"Raina?" She looked down at the small boy. He looked back up at her. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," She lied, smiling at the boy, not bothering to ask how he knew her name. There was something about him that just endeared him to her. He smiled and skipped off down a hallway with many rooms. She stood, in the same room she had awoken in, sitting on the same seat that she had been laying in, waiting for an explanation. She was sure that she was shaking…she couldn't believe that she had been kidnapped. These things don't happen to her!
"Raina…" The man, 'Cali', said and looked at her carefully. He sat down next to her, shaking his head. "What's the last thing ya remember?"
"What are you talking about?" She wanted to yell. She wanted to tell him to bring her back home. She wanted to go see her family again…she didn't want to die. Not now…and not like this…
When she didn't answer, the man sighed. "C'mon, Raina. I can't help ya if ya don't tell me what the last thing ya remember is!"
"Does it matter?" She hissed, feeling tears spring to her eyes again. "You're just going to kill me anyway."
"I'm sorely tempted, Raina." Cali said, and glanced at her. "I had no clue how difficult you were. It's almost making me feel sorry for 'im!"
"For who?" She said, and curled up, hugging her knees to her chest. The man shook his head.
"What's the last thing you remember?"
"No." She muttered. She shook her head. "No…"
"Ya know," The man started. "I never took into account how ya might of changed, and, Raina, you've changed a lot. Now, if ya don't tell me what the last thing you remember is, I think I'm gonna haveta hurt you."
"Nothing." She hissed. "The last thing I remember is going to bed. I just graduated from high school!"
"Oh boy…" Cali trailed off. He put his head in his hands, and she glared at him through the corner of her eyes. "That's the last thing ya remember?"
"Let me go!" She grumbled back. The man bit his bottom lip before turning to her, and grabbing her shoulders. She let out a screech, and immediately tried to get away from him. He let go of her, and put his head back into his hands once again.
"We gotta lot of work to do." He said.
"Yeah, number one starting with you letting me go back home!"
"Well, we can start there." He turned and faced her. "You don't have a home, Raina."
"Yes, I do." She glared. "And I want to go back. Let me go, you idiot!"
"I think this is gonna be harder than I thought…" He muttered.
"Then let me go. I want to go home."
"Raina, ya don't gotta home." He repeated firmly. "Ya don't even…Uh, ya brother, no…"
"No!" She shook her head. "I want to go home!"
"Uh," Cali sighed, and scratched the back of his neck boyishly. She glared. "Raina? Ya lost your memory."
"I what?" She said, shaking her head. "No. I didn't. I want to go home. Let me go home!"
"I…think I'm gonna let ya think about this for a bit." He said. "Feral!" He called, and the boy skipped over to them. 'Feral', as she supposed he was called, looked up at her with a confused face as to her own confused (and slightly angry) expression.
"What's wrong, Raina?" He asked. Cali interrupted her before she could even open her mouth.
"There's nothing wrong, Feral. How would ya like to sleepover my house for a little bit?" He asked. Feral's eyes lit up and he grinned.
"Really?" The boy asked, and Cali nodded. "Raina, can I? Please?"
Raina didn't know why this boy was asking her for permission, but she wasn't going to deny it to him. She nodded her head, and smiled at the boy for comfort. Cali looked at her sympathetically, and took the boy's hand.
"Raina, I want ya to think about what you last remember…and I want ya to know that yes, ya did lose your memory. Ya lost everything. Think about it, 'kay?" He asked. Raina glared at him, and suddenly, he disappeared. She blinked and waved her hand in the area that he had been in.
"What the hell…?" She trailed off. She stood up, and stood in the exact spot that he was in, but nothing happened. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, wondering if he had really left, or if this was just some elaborate 'magic' trick. She glanced around the room, a bit afraid to walk out of it. She sat on a rather nice looking, black, leather couch and curled up, wrapping her arms around her knees.
