Pet Shop Of Horrors Fan Fiction ❯ How Long Love? ❯ Deirdre ( Chapter 4 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Cousin D 
Leon and Reggie's life at Mr. Goti's children's home.
Anime/Manga: Pet Shop Of Horrors Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Drama / Angst | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 08.21.2004 | Pages: 4 | Words: 7.7K | Visits: 621 | Status: Completed
Leon and Reggie's life at Mr. Goti's children's home.
Anime/Manga: Pet Shop Of Horrors Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Drama / Angst | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 08.21.2004 | Pages: 4 | Words: 7.7K | Visits: 621 | Status: Completed
Dear Readers, thanks so much for checking on this story, when it seemed like I'd abandoned it. I promise, I never start a story I don't intend to finish.
For some reason Reginald Barkley is my favorite Star Trek character. I don't know why, he just is. Therefore, he will have a rather big part.
HOW LONG LOVE?
Chapter 4: Deirdre
Reggie-
It was very late that night when Reggie woke up and he blinked up at the ceiling. He waited, patiently, for the now familiar sensation of fuzziness to wear off and he could see and think clearly. The smell of antiseptics was heavy in the air and Reggie knew he was in the institute’s infirmary.
"Time to get up, Reg."
Reggie kept his face as still as possible. It would be far better to just stay asleep, even though he knew it would be impossible. Miss Forth was never fooled, and she never gave up when it was time to do her job. Just once, Reggie wished they'd let him sleep until he felt like getting up. 'Never happen.'
"Come on, dear," Reggie hated it when she called him, dear. "You know you can't stay like that forever and all the monitors are telling me that you're wide awake. Open your eyes like a good boy."
Good boy? He was fifteen, not six! Reggie didn't honestly believe that she thought she was being kind to him. 'No, she must be irritating me on purpose.' Yet Reggie really didn't feel all that irritated. He felt drained. It wasn't an unfamiliar feeling. Stubbornly, Reggie didn't open his eyes, but he was defeated when something cold was pressed to his lips.
"Aren't you thirsty? Just a bit?" Cold water trickled over Reggie's lips and ran down the sides of his cheeks. Reggie couldn't resist and parted his lips, letting the water run into his parched mouth. It really wasn't fair. They knew the medication they had him on made him thirsty all the time, so it was the best way to make him wake up. "There now." Miss Forth said, a touch smug as the glass of water was taken away and Reggie was left wanting.
She always did that!
"More." Reggie muttered, forcing his eyes to open. She wouldn't be satisfied until he was fully awake, now. “Please, more.” His mouth was dry as a desert and it was almost painful.
"Just as soon as you're sitting up and alert." She gave him a smug smile when Reggie's eyes focused on her. "I don't know why you always pretend to be asleep. You know it’s not going to work."
Reggie didn't answer, but struggled to sit up, despite the terrible lethargy that slowed his whole body down. His head spun for a minute and his stomach churned, but everything settled down after a moment, except for his pounding headache.
The infirmary was, as usual, mostly empty. It was sparkling white, polished over and over again. There were paintings on the walls, soft colors and soothing images along with gentle music playing softly in the background. Reggie hated the place. Not that he'd ever say so much. As much as Reggie resented the way he was treated, he knew he was fortunate to have a home and that there was nothing he could do about his situation. Mr. Goti was supported by the Federation, so everything was legal, though Reggie wasn't sure exactly why. If he tried to run away, they'd just send him back and no one would care if he told them what was being done to the kids at Mr. Goti's children's home. The children’s home was also known as the institute, a far more grim name.
Reggie looked around while Miss Forth got her things ready. It was only routine.
“Why’s Leon here?” Reggie asked, worried when he saw Leon’s face peeking over the edge of a blanket. Sleeping, as he was, Leon looked even younger than he had before. He looked more vulnerable and Reggie had the strange, impulsive urge to protect Leon.
“Basically for the same reason you are. It‘s not really your business, now is it?” Miss Forth didn’t look up from her computer pad and kept typing on it. “Let’s get started, shall we? How do you feel?”
It wasn’t just a polite question and Reggie answered as clearly as he could. “My head hurts terribly. My stomach feels very queasy and I have a tingling feeling shooting down my arms, into my hands. I feel very tired, I just want to sleep.” In fact, Reggie probably could have told her more, but every time he tried to think his head started pounding more.
“Good. Good. Now, how’s your sight? Can you see all right?”
“Yes. It’s fine, but the lights are too bright and make my head hurt.” Yes, that would be much better if they’d just turn the lights out and let Reggie go back to sleep.
“Fine. Now,” Of course Miss Forth didn’t turn the lights off for him or even dim them a bit. “We’ll just take a few readings and I’ll let you be.” She only took a moment to run a tricorder over Reggie, pausing a bit over his head and heart, before she stood and left. “Oh, your regular meds are on the table next to you. You know how to use the hypospray.”
Then Reggie was left alone with only Leon sleeping in the next bed as company. Well, if he wanted something, he was going to have to get it for himself. With a painfully aching body, Reggie slowly sat up. Again, his stomach rolled, but Reggie’s thirst was more demanding than his sore muscles and he reached for the glass of water Miss Forth had tempted him awake with. Fortunately, she’d left it on the bedside table, just in reach. Well, almost in reach. Reggie stretched for the glass, but just as his fingers brushed the cold surface, his head seemed to fill with air and the world spun. His ears felt like they were filled with water and Reggie fell. It seemed like he fell for a long time, but when everything cleared, he was only on the floor and his knees aching.
“Reg?” For a minute, Reggie thought it was Miss Forth again, but the hand that landed on his shoulder was too soft for that. “Reg, get up. You dropped the glass.”
Indeed, when Reggie looked down at the floor, he found out why his hands hurt. He had dropped the glass and , when he’d fallen, he’d cut his hands on the glass. Reggie raised one hand to look at it and he found the sight of his bleeding palms strangely entrancing. On the floor, Reggie’s blood was mixed with the water and turning it pink. “Wha...?” It hurt, but only distantly.
“Reggie? Did they give you something new, again?”
When Reggie finally looked up, he smiled. “Hi, Deirdre.” She was the prettiest girl Reggie had ever met and he was glad to see her, especially after he’d embarrassed her so much. “Ummm...sorry about...you know...”
“Oh, please,” Deirdre rolled her eyes and took Reggie’s arm to help him stand. “Not like it’s the first time I’ve been goosed me. Here, let me.” She looked carefully at his hands and began to painstakingly pick out shards of glass, not at all worried about that blood that was staining her own fingers.
Reggie blushed, but was glad that blood was returning to his head, at least. He didn’t deserve to even be touched by someone like Deirdre and there she was, so compassionately trying to help him. Reggie wanted to crawl away, somewhere that she didn’t have to look at him. She shouldn’t be forced to look at someone like him. Reggie hoped his hands weren’t shaking too much.
“Just a quick run over with this this and...” Deirdre didn’t bother to finish her sentence when she passed one of the medical machines over Reggie’s hands and they healed almost instantly. It wasn’t hard to get a hold of, especially for Deirdre who was so talented with such things. She would be a great doctor, one day. Finally finished, Deirdre wiped her fingers on her trousers and smiled at Reggie. “There, all done. You could have done it yourself, but I don‘t think you would have. Did Lady Doubleface make you take your meds?”
When Deirdre helped him to sit back on the bed, Reggie buried his face in his hands. He felt sick again. Deirdre was one of the only people who was ever really kind to him and he’d gone and done something so unthinkable. He really was worthless.
“Hey, you still there?” Deirdre shook his arm a bit. “You look kinda out of it. I‘m guessing that‘s a no. You didn‘t take your meds, did you? Not even the regular ones?” She really was beautiful. Her hair was very long and dark as chocolate. Her eyes were the same color as her hair and the combination made her skin so pale. “Still seeing pink elephants, huh?”
“Nope, just...I...no. I didn‘t take them yet. I will.” Why should he bother? Was he really worth the trouble of making medication for? Surely, it would be easier on everyone if he just died. The medication would make it easier for him to keep focused and do what he knew he should do. Therefore, Reggie would avoid taking the little hypospray. Someone else would need it more than he did. “Why are you here?” Everything was starting to get clearer and Reggie’s headache was fading quickly. “You get sick, too?”
Deirdre laughed, bitterly and hopped up to sit on the bed, next to Reggie. “Isn’t that a hoot? How hypocritical can you get? Sick?” She shook her head, making her dark hair wave around her perfect face. For a moment, Reggie was sure that he was dreaming. “But, to your question, no. I’m not SICK. I took my meds like a good little girl. Classes just got out, so I thought I’d come and see if you needed some company. Lady Doubleface isn’t much fun to talk to.”
