By Illustrious Sorrow
Ryo wasn't feeling well. It looked like his cold was returning. "Ah-ah-ah- choooo!" He sneezed loudly, blowing papers across the table. His partner, Dee, looked up in concern. "Ryo, are you alright? You don't look so good." "Fine, I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
Dee gave his partner a half-worried, half-angry look. Worried about his partners health and angry because he was being brushed off. "If you're not feeling well you should go home." "I said I'm fine." "Alright then. Sorry I care." "Dee, look, I just haven't been sleeping well. I'll be fine. I'm sorry to snap at you." Dee nodded, but didn't look any less concerned.
Relieved that Dee was dropping the subject, Ryo continued with his paperwork. Suddenly, JJ came running in. "Senpai! We have another hostage case! Ryo, you're with me." Ryo stood up quickly, but had to sit back down just as quickly, the world spinning around him.
"Ryo?" "I'm fine." Ryo pushed himself up again, slower this time and was happy to find that the world stayed firmly were it was. "Come on then!" Ryo followed JJ and Dee joined the ground squad. When the arrived at the scene, the captain walked over to them.
"Alright, we need you two on opposite sides of the street. Randy, other there." He pointed right. "JJ, you're over there." He pointed left. "The criminals have two hostages this time. One each. They tried to rob a bank. They got about a thousand dollars and then realized that we were outside. Each of them grabbed the nearest person. A 10-year-old boy and middle aged woman. Your job is to stop them if they try to make a run for it."
"Are they armed?" "They have one gun and each a knife." "Great. Alright Chief, we'll be ready for them." With that, Ryo walked down the street. He gun propped against his shoulder. He shuttered. He really hated assignments like this. For one, they always happened when he was sick, and also because he was afraid of hitting a hostage.
With a sigh he began to set up. It was slow work, because he was really sick. When this was over, he would have to go home. What he had told Dee was true; he hadn't been sleeping well. For some reason, his sleep was haunted with nightmares. On top of that, he wasn't feeling well.
Suddenly, the action began. Ryo swung his gun onto his shoulder and aimed at the door of the bank were the hostages were. He saw that each of them held a knife to their hostages' necks and one of them had a gun wedged in his hand as well. Ryo looked at the hostages, the woman looked to be in her thirties and she had black hair. About medium height, she looked to weigh somewhere around 130 pounds.
Then Ryo turned his attention to the boy. He had stunningly blond hair, contrasting with this dark tan skin. The boy was wearing a hat pulled low over his eyes, in fact; he looked familiar. "Bikky!" Ryo whispered. One of the hostages was his ward!
Ryo saw that Dee had noticed this as well, and knew that this was going to be one of his hardest assignments yet. He couldn't let the criminals harm Bikky. There was a great deal of shouting and suddenly the man holding the gun fired into the air.
"The next shot will go into this boy if you don't let us through!" He yelled, catching the attention of all the people on the street. The police exchanged uneasy looks, they couldn't let the child be harmed. They drew back, allowing the perpetrators room to pass. "Why thank you." Said the man with the gun. Ryo watched as they moved closer to where he was hiding with the gun.
In a second, he realized he had a shot. As they walked by, probably on their way to a get-away car, Ryo shot at the man holding the woman and the gun. He went down with a curse, the gun discharging in air. In the same breath, Ryo slammed his body into the man holding Bikky.
That man was down as well and Ryo rammed the butt of his gun into his neck as a precaution. The man moaned and passed out. Ryo turned to check on the other man and saw that he was still conscious. He ran over to him and repeated the treatment he had given to his partner. He too, was knocked unconscious.
"Bikky, are you alright? How about you ma'am?" The woman screamed as he turned to her and Bikky gasped. "R-ryo! You-you're hurt!" "What? No I'm- .Oohhh." Ryo hadn't noticed until that time that somewhere in the fight, one of the knifes had become lodged in his shoulder.
He staggered slightly and sank to his knees. "Ryo!" Bikky shouted, drawing the attention of the police officers running towards the group. Dee was in the lead and he sped up when he realized something was wrong with his partner. When he arrived, he was shocked to see the blood surrounding Ryo.
"Oh my god!" "Don't worry Dee, it's.not.so bad." Ryo gasped out between pain-filled breathes. "Somebody get an ambulance over here!" Ryo shuttered and suddenly fell over, lying limp on the ground. "Ryo! No Ryo! Wake up!" Bikky was nearly hysterical, the only person he had left who cared about him was laying in a pool of his own blood, unconscious.
Bikky felt hands grab his shoulders, he looked back and saw a female police officer trying to drag him away from the scene. "Come on kid, this is no place for you." "No! You have to let me stay! Ryo is my.my.well he adopted me! I have to stay with him." "It's alright Janet, Bikky can handle it." Bikky looked over in surprise at the voice that had spoken. Dee's voice was flat with worry and he hovered around Ryo, not sure what to do.
Just then the ambulance pulled up and the paramedics quickly checked to make sure that Ryo was still breathing. Then, with utmost care, they pulled the knife out and bandaged the wound tightly, so that he would not bleed to death. Then they loaded him in the ambulance, Dee jumping in with them, pulling Bikky behind him. As the ambulance pulled away, the officers still at the scene handcuffed the unconscious men and dragged them to the cars, not being overly gentle with the people who had just wounded one of their own. **
"Well?" "We had to give him twenty stitches. The wound was deep and fairly wide. On top of that, it seems that Mr. Maclean also has a more serious case of the flu. He needs to rest for several days and drink a lot of fluid. He cannot go back to work for a month, unless it's just deskwork. No more chases. Understood? Good. We'll keep him over night and then you can come and pick him up in the morning. Have these prescriptions filled out. This one is for pain, this one for the flu, and this is for infections and cleaning the wound. Now you may go and see him if you like, he's in room 123."
Dee gaped as the doctor walked away. So much information crammed into so few words. He snapped back to attention when Bikky pulled on his shirt. "Come on, we have to go see Ryo!" "Alright already. I'm coming." They found the room quickly and saw that Ryo was awake and waiting for them.
"Hello Dee, Bikky. How are you?" He asked, sounding so normal that Dee and Bikky started at him. "What's wrong? Is something the matter?" Ryo asked, now sounding worried, "The other hostage, she's alright isn't she? I never got a chance to find out." "She-she's fine Ryo, but, but you're in the hospital!" "Yes I noticed that." Said Ryo thoughtfully.
"Why were you at the bank to begin with Bikky?" Ryo asked suddenly, his eyes sharp with attention. "I-well that is- I." "He noticed two men wearing long trench coats enter the bank and was suspicious. He went in and saw the gun poking out of the sleeve of one. He was the one who called the police."
