Darkness. It was the only thing that pierced Ariana's bemused consciousness. That, and a dull ache in her abdomen. She could vaguely her noises, voices, but none of it made any sense. It was all just white noise. She felt like she was moving, but she couldn't tell where she was or how she was moving. She felt lost. She was confused and she wanted it all to stop. She wanted Kayla.
Oh no, Kayla... Dwayne had been there, she remembered him. He had shot Kayla... no, he hadn't. He had shot her. Without any warning a jolt of pain so terrible that Ariana couldn't begin to describe it shot through her chest. She couldn't thing, she couldn't breathe. She was dying... or maybe she was already dead. Suddenly, lightening struck, crackling through her body. She convulsed, her body twitching uncontrollably. It happened again and then once again.
Then it stopped. Her world grew quiet and calm and the pain went away. She suddenly found that she could see. She could see the room around her, the doctor and nurses, and Kayla. She was on her knees, sobbing. Suddenly, she seized a scalpel and ordered the doctors to leave. Ariana didn't understand why she was doing this. What had happened to make her so angry? They were both safe, right? They were there, together. Kayla should be happy.
Ariana tried to call out to her, but her voice faltered in her throat. She couldn't speak. She reached out, trying to touch Kayla's shoulder to get her attention but try as she might; she could not get her hand to make contact. It was as though some energy field surrounded her hand, keeping her from touching anything. It made no sense. She should be able to speak and touch things. She remembered being able to do these things before. So, why couldn't she do them now?
She watched Kayla force the doctors from the room and close the door behind them. She turned around and stared at the bed Ariana knew she had been lying on... lying on? If she had been lying down, why did she not remember standing up? Filled with dread, Ariana turned and followed Kayla's gaze to the bed where her own body lay. The endless drone of a heart rate monitor filled the room and Ariana realized the truth. She was dead.
Somehow, she found that she was more worried for Kayla than she was for herself. It made sense, in a way. There was nothing she could do for herself; she was dead after all. But Kayla was about to implode. Ariana could feel it. The brunette was about to do something horrible. She let out an anguished cry that stabbed through Ariana's soul, cutting her like a knife. Kayla began to rip apart the room, screaming, cursing, and destroying everything in sight.
Ariana was pleading with her to stop, but she didn't. She wrecked the room before finally sitting down on a stool beside the bed. Ariana stood next to her, looking down at her own body.
'There was so much I didn't get to do' Ariana thought sadly. 'I never met Kayla's family... I never even got to see Paris.'
"You will," said a gentle voice. Ariana spun around. A young girl stood before her. She wore a blindingly white dress that hurt Ariana's eyes to look at. Her hair was long and just as white as her dress. Her eyes were a brilliant blue and made Ariana feel as though she were being x-rayed. The girl stood there, just staring at her while Ariana tried to find the proper words.
"Who... who are you?!" Ariana demanded. "What's going on?"
"You're dead," said the girl quietly. "I'm very sorry about that. It's... a problem, but not unexpected... nor can it not be overcome."
"I don't understand," said Ariana. "I... who are you? What do you want? How is my being dead not unexpected?"
"Oh, my dear child," the girl quipped. "There are reasons for everything, even this. Who I am isn't really that important right now. What is important is fixing this problem. You're dead and you're not supposed to be. You can't be. So, we have to fix that."
"If I'm dead then there's no fixing that," said Ariana sadly. "Dead is dead."
"Oh, you'd be surprised," said the girl. "Dead most certainly is not dead. You have things you are supposed to do. So does Kayla. Neither of you can do them apart. You have to be together to get to the end. It won't work any other way. You have to save each other... you have to save her, Ariana."
"Who? Kayla?" asked Ariana, becoming more confused by the second. The girl just smiled.
"I promise, my sweet. One day, you will understand," she bit her lip uncertainly. "Now, you have to go back. It's possible. You have to find the way. You have to be strong, Ari. You have to be brave. You have to find the way back. You already know the path. Kayla, the bond you share... your love. Use it. It's our only hope. I'll help you. I'll bring you back, but you have to take the first step." The girl simply vanished. Ariana didn't understand what she was supposed to do. Use the bond she had with Kayla? Their love? And the girl would then bring her back to life? It made no sense at all. Across the room, Kayla picked up the necklace she had given her for her birthday. She looked at it, reading the inscription on the back.