“Miss Forth didn’t...didn’t do much...talking.” Reggie hated it when he couldn’t talk straight, especially around Deirdre. Reggie really admired Deirdre. She was brave enough to say exactly what she thought, even about the feared Miss Forth. Lady Doubleface. Reggie liked that. It suited Miss Forth so well. Reggie wished he was as brave as Deirdre.
“Yeah, yeah.” Deirdre waved her hand, negligently. “Just took her readings and that cold fish smile, huh? Damn. Mind altering drugs used to be illegal, you know. A long time ago Mr. Goti would have been hunted down for doing this to us. Now we’re just ignored.” Deirdre was angry and Reggie knew just by how still her face got and the far away look in her eyes. She was thinking about something very important. “I wonder. Do you think the Federation really knows what Mr. Goti’s doing here?“
“Of course they do.” Reggie said. How could they not? They were supporting Mr. Goti’s research. That’s what Mr. Goti always told everyone, anyway.
“How do we know, though?” Deirdre still didn’t look at Reggie, but kept her eyes focused on what she saw. “We don’t know anything, do we? We aren’t allowed outside communication. We aren’t allowed to even go for a walk unsupervised. Never allowed to talk to anyone. The only thing we do is lessons and pills. I think we all spend half our lives drugged out of our minds. We still have plenty of time for learning, though. I wonder why?” Reggie rarely ever saw Deirdre so serious and tried to think along the lines her mind was traveling, but he couldn’t see what she was seeing. Obviously, Deirdre was suspicious of something., but Reggie wasn’t sure what, exactly. Deirdre blinked and seemed to return to herself. Her eyes lit up and she pressed a finger to her lips before saying, “I’ve brought you a present. Something to keep you from getting to bored till they let you out.” From seemingly out of nowhere, Deirdre presented a small, handheld computer, no doubt loaded with games.
Reggie managed a watery smile and wondered if he should kill himself after she left. Leon might wake up and he wouldn’t want to upset Leon. No, Reggie wasn’t worth upsetting anyone. He’d be better off waiting and Deirdre was so kind just to think of him. She’d come all this way to bring him something and that could get her in trouble with Mr. Goti. She shouldn’t take such risks for him, he wasn’t worth it.
“Thanks.” Reggie managed to say. She was really too nice. They weren’t allowed these little computers except in class.
“It’s not for playing with, yet.” Deirdre said, strictly. “You can have it only if you do me a favor.” She leaned in closer, until her head nearly rested on his shoulder and Reggie felt as if he might faint. “It’s a big favor and it’s a secret.”
Reggie swallowed hard, fighting passed the lump in his throat. “Y-yes?”
“You’re so good with computers. I want you to rig that thing.”
“Rig?”
“We both know Lady Doubleface and her little team of trained gorillas have fixed every computer around this place so we can’t communicate with the outside world. This is just a game toy, so they haven’t touched it. I want you to make that into a communicator.”
Reggie was shocked by the request. It was entirely against every rule and if anyone found out that Reggie had done something like that... he didn’t even want to think of the punishment. “But...but what about...”
“Don’t think about the rules, Reggie. This is important. Tell me what you need and I’ll get it. Anything can be bought, even here.” She gave him a half-smile. “One good thing about having all our time in class is that you learn an awful lot. I’ll bet you’re better than the instructor when it comes to fiddling with these little computer things, huh? You can do it, Reggie. I need you to do it before they hook you up on another experimental drug, though. I don’t want this botched. Will you do it?”
For anyone else, Reggie would have refused. He didn’t deserve the faith Deirdre had in him. Still, looking into her intense, dark eyes, Reggie nodded. He’d have done anything for her at that moment.
Deirdre smiled and Reggie felt as if he had seen heaven. “Thanks, Reg.”
“Uh, Deirdre?”
“Yes?”
“Would you...er...mind? I’d like you to call me Reggie.” It wasn’t so much that he liked being called Reggie, but he hated it when Miss Forth called him Reggie and it seemed unnatural to hear such an ugly name coming from Deirdre’s lips. Those lovely lips...
“Ha, ha.” Deirdre laughed, but nodded. “Sure. Why not?” They sat together for a short while until Reggie noticed she was staring at him and didn’t seem to want to leave. Reggie began to fiddle with the little computer Deirdre had given him and wondered what he was doing to make her just stare at him. Finally, Deirdre threw an arm over Reggie’s shoulder and pulled him in so close that their noses nearly touched. “Reggie,”
“Y-yes?”
“Lady Doubleface left meds for you.” Something cold and sharp pressed into Reggie’s neck and he gasped at the sting of the hypospray. “Don’t act like a baby.” Deirdre said, coolly. “Left on your own, you wouldn’t take it and we all know it. Lady Doubleface isn’t smart enough to give it to you, so I have to do it. At least these meds keep you a bit normal. Normal enough to get through classes, anyway.” She shook her head and jumped up, bouncing away from the bed as if she hadn’t a care in the world. “Tell me if you like the games on that thing, Reggie. Just don’t talk to me if they give you those damned orange pills again, huh? Those things turn you into a read bastard. Oh, yeah. Don’t step on that glass, will ya? You aren‘t wearing any shoes.”
Reggie sat alone in the infirmary, simply happy because Deirdre wasn’t going to call him Reg anymore. Happy. It wasn’t often that he was happy...oh, yes. The medication. That was why. He was happy because of the medication. There was a certain speech everyone was given when they came to this place.
“Never try to go without your prescribed medication.” Mr. Goti would tell everyone. “You’re taking it for a reason and you would get very sick without it.” It was left at that and no one ever got to see what exactly ‘very sick’ was.
Leon’s dream-
The halls was dark enough that Leon could see nothing but D’s ornate kimono as D walked in front of him, down the long hallway. He just couldn’t understand why D would want to go looking at flowers at night, anyway. Leon felt that, somehow, he should be more angry that D had called him so late at night to look at flowers. Leon wasn’t angry, though, or even really upset. He hadn’t minded the phone call or hearing D’s soft voice in the middle of the night, asking him to hurry over to the petshop.
In truth, Leon had practically forgotten the beautiful kimono D’s grandpa had sent him weeks ago until D had opened the door of one of the many, many rooms in the long hallways of the petshop. The room was very simple with a large platform, the size of a bed larger than the one in Leon’s apartment, and the sakura decorated kimono hanging on a large wooden pole with two round lanterns on either side, illuminating it.
“Huh.” Leon said, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he moved to stand in front of the kimono. It looked...different. When D had first pulled it out of the box, the kimono had been beautiful, filled with pink blossoms and unopened buds. “That’s the kimono isn’t it? This is what you wanted me to look at?” Leon looked at D, but still couldn’t see D’s face. It was always hidden in shadows. D handed Leon a small cup filled with a clear liquid.
“Now, now have a drink.”
“Sake? Now you’re talking, count!” Leon liked sake a lot more than he liked even beer, but he only got it on special occasions at D’s. “Hey, count, did you add something to that kimono? It looks different than the last time I saw it.” Even as he said it, Leon took a small sip of the sake, the way D had told him to when Leon had started drinking it. “Like there’s more flowers or something.” Leon was sure that when he and D had opened the package from Japan the kimono had more unopened buds on it. Now, all the flowers were in full bloom and some were even falling. The color of the flowers was the most perfect color of pink Leon had ever seen.
“Quiet, Leon. Just watch.” D’s voice seemed to vibrate in Leon’s head and at that moment Leon couldn’t have taken his eyes away from the kimono if he tried.
A soft sound floated through the air, seeming to come from all around and no where at all. It was a heart wrenching sound and made Leon’s eyes sting with unshed tears. Just that first, single note. A breeze that couldn’t be blew through the dark room, making the kimono flutter softly and as it did, several of the pink sakura blossoms fell gently from the kimono to land on the floor. ‘What the Hell?’
Another note of pure magic hit Leon’s ears, but this time he knew it was coming from behind him. Leon turned to see where the strange music was coming from but wasn’t at all reassured by what he saw. they were ghosts, Leon was sure of that. No one like them could really exist. A quartet of musicians sat on the floor, though Leon had been sure that he and D were the only ones in the room just seconds ago. They were beautiful, though it was hard to tell if they were men or women. Flutes, pipes, drums, and some kind of stringed instrument all made up the haunting, unearthly music that seemed to fill Leon’s mind and body with beauty and grief.
