Nightmares, surprisingly not mine for once

There was no sign of Smiley or any of his Rose Brides yesterday. It was a relief. Because the first thing I noticed when I awoke that morning was that, as Tori predicted, I was sore, like extremely sore. I dragged myself out of bed even though my body protested. I went to the kitchen and whipped up some waffles.

Tori stumbled into the kitchen tiredly. She sat down grabbing a plateful of waffles and proceeded to drown them in syrup. She suggested that we spar to which I reluctantly accepted. After the spar was over I spent the rest of the day studying my book. So pretty much an uneventful day.

I glanced at the clock and noticed it was late so I shut my book and laid down. Before long I had fallen asleep. I was awoken by Tori screaming. I looked over at the clock and groaned. 2 a.m. "Just one night, please" I mumbled to myself. I got out of bed and made my way to her room. When I opened the door I saw Tori sitting up in her bed breathing heavily. Her hands gripped her bed-sheets so tight her knuckles were white. The moonlight streaming in from the window made her look paler that usual.

I walked forward slowly, wondering what was wrong. "Hey I heard you scream, are you alright?"

She glanced over at me. "I-I'm fine...it was.... it was just a nightmare.." She sighed and used the back of her hand to wipe her face. She had been crying.

"Can I... help?" I asked unsure. She held out her arms, I noticed just how tired she looked, how scared, and if I were honest maybe just a bit adorable. I felt my blush at that thought.

I looked around the room until I spotted the panda plushy. I grabbed it and held it out to her. "Panda?" I asked weakly.

She put her arms down. "Damn it Skye I want a hug not a panda!"

"Obviously you're fine if you can make Star Trek references!"

She held her arms out again a childish pout on her face. "Hug," she demanded. I sighed at this. A blush still on my face I walked over to her. I sat down next to her and wrapped my arms around her and she laid back down, bringing me with her. "H-hey I th-thought you just wanted a h-hug not-"

"Shut up Skye," she mumbled into my shoulder. I couldn't see her face to tell, but she sounded almost embarrassed. "Just trust me on this..."

"U-um...."

"Look I don't wanna wake you up again okay?" she mumbled and shifted slightly so she was more comfortable.

"O-okay."

It wasn't long before her breathing slowed. I looked down at her, she was asleep. "Uh....T-Tori?" This only caused her to snuggle even closer. My face felt like it was on fire at this point and I began to feel dizzy.

Don't pass out, don't you dare pass out! Don't p- and everything went black. The first thing I noticed when I woke up is that there was a weight on top of me.

I froze up when I saw that Tori had somehow ended up on top of me, her head on my chest and her hands on both of my shoulders. My arms were still wrapped around her. I noticed that she wasn't actually heavy at all and that the only reason she could pin me was because she knew how to pin someone bigger than her. As I idly rubbed small circles into her back and traced over her scars I wondered who exactly taught her to fight. There was still so much that I didn't know about her. She chose this time to wake up. I began to stutter out nonsense. She lifted her head to look at me.

With that unreadable look on her face she said, "You're really comfortable to sleep on." I was silenced by her words. Her mouth pulled up into a smirk before she laid her head back on my chest and fell asleep again. I just stared at the top of her head for a few minutes before shutting my eyes, a blush still on my face. It wasn't long before I too fell asleep.

A long post for a long day

The first sign of incoming danger was the giggling, then of course there were the flowers. Black roses being a sign of death. A bouquet that I had taken inside as soon as I had found it. I walked calmly to Tori's room when I entered the house.

"Geez Skye at least take me on a date first." She said jokingly after I woke her up, a spark of amusement in her eyes.

I felt my face heat up "W-what..?" I looked down, noticing I was still clad only in my boxers and I was holding a bouquet of roses. I'm sure this looked rather strange. "I'll b-be right b-back."  

I ran to my room and quickly threw on a t-shirt and some cargo pants and ran back to her room. After that we discussed what the flowers meant. This of course was obvious. This had The Smiling Man written all over it. The only question was why was he after one of us....more importantly who was he after?

She looked pensively at me. "The Smiling Man you say?" I nodded and tried to look at her without blushing. She had worn a sports bra to bed again and the sheets were pooled around her hips. 

"It's the only explanation, as you know he uses bouquets to warn his victims. Communicating these warnings through the language of the flowers. I'm no expert but even I know that black roses mean death. So it would seem he wants one of us, or possibly both of us dead." I leaned against the door frame shutting my eyes. "The question is why? What reason does he have for wanting one of us dead?" I opened my eyes looking at her. "You wouldn't happen to be afraid of serial killers would you?"

She shook her head. "No I actually find serial killers interesting. The way that their minds work is fascinating." An emotion flickered in her eye almost to fast to be recognized  But for a split second I saw an emotion was all too familiar. Fear. "I just don't want to become one." 

I sighed "I guess it doesn't matter why; he's after one of us now and there isn't much we can do about it."

