"Miss Phantess? What is wrong?" Akira inquired as I stared into the blank pages of the book I held in my now shaking hands.

"It... is... nothing..." I stammered as I shut the book and sat it gently on the small bed, "I... I thank you."

"Maybe we should go and eat now; perhaps our conversation will be much less hostile afterward." Akira spoke as she walked from the small room.

Perhaps we should... Perhaps things will be told over this dinner.

"Father?!" Akira called, "Everything is ready!"

"Excellent Akira!" her father boomed as he waltzed in from another room, "Miss Phantess?! Have you everything in your room?"

"Yes sir." I reply.

"Please Miss, you may call me..." he began but stopped.

"FATHER!" Akira barked, "Please do help me with the food."

"Oh yes Akira!" he replies as he dashes off behind Akira into a nearby room.

I stood confused for a moment before seating myself.

How odd they are... Akira is hiding something... I can taste it for it is like the sand, gritty and hot... What could it be? She met Christian... She knows about me, or at least what she has heard, but if he told her anything... OH, BLAST IT! I must know!

Pondering over what action I should take, my opportunity arrived as if on cue.

"Here are the drinks!" Akira spoke hastily as she set them down on the table before dashing off again.

I could use it... NO! I shouldn't! Yet, these people are hiding things from me... I must do it... If I do not... Who knows what could happen!

I silently reached into one of the small pockets in my dress and revealed a small vile that I had taken from the ship. The late captain called it, "The Eradicate" for it intoxicates the drinker to the point of delirium and if not diluted properly, death. In this state, they are helpless and the questions I ask will be answered.

I took the small vile, containing the red liquid, and opened the cap hesitantly. Slowly and carefully, I dripped exactly one drop in my hosts' drinks before quickly closing the cap and slipping it back into my dress pocket. As the vile fell into the soft pocket, I heard a small clang; I crept along the side of my pocket with my fingertips and came upon a small item. Hesitantly, I began to bring it up from the depths of my pocket. As my hand reached the top of my pocket, Akira's father entered the room. I quickly released the object, hearing a small cling as it settled into the bottom of my pocket.

"I see you have seated yourself. Excellent, the food is coming." Akira's father bellowed.

Akira came in on cue, carrying a steaming platter of food. She set it down on the table slowly, before setting a plate in front of three of the four chairs.

"Here you are Miss." She cooed before bowing slightly and retiring to her seat by her father.

Looking at the plate before me, I began to examine the food. A few of the foods were unfamiliar but some I knew of and had eaten before. Awkwardly, I took a fork from my left and plunged it into a piece of meat. Unsure of what it was, I held it in front of me for a moment until Akira piped up and said.

"Oh do forgive me Miss; I have forgotten you have not eaten crocodile meat before."

"Crocodile?" I inquire as I looked at her with unsure eyes.

"Yes Miss, it is good. Please do try some." Akira's father chuckled.

I hesitantly brought the odd looking meat to my lips but paused as I watched Akira and her father begin to gulp down their drinks. Looking back at the meat held in front of my pale lips and then averting my gaze back to my hosts, I set the fork-full of meat back down on my plate.

How can I trust them? I don't even trust myself any longer. Look what I have done! Look what I am FORCED TO DO!

"Miss? Is something wrong? You have not touched your food." Akira spoke dizzily.

The look in her eyes before she fell semi-unconscious on the table brought pain from my heart into my throat, I chocked on it.

Those eyes... They seem as if they are not hers. They gleam with the remnants of... her. OH HOW COULD I!! WHY DID SHE LEAVE ME HERE!?!

Akira's father had the oddest look on his face as his head fell to the table. I acted quickly and slowly walked over to Akira.

"I am sorry, but this must be done." I whispered, "AKIRA!"

"Y...Yes?" she whispered, her eyes lazily looking upon my pale face.

I sat her up against the back of the chair so that her face never left my sight.

"Tell me what you know about me." I spoke, feeling my eyes flush with pain and anxiety.

Akira spoke softly as she forcefully told me what she knew. I sat motionless listening intently to the details of what she was told. I became entranced as she spoke in great vivid, detail of my life before the fire. I felt goose bumps covet my body sending my heart in a frantic race as she spoke of the death of my mother.

"Who told you all of this?" I inquired as she began to trail off.

She opened here eyes more alertly this time and locked them right onto my own. Her voice was layered as she spoke, sending my whole body into a frantic shock. I tried to detach from her over-powering and possessed gaze yet I could not. I was immobilized, feeling as though her stare was of cobra venom.

"You may run Nicole, you may flee from pain, but you can never escape the pouring rain. You fear, you cry, you fall in vain, you even run from the sound of your name. You can't hide from him though you try; he is the tears in your eyes. He is the rain that falls to the earth from the blackened sky. Your heart is the clouds and your tears are the rain and he is the one that calls your name."

"What are you talking about?" I breathe as her eyes fill with the shine of Melissa's.

"Run." She breathes before falling into convulsions upon the rocky floor.