"From Time to Time the Tree of Liberty must be refreshed with the Blood of Patriots."-Thomas Jefferson.

Inside the Eye of the Mind

As Tsuniko rounded the corner away from the scuffle she remembered that she still had to ask her John Doe some questions…well Alex.

She moved down the hallway slowly, her mind wandering and her not paying attention to her surroundings. She passed Alex's room once before realizing were she was.

She walked in quietly as Alex was completely absorbed by the television…he was watching CNN.

"You know I never really find that stuff very interesting."

Alex turned his head and then shook his head. "You really should, countries' policy determines our life."

She shrugged, "We can debate politics later, for now I have some questions." She then grabbed the clip-board off the rack in his room. And got a pencil before sitting down.

"So what questions have you got for me Doc?"

Taking her pencil out of her mouth…she realized shed been chewing on it. "First I'm just a nurse….your 'doc' is Doctor Callihan.

"Now to start off I'm just gonna give you the basics. Do you have a social security number?"

Alex's face took on a confused look, "No…where I come from we didn't have them."

Shaking her head Tsuniko rubbed the bridge of her nose, "And were would that be?"

Alex looked down then thought hard…he couldn't remember…he felt he knew but simply couldn't remember. He frowned and looked back into Tsuniko's eyes.

"No…I don't know I…I'm sorry." He looked down sad for being unable to help.

Feeling bad for showing her annoyance she put on a comforting smile, something she was good at due to her profession. And then moved on with her questions. "Now don't get upset…I'll just write you down to be checked for amnesia. OK?"

He nodded and so she continued her questions. "Now were was I…Oh yeah…Do you have any friends or family that we can contact?" Before he answered Tsuniko's own lost family flashed through her mind.

At that question she got more response than she had ever gotten from Alex in the past month she'd taken care of him.

Alex's eyes widened as he began to shake…I…They're dead…I don't…know…I don't remember. I they were…taken…from me…I couldn't stop it."

Alex's breathing was quick and short and the heart monitor was a continuous beep as images flashed through his mind in quick sequences, images of friends, of family, and of their faces.

He however could not remember anything but their faces. It was only a blur.

Tsuniko leaned fore-ward and put her hand on Alex's shoulder. He barely noticed but he did slowly relax. Tsuniko leaned foreward after Alex's eyes re-focused and put on a comforting smile, "We can finish this some other time." Standing and turning to walk out she looked back and shivered.

Alex looked….haunted.

April 9th Saturday

It was dark in the small apartment and it was still early. But this darkness didn't really have much to do with the time, as the sun was beginning to rise over the outskirts of the city, signaling the start of a new day.

It was this exact moment that Tsuniko chose to wake up, after she opened her eyes she wished she hadn't. She scrunched her eyes closed rather quickly and threw her hand up in front of her face.

'Uggg I don't want to wake up, what time is it?'

Tsuniko rolled over and looked directly at her Alarm Clock wich read 6:08.

'Damn, its this early on a Saturday morning and I can sleep….oh well.'

With a sigh she forced herself out from under the comforter and planted her feet firmly on the ground before forcing herself up. Once standing she shook her head to clear her mind and put her arms out by her sides to steady herself and walked quickly across the wood floor of her apartment, in only socks and a loose fitting t-shirt.

After slugging through an 'oh too warm shower' Tsuniko slogged out to her small kitchen and began to search for Breakfast, when a realization hit her.

'OH crap! I forgot to go shopping…I was so mad yesterday that I forgot, and now I don't have any food.'

Just as her face took on a rather forlorn look and her stomach growled in need a friendly voice could be heard behind her.

"From the way your stomach sounds, I don't think you would make it to the store…oh…and nice t-shirt."

Tsuniko jumped and turned to glare and shout at her friend James Callihan when she noticed the two large grocery bags in each arm that he had.

He stood smiling at the girl and then proceeded to walk past her to set the two grocery bags on the counter and began to unload them into her refrigerator.

She stood openly gaping at the man who had just barged into her home with her hair still wet and with her still partially clothed.

It took a few seconds for her to start screaming at him….friend or not.