She took the flowers from me and put them in a vase setting them in the kitchen. Placing an ace of spades in the window next to the flowers, muttering something like "damn cards indeed" with a fond smile on her face. I face palmed when I saw this, and I'll admit I chuckled. Oh yes let's just try to piss off the homicidal straitjacket wearing psychopath. A wonderful idea indeed. The rest of the day was quiet. That was until dinner. Dinner as usual was filled with silence, a comfortable silence.

Then there was the tittering. Echoing throughout the house as it had that morning. I stood and my eyes darted around the house trying to locate the origin of the sound. It was closer this time, not as distant as it had sounded that morning. Yes it was in the house this time. But then how had I not felt it? I didn't have time to worry about that right now though. Is was becoming louder, closer. In the corner of my eyes I saw Tori stand as well looking around for the source of the noise. This was a relief to me, I was not imagining this then.

It was then that a woman stepped out from the shadows, giggling. I examined the woman who had a psychotic grin on her face. Long red hair, eyes sparkling with madness. She stepped forward and Tori chose this moment to act. Taking out a throwing knife I had not known she had. With a flick of her wrist the knife sped at the women and planted itself into the wall behind her. The grin never leaving her face as she faded into rose petals.

"What a rude little girl you are." Her voice filled with mirth, I looked over at Tori, whose eyes were wide, the woman standing behind her. Tori turned taking out another knife and slashing at nothing but air as the women faded into rose petals once again. We could hear her voice echoing from all around. "Tsk, tsk didn't your parents teach you any manners?"

"You..." I looked over and could tell Tori was angry. "Come out you coward!" The only response was more giggling.

"Let's take this elsewhere..." I could hear the back door open and slam shut. I snapped out of my daze at the noise. I ran towards the back door, Tori following me. I threw the door open to see the women standing in the middle of the backyard. I slowly walked forward Tori standing to my left.

"I just don't get it!" The woman whined. "A threat?" she laughed "You're nothing but weak children." I gritted my teeth feeling that same anger that I felt when I encountered Slendy. She shrugged "Well orders are orders I suppose. Do try to make this entertaining will you?" I charged at her swinging, she just dodged the wild punches with ease giggling the entire time. This only proved to make me angrier. A flash of silver and a throwing knife sped past me. The women scoffed and tilted her head the throwing knife planting itself in to the tree behind her. The momentary distraction was enough however to allow me to land a punch to the women's ribs.

She looked at me surprised as she stumbled backwards. A growl escaped her lips. "How dare you strike me?!" She faded once again. Petals appearing in the air, forming a ring around me. I was confused by this. What was this? She appeared in front of me delivering a vicious blow to my stomach. I gasped for air as she disappeared as fast as she had appeared.

"Skye!" Tori yelled as she ran towards me. When she came close I heard her gasp in pain as one of the petals touched her. I looked at her seeing that the petal had left a cut on her cheek. My attention was drawn from her when I felt pain explode in my temple as the women delivered a kick to the side my head. I stood to my feet shakily. Only to be punched in the face. I stumbled backwards as she struck me again. My eyes darted back and force trying to track the woman's extremely fast movements. She struck me again. This was a Rose Bride? Another powerful strike. The beating continued on. My mind raced. What could I do? What cou-another strike.

The familiar taste of blood in my mouth. Wait! The runes...I had my runes.....I reached into my pocket grasping the small slip of paper. I had not used them in a combat situation yet. I had to make contact, I just had to make contact. The thought passed through my mind as I felt another brutal punch to my ribs. She appeared in front of me a smirk on her face as she struck me again. I tried to track her movements. I found it to be a impossible task.

"I'm disappointed, I expected more from you after that punch earlier. Is that all you have?" the voice was mocking me. It echoed all around me. "I grow bored of this boy, I might as well end it now!" the voice yelled still echoing all around me...no wait...It was coming from my left! I turned already anticipating the blow. I side stepped her punch and she was thrown off balance her momentum carrying her forward. I quickly delivered a palm strike to the center of her back. What she did not notice was the small slip of paper I stuck on her back.

She caught herself with her hand and lashed out at me with her leg. Delivering yet another powerful blow to my face. I fell back on to the ground. She stood up glaring down at me. "You have an opportunity and that's how you use it?" She asked in disbelief. I looked up with at her with a grin, a small trickle of blood escaping my mouth. "What's with the smile kid, it's over don't you realize that?"

"Yea I do...because I've already won." I said. She opened her mouth to say something before she began to convulse violently as electricity traveled throughout her body. The rune on her back glowing a bright blue. When the glow faded the woman fell to the ground unconscious. I stood up feeling slightly dizzy and noticed the petals that had been in the air had vanished.

I looked over at Tori still smiling. She smiled back tentatively, and I noticed that her arms were bleeding. "Oh, I tried to get her off of you but the bitch kept blasting me with her razor petals," she shrugged as if it was something that happened every day.

