Sorry for the late update. I can list a whole bunch of excuses right now, but I won't bother you. So if you enjoyed this chapter please leave a vote, comment, review, etc. Thanks for your patience. Enjoy!
Chapter 11
A chill ran down my spine and made me shiver unwillingly. It felt cold all of a sudden and my head began to fuzz. I watched his reflection fearfully unable to confront the monster beside me. I wanted to run away and leave him locked up in this room alone, but I was afraid. What if I try to run and he stops me? What if he will try to kill me? And what if he was testing me and my trust in him? What was I supposed to do?
I shut my eyes tightly and held myself firmly trying to prevent my tears and shivers from alarming him of my fear… but I couldn’t. His actions reminded me of the guy in the park at the Leaf Village… how he preyed on me and my sister… how he stabbed me in my side and almost killed me… I thought silently to myself and figured… this guy was no different.
He is forcing me to dance with him and he has full control over me. He’s my master and a powerful ninja… how could I defend myself against that?
I felt my fear slip away and change into rage. I could feel the heat underneath my skin burning inside of me. My eyes shot open and I kept my eye on him. I noticed how calm and composed he was… and that made my blood boil even more.
Does he not care what my answer to his question is? Does my opinion not matter to him?! Asking me if I would dance with a murderer! Who was he to think nothing of this? Am I something that he finds worthless?
I got up off the floor and stood in front of him. “Do you think that I would be here if I had the choice to be here?” I hissed. “No, I don’t want to dance with a murderer like you and I never wanted to!”
He stood up firmly off of the ground and judged me. His brows were furrowed and his eyes were narrow, but he remained silent… and that irritated me.
I walked up to his face then spat, “You think that you could have a girl to toy with and a girl to love, don’t you?! You think that you could toy with this helpless beggar’s emotions because that’s all she is to you… a worthless piece of garbage and nothing more!” I felt warm tears running down my cheek. “Well, I want to be the one you love!” I stuttered. “And I promise you that I wouldn’t use you”. I began to sob, but his face hadn’t changed. He still didn’t seem to care.
“She’s using you!” I yelled at him, “she’s using you for your money!” His face tensed in objection. He appeared to refuse the remarks I had just bestowed upon him. He pushed me away.
“I know”, he told me, “but I love her for that and I don’t care if she tries to kill me or is cheating on me… because I find her to be the most beautiful woman in the world”.
Right then I felt my heart burst and break. My lungs failed to support me and my sight began to blur.
“But why?” I asked him confused, “Why do you want to be with someone who doesn’t feel the same about you? I thought you cared if she didn’t share the same emotions you that you have for her…”
He stepped forward. “Well you thought wrong”, he said simply, “I care about the game we’re playing. I enjoy seeing her plan schemes and try to work them on me. I have a laugh seeing her act like she loves me and how more players are constantly being added to this game… like you”, he pointed out bitterly. “You don’t love me or want to dance with me. All you want to do is try to save me from something that I don’t need saving from. And I hate the pity you have in your eyes all the time when you look at me. I don’t need anyone to dance with me”, he glowered at me with a chilling grin. I felt my body stiffen and move independent of my command, “I can make the world dance for me!” he laughed manically forcing my body to sway for him.
My face drained of all its color and my body didn’t respond to my commands. I was unfocused and petrified at that moment. I was his slave and servant. I was his puppet and toy. I was nothing more to him than a dancing beggar.
He moved me on his own will. He made me form into awkward positions and weird motions. I danced the dance of the slaves as I kneeled to the ground and kissed his feet. My tears fell faster now and my sobs even harder. I felt my chest whistle and my voice go weak. I wanted to yell for help, but I wasn’t going to win. I was never going to win.
He forced me to walk up to him, face to face. “How does it feel to be reduced to nothing?” he asked me with the daunting grin still on his face.
I gazed into his eyes pleadingly. “Please let me go”, I mumbled.
He laughed again. “Well, I will let you go”. He forced my body to head toward the window.
I opened my eyes wide with fear.
“And Kiki would be pleased with that, don’t you think?”
I began to struggle under his strings of light. “Please!” I begged, “Don’t!”
