MIO'S ELECTRIFYING TALE FROM THE GRAVE
Quick Preamble- I know I said I would have had this out much earlier, but stuff came up and it got pushed aside. My goal here was to mimic a cheesy old horror movie, while adding my signature touch of grotesque and wretched. I left a lot of things unexplained intentionally, with the hopes that it will give you, the reader, food for thought. So with that in mind, read on!
DAY 1
"Yui, you spilled that water everywhere!" Ritsu scolded, the band's lead guitarist had managed to dump the water for Ton-chan's tank all over the ground and over Mio's equipment. To make matters worse, she had managed to knock over Mio's new half-stack too. She apologized and picked it back up before the bassist could return. Water had gotten all over it though, but Yui doubted that it would be an issue.
While Yui, Ritsu, and Azusa were changing the water in Ton-chan's tank, Mio and Tsumugi decided to begin their practice. Mio turned on her now broken amp, and screamed as she was electricity surged through her body, and conducted easily from the water everywhere.
That was the last thing that Mio remembered, plucking her E-string and being rewarded with the excruciating pain. Now she was laying in pitch blackness on a rather uncomfortable bed. She tried to stretch, but felt her arms and legs instantly stopped by cold wood on every side. Her heartbeat exploded into a panicked state of double bass, as she realized she was completely enclosed into something. She kicked and punched at all sides, but was thoroughly trapped into this narrow wooden box.
Mio couldn't even roll over to get into the proper ball to cry. All she could do was lay ridged with her arms at her side and whimper at the cold claustrophobia. Her limbs ached and burned, and her entire body felt bloated and sick. The stale taste of rubbing alcohol was stuck in her mouth, which kept bringing up the urge to vomit. Shivering, laying there, unable to move, no replies to her calls for help. It wasn't until long that she realized that this wasn't just some cruel prank.
The amount of time that she laid there was unknown to her, and the feelings of fatigue and hunger never crept upon her. Mio could only lay there, cold, aching, wide awake. Was this death? Was she doomed to lay there eternally in bitter loneliness and boredom? But she couldn't even tell if she had been there for minutes, hours, or days. Time crept to a crawl when you remained in stasis like that, so it was impossible to tell. Eventually she managed to shut her brain off enough to fall into a state of almost sleep; yet never quite there. She laid there and thought about spending time with her friends, laughs, fun, food, and other delicacies. Being here alone made her long for them, but she found that she was completely unable to cry, and that her mouth had gone completely dry; but she didn't crave water or any other liquids. What she wanted to do was feel the warmth of another. She wanted someone to just touch, or hold in her arms to keep her company.
While a man would have been wonderful, even a friends like Ritsu or Tsumugi would have sufficed, or maybe even her mother (in fact she wanted her Mama over all of the aforementioned choices). Any one of those would have been wonderful, just being able to hold anyone.
After some length of time, this feeling of bitter melancholy and loneliness turned into sheer horror as she felt something begin crawling on her. It was cold, wet, slimy, and crawling on her. Mio didn't have the strength to move, and could only revel in disgust and fear the thing crawl on and inside her. That was right, this thing, which was soon accompanied by others, was now burrowing into her skin. There was no pain as the worms feasted on her body, just that slimy feeling they left. For hours her mind screamed in hysteria as they crawled in and out, and did their wormy business. Eventually though, she gave into a bitter feeling of acceptance of this hellish fate. She thought of men who gave graduation speeches to universities, it left her wanting to attend one and tell everyone, "...And above all else. If you die, make sure you're laid to rest in a comfortable bed where there is light and no worms."
This is it...I'm truly dead. There is no heaven, no hell, no anything after death. You just lay there like you were alive, and let nature do its work. I can only pray that my mind will fade when my body is no more...
Mio's mind screamed as her nerves twisted and begged for the ability to move again. For what had to have been at least a day, she had possessed the ability to move, but now she couldn't make her body even blink. She wanted to dig her way out of this tomb, and see the light of the sun again. She thought she had accepted this fate some time ago, but now that pain was starting to return in her joins...it was like she was in hell. Laying there infinitely with pain swelling her arms and legs, was too much, this had to end! Mio screamed in her mind, and ground her teeth, wanting so desperately to be free.
Salvation...
Somewhere in her, there was a flicker of warmth. Her fingers curled into fists, and her knuckles cracked. Mio drew breath for the first time in an eternity and she coughed. That alcoholic tasting fluid from so long ago spilled of her mouth and her eyes shot open. Mio choked on the stuff, but found she wasn't too upset about that, because she could move again. She laughed, choked, and furiously scratched at the wood above her. The smell of mildew returned to her nostrils, and she realized that the her coffin had gained an inch of water she had never noticed until now. The fabric underneath her was now waterlogged, and the wood was starting to rot because of this.
Her fingernails split and cracked as she tore away the wood, causing dirt to rain down on her. She was entranced by fear as she dug upward with renewed vigor and strength she hadn't thought possible. Mio had been wondering about the moment she would finally be able to move again, and whether or not she would be able to free herself from the six feet of dirt no doubt above her. The moment came, and the dirt didn't seem to hinder her in the slightest. In fact, she found she was able to just push it all away and stand up through it. With that inhuman strength, she clawed and dug her way through the pounds of earth to the surface.
Only when she had broken through the earth that she realized that she was doing none of this on her own. Mio had no control over her body as she dragged herself through up by grasping the wet grass under the pale moonlight. Something else controlled her body as she staggered step by step through the cemetery, nearly slipping on the dew. While her mind was still her own, her body was not, and it ached and hungered for one thing...blood.
Terror renewed again, Mio was mentally sickened by this heinous craving in her hollow veins. But thankfully, for the first time in so long, she felt her consciousness drift away into blackness. Rest finally came. In that comforting darkness, there was still fear, still fear that her body would do something horrible while it wasn't in her control. But most of all, she was afraid of this horrible blood lust she found herself so eagerly craving..
DAY 19
When she came to, it was like it had all been a dream, some kind of never ending nightmare that had taken place only in her mind. Mio was back in her bed, it was truly like none of it had ever happened. But that couldn't have been the case, Mio knew she had been underground for what had to have been months. Her room was the same, a bit dusty and messier than normal, but essentially the same as it had been. She yawned, sat up -her joints cracking the whole way- and nearly went into a screaming fit when she saw what was beneath her on her bed.
Dirt, dirt everywhere. Black soil was caked around her sheets, and was smeared across her skin. What little of her pale, white skin she could see was torn, frayed, and riddled with holes where the worms had feasted. Mio stifled more screams as she held her hands to her face. Her fingernails were ripped to pieces, and she could actually see down the bone on a few fingers. Something like that should have brought extreme pain, but all she could feel was the bed beneath her, and that eternal ache in her joints.
