"I'm With You" By Avril Lavigne
Songfic by EckoStalker
Poster's Notes(Seeing as I, Deep Shadows, am not the author, just posting it): This is a solo songfic from our Dear EckoStalker… I love it… I did not help her with this at all… Enjoy…
I'm standing on the bridge,
I'm waiting in the dark,
I thought that you'd be here, by now...
She stands still, body aching from an unknown cause, her mind strangely fuzzy. Darkness fills her vision, and she realizes that she stands alone on an old wooden bridge, overlooking a rushing stream.
Alexis, was that her name? She didn't quite remember... In fact, she couldn't remember anything. She just knew that she was alone, but someone was suppose to be there with her...
There's nothing but the rain,
No footsteps on the ground,
I'm listening but there's no sound...
Alexis glanced about in confusion, a light mist of rain falling softly around her, adding to the coldness of the deepening night. Looking down, she sees a small stick of wood clutched in her left hand, and harsh white lightning briefly illuminates what was thought to be a lumpy shadow spalyed across the ground in front of her. Alexis dimly sees a pale, limp hand protruding from the depths of a crumpled mass of black cloaks, unmoving. She gasps, stumbling back a step, but falling to her knees in unexplained pain. Beside her is another body, still and cold, a silver mask covering its face. Alexis trembled violently, not knowing what was going on.
Did I cause this? But... who am I?
She listened vainly, hoping to hear running footsteps rushing to aid her, to comfort her. All she heard was silence filled only by the patter of cold rain...
Isn't anyone trying to find me,
Won't somebody come take me home...
She remained in her fallen position, staring in shock at the dead figures. Alexis knew if she left, she would get more lost than she already was. She wondered if anyone else was looking for her, if anyone cared. Looking at the carnage and unfamiliar settings around her, Alexis just wished someone, anyone, would show her where home was...
It's a damn cold night,
trying to figure out this life,
Won't you, take me by the hand, take me somewhere new,
I don't know who you are, but I,
I'm with you...
Alexis shivered from fatigue and cold, kneeling on the blood-stained wood of the low bridge, tears falling oddly down her face in sheer confusion. Why couldn't she remember? Why did she hurt so bad? And why wouldn't anyone help her find this stuff out? Alexis lowered her head, trying to crawl into herself and block it all out.
Hollow thunks echoed behind her as footsteps sounded and voices drifted into her conciousness. A hand touched her shoulder, and Alexis gazed up into dazzling sapphire eyes. She squinted, a wisp of familiarity floating through the gloom in Alexis's mind. The woman was tall, a delicate, pale, face framed by jet black hair, totally contrasting to Alexis's own appearance. Alexis turned slightly to see one other appraoching, a lanky man in tattered brown cloaks and a tender face, but their identites still eluded her.
The woman spoke, but Alexis couldn't understand, the words sounding garbled and foreign. Perturbed, the young woman turned to the man who know kneeled beside Alexis, gazing at her with concerned amber eyes. Alexis knew she should have felt cautious and wary, but she wanted answers. She dimly heard the woman as if through a fog. "... we were too late... memory spell... can it be reversed?" Alexis didn't have a clue what that meant, only knowing it wasn't good. She allowed the man to grasp her hand, warming it, a look of sadness and worry masknig his features. Alexis no longer cared who they were, she just knew she wanted to go with them...
I'm looking for a place,
I'm searching for a face,
Is anybody here, I know...
Alexis allowed herself to be hoisted to her feet, gazing at her two guides in awed curiousity. They led her past the hauntingly still bodies, off the stained bridge, and on through the concealing rain. She felt her knees give way from unexplained exhaustion several times, but the two people were there to aid her and lead her on. Alexis's body stung with exertion, feeling as if she had just finished a battle.
They presently arrived at a tall manor of sorts, though it struck no cord in Alexis's memory. Though she dimly knew she had been looking for something, and suddenly that urge had been suppressed by the sight of this house.
