My Bleeding Heart Shares It's Secrets [Neo/SOLO]

"...And, don't need you anymore~"

A loud thunk would reverberate throughout the alleyways as Neo threw her cane in the trash bin, smirking with her hands on her hips. She was finally strong enough to walk on her own two feet after plenty of focused exercise (and all nighters in the gym courtesy of the desk lady and a few hundies to keep that shushed) and gearing towards recovery. She wasn't exactly sure what she was recovering from, but it didn't hurt to do some reps and gain some strength back.

For once, she actually felt glee, a sense of freedom. She was a completely new person; her past continued to crumble away into meaningless dust in the confines of her broken mind, but she was happy the more it made less sense. A few points, she felt angry, frustrated that she felt like her mind was escaping her, but things had loosened and separated to the point that she no longer cared; she couldn't piece anything together since before her exercise and recovery, but she was happy... Happy for once in her life.

Living in blissful ignorance that she was ignorant of was hardly a challenge.

She made her way out of the creepy dark alley, of course, walking along the stray amount of people in the city, the blackened sky marking that it was the dead of night. The girl was on her merry way, overly giddy and tightly gripping her bag. She got some weird glances from others, some concerned for her, but Neo didn't care, not a single bit; she was having fun and could walk on her own, why should she care about them? She wanted to go see her favorite fountain and be nice and joyful in peace, fuck em.

She heard the trickling of the fountain as she rounded a corner, her eyes glued ahead as she came to her spot. There was no statues or fanciness about the fountain, it was just any generic looking structure full of coins (a surplus of them likely begged out of their mother's or father's wallets). Neo didn't get it, she just liked it and went along with it, with everything that happened.

Life was but a dream at this point...

"Honey..?"

Neo had taken a seat on the stone rimming of the fountain, absentmindedly chewing on some cheap dollar store chocolate as she stared at the starless sky. She thought the question was some random guy calling out and looking for his love.

Of course, til she got a guy suddenly wrapping his arms around her and sobbing.

"Honey, it is you!"

Neo was beyond confused at this point. She knew some people were kinda huggy, but normally they'd ask first and it would be a quick, tiny embrace. This was a long and uncomfortable one... Soon to be further violated by a kiss.

"Woah woah hey..." The girl breathed, slapping a chocolate-y hand to the guy's incoming puckered lips, "I don't even know you, what's with the lovey stuff?"

The man stared at her, seemingly hurt and confused as he drew backwards and bit his bottom lip, "God... It's worse than I thought."

"What?" Neo rose an eyebrow, her green locks swaying to the side as she gently tilted her head towards the left.

"Your memory... You don't even remember me anymore." He spoke gently, tears pooling in his eyes as he stared dead on at her, heartbreak obvious in his cracked voice, "I-It's me... Daniel..."

"...I don't know any Daniels?" Neo replied gently, starting to feel her happy mood drip into sadness. Was this someone she knew? A friend? A lover?

"..Oh my god i'm so sorry..." He reeled back, releasing her from his embrace, pressing a hand against his face. He was clearly stifling tears, pain swimming in his dark eyes, "I... I knew I should have come earlier... But I came to the hospital and the doctor said you were gone... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

Neo felt her heart strings plucked; she never imagined someone was looking for her, or even knew her. She bit her lip as she stood up to address the sobbing man, eyes as large as a doe's, "Dan... I... I..."

"It's okay..." He breathed, slowly relaxing his worry and smiling at her, "We can go home, it'll all be okay. Everyone misses you."

"Everyone..?" Her eyes were rounded with feeling and curiosity as she stared at him, hardly noticing that he gently wrapped his hand around her own, entwining fingers in a sensitive, loving way as the two walked along the stone pavement.

"They're going to all freak out, y'know? You've been gone for eight months." He lead her on, speaking to her in the gentlest of tones, as if to not startle or confuse her further, "I'll make sure your mom doesn't squeeze you up." A chuckle escaped from his lips, a big loving smile shown her way.

