Chapter Two

Pain

"What do you . . . .?"

"Shh! She's waking up. We'll begin the operation shortly."

René's consciousness slowly slipped back to her. She took deep, reviving breaths and smelled . . . blood. There was old blood in this room along with a scent of some strange foreign liquids. Her head hurt; she tried to lift her arm, but it was held down by something. What had happened to her? Why is she here? She remembered smoke rising to the clouds and something about the ocean. There was screaming . . . she gasped. Her village of been attacked! She peeled her eyes open and blinked rapidly to get the grid out from them.

Bright light shone down on her from the ceiling and she squinted. René could make out stone walls and a table adorned with horrifying looking metal equipment. There was a wicked looking curved blade, a jar full of what looked like - she blanched - a monster's flesh and blood. Her eyes met with other, smaller, but just as dangerous looking tools lined up neatly on the table, along with a syringe and a needle about 6 inches long. Her eyes widened panic. She had to get out of here!

René struggled to sit up, but for the first time she realized that she was restrained by something cold. Thick metal chains held down her limbs, including her head, making it impossible to move an inch. She was cold, and now that Renée noticed it, she could smell the chill metallic scent of the metal. The odor lay on her naked body and René panicked. What are they going to do to me? No matter how much she struggled and squirmed, she could not get free.

"Ahem," a man cleared his throat. "Good, you are finally awake, and it seems that the chains are holding out perfectly."

René stilled. She knew that voice. That harsh, gravely, slightly raspy voice. She'd heard it once before. On the Cliff, overlooking Shiro. He had said something that Renée could just barely remember. Something about learning a lesson. She found him with her eyes standing beside the table of violent tools. He was wearing the same clothes, but the room's a bright light shone under his cowl allowing René to see his face. It was monstrous. The left half of his face was horribly scarred and it looked like his eyeball could pop out at any moment. The scar around his lips looked like fangs. Maybe they were, René thought. He is a monster if he is the one responsible for destroying my home.

"Are you comfortable?" He asked politely.

"You." René glowered. "You were there. Was it you sent that monster somehow? That yoma?"

He chuckled. "Oh, so it seems you do remember what we do here. I saved you from that yoma." He leaned forward and his disgusting face filled René's vision. "I rescued you from that pathetic little town."

Anger flashed through René's mind. How dare he? She spat in his face. The man growled in disgust and stood back up, wiping spittle off his face.

"Don't worry," he said menacingly. "You will soon forget it all. But first, what is your name?"

René closed her eyes - since she couldn't move anything else - and refused to answer. The man growled, and René heard a cling from the table. She felt something cold and sharp on the inside of her left arm. René peaked open an eye and saw that wickedly curved blade pressed up against her arm.

"W-what are you doing? Get that thing away from me!"

He smirked and cut into her arm. René squeaked in pain as red blood streamed onto the table. He had cut her just above the vein on her forearm and there was plenty of blood.

"Your name?"

René pursed her lips and defiance. Her arm was just starting to hurt after the initial shock of the cut, and the pain brought unshed tears to the girl's eyes. The man hissed in annoyance and held the knife to René's throat.

"W-wait!" A man at the far end of the room that Renée hadn't noticed before called out. He was wrapped in black cloth like a mummy with the exception of his eyes and mouth. "S-s-sorry, Dae-Samma, but I thought we were going to do the operation on this one . . . ."

"Don't worry. I won't kill her . . . yet. I just need to know her name. So," Dae asked her, "What is it?"

René closed her eyes tightly and tried to ignore her cruel tormentor. She didn't know exactly why she wouldn't just tell him her name, but for some reason, her instincts were screaming against it. And since she was chained to a bloody stone table with a knife to her throat, she was highly inclined to listen to her instincts.

Dae had had enough of this child's stubborn disobedience. He dug the blade into the hollow of the girl's throat. Not deep enough to kill, but deep enough to leave a scar; Even with the flesh and blood of the older yoma he was about to put inside of her.

René bit back a scream and whimpered as the blood welled up on her neck. It felt like the bad man had dug a hole in her throat. The pain was unfathomably worse than her arm was.

"It could be worse," Dae said, indifferently.

René's breaths came in ragged pants. She wanted the man-monster to stop hurting her. She wanted the pain to go away. It's just a name, her mind whispered. What harm can he do with a name?

"It hurts . . ." René whispered. "It hurts, it hurts." It's only a name. Say it, and make the pain go away.

"M-my name . . ."

"Yes, yes? What is it? What is your name?" Dae leaned forward in anticipation.

". . . is René."

"What? I can't hear you."

"My name is René."

"Good, good. Finally!" Dae made a gesture which René couldn't see to the man in the back of the room. It said: come, it is time to begin.

