History Chapter 3 - Only Dreams

[Moonshadow]

Smoke. Burning. Blood. Earth. That smell . . .

Death. Fear. Loneliness. Despair. They swirled around him in an impenetrable black cloud. The sky. The sky was black. The earth was . . . red? And brown. Wet . . . Rain. It was raining. Pouring. The water was freezing . . . but his cheek was on fire. Blood. He could taste it now. Salty and bitter and metallic.

Someone. Something familiar. Warm. Distant. Too far away. Who are you? Red. Blood. Too much blood.

“Mama!” Sousuke screamed in a voice he didn’t recognize.

He was sitting in the front hallway of his apartment, trembling, eyes wide, pistol in his hand, aiming at nothing. At a nightmare that he couldn’t see.

“No! Stop! Stop! STOP!! There’s nothing here!!!” His gun fell to the ground. “It’s not real . . . I’m not afraid of dreams!!!”

But he was afraid. And it wasn’t just a dream. It happened. It was real.

There are many things from your past I’m sure you do not like to think about. However, avoiding something does not make it go away. You can only run from yourself for so long. The more you push those things away, the more they will haunt you in the long run.

He had been running for over fourteen years. He’d suppressed, blocked out, and run away from this past. He, who was fearless in the face of incredible danger, was terrified of this memory. This feeling of helplessness. This . . . loneliness.

Sousuke touched his throbbing cheek. His finger traced a familiar scar he’d never known the story behind. He was suddenly very aware of the silence of his apartment. Of its emptiness. His own heartbeat was deafening. He needed to hear something else. He needed to hear someone else. He slowly reached for his cell phone and dialed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kaname walked down the long pathway lined with wild flowers, enjoying the gentle breeze that playfully twirled strands of her long hair. In the distance someone was running to meet her. She smiled and waved to the approaching figure.

Ayame came to a stop a few feet from her older sister. “Kaname! Let’s get ice cream!! Papa’s going to meet us for tea later!!”

“Sure! I know a great place.” She took her sister’s hand and began to turn up a new path when Bonta-kun darted out in front of them.

“Fumo fumo Fumoffu?!” he demanded.

“Well, I . . .” Kaname was unsure how to answer such a question. Kyouko only giggled and snapped her picture.

Her camera began ringing.

“Huh?” Kaname squinted, trying to find the sound. Her cell phone lit up on her night stand. The clock behind it read 2:14. Not quite awake, she opened it and brought it to her ear.

“Hello?” Her voice was just above a whisper.

“Uhh . . .” The voice on the other end sounded strange but somehow familiar.

“Hello?” The fog was beginning to clear from her mind. “Who is it?”

“Chidori, I . . .”

“Sousuke?! Sousuke, what is it?” She was starting to get worried. Had something happened? It must be serious for him to call at this hour.

“Chidori, uhh . . . are you all right?”

“Am I all right? What are you talking about? I was asleep.” He was not making any sense.

“Ah, I see . . . um . . . I was concerned because I . . . I thought I might have heard something outside.” He didn’t sound like he believed his own story.

“You thought you might have heard something? Sousuke, it’s after two in the morning and you woke me up because you think you might have heard something outside?!” She was not in the mood for this.

“I . . . well . . . It could be some kind of predator. I only wanted to make sure you were . . .”

“SOUSUKE!!!” She clapped her hand over her mouth. Her neighbors probably didn’t want to be woken up at this hour, either. She continued more quietly but no less intense, “Sagara Sousuke, you stupid military jerk! What on earth is going on in that head of yours that tells you it’s a good idea to call ANYONE . . .” she checked her volume again, “anyone at this time of night?! What is with you?!”

“I . . . I don’t know . . . I’m sorry, I just . . . I really can’t . . .” He sounded really strange. Almost . . . frightened. The only other time she’d ever heard him like that was months ago when she had fallen through the floor in the old burned-out hospital. Her anger began to dissipate.

“Sousuke, are you alright?”

“Yes, affirmative . . . It’s not a problem . . . I am fine, Chidori.”

He really sounded bothered by something. Was he still worried about the history project? It must be pretty bad if he had called her this late at night for no real reason. He’d never done that before. Clearly he was not going to tell her over the phone. Maybe she should . . .

“Hey, Sousuke,”she said in her best frightened voice, “You know, I think I just heard something outside my window. Maybe there is someone bad out there.”

“Really?” He sounded quite surprised by her statement.

“Yeah. Maybe you should come over until we’re sure it’s safe. Can’t be too careful.” The last bit was too much. Not even Sousuke could possibly buy that one.

“That is a good plan, Chidori. If you fear for your safety, I will come over as quickly as I can.” He hung up before she had any chance to reconsider.

Kaname made a dash for the bathroom. Sousuke would probably be there in less than five minutes and she was not letting him see her with bed hair and morning breath.