Brain surfing

[Raven]

Kailen actually put his hands down. "Yeah, before you ran away and left me for nine years, Stephanie. Before you clearly stopped caring even a little bit. Everything else I could deal with, but even when we were alone, you couldn't have cared less. That's why I'm doing this." Kailen yanked on the next plank, ripping it too from the wall.

[Gifted]

He got the final plank off. "Stop! Kailen!"

[Raven]

"And you didn't even wonder why it is I can't move on, Steph. I'm real glad you've done good for yourself, and if I thought you really were happy, I'd be happy for you. But I still think I'd do this. Because you're right, I'm still clinging to a brief couple months from nine years ago. I'm not throwing all this hard work away just because you yelled at me some more." Kailen threw the door open.

[Gifted]

On the ground in the middle of the dark room lay the shape of a young girl. Stephanie. Not the Stephanie he knew now bu the girl at fifteen, when they'd met and become close friends. Still young, wearing one of those childish t-shirts she'd always liked, with her hair in its usual style, held together by two hair-ties and wearing no makeup. Just like he remembered her.
But the older Stephanie hadn't been kidding when she'd said he didn't want to see what was back here.
She looked like he'd been tortured. There was rope burn around her wrists and her arms were rubbed raw and soaked in blood. Her clothes were ripped and in matters and underneath was bloody too. She was clearly in no state to be trying to get up. She lay on her side on top of an old DDR mat and her song was playing in the room. It was going from a large, broken flatscreen TV with a controller stuck in it, that nevertheless managed to show the end of a DDR game, on a level the game defined as 'Impossible'. "Congratulations! You Win!" Flashed over and over on the screen while the song continued to play.

[Raven]

Kailen looked horrified for a moment and quickly went to get Stephanie up. "Steph?" Kailen asked, trying to sit her up.

[Gifted]

He managed to pull her up, but it still took a few moments after suporting herto get her to open hereyes. Her voice was scratchy and weak, and she seemed confused when she spoke. "Wha...? Who's... who's there?"

[Raven]

Kailen supported her as best he could, not wanting her to put any weight where it might hurt her, though he guessed probably everywhere hurt her. "It's me, Steph, it's Kailen. I've got you."

[Gifted]

Stephanie's reaction was the opposite of what he was excepting. Her eyes grew wide and she pushed him away, getting uncertainly to her feet and backing away. "N-no... Stay away from me... don't come any closer!" She was quite visibly shaking.

[Raven]

"What? Stephanie, I won't hurt you. I'm here to help..." She was scared of him? Why?

[Gifted]

"Please.. Leave me alone! Stay away!" Stephanie wrenched open a door and fled down a hallway.
"I told you." Older Stephanie was back again. "There's no point in pursuing her. You're the last person she'll listen too."

[Raven]

"Why won't she listen to me?" Kailen asked, desperately.

[Gifted]

"Let's just say if you wander around enough, you might find yourself in here, too." Now that the door was open, and older Stephanie was reconnected to this part of her mind, even she seemed a tad wary of him.

[Raven]

"But you haven't seen me in nine years," Kailen objected. "Why would she be afraid of me?"

[Gifted]

"She killed your mother, why do you think?" Stephanie sighed. "Neither of us want anything to do with you." She disappeared again.

[Raven]

"But she didn't," Kailen objected, and went after younger Stephanie.