Greetings, Orihime Inoue~
You have the privilege of being cordially invited to attend the All Hollow's Eve Ball, held at 134 N. 5678 S. 10 E. 92 W. on October 31. Do not worry about finding the setting. We will make sure that you arrive. Formal dress is required. Guests are not allowed. The All Hollow's Eve Ball will be held from the ninth hour of night to the thirteenth (9:00 to 13:00). It is mandatory to stay the entire time.
We look forward to seeing you.
Orihime laughed hard, snorting through her nose accidentally. It was Halloween, she was with all of her friends at a hotel Karakura High had rented, and her friend Tatsuki's antics were proving to be increasingly hilarious, especially with back up from Rukia and Ichigo. The dark-haired girl was dressed as an evil spirit, a painted mask covering her face. She was in a comedic duel with Ichigo and Rukia, who were dressed in matching black kimonos, playing as angels of death. Tatsuki appeared to be triumphing against her life-long friends.
Someone tapped her shoulder, and Orihime turned to see Uryu, whose cheeks almost looked pink. He was dressed as a vampire, hair slicked back in an old-times outfit with a high black and red collar. "Will you dance with me, Inoue?" Orihime beamed at him. "Of course, Uryu! You know, you're just like a knight in white armor. You saw me here by myself and sacrificed your want to dance with Rukia to dance with me!" Uryu looked confused. "Excuse me?" Orihime giggled. "Sorry. But don't worry, I know all about your crush on Rukia! I won't tell anyone, though."
Uryu coughed as he led her to the dance floor. "And what makes you think I have a 'crush' on Rukia?" Orihime smiled knowingly as Uryu twirled her, the lacy, ivory dress that was her costume twisting around her ankles. "Well, that time she got lost in the forest, and her favorite dress was ripped and dirty, you made her a special dress almost exactly like the one she lost! And my womanly intuition tells me so."
A small smile crossed Uryu's lips. "I see. Well, I fear from the way that she is looking at Ichigo, my heart will be broken, so perhaps it is time for me to switch my affections?" Orihime's eyes widened and she pulled her hands from his, interrupting their slow waltz to clap her hands. "That sounds lovely! Come on, let's go sit and go girl-watch-" She broke off, staring at the table where her stuff was intently. The small white handbag that had her eyeliner, chapstick, cell phone, bubblegum, and perfume had fallen to the floor, but she was dead convinced no one had touched it.
She walked over smoothly, ignoring Uryu's questions, wariness filling her. She stopped just short of it, looming over the seemingly innocent handbag. Slowly, she lifted it up, checking the contents. Her silver eyes widened. There, on top of all of her stuff, was the invitation to the All Hollow's Eve Ball that she had thrown away, convinced it was a prank. She could have sworn she heard the laughter of several voices. One was low and rumbling, like a cat's roar, another was high-pitched and malicious, like a snake's hiss, and the last was light and soaring, like a child's.
Orihime blinked rapidly and whipped her head from side to side. She was all alone in her corner. No one could have laughed, at least that she would have heard so clearly. She shook her head to clear the thoughts, then swiftly walked towards the trash can, dropping the invitation in the silver, metallic can. She heard the laughter again, and when she hesitantly peeked in her bag, the parchment-colored paper with its emerald ink was once more on top of her stuff.
She took a quick breath, then threw the bag as hard as she could out an open window. Smiling, she turned around, and felt something slide into her palm. Her back stiffened, eyes going the size of dinner platters. Uryu was looking at her worriedly and speaking to Chad, Tatsuki, Rukia, Ichigo, and Renji.
Orihime brushed her sunset hair out of her sweaty face with the hand holding the invitation, trying not to hyperventilate. She was sure there was a rational excuse for this. There just had to be. After all, even if it was Halloween, there was no such thing as ghosts, or monsters, or demons, or scary blue gummy bears who were going to use their superior intelligence to take over the gummy bear world- "Aaah!"
She screamed as something touched her shoulder, lashing out with a karate move Tatsuki taught her. Ichigo reeled back, clutching his bloody nose. Orihime gasped, tears filling her misty eyes. She didn't know if it was because her hand hurt, or because she hurt Ichigo. "Oh! I'm so sorry! I thought you were an evil blue gummy bear aiming to take over the world!" Ichigo smiled weakly. "Oh. I thought something was wrong, but you seem fine to me..."
Orihime scratched the back of her head nervously, blushing. "Yeah! I'm just fine! I was just... startled," she finished lamely. Ichigo smiled and nodded, walking off. Orihime's smile melted off as she looked at the paper in her hand frightfully. She was afraid to let go, afraid if she did, it would actually get glued to her hand the next time. Just then, she heard a child scream.