"Forever," she whispered. The word sent a chill through Ariana. "That was a promise, Ari. You and me. Forever." Ariana realized what Kayla was going to do a split second before she picked up the scalpel again. She tried again to touch Kayla, to make her hear her screaming... to make her stop. She couldn't. Kayla was going to do it. She was going to kill herself and Ariana couldn't stop her.
'She's doing this because I'm dead,' Ariana thought. 'She's doing this because of me.' And then it clicked. It was ridiculous, but she had to try.
Ariana closed her eyes and drifted down, toward her body. She didn't know if it would work, if she was strong enough. She just had to believe that the only strength she had left was enough. Her love for Kayla was all she had. If it wasn't enough, if it didn't work... Kayla would die.
She lay there, positively willing her heart to start beating again. It was a stupid idea and obviously it wouldn't work. If it were possible for a person to will themselves back to life, no one would ever die. But it was the only thing she could do. She saw Kayla draw the blade across her skin. She watched the blood flowing down her arm. She had done it, she was dying and Ariana couldn't stop it. She couldn't do anything.
Beep.
Ariana looked toward the heart rate monitor at the same time Kayla did. It continued its droning buzz... for only a moment. It beeped again, and then again, and again, and again. Ariana realized with a start what it meant. Her heart was beating again. She was still alive. Just as a wave of happiness rushed over her and Kayla leapt from the bed, Ariana was painfully forced back into her body and her world went dark.
-.-
It was dark. It was always dark. Ariana's eyes had become oddly adjusted to the darkness. She could see in the dark easier than most people could... not that there was anything to see. She was trapped in a small closet, not even large enough for her to lay down flat in. It was a completely dark and featureless room except for a tiny red dot on the video camera mounted near the door.
She curled up, pulling her knees up to her chin. She was cold and lonely, but soon, she knew, her father would come to her. Tonight, she would be sure to be a good girl. Her father would be good to her if she didn't disobey. She always tried her best, but sometimes she made mistakes. It was all her fault, of course, but sometimes she thought her father was unfair. He would punish her for the smallest things, and punish her sternly.
She still loved him, even when he hurt her. She knew that he was only doing it for her own good. She had to learn the price for disobedience... and for failing to know her place. She was there to please her father. She knew that. It was her whole reason for existing, after all. Her mother and father had told her so many times. It simply must be true.
She lay there in silence, wishing her father would come. The dark room was so lonely... so scary. She hated the dark, she always had. Yet, when the door was opened the light hurt her eyes. She didn't understand why. She wanted to be in the light, yet she was afraid of what might happen if she were to be exposed to it for too long. Maybe it would burn her skin? She didn't know.
She so wanted to know things, too. She wanted to know what lay beyond the hallway outside her closet. She knew there must be something, for it was where her parents came from. She just didn't know what was out there. She imagined that it was a beautiful, magical place with lots of light and happiness. Her father never spoke about it, and her mother never spoke at all. All she knew was that, according to her father, she would never see the land beyond the hallway.
She waited a long time before she finally heard footsteps approaching. The were the heavy, steady footfalls of her father. She sat up anxiously, waiting for her father to come in. She was afraid that he wouldn't be pleased... and she so wanted to please him. However, he was often so difficult to please. She would do the things he told her, obeyed his every command, but sometimes he still said she failed. He still punished her.
The door swung open. Her father stood there, his stoic face impassive. He knelt down and seized her ankles, dragging her halfway out into the hall. He stood up and shed his clothing, calm and deliberate. He looked down at her and the smallest of smiles appeared on his face. He knelt down again and touched her. She liked it. He was firm, but gentle. This was when she really loved him. When he treated her like his princess.
He took her. She didn't always understand the feelings, the things he did to her. Some of them felt good, other times she felt as though he was trying to tear her apart. When he was finished, he stood and stared down at her, his expression hard. Ariana knew he wasn't pleased. She had done wrong and she knew it. He would punish her. He knelt again and took her hand. He nuzzled it for a moment under his chin. He gently brushed her fingers with his own before turning and walking away.
He returned shortly with a toolbox and Ariana began to cry. She knew what he was about to do and the very thought terrified her. Her father took her hand again and placed it on the wall above her head. She held it there while he opened the toolbox. He found what he was looking for and moved toward her. He placed the point of a long nail against her palm. Ariana whimpered and looked away. He raised the hammer and struck the head with a powerful blow. Ariana screamed. She had known it was coming, had remembered what it had felt like for it wasn't the first time her father had punished her in this way. Regardless, she screamed an earsplitting, anguished howl that no one other than her father heard.