Mio stood up, feeling more joints crack, which left infuriating pain coursing through her, and she found she could move on her own again. So my body went on auto-pilot back home...That's handy? What do I do now though? Something must have happened and they buried me by mistake, I just wonder how long I've been gone...
To answer this question, she found her cellphone where it been left in the pockets of her old jeans. She turned it on, and dropped the phone instantly when she read the date. It was a solid two and a half weeks later; she had been buried for two and a half weeks. That couldn't be right, there was no way the human body could survive that long without food or water. But the fact that she was starting decay was supporting the phone's testimony. Now there was the question of what to do now. However, a voice that breached the silence of that morning answered for her.
"...No, I'll put in her her room!" Mio's mother called out to her father. Mio felt her decaying heart metaphorically stop (it wasn't beating to begin with) when she saw the door knob begin to turn.
Mrs. Akiyama felt the blood drain from her face, and her deceased daughter's laundry fall out of her arms; it had gotten mixed up in a load they were doing, and she decided that she would just lay it in her room. Sitting in front of her was probably the most morbid prank anyone could have possibly thought of. For the last two and a half weeks, she had been doing a great job coping over the loss of her only child, and now someone had done this. Sitting on Mio's old bed, was a dirt covered, ragged mockery of her dead child. They were even wearing the same kind of dress that she had been buried in. Some sick monster had done this just to torment her, and send set back all the emotional healing her husband had worked on her.
"M-Mama..." Mio squeaked, feeling her voice come out dry and hollow.
Her mother fell backward against the wall in the hallway and screamed like she was getting stabbed in the chest. From downstairs, Mio's father called up, "Sugi, what the hell was that!"
That was followed by his footsteps marching up the stairs to make sure his wife wasn't getting eaten by wolves. He crouched down next to her and cradled her crying form, "What's wrong Sugi, you nearly gave me a heart attack..."
All she could do was point at Mio, who should have been dead. His face went just as pale, but didn't fall into the same hysterics that the women in that family always seemed to do, "Go down stairs and call the police, Dear." He turned to face Mio, "I don't know who you are, but you are one sick fuck to play a prank like this."
Mio stood up and took a step towards them, causing more dirt to fall onto the floor beneath her, "Mama, Papa, it's really me. There must have been a mistake, and I was buried on accident, I'm not dead!" If she could have cried, she would have.
"My God, it's really her." Her father whispered after taking a closer look. Ragged, dirty, an absolute mess, but she was still Mio. Mrs. Akiyama sprinted across that room at speeds that would have made an Olympic runner jealous to grab her baby. She grabbed Corpse Mio into a tight hug, but nearly gagged on the mixed smell of decay and soil. That wouldn't ruin her happiness though, she was laughing, crying, and hugging Mio all at the same time.
"I knew it couldn't have been true, no god would have taken my baby away..." She sobbed.
Mio gladly returned the hug, "I missed you so much Mama, it was so cold and lonely down there."
"Come on, let's get you washed off and get a big meal for you." While food and a hot bath sounded absolutely amazing (mostly just the bath, Mio found she wasn't hungry) Mio thought that there were other things that seemed more important. Calling up a doctor to find out just how she was still alive seemed like a smart thing to do, but no one suggested it. It was an unspoken agreement between the three of them, Mio shouldn't be alive. It didn't help that Sugisaki Akiyama didn't feel any sort of heartbeat from her daughter when hugging her, and Mio didn't seem to breathe either. However, she was determined to enjoy the moment best she could.
The day was spent with Mio trying to reiterate herself with life at home. Telling others would come later, as would the rest of daily life. For now, they were trying to deal with the shock of Mio coming back into their lives so abruptly. Things would get hectic soon, and there would certainly be a malpractice suit for the hospital, but just for one day they wanted peace. The next day, they would go to the hospital and make sure that Mio was even remotely healthy. Her skin was ragged and frayed, and keeping her home just this one day seemed dangerous.
While Mio was joyed to be out of that tomb again, nothing felt normal, or even felt like it could ever be again. While her body moved, her mind worked, her lips formed words and sentences, Mio knew she was quite thoroughly dead. There was not a heartbeat in her chest, and there hadn't been one since that electric shock weeks ago. Anything thing she thought she had felt had been completely imaginary. Her parents were aware of this too, but weren't sure how to react. With the situation being so bizarre, it was impossible to tell just how real this Mio was. Could some spirit have possessed her body? Sugisaki had many theories like that about just what happened to her daughter. She was trying to be optimistic about it, but it was just so hard.
She kissed Mio's cheek that night, and tucked her into bed. The taste of topsoil was left on her lips; no amount of cleaning could seem to remove that earthy residue from Mio. "Good night, Mama. I love you."
"Sleep well." Her mother nodded, then turned off the lights and left. Once again, if Mio had the ability to cry, she would have. Kissing her cheek and tucking her in had been their ritual since Mio had slept in a crib. And every time her Mama had told her, "I love you too, baby." And now after such a horrific event, such an exchange had not been made. Just a simple, curt, "Sleep well".
Mio curled up into a ball and hugged her knees, Mama doesn't love me anymore... She tried to sleep her sorrow away, but she was just as awake as she had been the whole time she was underground. If this was any other day, she would have gotten up to get a glass of water to help her sleep, so she went to do that purely out of routine. At least that's what she thought she was doing for a few seconds, because her body wasn't moving on its own accord again. Mio had thought she had control as she walked down the stairs on auto-pilot without thinking, but it became evident that she was not in control when she began to walk through the back door.
If that wasn't frightening enough for her again, she was craving the crimson spray of another human again. And like before, her consciousness faded into blackness... She wasn't too worried about where this vessel would carry her, since she had returned home the previous night without any signs of harm; just worried about everything else.
When the residents of the area awoke the next morning and turned on the local news, they were horrified and disgusted with what the top story was. The area had always been a peaceful one, so the brutal murder that night of Fujiwara Koharu took the populace by surprise. Someone had broken through the nine year old girl's window on the ground floor, and laid waste to her sleeping form. While the cause of death appeared to be suffocation, her wrists and chest were riddled with human teeth marks, and most of her insides had been ripped out and turned into outsides.
DAY 20
Mio woke up with no knowledge of this, but was dealing with a problem of equal urgency. Her body had returned to her bed, however, those fears she had the previous night were indeed justified. Dried blood was all around her hands and forearms, along with her mouth and chin. There was also a shard of glass embedded in her left knuckle. Simply without thinking, she yanked it out, releasing a trickle of black ooze from the wound. Nothing, no pain at all. Pain was no longer a feeling for her in this half life.
Terror was the only real feeling left, constant fucking terror. This was some hellish nightmare that didn't seem to have an end in sight. When she was underground, Mio would have traded any of her material possessions to be back up here. Now that she was back up here, sitting her old bed, wearing her old clothes, she almost wanted to be back there. At least down there she couldn't hurt anyone, which was clear she had done the previous night.