"Regardless," she smiled wider as she walked over to me and patted me on the back lightly so she didn't hurt me. "I think that's the single most badass thing I've ever seen you do so far kid."

I smiled back at her before looking over to the unconscious Rose Bride. "What should we do with her? I don't think she's dead, I just knocked her out."

Tori crouched down and pressed two fingers to the woman's neck, searching for a pulse. She stared blankly into space as she counted. "Well she's alive and her pulse is normalish for a human. Want me to just chuck her into the path?" Tori looked up at me from her squatting position and I noticed that the cut on her cheek was still bleeding sluggishly.

"Can't think of a better option... So sure," I shrugged. I watched as Tori carefully drug the Rose Bride by her arms into the shadow of the tree. I blinked and they were gone. A couple seconds later, Tori was back.

"Now let's make sure you don't have any fractures or internal bleeding." She was all business now. It was easy to forget that this was the girl who actually had medical books piled up in her room

"But you're bleeding Tori, at least take care of that first." She looked at me with that unreadable face before shaking her head.

"Fine, I'm pretty sure there's a first aid kit in the pavilion. I'll need help cleaning and bandaging the cuts on my back though," she called over her shoulder as she made her way to the center of the yard where the pavilion was. I followed her and assisted with minimal blushing and stuttering. She hissed in pain slightly when I cleaned out a few of the deeper ones, but other than that she was silent as we both cleaned and bandaged her.

"Sit." She pointed to the picnic table and I obeyed, sitting on the table. She started poking and prodding me gently with her fingers, asking occasionally if anything hurt and if it did to explain it. She'd hum when I answered, give wherever hurt another jab, and then move on. She concluded that I probably didn't have any broken or fractured ribs, punctured lungs, or anything like that. She did say that I would probably hurt like hell tomorrow from the beating I took though.

Wish I could have shot the messenger

I snapped awoke to the sound of giggling. The way it echoed through the house, the very sound of it made me uneasy. I looked over at the clock. 6 a.m. I groaned when I read it, the sound was muffled by the pillow that I covered my head with. "One full night of sleep, is that too much to ask for?" The incessant tittering suggested that it was. I got out of bed not bothering to put any clothes on. So I set off making my way through the house clad only in a pair of boxer shorts. Yea I was tired....

I first went about checking the runes that had been placed at each of the potential entrances of the house. They made it so I could feel it if someone other than Tori or myself entered the house. I had to draw them with ink that had been mixed with my and Tori's blood, Tori did not actually question me when I told her I needed some of her blood.

"Hey uh...T-Tori?"

"Yea Skye?"

I fumbled nervously with the pockets of my pants. "C-could I have s-some of y-your blood?" 

Cue the blank stare. I imagine that the question sounded quite strange.

"Some of my blood?"

I nodded. "S-some of your b-blood." 

"You want me to give you some of my blood?"

"Y-yes..."

A shrug is placed here.

"Alright, sure"

I shook my head and continued checking the runes. I was relieved to find that none of them had been tampered with. Meaning had someone entered I would have felt it. The giggling however continued. It was coming from outside then, I decided. With that in mind I went for the nearest door(backdoor) and walked outside. I shivered slightly at the cool morning air. But kept moving nonetheless.

The louder seemed to grow louder, echoing throughout the yard as it had in the house. That feeling of uneasiness only grew. I made my way through the yard slowly, cautiously. I found nothing. The giggling grew even louder as I grew frustrated. Taking a deep breath I walked around to the front of the house.

Slowly the giggling subsided and I sighed. When it had fully disappeared I made my way to the front door. I froze when I saw what sat in front of the door. "N-no......" was all I managed to say.

What sat in front of the door was a bouquet of black roses.

Pancakes for breakfast

I had stayed up the whole night making runes. Knowing that we would need all the protection we could get. I had read Tori's post. So he had been the reason she was crying. I walked to her room that morning. I felt as though there were things we needed to discuss. I knocked on her door and I heard a quiet "come in".

When I opened the door I saw that she had a variety of weapons laid out across her bed. I was slightly surprised. "What do you want Skye?" She asked as she went about sharpening the knives.

"You're not actually going to go through with this are you?" She glanced up at me before going back to sharpening the knives. "You can't do this. You're going to be killing innocent people....."

She stopped sharpening the knife and she looked at me. "Oh did you wanna die then?" I was taken aback by this. "Look I'm saving your ass by doing this. I thought you'd be a little more appreciative than this. But noooo all the guys I give a damn about have a fucking DEATH WISH!"

I found myself becoming angry at her words. "I don't have a death wish! But I don't want you to have to kill   innocent people just because you won't kill me! It isn't right!"

"Well what you expect me to do?!" She stood up at this point. I was quieted by this. I wasn't sure how to respond to that. "Look," Tori sighed, pushing the weapons aside so she could sit down on the bed. Her posture was slumped, very unlike the confident way she usually held herself. "I know that this isn't really.... ideal... but...." She took a deep breath and shook her head slightly. "What else could I do?"  She looked up at me and I was taken aback at how broken her eyes were. I found myself becoming angry again, not at her but at that suit wearing bastard.

