Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ A Second Chance ❯ A Branching Point ( Chapter 11 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

A quick shove on his left shoulder abruptly interrupted Ryan’s sleep on the chair beside his bed. As he came to he noticed Serenity was awake and sitting up in the bed. Crespin was gathering his things to leave the house.

“Serenity…?” Asked Ryan shakily.

There was no movement. Her eyes were fixated on the gold chain around her arm. Occasionally her eyes would twitch and strain.

“She’s been like that for about an hour now, I can’t figure her out anymore. I was able however to clean up her face and your bathroom. It seems her mind was under an intolerable amount of pressure. I’ve never seen anything like it before. Blood was being forced out of her eyes and ears to ease the pressure on her mind. I don’t know what happened before her attack but I’d like to talk about it if you have time later. I need to return to the hospital for my other patients.”

“Yeah… Ok… Thanks for everything doc.”

“No problem, take good care of her… Call me immediately if anything serious develops. Right now there is nothing we can do for her in her present state. She will resume talking and interacting with her surroundings when she is ready.”

The door shut behind Crespin as his sentence ended. The room was silent. The sun was glistening through the curtain hanging on the bedroom window. You could hear birds chirping signaling the peak of morning.

“I don’t know what I should do… Guess I’ll just make some coffee. After everything I been through last night… I could use the extra energy.”

A few minutes passed by seeming like hours. Ryan was now sitting in his chair sipping on a cup of coffee looking at the motionless girl who was still staring at the bracelet.

“I don’t get it, how does a person stare at an object motionless for so long, that would cause me to snap. I wonder what she’s thinking about anyways… … Speaking of which… That dream last night… What in the world could have caused me to be so wet and cold like in my dream? Furthermore why was serenity so cold and wet like me?

With that something clicked in Ryan’s mind. It was so obvious that it was just being overlooked. Both Ryan and Serenity were cold and wet that night. In Ryan’s dream there was a young boy and girl who were all so cold and wet. The girl’s hair had a surprising resemblance to Serenity’s.

“Clare…?” The word forced its way out of his mouth as Ryan’s mind was racing.

The word startled Serenity. She jumped slightly and removed her gaze from the gold plated bracelet. Her eyes were now locked onto Ryan’s. For a moment there was bitter silence. Ryan was still shocked from the reaction he got accidentally uttering the name Clare.

“R… Ryan…?”

“Yeah, That’s me… Don’t you remember? I gave you that bracelet while you were in the hospital.”

The moment her gaze returned to the bracelet she grabbed her head letting out a short cry in pain. Her hands pressed down on her head as she shuck her head around violently for a moment.

“Serenity! You have to calm down!”

Her pain continued and seemed to be getting worse. She was no longer shaking her head but pressing harder onto it. The short cries from the pain became screams and echoed through the apartment. Ryan was thinking hard, he didn’t have time to call Crespin. She was in so much pain that it seemed like she could pass out at any moment. He suddenly remembered the reaction he got the last time he used the other name.

“Clare! Clare please…! Calm down!”

The screaming slowly halted and her hands came to a rest on her lap. She was still sitting up in the bed. Again there was complete silence. This time Ryan was too afraid to say anything yet alone make any sudden movements.

“If this goes on much longer I’m going to go insane. I don’t have the slightest clue what is going on.”

“Is your name really Ryan,” was the soft inquiring line uttered to break the silence.

“Y… Yeah my name is Ryan.”

Ryan was still scared. If he said something wrong again, it could trigger another spasmodic reaction. His statements needed to be concise and swiftly executed to keep her stable.

“As long as I keep answering questions instead of asking them, I don’t think I could do anything detrimental to her situation.”

“Where are we…? What city is this,” was the next question.

“Were In a small town called Trinity.”

Her eyes widened immediately at the last word. The fists lying in her lap clenched tightly.

“I made it…”

The girl’s words were so soft that Ryan was unable to interpret them.