As she staggered to the bathroom to wash the dried blood off, she prayed that her body had killed something like a chicken or stray cat. With some grim satisfaction, she was glad she didn't have to bandage her knuckle's wound since there was no blood to be had from it...no blood to be had. Mio gasped in horror and raised her hand to her face, no blood at all. Compared to the rest of the holes and patches in her body, this should have been nothing, but it here it was terrifying her. It was solid proof that she was indeed dead; if the fact that she could see her bones under the tips of a few fingers wasn't enough.
After her corpse was moderately cleaned up, (she had even gotten most of the dirt out of her hair) Mio walked downstairs to make some coffee or tea that she wouldn't drink. Food and beverages were just a novelty now, something that she had no desire for. As soon as she stepped down into the family room, her parents quickly turned off the TV from what they were watching, and glared at her. Mio gave them a smile, "Good morning Mama, good morning Papa."
They stared in silence at her as she moved to the kitchen. Mio felt their glares cutting into her soul as she walked into the kitchen, then just stood there because it held nothing for her. Through the silence of their home, Mio could hear her mother softly weeping. That was drove Mio over the edge, she marched boldly into the family room and stood in front of her parents. She was actually glad she couldn't cry anymore, because it was allowing her to seem just a bit more brave, "I...I didn't ask to come back like this! It's not my fault, it just happened, and I'm still your baby, Mama!"
"No, Mio-chan died when her clumsy friends rigged her bass amplifier!" Mrs. Akiyama screamed at her, the stormed out of the room sobbing. Her father sat there calmly, took a deep breath, then spoke.
"I'm sorry Dear, this is all just too much for her to handle." He sighed, "After the accident, she didn't say a word to anyone for nearly a week. Everything happened so fast, and now you're here again..."
"But I'm not the same." Mio finished for him.
He nodded, "And your mother is struggling to cope with that. As for me, you're still my daughter, even if you are...not the same..."
"Thank you..." Mio whispered. She would have hugged him, but she knew very well that her stench of decay and embalming fluid was too much for them to handle.
He looked a little worried, and was fidgeting nervously, "However, you had us very worried last night. You left...and didn't come back until the sun came up."
"I don't know what happened." Mio admitted, "It's how I ended up here after I crawled out of the ground. My body just...moved on its own and I woke up here."
"I see..." Was all he could reply with, "Well, it gave your mother and I quite a fright. As much as it hurts to say this, we may have to restrain you tonight, for your own safety."
"Alright." Mio agreed to it with a nod.
"But today we'll figure out just what's going on. Yesterday I called our family's doctor." He told her, "He didn't believe me, and I have to pay him to get him to come here and visit... but we need to find out what happened to you. You're still Mio, but at the same time you still are..."
"Dead." She quietly finished.
"R-Right." That was the extent of their conversation; which was about as lengthy as any they had since Mio had come back. The only solid conversation that had occurred, happened just after she woke up home. That was only just before her mother became scared of her, with her father fast following the same path. In all honesty, Mio was afraid of herself too. True terror for the Akiyama couple had begun when Mio stumbled back into their home just before dawn broke with fresh blood on her hands. That was what had set Mio's mother off. When the doctor came, they would be sure to neglect that little detail.
When he did arrive, his first words were, "Jesus Christ, you weren't kidding..."
Mio mentally blushed (physically unable) and gave him a weak wave. The man was in his mid forties, moderately well dressed for this occasion, with narrow glasses and graying hair. He had a leather bag with him, presumably the fabled "doctor's bag", and he set it down on the table in front of the TV and stared down Mio, "I'm sure you're all aware of the consequences if this is some kind of hoax."
"Yes, we assure you this is not some sort of childish prank, Okamoto-sama." Mio's father quickly replied.
Dr. Okamoto looked like he was at a loss for words, "If it is her, then I'm going to retire my career as a doctor. Even if her death was misplaced diagnoses, the procedures prior to her burial surely would have killed her; if the lack of food, water, or oxygen didn't. And just from where I'm standing, I can see the marks of where worms entered her body." Mio groaned at the memory of the worms, "So, why are you still alive and breathing? Is this some divine miracle? Was it not your time? Well, let's find out..."
Okamoto decided to start with a physical, a very brief and basic one. But before he could even tell her to dress down, there was an issue, "You...have no pulse."
Mio lightly shook her head, "Nor do I breathe, eat, bleed, or feel pain."
The doctor curtly packed up his things and began to leave. Mr. Akiyama wasn't too pleased to see this, considering how much money he had shelled out to get the doctor to make an unexpected house call, "Kentaro, where are you going!"
"To go pray!" The doctor replied back, then nearly jogged down to his car. Mrs. Akiyama came out of her room and walked downstairs to find out why he had left so fast. The father of the family could only stare in shock and wonder at the sheer level of childish unprofessionalism and naivete displayed by the man.
"W-What happened?" She asked. Her husband looked angry, and her corpse daughter was staring at the ground with her fingers balled up into a fist.
It was the latter who spoke, "I never asked, nor prayed, to anyone to come back. If I had my way, I would be dead in the ground right now. I don't know what I did to earn this penance... but it shall not interfere with your lives more than it already has."
"What are you talking about?" Her father snapped at her, poorly concealing his anger.
"All my existence does is torment both of you!" Mio screamed, and stormed into the kitchen, "If there's a god, just let me end this!" She shouted, and found a sharp knife that was normally reserved for cutting up thicker slices of meat.
"Mio, what are you doing!" Her mother called out to her, not daring to follow her. Mio didn't reply, her hands raised the knife to her chest, before stabbing the blade deep into her. There was not pain as it pierced her rotting, blackened heart. There was nothing, Mio screamed in frustration and stabbed herself again, just a little higher. All she was rewarded with was a bit of blackish ooze, accompanied by a worm that had still been in her falling out and splattering against the tile beneath.
"No, no, no, no..." Mio whimpered, and fell to her knees. She jammed the blade into her wrists, all the way down to the bone. Still nothing, only a little remnant of what had once been blood. The blade dropped from her hand, and she slid over on her side. Unable to die, she closed her eyes and waited for her body rotted enough for her brain to stop working. Of course, that wouldn't have worked, because she was in the kitchen and it was used multiple times a day. People didn't like using the kitchen when there was a body laying there.
"Honey, this isn't the end..." Her father tried to tell her, but her mother's sobbing in the distance watered down and argument he could have presented, "Life will be different, but it's not the end."
"What do I do?" Mio whispered up at him, "You understand that I haven't changed... but no one else can see past this tepid body."
"You don't know that yet, only one person has been turned away. Perhaps you should try and talk to one of your friends from the Light Music Club."
"Ritsu..." Mio's eyes widened. In her self pity, she hadn't even considered meeting one of her old friends. She got to her feet instantly, and went to go get her cell phone from up stairs.
Her mother, who had been listening, interjected just as Mio reached the base of the stairs, "No! Your friends mustn't know that you're the way you are!"
