Out of Darkness

“Brandon! Please help me get dressed. What should I wear to the concert?” she hissed while her parents fought downstairs. It was the day of the concert, and she was more than excited. There wasn’t a word for what she felt. Not so much from the idea of leaving the house and going to the concert, but a mixture of that, visiting her friends again, and being able to introduce her baby brother to one of his favorite bands. She had broken down and given them her brother’s cell phone number, since she still didn’t have her phone, and had gotten a text demanding that she call them when she arrived at the venue that night from three different members. Since their names weren’t programmed into the phone, she didn’t know who was texting. Only the messages her brother had read to her.

“Wear this shirt, it’s white with a black bow in the back and makes you look really cute. That, with your red hair, you look like a hardcore rocker babe anyway. Then put on these jeans I got for you. They are black jeans that will fit you really well, and have some tears and junk on them. You’ll look good, I promise. Oh! And I went out and got you some new glasses… I haven’t said anything, but these glasses you wear are like, stereotypically blind glasses and ugly as ass. These are some really cute shades for you. They’re like the sunglasses version of sexy librarian glasses.” He answered, handing her the cloths before she went to shower.

“Why do they have a chain on them?” she questioned.

“So if you get hit and the glasses fall, they won’t get lost. I know you think it’s nerdy, but it’s just a small chain and looks really cool. Trust me, sis, I’m not such a dickhead that I’d make you look like a dork for your first real concert. Not after what you’ve gone through these last few days.” He sighed. She giggled and went to shower, taking her sweet time as her parents continued to fight and yell. After a while she decided to get out and get dressed before walking out and into her room where Brandon was waiting.

“Okay. Where do you keep your bras? Because you sure as shit aren’t wearing that one.” He announced firmly.

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Black bra, white shirt… you remember what that looks like, right?” he asked awkwardly.

“Like a slut?”

“So where do you keep the bras?”

“Second drawer down.”

“Here,” he laughed and handed her a bra that wouldn’t show through the shirt. “I’m taking off, I’ll be back tonight to pick you up. Don’t worry about makeup and shit, I’ll make you up nice before we leave.”

“You know how to do makeup?”

“I’ve been practicing at Yumiko’s. She’s been teaching me how to do it so I can help you tonight.” He admitted.

“Aww! You’re such a sweetheart when you aren’t a dickface!” she cooed and sat on her bed while he left.

“Quit being a bitch.” He scoffed, “I’ll take the dog out before I go, but if I find it in my room again I’m gonna beat him.”

“Whatever.” She replied, rolling her eyes as he left her room.

When he returned that evening to pick her up, Achilles wasn’t in her window watching him, which wasn’t a good sign. He opened the front door to the sounds of argument, but instead of his mother yelling at his father, it was Tori screaming at him. He quickened his pace to the back room where the voices were coming from.

“WELL IF YOU WEREN’T FUCKING AROUND ON MOM, WE WOULD STILL BE A FAMILY! WHY DO YOU THINK I LEFT IN THE FIRST PLACE? THIS ISN’T A HOME ANYMORE; FOR ME IT’S A FUCKING PRISON!” she screamed as tears poured down her face. Her father was towering over her, completely intoxicated, shouting insults and spewing verbal abuse, and had been for two hours now. She stopped fighting back when she felt intense pain through the right side of her face, and fell to the ground.

Achilles started barking and jumping against the back door where he had been locked in the yard, trying to get to her but unable to protect her as her drunken father went to hit her again. Before he could reach her though, HE was the one on the ground and Brandon was swinging away mercilessly.

“Don’t you EVER fucking touch my sister again! Fuck you! You say you care about us but you haven’t been a father since you got busted fucking that slut! And now you fucking hit Tori!” he ranted, beating their father until his sister felt her way over to them and pulled him back a little.

“We’re leaving tonight, and I don’t know when we’ll be back. I don’t know IF we’ll be back!” he spat and helped Tori out to the car before opening the gate and letting Achilles dart across the lawn and into the back of his car.

“Are you okay?” he asked as she cried softly in the front seat beside him.

