Dabria

Chapter Four

My alarm beeps at seven signaling that my day in hell is to begin yet again. My stomach flips as I realize Malakai could be there. A part of me is interested in hearing what he has to say. The other part dreads it.

When I came home that night, I didn't dare sleep, too scared he would invade my dream and force me to speak to him. I finally fell asleep Sunday afternoon and was lucky enough to not dream. Sunday night, the fear crept in again and I stayed awake.

Unfortunately I fell asleep a couple hours before my alarm, but I wasn't interrupted by Malakai this time. I take a long, hot shower and think about what to say to Malakai if or when I see him. All of my movements are slow and unsure as I go back and forth in my mind on what to do. After I pull on my uniform, I brush my hair out. I decided to leave it down to help hide the bruise. As I study my face in the mirror to assess the damage, I realize the bruise has faded significantly. Even though it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be, I still try to cover it with some old makeup Megan had brought me. It's still somewhat noticeable but I doubt anyone would ask questions. 

Megan is waiting for me in the kitchen with a bowl of cheerios. Odd. She never makes my breakfast, even if it is only cereal. 

"Good morning, Sapphire. Did you sleep well?" She asks, flashing her fake smile. She was looking over the paper and taking sips of her coffee.

"Phenomenally." I croak, my voice still waking up. I take the seat next to her and pour some milk in the bowl of cereal. 

"Good. Your father and I have a very important meeting today, then we are going out with a few friends, so we won't be home until late. We still expect your chores done and there are leftovers in the fridge." I nod as I take a bite. I suddenly feel her eyes on me. To my surprise a frown is painted on her porcelain face, the first one I've ever seen I do believe. I realize I must have not covered the bruise well enough and move my hand to my cheek hoping to keep her from looking too closely. 

"I'm sorry. I'll add more foundation to it." I mumble taking one more bite of cereal then starting towards my room.

"Sapphire?" I turn to look at her. "I believe you." She says. I'm not entirely sure I heard her right and as I stare in disbelief of her words, she takes my bowl to the sink. "Jonathan will come around, but just know there will be no sort of consequences." She looks at me with concern in her eyes and suddenly I find myself growing to like her. 

Well, maybe.

I give her a nod, unsure what to say, and run back downstairs to add another layer of foundation, trying to make it look as natural as possible. I look at the clock and realize I am running behind. "Have a good day dear!" Megan calls after me as I jog out the door, grabbing my bag on the way out. 

On the ride to school, I attempt to mentally prepare myself for Malakai. Most of my first three periods are spent doing the same. During lunch I stare at the clock. I get up before the bell rings and throw away my trash, trying to control my thumping heart in my chest as I near the classroom. What will he say to me? What is his plan anyway? All of these questions bounce around in my brain, causing the rest of the world to fade away. I focus on what I would say to him in each scenario that I have come up with.

"Hello." A voice says in my ear, pulling me back into reality. 

I curse and jump, dropping my books in the process. Malakai drops to the floor to help me pick up the scattered papers.

"We really need to stop meeting this way." he says in his deep, velvety voice that sends chills through my body. He stops as he sees the papers and picks up some of the drawings of the dream land and flips them toward me. "Just something off google?" He asks. I try to snatch the papers from him but he holds on, keeping me in place. "We need to talk." 

I pull the papers from his grasp. "No we don't." I walk into the classroom and take my seat. My nerves were suddenly gone and replaced by annoyance. I hear his chair grind on the floor and his bag drop to the ground. I refuse to look at him, scared I would get sucked back into his lies.

"Good morning class!" Mr. Varens says walking into the room. I feel Malakai's eyes on me as Mr. Varens instructs us on the agenda for the day. I try my best to ignore him. 

"There's so much I need to explain. Just please, meet my after class." Malakai says as the class begins to talk amongst themselves. I continue to draw, trying to contain my shaking hands. After a moment I hear him shuffling around in his bag. He pulls out a folded piece of paper and lays it on top of my drawing. I flick it away without hesitation. I won't play his games. 

"You want to see this." He says with so much conviction that I actually take the folded paper from him.

I suck in a sharp breath as I see the drawing. I almost couldn't believe how… complete it was. The landscape looked much more modern than mine and held so many different details that I couldn't stop looking at it. I always knew my drawings were missing something, but this one wasn't missing anything. This was where I was meant to be.

"It's called Irredesia."

I briefly forget my anger and look up at him. "It’s real?"

"I can take you there." He says with hope in his eyes. 

I hand the piece of paper back reluctantly. "It's probably just another one of your lies." Even though I say the words, I know they aren't true. Something deep inside me knows he's telling the truth.

"Give me a chance." He places a hand on mine which forces me to look up into his pleading eyes. "Please."

