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Cursed Death Seal

by Yui Shunrei Ryuzaki

Disclaimer applied.

Betaread by: Rei Haruno

Warning: May contain scenes and themes not suitable for some readers.

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Chapter 1

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First shot. My father parted his lips and clutched his chest that I saw covered him with his own blood. My father fell on his knees. I could clearly see how he pleaded with his eyes. Pleading for his own life.

Second Shot. My father gasped. Slowly, the essence of his life and I knew he's trying his best to keep his eyes opened. Trying his best to keep his conscious. Trying his best to fight the death that was forth coming on him.

Third Shot. The bullet embedded itself on my father's chest. After being on his knees, I watched him fell on the ground. I knew well that he was finally dead on that instant.

My gaze shifted to the man that holds a gun in his hand. From the bushes where I conceal myself, I saw it clearly how he sadistically smiled while staring on my father's lifeless body. I could remember his face clearly on my memories.

At the right time, I'll come back and seek for the payment for my father's life. I'll avenge the death of my father...

Sakura sleepily leaned herself against an old chair in the basement of an ancestral house. She faintly smiled while staring at the page she's reading. It was like a page from a diary. It might be torn and the pages were scattered somewhere. She had found and picked it when she had entered the basement.

'It was like a horror movie.' she thought. The character was cursing that he will avenge one's death and from the dead, he'll come back to seek for the payment of it.

She yawned. When she came on the basement, it was almost dusk. Where's Sasuke by now? It was three in the afternoon when they arrived from Tokyo. She coaxed her bestfriend to accompany her there. It is only because that she needed to take some picture that she'll use for her story. The setting of her horror novel is on an old house and that's why she was pleased when she saw the house a while ago. That's exactly what she's looking for.

The Old Ancestral House is owned by Sasuke's family. According to him, the house is on sale but until now no one had purchased it. Some had looked around the house but after that they never tried to come back again for some reason. Sasuke had admitted that there are some beliefs that their house is haunted and that made her eager to see it with her own eyes. After a week of begging on him, Sasuke finally granted her wish.

Both of them are college students on their last year. Aside for being a student, there is one more thing that keeps her busy and that is writing. She's a writer of some horror novels and had managed to publish some of her works. Research materials, interviews, and a lot of horror books and movies are her foundations in writing for she hasn'tencountered any apparition of the ghosts or other paranormal activities. She is courageous enough to coax Sasuke to go to their ancestral house because she believes that the rumors about it aren't true.

When Sasuke left to buy something to eat for the both of them, she decided to look around the house on her own. Her feet had led her to the basement where she found the old sheet of paper. When she read it, she concluded that it's one of the torn pages of an old diary.

She looked back on what she'd read.

Three bullets had been planted on my father's chest... Fresh blood flows from his fatal wounds. That man... he'll pay for it... his family will pay for my father's death.

She yawned again. She was very sleepy and she couldn't fight it any longer.

They'll experience the pain that I felt. The Pain when she killed my father...

She let out a moan and shifted on her seat. She can't bear it any longer. She's really sleepy.

They'll obtain the seal...seal of death! The series of deaths that will only cease by a true love from the opposite families. And on the death of one of this couple, my vengeance will end.

A gust of wind passed from nowhere and made her fell asleep. There's something liquid dropped on her wrist but she couldn't able to examine it for her eyes had already betrayed her. Her eyelids seemed heavy. The cool wind passed again and it drifted her into her sleep in an instant. That's the last one she felt before her dream consumed her.

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Sakura opened her eyes and she scanned the area where she is. She was in a very silent room that only lightened by the moonlight coming from the opened window. Where she is? 'Where's Sasuke?' She thought.

"Sakura..."

She instantly turned her emerald eyes on the door. A voice of a man called her name. It was deep and as if it had only gone with the flow of the wind that passed her by. She screamed when the windows shut wildly and loudly. The cool wind passed again and the curtains started to sway in a troubled way. She stepped back and felt herself shivering with fear. She felt the sudden rising of fear. Someone is with her in that room and she felt she's being watched by this person.

"Sakura."

She gasped and clenched her fists on her chest. She stepped a back and screamed after she'd accidentally knocked down the chair. She couldn't see anyone but it was enough to make her tremble with fear and make her heart beat wildly on her chest. It made her feel that she wasn't really indeed alone in the room.

She swiftly stood in her feet and took her things. She really needed to get out of that room! She ran towards the door but it abruptly gets closed shut much to her surprise.

