Chapter Nineteen – Coping
Now what will happen? I don't even know, I just kinda write what comes to my head and it goes through and I type it and yeah. Sometimes I don't even know what I'm writing; my fingers have a mind of their own O.o
Disclaimer – Ditto on last
Chapter Nineteen – Coping
Thorn ran ahead, quickly followed by Glacier. They frolicked and pounced in the field. They were so happy.
Suddenly, a dark cloud formed overhead. The two wolves stopped instantly and looked up. A lightning bolt came at Thorn. Glacier grabbed him and pulled him out of the way. The bolt followed them.
Thorn started running, Glacier ran behind him to ensure his friend's safety. They ran and ran. Farther, but it seemed that at every turn, the dark cloud was right there.
They couldn't escape.
Thorn tripped and Glacier stopped the dark cloud hovered above them. As Glacier looked at it, he saw I figure standing on top. It wasn't an animal or a human. Glacier was confused, but alas, Thorn was up and being chased again.
The dark cloud flew over Glacier. He watched in horror as the dangerous lightning bolt touched Thorn. But there was no electricity. Instead, it wrapped itself around Thorn, lifting him off the ground.
"No!" Glacier shouted as he ran ahead. The figure on top of the cloud became clearer. The only place where Glacier had seen anything ever remotely close was in a book he had read. It looked like a golden griffon.
Glacier's eyes went ablaze as he chased to cloud and the figure that was taking his friend away from him. The griffon screeched loudly at Glacier as Thorn was taken higher into the air, closer to the cloud.
"No!" Glacier shouted again. This time it was louder and the cloud slowed down. The griffon looked at him. He gave a disapproving look and the cloud sped away.
Glacier ran for all he was worth. This was it. If he didn't catch the cloud, Thorn would be taken away forever.
Glacier seemed to fly over the grass; the wind was whipping at his face, tugging at his ears. The cloud was still in front of him, but it was getting farther away. Thorn seemed to be a lifeless puppet, hanging from the cloud though kept safe by the lightning bolt.
Angry and love were the only things that kept Glacier from giving up. He needed to do this, it was his last chance.
Unbeknown to Glacier, there was a cliff right ahead. But he refused to take his eyes off the cloud, in fear of losing his friend forever.
The cliff loomed ahead and Glacier pushed forward. Using up all his strength, he seemed to be gaining slowly on the cloud. Encouraged by this, Glacier sped up as much as his body would allow him
Glacier was close to the cliff and the cloud now. The griffon turned towards him and started laughing. Glacier was confused, he wasn't being comical. Then Glacier spotted the cliff. He was going to fast He tried to slow down, but he didn't fast enough. He went over.
Glacier swirled in confusion. He looked up and saw Thorn reaching out towards him.
"Nooooooooo!" Glacier yelled, reaching back, as he tumbled farther and farther down.
"Nooooooooo!" Kriss screamed as she fell over the edge of her bed.
She sat one the floor, staring blankly into the darkness that was her room. She was breathing really heavily and had broken into a cold sweat. She clamped her jaw and squeezed her eyes shut as she shook her head to clear it of the dream.
But she couldn't, Glacier's scream was still ringing in her head and the picture of Thorn reaching out his paw as fear shone in his eyes.
Marik burst through the door. Kriss winced as he turned on the light, chasing the darkness away.
"What's wrong?" He asked, actually looking worried.
"Nothing that concerns you," Kriss said as she looked away to keep the tears from streaming down her face.
Marik's face softened as he stepped closer to her. She was still sitting on the floor, her blanket laying around her in a crescent. He knelt down.
"Now, again, what's wrong?" He asked in a gentle tone.
"Nothing! Just leave me alone!" Kriss screamed at him as she got up and walked towards the window.
She threw it open and sat on the windowsill, contemplating weather she should fall over the edge on purpose and just end it all.
Marik sat on the bed and began pulling the blanket beck up. He looked over at her desk and saw her knife. It looked like there was something on it. He went over to it and peered at it.
It was covered in blood. Marik looked at Kriss who had her face buried in her arms. There was gauze wrapped around both of her forearms.