“Do I look okay?!” she demanded, taking her glasses off and looking in his direction. Her black eye had just faded enough to not be noticeable, but now was sure to swell worse than before. There was a small cut on her chin, as well.

Brandon sighed and turned the light on before pulling a small makeup case out of the glove box. “Hold still, I’m not very good at this.” He joked and started to apply the makeup to hold up his promise to make her look good for the show.

“So why are we here five hours early?” he half whined as they walked up to the doors where a few members of the security team were stationed. “Text the last number that was talking about the show tonight, and let him know I made it in once piece.” She instructed as they waited. He was irritated that they weren’t even at the right door to get into the show. This was the staff entrance, and there was a snowball’s chance in hell that they would get in.

“Well, he’s excited and says he will see you soon.” He muttered, closing the phone and eyeing her suspiciously as they waited. “Can Yumiko’s brother take care of Achilles?” she asked as they stood awkwardly.

“I’m sure he can. He loves big dogs.” He laughed, but nearly shit a brick when the door opened and Kaoru stepped out smiling.

“Tori-san! You look so much thinner from the last time I saw you! Have you eaten anything since Shinya drove you home?” he nearly demanded as he walked over to her and her star struck brother.

“Very little.” She answered honestly, “This is my brother, Brandon. Please forgive him… he’s a very big fan of you and your band.” She giggled, patting Brandon on the shoulder. Kaoru nodded and greeted him, receiving a stuttered reply before they were led into the venue to meet up with the rest of the band.

“She made it!” Shinya beamed as Kaoru brought them into the room, standing and offering her his seat, since they were one chair short now.

“You must be her brother. You look a lot alike.” Toshiya smiled.

Brandon only gave a nervous laugh as a reply.

“Is Kyo here? He’s always so quiet; I never know if he’s in the room or not until he moves.” She asked.

“He’s right behind you.” Die smirked, “Wait, I’m sorry to ask this… were you hit recently?”

“I… no. No, this is left over from the robbery attempt.” She lied.

“Impossible. This is nearly a month since then. The bruises would have faded by now.” Kaoru observed, “Is everything all right at home?”

“Yeah, fine.” She smiled.

“We just got into a fight earlier.” Brandon explained, snapping out of his star stricken daze to help his sister protect their family.

“Well, it is barely noticeable. I wouldn’t worry about people seeing the bruising.” He nodded but Brandon could see, and Tori could hear, that he wasn’t convinced.

As the time went on and he watched his sister chat and play around with his favorite band, he wanted to scream. He probably had the coolest big sister in the entire world, and she had gotten him backstage with his favorite band, just by texting the members from HIS phone! He didn’t say a whole lot though. He was very intimidated by Kaoru, and Kyo, and even though Shinya reminded him of his sister in a weird way, he was a little intimidated by him as well. Toshiya had gotten him to lighten up and join the fun a little, and Tori got him to play guitar with Die and show off his skills since he could actually PLAY, and she only knew a few chords ad one song.

“Why don’t you teach your sister?” Die questioned once his playing stopped.

“She can’t play; our parents would kill me. But I know she borrows my guitar when I’m not home. Achilles can’t put the guitar back on the stand; he leaves it beside my bed.” He smirked, looking at his sister as she shrunk down in her seat.

“I’m sorry.” She muttered.

“Why? Honestly right now, if it pisses off our parents, I say do whatever you want! Runaway and join a circus, party with celebrity rock bands, play guitar, hell, if you can find a teacher, I’ll GIVE you my drums.”

“Brandon, knock it off. You love those drums. You’re just saying that because you feel bad for me, and are trying to make up for all the shit you’ve done to me, because I got you backstage.” She retorted.

“Yeah, I am. Does it matter? It would still piss our parents off.” He shrugged and sat on the floor, leaning against her legs.

“I should kick you.”

“Don’t.” he ordered quickly.

“Why?” she asked curiously as Toshiya started chuckling beside her.

“Uhm, because I don’t want a face full of ass.” He explained seriously, since Kyo was standing directly in front of him a short ways away, and if she sent him falling forwards, he would surely end up face first against his backside.

