Akira
How many times do I have to scream? I’m tired of screaming. My body’s so weak now... What can I do? I can barely lift my arms and my legs. It’s hard even to open my eyelids.
I felt my body hit the cold platform. It had become my bed after all of these years. How long have we been here anyways? Me and this girl beside me... I’ve been here since I was eight and I’ve remembered when my birthday was every year. It’s been... twelve years. They’ve tried to keep me perfect... these weird ears... Wolf ears... and making sure everything was in tune and correct with wanting specific food.
She, though... I don’t know how long she’s been here. We’ve shared our screams whenever they want to test something without leaving our designated rooms. Right now, we were laying on our beds, exhausted from what we did today. They wanted to test our physical strength. I did well enough to lift over 150 lbs but I don’t know how the girl did. If we didn’t do well... well, nothing good would come to us for the next few days. The only happy things were either the food or playing games, which would be lifting enormous weights or doing sports, or being left alone in our rooms. I took to being left alone.
I struggled to open my eyelids and found enough strength to open them. They hit the usual bright lights and the blank texture of ceilings and walls. I moved my eyes around and noticed nobody else was in the room except for me and the other girl and for once, her curtain was pulled back.
She had pretty blond hair, unlike my unruly black hair, and her eyes were an interesting pink. No doubt the work of Hiraku, her scientist, but I could only say the least for my scientist, Second Hiraku, his twin. Her rabbit ears flopped to this side. She was trying to make them move slightly, get adjusted to them. I don’t blame her. I was still getting used to my wolf ears and the addition to my back. The wolf tail. I wasn’t even strong enough to move that.
“You know...” I quietly said, my voice slightly hoarse. “You can hear fine like you would regular ears,” I told her and she turned over and looked at me, surprised that I was talking to her.
“I... I know... I’m just not used to them yet... you know, because I don’t have my... human ears...” She whimpered and I just nodded.
“I’m still getting my wolf ones,” I told her with a small smile and that’s when the ventilation shaft popped open and out stuck that guy’s head again. He had messy brown hair and gray eyes. I think his name started with an S.
“Sebastian!!” The girl cried out quietly and he hurried over to her and kissed her before kneeling down next to her and smiling.
“It was hard getting out of my room. They insisted on changing my eye color tonight. I didn’t bother to talk,” He sighed and the girl just nodded. She seemed really happy to be around him. “You know what, I promise, once we get out of here, I’m going to take you to Paris. You remember talking all about that place, right?” Sebastian asked her and she nodded quickly with small tears in her eyes. “At least you still remember everything about us,” Sebastian said and she just nodded and put her head against his.
“What color are they going to change your eyes to?” The girl and Sebastian frowned.
“An electric green. Green isn’t really my favorite color,” Sebastian laughed a little and she just nuzzled her head into his shoulder.
I cleared my throat a little to get a point in that I was still here and Sebastian turned around and his eyebrows raised in curiousity.
“Who’s this?” He asked as he walked over to me while still crouching, and I held out my hand.
“I’m Akira. I’ve been with her this whole time but I didn’t really bother to say anything,” I said quietly and he nodded and took my hand.
“It’s nice to meet you, Akira,” He said with a nod. “You just like to be alone?” He asked and I gave a nod.
“I’ve been here a while. I’ve learned not to talk to people and make friends,” I said quietly and he just nodded.
That’s when we all heard voices coming closer outside the room and Sebastian’s head shot up. His time here was always short.
“I should get going,” Sebastian said quickly before kissing the girl and heading back inside the shaft, closing it carefully after him. It was perfect timing because the girl and I both had our heads towards the door, us hearing the door unlock with keys jingling.
“Hey, I never found out your name,” the girl said as she held out her hand with some of the strength she had. She was scared. In some part of me, so was I. I always was before they came in. I used some little strength I had to grab it and squeeze it.
“I’m Akira,” I told her with a small smile and she gave one back.
“I’m Karin."
---------
I remembered everything. The pain, the torture, the blood and constant vomit. The knives, needles, and the insanity of it all. I had gone insane... and admitted to Griffin that I loved him. We had cuddled in a cell together...
That wasn't all I remembered though. That memory with Karin... I knew it was real. That was only a few years ago when I first escaped the labs with the device, the hard drive, but nobody knew it was in my pocket when they erased my memories. I had forgotten about it until just a year ago, when I decided to start the club. Charlie... Oh, Charlie. He saved me... all those years ago...
Wait a second. Charlie.
I knew I was completely zoned, my head pounding with new information every second, the memories colliding with the ones that were fake. Or at least... I think they were fake. I was so confused... I didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t.
I'm insane. I had to be insane but all of this had to be the only explanation. I was so close to passing out. I didn't even notice when Griffin put a glass of water in my hand. I had never seen him this worried. But then again... I think I have.
