What… happened?

Even these words spoken only in the depths of her mind came out as groggy and unsettling. Millions of questions arose to the front of her thoughts as Valissa tried her very best to grasp any understanding about what had occurred.

How long has it been…?

All she did way lay there wherever she was. Fear had been creeping up on her. What would she see once she opened her eyes? Where would she be? Who would be around? Various unanswered topics came into play, and perhaps all she had to do now was see her surroundings, but this action frightened her. First she'd let her hands get a feel of where she may be. Already it was so very strange. Her frail hands moved along a surface that felt nothing like the stone of a cell or like her bed of hay. This surface was soft to the touch, and cushioned to the curves of her body. Her head had been laying up against an alternative surface for some elevation, but even this other fabric cradled her head as if she were some sleeping baby dreaming on a cloud.

Valissa felt very at peace with the surface she laid upon.

Even so, just feeling around did not answer the questions she had.

It was time.

Almost as if an explosion of swirling flames may go off at any moment, the young lady's body moved up slowly. Her hand pushed against the cushioned surface in order to steady her form into a sitting position. Valissa's legs both came to hang over the edge of whatever she had been laying on. When her feet reached the floor, she had half expected to feel a chill run up her spine due to the stones lining her cell, but this did not happen. Instead her toes found a new, softer sensation. Little strips of some soft fabric tickled the bottoms of her feet. This almost had her smiling.

Open them…

In no rush to catch a glimpse of where she was for all the uncertainty she felt, Valissa had instead taken a minute to breathe and prepare for what she may see. Various possibilities ran through her mind. This very well could have been some trickery her mind had decided to play on her. Mixing up her senses, but one thing had been sure certain and this was that wherever she was, this place did not have the same agonizing scent of rotting meat. No. The air in the room wafted up into her nose giving her a taste of something fresh and calming. Like nothing she had ever experienced before. Another tag to add onto her peaceful surroundings.

Don't be fooled.
"Why did you bring her here?!"

A female voice caught Valissa's attention. The tone of this woman did not sound all too happy.

"She's not your responsibility! Not our responsibility! You don't even know what sh –"

Another voice had come into play then. A male. Soft spoken but Valissa could still hear him agree to the other woman's angered opinions.

Right now Valissa figured this would be no better time than any to finally see what lays around her, so the young woman went ahead and began to slowly open the lids of her eyes. At first all she caught was a bright flash of light. So illuminating that her eyes needs a minute or so to adjust. With a few rapid blinking sessions, Valissa's sight focused in on the room around her finding that this space was most certainly not her cell.

The room itself was a decent size. Bigger than her room back in that prison, but that went without saying since that space had been about six foot by six. Nothing more than a little space to lay and gaze at the walls in hope for what could be. Here she found the room to be quite welcoming. Not much laid about the space. The walls were fashioned with a plain white shade as a few pictures hung along them here and there. Pieces of furnishings were in places fit for them such as shelves of what appeared to be pieces of literature, and strangely painted bowls. The surface she sat upon had been long enough to fit her outstretched body with just three spaces and cushioned pieces of square fabric placed on both ends. Before her sat another piece of wooden furniture low to the ground held up on four stands.

Valissa did not have a single clue about where she was, but for a reason she could not explain, that rapid thundering in her chest began to calm down. The ins and outtake of breath worked onto a normal level while she got used to the area she sat in. Nothing about this space screamed to her that she was in any danger. Plus, Valissa already figured that in some way, she already lived through hell back in the cells. There wasn't much these people could do to her that hasn't been done already.

There were still voices outside the door murmuring about something or another, but all Valissa could assume was that the topic at hand had to be her. This was the only case of this situation that happened to make sense to her at the time, but she was in no rush to find out.

Instead of leaving her mind to wonder about their conversation, her attention had been brought over to another form of matter. From where she sat along the cushioned surface, Valissa's eyes caught sight of something so very strange hanging over on the wall to her right. To her this strange framed glass appeared to be a window of sorts but yet it reflected back exactly what was placed in the room she herself sat in.

The curiosity set in.

Valissa felt a sharp stabbing agony strike right in her thighs as she attempted to move her body again. The woman knew how to walk, so this was no learning experience, but if memory served her right in any case, last night she took a beating of some kind. Those eyes of hers didn't want to try glancing downwards to have a looksee. Just having the sensation of that pain was enough to tell her that she was in pretty bad shape. This didn't stop her though. Valissa had found the determination she needed to struggle through the stabbing pain. Her body moved to the side a bit and while her bottom scooted off the cushions, her arms worked their hardest in a shaking motion to help get her onto her feet. This goal had only taken a few extra seconds, but Valissa accomplished what she had wanted to. At least so far.