As they entered the spacious interior, Alexis expected someone to be there, someone she would recognize, thus refilling her empty head with familiar thought and vision. But the faces that surrounded her were as indistinguishable as the twinkling stars in the blackened sky.
... cause nothing's going right,
and everything's a mess,
and noone likes to be alone...
Alexis couldn't take it anymore. She didn't know anything, not even how to react to these peoples actions. Why can't I just go home...
She felt so alone. Nobody knew what she was going through, being admist a group of strangers, at an isolated manor, in the middle of the night. All the murmurs and whispers, the conflicting emotions, the overwhelming confusion... it was too much.
Alexis pressed her hands tight over her ears, to suppress the buzzing of thought and speech out of her mind, slumping down to the cold floor, salty tears staining her cheeks. She hated herself for her helplessness, for her complexity. No one could get through to her either, not even Artimis; their mind link greatly hindered by the memory spell.
Isn't anyone trying to find me,
Won't somebody come take me home...
Alexis whispered over and over, finally finding her voice. "I just want to go home... please, just take me home..."
The woman, Artimis, who had found her, kneeled next to her, wrapping Alexis's trembling shoulders with a light blanket and holding her tightly.
"Hon, you are home... it's okay... we'll help you... You're home, with your family." Artimis cooed in a tender voice. Alexis leaned against her tiredly, oddly comforted by this unknown person's reassurance. But, she believed her...
It's a damn cold night,
trying to figure out this life,
Won't you take me by the hand, take me somewhere new,
I don't know who you are, but I,
I'm with you...
The woman lifted Alexis from the tiled floor, hushing the group of people who had continued talking in worried tones that weaved through Alexis's conciousness like waves.
Alexis relaxed slightly, succumbing to the comfort and warmness this stranger was providing. Maybe she could help her figure out who she was, to figure out her life.
Artimis carried Alexis away from the noise and action, climbing the stairs to the topmost floor. She hesitated at the doors to a tower, looking down at Alexis hopefully. Alexis merely glanced at the intricately carved doors with a lost and vacant gleam in her tear rimmed eyes.
Artimis sighed, entering the mostly stone room, Severus and Remus trailing close behind. Alexis didn't say a word as she was propped against the headboard of a large, cushioned bed, fighting to stay awake. She looked up at the strangers expectantly, the feelings of fear and caution long faded and replaced by an eager want of answers and explanations.
To the three wizards, she looked like a child on her first day of first grade.
Artimis, sutting on the edge of the bed, started conversing in low tones with the two older men as Alexis watched in frustrated confusion, desperately trying to come up with her own explanations. But as long as she was with them, she would wait...
Why is everything so confusing,
Maybe I'm just out of my mind...
Alexis grew even more lost as she listened to the urgent whispers of these three here with her, now even questioning her hearing.
"Deatheaters.... ministry of Magic... counter spells.... there is one... might work... have to try..."
What the hell was going on!?
On the edge of hysterics, listening to these snatches and tidbits of information, Alexis dawned upon a thought. Then, she actually laughed aloud, drawing the others' attention.
"I know now, I've lost my mind. That explains everything... magic, spells... I must have lost it... interesting, I never thought it'd be this convincing..."Alexis mumbled, shaking her head and grinning slightly as she leaned back agains the wall.
Severus, Remus, and Artimis exchanged a wary glance, then Severus and Remus stepped forward in unison, a grim and expectant look on their faces. They brandished their wands at Alexis, a glint of hope reflecting in their intent gazes.
Alexis stared at them in amusement, vaugely distinguishing the thin wood peices as supposed wands. She smiled at her new-found discovery of insanity, grimly accepting it and remaining silent as the two men began chanting in an odd language. A blinding, electric blue light emanated from their "wands" and struck Alexis forcefully, sending her careening into blackness and renewal.
It's a damn cold night,
trying to figure out this life,
Won't you take me by the hand, take me somewhere new,
I don't know who you are, but I,
I'm with you...
I'm with you...