My brother, Roxas, stirred me from my sleep in a rush. His face flushed with a fever as if he ran a hundred metres in one breath.
"Hurry, get up, Danella!" he shouted in my ear when my eyes started to droop, drawing me free from my waking dream.
"Wh...What is it?" I droned heavily as I ran my hand through my tussled blond curls. They always managed to get ruffled beyond combing every night, no matter where I slept or what products I used.
"Danny, it's...it's our parents," that knocked me from my drowsy state.
"What? What about them?" I said as I clutched at my brother's shirt, dragging him forward to better catch the stare of his cerulean eyes. I was always able to tell if people were lying by their eyes, especially my own brother. I needed to know if he was lying from what he said next, "They're dead, Danny. The Heartless...took them from us."
He smothered me in a comforting hug, my chest feeling like it had just had its innards yanked out and skipped rope with before putting them back. I felt sick. Palms sweating; face pale; I bet I was the picture of a ghost as I lay limp in Roxas' arms. And it was not over.
"We have to go," Roxas pulled back, levelling me with his burning gaze, waking me from my stupor, "the Heartless - they're on their way!"
Without letting me speak – let alone think - I was yanked from my bed as I heard the shattering sound of glass breaking down stairs. The thud of the mahogany door being kicked in. And the sound that would haunt my dreams from that day forward...the shushing movements of the Heartless as they flooded our house. Black claws of Shadows were already visible under the frame of my bedroom door.
"Shit!" I heard my brother curse under his breath as he pulled us away from the door. He looked around franticly and I watched with wide eyes as his eyes landed on my window. We were on the second floor, the top floor, of our house and he was planning to go out the window! My brother was-
"If you want to live, I suggest you follow me!" and he yanked me up and out the window. His foot caught the angle of the roofing tile wrong, and my stomach lurched as we slipped down and off the roof of our brittle home. The Heartless finally broke the door down.
My hip collided with the dirt road as we hit the ground. The jar of the impact wracking my ribcage, and the pain clenching my jaw shut as my arm numbed. I was lying on it, and the joint of my arm was bent out of place. It didn't take long for the feeling to return, and I wish it had not as I cried out in agony, a bitter taste staining my tongue. Roxas didn't ask what was wrong, nor did he seem bothered by his own wounds as he gathered his footing and pulled me back to my feet, cradling my broken arm as he lead the way into town.
"Here - sit down and be quite!" Roxas ordered me to do so as he sat me down behind a pile of crates set in an alleyway.
"What? Where are you going?" my voice broken as tears gathered at the corners of my eyes. Roxas' jaw was strung tight as he stared back into my eyes. I knew very well where he was going, I could read it all over his face.
"Someone has to draw those things away," he said, running his thumb over the tear on my cheek, rubbing it dry, "and I'm...I should be the one to do it."
I could see now that there had been no way to stop him, but back then, I had tried anyway, not wanting to lose my brother along with my parents.
"No, you can't! We-we-we can keep running!"
"They'll never stop."
"Then we'll fight back - together!"
"With that arm?" he jabbed a finger at my purpling elbow. I could not help but whimper as I was pushed back to the crates.
"No," Roxas said finally, "you can't come with me, Danny; you know I can take care of myself." His smile didn't brighten up his eyes as his true ones did. It was forced. Forced along with his confidence. But what could I have done? As he had pointed out, I was useless. All I could have done was make it worst for him, always getting in the way.
My throat dried up in sobs as I buried my face in my lap as I cradled my legs up to me. The brush of Roxas' fingers over my scalp opened the hole in my heart wider as I knew it would be the very last touch. My brother was leaving me. My brother had left me...and walked right into the group of Heartless before they could find out where I was hidden.
I slapped my hand over my mouth, silencing my screams, as I heard Roxas cry out in pain and frustration. Tears stung my eyes, overflowing sadness staining my cheeks, making my breathing run short as I rocked on my backside like a rocking chair. It didn't work this time, to settle me down, as my brother's cries came to an abrupt halt, and evil cackling – like the spitting of fire – filled the air around me. I took a chance and peered out from behind the crates, just in time to watch a small glimmer of luminous pink light being smothered by the Heartless, the glow of their yellow eyes remaining. Crimson tainted the water and road, blood running across the alley as my stomach lurched as I knew whose it was. Heartless, after all, did not bleed.
"Well done, my pets," the voice caught me off guard. There was man nearby? And the Heartless...he needed to be warned. I was just about to leap from the shelter of my hiding place, but another pair of eyes joined the Heartless gathered. They were more slanted then the Shadows' but just as bright and lifeless. "Are we still hungry for more?"
It was him. That creature was the one who spoke. But how could that be possible? Heartless don't think, let alone, talk. They're driven by instinct, by hunger, and that's it. But this one, besides the black complexion and yellow eyes, looked and sounded like a human. A human Heartless. A human Heartless...killed my family, and left me alone in this world.
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