"Good job Bikky. That was good thinking!" Ryo praised his ward. "Bu-but it's my fault you got stabbed!" "Stabbed? Oh! You mean this?" He pointed at his shoulder. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it. Doesn't hurt that much. I'm just glad you're safe." He looked into Bikky's eyes and saw tears were brimming in them.
"Come here Bikky." He motioned for the boy to come closer. "You see, when I saw that you were one of the hostages, I was really afraid for you. I knew that I had to do anything I could to save you. The price was not a high one. I'm fine, you're fine, and the bad guys are in jail. You see? Everything is fine."
"How can you say that? You had to get twenty stitches!" Ryo shrugged, "I've had worse. It wasn't so bad." Dee gave Ryo a sharp look; not sure what to make of that statement, Ryo knew that Dee would be questioning him later when Bikky wasn't there.
"I'm sorry Ryo!" "Shh.There's nothing to be sorry for. You were a big help in catching those guys." Bikky's breathing quivered and a tear fell down his face. Ryo noticed this and pulled the boy onto the bed with him. Bikky flung his arms around the man's stomach and sobbed into his chest. Ryo heard Dee leave the room quietly, respecting their privacy.
"It's alright Bikky." Ryo cooed from time to time, letting the boy cry himself out. After a while, Bikky cried himself to sleep and Ryo got up and put the boy in his bed, walking over to the chair were his clothes were and quickly changed into them, then sat down in the chair to fight the wave of dizziness that passed over him.
When the dizziness passed, he noticed a nurse looking into the door. "Mr. Maclean! What are you doing out of bed?! You should be sleeping! You're sick! And injured." "I'm fine, Bikky needed somewhere to sleep, he feels really bad about what happened." "You should have just let him sleep in a chair or something." Dee's voice interceded. "I won't have you making yourself more sick then you already are." "Well, you can't move Bikky until he wakes up. I forbid it." Ryo said firmly, ignoring the fact that he was so weak he would probably fall over if he stood up, much less tried to fight Dee.
Dee noticed Ryo's weakness, but also saw the determination in his eyes. He decided that Ryo would more likely hurt himself further if he tried to press the subject, so he let it go. "Fine, but the second he's up, you're getting into that bed." "Fine Dee." The nurse looked like she was going to say something, but a look from Dee stopped her.
"Fine! Nobody listen to what is best for the patient!" She threw her hands into the air in exasperation. "Won't you at least go sleep in a different room?" "No. I can't let Bikky wake up alone." "I'll stay with him." Dee volunteered, anxious to get his partner into a bed. "No offence Dee, but Bikky hates you. I don't think you're the best person for him to wake up and see." Dee nodded and entered the room, sitting on the chair next to Ryo.
"Then why don't you at least try to sleep? If you can in these god awful chairs anyway." "Alright Dee. I'll try." He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. He was surprised when Dee tilted his head over and rested it on his shoulder. "Dee?" "I figured you'd be more comfortable leaning on my shoulder than on the wall."
Ryo looked into Dee's eyes, but saw nothing in them but worry. "Uh, alright, thanks." Ryo laid his head back down and quickly went to sleep, not feeling as well as he claimed to be. As Ryo slept, Dee looked down at his partner, wondering what was wrong.
"You had loving parents, I know that.but what about the rest of your childhood? What happened that you don't think getting stabbed is painful? Why do you risk so much to take care of one child?" He sat in thought, watching Ryo, the man's face innocent and childlike in sleep.
Ryo seemed to hide so much, normally seeming slightly out of it, but when he wanted, Ryo could have the most intense gaze Dee had ever seen. What could he have meant? He'd had worse then twenty stitches before? What had happened to him? Dee growled, it was so frustrating, not being able to find out what had happened.
Suddenly Bikky stirred on the bed and sat up. "Ryo?" He muttered, nearly incoherently. "Ryo's asleep." Dee gestured to his shoulder and Bikky looked at Ryo sleeping guiltily. "Oh no! Why didn't you wake me up! I didn't mean to fall asleep!" "Ryo thought you needed to and practically bit off my head when I suggested he move you.
Bikky's cheeks became red tinged for a moment but then he said, "Well, do you think you could move him? There's no reason for him to sleep in a chair when there's a perfectly good bed and he's sick and hurt." "Yeah, I can lift him." Dee slowly moved Ryo's head off his shoulder and stood up. Once standing, he gently picked Ryo up and carried him to the bed.
As he was laying Ryo down, the man's eyes opened sleepily. "Dee? What are you doing?" "Putting you on your bed. Go back to sleep." Ryo nodded and closed his eyes again. Dee turned back to the chairs and sat down, watching Ryo sleep.
"Dee?" "Yeah?" "Why is Ryo acting so normal?" Dee raised his eyebrow at the strange sounding comment, but understood what he meant. He meant, why is Ryo acting like nothing happened and why is he pretending it doesn't hurt at all? "I don't know. Something must have happened to him a long time ago. An accident maybe." Bikky watched Dee, as if to see if he were lying. "Alright." Then he settled back in the chair next to Dee.
"I still don't like you, bastard." "Well I don't like you either midget!" "I told you! I'm a kid, I'm supposed to be short!" "Keep fooling yourself, kid." Bikky replied by blowing him a raspberry. Dee got up, standing over Bikky threateningly, when a voice stopped them.
"No fighting you two. Dee, grow up. Bikky, just ignore Dee." Both of the fighters spun around and faced Ryo. "Hey! You're supposed to be asleep!" "Who could sleep through the racket you were making, idiot!" "Bikky, be nice." "Sorry Ryo."
"Hey Ryo.are you alright? You look kinda.really pale." "I'm fine." His voice sounded slightly annoyed. "I wish you would stop asking. I'll tell you if I feel bad." "I doubt it." Dee muttered, but put on an innocent face when Ryo glared at him.
"Sorry, geez." Ryo sighed, this was not going well, he wasn't feeling well and his shoulder was killing him. Despite the fact that he looked perfectly normal, the pain was extraordinary and he felt like the world was spinning around him. No wonder he looked pale.
"Look, I need to sleep so if you two wouldn't mind." "Yeah, yeah, we're going. Come on, Bikky." "Dee, would you please stay with Bikky tonight? I don't want to leave him alone." "Yeah sure. Not like I have anything better to do."
"Thanks." Ryo smiled tiredly, and Dee and Bikky left quietly, leaving Ryo in peace for the night. Ryo sank back into the pillow gratefully, he knew that he wouldn't be able to carry on a conversation much longer, to was to tired. He relaxed and instantly fell asleep.