"Did you kill them?" I ask suddenly. It was the million dollar question that kept swimming around in my head. It was the only question that mattered. 

His face hardens and a frown forms on his lips. "It's not what you think. Can we go somewhere to talk?"

I'm slow to respond, knowing now for sure that not only was the man in front of me from my dreams, but that he is the one that killed my parents. That he could potentially want to kill me. "What exactly do you want from me?" 

"To take you back to Irredesia. To your father."

"I had a father." I feel the tears spring to my eyes and I think back. I try to hold in my emotions but I simply can't anymore. 

"Please. Please don't do that. You don't understand yet." His words continue but my feet are already moving. I grab my bag and head as quickly as I can out of the classroom. Mr. Varens calls my name but I can't reply. "Sapphire just isn't feeling well Mr. Varens. I'm going to walk her to the nurse." He catches the door as I walk quickly down the hall, not sure where to go but knowing I needed to get away from him.

"Sapphire wait." He grabs my arm and I spin around.

"Don't touch me." I growl. His face turns shocked at my sudden outburst and he slowly releases my arm.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"To what? To kill my parents?" I finish for him. My face burns from the tears and my voice shakes. I try to control it but my emotions are all over the place.

"No. To upset you in approaching you this way." He takes a deep breath. "I am sorry I upset you, but I'm not sorry for protecting you from Marilyn and Tom."

I wipe at the tears. "What do you mean?" 

He looks around the hall at the few students wandering about. "Is there somewhere we could go that's more private?"

"In your dreams." I scoff and start walking away from him.

"That's perfect." He says with new determination. He grabs my arm again and pulls me along.

"What are you doing?" I snap as he pulls me into an empty classroom.

"Just sit down." He says pulling a chair out. 

He sits in a chair in front of the one he pulled out for me. I cautiously sit, my need for answers getting the best of me, and he scoots closer to me. His hands move to my face but I lean back making him hesitate. 

"What are you doing?" I ask him.

"Going to a place more...private." His hands move back to my face but I push them back down.

"What do you mean? What are you?"

"Correction, "we" and we are all unique with different abilities. I will explain that later when we can speak more freely." His hands connect with my temples even though I tried to stop him again.

For a moment everything is black, like falling asleep, then it slowly brightens and I can see my surroundings. I'm in a small meadow, surrounded by trees. I look around for Malakai.

"Finally." I hear a whisper from behind me. I turn and find myself face to face with Malakai. I take unsteady steps back. His hair is back to blonde, as well as the blue in his eyes.

"Where are we?" I ask.

"In your mind. You're basically dreaming right now."

"But... How? This feels so real."

"We are real to a point, but everything else around us is just an illusion." He looks around taking in the view.

"Why did we need to come here though?"

"You never know who could be listening. And here you can't run away from me, so you have to listen to what I have to say."

I fold my arms around myself, racking my brain for what question to ask first. "Start with my parents."

He takes a deep breath to prepare himself. "They were being controlled by a man, Cerberus, who wants you. I think they became too... brainwashed, if you will, and so their only thoughts were to kill you."

"And let me guess, you swooped in to save the day."

"You don't believe me?" He says it more as a fact than a question

"Why do I not remember any of this?" 

"I took the memory away. You weren't ready to remember me at the time. But I can give it back. Not here, but soon."

"Why was I not ready to remember you?"

He struggles for the right words. "Another time." He states. 

I decide to change the subject and ask a different question. "So you can change memory's?" He nods. "Then... if you really can," I hesitate, not sure I want the answer, "what part of my life actually happened?"

For this question he has to think for a moment. "Everything since your foster parents death has actually happened. Their death was the last time I altered your memory."

"But why alter it the first time?"

"I didn't have a choice. Like I said, you weren't ready to remember me."

"Why?" I ask again.

"Another time." He repeats his earlier phrase and I huff. His eyes refuse to meet mine. He seems uncomfortable by the question, so I store it in the back of my mind.

"You said earlier, that the man...uh.." The name slipped my mind.

"Cerberus."

"Right, Cerberus. You said he wants me. Why? Did I do something?"

"Because-" a loud bang disrupts us, and he curses under his breath, "Alright time to wake up." He disappears. 

Before I can react. I am waking up back in the empty classroom. I rub my head as I feel a small headache begin to form. Malakai was already at the door where it was rattling violently. He pulls it open and I see Mr. Varens standing there looking extremely confused.

"What's going on here?"

This time I step in, showing my still puffy eyes from crying earlier "Is everything alright?" Mr. Varens asks.

"Sorry, Mr. Varens. I was having, uh...personal issues and Malakai happened to be here to help." Malakai looks at me, the surprise evident on his face by my lie. He clearly didn't expect me to cover for him. 