She closed her eyes and balled her hands into fists and took several deep breathes.

"James….it is 7AM in the morning, you have barged into my apartment, I'm half naked, and I am tired. Do you not see anything wrong with this picture?"

James Callihan looked up and then over at the peeved young women who was very nearly smoking from rage, he had expected shed be mad he'd used his key to get in, but he also hadn't expected her to be awake.

After setting down the eggs he was currently holding he turned and took a few steps to his right and got himself between Tsuniko and the kitchen knives.

Or that's what he would of done...had he not then realized the proximity of the nicely built teenage girl.

He stopped, eyes unintentionally locking on her bust before answering, "No I do not see anything wrong at all."

Tsuniko's rage rose rather quickly as she registered his comment, ' That stupid pervert is ogling me in my own home!' And then she let out a light growl before reaching up and grabbing the man by the ear and dragging him towards the door by his ear.

As he was being drug by his ear it was rather hard for James to respond, but he did try.

"Tsuniko, I'm sorry I didn't-" He was cut short as she shoved him out into the hallway and the door slammed in his face.

He heard her behind the door, "And stay out!"

James sat in the middle of the hallway to Tsuniko's apartment looking at the door. All he had wanted to do was apologize for the problems with Peter yesterday, oh well such was life. He turned to leave, and then realized that his car keys were on Tsuniko's counter….

Space

Tsuniko finished the last of her eggs and toast and hummed as she began to clean up her breakfast.

She noticed then for the first times two things, that James pleading to be let in had stopped….and that the keys to the man's car were on the counter in her apartment.

When the realization hit her that her friend had been stuck out in the hallway because of her she instantly felt bad. And moved rather quickly to open her door and let him in, previous insults forgotten.

She opened the door to find him sitting next to the door asleep with his head resting on his knees. She smiled….and then threw his car keys at his head. They connected and woke up James who was quick to thank her and to get up to leave.

James was quick to stand and start to walk away, assuming that his attempt to plan a day of fun had failed thanks to a few misplaced comments.

"You don't have to leave…I'm not that mad anymore."

With a brightened smile and a slight mischeviousness in his eyes, the middle aged doctor turned around. "Alright then, get your coat, you are going to enjoy yourself today, no matter how moody you may be."

Tsuniko shook her head before turning around and going to get her coat.

Space

She walked slowly into her apartment and glanced towards her clock in disgust.

It was 4:22 AM in the morning and she had only just got home. That was the last time she was going to do anything LIKE that ever again.

She had spent time with James from 9AM this last morning to fifteen minutes ago when she had driven the slightly tipsy man home. The thought of the car ride home and how out there the man had been was enough for a chuckle.

With a sigh she trudged into her room unbuckling her pants and leaving them on the floor, and doing the same to her shirt before collapsing into her bed and pulling the covers over herself and drifting into an uneasy sleep.

Space

It is scary how precise dreams and memories are in their realism. Scary how truly crystal they are in their images, sensations, and sounds.

She hated when her sub-councious did this, she was forced to follow the little girl and her family walking down a cold winter street, on a night that they honestly shouldn't of been out on.

Her family was walking along a street some were in Nashville, during winter, so they all had on one form of a warm clothing.

The street was more or less abandoned as it was of a late hour and as they turned a corner she felt the pull to follow and closed her eyes, tears sliding down beneath her eyes and falling off her cheek.

She turned the corner and her brain finally decided to bring her sound to this memory as her father discovered that their family car, a slightly run down van, was being broken into.

Her father did the first thing he could think of, he shoved an 8 year old Tsuniko and her mother behind him and then walked forward to confront the auto thief.

"Hey you there get away from that car!"

The car thief looked up, his face was dirty, drawn, and his eyes bloodshot.

Frowning the man reached in his pocket and pulled out a shiny revolver.

Tsuniko's father's eyes widened and he put his arms up after pushing his wife and daughter behind him.

"Take anything you want, just leave me and my family be."

The dirty man moved closer to them before responding in a very scratchy dried out voice, "I was plannin on doin jus that."

