Digimon Adventure Chronicles II: Secrets Revealed

...chapter NINETEEN – The Thing Which I Most Want To Forget

“Hey, it's you again.” Yamato stated as Vamdemon entered the house and put down his belongings beside the door. “I forgot you were due here tonight. Want to jam?”

“Hmm?” Vamdemon muttered absently and stared around. “No thanks, I don't really feel up to it.”

“What's wrong, are you sick?” Yamato asked and walked down the hallway by his side.

“Not sick, per say.” Vamdemon shrugged. “Just miserable.”

“I know that feeling.” Yamato muttered as they spilled into the living room, where Takeru, Gabumon, Angemon, and their mother, Natsuko, were sitting with pizza on the table and movie playing on the television.

“No, Mom.” Takeru said and glanced at the woman, who was on the edge of her seat and about to stand up. “He won't even explain things to us, so he definitely won't tell you.”

“But...it would be such a great story!” She said sadly, eyes glued on a confused Vamdemon.

“And one you wouldn't even be able to publish. We kind of want him to remain a secret to the citizens right now.”

“Right.” She muttered and relaxed back into the couch. Angemon stood from Takeru's side and patted Yamato on the shoulder as he shuffled past and pulled Vamdemon into the kitchen. Takeru's eyes followed the jealously as Yamato sat in Angemon's spot beside the boy.

“What are they eating?” Vamdemon wondered and poked at the stuff in the box, causing grease to ooze from the cheese and onto the cardboard below the food.

“Pizza. Its the thing you said you didn't like at the fair. Remember? So I made us seafood, since you happily ate my tuna that day.”

“Us?”

“I'm not a fan of that pizza concoction either.” Angemon admitted and spooned a large amount of the fish into a bowl. He retrieved two forks and pulled Vamdemon back to the living room, where he sat on a relatively small chair and pulled him down beside him.

For a moment Vamdemon was stunned at the proximity, but quickly relaxed against the soft wings and dug into the bowl before him. Takeru continued to stare.

The movie was another musical, and was full of murder and death, which left a sour taste in Vamdemon's very being upon its conclusion. Takeru and Natsuko had gone to bed when it ended, and Gabumon had fallen asleep on the couch, leaving Yamato, Angemon, and Vamdemon awake in the kitchen.

“You don't look so good.” Angemon commented from the sink, where he was washing the plates the greasy pizza had dirtied.

“That's what I had said.” Yamato said. “He's just having one of those days, you know?”

“I see.” Angemon said slowly and turned his head slightly. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.” Vamdemon said with detachment. “I've already tried that; it didn't work.”

“Try again.” Yamato interjected from his spot across from him. “Angemon is really good at making people feel better.”

“So I've heard.” Vamdemon said quietly. “But I think this is something I need to get through on my own...”

“I gotcha.” Yamato said through a yawn. “Well, good luck then, hope it ends up okay. I'm going to bed.”

“Night.” Angemon said and yawned himself. After a few more minutes he shut off the water in the sink. “I am going to bed as well, and so should you.” He directed at Vamdemon.

“Where am I sleeping?” He asked.

“In the room next to mine and Takeru's. Over there.” He pointed down the hall beside the kitchen. Vamdemon nodded, leaving the angel and entering the room. He laid upon the bed and fell asleep only to be plagued by one of his worst nightmare and memory.

It had been a good day until blood was shed. The weather was nice and there were no clouds in the sky. It was a perfect day, just like the one that had brought the group of children scattered on the ground to the digital world to begin with.

A girl with red hair and a boy with ruffled, spiky brown hair were sitting together in an area with no trees and abundance of sunlight. A few feet away were two more boys. One had messy brown hair and the other had green locks that spilled over a head band. Further still, leaning against a tree, was a boy with pure white hair and clear blue eyes, which thick glasses were worn over.

Their digimon were also scattered about and were not necessarily by their partners. A small green child level creature with an orange fin was laying in a puddle, blissfully soaking up the water. A short distance away, up in the trees, was an ultimate level wooden creature hanging from the branches by red strings. Standing beside the white haired boy was an ultimate level masked clown, who was glancing sideways at the odd boy with contempt. Hidden in the shadows were two digimon, one perfect, one ultimate. One was female, and was covered in black and purple. The other was male and wore a navy blue outfit. She seemed to be waiting for something while he was mostly at ease.