I opened the window unwillingly and the cool air of the dry desert hit me. I climbed and stood on the edge of the window with the moon gazing down on me. I guess this was my final breath. I absorbed the peaceful village at night and became fond of its beauty. This time the village was blue with glittering lights in the distance. A nice breeze ran through my hair and I felt like I was ready to fly.
“Any last words?” I heard his voice faintly behind me. But I remained silent and sensed the wind pulling me. I felt the connection that he had placed on limbs severe and I jumped. I spread my arms out and felt the wind carry me. I closed my eyes as I began to fall. I hugged my body and let my last breath escape my lips… it was nothing but a bloodcurdling scream as I felt my body hit the solid ground…
… I woke to find myself lying on the ground. There were tears in my eyes and I was trembling. It was all a nightmare. I began to sob softly in the night, alone in the dark room. Lilly was sleeping peacefully undisturbed by my unconscious actions. I wiped my tears and stood up. I went to the bathroom and washed my face. I was still trembling and my face was white. It all felt so real.
I couldn’t help this bad feeling that keeps welling up inside of me. I had to talk to someone and I knew who I should go to. I walked over to Lilly and kissed her forehead. I covered her cold body before I headed for the door. I left and walked several doors down the hallway and knocked on the door that I thought Rini was in.
I listened carefully to the sounds coming from the inside of the room and I heard some footsteps walking toward me. The door opened and an exhausted Rini walked out. Her eyes were red with bags under them and her hair was messy and all over the place. She was wearing pink bunny slippers and a pink pajama. She kept her eyes narrow from the irritating light that hit them from the hallway.
“Hey Dominique”, she yawned, “what are you doing here?”
I purse my lips then felt my eyes water. I ran into her and hugged her then began to sob onto her nightshirt.
She placed her arms around me. “What happened?!” she asked me with a worried tone. I looked up at her and saw that she was wide awake now.
I let her go then apologized. “I’m sorry. I had a bad nightmare and I was afraid. It felt so real and I thought that I would feel better if I told someone about it then I came to talk to you”, I said feeling more and more childish by the second. It took me till now to realize that this was a bad idea. I lowered my head ashamed gazing at the ground. “I’m sorry”, I apologized again and rushed out of her room.
Before I could even reach my room, I felt a slight tug on my shirt. I looked up and saw Rini’s gentle face with her kind smile. “You could come and tell me your nightmare”, she soothed, “you shouldn’t be ashamed of telling me things like that. I don’t mind”.
I gave her a quiet nod and a shaky smile. “I’m sorry I woke you up”.
We walked back into Rini’s room. There was no light on in her room other than the light that came from the luminous moon that shone from the balcony present at the end her chamber. She closed the door behind us then went and sat on her bed. She invited me over to sit next to her and so I did.
“So what happened?” she inquired calmly.
I told her everything that had happened. At times, I felt my voice shake and my body shiver as the memories of my nightmare returned. I held my tears back as I talked, but the fear in my voice couldn’t be masked.
“I’m scared”, I muttered with my short breath, “He scares me and I feel like I can’t stay near him anymore. Maybe my dream was trying to tell me to stay away from him”. I began to sob again.
I felt her warm arms embrace me. “This definitely wasn’t an ordinary nightmare”, she told me, “I never seen you cry like this before”, she wiped some of my tears away.
She covered my shivering body with her covers then she began to sing,
“Don’t cry my red rose, Don’t be scared
I’ll warm your shivers, I won’t let you fade
Let’s sit in the sun then embrace the shade
But hush my sweet, I’ll catch you if you fall”.
Her voice was so mesmerizing that all I could do is look at her in a baffled expression. I was staring at her with wondering eyes.
“It’s a song my mother used to sing to me whenever I was sad”, she told me with a hint of sadness in her voice. “I know it sounds a little weird, but it always made me feel better… and I hope that it made you feel better as well”, she beamed.
I smiled then nodded. “It sort of did and your voice was so nice it gave me goose bumps”.
She giggled. “I’m only good because I have people who care about me”, she said cheerfully. She glanced over at me then continued, “My mother was the most beautiful woman in our um… village and along with my father they were the perfect couple”, she smiled. “I lost them one day because they decided to go against the corrupt leaders of our village… and my parents were decapitated in front of my brother and myself. I lost them because they didn’t follow the rules and even though they weren’t the only ones, I couldn’t help but feel dreadful about their loss. My brother ran away after that in a couple of days and I haven’t seen him since then”.