I ran a hand through my hair, sighed and leaned against the door frame. "I don't know.....But what I do know is that, I meant what I said the other night. I'm not going to let you deal with this on your own. I don't know how much I can do but....I know that I want to help you in anyway that I can. We'll get through this, together." I felt a confidence that I had never felt before. For some reason I found myself actually believing what I was saying. I had that feeling, that feeling that tells you that everything's going to be alright. Even though the voices were yelling at me that everything was definitely not going to be alright. That if I didn't run I was going to die. I was surprised to find myself ignoring them.

She looked up at me, blankly at first but then her eyes flickered from emotion to emotion - so fast I couldn't make out what she was feeling. "That...." she smiled up at me, "that means a lot to me." I found myself smiling back at her.

"So....what's for breakfast?"

The calm before the storm

"No!" My eyes snapped open at Tori's yell. I looked at my bedside clock. 3 a.m. gahhh so late......

 I slowly got out of the bed. I rubbed at my eyes and began to make my way to my door. I opened it stumbling into the hallway. I was exhausted. I walked to where the scream had come from. I walked into the kitchen to see Tori on the floor with her eyes closed tightly.

"Tori?" I asked, concerned. "Tori are you okay?" she looked up at me, fear shining in her eyes as she began to frantically crawl backwards. "What happened?" She looked up at me again opening her mouth as if to say something, but all that escaped was a choked sob. I kneeled down in front of her trying to figure out what was wrong. She shut her mouth shaking her head. "Hey, hey what happened?" I asked softly, I could see tears running down her cheeks.

She seemed confused at the question bringing her hand up to her face as if only now noticing she was crying. "I..." her eyes moved around the room quickly before settling back on me. She flung herself at me surprising me. I froze up for a few minutes not too sure what to do. I slowly put my arms around her making shushing noises as I rubbed her back as she had done for me. She continued to sob into my chest as I held her. I was of course rather confused, at that point not sure what had happened, still not exactly sure.

She finally seemed to relax, her sobs coming to a stop. I looked down to see that she had fallen asleep. I froze when I felt it. That familiar feeling that all runners know. My eyes darted around the room looking for what I knew was there. My eyes stopped on the window when I saw HIM standing outside of it. I shook slightly with an emotion that I did not feel often, pure rage. I glared at him and he simply cocked his head to the side.

I knew that whatever had happened to Tori HE was to blame. I grit my teeth standing to my feet still holding Tori. I began to walk to her room my eyes never leaving HIM. Tentacles began to appear behind him. Swaying angrily almost. I could not stop the small growl from escaping my lips. I knew that I should be scared, terrified of this creature. But all I felt at the moment was that intense anger. I blinked and he was gone.

I sighed as I continued to Tori's room. When I entered I set her on the bed and tucked her in. I exited the room shutting the door quietly behind me. As I made my way back to my room my mind was racing. HE was back....and that meant danger. I needed to prepare. I wouldn't let him hurt her, I refused to.

With that in mind I entered my room and sat down at the desk. I took out a small jar of ink with a red tint to it, as well as a small slips of paper. I took out my calligraphy pen dipping it in to the ink. I began to work. I would be up till dawn.

Until next time, Skye.

Magically magical magic

Interesting title, ne?

I should probably explain. It refers to the book I found recently. I've never to believe what we call "magic" and I'm not sure I so now. But this book, the things it says it teaches seem unreal. The book Tori referred to that I kept reading that she said was "bigger than the 7th Harry Potter book".

I did not find this book, you see it was handed to me. A rather strange individual in a book store. It was shortly after I had left. One of the cities I had came to. A strange little town, it was..empty. I was walking through the town when I came across a small book store. I did not know why but I felt drawn to it. It seemed quite old like it had been there forever. I walked in and noticed the place was quite dusty. I called out to see if there was someone else there. I got no reply.

I began to walking around the small shop looking through the various books on rows of shelves. Each of them seemed worn no covers. The titles were to faded to read. I reached for one of them.

"Hello there." I jumped at the sound of a women's voice and turned around quickly. The owner of the voice was an older women. She had grey hair that reached her shoulders, kind emerald green eyes, and an equally kind smile on her face. "What brings one as young as yourself to my shop?"

"Y-your shop?" I asked stupidly, for some reason surprised.

"That's right I am the owner of this shop." She answered calmly. Her voice, I found, had a sort of calming effect. Because I suddenly found myself at ease with this complete stranger. "If I may ask again, why is it you are here? It is not often I get visitors so young." She asked me again, but something in the way she spoke told me she had been expecting me. I dismissed this ridiculous thought.

"I saw your book store and I was curious is all." I answered honestly. She looked at me curiously for a few seconds. I looked around at the books around me. Her smile grew slightly.

