Horror Movie

My soul room wasn’t anything special. Actually, it was quite bland. The walls were painted black and the floor was a creamy white. In the middle of the room, an old movie projector stood on a small mahogany coffee table with two leather chairs flanking its side. Beneath the table was a box of neatly organized film rolls.

I made my way over to the old film projector and turned it on.

“Do you remember the first time we met?” I asked Soul as sat down on one of the leather seats.

“Yeah.” the albino replied slowly, not really sure where this was going.

An image of a young girl huddling under a large oak tree focused itself onto the white projector screen that was mounted on the dark wall.

“I was crying.” I said as I stared at the picture.

“Yeah, you were really uncool back then.” Soul scoffed.

“I guess I was,” I replied absentmindedly then added firmly, “But that wasn’t by choice. It was like I couldn’t do anything right back then. I got picked on constantly because I didn’t know how to stand up for myself.”

As if the movie projector could read my mind, it re-winded to an earlier episode. A group of boys were shown bullying the girl that was previously shown. Her face was littered with bumps, bruises and dirt as the boys continued to kick her around.

“The only person who gave a damn was my brother.” I said as the film continued to roll.

A figure entered the scene and immediately launched into action, fighting off the offenders. As the boys ran off, the figure knelt to tend to the young girl. Slowly, the image came into clearer focus and we could see that the hero had black hair with 3 white strips on the left half.

“Whoa, hang on a second, Kid’s your brother?” Soul asked bewildered.

“Well, sort of.” I responded cautiously.

“Wait, wait!” Soul exclaimed, “If Kid is your brother, than that means that Lord Death is your father?!”

“Yes, but it’s a little more complicated than that…” I trailed off as Soul continued to interrogate.

“Wait so if your dad was the almighty Lord Death why didn’t you use that to your advantage?” the albino continued relentlessly.

“Ugh! God dammit! Can you just shut up and let me explain?!” I vociferated, aggravation lacing my voice.

“Right, sorry.” Soul apologized then clamped his mouth shut.

“Anyway, as I was saying,” I continued, “I was constantly victimized and because I had no backbone the torture continued. I was different in the sense that I didn’t have a family. Or at least that’s what we wanted everyone to believe. To understand why my father did what he did we have to go way back to the day he found me, or rather, I found him.”

The film took a couple of minutes to re-wind but eventually stopped at an image of a bundled up baby placed neatly inside a straw woven basket that was situated at the front steps of the prestigious looking Death Weapons Meister Academy. The cold night air carried the sounds of baby’s cries as the crescent moon shone down on the basket. A human looking Sid Barrett came out from the front doors and glanced at the foreign object. He surveyed the area and after a moment’s hesitation, picked up the bundle and disappeared into the building.

“Now, obviously I don’t remember any of this happening, but from what my father told me, this was the best I could come up with.” I stated as the screen showed Lord Death’s room with the bundle in Sid’s arms. Lord Death’s contemplating face showed that he was in deep thought on what to do with the present situation.

“Father thought it would be dangerous to reveal me as his adopted daughter.” I continued, as the two figures on the screen conversed, “I would be made an easy target for the enemies due to the fact that I didn’t have any special powers. So as a result, I was deemed an orphan child. Only a selected few knew that the death reaper was my surrogate father. To the rest of the world I was just the castaway girl who was living with Death the Kid.”

The film fast-forwarded to depict a shot of two toddlers playing together.

“Yeah Kid was obsessed with symmetry, even as a child.” I laughed as I watched the image pan to the neat rooms of the house.

“That guy has some serious OCD problems.” Soul retorted.

“Well, his OCD problems helped make us a great housekeeping team.” I said, “He would do all the cleaning and folding, while I did the messier jobs such as cooking and washing the laundry.”

The screen flipped through clips of the house work that Kid and I used to do as we got older.

“If you and Kid were such a good team why did you leave?” Soul asked.

“Because I met you.” I replied simply.

Just like magic, the projector once again fast forwarded to the scene of the girl crying under the tree. A white haired boy approached the scene as the child glanced at the intruder.