‘When did I step into a Zepplin album?’ Leon tried to keep his thoughts in order, but it wasn’t easy. The room around them had vanished and Leon was all to aware of a thick mist surrounding them.
D was right next to Leon the whole time, that much, Leon was sure of. “The best time to watch the cherry blossoms, detective, is when they are falling.”
So Leon turned from the eerie musicians and looked back to where the kimono should have been. In the kimono’s place was a tree. It was alive and Leon had the terrible feeling that the tree was sad. It looked very sad as the wind rippled though its boughs and caused the beautiful flowers to fall. Leon took a step towards the tree and realized he was standing in water. Looking down, Leon was puzzled. ‘Huh? The water’s red. Wait...is it water or...?’
“Yes, detective. Red is the color of blood. But it’s also the color of cherries. It’s fitting that cherries are the same color as human blood. After all, cherry blossoms are so enchanting that it’s said that they can drive one mad.”
Mad? Was Leon going mad? He felt like he was going mad. The world was engulfed in mist and music, D vanished leaving only his voice behind, and Leon felt like he was falling into darkness. Then, he woke up.
End dream-
When Leon woke up the first thing he saw was Reggie sitting on the edge of a bed just next to him. ‘He still looks like a daddy-long-legs-spider.’ Leon thought. Too much arms and legs, that was Reggie’s problem. His big, bulging eyes didn’t help, either.
“Oh, you‘re awake." Reggie said when he noticed Leon looking at him. “Miss Forth will be in soon to talk to you. Your life signs are being monitored, so she’ll know you’re awake. How do you feel?”
“Sick.” Leon put a hand to his stomach and waited until it settled. The image of the falling sakura blossoms was still fresh in his mind and the word ‘blood’ kept echoing in his memory.
“I’m not surprised. They’ll have to give you different meds until they find one that doesn’t make you sick. It shouldn’t take long.” Reggie gingerly stood up and went to sit next to Leon. “We’ll go back to our room when Miss Forth says we can. ‘Till then, I guess you should just try to sleep, if you can. They’ll have you going to classes soon enough.”
“Reggie, I wanna go outside.” It was very important that Leon go outside. He wanted fresh air and to see the crow. He’d have to ask her name. No. That wasn’t right. Crows didn’t talk, did they? It was all a dream.
“It’s the middle of the night.” Reggie told Leon. “They won’t let us out until morning. Sorry.”
Leon felt a dark, twisting feeling in his stomach. “But I have to go out! I have to talk to her.”
“Her who?” Reggie asked with a frown.
“Her!” Leon stopped himself from saying more. Reggie was like everyone else, he’d never understand. Understand what? Her? Leon scowled. He knew there was someone he wanted to talk to. Someone who’d promised to protect him. Was it just a dream? “My heart feels funny and everything looks funny. It all looks gray, like the colors been washed out.” Hadn’t colors been brighter just before...before what? He turned to look at Reggie and even Reggie looked strangely faded. Beyond Reggie, there was a window that looked out at the dark night, lit by a light just outside the window. Leon winced as his heart seemed to beat faster and faster. Leon put his hand up to his throat, feeling his pulse beating like a drum. "What's wrong with me? I don't want anymore of those pills." Leon felt like he might cry and kept his eyes on the window. A black shape landed on the windowsill and Leon recognized it as a crow. He’d seen pictures of crows on computer programs and in books, but he’d never seen one in life, not like this. Crows, and all animals, had always looked like people to Leon. This was a bird and Leon was seeing it just like everyone else saw them. Looking at its dark, bead-like eyes, Leon thought the crow looked angry.
"Do you want me to find an adult?" Reggie asked, concerned.
"Uh-un." Leon shook his head. "I just wanna go to sleep.” But Leon was suddenly afraid that if he went to sleep he wouldn’t wake up. “The tree was sad, I think it was dying. Maybe I’m dying, too. I don't know because it might have been a dream. I haven't dreamed at all since I had to take those pills. Isn't that weird? Except about the cherry tree. I've never gone so long without a dream." Leon's hand suddenly shot out, away from his throat, and snatched Reggie's sleeve. "I'm scared. What if I don't dream again?"
Reggie looked uncomfortable with Leon’s sudden panic, but tried to comfort him. “You dreamed about D, right?”
Leon’s eyes opened very wide. ‘How does he know?’
Reggie smiled shyly at Leon’s expression. “You talk in your sleep, you know. You kept talking to someone called D. Is that a friend?”
Leon pulled the blanket that had been laid over him up closer to his chin and his hands bunched around it tightly. He’d never spoken to anyone about D or about any of his dreams involving D. They were...private. Leon just didn’t want anyone else knowing about D. It was as if something precious was defiled just that Reggie knew about D. “Sort of.” Leon answered. He knew D was just apart of his dreams, but D was a special part of those dreams. Even though Leon never saw D’s face Leon had always felt like D was the closest person to him. “It doesn’t matter. I just don‘t want those pills anymore.”
“You don’t have much of a choice.” Reggie went to one of the computers on the walls and began typing on the surface, making the screen flash so quickly that Leon had no idea what Reggie was doing. He spoke while he tapped at the computer. “You’re here for a reason, just like the rest of us and Mr. Goti’s going to try to ‘fix’ you. He’ll have you in for a chat soon and tell you the same thing he tells the rest of us. Whatever medication he gives you will stop whatever it is that put you here.”
“I’m here because I kept running away and getting into fights at the other places.” Leon told Reggie stubbornly. There was nothing wrong with him!
“Sure.” Reggie stopped his typing abruptly and put his hands on his lap. “I have a bad feeling. Something is going to happen. You shouldn’t worry about dreams when there’s so much in reality to worry about.” It was such a serious warning that Leon stared at Reggie’s still face, not sure that it was still the nervous boy he’d met only a few hours earlier. Then Reggie put a hand to the back of his neck, embarrassed. “Listen to me go on. Just lay down and rest, Leon. Miss Forth will come back soon and she‘ll probably have your new meds already.”
“What are you doing?” Leon asked when Reggie went back to his rapid work on the computer. He desperately wanted to change the subject away from whatever Reggie heard Leon saying about D and this ‘something’ Reggie said was going to happen.
“Oh, just homework. We don’t get a vacation here, not even when we come off bad meds. We can‘t leave until Miss Forth lets us.” Whatever Reggie’s homework was, he must have been very good at it, he barely seemed to be thinking as he zipped though the computer terminal. “You can do your schoolwork on any of the computers in the institute; you’ll be assigned an ID number before you start classes and you just enter that into the computer.
So Leon went back to looking out the window at the crow and tried very hard to get his heart to slow down. It wasn’t working well and the crow seemed to be getting more and more upset. “Reggie?”
“Yeah?”
“What kind of bad thing’s going to happen?”
Reggie didn’t stop his work at the computer. “I don’t know. But it’s going to happen. soon. It‘s just a feeling.”
A few weeks after starting regular classes at the institute and Leon was starting to fall into a regular routine. He got used to the world being dull and gray and he got used to the medication Mr. Goti started him on. It wasn’t pills this time, but a little slip of sticky paper Leon had to stick onto his stomach every morning. If he was caught without it, Leon would get into terrible trouble and be kept in an isolation room for hours. Leon became convinced that all his dreams were just that...dreams. They were nothing.
Despite what Reggie had told Leon about the meds everyone in the institute was taking, Leon knew he was better off with them. He didn’t spend his whole day dreaming as he used to and it was much easier to get through life. Leon began to think of the future and what he might do with his life, as he struggled though his classes. On the other hand, Reggie breezed though lessons easily and ended up tutoring Leon. Poor Reggie had a lot more problems with his meds than anyone else and spent half his time going through weird side-affects. In retrospect, it was a good thing Reggie was so smart or he’d have never passed his classes.
Only about two weeks after Leon had arrived at the institute, the entire institute was called to a meeting by Mr. Goti. It was like a small school assembly. There weren’t very many children in this institute, perhaps a hundred, and everyone stood at attention, waiting for Mr. Goti to begin speaking. Mr. Goti, standing at the front of the room on a raised stage, looked over the students with his normal, gentle eyes.
“What’s this about?” Leon whispered to Reggie. Since he’d arrived here, Leon had become fast friends with Reggie, though they were entirely different.
“Shush.” Reggie whispered back, his mouth barely moving.
“It has come to my attention,” Mr. Goti began. “That one of our own has tried to contact the outside without permission or supervision. I am extremely disappointing. Our purpose here is to ensure you children get the necessary treatments that will help you get through life. Without the treatment you receive here most of you would be able to go no further in life than scrubbing floors. You, the unwanted and discarded children of Earth, need us. The rule about no communication is very important, especially for those of you who are sadly influenced by negative outside forces. By the time you’ve become adults, you will all be able to see the world how it should be and resist influences that might harm you. The only reason one of you would try to communicate with the outside is that you are unhappy here. I don’t want any of you to be unhappy.” He turned to the side and raised his voice slightly. “Bring her out.”
