Fade to Death

Chapter 5: Life and Death is Weighed.

  The next morning, everyone grew silent. Kiki wouldn't stop staring at Kira, and Kira couldn't even look at her. He stood up and picked up a black duffel bag. 

"I'm leaving. Start dinner without me if I'm late. Bye." he whispered as he stared at the floor blankly and walked towards the door. 

      "Mom, do you know what's wrong with him?" Kiki asked. 

"He probably remembered something he shouldn't have." Marsha answered. 

     That day, Kira did remember something sorrowful. He remembered that his parents had died when he was very young. But that was all he remembered. Nothing more. Not even the death of his beloved sister or his dear Janice. But, that was enough to send him into a state of seclusion and sadness. He didn't fully trust his foster family yet, so he felt alone. 

    All he did that day was sit and stare into the sky at the waterfall in the back woods. As the water fell, so did his hope in remembering and so, as he returned home, the sun had set and Kiki was waiting at the front door. 

"I thought you would be inside by now." Kira said staring solemnly at the floor. 

"I was worried, Jonas. What the hell's wrong with you? Last night, you seemed pretty out of it." Kiki replied. 

"My parents are dead." He pauses momentarily. "My dad gave me an amulet just like this one, before he died. But... I don't remember anything else. I don't know where to go." 

"You can always stay with us, you know. It's nice to have a man in the house." she chuckled.

"Not an option. I have to figure it out." Kira whispered, as he walked past her and opened the front door. "I'll be in my room if you need me." The sound of the door closing echoes through the house.

At the dinner table, Kira was missing, so after dinner, Kiki offered to take his plate to his room. She knocked and slowly opened the door.

"Tell me, what happened last night? I mean, while I was dreaming?" Kira whispered.

"You wouldn't stop moving. I couldn't take it anymore so I hit you with a pillow and screamed back at you. You sat up, breathed heavily and stared straightforward. Then you turned around and went back to sleep. I asked what was wrong and you got all cranky and made me leave." Kiki replied, deciding not to tell him about him calling her "Janice".

"That bizarre, huh? I'm sorry." He stared at her apoligetically.

"Wait, you mean you don't remember anything?"

"Nop, I remember hearing someone saying my name in the back of my mind. I didn't really give much thought to it."

"Seriously?" Kiki asked.

"Well, sorry if I was to busy staring at the mangled bodies of my parents." Kiki turned serious again.

"They were killed... in front of you?"

"I was young, about 10 or 12, I think? I can't really recall, but I think it was a bear or something because we were in the forest and they had scratches everywhere."

   Kira stares into space. "You alive there, wacko?" Kiki taunts, as if trying to phase him out of his zombie-like state.

"Huh? Oh, yeah... I'm just thinking." Kira snaps back to reality.

"Tell me, what about the amulet?" Kiki points out.

"I don't know. Maybe it got mixed up in my memories. Or maybe my dad gave me something that looked like it. But, it can't be this one, I'm sure." Kira doubts himself and tries to forget about it.