• CHAPTER 9 - LUCID DREAM

    Some dreams seem much too real, almost like they're reality, I would only assume they're called lucid dreams, only these dreams are from a real experience and they keep playing over and over again...

    .:{{Kai's Perspective}}:.

    I waited downstairs for about another hour until I was sure Arisa was asleep. I wanted to watch over Kira too. I knew he wouldn't go into Arisa's room with everybody watching him or if I were in the room, but I didn't want to take that chance right away. It was too quiet downstairs until Takeuchi brought up something that didn't make any sense so I forgot what he said. I slipped upstairs, bidding my rude goodnights and went upstairs and into what used to be my room. I would just call it a bedroom now; it wasn't really mine or Arisa's.
    I shut the door as quietly as I could and stared at Arisa in her sleep. The moonlight that shone through the window down on her really brought out her complexion. I snuck up to stand next to her by the side of the bed and look down on her. She was stunning, I'd admit that. I barely touched her cheek with my fingertips and then I headed to the chair that sat at the corner of the bedroom. I sat myself down in it and watched Arisa as she slept. I was tired myself but I suddenly felt a twinge of curiosity. She wanted me to look into her dreams, so why not try to see if she would dream tonight? She would ask me if I found anything the next day, then I'd say no if I didn't even look, then she'll be all down and upset because she wants a view of her dreams from someone else's eyes and I'm the only one she wants to do it.

    "Okay, let's see what goes on in that head of yours," and I shut my eyes and focused hard to get into her mind.

    She was definitely starting to dream. It's hardest to enter dreams when they're just starting, so I came at the right time and the worst time. It's much harder to enter dreams than to just read one's mind. I shut my eyes tighter and tried harder to focus. After a long moment of dire concentration, I finally entered the dream that could ruin everything for us...

    .:{{Dream in Kai's Perspective}}:.

    It was dark in the room I had been placed in. I didn't know which room or whose room it was, but I only assumed it was Arisa's when I looked around and saw her lying awake with a saddened look on her face. I looked over at her alarm clock and it was around 2 in the morning. I placed myself on the empty bed she never took her eyes off across from her. Her eyes didn't move when I sat on the bed.

    "You can't see me, can you?" when she didn't answer, I knew she couldn't. I'm just a witness, so I originally had no part in this dream.

    Her face still looked incredibly saddened. I finally found out after a while what she was so sad about; she missed Aya. This was her bed when she was alive, that's why she kept staring at it. She must have been in depression from her sister's passing six months earlier. Arisa told me all about her identical twin and I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. I kept staring at her depressed face as she played with what looked like a ribbon in her hand that rested on the end table that separated the two beds. The ribbon was a lavender and in white embroidery at the end it said "Aya" in cursive letters. So her sister had one too; I had seen Arisa wearing a light pink ribbon just like the lavender one but her name was embroidered in white as well.

    I wished I could see what she was thinking in her dream. It took enough concentration just to be in her dream, so I had no ability to read her mind in her dream. Maybe it could also be because when you dream, what you say in your head isn't necessarily planned.

    My thoughts and Arisa's were interrupted as we heard a deafening shriek coming from across the hall. Arisa shot upwards and froze and started hyperventilating. She's scared much too easily, but this time, I could agree with her. I got a little freaked out myself by the sound of that shriek. Arisa quickly threw the covers off of her and hopped out of the bed and rushed to her bedroom door. I stood up and followed after her and stood behind her when she stopped at the door. She stepped back and I moved out of her way as she looked down at the moonlight coming in through her door. A shadow passed by and stopped in front of her door and Arisa stiffened. I stood behind her protectively, but it's not like I could do anything. The shadow passed and Arisa's heart was beating unbelievably loud in her throat. She swallowed loudly and reached cautiously for the doorknob.

    "Be careful, Arisa," I didn't know why I was talking to her. She couldn't see or hear me. She had no sense of security.

