Her legs shaky, she slowly walked towards the TV screen, towards the video player. Were the small thumps she was hearing the sound of her footsteps, or the beating of her frantic heart, getting faster as the seconds ticked by?

      Her mother. Her dirty-blonde hair lay limp at her shoulders, her hazel eyes twinkling with the same gleefulness as the girl's. That was the person she was waiting for. The one who was making her wait with nothing to do but watch the shadows dance on the walls. But she didn't care. She loved her mother. There they were, the three of them, laughing happily in the gleaming sunlight. It had been only a year ago when that photo was taken. It had only been a year ago when she remembered franticly tearing the wrapping paper apart to reveal the present of her dreams with her mother's single promise engraved into its surface. Together Forever. That had been what her mother promised her. That both of them would be together forever, with nothing between them. And that was all the girl had wanted too.

The short walk to the video player seemed to go on for miles as she continued on, ignoring the thudding in her chest. When she finally got there she just stood there, gazing at the small green dimly-lit numbers on the video player. 1:26. She turned her head to look out the window one last time before she put the video in. Stars twinkled in the night sky, and the full moon continued to shine its fragile moonlight through the window, down at the trembling girl. She now had to put the video in.

      At the sound of a long creak, the girl's head quickly turned to the left. The same figure in the photo whose arm was wrapped tightly around her was standing in the doorway, gazing softly at the girl, a small smile etched on her kind face. At the sound of the door, the Eevee's eyes had flashed open. She carefully jumped off the bed and landed on the ground with a small thud, then hurried over the girl's mother.

Hands trembling, she took a hold of the video and slowly slid it into the video player. The small green numbers flashed, and then rapidly started changing form. At first the only thing on the TV screen was white static, static that was swarming in her mind, making her feel dizzy. But then it came to life. Millions of colors danced on the screen as her eyes grew wider. She slowly stood up, continuing to carefully watch the TV screen. As if mesmerized by it, she slowly stepped backwards then sank into the warmth of the couch once again. The video. Of course.

      "Sorry I'm so late, Kira." Her mother whispered softly, bending down to pick up the Eevee. "I had to do something important right away."

      "What type of important thing, mommy?" Kira asked, gazing up into her mother's tired eyes.

      She sighed. "Business things, honey. That's all. Just business things." She carefully set the Eevee down in her lap and started softly stroking its fur.

      "Oh." Kira simply replied. But she knew that when her mother repeated things, something was wrong.

She continued carefully watching the TV screen, letting the shadows swallow her up. But she was not filled with an empty loneliness. No, of course she wasn't. She continued to reach out a hand to grab some popcorn, only to just then realize that she was grabbing air.

      Her mother's eyes then wandered over the tiny golden locket dangling on Kira's neck. "Kira, you know you shouldn't wear that to bed. You could choke in your sleep." And with this her mother carefully took a hold of the open locket and lifted it up over Kira's head. She paused for a moment to gaze at the tiny photograph. At the sight of the three of them, she smiled softly. Then she closed the locket back up with a small click and set it down on the desk. "Its time to go night-night now, honey." She whispered.

      Kira nodded. "I know." She said. "But before I do, I need to promise you something."

      Her mother sighed impatiently. Kira gazed worriedly up into her hazel eyes for a moment. She had never seemed so impatient before. Was something truly wrong? But it didn't matter right now. Kira had to make her promise.

      Kira took a deep breath. "I promise I'll never leave you, mommy. You know that, right?" She whispered softly. Her mother managed to smile.

      "Yes, I know that, honey. I know you promise never to leave me." Her mother whispered back. Kira smiled.

      "And you promise never to-

      "Kira," Her mother said, sighing impatiently once again. "I've really got to go. I don't have time for this. I never did finish those business things." She quickly bent down and kissed Kira on her forehead. "Goodnight, honey." And with that she walked out of the room, carefully closing the door behind her.

      "-leave me either, right?" Kira finished slowly in hardly a whisper. They had always gone through this every single night. Kira would say "I promise I'll never leave you, mommy. You know that, right?" and then her mother would reply back saying "Yes, I know that, honey. I know you promise never to leave me." all the time. And then Kira would ask "And you promise never to leave me either, right?" and then her mother would reply back, grinning, "Of course. I promise I'll never leave you. Just as your locket says, we'll be together forever." Kira never got tired of it. But this was the first night her mother had not made her promise again. The first night. Kira just continued to lay on her bed, gazing at the door, the only source of light in her room from her nightlight. She promised herself she wouldn't fall asleep, not until her mother came back and gave her the promise. She wouldn't fall asleep. Ever.

      Yet in a matter of minutes, the little girl's eyes slowly closed and she was swallowed up into a world of darkness.