"A... Mom..? I have a mom..?" Neo was in absolute disbelief. It was insane, completely insane. People actually missed her? Looking for her?

"Almost there... Yeah. Your mom, your sister, some friends, a dog. Everybody missed you." He soon strolled with her to a rather large van, placing a hand on it, "You probably don't remember, but we did pretty much everything in this thing. Did some parties, stole some beers and got wasted, watched stuff, some snuggles." He sighed nostalgically, "It was great, y'know?"

He lead the mesmerized girl towards the back, opening up to reveal a rather messy looking bed with some clothes strewn about, "Sorry about the mess... Kind of how i've been since you went missing. You can sleep for right now, i'll drive." He helped her up, beckoning her towards the bed.

Neo felt absolute bliss as she sat on the messy sheets. It was like living in a nostalgia that she didn't fully comprehend.

"Thirsty?" He offered a bottle of water to the girl, smiling, "Must be parched."

"Yeah, yeah." She took the bottle from his grasp, taking a few gulps and soon lying down, feeling a milky softness throughout her body.

Daniel stood above her, a kind smile on his face... Before that smile curled.

"...Yknow, you're a terrible assassin." His voice switched from that of a sweet, soft tone, to a cold, passionate one.

"Huh...?" The tired Neo was struck with confusion.

"You didn't even notice that the bottle was open. Pretty shitty if you ask me." He gave her a ruffled head of hair, chuckling cruelly, "Surprised you evaded em so long; you're too stupid to notice something so simple. Welp, at least i'm being paid a decent wad for this crap."

"Huh..." She tried to move her arm, but failed; her body simply didn't listen to her brain.

"Hey hey sister," He said, putting his hands up in false surrender, "That drug cocktail I souped up for ya isn't letting you move shit for quite a long time," He smiled, tapping her nose, "It was a nasty little concoction to make, too. Had to do something to shut ya down and knock you out for a long ass time. Good thing i'm being paid for this." He stood up, walking out the van with a pep in his step, "Well sweetheart, you ain't my problem anymore. Ciao; you were a pretty easy little kitten to net. Feelsing you up was too easy."

The doors shut, Neo's world coated in darkness, as her eyes heavied... Things were... So nice, so gentle... So quiet...

Loss of consciousness was achieved, her mind quickly slipping into the void within itself. She barely had enough time to feel anything, or think, she hardly processed her final moments of consciousness...

Darkness.

Cold, unforgiving darkness had the girl in it's claws, refusing to release her, refusing her any sort of mercy or care. At first, she heard, thought, and saw nothing. It was like she no longer existed...

...Am... I dead?

A thought, intelligent speech formed. It was like she had spoken without moving her mouth. She resided in the empty blackness, the thought of having died being her focus.

I... I can't be dead...

Then, her eyes caught onto something. Was it hope? Was it waking? No... Just a bright flash of light...

"T-the monster!"

A scene flashed before her, almost scaring the daylight out of her. A man and a woman were standing before her, concerned looks as the night sky was obvious through a window. She saw through another's eyes, feeling the water of tears, the tinge of fear.

"Honey, there isn't a monster." The woman, rather young but appearing quite tired, opened the door to the closet to show that there was nothing but clothing and shoes inside, "You must have had a bad dream."

Who are these people..?

"But I saw it! I saw it!" It felt as if Neo's own lips moved, but someone else pulling the strings, a much younger voice coming out, "It touched my leg!"

"Ava, just relax..." The man petted her head in a comforting manner, "It was just a dream... If it makes you feel better i'll leave the hallway light on and your door cracked, alright?"

...Mommy... Daddy... Neo recognized these people. They... They were...

The scene radically changed, her feeling afraid and helpless once more. She was backed into a corner as she heard yelling in the other room. Someone else was in the house... Someone scary...

Scary... Scary... I'm so scared...

