When the Snow Falls: chapter 2

Entrance

I was surprised y the solemn chill in the autumn air. It felt still: silence hung in the air like particulates in water. I couldn't care less though: the sheer beauty of the outside was fascinating. I had not been permitted to leave the house for weeks, and now I was free to absorb all that nature had to offer. Leaves fell without stopping, fluttering down from the endless blue sky. And oh!, the colors of the leaves! Vivid oranges, yellows and reds!

But even among all this amazement, I could not help but feel remorseful for the death and abandonment of my father. He was still hanging from the ceiling in the living room. I turned back to my house. The front lawn was overgrown and full of weeds, and the house itself was beginning to fall apart. All of a sudden, I felt strange. My head was aching, and I felt like I was experiencing a rush of nostalgia, but it was different than what I had expected. All of the memories inside my consciousness were fleeting. Wandering around in a now maniacal daze, all I thought to myself was,

'Where am I? What am I doing outside? Daddy didn't let me go outside, he said that I wasn't allowed to go to school anymore…He's going to hurt me again! No!'

My panic attack escalated, and I passed out in fright as the millions of tiny colored leaves continued falling around me.

Darkness. The soft, familiar feel of the night consumed me like rain falling on an ocean: you couldn't even tell that there was rain to begin with; it was all a massive pool of water. The sound of rain rapped against the walls and windows of my soul in a dream-like state. Was I in the basement again? No. There was something profoundly different about this time: I wasn't alone.

The darkness parted into shards as a bright light appeared out of nowhere. I could feel pressure around my body; cold but alive. I couldn't move, couldn't speak; I was just there. I knew I was unconscious, but someone else was with me…no. There was more than one person… Who are they? Why are they here?

Beep. Beep. Beep. All I could hear was the high pitched squeal of machinery. As my eyes were forced open by willpower, I realized that I had no idea where I was. This wasn't home, nor was it my school. In confusion, I attempted to sit up. My body was weak, so I fell back onto the surface I was originally laying on. Then, I heard a voice coming from beside me.

"Oh, you're awake! Thank goodness!"

I looked over, and lo and behold, a boy approximately my age was there. He had illuminating brown eyes, long white hair, and the palest skin I had ever seen in my life. I didn't know if I could trust him though. I felt a strange presence emanating from within him; a collection of malignant emotions concentrated in one place. But above that aura was one of kindness and strength, but still shadowed heavily by sorrow and despair.

I blinked a couple of times to try and clear the blur that I was still seeing and feeling.

"Who…are you? And where am I?" I asked hazily.

The boy smiled at me, and responded,

"I found you on the street in town, and I didn't know what to do, so I brought you to the hospital. Are you feeling alright?"

"Something like that isn't going to bring me down for long… But that still doesn't answer my first question: who are you, what is your name?" I smirked. I tried to sit up again so I wasn't talking to him from below, but I got dizzy again and nearly fell. He grasped be from behind my back and helped me stay upright. The boy chuckled to himself; at me most likely, but I wasn't in the mood to fight back.

"Ryou. My name is Ryou. And you, Miss Red-Hair? What's your name?"

Jeez. He did not just call me that.

"Akane. Izumi Akane."

Ryou tilted his head slightly before responding. "Izumi Akane…crimson red fountain: such a fitting name, considering your hair color."

I blushed slightly. While I did appreciate the apparent compliment, I was always self-conscious of my hair. It was a deep red, like the color of blood. It wasn't dyed red, it was natural; despite being Japanese. Oh well, not much you can do about something like that.

I returned my attention back to the surroundings. I was in a hospital, obviously, and it was nighttime. Rain was falling hard and heavy on the window, and the room was empty other than the two of us. I took this time to examine Ryou. He was a smaller boy, but seemed to be my age. He had long white hair, incredibly pale skin, deep brown eyes, and wasn't exactly what one would call manly with his lithe form, but he didn't seem to notice much. The one thing that struck me as odd with him was a strange pendant that hung from his neck. It was a circle with a triangle in the middle; and it had an Egyptian eye on the center. Attached to the outer part of the pendant were 5 large pointed pins. And for a reason I could not immediately explain, something felt off about it, as if it was hiding a secret.

A/N:

Riv: Hurray! I finally updated it! I had meant to do it much sooner, but my computer is being not particularly kind to me. Stupid modern technology .

Ryou: Yay! I'm in this chapter! And I got to rescue a really hot girl!

Akane: I heard that, you perv.

Riv: …. You guys are crazy…

Akane: No, the crazy one is you. You quote everything fool!

Riv: *writes*

Akane: What are you- * disappears*

Riv: I wrote you out of the story.

Bakura: But she's the main character…

Riv: FINE! *writes* *Akane reappears* NOW DISCLAIM SO I CAN TELL THEM TO REVIEW IN ORDER TO RECEIVE ONE FREE BOTTLE OF HOMEMADE VODKA!

Ryou: What the hell?

Riv: *death stare*

Ryou: O.O RiverTear980 owns nothing! Including a soul!

Riv: That's better, Ryou.