Her father brought the hammer down again and again, driving the nail deeper and deeper into Ariana's tiny hand. She screamed in agony each time until he had driven the nail in completely. Then he started on her other hand. When he had finished, he put the tool away and knelt in front of her. He smiled down warmly at her and gently stroked her cheek.
"It'll be okay, sweet pea," he whispered. "You have to learn. This is how you learn. This must be done, my darling daughter." He leaned in slowly and kissed her. He left, closing the door behind him and plunging her, once again, into complete darkness.
A full day later, Ariana's mother came and removed the nails. Ariana cried went she dragged the clawed end of the hammer across her palms and wrenched the nails out. Her mother didn't say a single word the whole time. She didn't even meet her daughter's eye. She just ripped out the nails and bandaged the little girl's hands. When she was done, she left Ariana alone in the dark again. But that day, the ten-year-old discovered she was not alone. She wasn't, because a voice spoke to her out of the darkness.
"Hey, sweetie. How are you? Hmm... I guess that's a pretty stupid question, isn't it?"
"Who's there?" Ariana asked, looking around, her eyes wide with fear.
"Huh?" asked the voice. "Oh... right, you can't see me. Listen, this will be hard to understand. I'm... you. Just... an older you. I'm the future you that got out of this place. I’m free now. I’m free from him… from both of them.”
“But… but why would you want to leave?” Ariana asked. She couldn’t understand why her older self would choose to leave her only home. “Mother and Father love me… us. I’m supposed to be here.”
“They don’t love you,” said Older Ariana. “I’m sorry, but they don’t. They never have… they never will. They’re hurting you… abusing you. I know they tell you that you deserve to be punished because you did wrong, but you didn’t do anything wrong and you don’t deserve this. I’m free of this place and I’m living out there… in the real world… and Ariana, it’s beautiful.
“You’ve always wondered what’s on the other side of the door at the end of that hallway. There’s a whole wide world out there. It’s full of light, and love, and so much happiness. You can have it too, sweetie. You’ve just got to be brave.”
“What… what would I have to do?” Young Ariana asked.
“Just one simple thing, it’s really easy. Just open that door.” Ariana looked toward the door and slowly shook her head.
“I… I can’t. It’s locked and my father will get mad at me,” she said. “I can’t do it.”
“He won’t get mad at you, Ariana. He can’t. Listen, I know this seems real to you and it is… or, it was. This is just a memory; our memory. This is just one day of the countless days we spent locked in here. We were… hurt… and part of us was… broken. And that broken part hid itself away somewhere… it hid here, locked away. But, if you open that door you’ll let it out and everything will be okay. You’ll wake up in a beautiful world with… with Kayla.”
“Who’s Kayla?” asked Young Ariana. The little girl could hear the love in her older self’s voice.
“She’s the most amazing person in the world,” Older Ariana answered. “She’s our best friend. She saved us, she protects us, and she loves us so much that I can’t explain it to you. She’s beautiful, smart, funny, and fiercely protective… actually, she’s a little overprotective sometimes. She’s brave, strong, but right now she’s broken. She’s hurting and she needs us. You can help her… if you’ll just open the door.”
“Why can’t you open it?” Young Ariana asked.656Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMNoNJOexGf
“Because… because I’m not the broken part of us, Ariana. You are. You’re the part of us that’s damaged… that’s too scared to come out. But if you don’t open that door… if you hide in here, if you can’t be brave… you’ll never see that world I told you about. You’ll stay here, trapped, being punished forever. But if you open the door, he won’t be able to hurt you anymore. You’ll be safe, happy, and you’ll get to experience the most beautiful love you could ever imagine.”
Young Ariana slowly stood up. It all sounded so good, but she was afraid. She belonged here, she knew it. This was her home and despite what her older self said, she knew her parents loved her. They told her so. She believed them. She loved them and she wasn’t going anywhere.
“No,” she said sharply, sitting back down again. “No. I’m not opening anything. I’m staying right here.”
And so she stayed, locked in that closet, trapped, unwilling to brave the world beyond the closed door.656Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOdYvH08sQK
