GUILT (OMORI AU) BLOOD/EMETOPHOBIA WARNING

Chapter 16: Painful Memories

Sunny was in awe as he looked around. The memories floated like clouds, and were soft to the touch. He saw an early memory and rushed over to view it. It was him when he was nine. He had a nightmare that night...

The rain outside poured aggressively, thunder booming and lightning striking. Sunny sat up in his bed, shaking in fear. He didn't like loud noises. He looked at his sister, who was somehow able to sleep through it. He wanted to try too.. So he laid back in bed, and thought of things that could put him to sleep. Eventually, he did fall asleep...

He was in a field of flowers, and could see his friends in the distance, having fun and making flower crowns. He smiled and started to run to them, when the sky turned dark and thunder crackled. It started to rain, but the rain was acidic. Sunny tried to find his friends, the acid rain stinging as it hit his skin, leaving small burns that bled. He came across a house that looked just like his own, but it was purple. He rushed inside to safety, panting as he closed the door. He thought that he would be safe in the house, as he saw his friends in the kitchen. He walked into the room, but everyone vanished once more, the power going out. Sunny stumbled as he tried to find a flashlight. Once he did, he clicked it on.

He could hear noises coming from upstairs. Curiosity got the best of him, and he started to walk up the steps quietly. The noise became more clear as he got closer to the source. It was coming from his room. He peeked in, and only a TV sat on the floor, static on the screen as it made a loud noise, that sounded like an amalgamation of multiple shows or movies at once. Sunny covered his ears, looking into the TV. A hand reached out of it, pulling him by the hair. He screamed, dropping his flashlight as he watched a tall figure rise from the tv, still holding him by his hair. The figure was pale, and unusually shaped, despite slightly resembling a human. But it opened its eyes and screamed at Sunny. Its eyes were a bright red.

Sunny woke up with a gasp, tears welling in his eyes. He started to cry softly, hugging a stuffed animal. He looked at Mari, who was still fast asleep. He crawled off the bed and gently shook his sister, continuing to cry.

"M-Mari!"

Turning over and smoothing her hair, yawning, Mari sat up and turned to her brother.

"What's wrong, Sunny?"

"I-I had a bad dream..."

"Oh no.. do you want to sleep with me tonight?"

Sunny nodded, crawling into the bed beside her, hugging her side. Mari ran her fingers through his hair, humming gently to soothe him. She smiled softly, watching as her little brother slowly fell back to sleep.

"I love you, Sunny.. It will be okay.." Mari said softly, before closing her eyes.

Sunny smiled fondly at the memory, searching for another one. He began to watch the cloud, wondering what this memory was about..

There was a knock on the door. Mari and Sunny sat on the couch watching Saturday morning cartoons with their father. Mari stood up and went to open the door. Once she did, she saw a small boy, who wore a yellow tank top and had shoulder length brown hair. He also was missing a tooth.

"Hi! Uh, is this the Zhao residence?"

"Yes." Mari chuckled. "I gather that you're from the new family that moved in next door?"

The kid nodded, grinning. "Yup! We moved here from the city."

"That's cool! It's quite peaceful here, especially in the summer time. Thankfully you all moved this month."

The boy nodded again, shifting on his feet a bit, watching as Sunny slowly crept from behind Mari. He kept his distance, but gave the boy a small wave. He looked to be around his age. Then, another boy, presumably his older brother, walked to the door, chuckling.

"Sorry, is he being a handful?"

"Handful?!"

"No, not at all." Mari smiled at the boy. The boy seemed to blush slightly.

"Well um. I'm Henry Hernandez. But I prefer to be called Hero. And this is my little sist- Crap. Sorry"

"Hero..."

"Sorry. My little brother, Kelsey. I'm still getting used to it, sorry bud." He ruffled his brother's hair.

"You can call me Kel! I think it sounds cooler than Hero."

Mari laughed as she tucked some of her dark hair behind her ear. "I'm Marilyn. But you can call me Mari.." She smiled. Hero seemed to blush again. He felt like a fool.

"Who are you then, hmmm?" Kel stepped foreword, eyes looking at Sunny.

Sunny stepped back a bit with a frown, startled. Mari looked at him and gave him a reassuring smile. He shook his head, but stayed behind his sister.

"This is my little brother Sunny. He's a bit shy, but he's a wonder once you get to know him."

"Sunny is a weird name. Like, why would you be named after the sun?" Kel crossed his arms.

"Kel, stop it. That's not nice to say to our neighbors." Hero frowned.

"Well, Sunny was named after a man our mother met around the time he was still in the womb. Even before they knew what his gender would be. The man's name was Sunny Lee, and although it wasn't his legal name, he asked for people to call him that. Because he had a positive outlook on life despite all the difficult things he had been through. He saw the sunshine in the world and wanted to spread it. Our mother decided to name my brother Sunny so that he too could spread happiness and joy. To be a ray of light for others. Haha, I'm just named after my grandmother."

Sunny looked down, his cheeks turning a soft pink.

"That's actually really sweet..." Hero said, crouching to get to Sunny's eye level. "You seem like a pretty cool kid. I know what its like to get nervous around others, trust me. I was like you at your age. Things get better, I promise." He smiled. Sunny looked up at him, smiling slightly in return.

"Kelsey!! Henry!!! Come back over here and get some boxes from the truck!" A man's voice called to them, presumably their father.

"Shoot, uh, okay. Well maybe we can hang out some time." Kel grinned.

"Yeah... If you don't mind, in the future of course." Hero smiled softly, a blush still planted on his cheeks as he looked at Mari. She was so pretty...

Mari looked back at him, even her cheeks turning a soft shade of red. He was so handsome... "Of course! Just get the necessities done first." She giggled.