A Life With or Without You
Chapter 3: The Past
By: KawaiiLeena
No one ever said life would be easy, and it seems so unfair sometimes. Yet, life's ups and downs make us better and stronger, even though we may not realize it at the moment.
Laurie Wymer
Chapter 3: The Past
After 4th class, Dagger picks up her books and backpack and goes down to her locker that is in the first floor. She enters the halls, seeing students crowding the path, walking and talking to the cafeteria or someplace to eat. Hey, it's lunchtime after all.
Dagger sighs as she finally reaches her locker and opens it with her appointed combination. She enters her books and notebooks and some of her stuff from her backpack and getting some of her Reading books and Science.
"Hmm… I wonder where's locker 244?" a familiar voice says to himself behind the brunette girl. She froze in her place as she stiffly looks up to see her locker number: 243.
'Don't tell me his locker number is beside me, please, Kami-sama!' Dagger pleads in her thoughts, tightly closing her eyes. 'I have suffered more than enough, please, don't let it get worser!'
"Let's ask that brown-haired girl, Zidane," a smaller voice suggests, followed by a 'sure'. They walk to the brown haired girl and politely ask, "Excuse me, but we are new here. Can you please tell us where locker number 244 and 245 are?"
The girl smiles and points the locker beside Dagger, who is sweating nervously. "There, beside that girl over there." Then she walks away.
Zidane arches an eyebrow and smirks slyly at Vivi. "You know, I don't get it you being so shy in the class while you are so confident and brave when speaking to that girl there." He says in a sly tone, crossing his arms in front of him.
Vivi rolls his eyes and nudges Zidane on the ribs. "Shut up, Zidane." He replies back a bit of annoyed. Zidane chuckles as they go their ways to their locker. Vivi instantly recognize the girl who is obviously hiding her face. He whispers, "Hey, Zidane, isn't that your seatmate?"
"Hm? Where?" Zidane asks, looking around as he immediately caught sight of Dagger putting away her notebook. "Hey, Dagger!"
Dagger sighs as she closes her locker with a loud thud then furrows her long and dark eyebrows. "Great, now you found me! First, in the classroom, you are my seatmate, and now, you are beside my locker! What are you up to anyways?"
Zidane arches an eyebrow and asks, "What are talking about?" he glances to Vivi who just merely shrug. Then, he turns to the boiling Dagger. "Hey, chill out. What did I ever do to make you so angry at me?"
"That, Tribal, is none of your business," Dagger answers harshly, she then picks up her backpack and walks away where will meet her best friend, Eiko, in their usual eating place, which is the Sakura tree near the basketball court.
"What's her problem?" Zidane ask Vivi, opening his appointed locker and then puts inside his books and some of his notebooks. "I never did anything to make her against me, did I?"
Vivi chuckles as he opens his own locker, and replies in a wise tone, "As I see to it, nothing. Maybe she is on a bad mood, and having a new student won't brighten it. A few problems up on her sleeve, maybe."
Zidane shrug as he closes his locker and picks up his bag. He grins as he says, "Whatever it is, she sure is cute! And she has an attitude, too. What if I make her like me?"
Vivi smirks as he closes his locker and picks up his own black backpack. "Yeah, whatever, but in what way?"
Zidane shrugs as they walk to the cafeteria, his messy hair messier than it has been, making him more handsome than usual, "I dunno, I'll think about it later on. Right now, I'm starving!"
"Wait, Zidane," Vivi calls, making Zidane glance to him with his shoulder. Vivi blushes as he looks up, "Well, you see, my seatmate, Eiko, invited me to have lunch with her and her friend, well… I wonder if we go along?"
Zidane laughs as he pats Vivi on the shoulder. "Sure, why not? I guess having friends would be great for a while, let's go. Besides, it's about time you claim yourself your own girlfriend!" Vivi sighs. "Hey, just kidding!"
Vivi nods and smiles secretly. It is sure great to be Zidane's pal. He lets you feel loved and cared for, making you special. It's rare to find guys like him these days, that's for sure.
MEANWHILE
Dagger sighs as she sits on the freshly green grass beside the Cherry Blossoms tree, her chocolate eyes turning to the beautiful tree that stands above her, the flowers fragrant are too good to see.
She looks around, seeing her bubbly friend, Eiko, nowhere to be seen in the naked eye. She sighs, thinking where she could be. 'She's probably causing havoc around the school,' she thinks with a smirk. 'That's what she always do when she gets late…'
The brunette girl looks to the sky as an unmistakable sigh escapes her lips, as she remembers her memories of two years ago…
FLASHBACK
14 years old Dagger finally comes home from school, wearing the usual school uniform with a huge smile on her face, her black hair swaying. She passes the beautiful garden her father and mother worked hard so much from the past to the decorated doorway.
