Vibrant Eyes

Chapter 15 - World So Cold

Trigger warning ;-;

The world around me was blurry. I blinked several times and shook my head, clearing away the daze I felt as my body was weak. My head spun, and for a moment, I couldn't make sense of anything. Everything sounded fuzzy, like I had been underwater, only to have a cold breeze pass by.

I looked around in search of something that would tell me where I was, but all I saw was darkness. The sounds surrounding me were faint, almost silent, but I knew I wasn't alone. I could feel it, as if someone else's presence was right behind me. I didn't dare turn around though, fearing what I would see.

My mind felt slow and dull, like I was trying to keep up with heavy rain. But even as I tried my best to understand everything happening around me, I still wasn't able to make sense of what was happening. I looked at my hands and tried to ground myself. 'Where am I?' I thought. Suddenly, a dark presence filled the empty abyss.

I looked in front of me to find an abandoned house. The house was simple, but was rotting. The windows were shattered and duct taped and the door was covered in scratch marks. I was hesitant, but walked towards the house. I realized something. The house was an exact replica of my childhood home. As I stood in front of this place that I never thought I'd go back to, I felt something grip my shoulder.

"Alana?" I looked to my left to see my brother by my side. The dark abyss transformed into a street with other neighboring houses. The sky was a pink and orange color. 'Right... I was going here with Kuragari' I said to myself.

"If you don't want to go inside, we don't have to," he said as he patted my shoulder. I smiled at him.

"I want to... I need to find out what happened to me, what happened to us," I said. We both hesitantly walked to the door and Kuragari knocked on the door, nobody answered. My heart pounded and I froze. I wasn't prepared to see my father, especially since he pawned me and my brother off to CyberCorp. There was a delay, but the door opened a crack. "What do you want?" A man's voice came through the crack in the door. It was deep and crackly, almost like a monster was speaking to me. "Hi father... it's me." I managed to speak. I could feel his presence overwhelming me, but with my brother by my side I was able to suck it up.

"Wait one minute." My father shut the door and I started to hear footsteps. Finally, the door opened fully. There, stood a tall man with ripped pants and a singlet full of cigarette burns. His beard was scruffy with grey hairs and his eyes carried the same bags they did when I was younger.

"Come in," he said as he welcomed us inside. Me and Kuragari looked at each other and walked inside. He motioned for us to sit down. Inside the house it almost looked the same. The stairs leading up to the second floor against the left wall right in front of the door, the lounge room to the right and the kitchen in front of us. There were opened pizza boxes and beer bottles all over the place.

I followed Kuragari as we sat down on the burned couch. Our father went and grabbed a beer and sat in front of us.

"Honestly thought you both would be dead by now," Our father said as he took a drink. My blood boiled as I watched him drink the bottle. "Well, we're still here," Kuragari said. "That you are." Our father placed the beer bottle on the coffee table in front of him and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs.

"So, why are you here? Clearly you aren't on some annual visit," He said bluntly. I breathed deeply. "We... I came here because I want to know what happened." Our father looked at me like I was crazy.

"I pawned you off to that weird company for money, there's nothing else to it kid. You know this already," He said. I looked down.

"She's lost her memory father. She can't remember her childhood, she didn't even know I was her brother until it was told to her," Kuragari stated. My father chuckled. "It's not like you guys had a childhood to begin with." He took another swig of his drink and set it down.