Caged, Chapter 4: Nightmares

The rest of the day was awkward, as expected. Itachi attempted to make conversation, but resigned to what looked like a garage after about an hour. Sasuke stayed in his room blasting hard core metal music so loud the entire house thumped with it. Amaya, on the other hand, was so excited to have another girl to talk to that she immediately took me to her room and chattered on about anything and everything.

"Is he always like that?" I asked, running a brush through Amaya's thick mane. For being so young and obviously traumatized, she was surprisingly trusting. "Sasuke, I mean."

Amaya nodded. "Sasuke doesn't like anyone else coming into our house. He says that we can only trust each other, but Itachi says that's not true."

"Do you think it's true?"

"No," she said after a moment of thought. "Everyone Itachi brings home is usually nice."

"Does he bring home a lot of people?"

"Sometimes," she shrugged. "you're the first in a long time."

"Why's that?"

Another shrug. "Dunno. The last friend that stayed with us stole our food and found our secret money. Itachi promised to stop bringing people home, but I guess he really likes you." she turned to flash me a brilliant smile.

I giggled at her naiveté. "No, he doesn't. We don't even know each other. He just likes helping people and I needed help."

"Why?"

"My mommy and daddy aren't very nice," I sighed, shoving the fury I felt rise inside me back. "What about your mommy and daddy? Where are they?"

"In heaven," Amaya said softly. "Sasuke says they're always watching over us."

"Sasuke said that?" I raised a brow in surprise. I couldn't imagine someone like Sasuke ever saying something so sentimental and comforting, even to his little sister.

"Mhm," she hummed.

"I'm sorry," I put her brush down. I wanted to ask what happened to them, but I didn't want to upset her. Besides, I decided it'd be best to get to know Itachi, Sasuke, and Amaya better before inquiring about such personal subjects.

"It's okay," she smiled sweetly. She paused for a minute. "Do you want to hear me sing?"

"Sure," I smiled and scooted back on her bed as she took her place in the middle of the room.

She cleared her throat and began to sing. I couldn't quite make out the words, considering she was screeching out a melody that sounded like "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star". I plastered the biggest smile on my face and closed my eyes as if I couldn't get enough of her voice even though I was pretty sure my ears were bleeding.

"What's wrong? Why are you screaming?" Sasuke burst through the door as if the house was on fire (no pun intended).

"Sasuke!" Amaya whined, whirling around to glare at him. "You ruined my song!"

"What are you doing in here?" he turned his attention to me, ignoring Amaya's complaints.

"What does it look like I'm doing, genius?" I narrowed my eyes at him. "Amaya wanted me to listen to her sing, so I was until you interrupted us."

"Pfft," Sasuke snorted. He took Amaya by the shoulders and pulled her to him protectively. "I don't need you corrupting her, got it?"

"Sasuke!" Amaya wriggled free from his grasp. "I like her! She's nice and she likes my singing, so stop being so mean to her!"

"We can't trust her, Amaya," he shot me a dirty look. "We don't even know her. She can do something bad to us like the last one did. You remember him, don't you?"

"I'm not going to steal from you or put rat poison in your water," I rolled my eyes. "And from over here, it looks like you're the only one corrupting Amaya. Telling her not to trust anyone isn't right and it'll only hurt her in the end."

"Excuse me?" he raised a brow at me. "Don't even try to tell me what right for my sister. It's none of your concern, so stay out of it." he pulled Amaya close and whispered in her ear before leaving without sparing me a second glance.

"What's his problem?" I muttered in a huff, crossing my arms over my chest. I could understand why Sasuke didn't trust people, but his unrelenting hostility toward me made my blood boil. What was he so afraid of?

"I told you, he doesn't like new people," Amaya sighed, climbing back up on the bed with me. "He's usually so nice…"

"Nice?" I nearly laughed. "I can't imagine someone like that being nice to anyone."

"But he is!" she clasped her hands together and smiled brightly. "You just gotta get him to trust you is all."

"Yeah, that's not really high on my priority list right now," I fished around in my bag for some pajamas; it was nearly ten already.

"It should be," Amaya said ominously. "he can make things very bad for you if he doesn't like you. Just ask the last person who stayed with us."

I arched a brow in curiosity. "What do you mean?"

"Bed time!" Amaya replied quickly, glancing at the princess clock on her wall. "Can you stay here with me, Shi?"

I smiled down at her, her big, smoky gray eye begging me to stay. "Is Sasuke going to throw another tantrum if I do?"

"Nope," she shook her head. "I'll beat him up if he does."

"Okay," I laughed, quickly getting dressed and snuggling under the comforter with her. "Comfy?"

"Mhm," she hummed, lying her head on my shoulder. "Night, Shi."

"Night, Amaya." I murmured against her hair. I laid there, motionless, until her breathing evened out and I was sure she was asleep.

I leaned my cheek against the top of her head and held her close, the heat from the other flowing between us. It was strange; I actually felt safe here with these perfect strangers, something I haven't felt in nearly a year. The walls weren't closing in on me and no one was going to sneak into bed with me in the middle of the night. For the first time in what felt like forever, I could push back the urge to run to my steel lover that laid in my bag, waiting for me to cave in. I hugged Amaya's small body to me. I won't give in, I repeated to myself until I finally fell asleep. I won't…

It was too bad the security I felt here didn't stop the nightmares. My old life came roaring back to life, haunting me through my dreams. I was back on stage with everyone's eyes on me, but this time I was in a cage like a wild animal and he was in there with me. He smiled his malevolent smile as he grabbed me, ripping my gown off like it was made of paper. He forced me to the ground and held my wrists down like he had so many times before. I looked out to the crowd, screaming for someone to help me, but no one moved, they just watched. Even my mother looked on without the slightest hint of emotion.

I woke up screaming with Amaya, Itachi, and Sasuke staring at me - Amaya with horror, Itachi with concern, and Sasuke with indifference.

"Shi!" Itachi grabbed my shoulders and hauled me up into a sitting position. "What's wrong?"

"He's here," I whimpered. I gasped for air and blinked back the tears that were rapidly welling up in my eyes, blurring my vision. "He was here and they were all watching. Just watching…"

"Who was here?" Itachi asked gently, staring me dead in the eyes.

I looked back into his onyx irises, worry and confusion written all over his face as he struggled to understand. "It was horrible," I whispered almost inaudibly, burying my face in my hands so they wouldn't see me cry.

"It's okay," Itachi soothed, rubbing my arms comfortingly. "you're okay, now."

"Great, you brought home a crazy one," Sasuke muttered sourly from the doorway.

"She's not crazy!" Amaya nearly screamed.

"Yeah, because screaming in the middle of the night is what normal people do," he spat icily.

"Shut up!" I snapped, looking at him through a red haze. "You don't know anything, so just shut up!"

"Pfft," he rolled his eyes. "I couldn't care less. Make sure you put a muzzle on her before you leave so I can actually sleep." he waved dismissively as he exited the room.

"I'm so sorry," Itachi sighed regretfully. "he's just being a jerk because he can be. Are you okay?"

I sniffed and nodded. "I think so, thanks."

"No problem," he smiled and patted me on the shoulder before heading back to his room.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Amaya wondered as she crawled back into bed.

I nodded, getting out of bed and grabbing my bag. "Go back to sleep, I'll be right back." and with that, I was off to find a bathroom to add to my growing collection of slices that decorated my arms. I can't escape them…