He turned to walk towards their car before then turning back around and coming within a few feet of the family of three.

"But y'all have already seen my face, so I can't jus let ya stand there an gape."

Things seemed to slow as the car thief moved his gun up to point at her father, his death however was not meant to be. Her father ducked low and took as step fore ward, the shot from the gun going over his head and bouncing off the pavement as the two began to struggle for the weapon.

The grunts continued for a few seconds before with a jerk the gun was fired again and then knocked out of the thief's hand, before Tsuniko's father hit him with a right cross knocking him over.

Then as almost an afterthought the richoche impacted Tsuniko's mother squarely in the chest with a dull, wet thud, knocking her over and spraying the little girl version of Tsuniko in blood.

The little girl immediately began to cry as Tsuniko's father looked over and his eyes widened when he realized what had happened. He ran and crouched next to his wife, pulling her head up onto his lap.

One look at her face told him everything he needed just by her blank and lifeless stare.

All the emotions hit him in a tumultuous storm of pain, anguish, and unrealized horror. He pulled her head to his chest crying out in a whimper as the tears flew freely down his face as he stroked her hair. "Why…? I cant lose you…I cant lose you."

The thief took that moment to groan from his prone position a few feet away.

Tsuniko's father looked up and with a realization of emotion he remembered that his wife's killer was right in front of him. He looked over at eight year old Tsuniko and said one thing, "Stay here my little Tsuni, just stay with mommy."

He rose slowly a look of pure undeterred hatred on his face as he approach the thief, who by now had gotten up. With a shocked look at the dead woman behind the angry man in front of him the thief turned to run.

Without missing a step he grabbed the thief's jacket, close-lining him by the throat and slamming him into the ground. Without letting go of the other man's jacket he turned and dragged him towards the nearest alley-way he could find.

Space

Tsuniko quite literally jumped out of her bed so quickly that she ended up on the floor wrapped in her covers without touching any other part of her bed. She was sweating and breathing hard, painfully hard. As she tried to stand she found that she was shaking.' I've never had such a vivid dream…especially not of that.' Tsuniko walked in to the bathroom and frowned at her reflection, her normally shiny hair was a mess, her eyes bloodshot, and her usually tan skin was clamy.

After splashing some water on her face Tsuniko slowly hobbled back to her bed and after picking up her covers from the floor she laid down and finally nodded off to uneasy sleep.

Space

Rolling around in his bed Alex was having a lot of trouble sleeping in the small hospital bed. He often slept on the ground and could thus roll around as much as he wanted to get comfortable. But tonight was not the case for Alex, he felt disturbed by something, well not disturbed…haunted.

Alex had always thought his memory very good, and so it bothered him to realize that he was missing a memory….well not one memory, quite a few.

He could remember Xaranthras, but everything in his past had begun to blur, his wife, his daughter, even the conversation he had had with Xaranthras.

Shoving the unpleasant thoughts out of his mind Alex rolled onto his back feeling restless as he stared at the ceiling, that's when he caught it….a flash in the corner of his eye. Sitting up slowly his face scrunching in concentration as he stared at the doorway. Shaking his head he laid back down, smiling as rain drops began to hit his window and the sounds of thunder filled the room.

At the exact moment the lightening flashed into the dark filled hospital Alex caught that same darkened figure out of the corner of his eye. Sitting up, now gritting his teeth in a slight bit of anxious fear. Having been taken off IV Alex only had to pull the suction cups off him before swinging his feet over and lightly touching his bare feet to the tile floor.

Standing shakily Alex took several tenative steps before realizing his legs were stronger than they had been in many years. He reached his door and put one hand behind him, holding his hospital gown together as he turned to walk down the hallway, thunder, lightening, and rain echoing with his steps.

Turning another corner he caught the dark figures coat tails entering an empty dark room. Alex's eyes widened and he ran fore-ward into a full sprint sliding lightly on the floor as he grabbed the doorframe and entered almost diagonal to the floor. As he got a full view of the room the first thing that caught his attention was the open window and the dark trench coat clad figure crouched on the window-sill looking at him. The man's head rested in one hand while he stared.