**Ryo's Dream
He was walking down a hall, looking into the mirror at the end. As he watched, the mirror seemed to ripple, and then it settled to show Dee standing behind him. "Dee!" Ryo spun around and saw Dee was standing, clutching at his stomach, which was pouring blood. "Ryo! They found us; there's a spy in the ranks! Protect Bikky, he knows the answer!" With that Dee slumped over and lay lifeless on the floor.
Ryo's vision blurred and suddenly he was standing in front of Bikky, who was desperately fighting off three men. "Bikky!" He yelled, but Bikky didn't seem to hear him. Suddenly, Bikky gasped and fell over, a knife protruding from his back. "It's in the Cameo! Ryo! Remember!" Slowly, Bikky's lifeblood spilled onto the floor and the men left him alone, to die.
Suddenly, a pain filled Ryo's chest. It was worse then anything he could remember. Worse then the knife wound in his shoulder, and worse even, then anything that had happened in his past. His vision was beginning to grow dark and his nose filled with the stench of death, Dee's, Bikky's, and ultimately, his own.
A voice filled Ryo's head, "If you don't want this dream to come to pass.listen to my words.
Trouble lies hidden, In future in golden skin, Death of a boy finds it.
Soft, powdered like snow, Dangerous, death wrapped in bliss, Protect the one child.
Injured one, protect, Least your family fall prey, Take heed of warnings.
Ryo, do not forget these words or you condemn everyone you care about to death!"
**
Ryo woke up with a gasp. Panting heavily, he gripped his hair, sweat-soaked with fear. Suddenly he realized there were people watching him, speaking, trying to get his attention. "Mr. Maclean! Mr. Maclean! Can you hear me? Are you alright?" "I'm fine. Why are there so many people in here?" "Your heart just stopped beating. We were trying to revive you went you suddenly sat up, gasping for breath."
"Oh." "You appear to be fine. I can't say how you woke up.you had absolutely no signs of life anywhere in you. You weren't responding to any shock treatment at all. We were about to hook you up to life support when you woke up. You should count yourself lucky, Mr. Maclean, that was a miracle."
The doctor left the room while nurses checked Ryo's vital signs and informed him that he would be unable to return home in the morning, they wanted to keep him for at least two more days for observation, to ensure that this didn't happen again.
"Great. Is there a phone I can use? I need to call my ward and my partner." "There's one right here, on your nightstand." "Oh! Thank you. I hadn't noticed that." The nurse nodded and left ensured that the patient would be fine and Ryo picked up the phone.
"Dee? Hi. I'm afraid I have some bad news. What? Oh! No, I'm fine.They want to keep me here longer, for observation they said. Don't worry so much. What happened? I stopped breathing.Ow! No need to yell about it, you'll frighten Bikky. I told you not to worry. No, don't come down, visiting hours are over, there wouldn't be any point. Fine, I'll see you in the morning. Don't forget to make Bikky go to school. Thanks. Bye."
Ryo hang up the phone with a sigh. Dee had over-reacted, just like he thought he would. He sighed, remembering the nightmare he had been having when he.died. That was weird. He had died. And he lived to tell the tale.
He had seen Dee die.Bikky too. And then he was in pain, which must have been when he died. Then he heard that weird voice. It had been soothing and angry, gentle and impatient. Contradicting itself with it's love and hate. It had whispered something in his ear, what had it been? Oh, it was.
Trouble lies hidden, In future in golden skin, Death of a boy finds it.
Soft, powdered like snow, Dangerous, death wrapped in bliss, Protect the one child.
Injured one, protect, Least your family fall prey, Take heed of warnings.
It was strange. A combination of three haiku'. The first verse.Trouble lies hidden, Future holds in golden skin, Death of a boy finds it. It seemed to mean that there was trouble coming in the future, that it will come in a golden skin, and that it will be made known when a boy dies. But what on earth did it mean by a golden skin? What had a golden skin? Nothing he could think of.
He also had no idea what the second verse meant, except for the third line. Protect the one child. But what one child? There were millions of children in the world. How could anyone find just one? Was it the same child as the boy who dies in the first verse? There were so many different things it could mean.
The third verse was a little less confusing. The injured one, presumably himself, had to protect his family or they would be hurt. He had to listen to the warnings. Except that he had gotten no warnings. All he had gotten lately was a cold, a knife cut, and a hospital stay, not to mention three morbidly vague Haiku's.
Finally, Ryo shrugged it off. It was something that he had dreamt while dying. It didn't necessarily mean something. Then he realized that there was some loud shouting in the hall. "You let me in! I have to see him!" "You can't! It's past visiting hours!" "Move!" There was a muffled thud and steps ran down the hall and stopped in front of Ryo's room. To his shock (not really) Dee swung into the room.
"Ryo!" "Is there something so important that you couldn't wait until morning to tell me about? Or call about?" "You said you stopped breathing! You just.just.what's wrong with you?!" "What's wrong with me? Nothing. I'm sick, I'll get better, no problem. At least I don't come and beat nurse's up in order to yell at my partner at three in the morning."
Dee didn't look appeased. "How can you be so nonchalant about all this! You've been stabbed and you nearly DIED!" "Yes, I'm aware of that." "That's exactly what I mean! Why are you can't like nothing happened?!" "Because it isn't important in the scheme of things." "Not important! How can you think that your health is not important?"
"Of course my health is important, it just isn't important to whine about it. Why should I let something like this bother me?" Dee threw his hands in the air and would have begun to yell again when Ryo's eyes narrowed. "Where's Bikky?" "Oh.he's at home." "You left him alone! At three in the morning! What if he wakes up! You go home now!" Ryo was beginning to turn purple, while he wouldn't get riled up about his own health, when it came to Bikky, it didn't take much.
Seeing the look on Ryo's face, Dee fled the hospital, muttering an apology at the nurse he had knocked over to get to Ryo. She gave him a disdainful look and when to go and check on Ryo. When she found him, he was sitting in his bed, staring into space. "Mr. Maclean?" Ryo didn't answer. "Mr. Maclean?" Ryo jolted back to the real world. "Oh! Sorry, can I help you?" "I just wanted to make sure you were alright after that man was here.
"Yes, I'm fine. That was just my partner Dee. You don't have to worry about him, he's just worried." "Your.partner?" "Yes, he's a little impulsive.which is why I always have to write up apologies to the chief for him screwing up." "Oh! You're both police officers!" "Yes."
"You must be the one who saved the hostages yesterday." "Yes, that was me. One of them was my ward, Bikky." "Oh no! Is he alright?" "Yes, he's fine. Just feeling a little guilty." "That's to bad. Anyway, you should get to sleep. It's late and you had an exciting night."
