KK:HAPPY SHAMROCK DAY, Y'ALL! As a little present for St.Patty's Day, you'll get the 7th chapter.
Murdoc:Shouldn't ya' be workin' on a biology project, love? Ya' gotta keep ya' grades up.
KK:What my parents don't know won't hurt 'em. Hehehe.
Murdoc:Yeah, good point.
KK:(sweatdrop)You are a hopeless man-whore. You know that, right?
Murdoc:Go to 'ell.
KK:I'll probably be stuck in Purgatory. They won't be able to decide whether to send me up or down. Heehee!
Chapter 7: A Memory Returns to Haunt
"Whaddya mean she won't come out?" 2D and Murdoc asked Noodle and Russel at the same time.
"She said she had a nightmare," Noodle spoke up.
"And that she wants to spend the day secluded in her room to recover from it," finished Russel, stuffing his huge hands into his sweatshirt pockets.
"Will you come out tomorrow, Adria-san?" Noodle called, lightly tapping on the door with her small fist. "We will have a Christmas tree!"
"Noods," 2D began, "ya' gotta give the girl some time to 'erself, 'k? I think she'd want to be alone."
There was a long pause between the four. No one made a sound, until all of them heard a broken down voice coming from the room. "I promise I'll be out tomorrow, guys! But, today I need to be alone; I was...mentally scarred last night."
2D and Noodle just shrugged their shoulders and walked off down the hall, arm in arm. That left the other two still at the dreamer's door.
"What did ya' do to her, Muds?" Russel asked suspiciously.
"I heard that, Russ!" Adria called out again. "He's innocent; don't worry about it!"
"Stop thinkin' it's always me," muttered an angry Murdoc as he followed Russel to where 2D and Noodle were headed.
Adria had always experienced a rather ironic life. Somehow, almost every time she had a dream, it occurred three--exactly three--days later. The dream last night was that she and her "secret admiree" had made love to each other on Christmas night. When she had woken up, she was in a cold sweat, completely drenched.
To this minute, she was still stretched out on her bed, playing with the draw strings on her red sweatshirt.
"I know that that dream is fake," she told herself. "I want that to happen, and I love him, but he probably--it's just too risky for me. Way too much has happened to me."
The thoughts of last night's little competition flashed across Adria's brain, lightning is speed, but scarring her on the way. She thought of them laughing as they played, how she had stumbled on top of him, how he touched her face.
Adria shook her head violently to rid herself of these sinful thoughts. She didn't truly know if Murdoc actually felt a "thing"for her. Surely, she had a lot of spells that could manipulate him to fall for her, but she convinced herself that she would never do anything like that to him. She ran her hands through her messy, black hair. Maybe a tarot reading would help her. Grabbing a deck off of a small bedside table, she set up her tarot read.
By now, she had memorized what each card meant.(Author's Note:Okay, I am Wiccan, but I still don't understand the Tarot. Bear with me on this one.) She flipped over her first card. The card of her past. This particular one meant that she had experienced a stroke of good fortune, which was true since she was staying at Kong Studios. She flipped over her second card: it meant the present. It told her of hercurrent state of uneasiness. Now was the moment of truth: the card to the future. What she saw shocked her...
Eyes still focused on the card, Adria became extremely nervous of what it read. Her future tarot meant passion. Love. Lust. She quickly gathered the cards and put them back on her dresser. Maybe some sleep would help her. She crawled under the covers and lay face down, her head buried in a pillow. Then, she lost consciousness with the outside world.
Adria opened her eyes. Where am I, she asked herself. Turning around, she viewed something that she hadn't seen in the past eight years: her parents' house.
"How the hell am I back in Japan?"
It all suddenly came back to her; when she was eight, after her father had died, she and her mother had moved from San Diego to a new estate in Kyoto, Japan. She had missed her home, but just the picture it was setting up in her brain brought back horrors of long ago.
Just as she was about to walk into the house, she heard the sound of soft footsteps behind her, and spun around. There, standing in a short red nightgown was a small girl, her eyes wet from shed tears, her outfit covered in dried blood. Her hair was a light brown, which reminded her of the way Adria's hair used to be when she was until she got it dyed black as a teenager.
"He's killing her...," the child whispered.
"Who's killing who?" Adria asked, not knowing whether or not she actually wanted to know.
"Jake...he's killing Mommy!"
Jake! That was her stepfather's name, the name of the old, horrid drunk who had married her mother and treated her very badly. "W-w-where is he now?"