He went over to her and lifted one of her arms. She didn't seem to care. She was slowly giving up. 'Why would she cut herself?' Marik asked himself. He decided against asking. He sat down on the bit of the windowsill that was left.
"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked.
"No, I think I'm insane…" Kriss said, lifting her head.
Marik sat quietly and looked out into the night sky. It was clear and the stars shone brightly.
"Does Ra look like a griffon?" Kriss asked after awhile.
"Yeah, why?" Marik responded.
Kriss narrowed her eyes and looked out the window too, "No reason."
Marik sighed. After a little bit, Kriss said,
"He took him away from me."
"Ra?" Mark asked.
"Yes. It was in my dream. Ra was sitting on a dark cloud and he took Thorn away," Kriss said, the images flooding her thoughts again. Her eyes wet, blurring her vision. She squeezed them shut and wiped them with her hands.
Marik looked at her.
"If you refuse to let your emotions out, they become all bottled up; no wonder you think you're going insane." He told her.
"You sound like a psychiatrist…" Kriss frowned.
"Yeah, but still I know from experience…" Marik said, "If you keep in all your hate, you seem to just wither away…" Marik said.
"Oh really, what happened to you?" Kriss asked.
"When I was 12 I had to do something called the 'tomb keeper's' initiation. They carved the secret of the Pharaoh into my back," Marik started.
Kriss grimaced, "Yowch."
"Yeah, no kidding, after that I changed. I grew a dark spot and it kept growing, that's how my Yami was formed," Marik said.
"What's a Yami?" Kriss asked.
"It's like, a darker half," Marik explained, "Mine took over one day… I managed to trap it within the Millennium Rod though…" Marik said, holding it up and staring at it. Kriss looked at it too. The symbol on it looked familiar. But she didn't know where she had seen it before.
"So, can it come out? Ever?" Kriss asked.
"Yeah… sometimes…" Marik said, he looked out the window again.
Kriss wiped her eyes again. She couldn't cry, especially in front of her dad. One escaped however.
Marik looked at her. In his eyes, sympathy flickered through, than disappeared.
"It's okay," He reassured.
"No it's not… Not for me…" Kriss told him.
"Yes it is, I don't think you understand," Marik said.
"I understand. I understand that I'm alone now. In this world. Trapped. All alone…" Kriss looked at the carpet.
"No, you're not alone," Marik told her. Kriss looked at him, "I'm with you now."
Kriss' eyes shone brightly.
"Really? Wow… Never thought I'd hear that. Huh… My dad, on my side… What are you trying to pull?" Kriss questioned.
"I'm not trying to pull anything. I mean it. I'm with you now," Marik said with no hint of a joke.
"Really? So you're like, actually trying to be a father… wow…" Kriss said softly.
"Yeah. You need someone right now. I'm not gonna let you go through this by yourself," Marik told her.
Kriss smiled. It was her first true smile in a long time. Then she looked down again.
"I think Ra hates me…" She said.
"What? Ra doesn't hate everybody. He's a god," Marik said.
"No, but he hates me. In my dream, he took Thorn away then laughed when I ran over the cliff…" Kriss explained.
"It was a dream, Kid, it doesn't mean that he hates you," Marik said.
Kriss shrugged. She didn't believe him, but they were getting along well right now and she didn't want to ruin it. Marik thought that it would be a good time to ask her about the knife.
"Why's you knife all bloody over there?" He asked gently.
"Oh…. I wanted to make sure that I would never forget Thorn…" Kriss explained.
"What'd you do?"
Kriss started unwrapping the gauze. It was on very thick. After a few times around her forearm, blood started showing through the white gauze. It looked like it was in a line. After it was off Marik could see clearly that she had carved a 'T' into her skin. It was still bleeding. She got the roll of gauze from her desk and started redressing it.
"That's what the other one looks like too…" Kriss told him.
Marik stared in disbelief. He could understand why she didn't put anything over it, or sew it up or anything. She wanted it to leave a scar. Marik sighed and rested his head in his hands.
"Don't worry, I'll live," Kriss said.
"It's not that, it's me, don't worry about it," Marik said.