"I'll do that. Thank you." "You're welcome. Goodnight." Ryo nodded and fell asleep, hoping for a dreamless night."
Ryo woke up in the morning, the scenes of the bloody corpses of his friends still in his mind. He drew in a staggered breath. It was the same every morning. He wasn't sure why they were suddenly starting. He hadn't had these types of dreams since he was a child, and then.they had always come true.
Ryo shook his head; they wouldn't be coming back now. These dreams couldn't come true. They wouldn't. The sight of the future was unreliable, the future changed everyday, every minute, nothing is ever certain. In some cases, he had been able to change what had happened in his dreams. Not often, but when they gave him help, it was sometimes possible.
Suddenly, the door to Ryo's room burst open and Dee and Bikky ran in, slamming it closed behind them.
"Dee? Bikky? What's wrong?" "Re-reporters." Dee gasped out between breaths. "Why are there reporters in the hospital? Ryo asked, looking bewildered.
"They want to talk to you. The big hero." "What? I didn't do anything." "You saved to hostages at the expense of getting stabbed yourself. The entire city knows what you did. This morning you were on the front page. "What?!" "Yup." "Oh no. This is terrible." Ryo sank back into his pillow with his hand covering his eyes.
"Why is that terrible? You got on the front page!" "Bad. Very bad. I have to leave! I have to get out of here!" "Ryo! Relax! It's just a few reporters." "No.can't let them.no more reporters." Ryo's eyes were wild and he seemed to he staring into space. "Ryo! Hey Ryo! Snap out of it." Dee reached over and lightly tapped Ryo on the cheek. When the man didn't respond, Dee hit him harder.
Ryo's hand flew to his cheek at the same time as the other flew up to protect his face. "Dee?" "What's wrong Ryo?" "Noth-." "Don't you say nothing, Ryo. I want to know what's wrong." "I-I-I." "You-You-You, what?" "I can't." Ryo whispered, shame coloring his voice.
"There's nothing to ashamed about Ryo. You can tell us." "We don't care what you say Ryo, we won't be angry." Ryo didn't answer, only looked down at the bed. "I'm.afraid." "Afraid of what Ryo?" "Of.my.past." "You're afraid of your past? But..I thought you said you had a good family?" "I did. My parents were the greatest people in the world. I loved them." "Then why did you have a bad childhood?" "My dreams." **End of chapter**
Bikky and Dee exchanged puzzled looks that Ryo couldn't see, since he was still looking at the bedsheets. "How could your dreams cause you to have a bad past? And what does that have to do with the reporters?" Ryo sighed. "When I was little, I used to have dreams that would." "That would what?" "Come true." Ryo's voice was so quiet, Dee had to strain to hear it.
Dee looked at Ryo, his mouth hanging open. "Did you just say that you had a bad life because you had dreams that came true?" Ryo's head nodded. "Ryo, that's-that's impossible." "I wish it was." Ryo sounded miserable. "You're serious, aren't you?" "Yes."
Dee flopped into a chair. "Well, what else?" "Once.I told my friend not to go swimming, because he was going to drown in the next few days. He laughed it off and didn't listen. Two days later, while he was swimming, he drowned. Right in front of the lifeguard. Later on, my teacher told my friends mother what I had said to him and the mother told the newspaper. My family had to move because people would bother me all the time. That was only the first time. That time I wasn't hurt, but other times I was.
"In one town, I was shot, in another, burned, another, beaten, another cut, and it happened several times. We moved a total of eleven times before I was eighteen and they were killed in a car accident. I was there but I survived. I haven't had a dream since that accident and now they're returning. The reason I don't like reporters is because every time I had a dream and tried to help the person I dreamed about, the reporters would make it known and if the person died, then we would have to move again."
Ryo stopped talking. He had told his tale and now waited for what Dee and Bikky would say. There was a long uncomfortable silence before Bikky stood up and sat on Ryo's bed, hesitantly wrapping his arms around the man's neck. Ryo stiffened, but didn't move away.
"Ryo.Don't worry. If you haven't had any dreams since that accident then those reporters won't write anything like that about you. Right?" "Wrong. Each time an article was written about me and my dreams, the report would include all the other times I had had dreams. Reporters do good research, they'll find everything again. And, the dreams have begun again."
"Who is it Ryo?" "I-I can't say." "Are we back to this again? Tell us Ryo. Maybe we can do something." "No, the only person who can do anything is me. I can inform the victims and I will. Then I will see what I can do with the clues in my dreams."
"Tell us who it is." "It is.the both of you." Bikky stiffened next to Ryo and Dee let out a strangled sound. "Ryo? Ryo, am I going to die?" Asked Bikky, sounding slightly tearful. "Not if I can piece together the clues and I will. I've saved most of the people in my dreams. The ones who believed me anyway." "What are the clues you have?"
"A riddle and few random sentences. The riddle is:
Trouble lies hidden, In future in golden skin, Death of a boy finds it.
Soft, powdered like snow, Dangerous, death wrapped in bliss, Protect the one child.
Injured one, protect, Least your family fall prey, Take heed of warnings.
Also, something about a cameo, and Bikky learning the answer. Other then that, I don't know what the riddle means. I've assumed that it means that there is trouble coming, and that it will be revealed with the death of a boy. Not Bikky. I can't figure out what the second verse is, other than that the one child is Bikky. I am in injured one in the last verse and I have to solve the riddles so that you stay alive."
"Well, I'm sure we'll figure it out, I have no intention of dying anytime soon." "You aren't worried?" "Nah, we'll figure it out. Ryo, can I ask you something?" "Yeah." "In your dreams.how did we die?" "I don't want to answer that." Said Ryo, his face suddenly pale. Dee noticed this and for once dropped the subject; not sure he wanted to know.
"Well, you'll have to talk to the reporters eventually. If only one for a minute, just so that they'll leave you alone. Tomorrow they'll have moved onto something else and you can go on with life." "I hope you're right." "Now, which one would you like to talk to?" "I don't care. Whichever you pick. The most honest one I guess."
"I'll be right back." Dee left the room, leaving Ryo and Bikky alone. "Bikky, you will not die. Everyone who has believed me has lived. I promise I'll protect you." Bikky nodded, obviously still frightened. "Bikky, whatever you do, stay out of alleys. Especially if you are being chased. Do you understand?" "Yes." Bikky stayed sitting there, with his arms around Ryo, and didn't move when Dee entered with the reporter.