"SASUKE!" she screamed but there's no voice coming out from her mouth. She kept on calling but still she couldn't hear her voice. She started to tremble once again. It got worse every passing second until she felt coldness all over her body. She tried to turn the doorknob but the door was locked.

"Sakura..."

She heard the voice again and at that moment, she felt something drop on her wrist when she was touching the doorknob. It made her stop. From the moonlight outside, she saw… on her wrist, there is…

Blood.

She held her breath and looked up on the ceiling to see nothing wrong. She then looked down her fear rose in an extreme level as she saw a bloody corpse of a man at her feet!

She screamed at the top of her lungs and ran away from the door. Her weak body leaned on the farthest wall and her tears found their way to her eyes. She knew that anytime she might die.

"You have the seal, Sakura!" The voice screamed and the windows started open and close wildly and the strong horrifying wind came. At the back of the swaying curtains, she saw a silhouette of a man. A man who seems to mean great danger. She couldn't see him clearly but she knew his eyes are set upon her. The room was filled with terror when he let out a demonic laugh. At that moment, all became blank on her...

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"Sakura! Sakura!"

With her ragged breath, she opened her eyes, seeing Sasuke beside her.

"You've been moaning." he said. She blinked back on him.

"Sasuke?" she uttered.

"Who else? Why do you look so pale? What is this stupidity? You slept in the basement rather than your own room!" Sasuke scolded her. "You seemed to have a nightmare."

Sakura turned to her and grabbed his arm.

"I... I did have a nightmare, Sasuke." she said with a shaky voice.

"W-what?"

"Yes, a very bad dream. I almost thought, I couldn't wake up again." She blinked when she remembered the blood droplet on her wrist. Slowly, she lifted her right wrist with her breath held.

"Oh my God!" she exclaimed with her eyes widen when she saw that both of her wrist had blood droplets on each.

"Why, Sakura? Please tell me." Sasuke asked breaking his cold stoic face when he saw Sakura's face turned paler than usual.

"Droplets of blood, Sasuke." she said. She trembled in fear once again and her throat went awfully dry. "Before I fell asleep, I felt something drop on my wrist and... in my dream, there's blood that dropped on my wrist, too." She told Sasuke with a shaky voice and let him see her wrist.

He stared on it for several time before he cursed under his gritted teeth. He stood up and took her outside of the basement and from the house. He brought her to his car. They were both silent for awhile before he asked about her dream.

"We need to return to Tokyo as soon as possible." He said after hearing her dream. "Whatever happens don't you ever try to sleep, Sakura!" he said with a firm voice before starting the engine of his car. "Tell me if you couldn't stay awake any longer. We'll stay at the nearest hotel."

"Sasuke, why? The droplets of blood on my dream, why does it stay on my wrists? Does that mean it really occurred to me?" Sakura asked, still trembling on her seat.

Sasuke turned his gaze to her then back to the road.

"My grandfather shared one particular story when we were young. I never believed it. According to him, his grandfather is a powerful and influential man during his time. He was really cruel and kills without hesitation. His last victim is a servant of his. He punished him by slamming a bullet in his heart three times. The murder was seen by the victim's son named, Shinji. Because of his influenced, he wasn't persecuted by the law. Shinji had left after his father died. He came back at my great great grandfather's burial. He told everyone that his end wouldn't be suffice and wouldn't be the end. And right there, in front of everyone, Shinji slashed his neck."

"Oh God!" She gasped. "So Shinji is the owner of the page of the old diary I had read before! He is back to avenge the death of his father!"

"What diary?"

"I found a page of diary. It was there how his father was killed by a man, three bullets, and his promise that he'll come back to avenge. And in my dream, Sasuke... he told me I have the seal..." She looked at her wrists again." The Droplets of blood means... Oh, the cursed death seal!"

Sasuke's face became more serious as he looked straightly on the road. He told her to give him the page and he read it fast.

"There's no confirmation about the truth. But if I am right, he couldn't take your life. I'll not permit it to happen." Sasuke said and she felt somehow secured in his presence.

"But how could I escape the death he's claiming?" she asked.

"At first, I thought it was all a big coincidence. Three years after my grandmother's death, my aunt-my father's only sibling died after getting married. Three years later, my mom died. Both of them died in their sleep. And after three years, Itachi's girlfriend died."

Itachi is the older brother of Sasuke. He was still on abroad and hadn't moved on for he couldn't accept that the only woman he loved had died.