The couch was rather comfortable, she noted in the back of her mind, as she felt a tear slide down her face. She hated her life. She hated the fact that she always thought that kidnapping would never happen to her, and she hated the fact that it really did happen to her. She hated that she hated her father so much. She hated being away from her siblings…
She let herself cry, and glanced up around the room, waiting for her tears to finally stop. With a small, shaky sigh, she decided to look around. After all, she might be here, at this house, for quite a while…or at least until someone found her. She walked through the house, noting that there was a severe lack of color around here. She wondered who lived here, and why their house was so dark.
The house couldn't have belonged to that 'Cali' person…he seemed much to bright and cheery to have such a colorless house. Besides, he had asked the boy if he wanted to spend the night over at his house, so this couldn't have belonged to him…
She wondered if the man was telling the truth…had she really lost her memory? Had there really been so many things that she can't remember? He had said she didn't have a home…what did that mean? A panic struck through her mind and she felt her eyes widen and fists clench. What if something had happened to her family? What if they were hurt? What if…she winced at the mere thought of it, feeling pain strike through her heart worse than ever, what if…they had died?
No, she told herself, they couldn't be dead. That's ridiculous, she chided herself. There's no way her family could be dead…that mere thought was too horrible to even be thinking.
She shivered, feeling a chill run up her spine, and she quickly glanced behind her. No one was there. She shuddered, and tried to shake the feeling off of her.
"Hey," She muttered to herself. "Calm down…there's no one here."
She glanced behind her again, and carefully stepped into a room. She glanced around, noting that this room, like the others, had a severe lack of color. The walls were black, and so were the sheets on the bed. The dresser was painted black, with beautiful white designs on it, and she walked to the bed. It looked a little messy, as though someone had been sleeping in it before. She shrugged, and touched the sheets. They were soft, and it seemed like it would be comfortable to lay in.
She sat down on it, cautiously as though it might attack her at any minute, before she carefully laid back onto it, her head on the pillow. She couldn't get herself to relax, her muscles were tense, and her mind going a mile a second. She tried to forget what was happening to her, just for a second, but she couldn't…
"I want to go home…" She whimpered to herself, feeling a tear run down her cheek. She hated this. She hated being here. She hated her life…She hated the fact that she didn't know anything anymore. She wanted to know what was going on. What was going to happen…who everyone was…
"Hey, Raina…" She heard a voice. She jumped, and looked over to a man with red hair and glasses.
"W-who are you and what do you want?" She screeched, jumping away from him. The man ran a hand through his hair.
"No, of course you wouldn't remember me," He muttered, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. He looked directly at her, and sighed. "I'm not here to hurt you. I just want to see what happened and if I can do something to get your memory back. Now, lay back and be still. It won't hurt."
She glared at him, her eyes suspecting. "No." She hissed. The man let out a shallow breath as though a little annoyed, and shook his head.
"Well, at least tell me the last thing you remember so I can see how bad the damage is."
"Why should I tell you?" She growled. "Get away from me!" Her voice held a panic to it when he reached out for her. He jumped for her, and she let out a screech before running to the opposite side of the room, cornering herself unintentionally.
"If I didn't know any better," The man muttered under his breath. "I would never have guessed that you're Raina."
She stared at him, a confusion washing over her again. Maybe she had lost her memory, somehow…but she hated the fact that these two…odd men knew more about her than she did. She wondered what the man would do to her if perhaps she did lay down and let him do what he wanted. She looked around, finally noticing that she was cornered.
"What do you want with me?" She said, her voice full of venom. He gave her a casual shrug.
"I want you to lay down and let me hurry up and get this over with. It doesn't hurt, and it won't take too long. Just trust me, okay? I'm not here to hurt you."
"What are you going to do to me? And why should I let you do anything? I don't even know you!"
"I'm Taile." He sighed. "And I'm just going to ask you a few things and see if I can do anything to bring your memory back. I told you already, I'm not going to hurt you."
"How can I trust you?" She glared. With that, his face broke out into a mysterious grin.
"You can't." He said. "But it would be in your benefit to do so."
She watched him for a moment, and glared each time he took a step towards her, cornering her even more.