"Okay," Kriss shrugged.
As Kriss put the gauze back on the table something fell on the floor. She picked it up. It was her locket. She glared at it and went over to the window. With a mighty launched, she sent it flying.
"What was that for?" Marik asked.
"Thorn's pictures were in it… They were good pictures, but I don't want them," She said.
Marik sighed again.
"I know, I know, you don't understand…" Kriss exasperated.
Marik shook his head and started walking towards the door.
"You'd better get some sleep, tomorrow's Monday," He said.
Kriss nodded, she felt tired. Being sad made you tired. She looked over at her clock. The digital readout said that it was two in the morning.
She could still sleep for about four hours. She'd need it too. Time to return to the circle of hate.
The Next Morning
Kriss' alarm clock went off. She pushed herself up and rested her weight on her elbows. She groggily turned it off and got up. Kriss yawned and stretched a few times. She then got into her stupid blue uniform and went downstairs.
Ishizu and Odion were at the table. Marik was still in his room. Kriss made a piece of toast and started towards the door.
Marik's door opened upstairs and he came downstairs.
"Wait up Kid, I'll drive ya," He offered.
Kriss was feeling too lazy to object so she leaned against the wall eating her toast.
Marik came down with the keys to the car because the motorcycle doesn't do well with two people on it. They both left. Kriss got in the car and Marik walked around to the other side.
Kriss sighed. She couldn't help but think about how mad Ishizu was at her. Because she'd been mad at Rex, Ishizu thought it gave her the right to be mad at Kriss.
"What's up?" Marik asked.
"I don't want to go to school; all that's there is more hated…" Kriss said.
"Well, yeah, then, just focus on the academic part," Marik told her as he drove.
"I already know the entire academic part…" Kriss exasperated.
"Well then, ask the teacher about anything that you don't know," Marik suggested.
"I'll try… I might end up confusing her though," Kriss said.
"That's true, you can be pretty confusing," Marik smirked.
"My, how nice you are…" Kriss told him.
"Well it's true!" Marik said, slowing down because they were at the school.
Kriss opened the door. "The sucky part is that I still can't do driver's Ed, that'd give me something to concentrate on…" Kriss said.
"True. Don't try to pick fights though, that might help," Marik said.
"Picking fights is the only thing that keeps my out of my head and thinking about something else…" Kriss told him.
"At least you have Duke " Marik said.
Kriss nodded. Then she turned around and started walking up to the building.
Walking into that classroom this time was almost as bad as walking into it the first time. She was sure that Seto wouldn't be nice. She looked at Duke's seat only to discover that it was empty.
Kriss looked at Bakura.
"Where's Duke?" She asked.
"Stop acting dumb Kriss," Seto sneered.
"Shut up Kaiba! Just, put a lid on it for Ra's sake!" Kriss shouted at him.
"Make me!" He jeered.
Kriss stormed over. She glared at him and growled,
"I will if you want me too, and I'll enjoy it."
Joey started laughing.
"I'll shut you up too Wheeler!" She pointed out.
Yugi shushed Joey and Kriss took her seat.
Joey didn't stop though.
"What's with the gauze? 'Cause if no one told you, you use wrist bands, not medical appliances!"
"Don't use up your entire vocabulary in one sentence Wheeler," Kriss said coolly.
Joey glared back at her.
"Well at least I have friends unlike you," He said.
Now it was Kriss' turn to glare.
"I don't need friends, they only get in the way," She told him.
"Get in the way of what? It's not like you do anything other than school!"
"Was that an insult? Then again, for you it would be!"
"Hey! At least I don't have a bogus boyfriend!"
"I don't have a boyfriend! He was never my boyfriend and now he isn't even my friend anymore!"
Yugi looked at her.
"Why? What happened?" he asked.
"Why would you care?" Kriss responded.
"He doesn't!" Joey said.
"Yes I do Joey," Yugi said, looking up at him.
"No one cares about me, I'm hated," Kriss said.
"You can say that again!" Seto smirked.
Kriss rolled her eyes.
Tea then had to interrupt.
"Wait, you and Rex aren't friends anymore?"
"Did you not hear what I just said?" Kriss glared at her.