The peace remained for a long time, but was broken purposely and out of malice. For the longest time the albino boy was a burden to the other children. He had trouble staying out in the sun, because he burned so easily, and had had no digimon partner of his own to protect him for the longest time early on in the adventure. He relied on the powers of the others, and was unable to contribute very much to their well being. When he did locate his partner, he instantly gained power, but with no effort, and for that the other children grew bitter. Revenge was exacted, even if they all hadn't agreed to do so.

It started with an action that was seen as accidental. The clown bumped into the boy and knocked away his glasses, rendering him near blind.. An apology was uttered, and the boy was led forward into the sun, to a place where the thick spectacles supposedly fell...

...sos...

His vision was even worse in the sunlight, so he never noticed the glint of the dagger before it was drawn across his stomach. The line was long, but not so deep. Light as it was, the scent of blood alerted his partner, who was restrained instantly by the woman before he figured out what was going on. The bearers of darkness screamed.

Vamdemon woke suddenly with a jerk and a scream. He knew he was awake, and yet the memory and nightmare played on, consuming his being and clouding his mind. He didn't want to see it again; the vision that haunted him nearly each night and slowly drove him mad. Nothing he tried to stop it worked. Now the only solution that seemed effective was the nonexistance that he feared the most. Scared as he was, it must be better than seeing the thing he most wanted to forget over and over again, and unable to change it. He thought momentarily of going into the next room, of waking the inhabitants, but decided they would not pay him heed, and instead, hurried out of the bed, throwing off the covers and pulling off his clothes, not wanting to soil them with what he was about to do. Quickly and quietly he entered the hallway and then the kitchen, searching through the draw for the sharpest blade he could find and falling to the floor where he drew it across his abdomen without hesitation or a utterance of pain.

Takeru and Angemon jumped at the sound of a scream from the next room. The boy groaned and turned in place to face the wall. Angemon removed himself from the bed and wiped the sleep from his eyes, wondering where in the house the voice had come from..

...sos...

Next the clown created a deep gash across the boy's left leg, and then across the right, ripping clothing and flesh, and spilling more blood. The boy dropped to the ground in pain while the puppet attempted to reach him. It too was restrained, by its brown haired partner and the green haired boy.

Vamdemon reached downwards and emulated the wounds on the two legs, making them perhaps deeper than what had been done to his partner so long ago. The smell of blood grew thick in the air, invading his senses and throwing him into even greater a frenzy. He ripped away the bindings on his left arm so that it hung painfully without support.

Angemon heard a sound outside the room and grew uneasy. Yamato usually didn't stay over, so he wouldn't get up in the middle of the night for anything, and Natsuko had to wake early for work, so that left...

...sos...

The girl and boy that sat together held a wicked gleam in their eyes as the clown continued to slash away. A deep wound was made on the left arm, from the shoulder down the forearm and then on the wrist of the same side. The boy struggled to free himself, but he was too weak against the grip of an ultimate level digimon and only caused himself more injury. The dagger returned to his stomach and created a line running from the bottom left up to the top right. Then on the right arm...then across the left hand.

He thrust the knife into his exposed shoulder and down his arm, then quickly across his left wrist. He ran the next stomach wound over the first then contorted his arm so that he could slice into the right shoulder. He let out a breath of pain and pulled the blade across the backhand of his left.

Angemon opened the door and ventured into the hallway. He was immediately bombarded with the smell of blood, which hung thicker still in the air. He shuffled further down and gazed into the kitchen, and froze in place, staring with horror at the pool of blood that was forming below Vamdemon's body. The shock wore off and he lunged forwards.

...sos...

The bloody dagger rose high into the air and glistened dangerously in the light. The boy's partner was pleading, calling out to the him with a voice full of desperation. The words were mocked and the knife was plunged downwards into the boy's chest. It was drawn out quickly and violently inserted into the boy's throat a number of times. His partner continued to scream as the boy was dropped and the clown backed away to view his handiwork.

Vamdemon rose the blade into the air. He stared up at it with a strange peace, not noticing a pair of blue eyes reflected in the blood that coated the metal. As he tried to bring it down his arm was jerked backwards by a powerful hand wrapped tightly around his frail wrist. He pulled violently a number of times in an attempt to break free, but the holder's grip was too strong. He screamed as the blade was wrenched out of his hand and a pair of powerful arms drew him close.