"Come here," He said, and motioned to the bed. "and lay down. It won't be too long, and I'm not going to do anything inappropriate to you."
She, somehow, felt that he was telling the truth, but didn't want to subject herself to him at all. He was not her superior, and he couldn't tell her what to do. She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head.
"No." She told him, her voice firm, even though a slight amount of fear showed through. She doubted she was stronger than him, and, from the looks of it, wouldn't be able to stop him if he had wanted to do anything to her, helpful or not. "No." She repeated.
"Look, Raina, you don't remember much at all. A lot of things have happened, and you probably don't remember any of it. I need you to tell me the very last thing you remember so I know where I can start."
"You can start by telling me why you kidnapped me, you idiot!" She said, becoming much more annoyed.
"First off," He began. "I didn't kidnap you. Neither did Cell-"
"Who?"
"Cell." The man said, and looked at her as though concentrating. "Caliember. I think you called him Cali, yes."
"Why do you call him Cell?" She asked, her curiosity getting the better of her and causing her to act more civil in hopes of an answer. The man blushed a deep red, and shook his head.
"None of your business." He said shortly. There was a long moment of silence before she spoke again.
"Let me go." She growled at him. He let his head fall back, looking up as though asking some deity for help. Letting out an annoyed breath, he glared at her.
"I want you to calm down." He told her, coolly. "Then, I would like for you to just lay down on that bed, over there," He waved towards the black-sheeted bed. "and let me just hurry up and get this over with."
"I am calm, damn it!" She half yelled at him. He raised an eyebrow at her, and she glared at him. He pushed his glasses back up his nose, and looked thoughtful.
"Is there anything I can do to convince you that I'm trying to help?"
"Let me go." She grumbled. He shook his head.
"I don't even have you, so how can I let you go?" He asked, his voice logical with reason. "Now, Cell's really worried about you. He said that you had knocked yourself out, looking for Nash."
"Who?" Raina asked automatically. Taile looked at her, surprise clearly written on his face. It seemed that he was debated on whether to tell her or not, and she glared at him the entire time. The silence lasted for quite a few minutes, when finally, Taile cleared his throat nervously.
"Um, no one…." He said. "I'll tell you later, but you have to let me help you first. It's quite a long story, I'm afraid. Now, lay down."
"No." She said stubbornly, wrapping her arms around herself protectively.
"I'm not going to hurt you!" He said, and she noticed that slowly, but surely, this man was beginning to get annoyed. "Damn, Raina. If I had known you were this bad, I wouldn't have promised Cell that I'd try to help you. Goddamn."
"Why do you keep calling him Cell?" Raina hissed back. "I don't even know who you're talking about!"
"I told you a few minutes ago!" He said, his frustration with her showing through as his eyes narrowed and his voice grew louder. "You call him Cali! He was with you when you woke up, idiot."
"Excuse you?" Raina hissed at him, glaring and her eyes narrowing immensely as well. "You are the idiot! I don't even want to be here! If you hate me so much, let me go back home!"
"This. Is. Your. Home." Taile said, pronouncing each word clearly and as if it was a statement by itself. He pushed his glasses back up his nose, but immediately they slipped back to where they were previously. He pulled them off roughly, and wiped them on his shirt, giving Raina a good view of his eyes. She blinked, and stared at them. Were they…silver? No, she chided herself, they couldn't be silver. He must be wearing contacts…
But then, why would he be wearing glasses? She thought, and stared at the man's eyes again. He put his glasses back on, and took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a second and breaking her from her train of thought. When he opened his eyes again, she saw that he was acting much more calm.
"This is your home." He repeated,
much more composed than he was before. "Now, will you please lay down on that bed," He waved to his, and with the same
hand, automatically pushed his glasses up. "and let me
help you?"
"This isn't my home." She said, and glared at him. "I don't even know
where this place is! I want to go to my real
home, and I want you to let me out of this awful place."
"This is your real home." The man said, and paused for a second, looking thoughtful. "I think…that we need to talk, Raina. I need to see how far gone you are. Now, come here," He said, and used his hands while talking to get the point across to her. "and we'll see what we can do."
