By: 'Ain Izzati

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CHAPTER 1

The Nightmare

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'You will only found her dead body!'

"Wonder how he survived with that thing in his head?"

"He is so good-looking, isn't he?"

He heard people were whispering around him, and a misty voice from the distance-

'Only her dead body…'

"OH! Can you two stop talking, can't you? I can't concentrate!"

"Sorry, Dr. Saito."

He tried to move his arms, tried to open his eyes, but he felt exhausted and every inch of his body was throbbing. Now he heard the worst, a scream, whoever the owner of it, she was in a great terrified. He wanted to help her. However he couldn't - how could he if he not even could to unclose his eyes?

'Shinichi!'

'Don't hurt him!'

'RAN!!!!'

The last word he heard jerked him up and he opened his eyes with a quick snap. He was breathless for a while and looked around but all he could see was a foggy vision, even the misty voice still echoed inside his head, even the terrified scream still shaking him. It took a few minutes that seemed like ages before he realized where he was, somewhere – in a ward and surrounded by three peoples. Bitter smell was stinging his nose. Somehow he forgot the misty voice and the screamed, and yet he would face something worse than that, something that really awful.

He (who was about eighteen years of age, dark-haired boy) looked at his right and there, a man stood. Might be Dr. Saito that he heard when he was half-awake. The stethoscope around Dr. Saito's neck convinced him.

His eyes then fell upon two young women on his left; both were obviously whispering about him ("Look at him! He had awaken!"). Sometime they giggling and glanced up at Dr. Saito. Did not know why they giggled whether about him whose was laid motionless in front them or about Dr. Saito's untidy hair because he kept scratching his head at every word he had written on the note.

"Look at his eyes! What a brilliant eye!" whispered the ladies. One of them had long blonde hair while the other lady had wavy black hair. The flash of their eyes mixed with superb admiration - looked at him like he was the last living soul on the Earth

It was not a matter for him; people goggled at him, not at all, the horrible matter that after him right now, at this very moment was–

"Who - who am I?" he asked with horror and uneven breath.

Somehow, the clock's hand seemed too lazy to move. The falling note – minutes ago held tightly by Dr. Saito – was the only noise made. The two ladies quickly closed their mouth that were hanging opened while Dr. Saito had stopped scratching his head and stooped at once to pick the note.

" Oh no – oh no - don't tell me that – that - you didn't know - who yourself are." Dr. Saito stammered. He mopped his sweaty face while staring frantically at his patient.

The dark-haired boy looked at him blankly. He was hoping somebody, anybody could tell him, could comfort him from this terror. However he could not help noticing the stare they gave. Waiting not for their answer, he focused his eyes from them to the white ceiling but all he could see were as blurred as his mind was, dull and dark visions. Unidentified figures dancing across his empty mind like the clown in a circus show. He shook his head, tried to think about something, anything that he could.

"Are you - okay? Kudo-san?" a voice from the wavy-haired lady distracted him. There was a cautious tone slipped in her voice… However it was not the thing that interested him - but the last word.

'Who is…Kudo? Who… am I…?' He lost in his thoughts, head aching – effect of the confusion - he was completely bewildered and stills Dr. Saito didn't say even a word – made him felt ten times blanker.

Dr. Saito surveyed the boy behind his round-rimmed spectacles. Then he wrote again and begun to scratch his head again. Sometimes he muttered to himself and begun to shiver a little.

"Who is - Kudo? Am – I - ?" the dark-haired boy broke out the question but he failed to complete it because –

"Ouch!" some sort of pain was aching his head made him shrieking. He just realized his head was bandaged

"Just - relax, and rest," finally, after a moment, the doctor spoke awkwardly. Dr. Saito tried to calm him down with his smile but in the depth of his brown eyes - that barely visible between his bushy eyelash - there something said against his words.

"Your head bumped to a rock or maybe something that hard, so maybe you – maybe you lost your memory," Dr. Saito continued –and yet he had stopped scratching his head gazing the boy at his every inch of movement.

For a couple seconds or three, silence took over the ward. No more whisper heard, nor a word.

"Lost… what?" Kudo startled as he heard what the doctor said (even though it was too obvious). He gave a gasp. That… those very words like a bomb that had exploded him into pieces. There was nothing worse on the Earth than didn't know who yourselves was except when you really wanted to run from the facts of your life. Thousands or million of questions flashed inside him.

The blank, expressionless-looked he held minutes ago replace by astonish-to-dead stare – lucky he was not die of the circumstances. For a couple minutes or so, he tried to control himself, muttered to himself such as ' It can be…' and ' Why…?' then he took a deep breath – as deep as he could - and said, "Who - am - I?"

"Well," the doctor raised his eyebrow and seemed to make a quick thinking -tried to give a better explanation to him (and he better so) as he always done to his patient, "-but you'll recover sooner or" –scratching his head again, now even harder- "… later."

Kudo was motionless for a while, his sapphire-blue eyes turned to blank orb again as any kind of light would off in his eyes - like a black hole. He fell to the deepest part of himself, tried to find some light in the darkness of his mind. But all he could reach was a deadlock.

