaside.
"Seto, can I have Jasmyne's room? I wanna put my toys in it 'cause I'm a spoiled brat who has everthing."
"Nope, sorry, you can't. I need it for my metal briefcases that work as both paper carriers and damn good people smackers. Two uses in one! I also need to put in my obscenely huge collection of trench coats that I spend all our money on so you have to wear striped convict clothes that don't match. Yeah, the next charity shipment should be coming soon. Act weak and cold, remember? I also need it for my card deck, complete with display cases for my Blue Eyes...oh! I also need the room for my many implements of killing for my business murders...I mean! You didn't hear that, got it little brother?!"
Looking incredibly confused and frightened, the ten year old replied, "Ummm...OK...but...how are we gonna fit her in the hole that you dug? Isn't-isn't there s'posed to be some kinda funeral box or somethin'?"
Seto looked up at his little brother, wiping his sweaty brow with a soil-covered hand. "Uhhh...yeah...you're right. Here...we'll use...ummm..." he glanced around hastily. "Aaha! We'll use one of my briefcases. Help me shove her in."
"But-"
"Just do it. I won't miss one briefcase. It doesn't matter. Wait-this knife she used is really nice..." he quickly snatched it out of her neck, slicing the cut even deeper as he yanked it out. He then secretly pocketed it within the unknown depths of his trench coat. Then, with a heave ho!, they picked up her carcass and tossed it into the briefcase like a hunk of raw meat. Seto then hurled the metal box into the hole carelessly and slapped his hands together in the 'All done!' fashion.
Her mother looked at her with pity. "You really are hopeless. Your brothers would never do that; you know that. They love you; they're your brothers. Maybe you should seek help..."
"Help??!!!" she yelped. "I don't need help! I maybe needed yours a few years ago...it's not my fault the entire world detests me!! You're forgetting I can read minds, mother...I know that nobody cares about me...if they did, I would find something about me in there. But I never do. Never have; never will. Stop lying to me...maybe if you won't let me stab myself, I can find some sort of potion or spell to-"
"No! That's why I came to you!! To stop you. You definitely should not be using you powers to kill yourself...besides, there's no suicide spell that I'm aware of...and I know a whole lot more than you do...not one without a lot of pain, anyway...but what I need to say before I have to leave you is that-"
She choked, "You have to...to leave me? But-but why?"
She smiled. "I thought you hated me and didn't want to see me ever again?"
"You know I didn't mean that...you're my mother..."
"I knew you'd say that. Now, I need to say this before my time runs short; I don't have much time as it is. I want to inform you that your brothers do love you and no one really hates you. But the thing I really have to tell you is that...I need to warn you of something. Something terrible, unthinkable, is going to happen. Something even worse than death. It-"
Curiously, "Could you tell me what it is?"
She sighed. "I am still unsure, but you may get a premonition later. You must do something to stop it before-"
"How the hell am I supposed to be able to stop something if I don't know what it is?!"
"Just...be prepared, my little Raindrop. Now, I must leave you..."
"No!! Don't leave me!! I have so many questions to ask! Please!! Don't go!! I need you!"
Ignoring her pleas, the apparition slowly began to dissolve, evaporate into the air, until Jasmyne was left by herself in the room, afternoon sunshine spilling onto the floor and all over her body. She collapsed on her side, weeping uncontrollably.
"Mom..."
Yeah, sorta sappy...but who doesn't love a little sappiness? Besides, t'was sorta fun to write...anywho [DIE!] I'm gonna stop writing for a little bit because I'm posting like 35 pages at once and I wanna wait for reviews...review now!! I'll post more story when I get a lot of reviews...if a lot are bad, I'm just gonna go dunk my head in kerosene and light myself on fire.