...sos...

The withheld digimon, released now that the act was complete, ran forward and threw his arms tearfully around the bloody body of the boy. For minutes he sobbed uncontrollably as the boy died in his arms. He screamed once more as he was pushed away by the killer and the pain was turned upon him and the scene faded into to darkness.

Vamdemon threw his arms around the figure and sobbed without control, now fully awake and aware that the horrible vision had stopped. Blood seeped from his wounds and onto the white feathers, staining them crimson, but neither of them seemed to take notice. They remained wrapped in one another's embrace for what seemed like hours.

Yamato entered the room with intentions of having a midnight snack. After pressing a switch on the wall, the lights flickered on, causing him to recoil at the sight before him. Vamdemon had calmed down greatly by now. He breathed deeply and no longer cried, but appeared incredibly pale. Yamato stepped back out quickly, returning with a number of towels with which to mop up the growing pool of blood.

“I need to take you to a hospital...” Angemon whispered with a wavering voice.

“No...” Vamdemon said weakly, voice hoarse.

“You need treatment for these wounds!” Angemon argued, regaining sureness of his actions and putting authority into his words.

“They probably wouldn't do it...” Yamato said quietly. “As far as the government is concerned, he doesn't exist. No job, no insurance, no records... I think the best thing to do would be to wrap the cuts and bring him to Jyou...”

“No...” Vamdemon said, now slightly louder. “Don't bother him at this hour...”

“I can't just leave you to die.” Angemon said harshly.

Vamdemon turned his gaze upwards and stared into his eyes. “Why not?”

“Why not?” Angemon repeated incredulously and stared back at him. “Don't be stupid. You are a living being, aren't you? You obviously feel emotion and remorse... I can't let you hurt yourself and fade away.”

Vamdemon said nothing more as he was lifted up and quickly moved to the bathroom. Angemon placed him in the tub and removed his own bloody clothes before climbing in behind him. He reached forwards and turned on the tap so that a light flow of cold water came through the shower head. The mess began to be washed away.

He worked quietly, starting from the top of Vamdemon's body and moving downwards, watching dismally as fresh blood promptly replaced the old in the space between the flesh, though the flow was slowed slightly by the numbing water temperature. Yamato stepped inside the room momentarily, gaze averted, with material and gauze to wrap the wounds.

Flush, scrub, wrap. The process was repeated without event until he reached the lowest wound on Vamdemon's stomach. Angemon tried to access the area, but was prevented when Vamdemon leaned forward and emitted a whimper of fear.

“What are...Myotismon I need to...” He tried again to reach, attempting to pull Vamdemon backwards, but this time words were spoken in a language he didn't understand, though were recognized from the film the children had watched a few days ago. He didn't know the meaning, but it sounded something akin to pleading...

“I don't understand...” He said with confusion and peered at where he was trying to access. “Unless...” He paused and let out a pained sigh. “I understand...that you are upset, and perhaps fearful...but I need access down there. I won't hurt you, I promise. You know how important that is to me...”

Vamdemon hesitantly leaned back. As Angemon cleaned he noted he was crying again. He worked quickly to prevent further discomfort, and it took another fifteen minutes to purge the rest of the wounds of old blood and attempt to stop the leakage.

Angemon lifted the body once more and dried off the remaining water before carrying him back to his bed. He didn't bother clothing him so that he could monitor the gauze for over saturation. He stood in front of him for a few moments, wondering with desperation what he should do. He appeared stable...and he too didn't want to bother Jyou unless it was absolutely necessary... With a torn mind, he climbed into the bed alongside Vamdemon and wrapped damp wings around his body.

“What are you doing?” He was asked fearfully.

“Watching over you. I will make sure you don't hurt yourself again. That was stemmed from one of those damned nightmares you have, wasn't it. The time you slept against me you seemed to have none, so this is the only way to keep you safe. Do you understand, Myotismon? I am doing this to help you, not hurt you.”

“Yes...”

“Then relax...and sleep. Tomorrow morning we will see Jyou so you can get better.”

Vamdemon nodded slightly, though he had no desire to see the blue haired boy, or any of the other children for that matter. He wished he could just fade away, like the nightmare had when Angemon approached him...