She opens it as she sees the lights on. "Tadaima (I'm home)! Mom, Dad, Stein!"
Silence greets her, making her utterly confused. If no ones home, why is it the lights are on? She walks pass the lovely living room, still, no one, not a single sound to be heard from the whole house. She waits for about 5 minutes, to see if someone is playing a trick on her.
"Mom… Dad!" she calls again, putting down her pink backpack to the sofa, as she walks around to the kitchen to see if her mother is cooking, she feels a very bad feeling sending to her spine.
"Must be my imagination!" she tells herself, shaking her head. She continues to walk to the kitchen, and as she passes the dining table, she was surprise to see a hot coffee on the table, half-filled, with the daily newspaper beside it, but no one reading it or drinking the coffee.
"What's going on here?" she asks herself aloud. She looks around again, quiet still, and the noises to be heard are the dogs barking outside and the bells of the bicycles. She walks to the coffee, seeing it still hot. "Dad…"
She looks around, scared as ever. "Mom, Dad, c'mon, you are playing a trick on me again! Come out right now! I'm serious!" she says angrily, her voice scared. She shakes her head as silence replies her.
She walks to the neat kitchen, even more surprised to see the faucet still dripping, ingredients on the sink and the floor. It looked a total chaos, like someone got in and made a mess out of everything… and… blood.
"What's this?" she whispers, kneeling down. She touches the dip of blood to her finger and began to sip it. Her eyes widen as she immediately backs away and shouts, "What is this? This is my mother's blood! What's going on here?"
Her eyes trembled with fear, as the thought came to her mind that someone might have killed them. Her heart beats faster and faster, as her shoulders quiver, her mouth stammering.
"AAH!" She yells, immediately standing up and runs to one corner as she forms her body to a ball. "Oh my gosh, no! This isn't happening… Kami-sama… helps me… Steiner!" she gasps as she remembers her brother.
Dagger runs upstairs to her brother's wooden bedroom door as she opens it quickly. She felt her heart stop when she sees no one was around. The bed in a mess, things scattered everywhere, the electric fan on, video game and the TV running, with a titled… GAME OVER on the screen.
Dagger felt she wanted to cry and scream, but no words came from her pink lips. So speechless she is… she felt her body getting weaker as her knees reached the floor.
"Where are they… where are they?" she shouts, crying. She remembers her parent's room. Maybe they are in there… maybe they are there… waiting for her…
With hopeful eyes, she wipes her eyes with her blouse as she dashes off to the last room that is her parent's room. She stops in the doorway as her heart beats faster, that she could hear it, like a drum She clenches her fist to a ball as her right hand reaches for the doorknob, but she feels someone is stopping her.
Her right hand tremble, as if scared to open it, also afraid to see what is inside, Dagger shakes her head as she looks up with confidence, opens the door and then…
Dagger's eyes widened with shock as she sees her parents, her beloved mom and dad, her big brother, who's so kind, on the floor… dead, blood spreading everywhere.
She looks around, seeing where ever her brown eyes go. She could see blood everywhere, to the floor mattress, to the white sheets of the bed, to the cabinets and scattered dresses of her mother and the shirts of her father.
She looks down as her breathing fastened. Their lays her father, his eyes rolled out, a knife straight to his heart, where his navy blue T-Shirt covered with his fresh blood, a deep cut on his neck, a white liquid flowing out of his mouth, his right arm and left leg cut and is removed from his body, making her swallow hard.
She looks beside her killed father where her mother lays, eyes popped out, her head separated from her slim body, her pink dress with her red blood, her dark raven hair scattered to the floor, also removed from her head, a deep wound on her legs and her hands cut by a sword.
Dagger backs away as she spots her brother, her big brother, Steiner, with a razor cut on his well-built body, two knives on his eyes, blood coming out from his nose and mouth, all his parts: his arms and legs, separated from his body, where it lays below the bed. His white T-shirt with cuts and holes from guns and swords, his neck with several wounds.
Dagger never has seen any thing so much violence in her life as she gasps and covers her mouth while tears flooded her beautiful eyes. Her family, gone… killed… tortured to death without their mercy.
She looks up as she encounters with her reflection from the mirror, her eyes widen as she reads the blood on the full-length mirror: YOU'RE NEXT, GIRL…
She covers her eyes, her heart beating, herself feeling scared so much from all of this, First, her family, her beloved brother, her caring mother, her sweet father, and now… her… the innocent Dagger of the family, Their only daughter next to be the victim of this violence and torture.