"Hello, Mr. Maclean. Haven't seen you for awhile." **End of Chapter**
Ryo wasn't feeling well. It looked like his cold was returning. "Ah-ah-ah- choooo!" He sneezed loudly, blowing papers across the table. His partner, Dee, looked up in concern. "Ryo, are you alright? You don't look so good." "Fine, I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
Dee gave his partner a half-worried, half-angry look. Worried about his partners health and angry because he was being brushed off. "If you're not feeling well you should go home." "I said I'm fine." "Alright then. Sorry I care." "Dee, look, I just haven't been sleeping well. I'll be fine. I'm sorry to snap at you." Dee nodded, but didn't look any less concerned.
Relieved that Dee was dropping the subject, Ryo continued with his paperwork. Suddenly, JJ came running in. "Senpai! We have another hostage case! Ryo, you're with me." Ryo stood up quickly, but had to sit back down just as quickly, the world spinning around him.
"Ryo?" "I'm fine." Ryo pushed himself up again, slower this time and was happy to find that the world stayed firmly were it was. "Come on then!" Ryo followed JJ and Dee joined the ground squad. When the arrived at the scene, the captain walked over to them.
"Alright, we need you two on opposite sides of the street. Randy, other there." He pointed right. "JJ, you're over there." He pointed left. "The criminals have two hostages this time. One each. They tried to rob a bank. They got about a thousand dollars and then realized that we were outside. Each of them grabbed the nearest person. A 10-year-old boy and middle aged woman. Your job is to stop them if they try to make a run for it."
"Are they armed?" "They have one gun and each a knife." "Great. Alright Chief, we'll be ready for them." With that, Ryo walked down the street. He gun propped against his shoulder. He shuttered. He really hated assignments like this. For one, they always happened when he was sick, and also because he was afraid of hitting a hostage.
With a sigh he began to set up. It was slow work, because he was really sick. When this was over, he would have to go home. What he had told Dee was true; he hadn't been sleeping well. For some reason, his sleep was haunted with nightmares. On top of that, he wasn't feeling well.
Suddenly, the action began. Ryo swung his gun onto his shoulder and aimed at the door of the bank were the hostages were. He saw that each of them held a knife to their hostages' necks and one of them had a gun wedged in his hand as well. Ryo looked at the hostages, the woman looked to be in her thirties and she had black hair. About medium height, she looked to weigh somewhere around 130 pounds.
Then Ryo turned his attention to the boy. He had stunningly blond hair, contrasting with this dark tan skin. The boy was wearing a hat pulled low over his eyes, in fact; he looked familiar. "Bikky!" Ryo whispered. One of the hostages was his ward!
Ryo saw that Dee had noticed this as well, and knew that this was going to be one of his hardest assignments yet. He couldn't let the criminals harm Bikky. There was a great deal of shouting and suddenly the man holding the gun fired into the air.
"The next shot will go into this boy if you don't let us through!" He yelled, catching the attention of all the people on the street. The police exchanged uneasy looks, they couldn't let the child be harmed. They drew back, allowing the perpetrators room to pass. "Why thank you." Said the man with the gun. Ryo watched as they moved closer to where he was hiding with the gun.
In a second, he realized he had a shot. As they walked by, probably on their way to a get-away car, Ryo shot at the man holding the woman and the gun. He went down with a curse, the gun discharging in air. In the same breath, Ryo slammed his body into the man holding Bikky.
That man was down as well and Ryo rammed the butt of his gun into his neck as a precaution. The man moaned and passed out. Ryo turned to check on the other man and saw that he was still conscious. He ran over to him and repeated the treatment he had given to his partner. He too, was knocked unconscious.
"Bikky, are you alright? How about you ma'am?" The woman screamed as he turned to her and Bikky gasped. "R-ryo! You-you're hurt!" "What? No I'm- .Oohhh." Ryo hadn't noticed until that time that somewhere in the fight, one of the knifes had become lodged in his shoulder.
He staggered slightly and sank to his knees. "Ryo!" Bikky shouted, drawing the attention of the police officers running towards the group. Dee was in the lead and he sped up when he realized something was wrong with his partner. When he arrived, he was shocked to see the blood surrounding Ryo.
"Oh my god!" "Don't worry Dee, it's.not.so bad." Ryo gasped out between pain-filled breathes. "Somebody get an ambulance over here!" Ryo shuttered and suddenly fell over, lying limp on the ground. "Ryo! No Ryo! Wake up!" Bikky was nearly hysterical, the only person he had left who cared about him was laying in a pool of his own blood, unconscious.
Bikky felt hands grab his shoulders, he looked back and saw a female police officer trying to drag him away from the scene. "Come on kid, this is no place for you." "No! You have to let me stay! Ryo is my.my.well he adopted me! I have to stay with him." "It's alright Janet, Bikky can handle it." Bikky looked over in surprise at the voice that had spoken. Dee's voice was flat with worry and he hovered around Ryo, not sure what to do.
Just then the ambulance pulled up and the paramedics quickly checked to make sure that Ryo was still breathing. Then, with utmost care, they pulled the knife out and bandaged the wound tightly, so that he would not bleed to death. Then they loaded him in the ambulance, Dee jumping in with them, pulling Bikky behind him. As the ambulance pulled away, the officers still at the scene handcuffed the unconscious men and dragged them to the cars, not being overly gentle with the people who had just wounded one of their own. **
"Well?" "We had to give him twenty stitches. The wound was deep and fairly wide. On top of that, it seems that Mr. Maclean also has a more serious case of the flu. He needs to rest for several days and drink a lot of fluid. He cannot go back to work for a month, unless it's just deskwork. No more chases. Understood? Good. We'll keep him over night and then you can come and pick him up in the morning. Have these prescriptions filled out. This one is for pain, this one for the flu, and this is for infections and cleaning the wound. Now you may go and see him if you like, he's in room 123."
Dee gaped as the doctor walked away. So much information crammed into so few words. He snapped back to attention when Bikky pulled on his shirt. "Come on, we have to go see Ryo!" "Alright already. I'm coming." They found the room quickly and saw that Ryo was awake and waiting for them.
"Hello Dee, Bikky. How are you?" He asked, sounding so normal that Dee and Bikky started at him. "What's wrong? Is something the matter?" Ryo asked, now sounding worried, "The other hostage, she's alright isn't she? I never got a chance to find out." "She-she's fine Ryo, but, but you're in the hospital!" "Yes I noticed that." Said Ryo thoughtfully.
"Why were you at the bank to begin with Bikky?" Ryo asked suddenly, his eyes sharp with attention. "I-well that is- I." "He noticed two men wearing long trench coats enter the bank and was suspicious. He went in and saw the gun poking out of the sleeve of one. He was the one who called the police."
