It’s almost nerve-wracking, impatiently standing here, knowing time is revolving around me and yet I can’t grasp the answers to the growing questions bubbling within this porcelain space.
The whisper in my mind grows louder, more insistent, and I feel a sharp pain in my chest again, like a knife twisting in my heart.
Remember…
The word is a command, a plea, a warning.
It’s everything and nothing all at once, and I feel tears prick at the corners of my eyes as I struggle to hold onto it. But it slips away, leaving me with nothing but a hollow ache in my chest.
"What's precious to you is in danger." The little girl's voice carries a sing-song quality that sends chills down my spine. Her eyes -my eyes from years past- narrow as she studies her white rabbit, fingers trailing through its fur with calculated gentleness.
Something about her touch seems wrong - too precise, too measured for a child. Her gaze shifts to the black rabbit cradled in my arms, and I follow her line of sight, breath-catching as I notice dark liquid seeping from its crimson eyes.
"It's bleeding," I whisper, watching black droplets fall onto the pristine white floor. Each one spreads like ink on paper, staining the perfect surface with steadily growing shadows. "Why is it bleeding?"
The little girl's lips curve into a smile that holds no warmth.
"Because he's in danger. He'll die if you don't find him."
He. Who’s he? Who is he to me?
"Who?" My fingers tighten in the black rabbit's fur, feeling its heart race against my palm. "Who will die?"
"The man you love. Men…I guess, but this man. This man is extra precious." She strokes her white rabbit's ears, but the gesture feels possessive rather than affectionate. "This one represents him - the one who made your heart beat differently."
"I love many," I argue, though something cold settles in my stomach at her words. "My heart yearns…six? Or was it five..."
Does that even make sense? Five men…with one girl? That’s not right…
Her laugh sounds like breaking glass.
"Oh yes, your heart grew so big, didn't it? Made room for so many Kings." Her eyes find mine, carrying knowledge farbeyond her years. "But this one was different. He empowered you first. Not like this one."
She lifts her white rabbit suddenly, arms tensing as if preparing to slam it down.
Wait!
I lunge forward without thinking, barely managing to snatch it from her grasp while keeping hold of the black rabbit. The movement sends pain shooting through my muscles, but I cradle both creatures against my chest, putting myself between them and my younger self.
"You can't hurt them!" The words emerge fierce despite the growing ache in my bones. "They're different but both valuable! Opposite…but they live and care differently!"
Fury transforms her childish features into something feral. Her tiny fists clench at her sides as she screams.
"The white one hurt us! Made our life miserable every chance he got!" Spittle flies from her lips as she continues, "Now he gets to suffer. Ultimate pain that will remind him his existence only matters because of US!"
Her eyes gleam with dangerous light as she adds.
"Without our attention, he's nothing but a lost soul in this sinful world."
I shake my head, trying to make sense of her rage, but coherent thought grows difficult as new sensations assault my body.
Tiny points of fire erupt across my back, as if someone is pressing lit cigarettes against my skin. Before I can process that pain, my stomach cramps violently - the specific kind of agony that comes from ingesting something toxic.
The little girl watches my suffering with obvious satisfaction.
"Can't you feel it? Everything he did to us?"
My legs buckle without warning, muscles spasming as phantom pains race through my nervous system. Only my deathgrip on both rabbits keeps me from collapsing completely, their warm bodies anchoring me as waves of remembered torture crash through my frame.
