Hello One Piece Readers, thank you for clicking on this fic for if you decided to fav and watch this fic for future chapters, you will not be disappointed!
Just to let all readers know, this fic is written by both me and another person on FanFiction, StrawHatChick. I write the rough rough draft and I send it to her and she rereads it and then corrects it. I bet there are people out there that can say that StrawHatChick is a Beta Reader but for me and for this project, she is both my co-author and my Beta Reader. So if I get reviews about something like that, send me a PM so that we can talk about it like civilized citizens.
Because of that, the time on how and when we update this fic will vary, depending on my work schedule and my schedule with my other fics and StrawHatChick's schedule with school, and her fic schedule (I am not sure if she works, but I don't believe so. I will double check with her).
Second thing you should know, this fic has an OC in it. If you do not like OC fic's then this is not the fic for you. If you read it and review a flame, then I shall delete it but not before I send you a PM, it being nasty or not depends on the flames, thank-you.
VIEWER DISCRETATION IS ADVISED FOR THIS CHAPTER DUE TO REFERECES AND WRITTEN SECTIONS OF BLOOD AND SLIGHT GORE.
ONE PIECE IS NOT OWNED BY EITHER ME OR STRAWHATCHICK, WE WRITE THIS FIC FOR OUR ENJOYMENT AS WELL AS YOURS. HAVE A NICE DAY
She remembered as clear as day how soft and gentle the serene wind had been before the world fell into the dark night's clutches. It had been soothing; and had made her have a sense of calm in her heavy heart. But now, that very wind had turned into a howling monster. It was rattling her thin windows and making her shiver from the freezing, frigid air.
Winter was coming soon, after all. And the frightening storm outside didn't help either.
She curled up in her comforter, snuggling into her pillow, trying to make the voices go away. The howling made her creaky floorboards groan and it only made her even more on edge. The voices were still in her head, some high-pitched, some at a soprano, some at a deep, smooth alto. But some were screeching and screaming shrilly into her head.
All the voices were blending together in a mass of unidentifiable sound. She couldn't tell which was which, her mind a bundle of confused nerves.
The vulgar words and snarls that vibrated in her skull made her want to curl herself even tighter than she already was, in her feeble attempts to drown out the storm; both the one outside and the one pounding in her head.
"You're all alone! Nobody's there for you! You've got no family! You don't deserve to be in this world!"
"You're nothing but trash!"
"Sibling? Who'd ever want to be related to something like you?"
Mean laughter danced around in her head, making the pounding worse.
A dazzling white streak tore through the overcast sky, casting an unearthly glow on everything beneath it. The shadows and dark corners were made to look more menacing, every tree looked like it had arching claws, every streetlight looked like it was from some gothic home. The thunder roared overhead, making her jump slightly.
The voices were getting scarier and were growing oh, so more louder.
And suddenly the thunder stopped roaring and thrashing. Everything went silent. It seemed as if the calm had come after the storm instead of before.
A bright, white noise filled her head. The voices had stopped too. Nothing could be heard through the silent, still house.
But she knew better. Her small, delicately shaped ears could pick up the tiniest of sounds. And in this case, it was the sound of heaving sighs and sobbing.
She heard a door slam roughly, and loud and pained muttering was heard in the silent house. The muttering and shameless cursing grew faint as footsteps were heard walking away.
The silence was there again, enveloping her. The lantern flickered but kept burning its light in the room, but its light was anything but comforting for the little girl.
She felt something whispering to her to open the door and walk to the kitchen. There was a burning need in her, it gnawed away at her. She tried to make it go away, but failed.
Slowly, she uncurled herself from her blankets as a violent shiver ran up her spine. She didn't know if it was from the cold or the fear.
All was quiet in the darkness beyond her bedroom door. She creaked her door open softly, being careful not to make a single sound. The lamp lights flickered desolately as she took small footsteps down the dark Mahogany stairs.
She reached the bottom, and her shocking violet eyes scanned the scene before her. Two of the chairs that were used for dining were broken and one was in need of serious repair. Some of the cabinet covers were barely hanging on their rusty hinges while others had been ripped off by pure brute strength and were now strewn across the floor.