    She turned the doorknob slowly and opened the door with the utmost care and slid out of it and I followed behind her. The room just a few steps across the hall's door was cracked open. I flinched as the smell of blood overwhelmed me. s**t, this was her parents' room...and they were murdered just now. This is the dream Arisa has had continuously. I followed her into her parents' room, wishing there was some way I could stop her from going in. It would be futile; she already witnessed the aftermath in real life. A sharp gasp escaped her chest and she covered her mouth and her eyes were widened in horror. I regrettably looked over at the heaping mess that took up the bed. Two bodies, a man's and a woman's, were hard to make out from all of the blood diverged all over their bodies and the bed. My thirst instantly sky rocketed and I could hear Arisa trying to speak. She ran over to the bed, kneeled next to it, grabbed the body of her mother, thrust it around and cried in an outburst.

    "Mom, dad!" her tears were rolling uncontrollably. If my heart was beating, it would have just stopped from all of the grief I was feeling, "Mom, dad, don't leave me!! You can't leave me too!!"

    She stood up right away and backed away, tears still flowing, blood-soaked hands. Her sobs penetrated the silence of the twilight. I wanted to reach out to her, hold her and comfort her, but I ended up being too distracted by the corpses taking up the space of the bed. I studied their faces closer and instantly regretted looking into Arisa's dream. I backed away from the bed and just as I had turned my attention back to Arisa, the silhouette of a man stood behind her.

    "Arisa, no!"

    The man behind her covered up her mouth and slammed her against the wall, pressing her body against the wall into a crater. She continued to sob as the man pressed his thumbs against her throat and she was losing her air, her parents, her life. I watched in horror and fury as her eyes slowly started rolling to the back of her head.

    I snapped my eyes open, ending my witnessing of the dream as Arisa started thrashing around in the bed. I ran up to her and shook her frantically.

    "Arisa!"

    Arisa gasped as she snapped her eyes open. Her tears rolled down her cheeks as soon as her eyes opened. I kneeled down next to her and wrapped my arm around her shoulder to comfort her. I waited for a while for her to calm down, whispering to her, but there were two major questions I needed to ask her. She wiped away her tears, only to be pursued by more tears, but quieter bursts of cries.

    I rubbed her shoulder soothingly, "Arisa, it's okay, it's a dream," it was far from a dream. I could tell that was an exact replay of what happened that night, "Arisa, can you answer something for me?"

    She inhaled and exhaled heavily repeatedly. She wiped away more tears and sighed as she nodded, "Yes, I can,"

    "Are you up to it?"

    She paused for a moment and closed her eyes too. She nodded again, "Yes,"

    I sighed deeply, "What's your last name?"

    She stared at me with a puzzled look but answered anyways, "Kurabashi,"

    s**t, this wasn't turning out good, "What are...your parents' names?" I knew the answer to this one question would change everything. I already knew the answer, but I wanted a confirmation.

    She looked into my eyes and a couple of stray tears billowed out, "Yumi and Toji,"

    In an instant, I was on the other side of the room. God dammit, I was right. Arisa supported herself on her elbows and looked at me with curiosity. I couldn't...I couldn't look at her anymore. I couldn't believe what I had gotten myself into even before I met her. Too many emotions of regret and self-loathing flashed through me.

    "Kai?"

    "Dammit...dammit, dammit dammit!" I couldn't be around her anymore. I couldn't bear to see her so pained, only to be pained more if I told her what I needed to.

    Arisa never took her curious and worried eyes off of me as I disappeared from the room.

    ~*~*~*~*~*~

    .:{{Arisa's Perspective}}:.

    I didn't understand. I was in a whole other world of confusion. Kai had woken me from my dream and immediately asked for my last name and my parents' names. Did he actually take the time to look into my dream like I asked? I didn't notice, though. I rubbed my throat as the shadow-pain of the man pressing his thumbs against my throat came back into mind. Why did Kai leave so suddenly when I answered his questions? Why was he so shocked and upset when I told him? Hundreds of questions spun through my head as I layed down on my back and looked up at the ceiling. Stray tears rolled down my face. I still felt the pain, the fear, the confusion of my parents' bodies simply sprawled across the bed. But I felt new pain for the fact that Kai witnessed it. I shouldn't have asked him to look into my dreams. It was probably too much of a burden for him.