She looks at her reflection one more time; sure she spotted a black figure behind her as she screams as loud as she could…
END OF FLASHBACK
Dagger wakes up from her sleep with sweating and a sudden feeling of nervousness. She puts her hands on her chest as she feels them beating hard, like running from a tiger. She shakes her head as she thinks…
'The dream… that's what happened to me two years ago…' she thinks as she looks around. 'That was the time when my family got killed… but… from the earlier years, I never encountered that dream… why now… and who is that black figure?'
Her eyes widen as the thought came, 'is this a sign, A sign that the murderer will soon come to get me? I'm not so sure, but I feel so strange… like someone is watching me.'
She looks around, only to see two green eyes watching her with a happy smile. She falls on her head and then quickly stands up, "Eiko! What are you doing here?"
Eiko grins as she sits down. "What do you mean? We eat here remember? By the way, did you wait long? I saw you sleeping a while ago with a trouble face… nightmares?" she asks with her famous grin, putting down her green backpack.
Dagger looks at her with a doubtful face, a look that is obviously uneasy. "I…I don't know. I have this dream lately and its haunting me or something…" she lies, sighing. It hurts not to say the truth, but for her sake, too… or is it?
Eiko taps Dagger's shoulder, hoping to get her attention. Dagger turns to her with her beautiful puzzled look, "What?"
Eiko sheepishly smiles as she blushes, "Um… do you mind if some of my friends come here to sit with us? Just this lunch."
Dagger was about to say no, but seeing the determined look on Eiko's face, she giggles and nods, "Sure, what harm does it do? Bring them over here."
Eiko smiles happily and hugs her best friend once again and kisses her on the cheek. "Oh really? Thank you, oh, thank you!" she exclaims as she lets go. She stands up as she yells, "HEY, GUYS! COME ON OVER!"
Dagger smiles as she takes out her lunch from her backpack, and putting out her chopsticks to start eating. She opens it up and was about to eat the sushi when, until,
"Hey, Dagger!" a familiar voice calls with a cheerful and manly tone. Dagger drops her sushi as she recognizes that voice immediately. "So, we meet again!"
She puts down her chopsticks on her lap as she sighs and narrows her eyes, "Yes, Zidane, unfortunately," She replies harshly, with a sarcastic tone on the word unfortunately and Zidane.
Zidane snorts as he sits down with his friend, Vivi and Eiko beside him. "Oh c'mon, you don't have to be mean forever! Or else, you'll turn to a grumpy old lady, and you won't be beautiful again!"
Dagger blushes from the word, beautiful, but then again, irritated from the 'grumpy old lady'. She glares at Zidane as she spats out, "What did you call me? Grumpy old Lady?"
Zidane grins, making him more handsome than ever as the sun shines on his face. "I was just kidding you. Hey, can't we even be friends?" he asks, offering a handshake.
Eiko laughs as she links arms with Vivi who starts to blush furiously. "Don't mind her, Zidane! She's often very picky when coming with friends!" she exclaims, grinning. She turns to Dagger who glares at her. "What?"
"Nothing…" Dagger grumbles, picking up her sushi and starts chewing on it grumpily. Zidane chuckles as she stops and looks at him, then swallowed. "What are you laughing at, something missing in your brain? If that is, the Odaiba Mental Hospital is that way!" she points to the exit of the school.
Zidane stops chuckling and grins. "Oh, c'mon. You were just cranky that's all, and it's funny to see someone pretty as you wear a long face like that."
"You have such a way with words…" she exclaims sarcastically, rolling her eyes and starts munching on another sushi. She swallows it and says in a cruel tone, "But you know, it's actually NONE of YOUR business!"
Zidane grins as he unwraps his burger and starts chewing it. "I know, that's what makes it more interesting and you more determined to catch," he says after he swallows, a grin appearing.
"Excuse me?" Dagger retorts. "Are you implying I'm a fish or chick to catch?"
Zidane winks at her as he grins and says in a sexy tone, "Yeah, a pretty fish and a sexy chick." He wiggles his eyebrows at her, receiving a slap on the head as a reply. "OUCH! Why did you do that for?"
Dagger puts away her book and swallows her dumpling. "For being a stupid and idiotic jerk!" she replies, looking away and ignoring Eiko's giggles.
Zidane grins as he chews on his burger, 'this girl sure has an attitude! Plus, pretty cute! Hmm… what should I do to make her attracted to me?'
To be continued…
Hey, guys! What's up with life? Sorry for the long delay, okay? I had a HUGE writer's block! I can't believe it! Well, sorry for taking most of your time! Ja! Stay tune for the next chappie!
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