And sitting at the table on the only chair that wasn't broken or seriously damaged, illuminated by a lantern that flickered on for dear life, was the broken shape of her mother, sobbing so softly that one could mistake the sounds she was making as breathing. She was hunched in on herself, and her hands covered her eyes.
She felt herself stiffen as the scene before her before she made her way quietly over to the table and placed her hand over her mother's that was lying limply on the table. The hand flinched slightly, but it didn't move.
"Mommy's hurting? Mommy hurts? What can I do to make the hurting go away? Mommy?" she asked, pushing her mother's auburn hair out of her face, revealing blossoming bruises on her pale, slim face.
Her mother moved her hand from out of under hers and softly pushed her back.
"Mommy?" she asked again, confused.
PLIP….PLIP….PLIP…..
Her eyes widened into enormous grey orbs as she saw crimson red blood drip steadily from her mother's mouth, making bright red spots on her pale dress. The red liquid had a stark contrast with the fabric, and made it oh, so clear that it was fresh blood.
Her mother lunged forward and coughed violently, this time the blood was now coming out as small rivers from her mouth, making a small pool of it at her feet. It soaked into the floorboards, making them turn into a reddish, burgundy color that made her recoil in fear.
She couldn't think. Or feel. Or see.
Her mother wasn't acting right today. Was it because of the funny drink under the kitchen sink?
She was frozen to the spot as her mother fell to the floor, twisting and twitching as her joints popped. Her skin fell away to reveal black hair that covered her body as her eyes went wide and red. Her beautiful, pearly teeth turned into sharp fangs that craved for human blood. Her slim fingers morphed into long, bony claws that scratched against the wooden floorboards.
"Arabella? Arabella?"
A terrible scream erupted from her mother's lips, breaking Kokoa out of her trance as she ran up the stairs and away from the monster. She was at the top of the stairs and she heard long nails shuffling along the floor.
It was coming after her.
She ran down the hall into her room and slammed the door closed, immediately realizing that she had just cornered herself.
The monster threw its weight against the door, making growls as it flung the door open, the white wood splinters scattering about the room. She was flung across the room from the impact, and she landed on the hard floor in a heap.
She raised her head off the floor in time to see the monster enter the room and stalk easily towards her, saliva and foam oozing from the mouth.
She felt her eyes water as she began to cry silently as the monster crouched, ready to pounce.
Her heart was thumping loudly in her ears, the blood rushing to her head as she panicked. There was nothing she could to do save herself.
It leaped into the air towards her as she closed her eyes and accepted her fate.
She could feel everything happening slowdown in time. She saw her dark strands of hair floating in the rushed air, the glint in the monster's bloodthirsty eyes, the slowed-down gasp that escaped her lips. Her heartbeat seemed to slow down as it thumped slow, steady and loud in her ears.
She felt the faintest scratch of teeth against her shoulder, breaking skin and drawing blood. It sank deeper and deeper until-
"Arabella! WAKE UP!" bellowed a high, feminine voice, making her jump out of bed and onto the hardwood floor.
"About time you got up!" said the voice, annoyed.
She began to blink the sleep out of her eyes, attempting to adjust the light that was flooding her room, "Get downstairs, it's time for breakfast and then after that we have a long day ahead of us. The storm did some damage to the house and to the garden, we have to clean it up if we want to eat tonight!"
The voice slammed the door as Arabella looked around. She was in her room, in her house. There had been a storm last night, with wind that howled like a banshee outside.
No monster.
No red eyes.
No voices.
No bleeding shoulders.
And she wasn't dead.
Her slender shoulders sagged in relief.
She breathed in deeply and let it out a loud WHOOSH. It had all been a dream. A really scary dream, made all the more vivid with a real storm thundering outside her window.
There was no monster, it had all been just a dream…
Right?
OK then, the first chapter is done and I hope you all enjoyed that. Please review and tell me what you think of it, till next time!
-Long Live the Will of D from CyberAngelAlexis and StrawHatChick