Why?
When I awoke next, my aching head was resting on a soft pillow and my throbbing body lay motionless on a soft bed with something silky and soft draped on top of me. I managed to force my eyes open and push my body up to see that I was no longer in my everyday clothes, but in a black silk nightgown under a plain white bed spread with a single light shining in through a window. The bright light reflected off of the white bed spread, spreading light around the room and showing me that the bed, along with me, was all in the very far corner of the room.
"What happened to me?" I could hear myself think aloud. "Where am I?"
A familiar voice snapped me out of my dizzying thoughts. "You're home now." I quickly turned towards the door to see Ms. Yuri standing there with a smug smile on her face. "What?" The words barely escaped my lips as I looked at the woman standing in front of me, the woman who we have had a constant war against, her and her "Father" Dr. Wily.
"It's time to get ready Maylu, we don't want to stay in bed to late now do we?" Ms. Yuri opened the closet door before stepping out of the room and leaving me alone again. Curiosity getting the better of me, made me walk over to the closet to see a vast selection of clothes to choose from before choosing a light dress and jacket and slipping on some sandals from the collection of shoes in the bottom of the closet. When I was finally finished with getting ready, I slowly peeked out the door and out down the long hallway. I tip-toed down the stairs, following the eerily familiar voices down to the first level, peering into what looked like a living room to see Ms. Yuri, and what I couldn't believe to be, Dr. Wily. 'What is he doing here?' I wondered. 'Better yet, what am I doing here? And why is Ms. Yuri being so nice to me all of the sudden?'
"Do you really think it wise to bring her here?" Dr. Wily's scratchy voice asked, cutting into the thick silence, the fire flickering in the fire place illuminating the room in a soft orange glow.
"Father, she's seventeen. It's time she knew the truth. It's time she joined us." "She will never join us, don't you understand?" Dr. Wily snapped. "She is too close to Megaman's Net-Op. When if she knew the truth."
"You might be surprised Father." Ms. Yuri had a smug tone in her voice. "You have no idea just how badly she wants to know her mother." My heart literally stopped and my breath hitched in my throat once she said that. 'How could she possibly know my mother?' My inner voice asked as I continued to listen to the conversation with a peeked interest. "Yes…" Dr. Wily began to have an open mind about it.
"I have been watching her for some time Father. Collin beats her everyday. He has broken her in more ways than one. All I that needs to be done is to show her a different life. Our way of life. Once she sees how perfect it is, she will come to us with open arms and we will rule over the entire world, together as a family." 'As a family?' The words swam around in my head, making me nauseas to the point that I thought I would blow my cover any second.
"Hmmm…" Dr. Wily pondered this thought for a moment. "Tell her. She and her Net Navi have become quite powerful over the years, they will make an excellent addition to our team, but if this plan fails-" "I know." Ms. Yuri cut him off. "And it won't." Dr. Wily rose to his feet and left the room before I heard Ms. Yuri's voice cut the ever thickening silence. "You can come out now, Maylu." I could hear the smile in her voice as I slowly slipped around the corner and leaned my side against the wall, facing her. "Now I suppose the question is, have you figured it out or do I need to spell it out for you?"
"Where is she?" My voice was barely a whisper. "Where is my mother?" Ms. Yuri must have heard me because her smile widened at my questions, before she patted the seat next to her in a motion for me to come sit next to her. I slowly made my way over to her and sat in the spot that she designated for me to sit. 'Why is she being so nice to me? We're enemies, why is she being so kind to a hostage? …Or am I?'
"Such beautiful eyes… you certainly didn't them from your father." Ms. Yuri commented as she held my face in one of her hands to examine me. "What do you know about my father?" I questioned. "I know he's done more to you than what he should have ever done to anyone." Her hand shifted from holding my face to the hem of my dress, making me push my legs closer together and use my hands to push down the ends of the fabric. "Maylu," her voice calm and surprisingly soothing as she held my face again, "you don't have to hide anything from me. I already know everything. Everything." I could feel the hot tears burning in my eyes as I clenched them shut as tight as I possibly could. 'Does she really know? How could she possibly know?' "Please…" My voice hurt coming from my mouth, hands tightening on the hem of the dress as a soft hand came to wipe the tears away from my eyes.
"It's okay. You're safe now." I don't know what could have possibly possessed me into doing it, but I removed my hands from the edge of the fabric and let her pull the end of the fabric up to reveal the intense bruising of hand prints on my legs, more so on my inner thighs. I could feel my heart wrench in pain as the tears fell freely down my face. 'How could I let this happen? Why can't I stop letting my stupid emotions get the better of me?' What scared me the most was the fact that when she put her arms around me in a comforting hold, I was actually comforted. I couldn't help but feel safe and comfortable in her arms, letting myself fall into her arms in a warm embrace. 'Why is this happening to me? Why? How can I possibly feel so safe in her arms? In her very presence?' When my sobbing and tears finally dried, I desperately began to wipe away at the tears in my eyes, before feeling the same soft thumb that wiped my tears earlier begin to clean the water off of my face again. I dared myself to look at her face, surprised to see that her usual smug look was actually a warm smile that confused me more than anything else that had happened to me so far.
"You're hungry aren't you?" Her voice was kind and sweet, making my stomach growl at the sound of food. An embarrassed blush spread across my face, which obviously gave her my answer. "I think it's time for you to eat." She led me into the next room to the kitchen and sat me down at the kitchen table, setting a plate full of macaroni and cheese, chicken fried steak and lumpy mashed potatoes with cheese mixed in.
"It's your favorite, isn't it?" I looked up at her with a surprised look spread across my face; her face still kind, but also smug, confident even. "It's as I said. I know everything about you, Maylu." "Everything…" I repeated for her, before I began to eat the meal. "Th-Thank-You." I accidentally mumbled once I was finished eating as much as I possibly could. 'Why was I being so polite?' Once Ms. Yuri was done putting the dishes away she came and sat at the table across from me. "I won't make you wait to long, sweetheart." "What?" 'Did she really just call me "sweetheart"?' Her smile widened at this. "That's right. I know it's quite a bit to take in, but you will understand soon enough I promise." "Then tell me." I tried to make my voice as harsh and demanding as I possibly could. "Help me to understand."
"I think we both know how unreasonable your father can be, but I'm afraid that I had misjudged him. I hadn't realized how violent he had become until I began to keep an eye on you. It was then that I began to wait until the right time to bring you home with me."
"No." I couldn't believe it. I couldn't be true. "That's a lie." I tried to make my voice as harsh as possible, but I managed to fail miserably. "Oh, but it's true. Sweetheart, you are destined for great things. Let me help you. You'll see, this way of life is so much better." "No. I can't. I-It's not right." My tough voice could definitely use some work. "Sweetheart, you can have everything that you have always wanted. A brand new life, you will have my love, Maylu. Isn't that what you've always wanted?" "Yes… It is…" I couldn't believe that I have just admitted that to her. "Join us, sweetheart. Join us, and I can give you everything that you want, everything that you've always wanted. All you have to do is say "yes."
"Yes." The words spilled from my lips before I even had a chance to think about what I was saying. A wicked smile crossed my mother's lips before going to stand behind my seat and give me a hug from behind. "I'm so proud of you, sweetheart. You were always so smart and good at making the right decisions."