The small girl took Adria by the hand and led her into the house. Still at the threshold of the door, the girl pointed to her left with a short but thick finger. A scream rang throughout the house. The two watched in horror as a woman tried to shield herself from her raging husband, beating her harshly.
"You filthy bitch!" the man yelled, punching the woman in the stomach.
"Jake, stop it!" begged the woman, hysterical from the situation.
The man then reached into his pocket and pulled out a switchknife. Slapping the woman in the face, she fell to the floor, weakened from her beating.
"See you in Hell, whore. Tell Satan that I can't thank him enough for taking you." The knife was forced into the woman's chest, piercing her heart. Crimson water bubbled out, oozing onto the floor.
Then there was a small, whimpering sound coming from a set opf stairs that were right in front of the front door. The source of it was coming from a young girl, who strangely looked just like the girl standing next to Adria, sitting on the stairs and crying quietly. Then Adria noticed something clutched in her hand: a wireless phone.
"You saw it all, Adria," the child standing next to her said softly. "And, without that phone, you would've been dead."
"H-how do you kn-know my name?"
"I know more than just your name. I know about everything you've experienced then, and what you're going through now." The girl then looked up into Adria's frightened eyes, orchid meeting... orchid!
"I...am...you."
"MOMMY!" Adria woke up screaming and sweating. It's all just a dream; thank Hera, she thought, relieved. She took a deep breath and calmed down, much quicker than she planned.
"Adria?" called a voice from Adria's hallway door. "It's 'D. Is everythin' alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Come in."
2D obeyed and walked into the room, sitting on the edge of her bed. "I 'eard ya' scream while I was walkin' down the 'all, so I wanted t'see if ya' were alright. Is there anythin' I can do for ya'?"
Adria thought, then came up with something. "Remember when you said that if I ever needed a friend, I could come to you?"
He nodded.
"If you're not too busy, can I talk with you?"
"Oh, don't be silly, darlin'!" 2D gave her a cute, friendly smile. "I'm never too busy for a friend. 'Course, we can talk!"
"Did ya' 'ave another nightmare?" he asked, concern in his voice.
"Yeah, an even scarier one..."
"Do ya' wanna tell me what it was about? It might 'elp a bit. But, if ya' don't want to, it's okay."
Adria tilted her head down to avoid eye contact with 2D. Surprisingly, she didn't cry at all. "It was a flashback to my mother's murder."
2D gasped. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't 'ave asked." He hit himself in the head with his palm. "I'm such an ass."
Adria placed her hand in his other one and looked up at him. "You didn't know it was coming. It's okay; there's nothing I can do about it. My bastard-of-a-stepfather killed her."
Without another word, 2D moved closer to his friend and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. Adria didn't hesitate to put her arms around his neck. They locked themselves into another friendly embrace, and stayed that way for a long time.
"We shouldn't talk 'bout this anymore," 2D whispered.
Adria paused for a minute, then spoke up. "You four are, like, some of the best friends I could ever ask for. I've only been here for a few days, but you guys are treating me like family."
"You're a great girl, Adria. I don't see why anyone wouldn't want t'be your friend."
Adria had never felt safer anywhere else in her life. Just the feeling of the blue-haired angel's arms around her made her feel like someone special. Happiness wasn't even the best word to describe how she felt, but she had never felt that way before. She also remembered that after her father died, she was never embraced as a child, except by her mother, who soon turned away from her.
"2D?" Adria's voice was soft and sweet.
"Yeah?"
"...Does Muds have mental issues?"
Utter silence. For about two and a half seconds, at least. The two then broke out in joyful laughter.
"I think 'e does, darlin'," 2D answered, trying his hardest to contain his laughter, just in case Murdoc was, in fact, outside the door.
"I knew it!" Adria squealed. "I've been dying to ask someone that since I got here." The two then let go of each other, and, at last, the laughing came to an end.
"Guess ya' know now." When he saw the look on Adria's face, his smile widened. "Hey, ya' smilin' again."
"It's all thanks to you." Adria playfully punched 2D on the arm.
2D the stood up. "Well, I think I might fancy a nap, so g'night, Adria." He walked to Adria's hallway door and left.
WOOT! ANOTHER GREAT CHAPTER! Thanks for being so patient, for about two days, that is. Hopefully, I'll be able to get the next chapter on soon, but, because of my bio project, it might take a while. Anyway, please R&R. C'mon. Ya know you want to...Hehehe. Trippin' on shrooms, man...