"Okay," he says cautiously.  I'm not the type of person that goes running out of the classroom upset. "Do you need to go home? I can call your parents?"

"I can take her home." Malakai offers. A twinge of fear still pipes through me even after what Malakai said. "You don't need to call her parents." The way he says it implies that my parents are the reason why I'm upset. Just what was needed to get Mr. Varens to drop the subject.

"Alright. I will call up to the front office." Mr. Varens leaves to go back to the classroom. I grab my bag and rummage around for my car keys, my hands shaking. I try to control them but they won't listen. Malakai sees this and a strange expression crosses his face. I try to ignore it and once I find my keys I follow Malakai out into the parking lot. Once we are by my car he snatches the keys from me.

"I'll drive." He says with a small smile.

"I don't think so." I try to grab them back but he's fast. "Malakai-" 

"You're still upset and are in no shape to drive." He stares at me, waiting for an answer.

"Fine." I mumble and climb on the passenger side. I see no point in arguing now.

The car purrs to life and he skillfully switches gears. After a moment of silence he says, "You're going to have to trust that I won't hurt you."

"Would you, if you were in my shoes?" I retaliate.

He sighs and runs a hand through his dyed hair. "I can see why you wouldn't, but I hope you can learn to." His eyes leave the road for a moment and land on me. "I would never hurt you."

I force myself to look out the window and away from him. "I'm still confused."

"I know." He says with a sigh. "I will give you back a memory when we get to your house. So you can see that I'm telling the truth." At the mention of my house I notice he is making all of the proper turns to get to my house.

"How long have you known where I live?" I ask. His head jerks my way and his mouth forms an o, clearly not even thinking about that. He sighs and answers.

"For as long as you have lived there." Now it was my turn to look shocked. "I had to know where you were to make sure you were alright." My face doesn't change. This entire time he knew where I lived? Has he been in my house? In my bedroom? "Look, I know what you're thinking and it's not like that at all. Before I took your memory, when you actually knew who I was, I was your protector; your bodyguard. It is my job to know where you are at to keep people from hurting you."

That would make sense if I knew for a fact it was true. I still had no idea who exactly Malakai was or what his plan was and that made me nervous. 

Malakai looks over at me, clearly seeing my thoughts. He acts like he wants to say something more but stops. His grip tightens on the steering wheel. He pulls into my driveway and puts the car in park. As we approach the door to the house, I stop and look at him, curious about something. He gives me a confused look, and I raise an eyebrow at him. "You don't know the security code?" I ask gesturing to the keypad. 

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

My stomach turns and I groan entering the code. The locks click and I open the heavy door letting it fall back on him. I hear him chuckle as he catches it. I set my bag down by the door and grab a water bottle from the fridge. I take a long drink before offering one to Malakai. When he declines I lean against the counter. "So what now?"

"I give you a memory back." My stomach flips at the thought. "It's only a small one. It's painful to restore memories so we can only do a little at a time." He warns me. I nod watching as he drops his bag on the kitchen island and starts digging through it. He pulls out a small vial with a blue liquid in it and hands it to me. "You want me to drink this?" 

"You don't have to." He shrugs, acting as if he doesn't care. "You can just deal with the pain after." I give him an unbelieving look. "When you woke up from our meetings, you had a headache right?" I nod. "Double that pain." I hesitate only a moment longer than down the liquid. My face scrunches at the salty taste and my mouth feels dry. My body starts to go numb. Not to the point of not being able to feel anything, but just where I felt... better. Stronger. 

"Woah." I breathe and he smiles.

"You ready?"

I nod and step closer to him. "Just stay still, and don't resist." His fingertips graze my cheeks before resting on my temples and the pain starts to spark through. He releases me almost instantly and catches me as I fall to the floor clutching my head against the pain. "Don't resist it." He whispers in my ear. I try not to and start to see images of Marilyn and Thomas. Images of them whispering, shutting me out, plotting against me. The gradual suspicious feeling I had that turned into fear. Then finally that night...

They were acting even more strange than before. I was planning on leaving that night after finding a note implying what they were planning on doing to me, but they never gave me the opening I needed to make my escape.  They kept me busy and distracted, never leaving my side, until they put their plan into action. They attempted to drug me at dinner, but I saw them slip it in my drink so I made it look like it worked and excused myself to my room where I attempted to climb out the window,  but I wasn't fast enough. Marilyn grabbed me, holding me down, then Thomas came at me with the knife.

But Malakai was there. He was so fast...

He took the knife from Thomas and in moves faster than I could comprehend, Marilyn and Thomas were lifeless on the floor. Malakai went over to me after with sadness in his eyes, and that's the last thing I remember. Malakai saved me that night.