• Case # 593-72
    Name: Karyla "Key" Q. Nortan
    D.O.B.: October 14, 1990
    Age: 18
    Date: 6/11/09

    Karyla: Um....Do...Do I go now? *sound away from mic* Okay. Um...How do I start, just...just say my name and stuff? Alright. Um...Hi. I'm Key, I open doors. Heh, sorry, bad joke. I'm...I'm 18 and....and that's about it. I'm not really sure what you want to know.

    Doctor: Why don't you tell us about your life until now?

    Key: There's not much there to tell. Dad and mom weren't together, and even though dad was in the picture I wasn't allowed to see him a lot, and mom...mom was young, had prospects. Wanted to sing. She got what she wanted, and you know I'm glad of that. And somewhere in the middle I started seeing things, things that weren't supposed to be there. Nothing you don't know right? That's why I'm here, you guys think I'm crazy.

    Doctor: And you don't?

    Key: *Looking away* No. I know I'm crazy, I also know I'm not lying though. The things...everything was real. No...That's not right. I'm not stupid, I...I know none of that was real, I knew it as I was moving along with it, that doesn't change the fact it happened. Everything. They...It was real.

    Doctor: *sighing* Okay. How did it start? When was your first encounter with...

    Key: With the World? *laughs* "Oh man with his eyes shall never see what children dare to imagine." Don't know who said that, but they were right. We give up so much when we get older. You know that movie with the puppets? The japanese one where at the end of the triliogy after the little kid grows up he can't see the creatures any more? Yeah...after seeing that I couldn't help but be jealous. That kid actually got the choice to leave this s**t behind him. Um...right. My first encounter was when I was...I think five. It was with a Kitsune.

    Doctor: A fox.

    Key: *shaking her head* Not much into anime huh? I said Kitsune. There's a difference. A fox is just a fox. A kitsune is different. Mulitple tails, different colors, human appearance, shape shifting, magical powers that kind of thing. The one I saw was black with two white tails. It was cute. Never saw it again after that. Now that I think about it, I didn't see anything after the kit for a long time. Almost...almost two years before I set eyes on anything else.

    Doctor: How was life during the time between sightings?

    Key: You know, you doc types are too transparent. I know what you're getting at already. It wasn't different, wasn't better wasn't worst, was just...like it always was. I was ignored and left to fend for myself while moms made a career and dad...whatevered. Didn't get worst when...when I saw them again either. I saw the second thing while I was walking home from the library. It was a small little place, nothing in it. It was the hugest place I'd ever seen at seven, and I love it there. Was quiet. Not the bad quiet of an empty house, but comfortable like. When I leave, I'm defiantely going back there.

    Doctor: What did you see?

    Key: *silence* .....

    Doctor: What was it?

    Key: You ever see an angel? A picture of one?

    Doctor: So it was an angel?

    Key: *chuckling* Don't be stupid, that thing wasn't anything close, it was just to make a comparison. Good to evil ya know? The thing...the not angel was...Wrong.

    Doctor: Wrong how?

    Key: *glaring* There wasn't a 'how' it was just wrong. Too pretty, too vicious. It was tall. I remember that. And had wings...they were shining a bit and white stained a black red, like dried blood. It might have been, he smelt of it, reeked of the stuff. But...but he was so soft. His hair was the same color hanging down his back to the ground. Even at seven I couldn't help blushing. Heh. My first crush right? So weird. He was wrong though, and it scared me. Not because he was wrong, but because I liked him. Liked the wrongness. That's a scary feeling.

    Doctor: What happened?

    Key: *blinking* Happened? He...saw me. There was a moment where he wasn't really sure if I was really looking at him, then he smiled and waved a bit. I waved back, and that was it.

    Doctor: He left?

    Key: No. He came over and talked to me. His name was Jericho. I remember thinking, maybe he is an angel. It wasn't till later I read Paradise lost, found a new name for what Jericho was.

    Doctor: What Name?

    Key: *smiling softly* They were The Fallen.

    Doctor: *writing* So what happened with Jericho?

    Key: Jericho...was my best friend after that. Helped me a lot as I saw more and more of the World. Told me what some of the creatures were. Even gave me a lion boy on my birthday.

