Khrystal © me
Hawking, Emmanuel © Raygirl
Rayman design © Ubisoft
~*~*~*~*~To Mend A Broken Soul
Chapter 2~*~*~*~*~
She awoke to a world of hurt and pain. Grimacing she opened her eyes a crack, and found that one seemed to be stuck shut. She lifted a hand to her forehead and tried to sit up, groaning with the effort.
She was startled when she felt a pair of hands push her gently back down. She panicked briefly before she quickly threw up a mental wall. Her one opened eye must have glazed over as she did this, for whomever it was that was with her cleared they're throat and spoke in a soft tenor.
"Lay still."
She rolled her head to the side to look at the speaker, and found herself peering into the face of a raven-haired boy that looked about her age. A scar ran down his right cheek and stopped beneath his eye. He timidly lifted one of her hands and wrapped a bandage around it, making sure that the wound was clean before neatly tying the ends together. He looked at her unsurely, his hands hovering over a small ceramic bowl, before he dipped them in and pulled out a blue cloth. He wrung it out and carefully placed it on her forehead. She welcomed its cool touch on her burning skin.
"What's your name?" He asked, pulling a chair closer to where she lay and sitting down.
She blinked slowly at him; her throat was too constricted with pain for her to speak. She coughed to try and clear it, but ended up choking. Quickly but gently the boy stood and helped her up into a sitting position, supporting her back as her body shook with great hacking coughs. When her lungs were finally clear, she drew a ragged breath.
"Khrystal." She said with a wince. Her jaw hurt when she moved it.
"My name is Hawking." The boy said, easing her back down. "Try not to move, Khrystal. My friend won't come until its morning, you should try to sleep till then."
Khrystal looked at him through her good eye. She wanted to ask him questions, like why hadn't he just left her alone? Why did he bring her here? But the one that burned through her mind the hottest was; why was he helping her? However, she found herself spiraling slowly into sleep and the last thing that flashed through her mind was the flickering image of a memory.
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In her dreams she was running through the dark forest. Frightening sounds assaulted her mind and the shadows elongated into the twisted forms of demons. They chased her to her home that was built into the trunk of a gigantic, old tree. But when she stepped through the carved door, she found herself in the home of her childhood.
She wandered slowly through the familiar rooms until she reached her own, where she found herself as a child, huddled beneath the blankets on her bed. She watched as the door to her room opened up and a man with dark brown hair stepped through. She watched as he made his way to her bed and roughly pulled the child beneath the blankets into the open. And she watched as he beat her for no reason.
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Khrystal's good eye flickered open as she came back into the waking world. She felt a hand on her arm and looked up into the eyes of the boy who had rescued her. She gave a ragged sigh, and wished that she could cry. But if she did that…then…
"You were having a bad dream." Hawking said softly. "My friend will be here any moment."
Khrystal watched him as he stood and walked over to a sink. She heard rushing water, and then he was walking back over to her, a cup held in his hands. He awkwardly lifted her up and held the glass up to her mouth, tipping it carefully so that it wouldn't spill. She gulped the cool liquid down hurriedly, realizing how thirsty she was. When the glass was empty he propped her up against the headboard of the bed so she could remain sitting.
"How do you feel?" He asked in a soft voice.
"Ok." She lied, and the look on his face told her that he knew that she wasn't telling the truth. She looked timidly at where he sat in a cushioned chair near the bed. When she spoke again her voice was barely above a timid whisper. "Do I look that bad?"
Hawking didn't say anything, and he didn't nod his head to agree or disagree, but his face wilted into one of pity and he looked away from her towards the wall. They fell into a horribly awkward silence, and once more Khrystal wished she could cry. Let herself go, as the memories washed over her like a corrosive acid.
She was startled from her thoughts when a knock sounded. She saw Hawking jump slightly, then stand and open the front door. He welcomed in a raymanian man with wisps of gray hair beginning to show amongst the deep brown of its natural color. Khrystal shrunk beneath the covers as the new stranger turned his attentions to her after having a few private words with Hawking.
"My name is Emmanuel." He said in a voice that rumbled pleasantly like distant thunder. "Hawking tells me that he found you pretty beat up." Emmanuel moved over to the bedside and gently pulled the covers down from Khrystal's face. He ran his rough palm over her bruised cheek and she flinched away from him. He looked at her with gentle concern. "Khrystal, is it? Khrystal, how did you get so hurt?"
She dreaded being asked this. She knew it would come, but she dreaded it anyway. The question had always been brought up in her youth. Why did she have a black eye? Why was she cut?
"I… got mugged." Khrystal said slowly as she cast her gaze downward. "When they didn't find anything on me, they beat me up."
"How old are you?" Emmanuel asked.
"16." She said.
Emmanuel nodded slightly, this at least he could be sure was not a falsity. "And where do you live?"
"In one of the villages on the east edge of the forest." She kept looking at her hands. If she looked up into his eyes, she was afraid he would call her bluffs. But as it was he only nodded as if he utterly believed her.
And then he asked the second question Khrystal always dreaded. "Do you live with your parents?"
She flinched slightly and clenched the blankets in her hands. "No." She said guiltily.
"Where are they?" Emmanuel said, pushing gently as he could tell this was a tender subject to the girl.
But it proved too much for her weakened state. Unable to keep the mental wall up she curled onto her side, trying as a last resort to keep everything from escaping her. She felt Emmanuel's hand on her shoulder, heard Hawking take a few unsure steps closer to where she lay, before she began to weep. She didn't care anymore.
She could sense they're surprise and alarm as all that she was feeling rushed them. All of her bitter sadness…all of her hurt. She cried harder, she hadn't wanted this to happen. She didn't want them to have to feel this way because of her. But she couldn't help it. She felt lost and alone. What was there to live for? She wished Hawking had just left her alone like any other person would have. Left her to die.
"Khrystal?" It was Emmanuel's voice. Stern but wary. "Are you all right?"
"Just leave me alone." She said in a miserable, rushed whisper. "Go away."
She listened as Emmanuel stood, and then heard both of them walk out of the hut, closing the door behind them. Only when she thought they were far enough away did she truly let herself travel to the black depths of her misery.