“I never expected you and your brother to be like this. You seemed to fight with your family so much, saying how overprotective they are and how angry they make you. Yet you sit here laughing with him, and joking as if nothing was wrong.” Die pointed out once the laughter died down and they broke off into their own conversations.

“When it really matters, he’s always here for me and I will always be there for him. Our parents are going through a rough time in their marriage, and things have gotten difficult at home. Because of that, he’s come through for me when I really needed him.” She smiled; messing up his hair a little and making Die and Shinya smile in amusement.

“Don’t do that!” Brandon whined, pushing her hand away and pouting a little; he wanted to look cool in front of his favorite band, but she was kind of ruining it with the ‘little brother’ and ‘baby brother’ talk.

“Watching them is like watching Die and Shinya.” Kyo pointed out with a smirk as Tori continued to vex her baby brother, driving him insane until he got up and walked to the other side of the room to get away from her.

“Now that’s no fair! I can’t see where you went!” she pouted playfully.

“Yeah, good!” he retorted with a laugh.

“Opposite side of the room, behind the couch, left corner beside something big… maybe a shelf or desk with a mirror.” She announced proudly.

“How can you tell that?” Shinya asked, amazed that she could hear exactly where he was with all the noise in the room, and describe the desk and mirror that she had never seen before.

“I can hear it.” she shrugged happily. “I don’t have to hear to know that he’s trying to pout, but laughing too much though.” She added, smiling wide as she had while staying in his house.

“Hey, we need to get ready to go on stage. We only have a few minutes left.” Kaoru announced, “Do you want to be in the audience, or would you like to watch from backstage? We can put a chair or something there for you.” He asked Tori, “And we can get you front row if you would like.” He added to Brandon.

“I… want to stay with Tori.” He answered slowly, debating if he wanted front row to Dir En Grey, or to be able to watch over his sister.

“Let Brandon choose; I honestly don’t care either way. I can’t see you, no matter where you put me. Brandon is the one with eyes that work.” She nodded.

“We’ll watch backstage. I don’t want her getting hurt in the crowd or anything.” He answered as Shinya helped guide her to the door before he took over.

As they walked, Brandon remembered just how hard it was to guide her. He had hardly done it since he hit his teens. He hated acknowledging her disability like that, and being responsible for it. But in his inexperience, he let her trip over the steps, walked her into a doorway, and let her trip over some cables backstage and fall before Toshiya respectfully took over.

By the time they got to the stage, Kyo and Kaoru had already set up a small area for them to sit and watch the show. “There is a cooler with water inside it, if you get thirsty. It’s between the chairs.” Shinya smiled as Toshiya led her to sit the chair. “Thank you.” She nodded, feeling butterflies in her stomach for the first time in years; it had been a very long time since she was this excited for something.

“It’s time for us to go out.” Toshiya announced, still resting his hand on her shoulder as he stood beside her.

“Good luck!” she beamed, “Not that you need it, though. You were amazing when you played for me before; I’m sure in front of so many people, you will be even better!”

“Thank you, Tori-san.” Kaoru nodded and went out to his place on stage.

Through the entire show, Tori and her brother were speechless. There was no possible way to describe the show from Tori’s point of view. The energy she felt from her friends on stage was immense, and there were a few times she was so overwhelmed she could only laugh to prevent herself from crying.

Brandon was blown away, and overcome with excitement to see his favorite band playing, and screamed with the fangirls more than once. Tori didn’t cheer with the other fans, or make much noise at all, but her brother knew that she was enjoying it as much as he was. They always joked that he cheered for the both of them after she lost her sight, because she never made much noise after that.

The last song marked the end of her concert experience, and much like the other concerts she had been to, she was plagued with sorrow and hatred for her eyes. She wished she could at least see what the musicians looked like when they played. Did they enjoy what they were doing? Were they simply going through the movements? She could never know if what she heard was truly what was happening.

“Tori-san! Why are you crying?” Die demanded as he and the rest of the band joined them and Brandon passed out the water bottles.

“It’s nothing,” she sniffled, smiling, “I was right; you were incredible! I can’t think of a word to describe the sound.”

