Memories of Tomorrow by Kit ([email protected]) Chapter 2 Monday, April 4, 2000 Sera Pavora stood in the airport terminal, looking about cautiously. It'd been so long since she'd been anywhere outside the dark walls of Greenwich, that she'd nearly forgotten about the bubble of life. Greenwich was such a place of sorrow, with no laughter or enjoyment of life in general, that happiness seemed unwelcome to her timid heart. She brushed a strand of her deep auburn hair away from her pale face and looked around once again for her mother. Sera remembered the conversation she'd had on the phone with her just a day earlier. She remembered her mother's groggy, yet somewhat happy, voice telling her, "Now, Sera, I have a little favor to ask you..." "What's that, Mom?" Sera inquired, not as interested as she wished she had been. "We're going to go on a little trip a few days after you come here. Remember, I now am a manager for a famous group, and my life gets a little hectic. But, since this is required, and I want to spend as much time with you as possible, you're going to come along and be abel to see many wonderous sights." "Wow," was all she could mutter. Sera's enthusiastic spirit had faded along with her sense of humor, her happiness, and her love back in the cold cement of the prison she'd come to call home. Sera was nothing but a body, limp and uncared for, with no soul, so it seemed. Deep down, she was enthralled to be going on this trip, to be able to spend more time with her mother, but somehow her voice and face couldn't express it the way she wanted. Her features seemed to be permantly plastered into a grim expression of an elderly woman. "Sera?" a familar voice floated into Sera's wandering mind. She turned slightly to come face to face with her evervescant mother. "Oh, Sera!" her mother cried, embracing her warmly. Sera felt her mother's warm, happy tears fall onto her shoulder and she even felt them well up in her. But, they never came. "Oh, Mom, I missed you," Sera was finally able to say. Susan held her daughter back at arm's length and took a good, long look at her. "Wow, you've sure changed." She brushed a short strand of hair off of Sera's forehead and took her in even closer. She seemed so thin and frail, as if she might break any moment. 'I suppose that's what jail does to you,' Susan told herself. 'But, those beautiful, twinkling blue eyes of hers are still the same...almost.' Susan looked deeper. There was a difference. There was pain hidden in her eyes. "Oh, if I only knew what happened that night," she sighed to herself. "What?" Sera asked. "Oh, nothing, pumpkin," Susan replied, taking a gentle arm about her shoulders. "Let's get you luggage and go home." 'Home,' Sera thought, shuddering. 'Home is where it all began...' After piling into the car, Sera felt something approaching her turmoiled mind. She tried pushing it away, but it drove on through her head like a bullet. "Sera, I thought I told you not to see him ever again!" the deep voice grumbled angrily. "I'm sorry, Daddy, I'm sorry," she said, fearful of what was going to happen. Her father loomed over her, swaggering from the alcohol consumtion. "No more, Sera. Never again, I swear..." He loomed closer and pulled off his belt. "No, Daddy, please!" Sera whimpered timidly. "Silence!" he roared, slapping her with the leather. He removed his pants. "TIme for a punishment that you've been deserving for a very long time..." "NO!" Sera screamed. "What? What is it, dear?" Susan asked, worriedly, practically slamming on the brakes. Sera took in a deep breath and said, "Nothing, Mom, just thought you were going to hit that dog for a minute there." Susan looked at the road, and saw nothing. She looked back in Sera's direction and swore to herself that she would to dig into Sera's mind to discover what had happened so very long ago, no matter what it took... ****** "He shoots...he SCORES!" Brian yelled, cheering for himself after making a great shot. He did a little dance to make Nick more jealous and then said, "Nuttin but net, baby." Nick stuck his tongue out at him and snatched the bouncing ball. Suddenly, the crunching of gravel was heard and both boys turned to see Susan's blue suburban pulling up into the long driveway of the building. The driver's side opened and Susan stepped out, removing her sunglasses. She smiled warmly and glanced over as a girl stepped out from the other side. Brian and Nick looked at each other and both knew that it was Susan's daughter. Brian approached Susan tenderly, and she whispered to him, "Go on in and get the others." Brian nodded and headed inside, leaving Nick alone, standing awkwardly on the pavement in front of the two women. Susan's eyes pushed him to greet her daughter and when she realized that neither of them would do it, she cordially introduced them. Stepping around the car, she said, "Sera, this is Nick Carter. Nick, my daughter Sera." Sera's hand extended hesitantly and Nick wrapped his around it, shaking it gently. "Nice to meet you," he told her, smiling. Inside, he was wondering if her crime-filled past was still thriving. 'Stop scaring yourself, Nick,' he told himself. 'If she had been that bad, she wouldn't be out now.' Sera pulled her hand away and forced a weary smile, then edged around to the trunk. Susan leaned towards Nick and told him, "I know she seems a bit icy, but five years in a prison can make you a different person." Nick simply nodded and bounced the ball a little. The other four guys soon emerged from the house and all came to greet Sera. Although they were all very sweet toward her, Sera could not open up beyond a mere and timid smile. Especially, when she feared men the way she did. "Come on, honey, let's take your stuff inside, shall we?" Susan said, snatching up a bag and going in the house. Sera bent to pick one up at the same time as another of the guy's she'd just met. Her head clashed roughly against Aj's and they both muttered a soft 'ow!' Sera and Aj both looked up at their opposite and their eyes locked. Suddenly, something happened. An unwilling feeling seeped into both their souls and they each locked onto the others' heart. Sera felt a surge of some unimaginable force that she'd never felt in her entire life, and Aj felt exactly the same. He brushed her hand softly and she pulled it back quickly, and the feeling faded as fast as it had arrived. But, the memory of it still lingered on both of their minds. Appalled, Sera turned to another bag and lifted it slowly, then made her way into the house. -FanFics -Home