Forever Lost

Chapter Sixteen: She's In Amane

My pulse is racing, stopping for nothing and no one, not even Kill -Will I ever get his name right?-. Breath heavy, eyes wide, scanning the darkened room. I'm lying down on my side, Croe holding me close to him. His eyes are open, scanning my panicked expression. He seems to sense that I need some space for he unwraps his arms from around me. I sit up as soon as I'm released. I hurriedly pull my legs out from under the blankets and crawl -or flop- to the edge of the bed. I jump off and storm over to the edge of the bed. I jump off and storm over to the sliding glass doors that lead to the balcony, open it, then propel over to the center yoga mat, pulling my knees up to my chest, hugging them, rocking nervously. I give off a faint moan of agony every so often.

"Melody," I scream at the sound of his voice, for it seems to cut me apart inside, the pain almost unbearable.

He cautiously makes his way over to me, feet gliding across the wood soundlessly, expression deep with concern.

I jump when I feel his hand on my back, forcing my eyes closed as a tear falls from my eye.

He leans down next to me. He doesn't speak, just sits there, rubbing my back gently.

The next minute consists of relative silence, besides my constant moans of pain. A soft breeze silences me.

My eyes open then, expression curious, eyes wide, mouth small. I raise my head, looking at the night sky. My expression relaxes, my eyes close, head falls on my knees, and I drift off into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

My head bounces subtly, resting on my hands. My knees are pulled up, even with my waist. I'm lying down on my side.

The soft, constant rumble continues in my ear, the steady beat of my heart familiar and pleasant.

Suddenly, the rummbiling stops and my eyes open to find myself in a car. I flip over on my back, cracking my spine in the process, and sit up lazily, yawning and stretching tiresomely while trying to ignore the head rush I get.

My sight is fuzzy, but after a few seconds I can see clearly [now, the (b)rain is gone. :] . I'm in the back seat of my bug, sitting behind the passengers seat. Krale is driving, eyes on the road, completely silent, not even his breath is audible. To my left is Juli, looking up at me with curious eyes. I smile and pick her up, setting her down on my lap, stroking her soft fur.

She purs in delight, rubbing the side of her face on my hand. I scratch her behind her ears for a while, that is, until we come to a stop.

I instinctively look up, as does Julie. Krome looks back at me, turns away, then back, eyes wide.

"You're awake?" he speaks as if it's impossible.

"Yeah," I smile. "Is this news?"

He doesn't answer, just stares at me, expression shows he's not convinced.

I hear a bark from the passengers seat and I immediately connect it with Mask. Julie meows loudly back in response, followed by another bark from Mask. Our heads turn left and right, watching the odd conversation in complete and utter confusion. This goes on for about two minutes, that is until they are interrupted by the sound of a finger tapping impatiently on glass. All of us turn our attention to Krosh's window. A tall girl with grey blue hair and eyes stares at us, and impatient look in her eyes.

Crim looks over at me and sighs heavily. "Well, we don't want to keep Renee waiting." He turns away, unbuckling himself, opening the door, stepping out.

"What took you so long?" she yells

"Well, I'm sorry, I thought I made good time considering what's happened recently!" he projects back defensively.