She felt the sensation of crawling all over her skin, the girl looking at her arms. Tears dribbled all over her face as shadowy arms were wrapped against her skin, these arms adorned with eyeballs, blinking and looking about as the darkness crawled on her body.

...What?

"No... No... Stop... Stop... Go away..." The girl hugged herself tight as the commotion soon ceased, sobbing loudly. Mommy and Daddy ran into the room to her aid.

"Ava! Ava are you alright?" Her mother quickly came to her side, her father rubbing her back and trying to comfort her. The girl didn't reply, only sobbing, soon looking up to see the intruder looming over the family, indistinguishable weapon in hand.

The scene happened so fast; a scream raked her throat, the shadowy, eyeball coated hands stretched out, stabbing indiscriminately. Blood flew, bodies soared, and things went quiet.

No... No... Neo's thoughts were on fire; what she just saw... That...

The girl felt like throwing up, though had no physical body to do so.

I... Killed them?

"Mommy..?" The girl knelt over the broken body of her mother, life obviously having faded from her eyes. Vitals were obviously struck, giving her an immediate death.

"Hun... Ava..." She heard the weak voice of her father, the bloodied girl scurrying over to him, "Daddy! Daddy!" Her eyes burned from tears.

"Ava... Please don't be upset, alright?" The man coughed, death clearly inevitable, "You... You didn't mean to... You just..." He let out a pained wince, "No no, listen honey, I don't have much time, okay?"

"Daddy! Daddy i'm sorry!" She felt tears streaming down like a waterfall, terror ensuing, "I'm sorry..!" Neo felt a hand lovingly cup her face.

Her father looked towards her, a smile on his face and a weakened sparkle in his eye, "Live on, sweetie... Become the smart big girl I know you can... We love you..." His chest stopped moving, eyes shutting to spare her daughter the pain of looking into her dead father's eyes.

"DADDY!" The girl screamed, sirens along with red and blue light filling the room.

Everything seemed to stop for a moment, the sickness Neo felt having not faded.

He didn't hate me... Even if I did something like that... Her eyes were watering, He loved me...

The scene shifted once more, the girl sitting at a rather plain wooden table in an equally plain room with several children eating breakfast. She was poking around at her food, rather disinterested in the chats going around or really looking at anyone. But in her peripheral vision, she caught eyes locked rather intently on her. She looked up, seeing a little girl with a head full of the reddest of locks, staring at her with the greenest of eyes. She felt somewhat threatened, staring back at her until breakfast was over, and play time was to be active.

It was her first day there... But days, maybe weeks went on, and she remembered that where ever she was, that girl followed her and absolutely didn't give her a moment of privacy or alone time to cope with her parent's deaths. Soon she got pretty fed up with it, Neo remembered the boiling irritation and anger she felt when she was just sick of it, and confronted the girl during outside time.

"Why do you keep following me?!" The girl snapped, "I just wanna be alone!"

The red head was completely bewildered when she was yelled at, jumping back with a start and gritting her teeth. She instantly felt bad.

"I... I'm sorry."

"Nah. I should be sayin' sorry." The girl finally spoke to her, dipping her head apologetically, "I just... I dunno how to talk to ya..." She blushed, "I'm not all that good at talkin'. Never had mucha anybody."

"What's your name?" She felt her head tilt, calmed curiosity directed at the girl.

"Huh?"

"Your name. What's your name? My name is Ava."

"Oh! Uh..." The girl tilted her head to the side, her face flushing red, "You wouldn't wanna..."

"I do wanna!"

"Okay okay fine it's... It's..." The girl swallowed, "It's... Juniper."

Scenes flashed, memories returned; days of fun, days of unrest, days of fear, days of quiet, days of love... She had all she could with Junie...

"Itsa puppy!"

A scene came by of Juniper holding a muddy little wad of squealing fur, kicking it's premature legs and opening and closing it's toothless jaws. She felt surprised beyond belief...