“You were the first person outside of my family to care.” I said as the white-haired boy in the film held out his hand, “You showed me that I was in charge of my life. Even though I was unwanted by my own parents, even though I was constantly picked on, even though I felt like the whole world was against me, you gave me your hand and you pulled me onto my feet. Your confidence drove me and it gave me the courage to face my fears. After meeting, you I changed from being a helpless little girl to someone who stood up for what she believed in.”

The projector showed pictures of all the times me and Soul hung out from that day and onwards. A couple were the same ones that hung in the albino’s soul room.

“And everything just went uphill from there.” I explained, “I became less shy and lot happier. I made friends who believed in me and I found people who I could count on.”

The film rolled to show more pictures of the staff and students of the academy: Maka, Black Star, Tsubaki, Liz, Patty, Spirit Albarn, Stein, Ox, Kilik, Kim.

“The change I went through didn’t go unnoticed.” I continued, “Both father and Kid thought it was best that I spend more time with you because, the truth is, the more you rubbed off on me, the more open I became. I got lucky that Maka became your Meister. The fact that Maka’s dad was my father’s death scythe was an added bonus. So in the end, it all worked out.”

The film continued to play all the happy memories in my life as I watched the screen silently.

“So now you know my life story. Boring I know. Sorry that you had to sit through all this crap but it’s important that you know everything about me before… well I guess before we go further in this relationship.” I said awkwardly as I glanced beside me at the albino.

The weapon was staring intently at the screen processing all the information that was just presented to him.

I may have been more confident than I was before but that doesn’t mean that I had no insecurities. The feeling of being unwanted came creeping back to me as I sat anxiously waiting for his rejection.

‘What were you thinking Saya? Did you expect him to love you after you showed him your whole biography? You should’ve just stayed silent. Even your parents didn’t want you. What makes you think Soul would? You’re useless and helpless just as you always were.’ My brain scolded mentally.

Suddenly a shadow loomed over me, pulling me from my self-degrading thoughts.

I looked up to see Soul staring intensely at me – almost glaring.

I jumped in surprise as I sprang off the leather chair and took a step away from him.

“Soul?” I asked hesitantly under his heated gaze as I looked up at him in confusion.

“Don’t.” the albino said venom dripping from his voice.

I recoiled as if his words physically stabbed me.

“Sorry,” I began as I looked down guiltily, “I didn’t mean to – “

“Don’t.” Soul interjected as he placed his thumb and index finger under my chin, bringing my eyes up to face his.

My golden eyes locked on to his crimson orbs.

“Don’t,” Soul repeated softly, “Don’t you ever say that about yourself again. You’re not unwanted, you’re not useless, and you’re definitely not helpless.”

“How did you hear that?” I asked baffled.

“We’re doing a soul resonance, remember?” Soul chided gently.

“Oh, right.” I said stupidly then added, “It’s true though. I am helpless. Did you not see me cower in fear from that horror movie we watched?”

“Everyone has fears. That’s what makes them human.” Soul said simply, “Just because you were scared, doesn’t make you helpless. To be honest, you’re the most stubborn person I’ve ever met.”

“Really? I thought that was Maka.” I laughed.

“Yeah, well Maka wasn’t the one who so stubbornly refused to communicate her feelings.” The weapon stated matter-of-factly.

I blushed at the reminder then said unsurely, “So does this mean that you’re OK with dating me?” then gestured to the projector screen, “Even after watching all that?”

“I’m not OK,” Soul responded.

“Oh…” I said dejectedly as I looked away embarrassed.

Soul sighed and muttered, “You really need to start catching on.”

The albino leaned towards me

“I’m not OK with dating you,” he repeated, “I’m more than OK.”

For the third time that night, his lips captured mine. It was an innocent and soft kiss but that wasn’t enough. Needing to feel more of him, I grabbed his neck pulling him closer as he held my waist. Our bodies molded into one and he coaxed my tongue out to play.

I was drunk on his scent. Nothing else mattered anymore. I felt the floor cave in as I intoxicated myself with his essence. Once again the world spun and fell away as I clung on to the albino for dear life.