"Good job Bikky. That was good thinking!" Ryo praised his ward. "Bu-but it's my fault you got stabbed!" "Stabbed? Oh! You mean this?" He pointed at his shoulder. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it. Doesn't hurt that much. I'm just glad you're safe." He looked into Bikky's eyes and saw tears were brimming in them.
"Come here Bikky." He motioned for the boy to come closer. "You see, when I saw that you were one of the hostages, I was really afraid for you. I knew that I had to do anything I could to save you. The price was not a high one. I'm fine, you're fine, and the bad guys are in jail. You see? Everything is fine."
"How can you say that? You had to get twenty stitches!" Ryo shrugged, "I've had worse. It wasn't so bad." Dee gave Ryo a sharp look; not sure what to make of that statement, Ryo knew that Dee would be questioning him later when Bikky wasn't there.
"I'm sorry Ryo!" "Shh.There's nothing to be sorry for. You were a big help in catching those guys." Bikky's breathing quivered and a tear fell down his face. Ryo noticed this and pulled the boy onto the bed with him. Bikky flung his arms around the man's stomach and sobbed into his chest. Ryo heard Dee leave the room quietly, respecting their privacy.
"It's alright Bikky." Ryo cooed from time to time, letting the boy cry himself out. After a while, Bikky cried himself to sleep and Ryo got up and put the boy in his bed, walking over to the chair were his clothes were and quickly changed into them, then sat down in the chair to fight the wave of dizziness that passed over him.
When the dizziness passed, he noticed a nurse looking into the door. "Mr. Maclean! What are you doing out of bed?! You should be sleeping! You're sick! And injured." "I'm fine, Bikky needed somewhere to sleep, he feels really bad about what happened." "You should have just let him sleep in a chair or something." Dee's voice interceded. "I won't have you making yourself more sick then you already are." "Well, you can't move Bikky until he wakes up. I forbid it." Ryo said firmly, ignoring the fact that he was so weak he would probably fall over if he stood up, much less tried to fight Dee.
Dee noticed Ryo's weakness, but also saw the determination in his eyes. He decided that Ryo would more likely hurt himself further if he tried to press the subject, so he let it go. "Fine, but the second he's up, you're getting into that bed." "Fine Dee." The nurse looked like she was going to say something, but a look from Dee stopped her.
"Fine! Nobody listen to what is best for the patient!" She threw her hands into the air in exasperation. "Won't you at least go sleep in a different room?" "No. I can't let Bikky wake up alone." "I'll stay with him." Dee volunteered, anxious to get his partner into a bed. "No offence Dee, but Bikky hates you. I don't think you're the best person for him to wake up and see." Dee nodded and entered the room, sitting on the chair next to Ryo.
"Then why don't you at least try to sleep? If you can in these god awful chairs anyway." "Alright Dee. I'll try." He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. He was surprised when Dee tilted his head over and rested it on his shoulder. "Dee?" "I figured you'd be more comfortable leaning on my shoulder than on the wall."
Ryo looked into Dee's eyes, but saw nothing in them but worry. "Uh, alright, thanks." Ryo laid his head back down and quickly went to sleep, not feeling as well as he claimed to be. As Ryo slept, Dee looked down at his partner, wondering what was wrong.
"You had loving parents, I know that.but what about the rest of your childhood? What happened that you don't think getting stabbed is painful? Why do you risk so much to take care of one child?" He sat in thought, watching Ryo, the man's face innocent and childlike in sleep.
Ryo seemed to hide so much, normally seeming slightly out of it, but when he wanted, Ryo could have the most intense gaze Dee had ever seen. What could he have meant? He'd had worse then twenty stitches before? What had happened to him? Dee growled, it was so frustrating, not being able to find out what had happened.
Suddenly Bikky stirred on the bed and sat up. "Ryo?" He muttered, nearly incoherently. "Ryo's asleep." Dee gestured to his shoulder and Bikky looked at Ryo sleeping guiltily. "Oh no! Why didn't you wake me up! I didn't mean to fall asleep!" "Ryo thought you needed to and practically bit off my head when I suggested he move you.
Bikky's cheeks became red tinged for a moment but then he said, "Well, do you think you could move him? There's no reason for him to sleep in a chair when there's a perfectly good bed and he's sick and hurt." "Yeah, I can lift him." Dee slowly moved Ryo's head off his shoulder and stood up. Once standing, he gently picked Ryo up and carried him to the bed.
As he was laying Ryo down, the man's eyes opened sleepily. "Dee? What are you doing?" "Putting you on your bed. Go back to sleep." Ryo nodded and closed his eyes again. Dee turned back to the chairs and sat down, watching Ryo sleep.
"Dee?" "Yeah?" "Why is Ryo acting so normal?" Dee raised his eyebrow at the strange sounding comment, but understood what he meant. He meant, why is Ryo acting like nothing happened and why is he pretending it doesn't hurt at all? "I don't know. Something must have happened to him a long time ago. An accident maybe." Bikky watched Dee, as if to see if he were lying. "Alright." Then he settled back in the chair next to Dee.
"I still don't like you, bastard." "Well I don't like you either midget!" "I told you! I'm a kid, I'm supposed to be short!" "Keep fooling yourself, kid." Bikky replied by blowing him a raspberry. Dee got up, standing over Bikky threateningly, when a voice stopped them.
"No fighting you two. Dee, grow up. Bikky, just ignore Dee." Both of the fighters spun around and faced Ryo. "Hey! You're supposed to be asleep!" "Who could sleep through the racket you were making, idiot!" "Bikky, be nice." "Sorry Ryo."
"Hey Ryo.are you alright? You look kinda.really pale." "I'm fine." His voice sounded slightly annoyed. "I wish you would stop asking. I'll tell you if I feel bad." "I doubt it." Dee muttered, but put on an innocent face when Ryo glared at him.
"Sorry, geez." Ryo sighed, this was not going well, he wasn't feeling well and his shoulder was killing him. Despite the fact that he looked perfectly normal, the pain was extraordinary and he felt like the world was spinning around him. No wonder he looked pale.
"Look, I need to sleep so if you two wouldn't mind." "Yeah, yeah, we're going. Come on, Bikky." "Dee, would you please stay with Bikky tonight? I don't want to leave him alone." "Yeah sure. Not like I have anything better to do."
"Thanks." Ryo smiled tiredly, and Dee and Bikky left quietly, leaving Ryo in peace for the night. Ryo sank back into the pillow gratefully, he knew that he wouldn't be able to carry on a conversation much longer, to was to tired. He relaxed and instantly fell asleep.
