Kid's P.O.V:
"H-Hey, Samantha? It's me, Kid again." I stutter. My words are all shaky, and no matter how hard I try to get them to stop, they just continue wavering uncontrollably. It's early in the morning, another sleepless night awaited me when I got home yesterday, and so I was up almost all night. Classes don't start for another three hours. I doubt anyone is really awake. I know Liz and Patty are trying their best to stay energised. I dragged them along to the clinic and I have a feeling that I'm going to pay for it later. Connor, however was awake when I decided to get out of bed, and of course, accompanied me to the infirmary.
"The others ask about you," I continue on squeezing her small hand. "Tsubaki and Black*Star send their get wells and their love, as do the rest of us. They don't visit very often because of missions, and everyone else is a pretty heavy sleeper and not a morning person," I chuckled lightly looking over to Patty and Liz who were glaring at me slightly. Connor chuckled along as well, smiling at me. I sent one back, but weaker than his.
I feel like breaking down into a million pieces. I never thought seeing someone who I once thought to be a spawn of the devil would make me so mentally and emotionally broken.
"Please come back to us soon," I breath out in a puff of air. I take a deep breath in and exhale shakily. Patty sits closer to me with a worried expression. "I haven't seen you this upset since that other girl went away," she stated.
"Patty, I think Kid was more upset then," Liz yawns, patting the four year old minded girl on the head. Liz took a seat on the other side of me and sighed. She appears to be troubled.
"Are you alright, Liz?" I ask her. She looked up a little surprised, then furrowed her brows and sighed.
"yeah... it's just that what Sam did to you, to save your life? It seems familiar to me, and the more I think about it, Sam seems like someone I've known before. Or that I've met Sam before she came to the academy."
"That's impossible though, isn't it? I mean, Connor, you and Sam were set in stone until a few months ago, right?" I ask. Connor stretched his arms and leaned back letting out a relaxed exhale.
"Yeah, that much is true. That doesn't mean that we got out of stone once before."
"You mean, you and Sam have been here before?"
"Well, not exactly here. But yes."
He sat up and leaned in closer to us.
"We returned a couple of years ago. Before you met your dear partners, Kid. When the Thompson sisters were the misfits of Brooklyn. I remember it as if it was yesterday. It seems so recent, but really it wasn't. The day where you, Liz and Patty, hit Samantha in a spot that not many people could reach."
"What?! I didn't hit her! I swear!" Patty exclaimed in a panicked rush. Connor laughed.
"No not like that, Patty. I mean you touched her heart. You made have a little more respect for herself and others. Yes, she protected others but she was always a little harsh towards them."
"Wow... shocker." I state sarcastically. Connor sent me a cold playful glare, and I instantly shut up. At least, I think the stare was meant to be playful, but who can really tell with this guy?
"How did we touch her heart?" Liz asks Connor, becoming more awake as the story perks her interest.
"Well, I guess you could say in a way, you reminded her of herself. Your family betrayed you in a way, and left you on the streets. Same thing happened to her. You did whatever you had to do to survive, and same story with Sam and I. You didn't feel you could fit in with everyone else, and Sam didn't belong with her own kind, and lets face it, she's a witch so no normal beings wanted her around for the fact that she was a witch. She couldn't be herself."
"I see, so how did they the two get to her?" I ask also becoming intrigued.
"Liz and Patty were the first ones that accepted her as a witch. Accepted who she truly was, besides me of course."
Hang on a minute, Connor is implying that Patty and Liz know Sam. They've met, but when? How? What circumstances? Not just that, but they knew that Sam was a witch?! How?
I turn to Liz with a questioning. Patty was too busy swinging on her chair to actually notice what was going on around her. Liz looked just as confused as I was.
"Wait a minute!" Liz shouts standing up abruptly and her eyes wide with terror. "You're not saying that Sam was the one that saved Patty's life that day, are you?!"
Connor shrugs and kicks his feet up onto Sam's bed. I feel myself tense at the action, but I can't do anything about it. Connor's practically her family.
"I dunno. Am I? You tell me. Does anything seem familiar about her? Or does this sounds like something you heard? She gave you a piece of advice while you were in Brooklyn running a muck. Something along the lines of, follow the reaper."
Liz gasped and Patty has tuned in at this point. Her eyes widen in realisation. Follow the reaper? What the hell does that even mean?!
"What is all this?" I asked completely lost. With everything they're saying I find that I'm just a piece of wood at sea whilst they're on a ship altogether understanding each other. I'm just left out, so what the hell is going on?
Liz sat down with a blank look on her face, almost like she just found out her whole life was a lie. She began mumbling about how Sam had disappeared straight after the incident, and how she feels guilty for not recognising both her and Connor.