She continued to sit there, staring at the TV screen, now hugging her knees. The video seemed to go on and on as the tiny green numbers on the video player continued to change form. When did the video end? And why, when she had to rewind the video, were the past moments so blurry and full of static? Why?

Of course.

***************************************************

      Kira's eyes flashed open at the sound of a door being franticly pushed open. In the darkness she could just barely she the outline of a tall figure quickly moving towards the desk. On the way there the figure flipped up the light switch. Squinting at the now blurry image, Kira could see that it was her mother.

      "Mommy...?" Kira whispered softly. But her mother ignored her. Instead she snatched up Kira's golden locket and whirled around, only to meet the stare of about eight people dressed in black. On their heads they wore a cap with a blood-red letter R on them. This same R was on also on their shirts, seeming to glow and burn like a raging fire. Kira let out a small gasp of fear. Who were these people? And why were they in her and her mother's house? She grasped the edge of the blanket even closer to her face, but not over her eyes so she could keep careful watch over her mother. Her Eevee quickly jumped off the bed in a blur of brown and then swiftly weaved through her Mother's legs. A low growl emerged from the pokemon's throat as she arched her back, glaring at the people dressed in black.

      "What do you want?!" Kira's mother cried out, breathing heavily. Behind her back she was fiddling with the tiny golden key attached to the chain of the locket.

      "Stop playing with us." A man in the front replied darkly in a raspy voice. "You know perfectly well what we want." Though in the shadows of his cap Kira couldn't see his eyes, she could see his mouth grow into a wide twisted grin. Continuing to fiddle with the locket behind her back, Kira's mother franticly ripped the key off and stuffed it into her back pocket just as the man pulled out a pokeball.

She felt her heart beating even more rapidly as the video went on, unaware of where she was. For the bright dancing colors had already swallowed her up and were now filling up her mind, taunting her. Her eyes widened as she continued to watch, with nothing to do but just sit there. That was all she could do. Just sit there.

      The man tossed the pokeball up into the air revealing a blinding flash of red light. In the red light a large figure emerged. Soon Kira could see that the figure formed into a Rhyhorn, its thunderous roar shaking the whole house.

      The man raised his head, revealing his cloud-gray eyes, gleaming with a dark emotion. "Now, Katrina. Give it to us." He ordered. "Or else."

      Kira's mother's eyes widened. "You wouldn't." She said, her voice trembling. "You're just Team Rocket. You wouldn't dare do it."

      The gleaming horn on the Rhyhorn's head started spinning around franticly, making a loud whirring sound. "True, this usually isn't the way we take care of things." The man whispered. "But for this moment, we have an exception. You should already know all of this, Katrina." And with that the Rhyhorn charged for the Eevee. Kira let out a small scream and shut her eyes tightly as the whirring sound suddenly got louder, like a giant drill.

      Then it stopped.

      The deadly silence wafting through the air seemed to be choking Kira, daring her to open her eyes. She waited. No one said anything. Not a sound could be heard except the rapid beating of her heart in her chest. Then finally she opened her eyes, afraid of what the sight before her would turn out to be.

      There lay her Eevee, limp on the ground, lifeless. Even the pokemon's chest wasn't heaving in and out. The people dressed in black weren't even looking. They just stood there, sneering at Kira's mother, whom was staring, horrified, at the sight on the ground. Kira choked out a small sob, shattering the deadly silence. At the sound of her daughter, Kira's mother glanced in her direction and then back at Team Rocket worriedly. She stood firm in front of Kira's bed. But Kira could see her legs trembling.

      "You." Her mother said in hardly a whisper. The man in front just grinned again.

      "Tisk tisk tisk... That's what happens when you don't give us what we want, Katrina." The man murmured. "Next time it will be you."

      "If you killed me..." Kira's mother began slowly. "...then how would you get what you want?"

      The man just stood there, slowly bringing back the shattered silence. His cloud-gray eyes wandered from the locket Kira's mother held in her trembling hands, to Kira. As he met Kira's gaze, a shiver raced up and down her spine. It felt as if he were trying to reach into her mind, as if he were staring through her soul.

      "Oh, don't worry." The man replied. "We'll figure out how to get it."

      That's when it happened.

      Everything.

      Kira had completely forgotten that the Rhyhorn was still there at the sight of her Eevee. But as the same loud and deadly whirring sound started and a shrill scream pierced the air, the cause of the Eevee's death suddenly swarmed back into Kira's mind. Only when the screaming got higher and louder did Kira realize she was screaming too, and she buried herself underneath the layers of blankets carefully laid out on her bed. Even covered by darkness and warmth that tried their best to sooth her mind, Kira could still hear all the horrifying sounds. Her whole body was trembling, seeming to shake all the tears out of Kira's eyes in one watery mess.