    Doctor: Lion boy?

    Key: Yeah. They're like...like puppies, but not....Um...think of a little golden skinned boy with a long black or blond hair and a tail and paws, that's a lion boy. Of course he didn't have a mane when Jericho gave him to me, he was just a litte guy. So cute like a kitten. Wouldn't stop chewing on the ribbon that was around his neck. I even named him. He was Ringo, my little apple.

    Doctor: And what happened to Ringo?

    Key: *ignoring the question* Jericho was always sweet like that, the wrongness didn't disappear, but...but that was okay. I started to notice that I wasn't normal either, so it was okay. It was just me, Jericho, and our Ringo. We were happy.

    Doctor: Were?

    Key: *nodding and sighing* Were, that ended pretty quickly as the World started to....to really come into being for me. Jericho wasn't always there, and there were so many things out there. Worst than even the Fallen. Things that hid in the dark and waited for me to be alone. They always came in the dark. I don't sleep anymore. I can't.

    Doctor: Karyla you said yourself that you knew these things weren't real, why be afraid of them?

    Key: You know that saying 'nothing to fear, but fear itself'? I know what it's supposed to mean, fear is irrational and it's just something that makes no sense. But if you look closer it has a deeper meaning, be afraid of fear because it can hurt you. Even though fear is only a concept, it can cause you pain. Just because something isn't real, doesn't mean it won't take pleasure in making you scream.

    Doctor: *firmer this time* Karyla what happened to Ringo?

    Key: *staring out blankly* You know Jericho, despite everything was a jealous bugger. He was the one who taught me to hide the fact I could see all of them, told me to ignore them when they touched me or other people, told me not to notice them. There was some lie attached to it. Something about being dragged away like in the old fairytales, but really it was because he didn't want them around me. I was his pet, no one elses. I was his 'friend' and he didn't share.

    Doctor: What happened to Ringo?

    Key: *smiling* I loved Ringo. He was such a cutie. Loved dressing him up and petting him. He was a cuddler. Jericho insisted that Lion boys needed to be trained. They weren't supposed to do those sorts of things, were supposed to be mindless slaves. I couldn't do that to Ringo. He was too much like a puppy for that sort of thing. You should've seen him when he climbed into my mom's make up kit. Came out with white and red smears all in his fur, even after a bath he still had white stains all over. Took weeks for those to fade. I thought it was funny. Jericho...Jericho hit him. It shook me up a bit and I screamed at me. He didn't do it again. Not in front of me anyway.

    Doctor: *placing a hand on hers* What happened to him? What happened to Ringo?

    Key: Jericho ate him.

    *silence*

    Key: *looking at her hands* He....He didn't let me see. We were at the lake, and Ringo had gone in too far. I'd...I'd tried to go after him and almost drowned. Jericho saved me. He was the first thing I saw when I woke up, he was smiling at me. The first thing I asked when my eyes were opened was 'Hey Jericho, where's Ri-chan?' He was furious. There wasn't a sign of it on his face, but he was. A week after the incident, I was playing hide and seek with Ringo and when I went to look for him I saw it. Saw Jericho...saw him tear into him. It was like watching a hawk eat a rabbit. He screamed. I remember that. Ringo screamed, not like a child but...but like a tortured animal. It was horrible.

    *silence*

    Key:.....*swallowing* I...forgot about it. When Jericho came to me later that day I asked him where Ri-chan was and he...he said that the little lion had run away. We looked for hours. Both knowing that we weren't going to find anything, well...that's not right we did find something.

    Doctor: *clearing his throat* What?

    Key: His ribbon. *pulls down the collar of her shirt, flashing a purple bow tied around her neck* I keep it. It's made of silk I think or velvet. *running her fingers over it* My mom says I got it from my dad, I asked him once, before they left me here if that was true. He said it wasn't and she probably forgot she gave it to me. That's most likely. Probably what really happened.

    Doctor: So you think Ringo was just a pet that you projected the image of a...'lion boy' unto? and this 'Jericho' was just an imaginary friend.

    Key: *shaking her head* No. We lived in an apartment, and mom had allergies. Never had a pet in my life.