It was Deirdre who was led out from another room, looking angry and determined. Beside Leon, Reggie gasped and turned pale.
Mr. Goti continued when Deirdre had been brought to stand between himself and the rest of the children. “Deirdre Addams, I am very disappointed in what you’ve done. I don’t think you recognize the seriousness of what you’ve done. Any interruption from the outside could inhibit our process of making the medication that keeps you and all your little friends healthy. You’ve brought us to the attention of an outsider and that might cause trouble.”
“Good.” Deirdre said, lifting her chin proudly to talk to Mr. Goti. “I hope I’ve caused you a lifetime of trouble. You really think you can keep going on like this. Ten years is a long time, you should be...”
“I didn’t give you permission to speak, young lady. Remain silent.” Mr. Goti’s friendly smile never changed. “Your actions have endangered everyone here and has threatened the lives of every student at this institute.”
“Don’t you mean I’ve endangered your life?” Deirdre smirked. “When the Federation finds out what you’ve done here you’ll get roasted over a fire.” Her tone was bitter and Leon guessed that her eyes were just as fiery. He knew that Deirdre and Reggie were friends, despite the first time Leon had seen them together. “You’ve given us all a great education here, didn’t you think we’d use it? I’m not so stupid as to think the Federation would endorse you using children as your test subjects.” At that last, she raised her voice and turned slightly to look at the rest of the student body. “All of us are nothing more than human lab rats he uses before he gives his new medications over to the Federation and gets all the glory. Institute my ass!” At that, Miss Forth had grabbed Deirdre’s arm and twisted it hard until Deirdre hit her knees with a cry of pain. “Your using poor Reggie as a first round test subject. You don’t do any trial tests before you start pumping drugs into him! Stimulators and depressants, you don’t even care what happens to him!”
“I’ve studied your records, Miss Addams.” Mr. Goti said. “You couldn’t have made that communication device by yourself. Who helped you?”
“No one.” Deirdre said from between clenched teeth. “I did it on my own. You think I’d trust any of these sheep to help me?”
Leon noticed that Reggie’s hand clenched into a fist so tight that his hand started to bleed. “Reggie?” Leon wasn’t at all sure what Deirdre was talking about, but he did know it was bad. Test subjects? Drugs? Just when Leon was starting to feel comfortable here, it stopped feeling like a school and was feeling more like a prison. Leon longed from his comfortable dreams, but none came and the world was still gray.
Mr. Goti shook his head. “I can see asking isn’t going to work.” He turned again to the assembled students. “Deirdre Addams is going to be put off her medications entirely for three days as punishment for her transgression. Should anyone be caught trying to sneak medications her to, they will receive the same punishment. To prevent her from hurting herself, Miss Addams will be kept in an isolation room, strapped down. I advise you all to take note of what happens when someone tries to act against the well-being of this institute. Don’t make the same mistake Miss Addams did.”
Two orderlies, big, burly men, took Deirdre by the arms and began to pull her away to another door, which Leon assumed was the isolation room. Deirdre screamed, “I’m not afraid of you, bastard! I’ll last out these three days if it kills me!”
Mr. Goti didn’t react to her words and kept smiling like a benign old uncle. “The rest of you should return to your rooms and get plenty of sleep tonight. You’ve got classes in the morning, I hope you all do well.”
“STOP!” It was Reggie who yelled out and burst away from Leon. Reggie charged to the front of the gathering, pushing passed the other students until he was at the front and just a few steps away from Deirdre who watched him with horrified eyes.
“Reggie, don’t...”
“Deirdre didn’t do anything!” Reggie ignored Deirdre for the first time since Leon had known them. He felt helpless to help his friend, like he was watching someone die. “I made the communicator for her, it was my idea!”
Mr. Goti just nodded. “Yes, I thought so much.” He nodded and two more orderlies appeared, taking Reggie by the arms. “I’m sorry to hear that, Reginald. You have such a bright future ahead of you, if we can find the right medication for you. One day, I have hope that you’ll be a credit to our institute, but, for now, I’m afraid I’ll have to have you punished. Put him in with Miss Addams.”
Deirdre shouted, “Reggie, you idiot!”
Reggie didn’t reply, but let himself be led away peacefully while Deirdre screamed and fought with her captors.
Three days passed very quietly and Leon found himself missing Reggie’s shy chatter and his erratic behavior when he was taking one of the many medications Mr. Goti fed him. Leon didn’t watch the broadcast of Reggie and Deirdre’s punishment. In those three days, Leon began talking to the crow that seemed to be continuously at his windowsill. He was fond of her and had even come to name her Jill. Leon wasn’t sure why, but he liked the name.
The door of their room slid open and Leon looked away from Jill to see Reggie standing in the doorway. He didn’t look good and didn’t even look at Leon before he staggered to his bed and fell face-down on it.
“Reggie!” Leon left the window and ran to Reggie’s side, falling down on his knees beside Reggie’s bed. “What...” Leon stopped when he got a good look at Reggie’s face. He was very pale, almost deathly pale, and his eyes were sunken and had black circles around them. Reggie looked half bald, so much of his hair had fallen out. Skinny before, Reggie was skeletal now.
“Sleep.” Reggie whispered, closing his eyes. “Just...want...” He began to shake and pulled his arms and legs in close until he was in the fetal position. “I had a cat once, Leon. She was beautiful. I remember...playing with her in my mother’s garden. Always thought, when I was little, I wanted to be a hero and rescue the lady in distress. Pretended my cat was the lady in distress. Silly. I can’t even rescue a real lady.”
Leon bit his lip when he saw tears shining at the corners of Reggie’s closed eyes. ‘What happened? What did Mr. Goti do to them?’ Leon’s voice felt strained when he asked, “Where’s Deirdre?”
Reggie’s arms just tightened around himself and began to sob, hiding his face in his arms. Leon, not knowing what else to do, crawled up onto the bed with Reggie and curled up next to him. “Don’t worry, Reggie. I’ll stay with you.” They slept like that several nights in a row, but Reggie never told anyone what happened to Deirdre and he never tried to make another communicator.
Deirdre was never seen again.
Life went on and no one ever dared to try and contact the outside world as rumor about what had happened to Deirdre began to circulate. No one knew the truth except Reggie and he never said a word about it.
Baby D-
The Earth was a place of great magic and wonder, but it was at times like these that Baby D, also known as Count D, wondered what made the human species think they were so much more important than everyone else. He sat in his petshop and conducted business, just as every one of his predecessors had for uncountable years, though at the moment he wasn’t conducting any business. Instead, he was watching a mirror that showed him the events of Leon’s life. It was strange. Baby D had carefully listened to the reports the animals had given him on the whereabouts and health of the newly reincarnated Leon, but he had refused to interfere in Leon’s life in anyway.
The fact that Leon seemed to remember bits and pieces of his past life with D and little Chris Orcot was odd, to say the least. In fact, Baby D had heard of no other cases like this when it came to humans. Leon dreamed of his passed reality and it invaded his present reality, though Leon seemed to deal with it well until malicious chemicals were introduced into his system.
“Do you want me to get him away from there?” Baby D, who hadn’t been a baby in many years, asked the one who stood next to him. “He remembers parts of his past life very clearly. We could reunite them now.”
“No.” Sofu shook his head and pulled his hood down further over his face. “This is not a mere reincarnation, but a new life brought forth by the fire of the Phoenix. Only the Phoenix will decide when they will meet again.“ He shook his head. “Will it make any difference if I tell you not to give your heart to a human? To many of our family have been hurt by them.”
“No, Sofu. I am afraid not. I learn from the past, as everyone does. I have learned it is futile to fight against something as willful as the heart.” He looked back at the mirror where Leon was laying next to an older, teen-aged boy. “He has no dreams anymore, not with the foreign chemicals in his body. Nii-san will be unhappy if Leon is injured or kill before they are able to meet again. The chemicals may permanently damage him.”
“Your brother isn’t even aware yet that Leon has been reborn. If Leon dies again there will be no harm. If he survives, then perhaps he is strong enough to stay with your nii-san. In time, perhaps a few years, I will ask the Phoenix to let your nii-san know where Leon is.” Sofu turned away from the mirror and left Baby D alone.