A short journey still lay ahead of her, and with every step her body yelled at her to just drop back down and rest. She just couldn't do that. Her wonder had been spiked to a level that wouldn't dismiss until her mind took in whatever this strange glass was. As she got up closer towards it, Valissa stood off to the side and reached her hand out. From her current stance, she was no facing this glass head on but she could still easily be a witness to the fact that her own arm was being reflected in this glass as well. The sight of the black and purple bruises didn't bother her. Not right now. Her skin was so fair especially in this light. Valissa's feet moved a little more along the fabric floor. Slowly she scooted her form so that she stood along right before this glass. Her eyes had been staring in another direction at first. She worried about what she may see. All these years growing up not knowing what one looked like. Saying she was nervous didn't come close to describing how she felt, but she took that chance and had her eyes set on her own reflection for the first time since she was born into this world.

Already she knew that her hair was dark as night. This sight did not shock her. Parted straight down the middle, the log locks that fell to the length of her hips helped in framing her face almost perfectly. From what her eyes too in aside from the bloody markings, her skin had been shaded to a very fair level with defined cheekbones along her oval shaped face and a pair of full lips. Everything about her appearance seemed almost surprising. Through all the years she had been alive, Valissa never had the opportunity to see any other being. The servants that worked at feeding her back in prison were always cloaked. Their faces were never revealed to her. She couldn't have assumed they didn't have faces. Everyone did, or so she figured, but something about her's just struck her as flawless. All except one bit that stood out as very troubling. Her eyes. A majority of the color was a bloody crimson color while the iris and pupils both shared the same black shade.

The eyes of a demon.

While Valissa's hands had begun motioning up to feel the skin lining her face, the knob on the door suddenly began to twist. At the next second her attention was turned towards a male figure stepping in through the archway. With not knowing who this man was, Valissa began to take a few steps back. Her voice staying silent, and then the memory struck her. In just a flash, the past hit her of what she saw the previous night. Snowy white hair and a patch over one eye.

"You don't have to be afraid," he said. His voice was calming in nature, and Valissa could feel that he wasn't there to hurt her, but even so. She didn't know him. Her feet continued to slide her body back until she fell back onto the softened seat she had woken up on. The other quietly shut the door behind him before stepping just a bit further into the room. The appearance along his face didn't seem to be anything other than troubled. Once again, Valissa had to assume that this state of mind for him had to be caused because of her. "Would you mind sharing your name with me?"

The white haired young man fell short of joining her on the seat she occupied and instead took a single persons chair across the wooden short table. He sat down and leaned forward with his elbows resting up against his knees. His hands were clasped together as his chin sat between them all while his eyes studied her motions; her silence. Valissa was only breathing at this current moment. She wasn't prepared to have a conversation. "That's alright. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. Not yet. I am Ken Kaneki. I'm sure you have questions, but let me assure you that you're safe from harm. We're not going to hurt you."

In some way she felt as though she could believe that, but Valissa still didn't say anything to him. This Kaneki guy started out really slow with his explanation about what happened the previous night. Apparently he and his companions had been watching that organization she had been captive under for some time. Perhaps a few months in total. They had figured some case about these rich Ghouls working with their funds in order to create certain kind of beats, but they didn't quite expect it to be at the extent it was. A majority of those in charge were able to escape and those they held captive were either taken with or slaughtered along the way to rid the proof. For them he said that Valissa had been in the right place at the right time. She could feel that she could believe this, but there were still so many questions.

Out of the silence, there was a light knock at the door where a violet haired woman stepped through and entered the room holding a mess of cloth in her hands. Kaneki introduced her and shared the information that she was going to help Valissa clean herself off. The woman spoke through her own voice then and Valissa recognized this one as being the first she heard just a few moments ago questioning as to why she had been brought here. By the light scowl in her eyes, Touka was still not happy to be in this service line.

The teen's tone shot out again towards Valissa. "You know how to walk don't you? Come on. Let's move it. Don't need to be doing this all day." Valissa's eyes set on Kaneki a moment who gestured in a subtle way that she'd be alright. Of course Valissa believed in this, but she still felt very nervous about going anywhere outside this room. All she had ever known was the four walls of that cell, and not this place. Already she knew that the world was full of wonder and magnificent things, but never did she expect to see any of it. Maybe these people would find themselves growing irritated with how slow Valissa would wish to take things, but they would have to understand that everything she was about to see had never caught her eyes before. All of it was going to be new and so she'd need time to adjust and get used to whatever plan life had in store for her now.