Without a thought, Orihime pulled off the snowy heels she was wearing and tore out the hotel door, head turning back and forth frantically in an attempt to find the distressed child. Her hair had been in a bun, but now it fell in messy waves down her white-clad back, blue hairpins both on one side of her head. Another scream ripped through the air and Orihime turned left and dashed, ignoring the hotel's clock, which was singing out the fact that it was a quarter to nine.
Ten minutes later, and Orihime was lost, panting, a mess, and trying not to cry. She didn't know how she had been able to run as fast as she could, and the child's cries only became weaker. What was worse was the laughter from earlier was back and ringing in her ears, mocking the fact that the gleeful, childish giggle was gone. She was at a crossroads, and each of the two roads had two street signs pointing down them.
Suddenly, she heard her name being called by Rukia, quickly followed by Tatsuki and Uryu. She bit her lip. They could probably deal with this so much better than she could. She opened her mouth to call back, and a piercing scream rent the air, the most terrible yet. Immediately, Orihime sprinted off to the right, not noticing the street signs change. The one on the left now read, '134 N. 5678 S.' and the one on the left read, '10 E. 92 W.'
Breathing hard, fear and adrenalin pumping through her veins like a drug, she bent down, endurance finally giving out. She rested her hands on her knees and looked around cautiously. She was on a long, straight street. On either side, houses lined the cracked asphalt, all the same precise shade of white. It sent chills up Orihime's spine. They all had the same shuttered windows, same boarded doors, same perfectly manicured lawns and shrubs. She swiped the hair out of her face angrily, heart creeping up her throat and strangling her.
She looked forward and saw a large white temple, with twisted spires, grimacing gargoyles, and glass windows and domes, all in shades of white and grey. Sobbing drifted down the wind, obviously originating from the elaborate cathedral. Swallowing, Orihime moved forward determinedly, orange hair falling messily to frame her face, cold sweat sticking to her neck, face, and underarms, once-pristine ivory dress now ragged and dirty from where she had raced through puddles and dirt and had fallen and tripped in mud and grime.
As she neared the church-like structure, a deep bell slowly tolled the hour.
Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong.
Orihime looked down in dawning horror at the invitation still clenched in her quivering fist. Nine'o'clock to thirteen'o'clock. Attendance mandatory. Breath tearing out her lungs like cloth stuck in a bramble, she slowly rose up the wide marble staircase, nearing a grand door made of white wood with elaborate whorls and designs carved into it. As she neared it, the hidden voice cackled again, although this time they seemed to actually come from in the building. Steeling herself, she walked forward the last few paces, somehow not surprised when the doors swung open. She gazed once more at the dark windows and stepped in.
Contradicting the dark windows, the place glowed with something akin to moonlight. She was in something that crossed a foyer and a ballroom, with large gothic ceilings coated in shadows and whispered lies. The floor was a deeply reflective polished marble, and like everything else in this obviously god-forsaken palace, it was pure white. It was also filled with people, dressed in equally white clothes, deeply contrasting the dozens of vibrant hair colors that ranged from deep indigo to brilliant scarlet, from light peridot to rich yellow, from bubblegum pink to cerulean blue, all mixed in with blacks, browns, and blondes.
The people were dancing to distinctly Spanish music, but it wasn't the pretty dances she saw on television. It was clothed sex, and it oozed of both heat and something wrong, something deeply disturbed. It raised the hairs on her arms, gave her the chills, screamed at her to run and never look back, but at the same time, some deep, primordial part of her throbbed along to the beat, ready to join in. The music quieted, and Orihime's mind, which she only now realized had fallen into a brief fog of sorts, woke back up.
She cleared her throat and croaked desperately, "Where is she?" A few people turned and looked at her. She stiffened. Skeletal additions to their bodies and faces were suddenly glaringly prominent, along with a distinct lack of humanity, and several had visible holes going all the way through their bodies.
Her breath hitched and she shouted with more confidence, remembering the girl's cries, "Where is the child?" "Nel," somebody crooned, sounding distinctly alike to the hissing laughter from earlier. "I do believe this kindyoung pet is looking for you." Orihime's gaze darted along the room, searching for the speaker. Finally, her scared, but defiant, dove grey eyes landed on a tall lanky man, with six arms, crescent horns, a brass 'X' scored on to his face, long obsidian hair, an eye patch, and a slit, thin, lavender, hungry eye. He smiled toothily at her before lolling out a long, pointed tongue, and wagging it like a dog. She recoiled back and watched in horror as a tiny girl with green hair and a skull resting on the top of her scalp climed up the man's body, resting on his shoulder.