He didn’t agree with Sofu. In fact, he didn’t agree with Sofu on many issues, but on this most of all. He didn’t like seeing Leon’s body so tampered with or the bodies of all the other innocent human children. ‘Nii-san is right. Humans are just as important as any other animals and should be protected. Especially Leon, he made nii-san so happy.’ Still, Baby D did nothing. He was not fool enough to go against the wishes of his Sofu, no matter what he felt was right or wrong.
To be continued...
For some reason Reginald Barkley is my favorite Star Trek character. I don't know why, he just is. Therefore, he will have a rather big part.
HOW LONG LOVE?
Chapter 4: Deirdre
Reggie-
It was very late that night when Reggie woke up and he blinked up at the ceiling. He waited, patiently, for the now familiar sensation of fuzziness to wear off and he could see and think clearly. The smell of antiseptics was heavy in the air and Reggie knew he was in the institute’s infirmary.
"Time to get up, Reg."
Reggie kept his face as still as possible. It would be far better to just stay asleep, even though he knew it would be impossible. Miss Forth was never fooled, and she never gave up when it was time to do her job. Just once, Reggie wished they'd let him sleep until he felt like getting up. 'Never happen.'
"Come on, dear," Reggie hated it when she called him, dear. "You know you can't stay like that forever and all the monitors are telling me that you're wide awake. Open your eyes like a good boy."
Good boy? He was fifteen, not six! Reggie didn't honestly believe that she thought she was being kind to him. 'No, she must be irritating me on purpose.' Yet Reggie really didn't feel all that irritated. He felt drained. It wasn't an unfamiliar feeling. Stubbornly, Reggie didn't open his eyes, but he was defeated when something cold was pressed to his lips.
"Aren't you thirsty? Just a bit?" Cold water trickled over Reggie's lips and ran down the sides of his cheeks. Reggie couldn't resist and parted his lips, letting the water run into his parched mouth. It really wasn't fair. They knew the medication they had him on made him thirsty all the time, so it was the best way to make him wake up. "There now." Miss Forth said, a touch smug as the glass of water was taken away and Reggie was left wanting.
She always did that!
"More." Reggie muttered, forcing his eyes to open. She wouldn't be satisfied until he was fully awake, now. “Please, more.” His mouth was dry as a desert and it was almost painful.
"Just as soon as you're sitting up and alert." She gave him a smug smile when Reggie's eyes focused on her. "I don't know why you always pretend to be asleep. You know it’s not going to work."
Reggie didn't answer, but struggled to sit up, despite the terrible lethargy that slowed his whole body down. His head spun for a minute and his stomach churned, but everything settled down after a moment, except for his pounding headache.
The infirmary was, as usual, mostly empty. It was sparkling white, polished over and over again. There were paintings on the walls, soft colors and soothing images along with gentle music playing softly in the background. Reggie hated the place. Not that he'd ever say so much. As much as Reggie resented the way he was treated, he knew he was fortunate to have a home and that there was nothing he could do about his situation. Mr. Goti was supported by the Federation, so everything was legal, though Reggie wasn't sure exactly why. If he tried to run away, they'd just send him back and no one would care if he told them what was being done to the kids at Mr. Goti's children's home. The children’s home was also known as the institute, a far more grim name.
Reggie looked around while Miss Forth got her things ready. It was only routine.
“Why’s Leon here?” Reggie asked, worried when he saw Leon’s face peeking over the edge of a blanket. Sleeping, as he was, Leon looked even younger than he had before. He looked more vulnerable and Reggie had the strange, impulsive urge to protect Leon.
“Basically for the same reason you are. It‘s not really your business, now is it?” Miss Forth didn’t look up from her computer pad and kept typing on it. “Let’s get started, shall we? How do you feel?”
It wasn’t just a polite question and Reggie answered as clearly as he could. “My head hurts terribly. My stomach feels very queasy and I have a tingling feeling shooting down my arms, into my hands. I feel very tired, I just want to sleep.” In fact, Reggie probably could have told her more, but every time he tried to think his head started pounding more.
“Good. Good. Now, how’s your sight? Can you see all right?”
“Yes. It’s fine, but the lights are too bright and make my head hurt.” Yes, that would be much better if they’d just turn the lights out and let Reggie go back to sleep.
“Fine. Now,” Of course Miss Forth didn’t turn the lights off for him or even dim them a bit. “We’ll just take a few readings and I’ll let you be.” She only took a moment to run a tricorder over Reggie, pausing a bit over his head and heart, before she stood and left. “Oh, your regular meds are on the table next to you. You know how to use the hypospray.”
Then Reggie was left alone with only Leon sleeping in the next bed as company. Well, if he wanted something, he was going to have to get it for himself. With a painfully aching body, Reggie slowly sat up. Again, his stomach rolled, but Reggie’s thirst was more demanding than his sore muscles and he reached for the glass of water Miss Forth had tempted him awake with. Fortunately, she’d left it on the bedside table, just in reach. Well, almost in reach. Reggie stretched for the glass, but just as his fingers brushed the cold surface, his head seemed to fill with air and the world spun. His ears felt like they were filled with water and Reggie fell. It seemed like he fell for a long time, but when everything cleared, he was only on the floor and his knees aching.
“Reg?” For a minute, Reggie thought it was Miss Forth again, but the hand that landed on his shoulder was too soft for that. “Reg, get up. You dropped the glass.”
Indeed, when Reggie looked down at the floor, he found out why his hands hurt. He had dropped the glass and , when he’d fallen, he’d cut his hands on the glass. Reggie raised one hand to look at it and he found the sight of his bleeding palms strangely entrancing. On the floor, Reggie’s blood was mixed with the water and turning it pink. “Wha...?” It hurt, but only distantly.
“Reggie? Did they give you something new, again?”
When Reggie finally looked up, he smiled. “Hi, Deirdre.” She was the prettiest girl Reggie had ever met and he was glad to see her, especially after he’d embarrassed her so much. “Ummm...sorry about...you know...”
“Oh, please,” Deirdre rolled her eyes and took Reggie’s arm to help him stand. “Not like it’s the first time I’ve been goosed me. Here, let me.” She looked carefully at his hands and began to painstakingly pick out shards of glass, not at all worried about that blood that was staining her own fingers.
Reggie blushed, but was glad that blood was returning to his head, at least. He didn’t deserve to even be touched by someone like Deirdre and there she was, so compassionately trying to help him. Reggie wanted to crawl away, somewhere that she didn’t have to look at him. She shouldn’t be forced to look at someone like him. Reggie hoped his hands weren’t shaking too much.
“Just a quick run over with this this and...” Deirdre didn’t bother to finish her sentence when she passed one of the medical machines over Reggie’s hands and they healed almost instantly. It wasn’t hard to get a hold of, especially for Deirdre who was so talented with such things. She would be a great doctor, one day. Finally finished, Deirdre wiped her fingers on her trousers and smiled at Reggie. “There, all done. You could have done it yourself, but I don‘t think you would have. Did Lady Doubleface make you take your meds?”
When Deirdre helped him to sit back on the bed, Reggie buried his face in his hands. He felt sick again. Deirdre was one of the only people who was ever really kind to him and he’d gone and done something so unthinkable. He really was worthless.
“Hey, you still there?” Deirdre shook his arm a bit. “You look kinda out of it. I‘m guessing that‘s a no. You didn‘t take your meds, did you? Not even the regular ones?” She really was beautiful. Her hair was very long and dark as chocolate. Her eyes were the same color as her hair and the combination made her skin so pale. “Still seeing pink elephants, huh?”
“Nope, just...I...no. I didn‘t take them yet. I will.” Why should he bother? Was he really worth the trouble of making medication for? Surely, it would be easier on everyone if he just died. The medication would make it easier for him to keep focused and do what he knew he should do. Therefore, Reggie would avoid taking the little hypospray. Someone else would need it more than he did. “Why are you here?” Everything was starting to get clearer and Reggie’s headache was fading quickly. “You get sick, too?”
Deirdre laughed, bitterly and hopped up to sit on the bed, next to Reggie. “Isn’t that a hoot? How hypocritical can you get? Sick?” She shook her head, making her dark hair wave around her perfect face. For a moment, Reggie was sure that he was dreaming. “But, to your question, no. I’m not SICK. I took my meds like a good little girl. Classes just got out, so I thought I’d come and see if you needed some company. Lady Doubleface isn’t much fun to talk to.”
“Miss Forth didn’t...didn’t do much...talking.” Reggie hated it when he couldn’t talk straight, especially around Deirdre. Reggie really admired Deirdre. She was brave enough to say exactly what she thought, even about the feared Miss Forth. Lady Doubleface. Reggie liked that. It suited Miss Forth so well. Reggie wished he was as brave as Deirdre.