Why was she telling me all of this? I was a little puzzled, but I was surprised by her strength. Neither her expression nor her tone changed as she spoke of those she had lost. I wish I could be more like her. “I’m sorry for your loss”, I apologized sorrowfully.
“I didn’t want you to be sad”, she told me gleefully. “I just wanted you to know more about me since you barely knew much”, she smiled. “You guys feel like sisters to me for some reason and don’t worry about me. After a few years you sort of allow it all to sink in and you release most of the negative energy you might have welled up inside of you. I do still think about them, I’m not going to lie, but I try not to think about them too much. I have accepted my fate and I guess if I never lost them then I would have never met you guys”, she smiled. “But I did promise myself and my brother to avenge there death one day…” her tone went dark all of a sudden, “once I find those murderers”.
I eyed her with disbelief. I never thought that a sweet and thoughtful girl like Rini could strive for revenge… against corrupt leaders! I didn’t think she had it in her… she was too kind. I still felt safe around her even though she had just told me that she wanted to kill those who murdered her parents. I felt worried about her all of a sudden. “I don’t think that you should try to avenge them…” I told her with a troubled tone, “I don’t want you to get hurt…”
She giggled. “I don’t really want to avenge them either, but I know that I would probably go insane if I saw any of them in front of me”, she informed me. “I only wanted to try to avenge them because I have a feeling that once I do that I will find my brother again… maybe he will return home”, she assumed still holding that smile on her face.
I couldn’t help but asking, “How could you be so cheerful after all that you have been through”. I was bewildered.
“I don’t know. I guess I just sing to myself the songs that my mother used to sing to me and remember the things my parents used to say to me about patience… then I decided to let it all be”, she explained. “Why should I let myself grievance over their death for so long? Life would only be a black hole and it wouldn’t really have a meaning anymore”, she told me honestly. “Anyways”, she decided to change the subject for some reason, “about your dream… what do you think it means?”
I thought about it then answered simply, “Probably that I’m afraid of him”.
She looked considerately at me. “What if I told you that Kankuro had to carry you all the way up here… how does that make you feel?”
I flushed red. “He what!” I jumped looking at her with complete shock.
She began to chuckle. “You like him. It’s obvious”, she told me with a grin.
My mouth hung open then I protested, “I do not! I woke up shaking and crying from a dream! How could you even think that?!”
She raised one of her eyebrows at me then said, “You shouldn’t deny your feelings for him. It’s obvious from your dream”, she began to titter again.
“How? It was a nightmare”, I objected again.
She stood and walked up to me. “First of all, in your nightmare, you told him that you wanted to be loved by him, but then your fears took over. You’re scared that he’ll control you and that he won’t express the same feelings that you have for him. You’re afraid that he will love Kiki no matter what you do and what happens, but I promise you that if you embrace your feelings that everything will go as you want it to… you just have to embrace your inner feelings”.
She was right. I have to follow my heart. I gazed at her contemplating on what I should do. I looked into her eyes and found the answer. “I guess you’re right… I’m starting to have feelings for him”, I smiled, “and tonight I will dance with him majestically just as a bird would soar through the air”.
She squealed and clapped her hands then ran and hugged me. “This is a true love story. I can’t wait to see what happens!”
“Yeah”, I agreed. I hugged her back then all of a sudden I felt a strong urge for some fresh air. I felt my head pounding against my skull. “Do you mind if I open the balcony and have some fresh air?” I asked her.
“No, go ahead. I’ll go grab some snacks from my secret stash and I’ll come and join you outside”.
I nodded and walked outside. A nice cool breeze hit my warm skin gently. Everything was so quiet and peaceful. You could hear some insects singing in the blue night sky and you could see the lights of the village shimmering in the distance. I glanced over the streets. Nobody was out of their comfortable homes except a man staring straight in my direction. Toward the balcony I was standing on… he was staring directly at me.
“Hey, Rini”, I called out to her alarmed, “Do you know a man with an orange mask?”
So how was this chapter? You guys waited for a while now, but here it is! Things are going to get more tense from here on so stay toned :) Please leave a comment, vote, review, etc. if you liked it. Till next week (which I will try to upload on time) BYE!!!