"Why not!" Mio snapped back at her, "My friends love me, they are sure to understand."
"Wait, stop!" She cried again as Mio quickly ascended to her room. Mio found her cell phone, and quickly dialed Ritsu's number, but stopped before she hit the "call" button. Just what was she supposed to say? Hey Ritsu, it's me, I know I'm supposed to be dead...but wanna come over and watch TV? It didn't matter what she said, she just needed to see Ritsu again. There were things friends could discuss that family couldn't, and maybe figuring out what was wrong with her was one of them. Ritsu was always one to come up with crazy theories about things. And this crazy situation just about warranted crazy theories.
With all of that in mind, Mio took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and hit call. It was around the time of their lunch break at school, maybe she was available. After several seconds of ringing, a familiar voice answered.
"Hello? Is that you Mrs. Akiyama?" Ritsu answered, presumably looking at the caller ID.
"N-No..." Mio whispered.
"Oh, then may I ask who's calling?" No reply from Mio, she couldn't bring herself to speak, "Hello? Who is this!" Ritsu sounded a little upset now.
"I...I..." The undead bassist stuttered, "Can you meet me alone in the woods an hour after school ends?"
There was a pause, it lasted nearly a minute, before Ritsu replied, "Y-Yeah. I'll be there, alone..."
"Thank you." Mio hung up. She was about to burst from happiness, this was the first step to ending this whole spectacle. There was no real reason why Mio thought that, but she just knew that was the case. To make sure that she was suitable to cross the town to the forested section, Mio went to work at applying make up to make her appear just a little alive. Blush covered her pale, gray skin, and she put on a long sleeve shirt and found gloves, a scarf, and a hat to wear later. All of that, with her hair tied back, made her easily pass for someone else.
Passing time was painful. They wouldn't meet for another five hours, and the house was lonely with the way her parents distanced themselves. Mio considered listening to music, but the way her headphones felt over her decaying ears was extremely unsettling. So she found herself laying back on her bed, just waiting. After spending 19 days sitting underground without sleeping, waiting another few hours didn't seem all to bad. It was the anticipation that got to her.
"There has to be a way to end this..." Mio spoke to the ceiling. Something was stopping her from dying; and while she didn't particularly want to die, she didn't want to live like this either. Yes, some force was preventing her from dying, and it very well could have been malevolent. An hour passed, and Mio realized it was time to start packing her things. In just a day and a half, she had come to conclusion that this place wasn't her home anymore. No, her mother had made that quite clear with her attitude. Where she would stay was a mystery for now, but being dead had its advantages against the elements. And I just had the single longest bout of deja vu in my life. She was sure that Ritsu could help her figure all of this out.
Her bags were packed, her mind was set, it was time to go. By sheer coincidence, her parents had chosen that time to go out shopping, making her escape simple. With a heavy heart, Mio left a note on the table telling them how much she loved them, but how she couldn't stay. Her home wasn't much different then that coffin, except there was more breathing room here.
The cold February air greeted Mio as she passed out her door. It was the first time she had been outside in the daylight in weeks. The sun's glare was especially harsh, its blinding light blurred everything around her. Without thinking, she drifted over to the shady part of the sidewalk under the cool protection of trees. The house had been rather dim with the way all the lights were always off, and it was a stark contrast to how it was outside. Mio usually liked sunshine, but right now she would have gladly sworn her allegiance to Satan to make it go away.
It wasn't melting her flesh or anything, and the woods would be shady, so Mio pressed on by focusing on seeing Ritsu again; and shade. She passed through part of the city, and the only glances she got were ones from people curious about her odd attire. Her phone vibrated in her pocket, so Mio flicked it open and read the text message that Ritsu had sent her. Ritsu probably had some idea that Mio was back, but surely didn't full understand. That was what Mio believed, and she was curious to see how Ritsu would react, curious and scared. The message left was a simple one,
"I'm here"
That was incentive for Mio to pick up her pace. She crossed through alleys she wouldn't normally have, and j-walked for the first time ever. Something told her that getting hit by a car wouldn't do much to deter her. Soon, the suburbs surrounded her, and that little wooded section Sawako had gotten lost in during their school's marathon came into view. Mio vaulted over the little guard railing between it and the road and walked down a dirt path to where her and Ritsu would meet. The woods were a very peaceful place, but had been dirtied by teenagers partying there. Most of the empty beer bottles and cans had been removed, but a few still stained the ground. For some reason, no one seemed to go there anymore. It was a great place to be alone, or with a friend, because of that emptiness.
"Ritsu!" Mio called out without thinking. Her voice came out whiny, shaky, and just like her old self in that regard.
Somewhere off in the distance, there was a call back, "H-Hello!"
"Ritsu, is that you!"
"Y-Yeah, may I ask who's calling?" Ritsu replied from beyond the foliage. To Mio, that reply seemed just a bit strange.
"You know who this is!" She shouted in the direction of Ritsu. Slowly, the drummer emerged from behind a cluster of vegetation. She was dressed warmly for the weather, and appeared to be buttoning her pants. Mio was left wondering why they were shouting when they were only about ten meters away.
Ritsu just stared at her, goofy grin on her face, tears in her eyes, unable to find the words to express what she was feeling. Mio smiled, and spoke, "Uh...Hiya."
Without saying anything, Ritsu sprinted over and captured Mio in a tackle hug. She pressed her face against Mio's bosom and wept while laughing at the same time. Mio held her tight, and stroked her hair; which left her wishing she didn't have to wear those gloves to cover her ravaged hands. Oh please Ritsu, don't flee from me when you find out what I really am. I've lost my mother, I've sent my family into disarray. I can't lose you too...
"Stupid Mio." Ritsu blurted out, her voice was a choking mix of sobbing and laughing. She playfully punched Mio's chest, "Stupid, stupid Mio. Scaring me like that!"
"I didn't mean to scare you," Mio whimpered, "I didn't mean to scare anyone..."
"Never mind that!" Ritsu shook her head, "What happened? Where did you go? Why are you wearing all this blush?"
"I don't know that happened, Ritsu, I don't know what's happening. But I think you're the only one who can help me." Mio admitted.
"I don't understand...any of this."
"I know you don't." She sighed, "Ritsu, let me ask you something...Can you feel my heartbeat?"
"I...Uh..." The drummer was taken back by such a question, "I can't tell, you're packing on the layers."
Mio let go of her, than unzipped her jacked. She grabbed Ritsu's wrist and shoved her palm against her right breast and pressed down. Ritsu just stared at her with wide eyes.
"I don't feel anything..." She gasped, and readjusted her hand to try and feel a pulse; nothing, "And you're cold Mio, why are you so cold?" Grim realization flowed over her, "Oh my god...oh my god...oh my god..."
"This new me has stricken terror into everyone I once loved..." Mio whispered, and hugged her tight again, "I'm still the same Ritsu, please believe me. You're all I have left."