“Thank you!” Toshiya grinned while they all caught their breath, “We try our best.”

“You succeeded.” Brandon nodded, still star stricken and in awe.

“We should go out for dinner, I’m hungry.” Toshiya announced, receiving nods and mutterings of agreement.

“Where would you want to eat?” Kaoru asked Brandon and Tori. Brandon looked somewhat confused as they thought over his question, while Tori ended up laughing.

“I wouldn’t know! I don’t know any places to eat. I’ve ‘gone out’ to eat maybe twelve times since we moved to Japan, and I’ve never been in this area before.” She explained.

“She doesn’t get out much.” Brandon added, earning an elbow to the arm from his sister

“Well, we are staying in a hotel tonight before we all fly home again. Why don’t we go there and order room service?” Toshiya suggested.

Since no one had any better ideas the guys led Tori and Brandon out to the parking lot, into the pouring rain. “We’ll follow you out; I can’t leave my car here!” Brandon announced over the sound of the water splattering off of everything around them.

“Where is the car?” Tori demanded.

“On the other side of the building!” he laughed, “If you wait here, I can try to bring it closer and pick you up!”

She was about to answer when lightening flashed across the sky, and he put his arm around her. Before she could ask what he was doing, a ridiculously loud clap of thunder ripped through the air, making her jump and cling to him.

“Shut up!” she ordered when she heard Toshiya and Kyo chuckling at her.

“It isn’t our fault you act just like Shinya’s dog!” Toshiya defended.

“Great.” She sighed and followed her brother to the car, riding uncomfortably beside him until they got to the guys’ hotel. As soon as they arrived, they were led up to one of the rooms and ordered their food. While they waited, Brandon got to play some video games with the guys while Tori sat quietly off to the side and listened with a content and happy smile across her face until she fell asleep. The only way any of the guys knew that she wasn’t awake was when her glasses fell off of her face to show her peacefully closed eyes.

When the food came, Brandon was in the bathroom so Kaoru decided to wake her, gently placing his hand on her shoulder and muttering her name. Though she woke to feather-light touches on her shoulder and his low voice softly coaxing her from sleep, she woke with a start and jumped away from him in fear, falling to the ground without any idea where she was.

Tears rolled down her eyes as she sat, breathing frantically in the floor of the unfamiliar room. Instead of moving to comfort her, Kaoru spent a moment staring in awe at her eyes. Instead of the white, clouded look of most blind eyes he had seen, hers had a red tint to them, making them resemble something from a horror film.

“Tori-san,” Kyo spoke, since he was the closest to her, “We are at the hotel; our food is here, are you hungry?” he asked, cautiously putting his hand on her arm after kneeling beside her.

“Tori! What happened?” Brandon demanded after opening the door to the bathroom and seeing his sister on the floor, breathing heavily while the guys stood around her and Kyo rested his hands on her arm and shoulder.

“I had a dream, and when they woke me up I guess I was still dreaming; I can’t see that it wasn’t dad there beside me.” She answered tearfully.

“Sis,” he sighed, walking over and pulling her against him in a comforting hug, “Don’t worry about that shit. We aren’t going back there tonight, anyway. We’re staying with Yumiko. Don’t cry, please, you’re putting eyeliner all over my favorite shirt.” He explained, laughing at the makeup that was smearing over his shirt.

“I’m sorry,” she muttered.

“Come on, let’s eat some food!” he beamed and pulled her to her feet before taking her order from Toshiya and handing it to her.

The guys were still confused to what had her so upset but decided it best not to bring it up as she smiled and ate her food. Since she was now awake and no longer afraid of her nightmare, she was back to her normal, entertaining self that they had grown to love in such a short time.

Toshiya quickly took to telling jokes and stories to her and her brother about life in the band, making her laugh quite often before breaking and watching her curiously.

“Did you learn to use chopsticks before you went blind?” he asked, noticing that she held them very strangely compared to everyone else’s.