    "I'm sorry," I gripped the comforter and refused to close my eyes again. I didn't want to dream again, I didn't want Kai to see it again. I wanted everything to end.

    ~*~*~*~*~*~

    Maybe it was just me, but it seemed that Kai had been avoiding me since he looked into my dream. I wanted to know what was going on in his head. Whenever I would enter a room that he was in, he would stare at me with a painful look flashing across his face and he would leave. Matsuda and Takeuchi acted like they didn't know what was going on, but I knew they were involved with Kai's reaction somehow. I wanted to know what was wrong with him. It was just a dream; did it affect him that much?

    "Hey, Arisa, you should meet Miku sometime," Takeuchi had made a parfait for me and one for him as well. He had told me a lot about his girlfriend Miku. Even the...pregnancy part. It didn't bother me too much; I knew Takeuchi was a good guy, but it's just kind of strange to think about sometimes. She was human, he was a Werewolf and she was perfectly acceptable of that, but her parents didn't know Takeuchi was a Werewolf. Takeuchi said the pregnancy hasn't been too difficult, but there could be dangers later on. I started hoping silently that she would make it okay.

    He's told me about his history too. What happened to his parents, how he could never repay Matsuda and Orihime enough for what they've done for him. He was incredibly thankful that they saved him. He really enjoyed Kai and Kira's company, despite they're supposed to be sworn enemies. He didn't know why they were supposed to be. He didn't see anything wrong with them, but he found it disgusting that Vampires crave blood. When he was telling me all of it, I couldn't help but laugh at his immaturity. He was such an amazing guy; Miku was lucky. After Takeuchi and I had talked and talked for about 3 hours straight, finishing off about 5 parfaits each, I felt as though I had made a little brother.

    Our attention turned to the stairs as Kai glided down them. He stood in front of me in silence and he looked like he was hesitating about something.

    "Yeah, Kai?"

    "Arisa, may I...may I speak with you for a minute?"

    I looked next to me at Takeuchi who nodded to me in encouragement. I stood up and as I did, Kai very lightly wrapped his hand around my bicep and grasped it firmly. I looked over to Takeuchi and blushed lightly. Takeuchi smiled, but then his smile soon disappeared. I looked to my other side at Kai who was still wearing the same face, just looking down at Takeuchi. He headed towards the stairs in silence and I walked next to him. I didn't want to ask him anything, he looked too sensitive right now.

    He led me into the bedroom and shut and locked the door behind him. That couldn't have been a good thing, he never locks the door. I stood confidently but as soon as he turned around and stared at me, I had been defeated. He stared at me for a little while longer and I took the hint that he wanted me to sit on the bed. I made my way and he followed close behind me. My heart was beating anxiously and loudly as I placed myself on the bed. Kai kneeled in front of me and slowly placed a cold hand on my lower left thigh by my knee. I stared at him.

    "Kai, what's wrong?"

    It took him a while to answer, "I know you've noticed a change in me since I looked into your dream,"

    So he did look into it. I wasn't offended, I was just regretting ever asking him to witness such an event. I placed my hands in my lap and waited patiently, "So...what's going on?"

    Kai sighed and squeezed my thigh firmly. He was hesitating so much about telling me something. I had never been so concerned for him. He unconsciously rubbed my thigh with his thumb, "I...I don't know how to say this...or how you will react, but what I am prepared for is the anger and hate you will bequeath upon me,"

    It scared me even more that Kai was using such formal vocabulary. I don't know why, but to me, it didn't mean a good thing. Kai reached up and lowered my forehead to his lips and pressed his lips against my forehead firmly. He allowed me to pull away a little and he was still avoiding eye contact, "I'm so sorry, Arisa,"