"I don't know what to believe." She blankly replied, feeling a little freaked out by the feeling of Mio's dead flesh against her cheek, "But what about your parents, do they know about this?"
"Yes they do, and they are scared of me...So I left. You have to understand, I couldn't stay there, they were treating me like a monster."
"I can get why they were scared, but they don't have any right to treat you like that!" Ritsu confidently declared. Mio smiled, that was why she needed to find Ritsu, "But I'm still really confused about all of this, please start from the beginning. Tell me everything that happened, tell me what's happening."
They sat on the dirt beneath the cover of trees on Mio's bags and Mio told her story. She told Ritsu how the last thing she remembered was passing out after playing her bass, waking up underground, her escape, her trip home, her arrival home, and what happened there with her parents, and her leaving at night. Ritsu drew circles in the dirt with her fingers and tried to process all of this. She knew she had to do something to help her friend, but she wasn't sure what she could do, "We'll figure this out Mio. We'll figure out how to either get you fully alive again, or just let you sleep. Whichever one, you can't stay like this. I don't care if you're different, but other people will."
The sun was beginning to drift beyond the horizon, and Mio knew what that would bring, "I took too long telling my story. I need to get home."
"No!" Ritsu yelped, "You can't go home where your parents will lock you up like some kind of monster."
"Where else can I go? I'm too scared to stay out in these woods." Mio asked and told her, "I thought I could just pack my bags and leave, but I don't want to be here alone. And I don't want to go to a hotel, what if someone sees what I am there!"
"You can come home with me!" Ritsu happily suggested, "Tomorrow is our break. My parents are off spending their anniversary somewhere, and Satoshi is at his friend's house. It's the perfect set up!"
Mio threw her arms around Ritsu and hugged her tight again, "Oh thank you Ritsu, you're a wonderful friend. But wait, what if my body starts to move on its own?"
Ritsu puffed out her chest and proudly declared, "I'll hold you down and make sure you go nowhere!"
"Thank you Ritsu... you've been more helpful that I could have ever hoped." Mio solemnly told her, and they stood up to leave.
DAY 21
The clock struck twelve, signaling it was just past midnight. Mio had resisted the urge to fall into sleep, even if it was a welcome change from reality. No, she knew how it would end. Even with her current state, she found that it wasn't all too hard to make basic conversation with Ritsu. The drummer caught her up with everything that had happened since her passing, and how everyone was taking it. All in all, they were handling it well. Such a concept almost made Mio feel sad that they weren't mourning her more. But she wasn't one to revel in attention like that too much.
"I don't know what you're going to find." Mio sighed and Ritsu endlessly scanned websites for information on this sort of thing. It was hard to find anything based off of actual cases of the dead coming back to life instead of just fiction. The best Ritsu had been able to find were cases about voodoo that vaguely matched Mio's condition. However, the rituals to counter such a thing required expensive, hard to obtain, and mostly illegal items to create. Most of the counter rituals involved dancing by night while drinking the blood of child's broken neck. And if it didn't work, well then both of them would face a life in prison.
"I think I'm onto something here..." Ritsu muttered and clicked another link, "Maybe one of these occult people would know something about this."
"O-Occult!" Mio squeaked.
"Yeah, they dabble in this stuff all the time." Ritsu nodded, "Let me send one an email, I'm sure they can point us in the right direction." Within ten minutes of sending the email, Ritsu received a phone call on her cell. With much surprise, she answered it, "H-Hello?"
"Good evening." A low female voice replied, "You responded to my website with an email containing your phone number, so I called back. You have a question regarding the dark and mystical?"
"You replied really fast." Ritsu remarked.
"Of course, you're the first person to send me an email since I established the site four years ago." She replied, "Ah, I am forgetting my manners. My name is Sugiura Ayumu, a pleasure to meet you."
"Tainaka Ritsu." She said in turn, "I just wanna say that I'm not kidding when I say that I think I have a real life case of the dark arts with me right here. Say hi Mio!"
"Hi..." Mio whispered, so that Ayumu couldn't hear her.
"A real case of the dark arts?" She didn't sound too excited, "Could you be a bit more specific?"
"Uh, I think my friend came back from the dead. Can you, like, fix that?"
"Excuse me?"
"I think you'd better see for yourself..." Ritsu sighed, and briefly explained what had happened, and gave her address. She hung up the phone and smiled at Mio, "She said this was worth driving across the prefecture in the middle of the night to see."
"Oh no..." Mio meekly sighed, "I don't want to be a spectacle for her."
Ritsu stepped over across her room to her, and gently patted her on the back, "You're not a spectacle. You wanted my help, and now I'm doing what I can to help. You need to help me help you help me help Ayumu...or something like that."
"Right, sorry. I guess I just didn't expect anyone to reply so fast."
"When faced with the supernatural, those cult types tend to react pretty quickly." Ritsu nodded, then went to prepare drinks for their coming guest. While Ritsu was hopeful, Mio found herself completely unable take the concept of some witch visiting and diagnosing her condition. Although that could have just been her natural shyness following her beyond the grave. It was getting difficult for her to keep track of which traits died along with her, and which had not. Mio had believed briefly that her natural fear of most things had tampered off, but that wasn't the case, she was merely getting used to being always afraid. After about an hour, with Ritsu starting to get noticeably tired, the doorbell rang. The drummer was quick to answer it, "Ah, Ayumu-san!"
"Tainaka, a pleasure to meet you." The woman nodded. She was surprisingly young, maybe in her twenties, with shoulder length dark hair, bright eyes, glasses, and a shirt for the band Anal Cunt, "So, correct me if I'm wrong, but you said your friend came back from the dead and is residing in your parlor?" She walked past Ritsu without removing her shoes.
"Yeah, she's in there." Ritsu quietly replied, and lead her to the parlor, "Mio, say hi."
Mio gave a shaky smile and slowly raised her hand, "W-We made tea."
"Irrelevant." Ayumu replied instantly, she squinted her eyes and stared down Mio, "After working in a morgue for six years, I can say for sure that she's dead. Congratulations Tainaka-san, Mio is dead. Can I go home now?"
"We know that already!" Ritsu snapped at her, "I called you over here to fix her!"
"Right, right..." The cultist shook her head, "I don't know why you would want to fix it. The gift of immortality is not one bestowed lightly."
"My parents think it's sickening!" Mio cried out, "I don't want to live like this."
"Jealously, they merely can't afford this highest form of luxury." Ayumu shook her head again, "Personally, I would stay like this. Invest in cryonics, get some grafts, and you're set to live on for eternity."
"I don't believe this..." Ritsu deadpanned.
"No!" Mio screamed, "I don't want to be some freak living on forever, only causing disgust and mayhem to all."
"Only fear condemns such a radical ideology." Ayumu sighed, looking rather disappointed, "Sad, really, I finally get to see a real case of immortality, and you want to end it."