“No, I had to learn ten years ago. A friend of mine spent countless hours trying to teach me; it isn’t easy to learn when you can’t see your teacher’s instructions. Everything is harder blind. Just close your eyes, spin your bowl or plate around, and try to eat without opening them.” She smiled.

He did as she asked, but after Die spun the plate around a few times for him, he couldn’t find anything he was looking for, and picking the food up was a lot more difficult for him. She giggled when she heard him swear a couple of times while fumbling until Kaoru called him out when he opened his eyes.

“And you learned how to use your chopsticks without looking,” he nodded with a laugh, “I’ve been using them my whole life and can’t do it! I’m impressed, Tori-san!”

“Don’t be impressed, it was learn to eat blind, or starve at first. Then when I was told that we were moving to Japan, my friend wanted to make sure I could eat with chopsticks before we left. She told me it was so that I would fit in better, in hopes that I wouldn’t be such an outcast.” She explained sadly.

“You aren’t an outcast with us! You may be one of the nicest women I have ever met, and are very fun to be around, too.” Die nodded.

“Thank you.” She blushed and finished her meal.

Tori surprised the guys with how much she ate for such a small woman, but after remembering that she had been literally starving for the past couple of weeks, they understood completely. They felt bad not being able to help her in her situation of being blind, and kept away from the outside world, and they all had some suspicions of abuse happening in the home as well, with the bruising around her eye, and the cut on her chin that wasn’t there the last time they saw her.

As soon as they all finished eating they ended up watching a movie, since it was too late to be loud and play the video games anymore. Shinya wasn’t interested in the movie and sat at the small table in the corner to finish a puzzle he had been working on while half watching with the others. Tori chose the Grudge, announcing that the original was a thousand times better than any of the English versions, but instead of sitting at the couch with everyone else, she sat on the floor between the couch and Shinya’s table.

“Forgive me for asking this, but if you can’t see, why do you watch movies?” Kyo asked awkwardly as they settled down and dimmed the lights; the only light on was a small desk lamp over Shinya’s puzzle.

“I listen to the music, and the characters’ lines. I watched this movie, both versions, before I went blind. Then, I LISTENED to them… this one is by far more terrifying to me now. It was a little frightening before, but now I jump and do actually get scared.” She whispered, “And the music is better.”

He nodded and smiled as the movie went on, and silence fell over everyone. Occasionally Tori would whisper an answer to the puzzle Shinya was working on, and he would giggle quietly at how easy a riddle was to her, that had him completely stumped. When the movie ended, Shinya’s puzzle was finished and he agreed to watch a second movie, announcing that he would probably be asleep by the end.

The second movie, Tori had never heard or seen before and as she listened found herself terrified. It was a very complicated movie, but chilling in the storyline, and the music was a never-ending masterpiece.

Mentally immersed in the movie, she didn’t hear Die get up to use the bathroom as she listened carefully to what was happening. The scene was intense as two women tried to escape a mental hospital. They weren’t insane; none of the patients were. The insane ones were the ones running the hospital. They were doing experiments on the inmates that often led to death. The survivors became zombie-like, and violent, and the dead returned as furious and hungry ghosts to haunt the hospital.

The music suddenly became loud, as it often does in horror films when something happens, and the women screamed in terror as whatever they were hiding from found them, giving a demonic growling roar while one of them was killed with gut wrenching sounds.

Just as the creature appeared on the screen, making Toshiya, Brandon, and Shinya jump, Die returned from the bathroom. Since it was dark and he didn’t want to trip over her, he put his hand on her shoulder and made her scream and jump away from him, pressing herself against Kyo’s legs. Kyo laughed and put his hands on her shoulders to steady her as she caught her breath a moment and joined him in his laughter.

“Who was that?” she demanded as Kaoru paused the movie.

“I’m sorry! I should have known that would startle you!” Die laughed while reclaiming his seat.

“Die! I didn’t even know you had gotten up!” she laughed and stayed leaned against Kyo’s legs for the rest of the movie. She had to admit, this movie, though she couldn’t see it, had her afraid to sit by herself incase some creature came to take her. He didn’t seem to mind, though, and kept his hands on her shoulders for more than half the film.

