What Came Down the River

Chapter 13: Happy Together

"OIIII ANE-CHAN! I'm going out for dinner! Did you want to come?" Naruto's voice chides happily from the other side of the door. I groan my head slightly as I sit up from off the floor and look around. A painful throbbing takes place in my head and I wince as I come to. "Are you in there?"

      Without thinking about replying to Naruto, I scramble to lift up my shirt. Examining if there's any blood or scars, anything. But there isn't. I even wipe my mouth to see if there's dried blood from earlier. My toes are okay, my head just has a headache. Was it a dream? A nightmare? It felt so real. No way it was a dream.

         I hear Naruto whisper to himself outside the door. "Maybe she fell asleep. It is late after all. I shouldn't have taken so long training my secret jitsu with Konohamaru..." He speaks louder now for me to hear. "Well if you can hear me, I hope you have a goodnight. I'll see you tomorrow!"

     I know I should open the door, or at least respond. But for some reason it feels wrong. Like it wasn't all just a dream. And if I speak out now, something from the dark will come out and grab me. Whimpering at the thought, I bring my knees to my chest and hug them. Hearing Naruto's steps fade away from my door only dishearten me more. It feels as if my one shot at having someone to protect me tonight has gone. I'm stuck here in the dark, with no light source. I'm too scared to go back to sleep...on top of that I just woke up from a nap. The dark is so suffocating.

         My eyes can't adjust to anything in this cold pitch black darkness. I just feel the cold fingers of the wind run onto my legs and crawl up. As if hands are emerging from the ground and trying to pull me into a hell below.

          "It's only a matter of time," I hear the voice from early whisper. As if an after shadow echoing through the walls from a person long since passed. I can't tell if I'm hallucinating or there genuinely is someone here with me. I don't feel alone. I can tell that much. But how much of it is my imagination?

          "You'll come back to us either way. Whether your alive or not. Maybe we'll wait till your dead to take back your body. We can preserve it a while longer and continue our experiments. But then again Itachi's favorite part is listening to your screams. Actually it's all of our favorite parts. The way you squeal like a pig. Or at least you used to. I must say youre very good at adapting. Although I suppose you had to or you would've died much sooner." A soft ghostly chuckle echoes through the dark corners of the room. I feel tears begin to stream down my face again. I feel like I'm going crazy. Unable to distinguish fiction from reality. Is this actually happening or is this just an after affect of my trauma? God I hate everything right now. I can't stand it. I clench my eyes closed and stuff my face into my knees.

         "Aw, hiding from the truth now. Are we? How cute.-"

          "Shut up," I mumble.

           "Ohhhhh she speaks. Fascinating. I must say, you're not very strong mentally. At least not as strong as you are physically.-"

            "Shut up."

            "We can stick pins and needles in you all day and we wouldn't get a single peep. But now it's different. You've gotten a taste of that freedom you didn't know you longed for."

          "Shut. Up."

           "Tell me, what was it like when he held you close. Did you like it? You get a reaction? You dirty human."

           "SHUT UP!"

           "Whatever whatever. It's fine. Have your fun for now. We'll be back before long to pick you up. Doesn't really matter to us either way if your dead or alive. Although most of us prefer alive, just so we have more play time. Until next time..." the voice goes silent, but the piercing crystal gaze doesn't fade. As if the person wasn't leaving. Just announcing they wouldn't be talking anymore. I can't help but break down at the pressure of everything. I just wanted to be free from this all. It's bad enough already that I'm not a normal person and find it hard to fit in. But now I can't tell what's real. If that voice earlier was real, how come my wounds are gone? I woke up on the ground so I just assumed it was a dream...but now...I just don't know.