“Yeah, yeah.” Deirdre waved her hand, negligently. “Just took her readings and that cold fish smile, huh? Damn. Mind altering drugs used to be illegal, you know. A long time ago Mr. Goti would have been hunted down for doing this to us. Now we’re just ignored.” Deirdre was angry and Reggie knew just by how still her face got and the far away look in her eyes. She was thinking about something very important. “I wonder. Do you think the Federation really knows what Mr. Goti’s doing here?“
“Of course they do.” Reggie said. How could they not? They were supporting Mr. Goti’s research. That’s what Mr. Goti always told everyone, anyway.
“How do we know, though?” Deirdre still didn’t look at Reggie, but kept her eyes focused on what she saw. “We don’t know anything, do we? We aren’t allowed outside communication. We aren’t allowed to even go for a walk unsupervised. Never allowed to talk to anyone. The only thing we do is lessons and pills. I think we all spend half our lives drugged out of our minds. We still have plenty of time for learning, though. I wonder why?” Reggie rarely ever saw Deirdre so serious and tried to think along the lines her mind was traveling, but he couldn’t see what she was seeing. Obviously, Deirdre was suspicious of something., but Reggie wasn’t sure what, exactly. Deirdre blinked and seemed to return to herself. Her eyes lit up and she pressed a finger to her lips before saying, “I’ve brought you a present. Something to keep you from getting to bored till they let you out.” From seemingly out of nowhere, Deirdre presented a small, handheld computer, no doubt loaded with games.
Reggie managed a watery smile and wondered if he should kill himself after she left. Leon might wake up and he wouldn’t want to upset Leon. No, Reggie wasn’t worth upsetting anyone. He’d be better off waiting and Deirdre was so kind just to think of him. She’d come all this way to bring him something and that could get her in trouble with Mr. Goti. She shouldn’t take such risks for him, he wasn’t worth it.
“Thanks.” Reggie managed to say. She was really too nice. They weren’t allowed these little computers except in class.
“It’s not for playing with, yet.” Deirdre said, strictly. “You can have it only if you do me a favor.” She leaned in closer, until her head nearly rested on his shoulder and Reggie felt as if he might faint. “It’s a big favor and it’s a secret.”
Reggie swallowed hard, fighting passed the lump in his throat. “Y-yes?”
“You’re so good with computers. I want you to rig that thing.”
“Rig?”
“We both know Lady Doubleface and her little team of trained gorillas have fixed every computer around this place so we can’t communicate with the outside world. This is just a game toy, so they haven’t touched it. I want you to make that into a communicator.”
Reggie was shocked by the request. It was entirely against every rule and if anyone found out that Reggie had done something like that... he didn’t even want to think of the punishment. “But...but what about...”
“Don’t think about the rules, Reggie. This is important. Tell me what you need and I’ll get it. Anything can be bought, even here.” She gave him a half-smile. “One good thing about having all our time in class is that you learn an awful lot. I’ll bet you’re better than the instructor when it comes to fiddling with these little computer things, huh? You can do it, Reggie. I need you to do it before they hook you up on another experimental drug, though. I don’t want this botched. Will you do it?”
For anyone else, Reggie would have refused. He didn’t deserve the faith Deirdre had in him. Still, looking into her intense, dark eyes, Reggie nodded. He’d have done anything for her at that moment.
Deirdre smiled and Reggie felt as if he had seen heaven. “Thanks, Reg.”
“Uh, Deirdre?”
“Yes?”
“Would you...er...mind? I’d like you to call me Reggie.” It wasn’t so much that he liked being called Reggie, but he hated it when Miss Forth called him Reggie and it seemed unnatural to hear such an ugly name coming from Deirdre’s lips. Those lovely lips...
“Ha, ha.” Deirdre laughed, but nodded. “Sure. Why not?” They sat together for a short while until Reggie noticed she was staring at him and didn’t seem to want to leave. Reggie began to fiddle with the little computer Deirdre had given him and wondered what he was doing to make her just stare at him. Finally, Deirdre threw an arm over Reggie’s shoulder and pulled him in so close that their noses nearly touched. “Reggie,”
“Y-yes?”
“Lady Doubleface left meds for you.” Something cold and sharp pressed into Reggie’s neck and he gasped at the sting of the hypospray. “Don’t act like a baby.” Deirdre said, coolly. “Left on your own, you wouldn’t take it and we all know it. Lady Doubleface isn’t smart enough to give it to you, so I have to do it. At least these meds keep you a bit normal. Normal enough to get through classes, anyway.” She shook her head and jumped up, bouncing away from the bed as if she hadn’t a care in the world. “Tell me if you like the games on that thing, Reggie. Just don’t talk to me if they give you those damned orange pills again, huh? Those things turn you into a read bastard. Oh, yeah. Don’t step on that glass, will ya? You aren‘t wearing any shoes.”
Reggie sat alone in the infirmary, simply happy because Deirdre wasn’t going to call him Reg anymore. Happy. It wasn’t often that he was happy...oh, yes. The medication. That was why. He was happy because of the medication. There was a certain speech everyone was given when they came to this place.
“Never try to go without your prescribed medication.” Mr. Goti would tell everyone. “You’re taking it for a reason and you would get very sick without it.” It was left at that and no one ever got to see what exactly ‘very sick’ was.
Leon’s dream-
The halls was dark enough that Leon could see nothing but D’s ornate kimono as D walked in front of him, down the long hallway. He just couldn’t understand why D would want to go looking at flowers at night, anyway. Leon felt that, somehow, he should be more angry that D had called him so late at night to look at flowers. Leon wasn’t angry, though, or even really upset. He hadn’t minded the phone call or hearing D’s soft voice in the middle of the night, asking him to hurry over to the petshop.
In truth, Leon had practically forgotten the beautiful kimono D’s grandpa had sent him weeks ago until D had opened the door of one of the many, many rooms in the long hallways of the petshop. The room was very simple with a large platform, the size of a bed larger than the one in Leon’s apartment, and the sakura decorated kimono hanging on a large wooden pole with two round lanterns on either side, illuminating it.
“Huh.” Leon said, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he moved to stand in front of the kimono. It looked...different. When D had first pulled it out of the box, the kimono had been beautiful, filled with pink blossoms and unopened buds. “That’s the kimono isn’t it? This is what you wanted me to look at?” Leon looked at D, but still couldn’t see D’s face. It was always hidden in shadows. D handed Leon a small cup filled with a clear liquid.
“Now, now have a drink.”
“Sake? Now you’re talking, count!” Leon liked sake a lot more than he liked even beer, but he only got it on special occasions at D’s. “Hey, count, did you add something to that kimono? It looks different than the last time I saw it.” Even as he said it, Leon took a small sip of the sake, the way D had told him to when Leon had started drinking it. “Like there’s more flowers or something.” Leon was sure that when he and D had opened the package from Japan the kimono had more unopened buds on it. Now, all the flowers were in full bloom and some were even falling. The color of the flowers was the most perfect color of pink Leon had ever seen.
“Quiet, Leon. Just watch.” D’s voice seemed to vibrate in Leon’s head and at that moment Leon couldn’t have taken his eyes away from the kimono if he tried.
A soft sound floated through the air, seeming to come from all around and no where at all. It was a heart wrenching sound and made Leon’s eyes sting with unshed tears. Just that first, single note. A breeze that couldn’t be blew through the dark room, making the kimono flutter softly and as it did, several of the pink sakura blossoms fell gently from the kimono to land on the floor. ‘What the Hell?’
Another note of pure magic hit Leon’s ears, but this time he knew it was coming from behind him. Leon turned to see where the strange music was coming from but wasn’t at all reassured by what he saw. they were ghosts, Leon was sure of that. No one like them could really exist. A quartet of musicians sat on the floor, though Leon had been sure that he and D were the only ones in the room just seconds ago. They were beautiful, though it was hard to tell if they were men or women. Flutes, pipes, drums, and some kind of stringed instrument all made up the haunting, unearthly music that seemed to fill Leon’s mind and body with beauty and grief.
‘When did I step into a Zepplin album?’ Leon tried to keep his thoughts in order, but it wasn’t easy. The room around them had vanished and Leon was all to aware of a thick mist surrounding them.
D was right next to Leon the whole time, that much, Leon was sure of. “The best time to watch the cherry blossoms, detective, is when they are falling.”