"You don't seem all too surprised." Ritsu remarked.
"I neglect outwardly showing emotions, they are a hindering." She replied instantly again, "Tainaka-san, leave the room, I need to speak the client alone."
"C-Client?" Mio repeated as her friend stepped out, "What is it that you want with me?"
"I didn't like the vibe that Tainaka was sending me, so I sent her away. Now before we do anything, I ask again, are you sure you do not want to keep this gift?"
"Yes, I do not want this." Mio bravely stated.
"It's a shame such a wonder was wasted on someone such as you. There are others across the world who have used their power to better society." Ayumu told her, that was a thought that had not crossed Mio's mind. That there were others like her as well, but there was something she had forgotten to ask.
"Ayumu-san, you say you know a lot about this?" Mio asked her.
"I have studied it for many years, yes."
"What happens to me at night, where did I go?" She wasn't sure if she wanted to know the answer."
"Oh, that's simple." Ayumu shrugged, "Your altered body requires the life force of others to sustain itself. Be thankful you were able to do so without drawing attention from authorities like many others do."
Thankful...thankful...be thankful! Mio's hands were shaking, her mouth felt even dryer, utter fear and loathing towards herself clouded her vision. Even if she hadn't been able to breathe before, she felt herself choking on what she had just heard. And she had just been so casual about it too! No build up, no sugar coating it, just her saying that Mio had possibly murdered someone. Her fingers tugged at her hair, "Oh please, tell me how to end this, I don't want to be alive like this for another second."
"Fine, fine." The macabre woman rolled her eyes, "Alright, I've never done this before, so don't fucking bitch at me if it seems awkward. What I'm going to do is hypnotize you."
"You're kidding, right?"
"No, I'm not." Ayumu snapped her fingers twice in front of Mio's face, causing her to flinch, "It's not going to be some fancy thing where I swing a pendulum back and forth, don't worry. Alright now, try to relax." Mio, unable to breathe, or tense her muscles, found this easy to do, "You will go to sleep when I leave, just like any other night while you were alive and mortal. But before you fall asleep, you will feel those same emotions that you felt before you expired from this world. Focus on that powerful emotion, find out what you felt, then confront what caused it. Only then can you find rest." She paused, then shouted out, "Okay, Tainaka-san, get in here!"
"Finished?" Ritsu asked as she was stepping in.
Ayumu stood up and nodded, "Yeah. That'll be 14,000 yen."
"Wat." Mio and Ritsu said in unison.
"Do you think hypnotizing someone into confronting their death's mantra would be free?" Ayumu scoffed. Ritsu went to reach into her back pocket, but Mio stopped her.
"I'll pay for this." She told her, then pulled out her wallet, "It's not like I'll be needing money anymore."
"Right." Ritsu sighed, and let Mio pay Ayumu with a wad of cash.
The cultist profiteer gave them a bow, "A pleasure doing business with you madams. Now I have to go, my shift is in three hours. See yuh."
The two of them just stared in wonder as the woman left with Mio's money. Ritsu raised and eyebrow and blurted out, "What the fuck did we just do!"
Mio closed her eyes and smiled, "You know something? I actually believe her, and I believe that what she did will work. Uhm, may I borrow your bed? I need to go to sleep to make this work."
She was answered with Ritsu's arms tightly enveloping her. Tears had appeared pretty much out of nowhere from the drummer's eyes. In a choking sob, she spoke, "I wanted to help you, and I want you to be happy... but... but...I don't want to see you go!"
"Ritsu..."
"I thought I would be okay with this, and that I had already dealt with seeing you go once, but I'm not okay!" Ritsu continued to sob, "Maybe you should listen to what she said, maybe living forever isn't a bad thing. I'll protect you and make sure nothing wrong happens. Just please don't go!"
Mio almost considered it too, but she knew that it was against the natural order of things. The dead just couldn't walk around, it didn't work that way. Not to mention the possibility of religious people getting a hold of that information. Her existence was blasphemy, and keeping it going was assuring that she'd be in hell when God was through with her. "No Ritsu, I'm so sorry, but you don't know wretched being like this feels."
"I knew you wouldn't say yes to me..." Ritsu whimpered, she grabbed Mio's wrist and began practically dragging her up to her room, "Fine, but if you get up again in the night, I'm going to follow you to make sure that you're not getting into trouble."
"I couldn't ask for more." Mio nodded as they stepped into Ritsu's room. The bed was in front of her now, "I...I guess this is really good bye then."
"I'm glad I got the chance to say it before you finally left." Ritsu muttered, trying to hold back even more tears.
All of a sudden Mio felt extremely tired, like she had been awake for days. Her eyelids felt heavy and the thought of sleep became luxurious, "Bye-bye Ritsu. I love you."
"I love you too Mio." Ritsu sobbed, then turned away. Her light sobs turned into full blown crying. She thought she would be prepared for this, but that wasn't the case. This was all too much, and she felt herself running downstairs to properly cry herself out on the couch. Part of her wanted to sleep the pain of losing her friend again, however, she needed to stay awake to keep an eye on Mio. She didn't even want to think about what would happen if Mio didn't wake up. That would not be fun to deal with. The thoughts people would harbor about Mio's corpse winding up in her bed would ruin her and her family's life.
Upstairs, Mio found that sleep wasn't coming as naturally as she thought it would. She was restless with vague images swirling in her brain, images of memories that had no real relevance it seemed. Memories of drinking tea, messing around, laughing, setting up her new half-stack amplifier. She was out of the room getting something, and was now watching what had taken place while she was gone.
"Yui, you spilled that water everywhere!" Ritsu scolded, the guitarist had managed to dump the water for Ton-chan's tank all over the ground and over Mio's equipment. To make matters worse, she had managed to knock over Mio's new half-stack too. She apologized and picked it back up before the bassist could return. Water had gotten all over it though, but Yui doubted that it would be an issue.
While Yui, Ritsu, and Azusa were changing the water in Ton-chan's tank, Mio and Tsumugi decided to begin their practice. Mio turned on her now broken amp, and screamed as she was electricity surged through her body, and conducted easily from the water everywhere.
"Yui..." Mio sighed, and her eyes shot wide open. She didn't know if what she had just imagined was the truth or not, but it certainly resonated with her. Her body ached with that infernal pain that she had felt while buried underground. And like before, she couldn't move. The only solace she found was that she was in a bed and not a coffin; being paralyzed still wasn't very fun. What's happening, am I going to die? Am I dead yet? I don't understand any of this, what does this mean! Is everything resetting or something?
"Mio, I know what to do." A voice from the far corner of her brain whispered.
"Oh please, tell me how to end this. That Ayumu girl was crazy, none of what she said was true. Nothing changed, I'm back at the beginning!"
"No Mio, something did change. I'm back again, the one who got you out of the grave in the ground, and the one who keeps you going."