"Well, yeah. I was just double checking."
"Don't."
The teacher walked in and all conversation immediately stopped.
After an hour, Duke walked in with a pass from the office.
"And where were you Mr. Devlin?" The teacher asked.
"Helping my mom."
Kriss stood up.
"Doing what?" She growled.
Duke narrowed his eyes.
"Nothing that concerns you."
"Where is she?" Kriss asked menacingly.
"Away from you!"
"Not for long…"
"Not if I can help it!"
"You won't be able to for long," Kriss told him darkly.
"Okay! That's enough you two!" The teacher stopped.
She had them sit down. But that didn't stop them from having a glaring contest.
"Did something happen over the weekend?" Yugi asked Kriss.
"Why would you care?" Kriss asked, not breaking eye contact from Duke.
"And the answer is…. Duke?" The teacher asked.
"Huh?" Duke said, looking at her.
"I thought so… You and Kriss go sit in the hall now," She ordered.
Seto snickered.
"Good going Dukey Boy…" Kriss growled.
"You started it!" Duke hissed.
They went out into the hall and the teacher slammed the door behind them.
"How did I start this? This is all moms' fault!" Kriss whispered angrily.
"No it's not! Mom told me all about what happened yesterday! You shot her!" Duke said.
"What! I didn't shoot her! She shot Thorn! And me!" Kriss said, pointing to her arm where the fire had pierced.
"No she didn't! Stop lying!" Duke ordered.
"I'm not lying!" Kriss shouted.
"Yes you are! I was helping her! She was shot in three different places!" Duke shouted back.
"She killed Thorn! I didn't have any defense! It was all her!" Kriss yelled.
"Stop acting like the victim here! For once can you not be the center of attention?" Duke asked her.
"I don't want attention! Attention wants me!" Kriss exasperated.
"Yeah, suuuuure. Thorn is fine! I saw him today!" Duke said.
"You did? WHERE!" Kriss shouted at him.
The door flew open again.
"Will you two just shut up!" The teacher yelled at them.
"Hey, this is important!" Kriss told her, "Where did you see him?"
"No where that concerns you," Duke shot back.
"You two need counseling, and tomorrow you're getting it," The teacher told them, shutting the door once again.
"Thanks a lot Kriss…" Duke said.
"No problem," Kriss responded.
The Bell Rings
"Oh my Ra, I'm free!" Kriss yelled, rejoicing the end of that horrible day.
Marik was waiting for her when she went through the door.
"Since when does your dad care?" Duke asked her.
"Go away asshole, I'm free and I'm going home away from all the people who hate me, not including Ishizu and Odion…" Kriss said.
"Nice," Duke said.
"Thank you, I think…" Kriss responded.
"Don't forget we have to go to counseling tomorrow
Duke reminded her.
"I don't wanna go… I'm gonna see if I can stay home tomorrow," Kriss told him.
Seto stepping front of her, blocking her way.
"Don't' forget that you said you'd shut me up, go ahead, tomorrow, after school, I'll be waiting," He told her.
"I look forward to it," Kriss growled.
She continued going to her dad's car.
"What the hell was taking so long?" He asked as she got in.
"I'm agreed to kick the shit out of Kaiba and shut him up tomorrow," Kriss said happily.
Marik shook his head.
"You're going to get in trouble."
"Last I knew, you wouldn't care!" Kriss smirked.
"Well I do now, does that count for anything?" he asked, turning on their street, (They either talk slow or live close by…)
"No, you're a little too late," Kriss told him.
"And another thing, was it just me or were you fighting with your brother too?" He asked.
"Yep! I don't get along with anybody!" Kriss admitted happily as she reclined.
"Damn, it's starting to snow…" Marik observed.
"I hate the snow…" Kriss said.
"You hate everything…" Marik told her.
"That's true…" Kriss agreed, then she got really happy, "Maybe there'll be a snow day tomorrow!" Kriss hoped.
"Maybe…" Marik said.
Well, there ya go. She hates everything! She said it herself! The scary part is that Marik cares O.o, creepy! The next chapter's gonna be good! Trust me. Haluciations!