"Is that so? How curious...." She seemed to think about something for a minute or so. "I think I have just what you need dear." I froze, what I needed? What was she talking about? "If you would just wait here." She began to walk the rows of books. She disappeared as she walked further into the store. "Ah! Here it is." She came back with a large black book. No words could be seen on the front or back of the book. She handed it to me, I was confused as ever as I examined the book.

"I believe this shall aid you in your journey young one." I was just completely lost at this point. Journey? Was this lady off her rocker? I looked at her the same smile still on her face. "I believe it is time for you to go though. I am sorry but it is not in your best interest to stay here any longer than necessary." I looked at the book and she guided me to the exit. She opened the door and I walked through as I was walking I heard her speak. "Take good care of it, I hope it helps you. You have a long path ahead of you, be careful....Skye." The door shut behind me.

Wait...I hadn't told her my name. Nor had I paid for the book. I turned and opened the door "Wait how did you-" I stopped when my eyes settled on an empty room. The books, the women, they were all gone. I stepped out of the store not able to comprehend what had just happened. I looked back to find that the once empty streets were bustling with traffic. I looked back at the now empty building. Had it just been another hallucination? I looked down to see that the book was still in my hands though. I needed somewhere to think. I did not open the book and set off looking for a library.

When I found one I sat down at one of the many desks. I slowly opened the book to find it was written in a strange language. Letters and symbols I had never seen before. But somehow I found myself able to read them. The book claimed to be a guide of sorts on runes. Claiming these runes held powers. One's that could alter reality momentarily. For an example there was one rune in the book that the book said would release a torrent of flames when activated by the user.

I am looking to you science types(Med) for an explanation here. Is any of this even possible? If so...how? and what was with the bookstore and the strange city?

Hoping for an answer, Skye.

Progress as of yet? None whatsoever.

She looked at me after I had pinned her, after I had snapped and harmed her.

"And I said I'd help you with the voices right?" That you did. "We can work on it, alright? I want to help you." and I want to believe that you can. This reaction had surprised me for many reasons. Kids in the past that have witnessed my....fits, we'll just call them fits. Anyways kids in the past that have witnessed my fits tend to avoid me afterwards. Any chance of friendship long gone. I would then be avoided like the plague (with one exception I suppose in the form of Katrina).

I found myself wondering how she hoped to help me. Tori could not even begin to understand what it was like. To hear these voices in your head, could she? It is a possibility I suppose, but how? She is not schizophrenic I assume. She does not have any signs of multiple personality disorder, that I have seen anyways. So how then, would she understand? While at first seeming to be rather simple, and easy to read. I have found that my hostess is rather enigmatic. 

Early that morning she came to fetch me from my room or "cave" as she has began calling it. She went about going over many ways one can ignore the voices in their head. The first idea one that I was to work on was....

"Meditation." She stated. I gave her a strange look.

"Meditation? Does that really work?" I asked with doubt clear in my voice. I did not know if something as simple as meditation would work.

She just stared at me. "Are you doubting me?" she asked.

I looked away quickly, blood rushing to my face. "N-no of c-course not!" I said louder then I had meant to. I looked back to see she was smiling.

"Good, now cross your legs and shut your eyes." I did as I was instructed. "Now I want you to clear your mind. It may be hard at first, but it shouldn't be too hard for you." I focused on doing as I was told. I remembered once reading about meditation. I did not know much but I did know that it was said to help if you focused on something, on anything. I chose what people chose most often. I focused on my breathing.

After what felt like hours (in reality it was only about 20 minutes) I felt something change. I opened my eyes to find that I was in a rather peculiar new environment. The sky was blue not a cloud in sight, nor was there any sun. As I stood to my feet I noticed they felt wet. I looked down to notice ripples in what seemed to be water. It felt as though I was standing on solid ground except I could see none underneath the water.

I looked around confused to where I was at. Was this supposed to happen I wondered. No....Tori would have surely warned me. I began walking in a random direction, trying to find anything at this point. There was nothing as far as my eyes could see until I spotted it. It was a mirror. It stood straight up nothing about it was out of the ordinary. I walked towards it, feeling drawn to it.

I could see my reflection in the mirror. Still nothing out of the ordinary it would seem. That was until I saw my eyes. I froze when I saw my rather unusual eyes. They were the same color as always. But they were bloodshot and they contained mirth. This mirth was mirth that only one who had been consumed by madness was capable of having. I took a small step backwards from shock.

"Finally payed me a visit I see?" This other me said. His voice was the same as mine if a bit raspier. Quieter.

"Who.....?"

"Am I? That is a rather simple question with a simple answer my boy. I am you." I was surprised by this answer, he continued a frown finding a way on to his face. "or rather the true you."

"I don't understand."

"I represent all of your true desires. Your need for the hunt, your lust for blood." My eyes widened at this statement.

"B-but I don't l-like to hurt people..." God damn stuttering.

"Oh but you do. You simply repress these urges and from them I was born." He grinned wildly. "You continue to lie to yourself." At this point the grin on his face threatened to split his face.