**Ryo's Dream
He was walking down a hall, looking into the mirror at the end. As he watched, the mirror seemed to ripple, and then it settled to show Dee standing behind him. "Dee!" Ryo spun around and saw Dee was standing, clutching at his stomach, which was pouring blood. "Ryo! They found us; there's a spy in the ranks! Protect Bikky, he knows the answer!" With that Dee slumped over and lay lifeless on the floor.
Ryo's vision blurred and suddenly he was standing in front of Bikky, who was desperately fighting off three men. "Bikky!" He yelled, but Bikky didn't seem to hear him. Suddenly, Bikky gasped and fell over, a knife protruding from his back. "It's in the Cameo! Ryo! Remember!" Slowly, Bikky's lifeblood spilled onto the floor and the men left him alone, to die.
Suddenly, a pain filled Ryo's chest. It was worse then anything he could remember. Worse then the knife wound in his shoulder, and worse even, then anything that had happened in his past. His vision was beginning to grow dark and his nose filled with the stench of death, Dee's, Bikky's, and ultimately, his own.
A voice filled Ryo's head, "If you don't want this dream to come to pass.listen to my words.
Trouble lies hidden, In future in golden skin, Death of a boy finds it.
Soft, powdered like snow, Dangerous, death wrapped in bliss, Protect the one child.
Injured one, protect, Least your family fall prey, Take heed of warnings.
Ryo, do not forget these words or you condemn everyone you care about to death!"
**
Ryo woke up with a gasp. Panting heavily, he gripped his hair, sweat-soaked with fear. Suddenly he realized there were people watching him, speaking, trying to get his attention. "Mr. Maclean! Mr. Maclean! Can you hear me? Are you alright?" "I'm fine. Why are there so many people in here?" "Your heart just stopped beating. We were trying to revive you went you suddenly sat up, gasping for breath."
"Oh." "You appear to be fine. I can't say how you woke up.you had absolutely no signs of life anywhere in you. You weren't responding to any shock treatment at all. We were about to hook you up to life support when you woke up. You should count yourself lucky, Mr. Maclean, that was a miracle."
The doctor left the room while nurses checked Ryo's vital signs and informed him that he would be unable to return home in the morning, they wanted to keep him for at least two more days for observation, to ensure that this didn't happen again.
"Great. Is there a phone I can use? I need to call my ward and my partner." "There's one right here, on your nightstand." "Oh! Thank you. I hadn't noticed that." The nurse nodded and left ensured that the patient would be fine and Ryo picked up the phone.
"Dee? Hi. I'm afraid I have some bad news. What? Oh! No, I'm fine.They want to keep me here longer, for observation they said. Don't worry so much. What happened? I stopped breathing.Ow! No need to yell about it, you'll frighten Bikky. I told you not to worry. No, don't come down, visiting hours are over, there wouldn't be any point. Fine, I'll see you in the morning. Don't forget to make Bikky go to school. Thanks. Bye."
Ryo hang up the phone with a sigh. Dee had over-reacted, just like he thought he would. He sighed, remembering the nightmare he had been having when he.died. That was weird. He had died. And he lived to tell the tale.
He had seen Dee die.Bikky too. And then he was in pain, which must have been when he died. Then he heard that weird voice. It had been soothing and angry, gentle and impatient. Contradicting itself with it's love and hate. It had whispered something in his ear, what had it been? Oh, it was.
Trouble lies hidden, In future in golden skin, Death of a boy finds it.
Soft, powdered like snow, Dangerous, death wrapped in bliss, Protect the one child.
Injured one, protect, Least your family fall prey, Take heed of warnings.
It was strange. A combination of three haiku'. The first verse.Trouble lies hidden, Future holds in golden skin, Death of a boy finds it. It seemed to mean that there was trouble coming in the future, that it will come in a golden skin, and that it will be made known when a boy dies. But what on earth did it mean by a golden skin? What had a golden skin? Nothing he could think of.
He also had no idea what the second verse meant, except for the third line. Protect the one child. But what one child? There were millions of children in the world. How could anyone find just one? Was it the same child as the boy who dies in the first verse? There were so many different things it could mean.
The third verse was a little less confusing. The injured one, presumably himself, had to protect his family or they would be hurt. He had to listen to the warnings. Except that he had gotten no warnings. All he had gotten lately was a cold, a knife cut, and a hospital stay, not to mention three morbidly vague Haiku's.
Finally, Ryo shrugged it off. It was something that he had dreamt while dying. It didn't necessarily mean something. Then he realized that there was some loud shouting in the hall. "You let me in! I have to see him!" "You can't! It's past visiting hours!" "Move!" There was a muffled thud and steps ran down the hall and stopped in front of Ryo's room. To his shock (not really) Dee swung into the room.
"Ryo!" "Is there something so important that you couldn't wait until morning to tell me about? Or call about?" "You said you stopped breathing! You just.just.what's wrong with you?!" "What's wrong with me? Nothing. I'm sick, I'll get better, no problem. At least I don't come and beat nurse's up in order to yell at my partner at three in the morning."
Dee didn't look appeased. "How can you be so nonchalant about all this! You've been stabbed and you nearly DIED!" "Yes, I'm aware of that." "That's exactly what I mean! Why are you can't like nothing happened?!" "Because it isn't important in the scheme of things." "Not important! How can you think that your health is not important?"
"Of course my health is important, it just isn't important to whine about it. Why should I let something like this bother me?" Dee threw his hands in the air and would have begun to yell again when Ryo's eyes narrowed. "Where's Bikky?" "Oh.he's at home." "You left him alone! At three in the morning! What if he wakes up! You go home now!" Ryo was beginning to turn purple, while he wouldn't get riled up about his own health, when it came to Bikky, it didn't take much.
Seeing the look on Ryo's face, Dee fled the hospital, muttering an apology at the nurse he had knocked over to get to Ryo. She gave him a disdainful look and when to go and check on Ryo. When she found him, he was sitting in his bed, staring into space. "Mr. Maclean?" Ryo didn't answer. "Mr. Maclean?" Ryo jolted back to the real world. "Oh! Sorry, can I help you?" "I just wanted to make sure you were alright after that man was here.
"Yes, I'm fine. That was just my partner Dee. You don't have to worry about him, he's just worried." "Your.partner?" "Yes, he's a little impulsive.which is why I always have to write up apologies to the chief for him screwing up." "Oh! You're both police officers!" "Yes."
"You must be the one who saved the hostages yesterday." "Yes, that was me. One of them was my ward, Bikky." "Oh no! Is he alright?" "Yes, he's fine. Just feeling a little guilty." "That's to bad. Anyway, you should get to sleep. It's late and you had an exciting night."