"Itachi said she died in her sleep. I did see a drop of blood on his girlfriend's wrist, the same with our mom and yours." he paused for awhile. "I finally realized it was all connected. This year is the third year since the death of Itachi's girlfriend. It might be true."

"How did Shinji managed to kill in their sleep?"

"Grandpa said, Shinji joined a black magic group. The act of slashing his neck is a part of their curse ritual. God damn it. His story is finally making sense to me." They were both silent for awhile.

"When my Grandmother died, the series of death had started. If each of them had a nightmare, where does the blood came from?"

"The Curse had started to act, Sasuke. Maybe the black magic of their cult really works."

"A series of death every three years."

"And the cursed death seal upon me. Why? I'm not blood related of your family, right?"

"My mom and Itachi's girlfriend weren't Uchiha by blood too, Sakura. Itachi and I are the only left descendants of our family. Maybe the women connected to us are the only one he could kill."

"But we aren't a couple or lovers. You have a girlfriend, right? So why does it have to be me?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke gulped and didn't answer her question. He knew the answer but he couldn't just tell her why.

They will obtain a seal... The seal of death

"If I have the seal, Sasuke? Why did I woke up and didn't died?" she asked.

He furrow his brows and thought for awhile.

"Three bullets... Three years... It could be because..." Their eyes met and she knew what he meant.

"There could be a third blood droplet?"

"Yes. And if we're right, on your next sleep, you'll be sealed with the last drop of blood and he'd kill you in dread."

"What shall I do?"

"We don't have a choice but to fight. He would attack you in your dreams so you should fight. We don't have a time to call for help of a paranormal expert. I couldn't help you 'cause I couldn't go on your dreams. The only hope we have is your will, Sakura."

"He almost killed me." Sakura said with teary eyes. Sasuke sighed then turned his car to the hotel.

"We couldn't go back to Tokyo at this hour. I couldn't be sure you might fall asleep while we're on the road." He said and quickly moved outside the car with her.

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An hour had already passed by they both stayed awake lying on the only bed within the room. Sakura could sense how worried Sasuke is though he wouldn't really say it. She's holding his left hand while the other one holding the gun he'd gave her earlier. They both wish that the gun would go with her in her dreams.

"You shouldn't forget that you're dreaming. Try to wake up as soon as you could." he whispered to her.

"I'm afraid, Sasuke."

"I know." Sasuke said and embraced her. "You need to wake up, Sakura, because I'll be waiting..." It was the last words Sakura heard from Sasuke's lips before she fell asleep once again.

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"Sakura..."

The familiar masculine voice called her name again. Sakura opened her eyes and saw she was all alone at the hotel's room where she stays with Sasuke. She rose from the bed and saw the gun in her hand. She prayed intensely.

This is just your dream, Sakura. You need to wake up soon.

The man called her name again. Darkness and his demonic laugh filled the room.

"Show yourself to me!" Sakura hissed. "Don't attack me in the dark, you coward!" She cursed.

Silence slightly covered them. A faint light appeared letting her see some things with the room. Then she noticed the shadow of a man several meters away from her. With her full courage, she pointed the gun to the shadow.

"You can never have me! Are you happy on what you're doing? You'd already claimed innocent lives. When are you planning to stop?"

"He killed my father!" The man screamed back angrily on her.

"That old man is already dead. You're claiming innocent lives which isn't right!" she replied.

The man took steps forward to the light. She moved back as she saw his face clearly. He had a long black hair and has a big slash on his bloody neck. He laughed out loud as he advances towards her. He then stopped and smirked on her.

"We have both two connections to each other, Sakura." he said. Sakura shot the first bullet to him but he only laughed back on her.

"Rejoice, my little one! You don't have my last seal which is the most dangerous." He said in a dangerous tone with a big smirk written on his face.

"You can't have me, you demon!" Sakura screamed as she continued to fire the gun on her hands.

"I'll be triumphant at the end, Sakura! The third seal will fall on his wrist!"

Before she could understand what he is saying, Sakura lost her consciousness.

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"You're awake, Sakura! You're safe!" The first words registered in her ears when she opened her eyes.

"Sasuke?" He embraced her tightly and sight. Even if she's already awake, something's bothering her. Is she's really safe?

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A/n: Oh, gosh. This is the first time I wrote a horror type story ever in my life. I'm not sure if this is a one shot or not. Who wants to have a sequel for this?

Please review! Reviews are very much appreciated.

Yui Shunrei Ryuzaki