She watched the video, horrified. As the seconds ticked by the moments just seemed to get worse, burying her in a thick layer of deadly and freezing ice that made a shiver run up her spine, taunting her. Perhaps she wouldn't be so afraid for the main character if she wasn't so into the video. Why was she feeling all of this? Why were all the deadly moments and silences being buried into her body, making her choke when she tried to scream for help? She had to clear all of it away. She knew she had to as her mind starting fogging up and everything got blurry. She took a deep shuttering breath. Then she screamed. The scream seamed to echo through the room, trying to escape back into her throat. But she wouldn't let it. But why, why couldn't anyone hear her scream? Why was she alone? And why was the video the only thing she could see and hear?

      Then everything stopped.

      Kira knew this silence only too well, followed by the sight of her Eevee. But this time she was even more afraid than ever. She wished she could just stay there, buried underneath layers of blankets forever, protected by the darkness and warmth. She wished she could just lie there, only to find in a matter of seconds that she's woken up to the sight of her mother's kind smiling face to find that it was all just a bad dream. But it wasn't a dream. Kira knew it was anything but a dream as she felt herself slowly pull all the blankets off.

      There lay her mother, as limp and lifeless as her Eevee.

      "Well, our business here is done." The man grunted, finally shattering the silence. "Let's get out of here."

      Kira was shocked to find that somebody, anybody, could say a word at that moment with her mother just laying there on the ground, lifeless. She choked out a loud sob and then quickly climbed out of her bed, carefully picking up her golden locket with one trembling hand, not daring to look into her mother's emotionless eyes. At the sight of Team Rocket staring at her intently, Kira quickly scrambled back into her bed, continuing to clutch the locket to her chest.

      "What about the girl?" A woman in the back asked.

      "Just let her go." The man replied, once again grinning. "We'll need her for later."

      Another man nodded in agreement. "I never knew Katrina had a daughter." He said in a low voice. "Let alone an Eevee."

      "Exactly." The man in front muttered. "Now let's go." And with that the Team Rocket grunts ran back into the hallway. But one girl only about eighteen years old remained behind, continuing to gaze at Kira. She made no movement at all. An emotion sparked in her mud-brown eyes, but Kira couldn't tell what it was.

      "Clare!" The man shouted from the hallway. "Get over here! Now!" And then the girl quickly whirled around and followed the rest of Team Rocket.

***************************************************

      Kira continued to clutch her grandmother's hand while trudging up the hill that seemed to go on forever. Around her neck dangled the golden locket, key-less. But she didn't notice. She hadn't paid any attention to her locket at all as blinding red lights surrounded her house and the police came running in, their heavy footsteps seeming to shake the whole house. Kira had been too frightened to speak.

      "Little girl, you'll have to stay with your grandmother for now." They had told her a day later, when her mother's death had been confirmed.

      "What do you mean by 'for now'?" Kira had asked in a small voice, clutching her locket. "Am I going to stay with a different relative after the funeral?"

      "No, you're not. Your grandmother is your only living relative left." The woman had answered.

      "Then what to you mean by 'for now'?" Kira repeated. The two women exchanged glances.

      They never did end up answering Kira's question.

      And now here she was with her grandmother, trudging up a huge hill towards her mother's grave where they had already laid down her coffin and were about to put the dirt back in.

      "It'll probably rain soon." Kira's grandmother murmured softly. "It always rains during funerals." And sure enough as Kira glanced up at the afternoon sky, she saw it was smeared with dull gray clouds.

      Finally after what seemed like hours, the two of them reached her mother's grave. Kira hadn't said anything the whole walk. Before them was a huge hole in the ground, a single tombstone at the ground's surface surrounded by daisies that were swaying in the wind. Small chimes echoed through the air in the distance. Leaning over to look into the huge hole, Kira saw the same pearl-white coffin she had seen before, pictures of flowers carefully carved into its surface. Her mother always loved flowers. Glancing over her shoulder Kira saw a tiny tear trickle down her grandmother's cheek. Kira just stood there, emotionless.

      "Kira..." Her grandmother began slowly. "...aren't you even sad?"

      Kira just stood there in silence as the seconds ticked by. Then she finally spoke. "I don't know." She simply answered, shrugging. But inside she was screaming.

      Rain started lightly sprinkling down from the sky, prickling Kira's face.

      "Kira." Her grandmother repeated in a whisper, bending down with difficultly to speak into Kira's ear. "Your mother is gone. Forever. She's left. You have to stop pretending that she's still here, because she isn't. It's not your fault."

      The two continued to just stand there. All Kira did was nod. She felt like she would burst in a fit of sobbing. But she didn't. She just stood there in the rain, as emotionless as ever, staring out into the skies. The only thing she could feel was the rain prickling her face and a small tear rolling down her cheek.

Suddenly, she realized why everything was happening. It all just seemed to stab her in the heart at once. She tried to stop screaming, but she couldn't.

Memories.