When the movie ended and Kaoru had Toshiya turn the lights back on Brandon couldn’t help his quiet laughter. Shinya was asleep in his chair, leaning his head to the side as he leaned back, with his arms folded over his stomach. Tori was leaned against Kyo’s legs with her head leaned to the opposite side that his was, sort of using Kyo’s knee for a pillow. Her legs were stretched out and her arms were resting over her stomach much like Shinya’s were.

“She usually falls asleep in movies.” Brandon explained, “She says she doesn’t get bored, but is it any fun to listen to a movie?” he asked.

“I would doubt it.” Die muttered while watching the two sleeping members of their group.

“I don’t mean to offend, please forgive me, but what are you doing?” Brandon demanded when Kaoru very carefully lifted her off of the floor with a little help from Kyo, and started to carry her off to a bed.

“The floor can’t be comfortable; I am moving her to the bed to sleep.” He nodded, only stopping for a short while to explain his actions to Brandon. She wasn’t hard at all to lift, and that worried him a little. She was a grown woman of nearly thirty years old; he shouldn’t feel like he was lifting a child to carry to bed. The only reason Kyo had to help him was to keep her from moving too much, and waking up.

“I can take her home; you shouldn’t be giving her your bed.” Brandon frowned; moving to take his sister but Kaoru just smiled and kept walking until she was comfortably tucked in.

“This isn’t my bed, it’s Shinya’s. I know him well enough to know that he wouldn’t mind sleeping on the couch tonight, which is where I will be moving him if he doesn’t wake up.”

“He doesn’t have to give up his bed for her!”

“It wouldn’t be the first time.” Toshiya cut in, “When she stayed with us in his home, he told her that he was giving her the guest room, but it was his bedroom; he slept on the floor in the living room. I don’t think she knows that he did that, though.”

Brandon’s eyes were full of surprise as he stood silently, only snapping out of his shocked daze when Tori groaned and sat up, “With all due respect, I refuse to take his bed. He shouldn’t have lied to me that night; I would have slept on the floor happily.” She announced while trying to get out of the bed, but instead of rolling to her feet like she would have at home, she fell and nearly hit her head on the table beside the bed. She would have gotten hurt if Kaoru and Brandon didn’t catch her.

“Shinya isn’t the kind of man to LET you sleep on the floor. Not only were you a guest, in his eyes you deserved a comfortable sleep; he wanted to be sure you were taken care of that night.” Die explained, “He has been talking about you and the position you are in since we took you home. We could hear your family fighting as we pulled away, and he has been trying to find a way to help ease your troubles since then. We all have, but he has been the most dedicated.”

“That’s… very sweet of him.”

“He is a very caring and kind man, once he stops being shy and starts to interact with you.” Kyo added as Shinya sat up, looking tiredly around the room and smiling when he saw Tori and Brandon.

After another few hours of tired conversation, Tori and Brandon were heading for the door. Before she could leave, Shinya stopped her and pulled her aside for a moment, handing her a piece of paper that he had used a pencil to punch a message in brail for her.

“This is the number for my phone. My home number is at the top, and then below it is my cell phone. If you ever need anything, don’t be afraid to call me, Tori-san.” He smiled, placing the paper in her hand.

“Thank you.” She blushed and patted her hand against what she was aiming to be his shoulder, but turned out to be his chest, “If I need help, you will be the first that I call.”

He smiled wider as she turned and walked over to her brother, letting him guide her out to their car and back to Yumiko’s place to crash for the rest of the night.

“You gave her your number?” Die demanded, receiving a quiet nod from the drummer who knew the teasing was about to begin again without mercy.

“How long did it take us to get that from you? Months? And you just hand it to her the third time you see her!”

“I think our little drummer has found himself a woman.” Toshiya smirked, ignoring the blush on Shinya’s face as he and Die continued the teasing that would last the rest of the night.

“I only want to be sure that she is all right; her family doesn’t seem to be giving her what she needs.” Shinya justified shyly.

“You never cared to be sure that WE were taken care of.” Toshiya joked.

“That is completely different.”