I stared at my arms as Griffin tried to speak to me. I didn't really know what he was saying because I couldn't help but stare at my quills. Once Griffin put his hand under my chin and brought my head up to where I was being looked at him, I couldn’t help but touch his neck. He had such worry in his eyes. That’s when I finally heard his voice and noticed that it was really just Tommy, him, and I left in the room. That felt longer than normal...
“Akira? What is going on?” Griffin asked as he put his hand on my stomach slightly in comfort and I winced. I didn’t feel any pain there but... it was from being stabbed there when I was in captivity that made me wince and remember. Griffin recoiled, clearly upset and took a seat right next to me. Tommy was well, of course, already sitting.
“Sorry, I... Your touch reminded me of being... s-stabbed,” I cried slightly with more tears running down my face and I had no idea why that had scared me, that touch... I was shaking.
“Akira, please explain to me what is going on. I need to understand what is wrong,” Griffin said softly, his voice kinder and gentler now as he took my hands and I smiled a little as he used one of his hands to wipe the tears off my face.
“We...” I swallowed before continuing. “Just a few weeks ago... we were captured by XL and... we were tortured, given these new additions to our bodies... I never had these quills before, or a longer tail or long hair. I never had more wolf instincts until now. You never had these red scales until now, Griffin,” I told him as I squeezed his hands and he stared at me for a little bit with a confused face until he shook his head. No...
“I am sorry, Akira, but I do not know what you are talking about. We have to take you to a hospital. Something is seriously wrong with you,” Griffin said as he tried to help me up but I refused. Tommy started to protest but I looked at him and he immediately shut up. I stood up, wobbling slightly, and looked up at Griffin. He had stopped now that I was only standing there and he just looked at me.
“Griffin, do you not remember? Nothing about the experimentation, my screams as they killed me and brought me back to life?” I asked him and he shook his head. I had to make him remember but how? Wait a second- “What about Alkako? He tortured every day, and I heard your screams. He talked about Cyrus constantly. You stabbed him. Don’t you remember?” I asked him and he was silent, his eyes wide. His grip suddenly became tighter on mine as he sat down again and tears, actually tears, started to stream down his face.
“What shall I do, Akira?” Tommy asked as Griffin said there, speechless for moments. I looked at him and it took me a second to get my thoughts back together.
“Go... get the laptop from the truck. I think it is in there anyways,” I told him and he got up and headed out the door to the truck that now sitting outside. I turned back to Griffin as he squeezed my hands and looked up at me with pain in his eyes. I sat back down besides him as he started to pick at the red scales on his arms.
“Cyrus... I.... I remember... the fire... Alkako... the torture from him... he was... He spoke of how I was the cause of his death... Akira, I... I think I...” He winced as he pulled off a scale and looked at it in his hand. “I remember,” He said somewhat stoically and I took his hand.
“We have to get everybody else to remember...” I said quietly and he didn’t say a word for a few minutes. He rubbed his temples, I being able to tell that he was in pain. He paused before answering.
“Did... Did we um...” Griffin started off but his voice grew to a whisper as if the walls had ears. “Did you tell me that you loved me...?” I blushed and drank my water a little bit. I nodded in response. “And did I tell you that...?” I nodded and he smiled a little bit as he squeezed my hands once more and before I knew it, he was kissing me. I was glad we were alone this time.
I could taste the tears on his lips as we kissed. They were soft and warm, like I had hoped they would be. It wasn’t until the door open that we stopped. I guess it took awhile for Tommy to find the laptop.
“It was underneath the driver’s seat,” Tommy said with a smile as he walked over and gave it to me. I smiled, my face completely scarlet, and opened it up. Thank god it wasn’t damaged.
I opened up the program and found it completely working. It ran perfectly and it still had a good enough charge on it. Good thing too.
“Who are you looking up?” Griffin asked as he winced in pain, I smiled a little, even though pain was still emanating through my forehead.
“My brother,” I told him and he looked at me curiously as he looked over my shoulder and I looked his name up in the search bar of the program. It immediately found him in Germany but just as fast as it found him, his dot disappeared. Wait a second. No. He couldn’t be dead.
“Did he just-” I immediately gave Griffin the laptop and pulled my cell phone out. That number... Let’s see if I could remember it. I punched in the numbers slowly as the memory came to mind, that tampered with memory Charlie modified.
Before I knew it, I was dialing the number and holding it up to my ear. Please don’t let him be dead, please don’t-
“Hallo? Wer ist das?” It was a woman’s voice. This was odd...
“Is Charlie there?” I asked and the woman paused for a second before I heard the phone being handed over.
“Finally.” I was startled to hear his voice. It had changed. Something about him didn’t sound... like himself anymore. “You finally called. It’s been five years, little sister.”
I couldn’t say anything for a few moments.
“Was it really that long?” was the only thing that came out of my mouth. Charlie chuckled.