Pausing lowering his eyes and pulling his hands into a tight fist he took a few steps fore-ward.

"WHO ARE YOU!? WHY ARE YOU HERE!?" He yelled over the screaming maelstrom of wind and thunder that was hitting the city. The figure's face was revealed in a flash of lightening, he had long ruffled hair and a peircing stare that Alex couldn't forget.

A few bangs hid the mans left eye, the side that was facing Alex. The lightening flashed again once again revealing the dark figure's serious façade as he glared down at Alex.

"You know who I am Alex, it is in your memory, you have simply forgotten me."

The water by now had begun to fill the vacant room, and coat both the man and Alex in a fine sheet of water. Frowning at the vague answer Alex's mind went into overdrive, 'Who is he I know those eyes, I know that face.'

With a sudden realization everything clicked in Alex's mind as he realized who the dark figure was, he took a step fore-ward again just in time with the lightening which once again revealed the figure's frowning face.

"I must go now, remember my friend, nothing is in impossible." He said this in a whisper, smirking as almost continuous lightening flashed the figure turned throwing the water that had gathered on him off in a spray and dove, in a crucified position nose diving out the window.

Alex's eyes widened as he shot fore-ward and grabbed onto the windowsill, supporting himself as he leaned out to look out the 14th story window.

There was nothing there but pouring rain and etheral darkness.

Leaning back his heart hammering in his chest Alex's vision spun and it seemed for a while the world was to as he collapse backwards, hearing the thump as his own body hit the ground. He closed his eyes, his breathing shallow and his mind spinning as the blanketing darkness welcomed him.

Space

Alex groaned opening his eyes he was surprised to find himself in a hospital bed, and a different room as well. The events of last night still fresh in his mind.

He tried to sit up but found himself restrained by leather bonds, the fact that he was restrained didn't bother him till his mind began to go over the implications.

The monitors had registered him as now awake so a nurse was quick to come and check on him. That nurse was Tsuniko, and she had a few words for Alex.

Alex looked up as the noise from Tsuniko's high heels caught his attention. The clacking ended the moment Tsuniko came in the door, and the noise was replaced by Tsuniko's annoyed glare. Alex's face took on a worried look, 'Oh hell,'

"What in the world possessed you to go running around the Hospital in your condition? I mean you shouldn't have even been able to get up…let alone get two floors down!"

Alex opened his mouth and then closed it again. "I thought that was a dream?"

Tsuniko crossed her arms over her chest and lowered her gaze a little.

"No…One of the Janitors found you near an open window, What the hell were you doing!"

Alexs breath in deep and then thought up a quick exscuse. "I needed some air."

"Bullshit, you don't need air, you need rest…Now I have to move onto my other patients for the day." Tsuniko stomped foreward and ripped the remote control out of Alex's hand. "Now you either get some rest or Ill sedate you!"

Turning, taking the remote with her Tsuniko stormed out and left Alex sputtering and looking for something to say in retort.

Refusing to listen to his nurse's advice Alex began to wriggle his wrists attempting to get them out of the restraints. 'Stupid Doctors, why did they restrain me I feel fine.' At last Alex's hands popped out, first his right then his left. Then sitting up he unhooked his legs and spent the next few minutes rubbing the circulation back into his wrists and ankles.

'Those restraints were really tight, ouch.' Alex stood shaking his legs and wrists he looked around until he found what he was looking for, a closet.

Opening it up he was quite happy to find clothing, A pair of Jeans, Tennis Shoes, a Black Jacket, and a Blue Button down shirt, all fit him well enough for his liking. Turning towards a mirror Alex ruffled his hair then turned and walked out the door of his small room.

Author's Notes

This Chapter was particuarily hard to put together, and went through a lot of editing. So please review. This chapter turned out a bit longer than I thought it would so hopefully you enjoyed. Anyway I'm rambling, so God Bless and good night. Oh, actually I forgot please Go and read The Smooster's Story: The Return. It is quite simply an amazing work of art that I have not seen a match to. Good Night and God Bless once again.