Prologue

I awoke to blissful nothing.

No pain.

No sound.

No light.

No thought.

Three heavenly moments of nothing.

Then :They: turned on the lights. The few memories I had remaining trickled back into my mind.

The voice of my mother, "Izar, beautiful boy... oh, oh, what bright stars shine when our lights are all put out."

The hands of my sister, tenderly brushing the dirt from my scraped knee.

The smell of cherry blossoms.

The taste of blood in my mouth.

The touch of fingers tracing patterns just below my neck.

Five memories.

No, that wasn't right. I remembered THEM...