"Stop..." I begged weakly.

"You remember don't you? That joy you felt....must I remind you?" after he said this I grabbed my head in pain as began to see flashing images.

"Stop..."

"The fear in there eyes."

All I could do was continue begging him to stop.

Skye

"There agony filled screams as you broke each of there bones....." His voice was a mere whisper at this point as I fell to my knees clutching my head.

Skye

"Who will be next I wonder? I can not wait to see. Until next time boy." He chuckled darkly.

SKYE!

My eyes snapped open and I once again found myself in Tori's house. I saw with my wide opens a very concerned looking Tori. "Skye what...?" I tried my best but I couldn't stop them. I felt the tears begin to run down my cheeks. So many painful memories. Ones that I would never forget. I froze when I felt Tori hug me. After a few seconds though I began sobbing again my face buried in her shoulder as she rubbed circles into my back. As I look back at this now I am still terribly embarrassed.

When I finally stopped crying I stood up suddenly realizing what had just happened. I felt my face heat up, she looked up at me.

"Are you alright now?" She asked concerned. I found it a chore to form words at this point. 

"Y-yes th-thank you.....I-I'm s-sorry." Still not looking at her.

She chuckled. "It's fine kid. Sometimes you just need to cry while not fun at all and being the primary endorser of Headaches and Being Really Tired It's unhealthy to bottle up your emotions, ya know?" She frowned. "What happened anyways?" I still refused to look at her. The flashing images came back, all the things that I had done. I shook my head.

I looked down. "N-nothing.." I turned quickly and walked away not wanting to think about it anymore. I walked into my room locking it and collapsed on to my bed. I sighed in frustration. I've been hiding in my room ever since. 

Until next time, the always embarrassed Skye.

Sparklers, explosions and independence.

On this day 237 years ago our country published the declaration of independence from Great Britain.

Happy 4th everybody! (that's all your getting)

Voices

Wonderful, absolutely fricking wonderful. I did it again. I lost control again. I'm sick of it! I thought I had gotten better. I thought I was able to ignore them but....I was wrong. While we were sparring I just.....he was so loud. I couldn't handle it and he took over, next thing I know I wake up on top of Tori. She told me she was fine, that I hadn't hurt her but I know I did. This is why I don't keep friends, because HE drives them away. I don't even know what HE is. Look I don't feel like explaining what happened so here.

Until next time, I guess.

Sparring

I had been reading when I heard a knock on my door. "Come in" I called out quietly. The door opened to reveal Tori. I wondered what she could want. "T-Tori, Is there s-something you need?"  

"I was wondering if you wouldn't mind sparring me?" I was rather surprised to hear this. I pondered it for a moment as I thought back to the last time I had fought someone. It...it still haunts me to this day. But that was a long time ago....  

I thought that practicing would probably do me good. So I shut my book and sighed. "S-sure, why not?" She seem slightly surprised. She probably hadn't expected it to be that easy. I followed her as we walked out to the back yard.  She stopped and I walked a few yards away turning and facing her as she did a few stretches. I did not feel the need to stretch so I simply waited for her to finish. When she had she stood straight up and looked at me, I looked back warily.   

"Okay Skye real simple, just hand to hand. If you want to stop just tell me okay?" At my nod she continued. "and don't be afraid to hit me, I can take it. Ready?" Another nod from me and she charged forward attempting to punch me in the chest. I was surprised at her speed, she was much faster then she looked. I twisted quickly, the punch missing me by inches. She turned trying to sweep my feet out from underneath me and I jumped back. She did not give me time to recover however and charged again. She began to throw punch after punch. I did not attempt to attack and simply continued to dodge. She seemed to grow irritated, her punches picking up speed. She feinted a punch at my face before striking out with her other hand attempting to strike my ribs. The strike brushed me as I jumped backwards, breathing heavily.  

I looked up at her as she turned. It was easy to tell she was angry. "Hit me damn it!" she yelled, rushing at me again somehow even faster than before. Her attacks were more fierce and were missing me by mere millimeters. I continued to dodge however, still not attempting to strike back. I just...I couldn't. I can't hit a girl! I never have and I never planned to. It just seemed wrong. I was caught by surprise when she suddenly tackled me, I was not able to move out of the way.   

She easily pinned me and I could see anger in her normally dull blue eyes. "If I were trying to kill you, you'd be dead," she growled. Despite the situation I felt my face heat up and I became slightly dizzy. It was then that I passed out.  My eyes opened slowly and I found myself staring at a mask, it was white with a green caduceus split down the middle, the wings covered the eye-holes. I snapped awake at that rolling to the side as a boot stomped down where I once was. I scrambled to my feet and distanced myself from them and took time to examine him/her. They wore a plain looking black hoodie with the hood over their head covering their hair. The also wore a pair of dark blue jeans.  