I always wanted a puppy... She reminisced with the flow of memories.

It switched over to a scene in the bath, cleaning the dirty wad to reveal a load of soaked white fur. Several children were in the bathroom, watching the scene.

"Itsa white puppy!" She had the little dog in her grasp, utter joy fluttering with the butterflies in her chest.

"I know! Lets name him Snowy!" Juniper exclaimed, her fists balled up with the spectacle.

"Yeah!"

Neo felt close to crying. She was happy, but this was far too much information for her mind to handle at once. Too many things were coming back, too many things to think about... The knowledge made it feel like she was teetering from the pressure.

More scenes flashed; being put on a truck, leaving Snowy behind with the poor dog barking his head off, she and Juniper holding each other rather closely in fear of the future... Many days of feeling tired and stressed, some hungry...

And then, her...

Mother...

Those purple eyes were forever stained in her mind, but she could see the woman clearly, and what she saw was beyond cruel.

It was the face of a sweet, gentle, tired person, her hair an assortment of curled locks, some twists containing a variety of colors; blues, greens, whites, but they were only a small part of her midnight black hair. She had the poise of a sweet woman tending to young children, her memories of the first few weeks having her here and there.

Neo felt boiling anger, but she didn't quite understand why. She hated Mother, yes, but she never knew why she hated her to this extent. Several scenes passed by, of torturous experiments, basically fighting for her and Junie's life, for years and years...

"... We're doing something special today, girls." Mother had come into the room, clasping her hands together and doing her usual sleepy, meek smile, "Come along..."

"No." The horribly exhausted girl replied to the woman. Neo felt burning anger, "We aren't gonna.."

"Well... That's too bad, I would have gotten you a treat afterwards, Neo." The woman signaled some rather bulky beings to come into the room and grab the girls.

"Thats not my name- Hey!" She squealed when the bulbous, disgusting hand grabbed her, dragging her and a screaming Juniper along. She looked over at the red haired girl, seeing her exchange the glance. Both girls were terrified.

"Don't worry Junie... I'll protect you, I promise-" Pain. Everything went dark.

Horror, absolute nightmare happened next... The two girls were plastered to opposite ends of a room in complete humiliating nudity, horrifying tools of all kinds strewn about, Mother standing by Junie with a deviously calm smile on her face, testing needles. Juniper was still asleep, blood staining her beautiful red locks.

"Junie..!" The girl weakly cried.

"Ah, fantastic my dear. You're finally awake." The woman's whimsical tone echoed, "Juniper still hasn't woken up, but she will... What's important is that you're awake." Her smile looked something from a horror movie; it was impossible for any sane person to have such a horrific look.

"Wha..." Ava was chilled by shock when Mother had drawn a nail and hammer, positioning it over one of Junie's fingers.

SLAM

Screaming echoed through the room, Ava seeing red.

Scream, after scream, after scream, she felt more terror, she kept screaming for Junie. Her heart hurt, even though there was no wounds. She wasn't being hurt physically, but her mind was being terribly assaulted by watching her best friend, the one she loved and held dearest, being put through a torturous amount of pain right in front of her. She begged, she struggled, she cried... Hours and hours of pain and blood, until Junie was nothing but a bloodied, mangled husk of meat on the wall. Everything felt cold to Ava, everything was horrible...

"...Hmm. Nothing, huh?"

Neo felt cold, or was it Ava? Either way, she was chilled to her core... That's why she hated Mother so much... She tortured Juniper... Her Junie... She killed her and made her beautiful self into a bloody mess..

Junie didn't deserve it. She should have died instead... Junie never deserved something so terrible... She was so nice and gentle... She couldn't even save her...

More scenes came by; experiments becoming more and more torturous and horrible, drugged up surgeries, addictions, all sort of confusing and jumbled thoughts, tests, people dying... It was sensory overload of how much was coming back. It was a miracle she had yet to go mad.