"Who are you? Why are you doing this to me!"
"There is no YOU, there is only ME. Us, I'm you, just a part of you that doesn't surface much. Let me do the work, I can finally end this for both of us."
"I don't know what to believe anymore. I think I'm insane now."
"Sanity means nothing to the dead. Now come, let me fix all of this, I think I understand what has to be done."
"I'm scared, I'm terrified, but I don't have any choice, do I? I will not move until you are in control, isn't that right."
"Ever the smart one."
Mio's body shuttered as a dark presence overwhelmed her. She sat up on the bed, cracking joints along the way. With a low voice, and wicked laugh, she uttered, "Now let's go pay our friend Yui-chan a visit."
"Don't hurt her. Whatever she did, it wasn't her fault."
"We'll see what happens." She thought back to herself, which left Mio more terrified that ever. All of a sudden she strongly regretted her decision of letting this entity take control. More likely than not, it had been the thing that started all of this. Without consent of conscious, her body gracefully started down the stairs. She was greeted by a red faced Ritsu, whose eyes were puffy and dry from excessive crying.
"M-Mio! You're up, what's-" Ritsu stepped between her and the door, and tried to say. She was cut off when Mio's arm slammed against her face, smashing her against the wall and leaving her crumpled on the floor. Ritsu had no idea how to react to that, she had been hit hard enough to loosen a few teeth on the left side of her mouth, and her mouth was flooding with the taste of blood as Mio marched past her. She had barely even raised an arm too; Mio should not have been physically capable of hitting her that hard. Ritsu really didn't know how to appropriately reply, "Mio, what the hell is wrong with you!"
Her undead friend turned around, and gave Ritsu a gaze that struck mortal terror into her soul. Her eyes were bright, nearly glowing red, and she gave her a black toothed grin, "Come along Ricchan, we're going to go visit Yui-chan. It's going to be a regular party." Her style of speech and word choice was drastically different, like someone else was talking.
Ritsu crawled after her, while managing to get to her feet. She followed Mio out the door and tried to block her path, "Mio, is that you talking? Or is it something else? What did Ayumu do to you!"
Mio stopped, then gave her a frown, "Move. Or I'll hit you again. Without holding back."
"I ain't afraid of you!" Ritsu scoffed, and brought up her fists to defend herself against Zombie Mio. The bassist lunged forward with frightening speed, and grabbed Ritsu by the neck. With one fluid motion, she lifted her up and slammed her down into the grass that decorated her lawn. The drummer felt the wind shoot out of her lungs as she collided with her back on the ground. Last time she had checked, Mio could barely lift the bar in weight-training class, nonetheless pick up a 50 kilogram person with one hand off the ground. Those thoughts swirled in her addled mind as Mio nonchalantly continued her march towards Yui's house. Lesson learned, but Ritsu wasn't about to give up; she got to her feet and woozily stumbled after Mio to make sure she didn't hurt anyone...or herself.
Death did not hinder her pace in the slightest, and Ritsu found herself having to job to keep up. After getting hit twice like that, her head was throbbing with excruciating pain that was threatening to make her black out. She gritted her teeth, got past the taste of blood swelling between her teeth, and pressed on to keep her promise of safety to Mio. By sheer luck, no one seemed to be out that night, which kept them safe from suspicion. Mio, who had been terrified of j-walking up that point, was now cutting through yards, hopping low fences, and narrowly avoiding setting people's dogs off.
After their miniscule journey was over, Mio stood in front of Yui's house and smiled at Ritsu; who was desperately trying to catch her breath, "Don't worry Ricchan, it's almost over, I'll be where I'm supposed to be soon. I just have to tie up one loose end."
Panting, Ritsu pleaded, "Mio, the real Mio, I know you're in there. Fight this thing, whatever it is, that's making you do this. Get out and stop her!"
"Help me Ritsu! I can't get out and stop it, she won't let me. I made a mistake, I should never have let her do this. I was scared and I said yes to this ugly, please stop me somehow. Break my legs, kill me, behead me, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD RITSU DO SOMETHING!"
Her body continued on and went to open the door of the Hirasawa residence. It was locked, but that didn't hinder her in the slightest. With a sharp twist, Mio turned the knob hard enough to break the lock and pull it open. Ritsu, standing at the sidelines, had to admit that was a little crazy. Now she had abandoned any hope of a peaceful reconcile with Yui; peaceful people didn't break locks. For Ritsu, it was time to stop Mio, even if it meant killing her and burying the body back where it belonged; possibly risking prison time. Ritsu charged in after her, and ran to the kitchen to find something preferably sharped. She was in luck, there was bread carving knife laying on a cutting board from what had to have been their dinner earlier that night. Mio was roughly half way up the stairs when she grabbed the knife and ran after her.
"Stop it!" Ritsu hissed, desperately hoping that all of this could go without either of the Hirasawa sisters waking. Mio gave her a casual glance and opened Yui's door. Now or never Ritsu... let's hope you can down her with good stab...
With those thoughts in mind, Ritsu sprinted at Mio's back and jabbed the bread knife downward next to her neck into her body. Blackened blood splattered her wrist and she pushed the blade down and twisted it. Mio's corpse dropped to her knees, and exhaled sharply. Ritsu was crying now, "I'm sorry Mio, it had to be done."
"Thank you Ritsu, you saved at least one life tonight."
Mio's cold hand gripped upwards at Ritsu's wrist, causing her to void her bladder from the burst of fear. That cold hand was followed by the other, and the two of them gripped around her Ritsu's wrist hard enough to break the circulation. Lacerated Mio Corpse stood up, and brought Ritsu with her. Too afraid to even speak, Ritsu quietly sobbed, and tried to whimper pleas of mercy. Mio smirked as they all came out as blubbering whimpers. She adjusted her grip and turned around to face Ritsu and look down at her.
"No." Ritsu mouthed as Mio freed her right hand and drew it close to the terrified girls throat. A sharp gasp close by signaled that Yui had awoken. The evil bastardization of Mio chuckled and turned Ritsu to face Yui.
"Oh, I'm sorry did we wake you?" She smiled and spoke, it sounded like two people were speaking in unison. Yui was too utterly shocked by this bizarre scene to react in anyway. To her, it looked like the ghost of Mio was standing there with Ui's favorite knife sticking out of her throat, while holding Ritsu up by the wrist, "Yui-chan, did you miss me?"
"Mio?" Yui squeaked, still more confused than anything.
"Yes its me." Mio smiled and nodded, "You did a bad thing to me Yui, and it made a very bad part of me come out. The bad things aren't going to stop there though, because you've been a bad girl."
"What are you doing with Ricchan!" Yui gasped. Mio had a decayed hand pressed against Ritsu's face, pushing her lips into a mockery of a kissing face.