"And who are you?" I questioned trying to catch my breath. The person said nothing in return, standing eerily still. "What do you want?!" I was met with silence. The masked person simply stared at me. "What are you mute?" More silence.  

The masked person chose this time to rush forward. I was not ready for this and I took a powerful blow to my stomach. I stumbled backwards gasping for air. The person gave me no time to react though and wasted no time, rushing at me once again. Once again I was dodging lightning fast strikes. After a few minutes of this I had finally had enough. The next punch they threw I parried, throwing them off guard. I drew my fist back and struck them in the chest as hard as I could.   

They stumbled backwards and I readied myself for another assault. What I did not expect was pained laughter and a familiar voice. "Damn Skye, that's quite a punch you have there." The person removed their mask and lowered their hood. Revealing none other than Tori. I was surprised, though now that I think about it I shouldn't have been. I should have noticed that Tori had seemingly just disappeared after I had awoke.  "T-Tori? Why d-did you....?" and the stuttering was back, wonderful.  

"I'm sorry I tricked you Skye. I was trying to get you to defend yourself. You can't be afraid to fight girls Skye. When you eventually come up against a girl proxy, which you will, you can't hesitate. Because they won't." She explained.  

I sighed. "No...I get it. It's alright." I stared at the ground not sure what else to say. "D-did I...did I h-hurt you?"  

"Nah, you just surprised me. And you knocked the wind out of me," her voice was strained slightly. She had to be lying with her voice like that. I had probably hit her harder than she'd want to admit.  

I heard her unzip her hoodie and looked up to see that she had ace bandage wrapped around her... torso over top a bright blue tank-top. She had tossed the hoodie onto the ground. "Trust me, this has nothing on corsets," she smirked and her fingers traced around the bandages. "Shit where did I tuck this damn thing in?"

As she grumbled and cursed I examined her arms and shoulders. I mean, I read her post about the scars and everything, but seeing them was different. There wasn't any kind of pattern to them that I could see, just that some were pinker than others. Some of them looked shiny in the muted light, like burn scars.   

"You know you'd be hard-pressed to find a square inch of my skin that doesn't have at least one scar on it," she spoke up.  

I blushed again and looked down at the ground. "S-sorry, I didn't m-mean to s-stare..." She laughed and I looked back up to see her wrapping up the ace bandage easily, in a way that left it completely even on both of the sides.  

"Kid, I'd be concerned if you didn't stare. I didn't exactly go into detail in my post. And trust me, it gets worse the lower down you get." I once again tucked away the irritation of being called kid as she motioned to her legs. "There's a reason I always wear jeans in public."  

"O-oh..." I mumbled. She shrugged and grabbed her hoodie off of the ground. "You d-don't have to c-cover them u-up if you don't w-want to you k-know..." I felt like my face was on fire as I said this. She'd actually been wearing long sleeves and jeans this entire time.   

I was met with silence and looked up at Tori who was staring at me with an unreadable expression. I looked down slightly my face still burning. "I'll consider it when you can say that without stuttering." I looked up my eyes widening slightly to see that she was smirking as she zipped up her hoodie. I could do nothing but stare as she walked back into the house. She looked back at me the smirk still on her face. "You coming?" she asked.

I snapped out of my daze and I sighed, a small smile on my face. "Y-yeah....." I responded quietly and began to walk towards the house.

Better then sleeping in a library

So I've spent the last couple of weeks sleeping in library's. I mean it's better than the streets and I've found it's relatively safe. As long as you're up before the librarian shows up on the morning that is. But a fellow runner(well she doesn't really call herself a runner) was located nearby the city of Annapolis, where I had just happened to had stayed last night. So I asked her if I could crash at her place for a bit and she agreed to let me.

So when I woke up that morning I avoided the librarian and then acted as if I had just got there. I sat at one of the many desks there and began to read, waiting for Tori. I had gotten so in to my book the tap on my shoulder surprised me. I almost jumped. Thankfully I did not, that would have been rather embarrassing.

"Skye, I presume?" I looked up to see a girl with shoulder length ebony hair smiling at me, my eyes met one eye(her other being covered by her bangs). Her eyes were a dull blue, her smile was slightly strained and did not reach her eyes......well eye. I decided to not comment on this and filed it away for later. I noticed that I may have been staring longer than I should of and I could feel my face heat up. In a failed attempt to hide my blush I looked down shutting my book and the notebook next to it and began to pack up.

"Y-yeah, that's me." stuttering is always a wonderful way to make a first impression. "Tori?" I asked. I finished packing my bag, a simple one strap book bag. I stood up holding my book bag. Still staring at the ground. Damnable shyness.

"Correct. The car's outside, we can get going if you want." She was still smiling, her smile at this point was a little less strained.

"O-okay" With that we set off for the car. I took this time to examine her a little closer. Simple enough attire, a plain long sleeve shirt, and jeans that looked a little worn. "Um, can I, uh sit in the back?" I fiddled with the pockets of my pants nervously, still not meeting her glance.