"See, Nel?" he slithered. "Doesn't Pet look delectable?" Orihime raised her trembling chin. "Give her to me." The man shrugged, the girl grasping one of his horns with a chubby fist. "Can't do that, Pet. See, Nel wants to stay with me. Huh, Neliel?" Nel smiled, crinkling the pink mark stretching across her cheekbones and the bridge of her nose, and squealed in a high-pitched, quavery voice, "Of course Nel wants to stay with Nnoitra! Nel and Nnoitra practice sadomasochism!" Orihime's jaw dropped. It dropped even further as the two started passionately kissing.
"Stop it! Stop it! She's just a child!" Orihime shrieked, pushing forward. To her shock, Nnoitra batted Nel away violently, but before the girl hit the ground, pink mist swirled around her and a full grown woman appeared, with curly seafoam hair, wide hazel-grey eyes, the same pink mark. Her bottom half was a greenish horse. She sneered at Nnoitra and said in a much more mature voice, "Damn, Nnoitra, give Nel a warning next time." He smirked at her. Orihime shook her head slowly, backing up, muscles locked like a frightened rabbit's.
Her back bumped against something. Turning, she saw a brawny blue-haired man, giant, psychotic grin pasted across his face. He had green marks under his mocking eyes, and a headband-like thing held his hair up. He also had a panther-like tail.
"What's the matter, princess? Leaving already? But the party doesn't end 'till the clock strikes thirteen!" "Oh, be nice, Grimmjow," a girl with one magenta eye, a hole replacing the other eye, and black pigtails simpered. She had a skeletal structure similar to a centipede going up her spine. "After all, she's only a little mouse. Come on, Menoly." The blonde girl next to her with an alternating missing eye and a bright spring green one smiled savagely and replied, "Yes, Loly?" Loly advanced on the quivering, yet standing firmly, Orihime. "Orihime~," she sang. "Let's play a little game!" Suddenly, Orihime was in a ring of the monsters, all laughing and sneering, darting forward with twisted, malicious expressions. She didn't know who started it, but they started punching her back and forth with bruising jabs to her shoulders and abdomen, pushing her around and around and around...
With a cry, Orihime broke free, racing out of the circle, innocent eyes closed to the horror of this All Hollow's Eve Ball. To her dismay, once more she crashed into something, or someone. She looked up miserably, unsure if she was prepared to flee or fight this next terror. As her hands rose tiredly to form a defensive stance, they brushed against thick velvety fur. Her eyes widened for the nth time that night as her chin shot upward, ashy eyes meeting toxic green and venomous yellow eyes. Like a snake charmer, the new arrival enticed all the breath out of her lungs, and she could practically see it coiling around him, her lifeforce, her soul, her very heart. Then he spoke, and she could have sworn the emotionless tone of the words froze the air, even as they caressed the atoms that formed her ears like individual tendrils of vines, sneaking in slowly and filling her up with lethal poison.
"Orihime Inoue. You have arrived."
Orihime turned and fled. She didn't know why, as he wasn't any worse than any of the others. She hadn't even gotten a good look. All she had seen was black fur, white skin, and green and golden eyes.
Orihime's lungs ached as she ran across the temple, needles stabbing at her throat and lungs with every gulp of freezing air. Her arms ached from pumping so hard, and her legs were quite literally numb, along with her bare feet. However, she kept running. She was in an endless maze, with never-ending corridors lined with doors. Without thinking, she opened a door to her left and dashed in. It led to a hallway similar to the one she had just come out of. She turned, and saw the silhouette of the monster. She spun and kept sprinting.
She didn't know how long it went on. All she knew was that she had to keep running, or else he would catch up. Every time she paused, she sensed him appear right behind her, and she kicked herself forward. She was lost. Everything looked the same. Finally, she opened a door that led to steep stairs ascending upwards. She didn't think about how the only exit was on the first floor. Orihime was seized by an animalistic fear, and all she knew was that the stairs represented escape. She heard the slight staticky noise that meant the demon had appeared behind her, and she bolted up the stairs.
The stairwell was silent but for her harsh, uncontrollable breathing and thundering footsteps. All she could see were the moon-white that were appearing and disappearing beneath her, the thin white corridor twisting as she escaped up the spiral staircase. Her hamstrings were burning like someone had stuck hot pokers deep into her flesh, her calves slightly worse off. Right when she thought she was going to collapse, and was already composing a prayer to God to recite before the monster caught her and tore out her heart, the torturous stairs ended. She stumbled into a room, and small whine was forced from her throat.