"No."
"Raina, please." He said. "Really now, don't be so stubborn."
"I'm not stubborn." She said, and crossed her arms on her chest again. He sighed.
"I promise that I'm not going to hurt you, or do anything inappropriate to you. I just want to see if I can help. I promised Cell, so come on. It's not going to hurt. It's not even going to be too uncomfortable." He said.
"How can I trust you?" She glared.
"Easy. You just do. Now, c'mon."
"No."
"Raina…"
"No."
"Now."
"No."
"What can I do to convince you that I'm not here to hurt you?" He exclaimed, throwing his arms up in surrender.
"Take me home."
"Damn it, Raina! I don't even know where your old home is, and I already told you. This is your home! Really now. If you would just calm down and let me help you, things would be so much better. If you would, please, go sit on that bed…It can go pretty quickly." Taile said, and held out his hand to her.
She stared at it. She felt like this man was telling the truth, and she wasn't sure why. She almost felt as though she could believe what this man was saying, but…she never trusted anybody. She didn't know why this time was so different. Taile saw her hesitate, and gave her a quick pleading look that looked out-of-character for him. He continued to hold his hand out for her.
"Please, Raina. I'm not going to hurt you." He said. She looked up at his face, and debated with herself. Her gut instinct told her to believe him, but…her mind was against it. She felt confused, and shook her head. He pushed his glasses back up his nose.
"I promise I'm not going to hurt you…" He said once more, and watched for her reaction. She was looking at her, her eyes showing off the fact that she was arguing pretty hard with herself. Taile gave her one last, out-of-character pleading look and she rubbed on of her arms with her hand.
She wanted to believe him, but…her mind said that he was lying. She had always been suspecting of people, and he was no exception…except for the fact that her gut instinct wanted to believe him. She took a cautious step towards the bed, and he smiled at her. With that encouragement, she sat down on the edge of the bed, looking as though she were ready to dart out at any minute. He nodded, and looked at her for a minute before pulling up a black chair that she hadn't noticed in the corner, and sat it in front of her before sitting down himself.
"Alright." He said. "First things first. I need to know what the last thing you remember is."
"Why?"
"I need to know how much memory you lost. You lost your memory. Cell and I both told you that already. But in order to help you, I need to know how far back to go. What's the last thing your remember?" He said, in a comforting tone. He reminded her a lot of her doctor, who was very kindly and patient with her. However, this man seemed as though he were far from old…
"I had just…graduated from high school." She said. "And I laid down to go to sleep because that day was exhausting, and I woke up here."
"Oh no…" Taile muttered. "You forgot everything."
"No." She said, taking offense. "I didn't. I remember my high school years and everything. How can you say I forgot everything?"
"Because…Oh, man…" He said, pushing his glasses up again, even though his glasses were perfectly fine where they were. "You lost everything. From that day that you…graduated to this day, presently, more has happened than anything in your life."
"What are you talking about?" She hissed, and shook her head. "What's today?"
Taile told her the day's date, and she felt her eyes widen. It had been…a couple years in the least. She felt tears spring to her eyes.
"No," She denied. "No, it's not true."
"Raina, I'm afraid it is." He said. "I can't even begin to tell you what happened. I don't even know half of it! I need you to close your eyes and try your hardest to remember the last thing that happened to you."
"How's that going to help?" She screeched. "I can't have lost my memory!"
"How do you explain that so many weeks, months…years even have gone by without you remembering living any of it? Now, just calm down. I'm going to try to help you…I need you to try to remember the last thing that happened to you, okay?" He said gently. She glared at him, and shook her head.
"I couldn't have lost my memory…"
"Raina," He said with an annoyed sigh. "We've been over this. You did. The sooner you accept this, the sooner we can try to get it back. So what're we going to do?"
"But…how?" She asked. "How did I lose it?"
"I don't know." He said truthfully. "You were looking for Nash, that's all I know. And you passed out in the middle of it."
"Who's Nash? And how could I have passed out just looking for him…her?"