"Whatever you feel comfortable with. As long as you wear a seat belt, you can sit upside down if it makes you happy." She shrugged.

I stopped "I don't think I'll sit upside down...."

"Sorry kid, I say a lot of weird shit and I've been on my own for so long my filter is long gone." I looked at her curiously, slightly irritated at being called a kid, but more curious than irritated. When she looked up at me, I darted my head to the side already feeling my face heat up again. She chuckled at this and opened the door to the drivers seat, reaching back and unlocking the back door. I wondered for a moment how old this car was. It looked fairly new but didn't have automatic locks? I decided to keep my questions to myself though, fearing that I may stutter again.

"The ride back's about an hour long. Feel free to sleep and please inform me if you need to use the bathroom. I'm pretty sure I can find a place pretty quick. I'll keep the music pretty low, okay?" She told me as she started the car.

"O-okay..." I responded quietly. I once again began to examine my hostess, so many thoughts racing through my head. As she looked back to pull out of the parking spot she caught me staring, my face flushed and suddenly I was very intrigued by the floor of her car.

"If you find any change on the floor you can keep it." An attempted joke, I simply remained quiet and turned to look out the window.

I jumped when I heard her voice snapping me out a daze. "I used to live around here, this street coming up on the left in a bit actually, we could drive past where my house was. I don't know if they rebuilt it or if they just left it alone. County government sucks as bad as the lighting grid out here"

"U-um, sure?" I responded questioningly, not looking at her.

I zoned out until we reached the house, what I saw shocked me. She pulled into the driveway and turned off the car. I stared at the house, or the burnt remains of what was once a house. Was this what would happened had I not ran? Would my family be dead now? She seemed to read my mind.

"Skye, I'm going to be honest. This is what happens when you don't run. They make you run. You made the right choice, but you're not finished making choices yet. Okay?" I looked over at her actually meeting her gaze.

"Y-yeah..." I responded, ducking my head down in another failed attempt to hide my blush. It was comforting to hear that though. Since I ran I hadn't been sure I had made the right decision. But now I see that my decision may have saved my parent's lives.

"Let's go." She said with a sigh.

I tried to think of a way to thank her as we drove. I mean, she was inviting a stranger into her home. She was doing something very kind by letting me stay there. So I tried to think about what I could do to show my appreciation. After a while I realized what I could do. I would cook a meal for her. Cooking is one of the few things I can say I'm actually good at. With this mind I asked her if there was a grocery store we could stop at. She told me there was actually one by her house we could stop at. We stopped at the store and she led me in and grabbed a cart. She told me that she would just follow me. I navigated the aisles, grabbing a variety of things. From pasta, to meat, and cheese. Of course I grabbed what no one can live without, bacon.

When we got to the house we had to find a way to fit everything in her fridge. It was interesting, we had to rearrange everything numerous times until we got it just right. I was a blushing/stuttering mess the entire time. I would almost sprint from the room every time we accidentally brushed up against each other. I curse my shyness and my slight fear of the opposite gender. This fears stems from certain.....experiences in the past with girls. I guess I wouldn't really call it a fear, I'm just more nervous around girls then most guys my age. It frustrates me to no end.

After that she gave me a quick tour of the house. This house was MUCH bigger than it had looked initially. I mean damn Tori's parents(god bless there souls) must have been loaded. After we had finished the tour she told me to pick anywhere I wanted to sleep.

"Anyway, you can sleep wherever you want. As long as it's not in my bed it's fine," She shrugged. I blushed at this of course. Damn blushing.

I wandered around the house a little more before choosing a room that was at the opposite end of the house from hers. I settled in and began to read my book again. Dinner time came before I knew it and I wondered into the kitchen. She asked me if I could use some help and reluctantly I told her sure. She was curious as to what I was making but I did not respond when questioned, deciding it would be a surprise.

I would ask her where something was and she would tell me. After I had finally placed the dish in the oven she asked again.

"You gonna tell me what you're making now?" She asked me in a joking tone.

As I placed some butter and garlic powder in the microwave I responded "Baked Ziti."

"Do you read minds?" she laughed, "Cause I swear that's my favorite pasta dish in the universe."

I was slightly startled by this, I turned around and our eyes met again, my blushing came back full force. I turned back to the microwave. It seemed my stuttering had come back as well. "N-no I'm just good at m-making it..."

"Well I think that's awesome. I'll go ahead and set the table, alright?" With that she hopped of the counter and went to set the table. Dinner was quiet. Though I expected it would be. We would ask a question and the other would answer. I tried my best to control my stuttering. Sigh, though it was one failed attempt after another.

After dinner we cleaned up, and I went back to the room I had chosen. I read for awhile before sighing and laying down. With so many thoughts flying through my head one would think I found it hard to fall asleep. I was rather exhausted though and sleep came rather quickly.

I would have typed this up last night but as I stated I was very tired.

This is who I'm staying with by the way.

Well that's it. Until next time I guess.