It was a bedroom. She hadn't been escaping the creature at all. He had been herding her, guiding her to this place she was sure would haunt her future nightmares, if she were to last long enough to have any. Orihime shook her head slowly and desperately, denying any of this from happening. There was a crackle of sound behind her, and she turned slowly to greet the monster. Her breath caught in her throat as she finally got a decent look at him.
His ebony mane was long, and two ivory horns the length of her forearm extended from his skull. A piece of his coal hair fell between eyes with sulfurous yellow irises and murky jade scleras, nearly touching a full-lipped, jet black mouth. Thick obsidian tears seemingly tattooed on his pearl white, delicate face poured from his inhumanly expressionless eyes, reaching to the bottom of his angelic jaw line. His muscularly slender torso was bare, a gaping hollow smack-dab over his heart, a thick a scar reaching from it to the tips of his seemingly-satiny fur. His arms were covered in the same black fur as the lower half of his body, and his hands and feet were taloned, his hands resting casually at his sides. Demonic wings stretched elegantly from his shoulder blades, and a thin, long tail whipped around behind him with the same slow motion as most had in water, the gleaming arrow-head tip glinting in the moonlight shining from one barred window. He was terrifyingly, entrancingly, sickeningly beautiful.
Orihime glared at him defiantly, well-aware of the disastrous mess she was compared to him. "Have you quit your game of predator-prey?" he rumbled, smooth tone swimming through her brain, polluting it with all the grace and elegance of ink poured into a glass of pure water, billowing outwards and moving like smoke from a fire. "Yes," she declared. "I'm not afraid." "Yes, you are," he contradicted. "Your heart is throbbing away faster than a hummingbird's." He stepped forward, talons clacking on the stone floor. She held firm. "You are coated in a cold sweat." He moved towards her again, but this time, she wavered oh-so-slightly, silver eyes flickering. "Fear is simply pouring off of your body. Its scent is all over you." Something about the way he said those words created a strange sensation in her stomach, and this time she stepped back, the backs of her knees bumping against the ornate bed at the center of the otherwise plain room. "You may deny it all you desire, but in the end, your body will betray you." She couldn't breathe, and she was trying so hard to scowl at him still, but she just wanted to scream...
"Your eyes tell me everything." Her eyelids felt heavy, and he was so right. She was terrified, she wanted him to go, just leave her alone to quiver and writhe, please, please- "No," she denied, voice hitching with the blatant lie. "You don't scare me." Orihime said that, but it wasn't true. She knew it. He knew it. And now, he was going to call her bluff. One clawed hand rose, lifting her chin. Heat radiated from said-appendage. Part of her noted the contradiction that was his hands. Razor sharp, serrated talons with silky-soft black fur that felt like the best piece of heaven, or perhaps the worst fraction of hell.
A second hand rose, stroking her soft, milky, exposed neck, claws lingering at her fluttering pulse while the first hand traced sharp, burning, scratching patterns on her cheekbones. Against her will, she slowly sank into a seated postion on the admittedly soft mattress, cold hands clutching the thick white sheets, back rigid with tension. He moved both hands to her waist and his black lips parted, an equally dark tongue emerging. She felt one moment of marvel before the hot, wet muscle was sliding up and down her neck.
Her fists tightened, tearing the fabric she was clutching slightly as her mouth opened and closed soundlessly. He dragged his tongue further up her neck, nearing the corner of her mouth. She whispered, "Not afraid. I-I'm not af-afraid. N-not afraid." His hands moved to hers as he hovered above her, suspended in a moratorium. He pried her fingers from the sheets, raising her wrists above her head. Suddenly, she felt something warm push its way up one of her arms, twining around it slowly. It's sharp tip swayed side to side slightly, sending tremors throughout her body as it coiled several times around her wrists, binding them together. She realized with a jolt that he was using his tail to keep her wrists pinned above her head.
Orihime started to struggle slightly, misty eyes wide, trying to ignore the heat pooling in her body. The demon descended, lowering his lips to her and kissing her with a bruising, beastly intensity. She arched helplessly, a whimper tearing out of her throat as his burning tongue pressed between her lips and licked the insides of her mouth thoroughly. Some part of her howled at her first kiss being stolen this way, but she was instinctively beginning to kiss him back.