"Showing you just how bad a girl you were by causing an accident like that. But instead of punishing you, I'm punishing someone else." Mio replied in a very lecturery tone. She used her other hand to press both of Ritsu's cheeks together as she stood behind the girl. Ritsu was openly crying as she stood on her knees having her face distorted into a mockery of a romantic gesture.
"No, don't hurt Ritsu, she didn't do anything! Why are you doing this! You said you were going to put us to rest, not hurt Ritsu!"
"Mio, shut your mouth and let me finish my work. Yui needs to be taught a lesson first, and this seems like a good way to get a point across."
"What are you going to do to her!"
"Something...something..."
Mio's fingers grabbed the corners of Ritsu's mouth and pulled her lips into a big open mouth smiled. Yui was still more confused than scared, none of this made even the slightest sense to her half-asleep mind. It wasn't until this weird corpse Mio grabbed Ritsu jaw and pulled downward; showing Yui just how real and serious this was. Ritsu choked as her mouth was crudely forced open; her throat tensed up regurgitate a blob of clear bile over Mio's decrepit fingers. Upon that act, her jaw was pushed down just a bit more, and Ritsu could feel the corner of her mouth beginning to sting as it was pushed to its limits. She choked even more as her jaw as pushed open more and more, with the edges of her lips beginning to rip and bleed.
"Stop it, you're going to kill her!" Yui screamed when she saw Ritsu's blood start pouring through Mio's fingers.
"Kill her?" Dead Mio raised an eyebrow, "Well, if you insist."
"NOOO!" Mio screamed in her mind as Yui screamed out loud. Her body flexed her arms and pulled down on Ritsu's jaw while pulling up on her skull. There was sickening tearing sound as the skin of Ritsu's cheeks tore and her jaw was dislocated and nearly torn free of her body; leaving her with a crude Glasgow Grin. She was let go, leaving her to writhe on the ground, desperately clutching at her ruined mouth. Warm blood flowed over her fingers as she futilely attempted to stop the profuse bleeding. She still couldn't breathe either, causing her to choke and hack while still writing. The two combined left her vomiting up a mixture of blood and bile, while added spectacularly to the choking.
Yui was crying, sobbing, and nearly screaming as she watched Ritsu squirm around, dying on her floor. It was a divine miracle to Mio that Ui hadn't hadn't had woken up in all of this. She yanked up Yui by the shirt collar, and dragged her downstairs in a headlock, leaving Ritsu upstairs silently choking to death in her own vomit. Lacerated Corpse Mio, threw Yui down onto the kitchen tile and hissed at her, "If your sister wakes up, she dies."
Yui quickly nodded through the tears, and curled up into a little crying ball. She had secretly wondered if Mio's death had been her fault, and had feared retribution from evil spirits; but never to this magnitude. This was insane, like something from some crappy horror movie that she and Ui would watch together on stormy nights. Now this evil dead Mio who had killed her old best friend now was now going through her dishwasher!
"What are you going to do to her!" Mio screamed in her mind.
"Give her an electrifying trip to the grave." She replied aloud, and pulled out the mas of copper wiring from the back of the dishwasher. It took some time, and she had to keep threatening Yui with the death of various friends and family to keep her in place, but eventually she managed to pry all of it out. With the copper wire in hand, she approached Yui and forcefully raised her wrist and began tying the twine around it.
"Why are you doing this Mio-chan!" Yui sobbed, "I didn't mean to hurt you, it was an accident. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it to do it! Why did you hurt Ricchan!"
"To make sure you and none of your ilk ever do something like this again." Mio hissed in an unearthly voice, then proceeded to tie both her wrists together with the metal wiring, before wrapping the remaining length around her neck. She dragged the whimpering girl to the corner of the kitchen, before instructing to her to continue to remain still. Dead Mio opened the oven and removed the wire wrack and set it next to her, then went over to the sink and whetted a dish towel.
"I don't know what you're doing, but I promise that I'm sorry and nothing like what happened to you will ever happen again. I'll never even touch Gitah ever again, just please stop!" Yui begged and begged, crying and whimpering as Mio set the wet towel over her head, then tied the remaining copper wire around the oven wrack. She pulled off the plastic part of the electrical socket behind Yui, then used the remaining copper wire to tie it into the socket.
With the towel over her head Yui had no idea what Corpse Mio had been up to, or even so before she had the towel. But it became clear when malicious pain of apocalyptic proportions wracked through her body; causing it to twist and spasm. Electricity coursed through her body from the wire, almost wishing she could have died like Ritsu had; since that would have been marginally less painful than this.
That evil, twisted part of Mio that had so wished revenge on Yui for accidentally murdering her slowly began to subside as she watched the little airhead foam at the mouth and bang her head against the wall. All that maliciousness, all that cancerous hate and rage that had secretively waged inside her throughout the course of her undead life, now began to ease away as it was satiated by these two acts of brutality. It left Mio, the real kind, loving, caring Mio to live with the consequences of actions she never had control over. As she regained control of her body, and looked down at the burnt mess that was Yui, and thought about the bloody mess that was Ritsu upstairs; all she could think about was how glad she was going to be when she closed her eyes and died for good. Sorrow, bitter pain, melancholy, and despair all swelled within her; but too much had happened too fast to her to even register those emotions currently. That was good, it left her mind clear enough to fix this to be best of her ability.
Hardly able to think, or really feel anything at all, Mio used this undead strength to drag both Ritsu and Yui together in her arms to the small backyard of the Hirasawa residence. She laid them both side by side in the yellowed February grass, then went to find what she needed to end this nightmare once and for all. Since Yui and Ui never dabbled in the arts of mechanics or vehicles, there wasn't a can of gasoline like many other homes had, but Ui did like to keep the place clean. Mio was able to find a good supply of rubbing alcohol and ammonia, along with packing peanuts, to fulfill her needs; along with a book of matches. While searching, she had learned that Ui was at Jun's house, which had been a god send considering the nights events.
She dumped out the packing peanuts over the two of them, then doused them with all the cleaning supplies she had found. With them suitably drenched, Mio laid between them, and felt the strong smelling chemicals lightly begin seeping into her clothes.
Without a trace of regret, she lit the match and let fire cleanse her of her sins.
THE END
And I kept putting it off, and putting it off, and putting it off, but at 12k words and an ending I can stand behind, I think this should be a great release for the Halloween season. Once again, I was trying to emulate the cheesy atmosphere of old horror movies and stories. So bad plot devices, like Ayumu's convenient info dump and the sudden emergence of Mio's evil dark side, were intentional. Somethings could have had more attention I know, but I had to cut it short at so many words to keep it a reasonable one-shot. And yes, the events with the electricity can actually happen, people have died from even more unbelievable electric situations in real life.
One last thing. I'm not going to play, "Cite the song Tastychainsaws" got inspired from, because the list that went into this story is well into the double digits. I will say that Wolves In The Throne Room is a great band to listen to for when you're writing horror.
And yes, Ritsu quoted Marcus Fenix.