Still left in the dark here...
"Can someone tell me what's going on? Please? What happened in Brooklyn?" I pressed on begging for answers.
Liz ad Patty said nothing so I turned to Connor. He cleared his throat and adjusted his shirt that seemed to be bugging him before staring intensely towards Sam and the girls.
"As most heart warming things, this story takes place on a stormy night in Brooklyn."
Sam's P.O.V:
This place is a jungle! It's so big and I feel so damn small! It's not a nice feeling! All these buildings that still seem to be in sight when I look straight up, as well as the millions of twinkling stars above my head, but that's not the point!
The people walking along the streets keep glancing back and forth at me. It's like they're assessing me and trying to figure out what my deal is.What is my deal? I don't even know, so if someone else could tell me, that would be great.
The fact that they can see me though, that means I'm not dead, right? So, I'm alive, but in alternate universe, right?
Looking around the street I'm strolling upon, street vendors are open which is surprising for this time at night. I've never seen such things. Modern day sure is different.
What am I saying? I know this... I know street vendors are open this late, how is it surprising? And modern day?! What is this?
Great, I'm beginning to feel slightly light headed now. Ugh the world is spinning! Cut it out! I smack my head a couple of times to get myself thinking straight. In the lack of concentration I stumble into a passerby making them dropped the flyers they were carrying, and a mess to be made of the street. The man curses and begins picking up the ones that haven't flown away in the wind.
"Oh, sorry sir," I apologised bowing my head and beginning to pick up the ones that have stuck to my ankles. "Let me help."
He grumbles under his breath and I frown. At least I'm trying to help him, right? Have some gratitude, people! I glance along the street seeing the loose papers already miles away. In a quick flash they make their way back to me, all of the, and land softly in my hands.
"Here you are, sir." I smile holding them out to him.
He doesn't say anything. He's gone into a silent shock. He takes one step back and, his shoulders trembling slightly and his eyes widen in surprise.
"Y-You're a witch?!" he gasps raising an accusing finger at me. I slowly move the finger out of my way and nod my head slowly. I glanced at the papers I held in my hand and I could feel the colour draining from my face.
"Oh..." I trailed off. "I see..."
'WITCH HUNTERS! CONTACT THEM TODAY!'
"I take it you're going to kill me now, right?" I asked him. He didn't have to answer. he shakily grabbed something from his pocket. It glistened in the light from the stars and a flash of silver sliced through the flyers.
"Ahh..." I nodded in understanding, probably not reacting the way he wanted to. "So it's going to be like this, eh? Alright, but before we do this, I need to tell you. That picture on the flyer is gruesome. It's very... Unappealing. I suggest you change it to something more appropriate if you ever want to get hired."
He grunts and thrust the blade my way. I narrowly evaded it.
"Whoa, dude! Chill out."
He doesn't listen and continuously tries to have a go at me. I decide that maybe it would be best to run away and not give a damn about this guy so I take a turn into an alleyway. His frantic shouts and never ending death threats follow after me as well as the heavy thuds of his foot steps. It suddenly begins to rain heavily causing puddles to form all around me. In only a few short seconds I'm already drenched from my head to toe.
My breath is starting to come out in short painful gasps. Where the hell is Connor when I need him?! Ugh! I shouldn't have helped that man! He's like the rest! Like everyone else!
Wait... where is this talk coming from?
Cardboard boxes come to view in a dead end. I could hide behind them. I know very well it's not the smartest idea I've had but right now I'm running on thin ice! What choice do I have exactly?!
I sit behind the boxes cradling my knees, shivering from the cold. I have no intention to stay here long. I want to go and get out of here. I want to be back at the academy with Kid. And... everyone else... of course... Not just Kid.... No...
"Excuse me," A girl's voice growls at me from deeper behind the boxes. Two girls shivering in the corner, looking very much alike one another. How familiar they look too. I know them... But from where? They were huddling together to try and gain some warmth on this cold, miserable night, but from all the shivering i think it's safe to assume that their efforts have gone to waste.
They looked roughed up. Clothes torn and dirt smudges covered the entirety of their bodies. They seemed so helpless, but their glares were anything but friendly.
Wait... Now I see.
"Patty? Liz?" I uttered quietly. They flinched upon hearing the names I called out, and their harsh glares wavered. For some reason... I feel surprised that I know their names. I feel like I shouldn't, yet I do. That's not a good feeling, is it?
"How do you know our names?" Liz asks slightly terrified.
"I... I don't know..." I said. It felt like it was the only thing that could be said.