"Him," Taile said automatically. "And…oh boy…He's, uh…" Taile muttered something inaudible.
"What?"
"He's…your…uh, well…" Taile shook his head. "He's your son."
0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0
Ahhh! I'm so very sorry that I haven't updated sooner! My life's a big mess right now…and I'm not having a very good time. I'm sorry for not updating quicker. Ehm…this time I promise to update within…a month. Yes. A month. *nodnod*
!! TO MY REVIEWERS !!
A-Light-From-Your-Darkness: Whoo for long reviews! ^_^ Hehe, yes, Raina kind of went overboard with the whole 'Looking-for-Nash' thing. She probably shouldn't of concentrating so hard and used so much power, but…If I were in her position, I probably would have done most the same. She lost her own son for goodness sake. I'd be worried…very worried. I probably wouldn't be able to calm down. Hehe. Damn it! Normrak didn't come back this chapter either…well, I guess I can keep trying, right? ^_^
Pyrope: Mm, well, Normrak didn't REALLY die. It said so in the epilogue of the last chapter, when Cali made a statement on Normrak coming back to life. He never really died, just kind of…passed out for a bit. ^_^ I still love your reviews though. Yaaaay indeed! Oh, and yay for your wrist being healed! How'dja break it? O.o;
Devils-babe: My computer's always a jackass. Recently, it's been having a hard time running. It'll shut off in the middle of my sessions! Eeevill indeed. Yes, that is all.
Flying Blind: Mm, I think you're reading too much into that comment that Cali made. O.o; Or maybe you're not. Hm…*story ideas*
Cryptic Insanity: Let the story die?! Ahhh, that's an evil suggestion! I don't think I could ever do that, no matter how hectic my life gets. I love writing. ^_^ Yes…I can just picture it…if Normrak comes back now…*evil grin*
Kyla: Thanks for your review! I updated! ^_^
Smile :): Hehe. Yaaay! Reviews are awesome. O.o; And I love reviews that show that the reader's following along in my story like yours. Yes. Awesome. ^_^
ski1118: Ahhh! I keep forgetting to review on Liv and Damien! Darn it. I've been reading it though. ^_^ It's very awesome indeed. I hope you update super-soon (even though you just updated to-day). Hehe, It'd most definitely be amusing if Normak stepped in right now. ^_^ I can just imagine Raina's reaction. Especially when she finds out she's married. O.o;
ShadyCreek: Eeee, thank you! ^_^ I love getting new reviewers…and it amazes me that anyone could actually read the first Game because it's so…ehhh…not good. _ Heh. Yes, that last chapter brings up all sortsa new problems to develop the plot of this one. ^_^
Mannie: Yes, my story can be quite…long and drawn out, can't it? Ehck. I'm sorry. I just love writing it so much, I try to keep mysteries so I have a reason to write more of it. ^_^ I've been writing these Game stories for the past…almost two years. I love them to death. But I'm afraid that this might be the last one. So most of the mysteries should be cleared up by the end of this story. Of course, sometimes mysteries stay throughout my stories because I'm not aware of them. _
Sidereus Phoenix: Hehe…Sidereus kinda reminds me of Sirius, and Phoenix…well, I just read the Order of the Phoenix (well, I read it when it came out. O.o;). That's probably where is comes from. O.o; Anyway, Yes, I'm anxious to find out about the pain too. _ I'm quite odd. You see, I'll write something, and not know what I'm writing until I go back and read it. My muse just kind of…takes over. ^_^
Liasa: Well…I know this isn't exactly sooon, and I'm very sorry about that…but I did update! ^_^ I hope you like it.
Qutie^slave: Hehe, mystery it is, I suppose. ^_^ A lot of the time, I'll write a bunch of mystery into the story and not even know it until my reviewers say "AHH! MYSTERY!". ^_^ Thanks for your review (and keep reviewing!).
Wow, I've never realized exactly how long it takes to do a couple of review replies. ^_^ Well, either way, I'm not going to stop. I love replying to you guys. ^_^