“It was, sister. Now that everything about me is finally fixed, except my autism of course, I would like you to come to Germany. All of you, fully paid, first class trips. There will be a private plane waiting for you all in the the next week.” I motioned for Griffin to get me a piece of paper and a pen and he quickly did as I wrote down what Charlie just said. “And of course, please bring that man, Griffin who is sitting beside you, over as well. I would like to talk to him privately. All of the details shall be sent to you through a separate email of mine.” How did he- “You will find out everything in dear time, sis. I’ll see you next week.” And he hung up.
As dawn was breaking on the horizon, I looked at Griffin and the piece of paper. Tommy didn’t say a word as he left Griffin and I alone.
“I guess we are going to Germany,” I told him as my headache started to subside but there was that last pain that would never go away, and those memories... They would turn into nightmares.
“Your head still hurting?” I asked Griffin and he nodded. I stood up, finally having my balance back. I slowly helped Griffin up as we headed upstairs to go to bed, though we didn’t achieve that once Nodin, Heiji, Larua, Nai-Hina, Ela, Acacia, Dante, Ela, Riley, Kateri, Kaki, Locke, and Violett.
Everybody was asking questions, what was wrong with me, what was going on, where we were going, and honestly, I was tired of all of it. I held my hands in surrender and everybody slowly quieted down.
“I will answer everybody’s questions later on in the day. I need to sleep. I have a splitting headache and I will not explain anything until dinner tonight. To answer one question, though, we are going to Germany.” Questions started again but I held up a hand and they quieted down again.
“Akira? Why are we going there?” Heiji asked and I sighed and closed my eyes for a second.
“Because all of the answers are there.” Or at least that’s what I assumed. That seemed to satisfy everyone and eventually everyone dispersed, some making comments about how I looked insane. I didn’t care. Not right now.
Griffin lead me to my room after that, and I could tell that he was completely drained now that he had remembered everything. It was going to be hard to convince everyone that we were tortured by XL a few weeks ago. It would happen though.
Once I got onto my bed, I could see Griffin didn’t want to leave my side from the emotions in his eyes, besides the fact that he closed the door behind him. I think we both still had the thought inside us that we told each other we loved each other.
“Come lay down with me. It’s okay. I don’t bite,” I smiled and he smiled with a small chuckle escaping his lips and came over beside me, ignoring the fact that this was weird and odd so he climbed onto the bed beside me, not bothering to get inside the covers like I did. We both quickly fell asleep, succumbing to the torture that now resided in our brains.
-------------
I woke up screaming.
There was a cold sweat running down my back and face, and I was facing Griffin. His eyes were already upon me, his hand already moving towards me.
Griffin was a mess. His hair was messed up and his pajamas that he was still wearing from earlier were in different directions, his white tank top sliding off of him and his jeans that he seemed to just put on were almost off. I would’ve smirked but I didn’t really feel like it.
“Akira! What is it?” Griffin turned me to him with a worried look upon him. He put his hands on my face to get my attention “Akira, look at me,” Griffin told me softly and my eyes focused onto him. “What happened?” He asked and I shook my head, tears streaming down my face again.
“The torture... Everything that happened... I wish I could show everyone or at least... remind them of what happened like I did to you,” I said quietly and he put his forehead against mine and wiped my tears away.
“Well, let us go and explain it to them, alright?” Griffin asked and I nodded with a smile. Once he slid off my bed, I noticing it was now around dinner time, and I grabbed his hand before I slid off the bed. He turned around and looked at me but something just compelled me to hug him. He jumped a little, shocked at the motion, but eventually hugged me back.
“What is this for?” He asked and I looked up at him.
“Just for... being there for me... in all of the hard times we had... Thank you,” I told him quietly and he smiled and for a few moments, we kissed again before we headed downstairs to tell everyone what was truly going on.
Once we got down there, I could see that everyone was waiting for us and staring at our hands as they were intertwined but we ignored the stares as I went to my chair and stood on it to get everyone’s attention, as if I didn’t have it before.
I started to explain to everybody what happened to me, how I suddenly regained memories at the slightest mention of “broken toys” and what it meant to me to make me remember what happened. I mentioned Griffin and how I reminded him of something tragic, not saying what because I wasn’t that horrible, and told everyone to think. I brought up things that happened during those days we were in captivity that made people wince and some of them go off into a trance, which made me guess that they were remembering. By the time I was done, some of them believed me, probably about over half, and Tommy nodded in approval as he sat beside Ela, who seemed in a trance as well. Tommy was keeping an eye on her, I could tell.
“And so we’ll be heading to Germany next week to my brother’s house. He has all of our answers and if I remember correctly... I think he’s a scientist, but not XL, so he’s fine,” I finished and most of them nodded and Griffin looked at me with a smile.
Well... here we come, Germany.
Charlie... Just what the hell do you know?
---------------
WELP. You can have your character remember if you want to, and for our new members, you can come up with some way to come in, if you like :)
New Plot Line, continuing our way with XL and who Charlie really is and what we can do. Like Wyvern-chan said, March 10th is when we are heading to Germany, and that is next week :)
Post, do whatever you like, and please post! We would love if this place got back up and running! :D Please don't let us down :D
~Anime
