Zodiac Girls

The Decision

How did it come to this...? How could any of this have happened...? Why did things become like this...?

She did not remember the events that occurred, leading to this point. Especially not when all she could do was stare... Stare at a familiar red puddle before her, with a pair of bodies lying on top. One had holes in it, and the other had cuts and s***h marks on it.

To say she was horrified with the sight would be an understatement. All she could do was look with wide eyes, and mouth gaping open.

"M-Mommy... Daddy...?" she breathed out.

"Oh look, we missed one~" came a voice behind her.

The child turned, and saw the people responsible for her parents' deaths standing before her. Their faces were shadowed, and they had on black cloaks, making it hard to even see their figures.

She remembered being frightened of these people. But with that fear, was something else. Something that was growing inside her, a feeling so strong that it wanted out. 

When she blinked, the next the girl saw were the killers' bodies, lying on the floor, all torn up in pieces. The child was more baffled at this sight than she was at her own parents' deaths, and stumbled down in fright. What's more... was this odd feeling on her hand. Looking down, she was baffled to find dried blood on her hands. Not only that, but the blood was spreading out all over her, freaking her out as she tried to wipe it off, but to no avail.

As it continued to spread all over her, the child found it hard to breathe. More so, she started hearing... 'her'...

"This was going to happen eventually," 'she' said. "In fact, it already did. And yet, you still so stubbornly decide to persist... To resist me. When will you ever realize things will be better for us if you just submit?"

Shackles then emerged from the floor and grasped the girl's wrists and ankles, pulling her down, and immobilizing her.

"I will handle the rest. Now stay," 'she' then said. 

Looking behind her, the child was shocked to see-

******

A gasp escaped Rain's lips, as the teen shot up from bed in shock. She ran a hand through her sweaty face, moving her hair away from her eyes.

"That was quite the gasp. Are you okay?" she then heard.

Turning to the source, she saw a woman with light brown hair wearing a doctor's coat sitting at a desk. Rain relaxed slightly at the sight of her, for this woman was Lucy Shephard, Luminoir Academy's school nurse.

"Miss Shephard... Yes, I'm okay. Just... had a bad dream," Rain answered.

"It sure doesn't sound like some 'bad dream'," Lucy retorted. "Do you want to talk about it? And maybe explain why you were in the middle of the woods?"

It took Rain a few seconds to process the question, as well as recall what happened before she blacked out. Lifting the blanket off her body, she was shocked to see the condition her leg was in, specifically the wound on it. It was not that it was not bandaged up or stitched, as it was more that... there was no sign of the injury. Not even a scar where the wound once was. To say she was puzzled by the sight would be an understatement. Why was Rain's leg already healed up so nicely? Why was there no trace of the injury left?

"Is something a matter?" she heard Lucy asked.

"N-No. It's nothing," Rain lied. "I just... I could've sworn something happened... So wait, who found me in the woods?"

"Well, that's-"

Just as Lucy was about to answer, the door was slammed open, and Sherry rushed in, crying. "Raaaaiiiiin~" Next the patient girl knew, the blonde girl tackled her in a hug. "Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you? You have no idea how worried I was!"

Due to the fact that she was in her swimsuit, Rain could feel Sherry's tears and snot getting all over her, much to her disgusted ire. However, she understood her friend's feelings, and kept her disgust to herself. "Y-Yeah... I'm okay. Sorry for worrying you so much," she managed to say.

"You better be sorry! What were you doing in the woods?! You were supposed to get the soccer balls from the shed!"

Rain didn't know what to say in response to the question. She could not possibly tell her she was on the run from some very dangerous people. For starters, she did not want Sherry, her best friend, and a normal girl, to get involved with them in any way. Though there was never a time when those people got innocent bystanders involved in capturing her, for all she knew, they could change their ways, and use Sherry in some way to get her. She can't have that happen.

"I wonder myself," she spoke. "I was going to open the shed, when something hit me and knocked me out. I don't know what happened after that."

Teary-eyed, Sherry looked up at her and asked, "R-... Really...?"

"Yes, really. So uh... Think you can get off? And maybe get a wet wipe?"

Sherry was confused by the request for a brief moment, before realizing she was covering the orangette up in her snot, much to her embarrassment. "Oh! I am so sorry!" The blonde quickly separated from the patient and went to search for the wipes, when Lucy set out some tissues in front of her. 

"First, clean your face, then search for the wipes," she advised.

"Ah! R-Right!"

As Sherry did as told and searched for the wipes, Rain looked down in thought. She knew for certain she did not imagine any of that, especially not the pain she had on her leg, both from the bullet wound, and from when she had to remove the bullet from her leg.

Thinking back to the last part, Rain looked down on her hand, noticing how it was clean from the blood. She brought the hand up to her face and took a whiff at her fingers, smelling nothing from it. Nothing... except...

"Here are the wipes," Sherry called. "Hm? What's wrong? You feeling sick or something?"

"Yeah... I guess I do feel a bit queasy," Rain said. "I think some water and a little more rest should do the trick."

"To start with, maybe," Lucy added in. "I know you're a big part of the soccer club, but I advise you keep away from any sort of games for a few days."

"Huh?! But she can't do that! Our next game is especially important!" Sherry told her.

"As I'm sure it is for a sports club. However, I am saying this for Miss Takone's health; she needs time to properly rest. We don't know what happened to her that made her black out and be found in the middle of the woods. Would you rather an accident occur to her during your important game? Correct me if I am wrong, but wouldn't that hurt your team's morale more than if she was not there to start with?"

Sherry did not know what to say to that, especially when she knew the nurse had made a good point in the matter.

"Sherry, it's fine," Rain assured. "I'll be sad I won't be able to come to the game, but if our coach trained our team as hard as she usually does, I'm sure you and the others will be fine for tomorrow."

The blonde did not like it, but she knew Rain was right as well. "Yeah, I guess..." she sighed. "I'll make sure our team wins the match tomorrow. That's why, you better be well for our future matches!"

Rain chuckled lightly at those words. "Yes, I hear you," she said.

If only she was true to those words, however. Considering everything that has happened to her as of late, it was clear what Rain should do next, before it was too late.

'I'm so sorry, Sherry.'

******

Later that night, quite similar to what happened the night Rain first tried to leave the academy, the girl had packed everything in her duffle bag, and made sure to set a farewell letter on her desk. With everything all set, she hastily rushed out the window and ran into the woods once more.

'I'm really sorry, Sherry,' she thought as she ran. 'I hope one day, you understand. It's far too dangerous for me to stay at this point. I don't want you or anyone else getting hurt because of me, not when that place is resorting to kill me. I hope that the next time we meet, I will be free from them, and we can play soccer once again.' As she thought these things, tears formed in her eyes, and trailed out of them. 

Just then, she got tackled from behind by something, and tumbled down. As she attempted to get back up, Rain sensed something approaching, and instead rolled away from her spot, just in time to avoid a hit to the head, no doubt intended to knock her out.

Looking up, Rain was utterly baffled to see who her attacker was. "You? Why are you after me?!"