René opened her eyes. "So that's it, right? You'll let me go now?"

"Oh, no, little girl. René. I haven't even begun." Dae picks up the full syringe and René's eyes widened in fear. He noticed and smiled menacingly. "Don't worry. This will only hurt . . . A lot." He put the needle against the right side of her head where the scull doesn't completely protect the brain and chants like a mantra, "your name is René, René, René. Your name . . . ."

"No!" René screamed. "Get that thing away from me! No! No! No! No! No!" She struggled against her binds but couldn't move at all.

He stuck the needle in. It entered her brain and Dae injected her with the formula he had created to make the patient forget every event and person in their past.

René screamed. She had never felt so much pain before in her life. She just wanted to die. Her memories were fading. She couldn't remember the name of her hometown. Did she have any brothers and sisters? Mamma . . . I don't remember you! Who are my mama and papa? Her past was being locked away behind black doors shrouded in darkness. The only thing penetrating the darkness, beating constantly like a drum was, "René. Your name is René." Her voice was becoming hoarse from screaming. She could feel her heart beating slower and slower as her consciousness faded away . . .

Survive. Live for us. The words came from a fading memory. She couldn't remember who had said them or why. Survive. Live for . . . It was fading. Survive. Live . . . Survive. Survive. Survive! Why is that word running through my head?

"René."

Survive! Her heartbeat sped up, back to a safe pace.

"René . . . René!"

She gasped. Through slit eyes she saw the ugliest man in the world. Her head hurt. No, that was an understatement. Her brain had been set on fire and then thrust through a garbage disposal. She could hardly think.

"You're awake." The scarred, ugly man said. "What is your name?"

"It's René." She muttered through her pain.

"Where are you from, René?"

"I . . . I don't know . . ."

The man looked at her curiously. "Who are your parents? Do you have any siblings?"

"I don't . . . remember . . . . Why don't I remember anything?" She panicked.

"Hush now, it's okay. I'm sure you can make new memories as a warrior. A Claymore."

"New memories . . . as a Claymore?"

"Yes, fighting monsters called yoma and protecting the humans from them."

"Oh . . . you mean I'll never remember my past?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Why?"

The scarred, hooded man looked puzzled for a moment before replying, "you must've been in a traumatic experience and been terribly hurt emotionally. I don't know what happened to you, but we, the organization, found you nearly dead by the sea and decided to take you in."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Then I must thank you, but I don't even know your name."

"My name is Dae and you can thank us by becoming a warrior and fighting the yoma."

"O-kay . . . thank you, Dae."

Dae smiled, causing his scarred face to contort even more and making him look extra hideous. René didn't want to say anything bad about her rescuer, though, so she dealt with a disturbing sight silently.

"You're welcome. Now, in order for you to become a warrior, you have to undergo a surgical operation. It is best just to get it over with so I will start now. Brace yourself, this will hurt a lot!"

Without her notice, Dae had picked up his curved knife which he used to cut open René's chest vertically between her breasts. René screamed. She screamed and screamed until her throat became too parched to make a sound and her vocal cords were worn with use. René saw Dae open a jar filled with something red before everything went black.

"Don't worry. This will hurt . . . a lot!" The words floated through René's black space. But that wasn't what Dae said! With that last thought, Rene's mind shut down.

"Now forget your past!" He stuck the needle in. Her memories were getting closed away behind locked doors camouflaged in darkness . . .

René groaned and slowly sat up. That had been the worst dream ever! For someone to be so cruel as to make you forget your past . . . it's unthinkable. But I don't remember my past, René thought. Could Dae have- René clutched her head in blinding pain. She didn't notice before when her mind was in a sleepy haze and her body was numb, but she was in agony now. Her chest burned like was on fire and the pain was slowly spreading through the rest of her body. With every beat of her heart, more of her blood boiled with pain. The pounding in her head was nothing compared to the fire in her veins.

"It hurts," she whimpered.

Her body felt constricted and she noticed that she was wearing a white jumpsuit-like outfit. It hugged her body. René was not used to wearing such formfitting clothing, but any uncomfort she felt from it was masked by the pain. A damp chill seeped onto her through the hard surface she was slumped on. She was in a stone cell. It looked like a dungeon complete with metal bars and mildew. The whole cell was about the size the small garage. Two wooden beds on opposite sides of the room were the only accessories. The lack of a mattress or any kind of padding at all was apparent and there were only thin sheets to ward against the chill of the dungeon. There were no pillows.

René heard a soft cry coming from one of the beds. There was a girl lying there, curled up around her stomach. It looked like she was having a violent nightmare, but René knew that it was probably the pain that caused her restless thrashing.