“I made it! I’m here! It’s me Ryan! Clare!” Said the girl as she lifted the covers and flew into Ryan’s arms. Tears were falling from her eyes. They fell over in the chair and crashed into the floor with Ryan landing on his back and Clare on top of him.

“Ouch… Careful!”

Clare lifted herself up while still on top of Ryan. They stared at each other for a moment.

“What’s… What’s wrong? You look as if you’ve never seen me before.”

The confusion never seemed to end. Ryan was nearing his limits. This was all driving him mad.

“Look,” said Ryan as he lifted her up off him and sat up in front of her. “I don’t understand what’s going on! A moment ago you would barely talk and you were shy about everything. You didn’t have a clue or cared about anything. Now your acting strange, It’s as if… It’s as if you were a completely different person!”

“What are you talking about? It’s me! Clare! We grew up together at the sunlight orphanage in Trinity.

Her words sparked hazy images in Ryan’s head. They came fast and dwindled away just as fast. It was like seeing something happen in the blink of an eye and not being able to interpret what it was or how it happened. It was a seemingly endless array of flashbacks bulked together with no sense of time or unison.

“Stop.” Said Ryan softy.

“Don’t you remember me? We played at the park together all the times.

More and more images were forcing their way into Ryan’s head. They still didn’t make any since at times things seemed old and things seemed new. Some of the images were dark and some were bright. With every new word she uttered came new changes and new images. Colors were changing so fast it was blinding.

“Stop!” Said Ryan again this time slightly more intensely.

“We had no family to call our own and no friends, all we had was each other,” tears were now streaming from her eyes perpetually, “ we were always together. Where you went I went and where I went you followed. Times were always tough for us at the orphanage. I was constantly bullied and you would stick up for me and protect me. You were always fighting and would get cuts and bruises. The adults did nothing for us. I was the one who took care of your wounds in return. Together we persevered through time. Until… Until that day… Please remember! Remember!”

“I SAID STOP IT!” Said Ryan as he ran out the room and out the front door with his hands over his ears.

“I can’t take any more of this… I need a break!”

Ryan stopped outside closing the door behind him. He fell to the ground sliding down the door with his back landing on the cement hard. The pain from the fall had no effect on him. His limb’s felt like rubber and his senses seemed dulled. Thoughts were racing through his mind.

“I need to calm down! RELAX,” said Ryan in his mind as he squinted his eyes and pushed his head back against the door.

The morning breeze was soothing him and stabilizing his uncontrollable mind. Ryan’s body relaxed itself and succumbed to the easygoing surroundings.

“Ok… The images have stopped… I have regained the power of thought processing… Now then… This girl is not the girl I rescued from the beach. She is someone else. Or… Or maybe she is the girl I rescued only she regained her memories… Or… Orrr… STOP!”

He takes a deep breath and relaxes again.

“All that aside, it seems as if she knows me from the past. I was an orphan? Hmmm… That’s news to me… Last thing I remember was being in a hospital and my dad coming to pick me up. I didn’t know who I was or where I came from. I didn’t even know he was my dad till he said he was. Wait... He said he was my dad… Was he really my dad? Through the whole time I was growing up with him and my mom they never talked about my past or showed me any pictures. Even now they never contact me or check in on me in any way like a caring father and mother should. Were they my real family? I’ve heard of this sunlight orphanage. They house a lot of kids who have been abandoned or cause their parents had died. What if what she says is true? The weird things I saw in my head while she said everything has to mean something. I want to know… I need to know everything. She has the answers I want. She is the key to my past! WHAT AM I DOING?!”

Instantly Ryan stood up and bursts into the apartment. Their sitting in the bed was the girl staring at her moist hands confused.

“Clare… I want you to tell me everything this time… Tell it to me slowly, I want to process every word in detail. You seem to know more about me then I do.”

The girl looked at him strangely. She would not say anything. In fact she started shaking as Ryan got up on the bed in front of her. He grabbed her by the arms.

“Please… tell me who I am!”

“Rrr... Ryyy… Ryyyann!”

“… Ser… Serenity…?”

To Be Continued… Branch 1… Or… Branch 2… Drop me a line.