So Leon turned from the eerie musicians and looked back to where the kimono should have been. In the kimono’s place was a tree. It was alive and Leon had the terrible feeling that the tree was sad. It looked very sad as the wind rippled though its boughs and caused the beautiful flowers to fall. Leon took a step towards the tree and realized he was standing in water. Looking down, Leon was puzzled. ‘Huh? The water’s red. Wait...is it water or...?’
“Yes, detective. Red is the color of blood. But it’s also the color of cherries. It’s fitting that cherries are the same color as human blood. After all, cherry blossoms are so enchanting that it’s said that they can drive one mad.”
Mad? Was Leon going mad? He felt like he was going mad. The world was engulfed in mist and music, D vanished leaving only his voice behind, and Leon felt like he was falling into darkness. Then, he woke up.
End dream-
When Leon woke up the first thing he saw was Reggie sitting on the edge of a bed just next to him. ‘He still looks like a daddy-long-legs-spider.’ Leon thought. Too much arms and legs, that was Reggie’s problem. His big, bulging eyes didn’t help, either.
“Oh, you‘re awake." Reggie said when he noticed Leon looking at him. “Miss Forth will be in soon to talk to you. Your life signs are being monitored, so she’ll know you’re awake. How do you feel?”
“Sick.” Leon put a hand to his stomach and waited until it settled. The image of the falling sakura blossoms was still fresh in his mind and the word ‘blood’ kept echoing in his memory.
“I’m not surprised. They’ll have to give you different meds until they find one that doesn’t make you sick. It shouldn’t take long.” Reggie gingerly stood up and went to sit next to Leon. “We’ll go back to our room when Miss Forth says we can. ‘Till then, I guess you should just try to sleep, if you can. They’ll have you going to classes soon enough.”
“Reggie, I wanna go outside.” It was very important that Leon go outside. He wanted fresh air and to see the crow. He’d have to ask her name. No. That wasn’t right. Crows didn’t talk, did they? It was all a dream.
“It’s the middle of the night.” Reggie told Leon. “They won’t let us out until morning. Sorry.”
Leon felt a dark, twisting feeling in his stomach. “But I have to go out! I have to talk to her.”
“Her who?” Reggie asked with a frown.
“Her!” Leon stopped himself from saying more. Reggie was like everyone else, he’d never understand. Understand what? Her? Leon scowled. He knew there was someone he wanted to talk to. Someone who’d promised to protect him. Was it just a dream? “My heart feels funny and everything looks funny. It all looks gray, like the colors been washed out.” Hadn’t colors been brighter just before...before what? He turned to look at Reggie and even Reggie looked strangely faded. Beyond Reggie, there was a window that looked out at the dark night, lit by a light just outside the window. Leon winced as his heart seemed to beat faster and faster. Leon put his hand up to his throat, feeling his pulse beating like a drum. "What's wrong with me? I don't want anymore of those pills." Leon felt like he might cry and kept his eyes on the window. A black shape landed on the windowsill and Leon recognized it as a crow. He’d seen pictures of crows on computer programs and in books, but he’d never seen one in life, not like this. Crows, and all animals, had always looked like people to Leon. This was a bird and Leon was seeing it just like everyone else saw them. Looking at its dark, bead-like eyes, Leon thought the crow looked angry.
"Do you want me to find an adult?" Reggie asked, concerned.
"Uh-un." Leon shook his head. "I just wanna go to sleep.” But Leon was suddenly afraid that if he went to sleep he wouldn’t wake up. “The tree was sad, I think it was dying. Maybe I’m dying, too. I don't know because it might have been a dream. I haven't dreamed at all since I had to take those pills. Isn't that weird? Except about the cherry tree. I've never gone so long without a dream." Leon's hand suddenly shot out, away from his throat, and snatched Reggie's sleeve. "I'm scared. What if I don't dream again?"
Reggie looked uncomfortable with Leon’s sudden panic, but tried to comfort him. “You dreamed about D, right?”
Leon’s eyes opened very wide. ‘How does he know?’
Reggie smiled shyly at Leon’s expression. “You talk in your sleep, you know. You kept talking to someone called D. Is that a friend?”
Leon pulled the blanket that had been laid over him up closer to his chin and his hands bunched around it tightly. He’d never spoken to anyone about D or about any of his dreams involving D. They were...private. Leon just didn’t want anyone else knowing about D. It was as if something precious was defiled just that Reggie knew about D. “Sort of.” Leon answered. He knew D was just apart of his dreams, but D was a special part of those dreams. Even though Leon never saw D’s face Leon had always felt like D was the closest person to him. “It doesn’t matter. I just don‘t want those pills anymore.”
“You don’t have much of a choice.” Reggie went to one of the computers on the walls and began typing on the surface, making the screen flash so quickly that Leon had no idea what Reggie was doing. He spoke while he tapped at the computer. “You’re here for a reason, just like the rest of us and Mr. Goti’s going to try to ‘fix’ you. He’ll have you in for a chat soon and tell you the same thing he tells the rest of us. Whatever medication he gives you will stop whatever it is that put you here.”
“I’m here because I kept running away and getting into fights at the other places.” Leon told Reggie stubbornly. There was nothing wrong with him!
“Sure.” Reggie stopped his typing abruptly and put his hands on his lap. “I have a bad feeling. Something is going to happen. You shouldn’t worry about dreams when there’s so much in reality to worry about.” It was such a serious warning that Leon stared at Reggie’s still face, not sure that it was still the nervous boy he’d met only a few hours earlier. Then Reggie put a hand to the back of his neck, embarrassed. “Listen to me go on. Just lay down and rest, Leon. Miss Forth will come back soon and she‘ll probably have your new meds already.”
“What are you doing?” Leon asked when Reggie went back to his rapid work on the computer. He desperately wanted to change the subject away from whatever Reggie heard Leon saying about D and this ‘something’ Reggie said was going to happen.
“Oh, just homework. We don’t get a vacation here, not even when we come off bad meds. We can‘t leave until Miss Forth lets us.” Whatever Reggie’s homework was, he must have been very good at it, he barely seemed to be thinking as he zipped though the computer terminal. “You can do your schoolwork on any of the computers in the institute; you’ll be assigned an ID number before you start classes and you just enter that into the computer.
So Leon went back to looking out the window at the crow and tried very hard to get his heart to slow down. It wasn’t working well and the crow seemed to be getting more and more upset. “Reggie?”
“Yeah?”
“What kind of bad thing’s going to happen?”
Reggie didn’t stop his work at the computer. “I don’t know. But it’s going to happen. soon. It‘s just a feeling.”
A few weeks after starting regular classes at the institute and Leon was starting to fall into a regular routine. He got used to the world being dull and gray and he got used to the medication Mr. Goti started him on. It wasn’t pills this time, but a little slip of sticky paper Leon had to stick onto his stomach every morning. If he was caught without it, Leon would get into terrible trouble and be kept in an isolation room for hours. Leon became convinced that all his dreams were just that...dreams. They were nothing.
Despite what Reggie had told Leon about the meds everyone in the institute was taking, Leon knew he was better off with them. He didn’t spend his whole day dreaming as he used to and it was much easier to get through life. Leon began to think of the future and what he might do with his life, as he struggled though his classes. On the other hand, Reggie breezed though lessons easily and ended up tutoring Leon. Poor Reggie had a lot more problems with his meds than anyone else and spent half his time going through weird side-affects. In retrospect, it was a good thing Reggie was so smart or he’d have never passed his classes.
Only about two weeks after Leon had arrived at the institute, the entire institute was called to a meeting by Mr. Goti. It was like a small school assembly. There weren’t very many children in this institute, perhaps a hundred, and everyone stood at attention, waiting for Mr. Goti to begin speaking. Mr. Goti, standing at the front of the room on a raised stage, looked over the students with his normal, gentle eyes.
“What’s this about?” Leon whispered to Reggie. Since he’d arrived here, Leon had become fast friends with Reggie, though they were entirely different.
“Shush.” Reggie whispered back, his mouth barely moving.
“It has come to my attention,” Mr. Goti began. “That one of our own has tried to contact the outside without permission or supervision. I am extremely disappointing. Our purpose here is to ensure you children get the necessary treatments that will help you get through life. Without the treatment you receive here most of you would be able to go no further in life than scrubbing floors. You, the unwanted and discarded children of Earth, need us. The rule about no communication is very important, especially for those of you who are sadly influenced by negative outside forces. By the time you’ve become adults, you will all be able to see the world how it should be and resist influences that might harm you. The only reason one of you would try to communicate with the outside is that you are unhappy here. I don’t want any of you to be unhappy.” He turned to the side and raised his voice slightly. “Bring her out.”
