Mizuki Tsukiakari woke up in a surreal state. That place where you know your awake, but it feels as though your still dreaming. A book fell off the brunette's stomach, erasing the last cobwebs of sleep from her mind. Romeo and Juliet lay front up on the ground.
"I must have fallen asleep." She mumbled to herself, moving her tired body away from the comforts of her bed. Fragments of a dream still played in her mind, an arrow flying through the air, a silver haired boy, a shining jewel. Although the more she thought about it, the further away it got.
"Mizuki!" Kagome yelled, almost colliding with her adoptive sister. "Oh, good. You are awake." Mizuki smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her neck.
"Sorry, I stayed up late." She had been studying for an essay on Shakespearean plays for a Drama class. Mizuki specialized in those sorts of subjects; Art, Drama and Music.
"And that is why you don't leave things to the last minute." Kagome teased and walked back the way she came. "You'd better hurry up, or we're going to be late!" The tall girl called over her shoulder.
Mizuki sighed and got changed quickly into her school uniform. She tugged the high skirt down uncomfortable. 'Nope,' She thought. 'Still not liking these skirts.'
She ran down the stairs and picked up her blue duffle bag from the hallway, where she had carelessly left it. "Morning." She chirped, greeting the rest of her adoptive family. The Higurashi's were kind enough to take her in, after her mother had gotten ill. Mizuki never knew her father, and as far as she knew her mother wanted nothing to do with him. That was a good enough reason for Mizuki to not try to find him.
"Good Morning." Mama Higurashi greeted warmly and passed her an apple. "Eat it on the go. Kagome and Souta are outside waiting."
"Right." Mizuki smiled at the older women and skipped outside, calling a farewell over her shoulder.
She winced, blinded at the brightness of the day, but saw Kagome and Souta, her younger brother, standing outside the well house. "Hey Kagome! Happy Birthday!"
"Now you remember?" Kagome laughed. "Thanks."
"Mizuki, can you help us get Buyo?" Souta asked, holding out a porcelain bowl. The golden eyed girl eyed the bowl of cat food and looked at the well, sighing slightly and taking it from Souta.
"Fine." She mumbled and walked inside of the old well house. Feeble looking stairs led down to the well, Mizuki had always thought that if you threw something in and wished hard enough it would come true. Unfortunately for her, and her dream of flying, that was not the case. "We really need better lighting in here."
" Souta why don't you go down" Kagome said kneeling at the top of the staircase. Souta looked panicked for a moment.
" W-why do I gotta be the one who goes down there" he replied
Mizuki laughed slightly. "Well, you are the one looking for him, after all." She took the first step down into the well, before freezing when she heard scratching coming from the darkness.
" There's something down there "Souta yelled
" Yeah, the cat" Kagome muttered, the obvious undertone: 'Duh'. She stood and began her decent downstairs before letting out a shriek.
"Kagome!" Mizuki cried, hitting the back of her friends head. "Don't do that!"
Souta let out a shout and fell on the ground. "Buyo?" He realised. "You make of me, 'cause I'm scared then you're all like 'AHH!" He mocked, Kagome huffed and turned around, holding the calico cat in her arms.
"Look who'se talking, Mr. 'Why do I have to go.'" She fired back. Mizuki rolled her eyes at the siblings' argument.
"Alright, guys." Mizuki started and opened her mouth to continue when a ghostly light came from the well. "What the-"
The wooden boards covering the well splintered as arms emerged from the well. Mizuki lunged for Kagome, grabbing a hold of the front of her top.
"I've got you, Kagome." She yelled, attempting to tug her away. But the hands had already grasped her and pulled her into the well. Mizuki tumbled inside, refusing to release her friend. She could hear the calls of Souta from the top of the well, but he seemed so far away. Lights danced around the two girls and Kagome was spun around to face the rebuilding face of a women. Mizuki let out a scream.
The lady had six arms, six- not quite fully formed- arms! Mizuki clammed her eyes shut and did her best to block her ears.
'It's just a dream.' She told herself. 'You'll wake up soon, nice and warm in you comfy bed, and this will all be over.'
She soon realised it wasn't, when she landed on padded ground, Kagome in a heap beside her. Mizuki groaned and rubbed her head, before screaming and jumping back.
A severed hand lay in front of her, no body was in sight. "What the hell!" She shrieked and crawled over to Kagome, who was hyperventilating. "Breathe, it'll be okay." Mizuki looked up at the top of the well. "Souta! Can you get- huh?" Daylight streamed into the well. And from what Mizuki remembered, there was no skylight in the well house.
"We should get out of here." Kagome stood up and tugged the vines creeping up the wall. "We'll climb."
Mizuki nodded in agreement and started climbing once Kagome was reasonably far up. The petite girl fell over the top of the well, and huffed. "Ugh, physical effort." She whined, standing up and looking around. She shook her head slightly. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but we aren't in the well house."
Kagome nodded dumbstruck and turned around, looking for a clue as to where they were. "Grandpa?" She called into the open field. "Mum? Are you there?"
"Kagome, lets go. There no point in hanging around." Mizuki reasoned, grabbing her friends arm and tugging her in a random direction.
They had been walking for a few minutes when they came to another, although a lot smaller, clearing. An extremely tall tree peaked over the top of the rest.
"Zuki." Kagome breathed, using her nickname. "Is that the sacred tree?"
Mizuki's eyes furrowed. "Looks that way. Hey!" Mizuki ran after Kagome, who had began to make her way over. "Wait up!"
Mizuki almost collided with Kagome when she stopped. "Is that a boy?" Kagome asked. The brunette peered over her shoulder. It was definitely the sacred tree they were looking at, but attached to it was a silver haired boy, an arrow pierced through his chest.
"I know him." She mused, looked through her memories. "That's the boy from my dream, Inu- something."
But Kagome wasn't listening, she had begun to approach the boy. Climbing the large roots sprouting from the earth. "Hey there," She called tentatively. "What'cha doing?"
"I think it's safe to say that, I don't think he can hear you." Mizuki said, following her 'sister'. "Can we help him? He's not- dead. Is he?"
Kagome felt the dog-like ears on top of his head. "He's warm. I don't understand." She said, eyeing the arrow in his chest. Mizuki shrieked as an arrow landed beside Kagome's head.
"Get away from there!" Someone shouted from behind them. Mizuki whirled around to face them, almost losing her balance on the roots. She gulped as a arrow was pointed at her head.
'We are so screwed.'