"I'll check up you later. Take a good rest, okay?" Dr. Saito smiled so as the nurses who already grinning to him since he woke.

"W- wait!" Kudo stammered as he realized the doctor was going to leave him – without telling him whom he was- " I… please tell me… who am I?" said him with curious eyes and anxious some.

The doctor forced a small smile – it seemed even bizarre when he smiled like that - and said "The police officer found you in an abandoned building and your name is Kudo Shinichi, the great detective." In the time, Dr. Saito leave him and closed the door with a small barely heard slam.

That was all, and now, he, Kudo Shinichi lying alone in this ward. Fought the scream that begun to echoed inside him once again and the mysterious misty voice that made him shuddered. He tried to think about something, about the misty voice, about who he was, about how on the earth he was a detective in his past, about… the owner of the terrified scream… about her… even though he was clueless about who she supposed to be…

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Click!

A flash, reflected by something from somewhere had attracted Shinichi's attention.

'Where am I?' Shinichi thought in panic. A seconds ago, he still in the ward, laid alone, gazing absently through the white ceiling, sank in the flood of vague sounds and … and just a seconds after he could managed to sleep… everything change. The white ward he was in turn to a very disordered dusty place.

"This place isn't that ward," Shinichi muttered. The flash! Where it came from? From the corner to the other, he tried to find that small light. Right before him, he saw a little boy who about seven or eight years of age stood.

"His – his eyes…" Shinichi tried to balance himself that almost knocked down by the surprise, "… the same blue eyes of mine…" he gasped in horror. He felt that he knew this little boy, a very odd feeling. "He is…" a slow step made towards the little boy, his shaking hand tried to touch the boy's. Ten inch before him – nine inch – Shinichi clenched his hand tried to stop them from shaking – four inch – almost there – two inch – any seconds by now Shinichi will touched him but the little boy seemed to be unaware of his existence – now! Got you!

'Bang!!!!!'

'Shocked by the disturbing voice' - Shinichi thought that made him almost collapsed. But… wait a minute! It was not because of that silly noise. It was… because… because the boy!

Shinichi couldn't touch the boy but… moved right through him. He could felt an icy ivy crawl throughout his soul. Before Shinichi could say even a word, could think about anything, the little boy ran towards the room where the sound came. And he ran right through Shinichi!

Shinichi stared after him, " Ha! Ha! That's great! I just met a ghost!" he got on his feet, trembling a little, while his eyes fixed at the passageway that ghost of the little boy (or whatever he was) went. He closed his eyelids tightly, "This is just a dream - just a dream," he muttered, hoping when he open his eyes he would be back into the ward but he still there. "Oh no…" he sighed. He looked thoughtfully for a while and finally –

" It won't hurt to take a look, will it?" he said, deciding to follow the little boy. 'It just - a dream.'

After a few minutes or so Shinichi found that boy standing as still as a statue in the doorway and eyeing cautiously into the room in front him. Shinichi didn't get in because the boy blocked the way but tried to peep in over the boy's shoulder. (he forgot that he could walk through the boy.)

The room was as dusty as at the outside, like no one had entered it for years. It had no light and that made it look very horrible. Don't forget to count the fusty air that made Shinichi cough sometimes. There was a window; small window that was closed and seemed like it hadn't been open for ages. The dim yellowish light came from somewhere filled the room.

The first thing, in this gloomy horrible room, that caught Shinichi's eyes was a blond-haired man. He was holding something – black, small figure. "It's – it's a…gun…" some kind of vision flashed inside Shinichi, a hazy one. Couldn't see it but for sure it had caused an extremely pain headache.

"Did I now you?" asked Shinichi stupidly – he, again, forgot that no one could see him, so might be nobody could hear him too. "Ah…" he sighed.

"You!" a small childish voice heard. The little boy eyed the blond-haired man while his eyes flickered with the flame of hatred and his face burnt with anger. He shuddered angrily and gave a very terrible glare as he wished he could slash the blond-haired man off.

'What on Earth this blond-haired had done to this boy till he looked at him that way?' Shinichi thought while watching them, didn't sure whether interestedly or skeptically.

In certain opposite, the blond-haired man seemed to be unaware to the boy's threat-sounded voice, but motioned the boy to the corner of the room instead.

Both, Shinichi, who looked puzzle and the little boy, who still red-faced with anger, looked at the corner. Silhouetted, at that corner was a person, a girl! She was lying motionless, no sign of breath. Her black silky fringe concealed her face and her dress, scarlet one or maybe it was looked scarlet by her… her own…

The blood drained off of the little boy's face. He could hear his heart was thumping frantically. 'That… that… no way! It can't be! It couldn't!' he thought miserably; tried to avoid the thought that incessantly knocked his mind, the thing that the least he wanted to think. The mixture of fear, disbelief, nervous and sadness spread across his face. He was shaking all over his body, he felt like the solid floor under him was rushing down. He not even felt if he was still standing or not.

"RAN!!!"

Shinichi, meanwhile, who looked as white as the boy was, hoping, if this was just a dream, he prayed somebody could wake him up. But even if this just a dream he was very sure that he had something to with this in his past… something that he hoped he would never know.