Why would Dae put her in such a place? He seemed so kind and he gave her the power to become strong enough to protect people from monsters. So why . . . unless her dream was true—

"Uhh!" René groaned. Every time she thought about her past, every time she questioned what Dae had told her, her head pounded harder, and this made the rest of her body hurt even more. The cold, damp floor wasn't helping one bit. René decided to follow the other girl's example and try to sleep.

Her muscles protested as she slowly pulled herself up using the wall as support. It felt like white-hot wire had weaved itself into her veins. When she reached the bed she was sweating and panting. Nothing had ever seemed as hard or painful as this in her life! She doesn't remember anything from her past, but she knows that her life was good and mostly pain free. Not like this mess. Tears formed in her eyes as she lowered herself onto her wooden pallet. She just hurt so much! René closed her eyes and cried.

"Hey," a pained voice whispered. "Shh, it's okay. We'll get through this." The other girl was looking at her, but she hadn't moved much. "What's your Name?"

"R-René," she sniffed.

"I'm Amelia." Her breathing, increased and she closed her bloodshot eyes in pain. "Hurts." She whimpered.

"Yeah," René gasped. "Try to sleep. Try. Make pain . . . go away." She curled into a ball and allowed the pain to carry her mind into oblivion.

"What is your name?"

René refused to answer the man who had caused the destruction of her home. Something cold but into her arm, drawing blood, then her neck. René cried out in pain and told him her name.

"You will keep these scars forever now, René, but you won't remember how you got them." His scarred face gave a smirk that made him look evil under the shadow of his hood. "After this, you won't remember anything."

Pain.

Her mind was fading.

"Survive. And live. Live for us . . . " The voice echoed throughout the hollow spaces of her consciousness.

Emily . . .

She woke up.

Amelia was looking at her strangely.

"What?"

"You were mumbling in your sleep. You said—"

"I remember!" René shouted excitedly.

"Huh?"

"Yeah! I said: 'Emily'."

"Who's that?"

"I . . . don't remember." René frowned.

"Then why did you say-"

"Because I can't remember anything at all from my past." René painfully sat up and leaned against the wall. "Only, I've been having these dreams where Dae, this horrible, scarred man injected me with something to make me forget." René cried out in pain and clutched her head. "It hurts," she groaned. "Hurts whenever I try to remember."

"Damn." Amelia whispered. "That's awful. But . . . Why do you think you would have these dreams and headaches if it weren't-"

René screamed

"True . . . ."

René was back in her dream, chained to the cold stone table. The monstrously scarred man demanded to know her name, but René wouldn't give it. He cut her twice: above the vein on her forearm and on the hollow of her throat.

"You will forget your past, René." The needle went into her brain.

She awoke from her dream state drenched in sweat and panting for breath. Shakily, she lifted her left arm and saw a prominent scar above her vein.

"H-hey, Amelia." He stuttered. "Do I-do I have a scar right here?"

"Yeah . . ."

"No," René whispered. "It was real."

"What? I can't hear you."

"My dreams were real. Dae really did something to me to make me forget my past."

"Damn," Amelia whispered. "So he's not only turning us into monsters, he made you forget everything. Why would he do that?"

"Monsters? But he said he was giving me the power to fight the monsters! Dae said . . . Damn that bastard! I can't trust anything Dae says!"

Amelia took pity on her. "They're turning us into silver-eyed witches. Claymores. Half-human, half-Yoma. Yoma," she spat. "I will destroy the Yoma! It ate my family." She sobbed. "Half-Yoma . . ."

René was uncomfortable. She didn't know what to do or how to comfort someone. She didn't think that she ever did.

"Die." It was so quiet that René hardly heard her mumble "could just let myself get killed."

Anger flushed through René's heart and she forced her body up. Walking was agony, but she made it to the other side of the room. She grabbed Amelia's shoulders and shook her roughly.

"Ah! Ow!" Amelia glared at her.

"Don't ever think like that," René growled. "Don't ever think of death as a way out. 'Survive and live'! I remember that. Emily said it." Her voice was getting quieter. "I remember." She collapsed onto Amelia's bed.

Amelia gave a faint smile and helped René to sit up. "Idiot," she chided.

"Ach! It's all your faults, Amelia!" She glared up at the ceiling. "Now I hurt even more!"

"How do you think I feel? You shook me!" Their eyes met and they burst out laughing.

"Oi! Will you two flower heads shut up! I'm trying to bare my pain in silence." The voice came from behind the wall that they were leaning against.

"Oh, shut up, Noel. At least someone got over being imprisoned in this God awful place. My name is Sophia by the way."

"René."

"My name is Amelia."

The minute of awkward silence that followed was broken by Noel. "What is 'imprisoned'?"

The three girls burst out laughing.

"W-what?" Noel asked, confused.

It seems that even throughout all of this torture they've been put through, they can still find good things to laugh about.