"I'll do that. Thank you." "You're welcome. Goodnight." Ryo nodded and fell asleep, hoping for a dreamless night."
Ryo woke up in the morning, the scenes of the bloody corpses of his friends still in his mind. He drew in a staggered breath. It was the same every morning. He wasn't sure why they were suddenly starting. He hadn't had these types of dreams since he was a child, and then.they had always come true.
Ryo shook his head; they wouldn't be coming back now. These dreams couldn't come true. They wouldn't. The sight of the future was unreliable, the future changed everyday, every minute, nothing is ever certain. In some cases, he had been able to change what had happened in his dreams. Not often, but when they gave him help, it was sometimes possible.
Suddenly, the door to Ryo's room burst open and Dee and Bikky ran in, slamming it closed behind them.
"Dee? Bikky? What's wrong?" "Re-reporters." Dee gasped out between breaths. "Why are there reporters in the hospital? Ryo asked, looking bewildered.
"They want to talk to you. The big hero." "What? I didn't do anything." "You saved to hostages at the expense of getting stabbed yourself. The entire city knows what you did. This morning you were on the front page. "What?!" "Yup." "Oh no. This is terrible." Ryo sank back into his pillow with his hand covering his eyes.
"Why is that terrible? You got on the front page!" "Bad. Very bad. I have to leave! I have to get out of here!" "Ryo! Relax! It's just a few reporters." "No.can't let them.no more reporters." Ryo's eyes were wild and he seemed to he staring into space. "Ryo! Hey Ryo! Snap out of it." Dee reached over and lightly tapped Ryo on the cheek. When the man didn't respond, Dee hit him harder.
Ryo's hand flew to his cheek at the same time as the other flew up to protect his face. "Dee?" "What's wrong Ryo?" "Noth-." "Don't you say nothing, Ryo. I want to know what's wrong." "I-I-I." "You-You-You, what?" "I can't." Ryo whispered, shame coloring his voice.
"There's nothing to ashamed about Ryo. You can tell us." "We don't care what you say Ryo, we won't be angry." Ryo didn't answer, only looked down at the bed. "I'm.afraid." "Afraid of what Ryo?" "Of.my.past." "You're afraid of your past? But..I thought you said you had a good family?" "I did. My parents were the greatest people in the world. I loved them." "Then why did you have a bad childhood?" "My dreams." **End of chapter**
Bikky and Dee exchanged puzzled looks that Ryo couldn't see, since he was still looking at the bedsheets. "How could your dreams cause you to have a bad past? And what does that have to do with the reporters?" Ryo sighed. "When I was little, I used to have dreams that would." "That would what?" "Come true." Ryo's voice was so quiet, Dee had to strain to hear it.
Dee looked at Ryo, his mouth hanging open. "Did you just say that you had a bad life because you had dreams that came true?" Ryo's head nodded. "Ryo, that's-that's impossible." "I wish it was." Ryo sounded miserable. "You're serious, aren't you?" "Yes."
Dee flopped into a chair. "Well, what else?" "Once.I told my friend not to go swimming, because he was going to drown in the next few days. He laughed it off and didn't listen. Two days later, while he was swimming, he drowned. Right in front of the lifeguard. Later on, my teacher told my friends mother what I had said to him and the mother told the newspaper. My family had to move because people would bother me all the time. That was only the first time. That time I wasn't hurt, but other times I was.
"In one town, I was shot, in another, burned, another, beaten, another cut, and it happened several times. We moved a total of eleven times before I was eighteen and they were killed in a car accident. I was there but I survived. I haven't had a dream since that accident and now they're returning. The reason I don't like reporters is because every time I had a dream and tried to help the person I dreamed about, the reporters would make it known and if the person died, then we would have to move again."
Ryo stopped talking. He had told his tale and now waited for what Dee and Bikky would say. There was a long uncomfortable silence before Bikky stood up and sat on Ryo's bed, hesitantly wrapping his arms around the man's neck. Ryo stiffened, but didn't move away.
"Ryo.Don't worry. If you haven't had any dreams since that accident then those reporters won't write anything like that about you. Right?" "Wrong. Each time an article was written about me and my dreams, the report would include all the other times I had had dreams. Reporters do good research, they'll find everything again. And, the dreams have begun again."
"Who is it Ryo?" "I-I can't say." "Are we back to this again? Tell us Ryo. Maybe we can do something." "No, the only person who can do anything is me. I can inform the victims and I will. Then I will see what I can do with the clues in my dreams."
"Tell us who it is." "It is.the both of you." Bikky stiffened next to Ryo and Dee let out a strangled sound. "Ryo? Ryo, am I going to die?" Asked Bikky, sounding slightly tearful. "Not if I can piece together the clues and I will. I've saved most of the people in my dreams. The ones who believed me anyway." "What are the clues you have?"
"A riddle and few random sentences. The riddle is:
Trouble lies hidden, In future in golden skin, Death of a boy finds it.
Soft, powdered like snow, Dangerous, death wrapped in bliss, Protect the one child.
Injured one, protect, Least your family fall prey, Take heed of warnings.
Also, something about a cameo, and Bikky learning the answer. Other then that, I don't know what the riddle means. I've assumed that it means that there is trouble coming, and that it will be revealed with the death of a boy. Not Bikky. I can't figure out what the second verse is, other than that the one child is Bikky. I am in injured one in the last verse and I have to solve the riddles so that you stay alive."
"Well, I'm sure we'll figure it out, I have no intention of dying anytime soon." "You aren't worried?" "Nah, we'll figure it out. Ryo, can I ask you something?" "Yeah." "In your dreams.how did we die?" "I don't want to answer that." Said Ryo, his face suddenly pale. Dee noticed this and for once dropped the subject; not sure he wanted to know.
"Well, you'll have to talk to the reporters eventually. If only one for a minute, just so that they'll leave you alone. Tomorrow they'll have moved onto something else and you can go on with life." "I hope you're right." "Now, which one would you like to talk to?" "I don't care. Whichever you pick. The most honest one I guess."
"I'll be right back." Dee left the room, leaving Ryo and Bikky alone. "Bikky, you will not die. Everyone who has believed me has lived. I promise I'll protect you." Bikky nodded, obviously still frightened. "Bikky, whatever you do, stay out of alleys. Especially if you are being chased. Do you understand?" "Yes." Bikky stayed sitting there, with his arms around Ryo, and didn't move when Dee entered with the reporter.
"Hello, Mr. Maclean. Haven't seen you for awhile." **End of Chapter**