It was Deirdre who was led out from another room, looking angry and determined. Beside Leon, Reggie gasped and turned pale.
Mr. Goti continued when Deirdre had been brought to stand between himself and the rest of the children. “Deirdre Addams, I am very disappointed in what you’ve done. I don’t think you recognize the seriousness of what you’ve done. Any interruption from the outside could inhibit our process of making the medication that keeps you and all your little friends healthy. You’ve brought us to the attention of an outsider and that might cause trouble.”
“Good.” Deirdre said, lifting her chin proudly to talk to Mr. Goti. “I hope I’ve caused you a lifetime of trouble. You really think you can keep going on like this. Ten years is a long time, you should be...”
“I didn’t give you permission to speak, young lady. Remain silent.” Mr. Goti’s friendly smile never changed. “Your actions have endangered everyone here and has threatened the lives of every student at this institute.”
“Don’t you mean I’ve endangered your life?” Deirdre smirked. “When the Federation finds out what you’ve done here you’ll get roasted over a fire.” Her tone was bitter and Leon guessed that her eyes were just as fiery. He knew that Deirdre and Reggie were friends, despite the first time Leon had seen them together. “You’ve given us all a great education here, didn’t you think we’d use it? I’m not so stupid as to think the Federation would endorse you using children as your test subjects.” At that last, she raised her voice and turned slightly to look at the rest of the student body. “All of us are nothing more than human lab rats he uses before he gives his new medications over to the Federation and gets all the glory. Institute my ass!” At that, Miss Forth had grabbed Deirdre’s arm and twisted it hard until Deirdre hit her knees with a cry of pain. “Your using poor Reggie as a first round test subject. You don’t do any trial tests before you start pumping drugs into him! Stimulators and depressants, you don’t even care what happens to him!”
“I’ve studied your records, Miss Addams.” Mr. Goti said. “You couldn’t have made that communication device by yourself. Who helped you?”
“No one.” Deirdre said from between clenched teeth. “I did it on my own. You think I’d trust any of these sheep to help me?”
Leon noticed that Reggie’s hand clenched into a fist so tight that his hand started to bleed. “Reggie?” Leon wasn’t at all sure what Deirdre was talking about, but he did know it was bad. Test subjects? Drugs? Just when Leon was starting to feel comfortable here, it stopped feeling like a school and was feeling more like a prison. Leon longed from his comfortable dreams, but none came and the world was still gray.
Mr. Goti shook his head. “I can see asking isn’t going to work.” He turned again to the assembled students. “Deirdre Addams is going to be put off her medications entirely for three days as punishment for her transgression. Should anyone be caught trying to sneak medications her to, they will receive the same punishment. To prevent her from hurting herself, Miss Addams will be kept in an isolation room, strapped down. I advise you all to take note of what happens when someone tries to act against the well-being of this institute. Don’t make the same mistake Miss Addams did.”
Two orderlies, big, burly men, took Deirdre by the arms and began to pull her away to another door, which Leon assumed was the isolation room. Deirdre screamed, “I’m not afraid of you, bastard! I’ll last out these three days if it kills me!”
Mr. Goti didn’t react to her words and kept smiling like a benign old uncle. “The rest of you should return to your rooms and get plenty of sleep tonight. You’ve got classes in the morning, I hope you all do well.”
“STOP!” It was Reggie who yelled out and burst away from Leon. Reggie charged to the front of the gathering, pushing passed the other students until he was at the front and just a few steps away from Deirdre who watched him with horrified eyes.
“Reggie, don’t...”
“Deirdre didn’t do anything!” Reggie ignored Deirdre for the first time since Leon had known them. He felt helpless to help his friend, like he was watching someone die. “I made the communicator for her, it was my idea!”
Mr. Goti just nodded. “Yes, I thought so much.” He nodded and two more orderlies appeared, taking Reggie by the arms. “I’m sorry to hear that, Reginald. You have such a bright future ahead of you, if we can find the right medication for you. One day, I have hope that you’ll be a credit to our institute, but, for now, I’m afraid I’ll have to have you punished. Put him in with Miss Addams.”
Deirdre shouted, “Reggie, you idiot!”
Reggie didn’t reply, but let himself be led away peacefully while Deirdre screamed and fought with her captors.
Three days passed very quietly and Leon found himself missing Reggie’s shy chatter and his erratic behavior when he was taking one of the many medications Mr. Goti fed him. Leon didn’t watch the broadcast of Reggie and Deirdre’s punishment. In those three days, Leon began talking to the crow that seemed to be continuously at his windowsill. He was fond of her and had even come to name her Jill. Leon wasn’t sure why, but he liked the name.
The door of their room slid open and Leon looked away from Jill to see Reggie standing in the doorway. He didn’t look good and didn’t even look at Leon before he staggered to his bed and fell face-down on it.
“Reggie!” Leon left the window and ran to Reggie’s side, falling down on his knees beside Reggie’s bed. “What...” Leon stopped when he got a good look at Reggie’s face. He was very pale, almost deathly pale, and his eyes were sunken and had black circles around them. Reggie looked half bald, so much of his hair had fallen out. Skinny before, Reggie was skeletal now.
“Sleep.” Reggie whispered, closing his eyes. “Just...want...” He began to shake and pulled his arms and legs in close until he was in the fetal position. “I had a cat once, Leon. She was beautiful. I remember...playing with her in my mother’s garden. Always thought, when I was little, I wanted to be a hero and rescue the lady in distress. Pretended my cat was the lady in distress. Silly. I can’t even rescue a real lady.”
Leon bit his lip when he saw tears shining at the corners of Reggie’s closed eyes. ‘What happened? What did Mr. Goti do to them?’ Leon’s voice felt strained when he asked, “Where’s Deirdre?”
Reggie’s arms just tightened around himself and began to sob, hiding his face in his arms. Leon, not knowing what else to do, crawled up onto the bed with Reggie and curled up next to him. “Don’t worry, Reggie. I’ll stay with you.” They slept like that several nights in a row, but Reggie never told anyone what happened to Deirdre and he never tried to make another communicator.
Deirdre was never seen again.
Life went on and no one ever dared to try and contact the outside world as rumor about what had happened to Deirdre began to circulate. No one knew the truth except Reggie and he never said a word about it.
Baby D-
The Earth was a place of great magic and wonder, but it was at times like these that Baby D, also known as Count D, wondered what made the human species think they were so much more important than everyone else. He sat in his petshop and conducted business, just as every one of his predecessors had for uncountable years, though at the moment he wasn’t conducting any business. Instead, he was watching a mirror that showed him the events of Leon’s life. It was strange. Baby D had carefully listened to the reports the animals had given him on the whereabouts and health of the newly reincarnated Leon, but he had refused to interfere in Leon’s life in anyway.
The fact that Leon seemed to remember bits and pieces of his past life with D and little Chris Orcot was odd, to say the least. In fact, Baby D had heard of no other cases like this when it came to humans. Leon dreamed of his passed reality and it invaded his present reality, though Leon seemed to deal with it well until malicious chemicals were introduced into his system.
“Do you want me to get him away from there?” Baby D, who hadn’t been a baby in many years, asked the one who stood next to him. “He remembers parts of his past life very clearly. We could reunite them now.”
“No.” Sofu shook his head and pulled his hood down further over his face. “This is not a mere reincarnation, but a new life brought forth by the fire of the Phoenix. Only the Phoenix will decide when they will meet again.“ He shook his head. “Will it make any difference if I tell you not to give your heart to a human? To many of our family have been hurt by them.”
“No, Sofu. I am afraid not. I learn from the past, as everyone does. I have learned it is futile to fight against something as willful as the heart.” He looked back at the mirror where Leon was laying next to an older, teen-aged boy. “He has no dreams anymore, not with the foreign chemicals in his body. Nii-san will be unhappy if Leon is injured or kill before they are able to meet again. The chemicals may permanently damage him.”
“Your brother isn’t even aware yet that Leon has been reborn. If Leon dies again there will be no harm. If he survives, then perhaps he is strong enough to stay with your nii-san. In time, perhaps a few years, I will ask the Phoenix to let your nii-san know where Leon is.” Sofu turned away from the mirror and left Baby D alone.
He didn’t agree with Sofu. In fact, he didn’t agree with Sofu on many issues, but on this most of all. He didn’t like seeing Leon’s body so tampered with or the bodies of all the other innocent human children. ‘Nii-san is right. Humans are just as important as any other animals and should be protected. Especially Leon, he made nii-san so happy.’ Still, Baby D did nothing. He was not fool enough to go against the wishes of his Sofu, no matter what he felt was right or wrong.
To be continued...