“Yes, Toshiya, we are completely different; we aren’t a beautiful blind woman that he has fallen for. We can take care of ourselves!” Die smirked.

Tori slept the entire ride back to Yumiko’s, listening to Brandon’s Dir En Grey album the whole way and letting the rhythm of the drums lull her to sleep, even behind Kyo’s screaming, and the intense tempo and feel of the songs. He had tried teasing her for a while about the guys, but she brushed it off and eventually he gave up.

He laughed quietly to himself as she smiled in her sleep, resting soundly in the front seat as they drove along. In his mind she deserved tonight more than anyone else who attended that show. Sure, she got interaction with the band that many, many fans would kill her for, but he knew that what mattered most to her was that she wasn’t treated differently because she was blind, and she was able to hear the music. To her, the music was probably more important than being treated like a “normal” person. He saw the way she looked when they were on stage, and the tears that poured down during more than one song. For a moment he was thankful that he could give her that, but then realized: he didn’t give her anything; SHE was a friend of Dir En Grey, SHE gave HIM that experience. Without her, he would be just another person standing in the crowd staring at them, but because of her he was able to meet them, and achieve a dream that he had for many years imagined.

“Brandon,” She groaned softly when he parked and turned the light on inside the car for her.

“We’re here, come on. I’ll help you get settled in and then you can sleep as long as you want. Achilles is probably dying to see you, too. Stupid mutt that he is.” He explained.

“Don’t say that about him! He’s a good dog.” She snapped as he helped her out of the car to guide her through the unfamiliar building and into the room that they would share with Achilles. Her dog of course was elated to see her, and demanded her full attention as she fell asleep with him cuddled against her, licking her face and wagging his tail, hitting Brandon nearly every time. She knew he was getting hit, because he was cursing to the rhythmic thumping of Achilles’ powerful tail.

Her dream that night was unlike anything she usually dreamt of. Normally she would dream of life before she lost her sight, or her only boyfriend, Shane. Tonight was completely different, though. Tonight her dreams took her to a small house, with Dir En Grey. Their features weren’t really made out, since she had no idea what they looked like, but she knew who was who, and as creepy as it sounded, even to her in her dream, she knew what they smelled like to tell them apart. Almost the way she had to in reality.

She was closest with Shinya and Die; naturally, since they had been the first members she had really met. Out of the two though, she was even closer to Shinya.

As the party in her dream went on, the other members faded out until it was only she and the drummer.

“Your eyes are so beautiful, Tori-san,” he smiled, gently touching his hand to the side of her face, tracing his thumb over one of her eyelids.

“No, Shinya, they aren’t beautiful; they’re broken, and from what I’ve been told look nothing the way blind eyes should.” She frowned, angry that he would lie to her.

“They lie.” He giggled, lightly pressing his lips to her forehead, “Your eyes are beautiful. Even broken, they are beautiful.” He smiled.

She sighed as he pulled her closer to him, holding her in a safe and loving embrace while pressing his lips carefully against the side of her neck, breathing warm, tingling breath across her skin and making her shiver.

She clung to him as his arms snaked around her middle, pulling their bodies closer as her breath hitched and his warm hands found their way under her clothes. He kissed her neck a little harder as they lay down on the bed together, letting her wrap her now bare legs around him to pull him closer to her as his hands explored her nearly-naked form.

His bare chest pressed and rubbed against hers. His unclothed legs tangled with hers. His hands explored her hips and inner thighs, cautiously finding their way closer to a place that had only been touched by one other person; and that man has been dead for twelve years.

“Tori,” he muttered, rubbing the back of one of his fingers against her through her underwear. “Tori,” he breathed again, nudging her shoulder awkwardly.

“Victoria!” Brandon shouted, and pushed her out of the bed to wake her, “Get the hell up, we have to go home.”

“I don’t want to go home, what if dad-”

“He won’t as long as I’m there. Seriously, there is something happening that I don’t need you around for. Come on, let’s go, okay? I’ll explain later.” He ordered and helped her to her feet before hitching Achilles’ harness onto him and putting the handle in her hand, “I already loaded our shit in the car; let’s go before shit goes down.”