She blamed it on the lack of air. How on Earth was she supposed to push him away when no oxygen was getting to her brain? His tail tightened on her wrists as he started kissing up and down her jaw, sharp teeth nipping at her sensitive skin. She whined brokenly and one of his taloned hands ripped down her dress, tearing her costume in half. She started thrashing, the loud noise bringing her back to her senses. "No, no, no," she chanted disjointedly, but then his hands were caressing and massaging her skin and she could only gasp and whimper again as he explored her ear with his mouth. "My name is Ulquiorra," he whispered harshly, claws not quite breaking the skin on her tremendous chest. "Say it. Say my name."
She found herself unable to refuse obliging him, and she breathed hoarsely, "Ulquiorra..." His hands flexed, and she felt blood drip down her ribs where one of his claws had pierced her skin. She moaned and he finally pressed his lower half against her, soft fur tickling her legs, his want for her pressing against her thigh. She arched against him, taut abdomen pressing against his. He pushed her back down roughly, a low growl vibrating his chest as he resumed kissing her, sharp hands playing with the edge of her underwear. She rolled against his hand instinctively, and she felt her last article of clothing (she was unsure of what happened to her bra) go the same way as her dress, and then a hot hand was resting against her wet core.
His furry fingers kneaded down there while another hand played with her breasts, his hot lips still molding hers as she tried to remember the last time she breathed. She didn't even know how it got to here, but it didn't matter, because the most painful pleasure she had experienced yet was consuming her, scorching her and eating her alive, leaving her particles to drift on the moon rays like ash on the wind. They were both panting, her stormy eyes glued to his as one hand cradled her orange head, the other sliding down her trembling thigh. "Ulquiorra, Ulquiorra, Ulquiorra Ulquiorra UlquiorraUlquiorraUlquiorra," she sang, her voice needy as his length probed the juncture where her legs met.
He paused, staring at her with large, heated, still emotionless eyes, and against her will, she murmured, "Please." And then he was inside of her with a painful tearing. A soft scream burst from her lips, and tears pricked her eyes, salty water that he licked away as he pulled back and thrust in again. Quickly, the pain faded, replaced by incredible ecstasy that until then had been lurking at the corners of the pain. She was still mumbling his name incoherently, high groans escaping from her throat, and she knew he was somehow just as effected as her. They kept up the rhythmic motion, he plunging deeper into her each time, and a dark ocean was building up behind a pitiful dam. She knew it was going to explode, it was only a matter of time, and then the dam burst. The sea washed over her, drowning her, and she could feel her muscles locking and tightening, her legs wrapping around his slim hips and trapping him in her, strange noises falling from her sore lips. In a daze, she vaguely noticed the same thing happening to him, his dark angeldemon wings flaring over them like a tent, his tail near about snapping her wrists, his lips seizing hers once again in a kiss that she fearedhoped would never end.
Orihime shot up, eyes wide, gasping. Her head whipped around, silver eyes wild. Her gaze landed on her alarm clock. 9:30 a.m. November 1st, 2010. She looked down, slightly more calm, noticing her muscles were sore, like she'd had a bad dream. She was wearing white sleeping capris and a white cami. Her mind slowly realized that it had all been a dream. She started laughing and crying, unsure if it was from sadness or relief.
She stood and got dressed for the day in a daze, mind reliving the end of her nightmare over and over and over again. After she finally got both shoes on the right feet, she slowly ambled to Tatsuki's house, a pair of green and golden eyes burning away in her mind with their icy coldness. As she knocked on her friend's doors, they were flung open by an angry Tatsuki, who demanded, "Orihime, where the hell did you go last night?"
Orihime's eyes widened. "What?" "How can you not remember?" Tatsuki ranted. "At like, nine'o'clock, you just vanish, and we spent almost the rest of the night searching for you, and what happened to your wrists?" Orihime lifted her arms. There, dark purplish-black bruises coiled around her slightly swollen wrists like bracelets. Bracelets that were proof that last night was real.
She looked up at Tatsuki, blushing and scratching her head. "I thought I saw a ghost! So I chased after it, and I kind of tripped and sprained my wrists, I guess! Wow, haha, I didn't even notice!" Tatsuki shook her head in a mixture of exasperation and amusement. "Goodness, Hime. We were all terrified that you had been kidnapped or something!" Orihime laughed nervously, eyes glued to the maudlin marks of Ulquiorra's affections. Slowly, she stepped into Tatsuki's house, feeling a paper slide into her right hand. She unfurled it quietly as Tatsuki padded off and read the jade ink of the letter with both fear and anticipation burning in her stomach.
Until next All Hollow's Eve Ball.