Valissa was unsure about how much time passed after she had been left alone in the bathroom. Touka had showed her how to work the water in the shower and where the soaps were for her hair and body, but Valissa had moved at her own pace. For her this very well could have been a once in a lifetime occurrence. All they had ever given her back in the cells were a dirty rag and a bucket she believed to be old dish water of some sort. Nothing to get clean with, and the stench had been absolutely horrid. Valissa had had nothing else to use though, but here in this room she was about to actually lather up her long hair and erase the years of dirt along her skin. What she had figured to be bruises before all washed off under the warm water, and by the end of the shower, her skin was as smooth as porcelain.

The larger piece of reflective glass hanging in on the wall had been cloaked in a cover of steam which began to slowly fade away as the minutes passed. The water had been shut off in the shower, and Valissa took this time to dress herself in something she believed to belong to Touka. Both of these women shared bodies that were thin and not too curvy, so the ivory dress given to Valissa to try on had fit almost perfectly. Her own figure compared to the other girls had slightly wider hips but other than that, Valissa and Touka shared almost the same height.

Once the mist along the reflective glass had faded away and she could see herself once again, she realized that even with the events of last night, her body was completely healed. Valissa wasn't sure how this could be possible, but she'd save that question for another time when someone was around who may be able to answer it.

With reaching her hand out towards the door, Valissa slowly began to turn the knob. As she did so, the sound of laughter began to catch her ears. This didn't sound to her like the murmuring from before where only two individuals were involved. It was her idea that maybe there were a few more lives that she would meet today. After everything she had been through so far, it was time to toss the nerves aside and just go. If any of her questions were to be answered, Valissa would need to find that courage and speak up.

You can do this.

Down a straight hallway and after a few turns here and there, Valissa moved her bare feet up a set of three stairs until she came to another door. On the other side of that wooden blockade she could hear the voices of others had grown to a higher level. Once again her hand moved to open the door before her, and as she did, a silence broke out.

Two of the man faces before her were recognized. Touka along with Kaneki sat in the back of the room of what appeared to be some local business. The scent in the room was rather calming. Unlike anything she had ever taken in before.

An older man approached her then with a joyful grin playing on his lips. "There's no need to feel worried, my dear. My name is Yoshimura, and this is my coffee shop Anteiku. Allow me to introduce you to our family here." After a minute more, there were other shop employees that she was able to meet as well as some men carrying around strange briefcases and a man with a very bright red suit that appeared to enjoy speaking another language. One that had caught her interest though had been a heavily inked man with eyes opposite to her own. Uta. Valissa would have questions for all of them later.

The Manager had Valissa move over towards one of the back booths to take a seat. She could feel that all the eyes in the room were still on her, and it made a chill run along her back.

Stay calm.

Yoshimura went ahead and set something down before her which he referred to as a cup of coffee along with some type of square food cut into two triangles. A still silence still fell about the place, and who was she to question that. This elderly man referred to them all as a family, and here she was; some stranger being welcomed like this into their space without them even knowing anything about her. "Go ahead and take a drink. That's my special mixture. You'll enjoy it, I'm sure."

Valissa hesitated at first with everyone expecting her to just go ahead and do what he asked, but after a moment she finally took on the action. The coffee was a dark roast he said with a hint of vanilla mixed right on in. This drink became her most favorite thing.

"So, tell me young lady, have you ever had anything like this before?" Valissa shook her head as a reply to which the elderly man lightly chuckled at. "No, I would assume not. Can you tell me how long you were away for?" When she didn't answer, Yoshimura began to just talk to her in a way she felt comfortable with. The man asked her to just nod her head if she was there over a few weeks then he asked about months, but when she nodded her head to being stuck in that cell for over a decade, that's when he stopped. "I see…" The Manager exchanged a look with someone else in the room but Valissa didn't look up from staring into the cup in her hands.

Out of nowhere, her body had suddenly felt the intense invasion of space when another light haired boy got right in her face with a glimmering grin. Valissa wasn't sure what to think of him at first. Are those… stitches? What else could she do but allow him to actually move into the place beside her. "I've never seen a Ghoul quite like you before! Your eyes are so silly!"

Did he… he just referred to me as a…

"… I-I'm not a Gh-Ghoul."

Yoshimura smiled at her. "I believe we have much to discuss."