Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ From The Darkness... It All Begins ❯ Forgotten ( Chapter 1 )

Trickle, plop, plop. It was the sound of a liquid dropping into a pool. It echoed through her mind. Plop, plop, plop. It seemed to get louder as she regained consciousness. With a jolt she opened her eyes and tried to focus on her surroundings. Yet she discovered that she was enveloped in darkness.

Finally after a minute of trying to get her bearings, a cry arose in her throat but nothing came out but horrible gasps of air. Confused, she tried to pick myself up from the heap on the floor. She then noticed that underneath her, a pool of reddish brown liquid started to form, slowly dropping from an unknown place on her body.

"What…?" she tried to utter, yet nothing came out.

Horrified, she stared at the ground and then at her blood soaked clothes yet not understanding the situation. Suddenly, she was overcome with a new sensation, a horrible pain erupting from her side and her head. It felt so surreal. She finally decided she needed to get up and to find the source of her pain. Using one of her elbows, she managed to hoist herself up and lean against a wall. It felt as cold as ice. Running her hands along her right side, she searched until she discovered the source of the blood and pain. It was a large gash, which she could feel outside of her clothes. Surprised, a loud cry escaped her lips. The cry echoed back at her, which made her realize that she didn't know where she was. Looking around, from her position on the floor she surveyed the room. Nothing was visible except for a small window on the other side of the room where the moonlight shone in, trickling across the floorboards. Alone in the dark, she realized she was more afraid of this house then the wound on her side.

"I need to find a way out and go to the hospital," she thought although her body refused to move anymore. "What am I going to do!?" she cried at herself, angry with her body and more confused then ever before.

"I MUST get up, right now. I'm sure there are people worried about me. I hate to cause any grief for anyone." She said to herself. But searching through her mind, she found that she didn't know who would be grieving.

`Well, the first step is getting up,' she thought. Slowly rising to her feet, she experienced another wave of intense pain, yet this only strengthened her resolve. Holding her side and moaning from the pain, she managed to start walking, dragging herself against the wall. She was searching for an exit through the darkness-infested room. Focusing on the task at hand, she finally reached a door, she found a knob and was overjoyed with the discovery. Looking back in the room before continuing on, she saw that her wound had left a line of blood, dripping towards the floor. Sickened by the sight of her own blood, she slowly made her way into the next room.

Turning the knob she slowly made her way through the doorframe and surveyed it. It appeared to be the kitchen with nothing in it but an old stove and a rusty sink. She was half relieved that she seemed to be alone, yet then realized again, there were no lights but moon. From what she could see, she realized that it was a very old house indeed. Cobwebs hung from the ceiling and water damage stained the white walls. She could smell a mixture of horrible smells, that of decay and mold. Disgusted, she vowed to get out of this house, which reeked of death. Walking a few steps, the only sound that she could hear were the floorboards creaking. She again used the wall as a crutch and slowly moved towards a door in the distance. It seemed so far away, although so close. Wrapped in darkness, she was overcome by intense fear of what she might find outside. Would she find whoever did this to her or would she find someone that would help her? She didn't know, but she had to take the chance.

She opened the door and found herself on a stoop outside. Relieved that she had made it out of the dingy house, she realized that nothing was outside but an old garage and rusty bicycles. But more alarming was that there were no other houses in her view. Sadness crept into her heart as the pain in her side increased. Resisting the urge to cry, she turned her head towards the backyard. The grass was overgrown and infested with weeds. It smelled like rotting garbage, rust and mold, just like the smell of the house itself. It made her stomach turn. Before trying to leave her place on the stoop, she realized that she heard a small cry in the distance. It was almost a plea, sounding very desperate, yet she could not tell what was being said. Listening intently, she tried to make out what the person was screaming. All she could tell was that the person was wailing incoherently and crying someone's name.

`I wonder if they're calling for me?' She wondered to herself.

Holding onto that thought, she made her way down the steps carefully holding her side. Painful as it was, she had to try to find that voice. Walking slowly, she started towards the road carefully keeping an eye on every tree and every bush, to make sure no one was there. Walking about 10 steps she heard a car engine approaching. Screeching from around a corner, a car came speeding towards her, and came to a halt. A tall man in a suit jumped out and ran towards her. She wasn't sure if she should be afraid or relieved. "TOHRU!" he cried with his arms outstretched. She took a step back not really sure what to think. With a horrified look on his face he looked at her and said,

"Oh my god! I need to find Hatori; you're soaked in blood! I am going to kill him!"

The look on his face changing from worried to angry. Rapidly grabbing his phone out of his pocket he started to dial his friend. "Yeah, I found her. She looks like she's had a hell of a night. We really need you, I'll meet you…"

While on the phone, she stared at her hands completely stained red, and then again at the man who appeared to want to help her. He seemed to know her, but searching through her mind, she could not figure out who he was. Embarrassed and in pain, she reached up to rub her head and found a large bump on the side of it. `…Is this why I can't remember anything?' she thought to herself. As the man finished on the phone, he walked towards her,

"We were so worried about you. Yuki's been searching the forest all night, and Kyo is tracking him down. He doesn't seem to be here anymore. Come on, let's go meet Hatori, let me help you get into the car."

But before he took another step he looked at her questionably, "Why aren't you saying anything? I thought you'd be glad to see us?"

She opened her lips and tried to form the words. Finally, her body started to work as she stared at the man. Tears welled up in her eyes as her body started to shake. With every ounce of effort she had she cried the words,

"Who are you? Why am I here? Why was I just lying on the floor in a room I've never seen before? Why am I bleeding? Who did this to me? Why…?" She choked on her last words as the tears spilled out of her eyes.

Through her tears, she could see the pain echoing through his dark brown eyes. Looking her up and down for a second, he saw the large red bump that stuck out from the side of her head. Understanding everything in just one moment, he cursed himself for not being here sooner. Taking her hand he told her,

"Don't worry, we'll discuss everything after you get into the car, Tohru. I'll take you to Hatori and he'll fix you up and we'll figure everything out. "

She looked into his kind but troubled eyes, still confused as ever. The pain had escalated into something she couldn't stand anymore. She had no other choice, but to trust him. And besides, she thought, `he seems like he genuinely wants to help me'.

"I'll come with you, but first tell me, who's Tohru?" she said with a blank look in her eyes.

"Shit…I'm going to kill him."