"There you are!" The grizzly, stranger man said in small victory. He kicks away the boxes, getting my face while at it! I hit the wall beside me, hitting my head hard enough to break through several layers of the skin and for the dripping sensation to start at the back of neck.
"Patty!" i hear Liz yell. Patty nods and in quick glow of bright fluorescent pink, she transforms into a pistol. So she's like Connor.
I already knew she was like Connor... Why does everything feel like the first time?
Liz pulls the trigger and bullets fly everywhere at the strange man. Even though they're focused on shooting the witch hunter, I can feel Liz keeping an eye on me. She's afraid of me. I can sense it, not just from her expression, but her soul.
Just from looking at their souls tells me so much. Their almost exactly like me! Life wise...
I ALREADY KNOW ALL THIS! WHAT IS GOING ON?!
"Heads up!" Liz shouts my way. I snap out of my thoughts and manage to jump over the guy before he sliced my stomach wide open. He lunges for Liz, but she disappears and Patty comes back holding a pistol in her own hands. She smirks and gives off a murderous vibe. She's clearly done this before.
"Say goodbye, gramps," she cackled, "You won't be hurting this young lady at all, ya hear?"
Something about that sentence hit something in my heart. No ones ever defended me before besides Connor...
I literally want to hit myself.
A scream broke through the night, and next thing I know, Patty's on the ground. Liz transforms back to a human and tears rush down her face. Blood rushed from Patty's stomach and mixed with the clear water by her side.
The two were now defenseless, and there's a guy with a blood stained knife who's about to paint the pavement.
I straighten myself out and stroll over casually to the soon to be dead man. I guess Mr. Man here, must have smelt the death sentence coming his. he began backing up against the wall sliding away from the crime scene.
"Oh haha, do you really think you'll be getting away that easily?" I chuckled to myself watching as the colour drained from his face. Oh, I am going to enjoy this!
I cracked my knuckles and as each bone popped he flinched and jumped and squirmed uncomfortably.
Next, my neck. After I felt relaxed, I took one step towards the man and he threw his arms up in terror and ran screaming frantically, his voice dying down the further he runs away.
"Aww, and I didn't even get to do anything," I frowned, genuinely disappointed. I was looking forward to turning him inside out.
Argh! Wait! That's not my problem right now! Patty is!
"Pass her to me!' I demand, and although Liz is skeptical of the idea, lays the bleeding and crying girl in my arms. Lifting up the shirt partly of Patricia Thompson, I examine the damage.
"hmm, lets see. Not too deep... not deadly at all... Won't cause death although very painful. I'll take it off your hands, Patricia."
"Wait what?" Patty asks in a croak. Tears welled her eyes and just that scene is enough to get me motivated. I recite an ancient incantation, placing my hands on the bleeding wound and in a few short seconds the wound has been transferred onto me.
"Wow! Look sis! I'm all better!" Patty exclaims instantly jumping from my arms and hugging her older sister who laughed in a confused yet happy bliss. I can see that both of them are in a small state of shock, but the gratefulness in their eyes don't lie, and I smile a little myself.
"Thank you," Liz says teary eyed hugging her younger sister tightly. I nod my head with a small smile, and grunt a little whilst standing on my feet. I place a hand over the blood stained shirt knowing that in a short while I'd have to roll up my sleeves and try a little stain removal technique.
"Good job," Connor says turning the corner into the alleyway and smiling slightly at me. He doesn't at all seem surprised that I'm bleeding and that there are two girls embracing one another in happy tears.
"Yep. Thanks. I could have used your help!"
"Sorry, but I was busy calling the pest patrol to do something about the spiders in this city," he shivered at just mentioning the things. He treated them as if they were the most disgusting, vile creatures to ever walk this planet. "Horrible little things. Damn ran into three of them on the way here! Had to take a detour."
I nod a little walking, more like hobbling, over to Connor who lifts me up bridal style and laughs slightly at the bleeding mess. I roll my eyes and glance over at the Thompson sisters.
Something... Seems to be... taking my attention away from them. What is this wavelength? I've sensed it before. A very strong, individual compatible to a reaper. Argh No! It is a reaper!
"Uh miss?" Liz asks, "Is there some way we can repay you? Maybe... We could get that wound looked at?"
"Nah, I'll be fine. If you really want to repay me, do me a favour and follow a spoilt little shinigami, alright? Follow the reaper and your lives may get better."
As soon as the words left my mouth, the air became still and the rain drops slowed almost to a complete stop in mid air. A swirling vortex sucked everything, the entire city away and I fell from Connor's arms landing with a thud on the nothingness. It was dark and lonely once again.
Now I understand why everything felt like the first time.
It was a memory...