A torrent of memories flowed, her life slurred together and confusing, likely from the drugs. More people dying, getting money, speaking to people...

Then someone who made her feel chilled to the core appeared; a woman with short red hair less red than Junie's and blackened eyes.

Ulv.

Days passed by, painful, scary days, but she was there. She fed and checked on her, in general caring for her for the longest while...

Ulv...

The first person in quite a long time to show her any sort of kindness... And Av-eo forgot about her...

Ulv...

ULV..!

Her mind, corroding into insanity from the stress, held onto the image of the woman, tightly gripping it as she stirred.

Neo then awakened, taking in a sharp breath, sitting up and holding her chest. She panted, her heart thumping away in her chest. Something seemed far different about her sight... Her eyes didn't feel open yet she could perceive the world around her...

It wasn't a pretty sight in the slightest.

It was a ridiculously small room, lined up with mattresses that had no frames, the bare minimums for a suitable bed, that Neo was lying atop of. What was more chilling was the amount of confused, what she could only identify as scared in the action of huddling in corners, and aimlessly wandering people around her, all in black, eyeless suits. Even with this sight of concerning mindlessness, there was something equally disturbing about it all...

Ava didn't feel a thing, not even pity. Her body felt numb and relaxed after her senses came back to her, aside from her sore scalp and legs. She rose her hands to her field of vision, confirming she too was in this strange black suit, though something was rather odd with her; she felt crawling all over her body, it appearing as if something was trying to crawl out of the suit covering her arms to no avail. She had no time to be concerned about that. Her mind immediately went to work analyzing the situation.

None of the people currently present seemed to be in their right mind, like lost children. She was likely the only sensible one present as of now. There was a door, but it likely would have people on the other side... No way would they have a collection of people dressed the same, completely clueless, and not have people guarding them...

Her only option would be to break a wall down as quickly as possible... But she wasn't sure of how to accomplish such a thing in enough time to get out. She went to a space as furthest from the door as possible, pressing her ear against the wall and gently knocking on it. Didn't sound completely solid like she'd anticipate... A punch and a few kicks should break it open enough for her to squeeze through and have enough time to run. Chances were she was deep in some sort of building; she wouldn't be free yet.

She reeled a tightened fist back, bracing herself for some pain, slamming her fist against the wall. Yep, it definitely hurt. Barely even damaged the wall...

Welp... Time for a kick. Her thoughts were rather relaxed and matter-of-fact; anyone to poke at her thoughts would even think she was taking this a little too well.

She brought a leg back, hands secure on the wall, and gave it a good, hard kick. She didnt think the hole would be too big and more kicking would be needed, but the unexpected happened; the segment of wall before her easily weakened and crumbled, only needing one last punch for her to be able to get through. She pushed through and immediately got running, not giving her sudden tremendous kicking ability much thought; escaping was priority.

She felt a little faster, too- well, a little was an understatement. She was blitzing through the corridors, hardly breaking a sweat as she looked for the exit. There would definitely be people after her, but she could get through this place with ease if she paid attention to where she was going at this rate. Some wrong turns, people yelling towards her, and plenty of attempts at subduing her ensued, but a burst into the ventilation system and several hours of crawling around got her far closer to freedom than before.

She looked down from the shaft she managed to ascend to, seeing what she was sure was the exit, giving an account to four guys with big scary guns guarding the shit out of it. Welp, she has to leave, right? Snapping some necks is a bit of a chore, but not a giant obstacle.

A swift kick to the covering, dropping down, and a brief scuffle lead to her slowly turning the vault door, the rhythmic squeaking soon stopping as she shoved the door open. She didn't kill any of the guards behind her, merely knocked them unconscious. They weren't important to her in the slightest, there was only one person her mind took heed towards at the moment.

Ulv.

She had to find Ulv. Ulv was what mattered right now.

Commotion rose up behind her, echoings of yelling causing her body to lurch forward and then dashing off in search of the red-headed woman.