A/N: My failed attempt at a horror(?) fic. Maybe when I turn 13, I'll be better. Anyway, I do not own the Vocaloids, nor will I ever, nor does any of my relatives, and every single person in the world knows this, SO WHY DO I HAVE TO SAY IT?
Special thanks to Nerumi Honne for telling me to totally include the last part. :D
P.S. If you have any inquiries about any event of this fanfiction, please do ask. I can't reply to anonymous people, however, so do create an account on this site. It's easy :D
The streets were decorated with colorful, dazzling lights and ribbons on each lamp post. Malls and shops surrounding the area were brightly lit up, having started business long ago at dawn, ready for last-minute Christmas shoppers to rush in and crowd the area.
Lights were strung above them, illuminating the night sky with millions of stars shining back brightly. It was a cheerful Christmas Eve.
Though there were many people, so much so that they had to push and shove to get anywhere at all, two figures walking against the flow of the crowd could be easily spotted, if not for the direction they were strolling, for the unique shades of hair that they had.
One of them had beautiful, silky pink locks, soon to be tainted crimson red. She was walking contently, bags, filled with presents for her makeshift family, taking up every inch of both her arms. Beside her, a man with tied up lavender hair, striding excitedly. He always found great pleasure in simply spending time alone with this woman, which annoyed and flattered her to no end. It mostly annoyed her, though.
"Why are you always so happy, Gakupo?" The woman asked, obviously not interested in the reply, but she wanted to start a conversation at least, to last her the trip home.
"Because, my dear, you exist," the man, Gakupo, replied suavely. "And that, Luka, is enough to keep me happy."
Luka's cheeks were now tinted a light pink, not visible in the deserted, dimly lit pavement that they had advanced to. She gave a fake gag, before proceeding to march forward haughtily, not wanting to risk Gakupo seeing her blush. Even though the area they were in had hardly any light, there was a small one-in-a-billion chance he had night vision.
After many minutes of silence, where they should have reached the large condominium they shared with their 'family', Luka slowed to a stop.
"Gakupo, do you think we took a wrong turn?" she asked, not bothering to turn around and face him.
It took her a while to notice that only the sound of her footsteps had been echoing the past few minutes.
"Gakupo?"
Her eyes narrowed into slits as she glared daggers into the eerie darkness stretching out behind her.
"This isn't funny."
No, it never was. Because in all the horror movies she had seen, the main female always uttered that dreadful phrase before she was captured from behind by a masked murderer and trapped in a dungeon and watch her best friend get killed, only to be saved herself by the hero of the movie. It was never funny. It was never even a joke.
Only now was the dark truly frightening to her. She was lost, a woman in an unknown neighborhood, with only the stars to guide her to safety.
That is, if she was destined to be safe.
There was never another time where she had wished for the violet haired man's company more than now.
A sudden movement to her back instantly sent her on full alert, her head whipping back to glare at whatever made the sound. She waited in silence.
A slight breeze blew, causing a bush to sway with the wind and rustle softly.
'It was nothing', Luka thought. 'Nothing at all.'
A pair of lime orbs stared into her soul, suddenly appearing from the same bush she had previously eyed suspiciously. The orbs moved, revealing a golden kitten, with wet, disheveled fur. It mewed gently, full of affection for an animal that looked to have just been tortured. Tail swishing side to side, it purred happily as it made its way to Luka's legs, aiming to rub itself against her to keep itself warm.
At least, it seemed that way.
Smiling, the woman bent down, more than welcome for the company that the tiny mammal provided. She reached out a hand to show that she was willing to stroke and pet it, grinning in delight when the animal sped up in its movement.
An inhuman burst of speed and a shrill screech followed immediately after.
Luka stared, fear apparent in her eyes, at the 'kitten' in front of her, with a smile not possible to be a feline's, dead on its mouth. Its green eyes flashed, flickering crimson every few seconds. The salmon haired woman retreated her arm, clutching it as though the universe depended on that action alone. As she scrambled away, legs too weak to actually get up from her sitting position, trying to get away from the kitten – or whatever spawn of Satan it was – , her vision could only focus on one thing.
Her pinky finger, dismembered and twisted horribly, trapped in the several rows of fangs that the monster had.
She had been running for only mere seconds, but it seemed like forever since she had last been walking. The sight of the stump on her left hand where her littlest finger used to be sent nausea throughout her body, forcing her to stop in her rush to calm her stomach down before her breakfast would be hurled out.
Heavy pants and gasps for air were the only sounds that could be heard.
'Stupid', Luka screamed mentally at herself. 'Make this much noise and you're bound to be caught!'
However, she could not force a stop to her body's reaction to her vigorous sprint, so she merely waited for it to die down. A soft wind blew through her hair, and she took pleasure in closing her eyes gently and enjoying the sensation on her face, completely coated in sweat.
Looks would be deceiving. She had thought that the creature she had seen before was harmless. She had thought that the kitten was adorable, not capable of causing such intense pain.
She had thought wrong.
A butterfly fluttered past her face, and Luka jumped, her hair flying all around the place. Even that simple insect could have killed her. It was shameful to be so afraid of a mere butterfly, when the woman herself could have crushed it easily between her palms, but she'd never know what could be lying underneath that seemingly innocent exterior.
Paranoia.
The word flashed in her mind despite her thoughts wandering nowhere near the word.
Useless.
Eyes screwed shut, she fought to overcome the slight headache forming in her brain. Her fingers worked furiously, rubbing away at her temples, letting out a silent sigh of relief when the pain and dizziness left her.
Apparently, the sigh wasn't silent enough.
A blur of movement rushed to her so quickly, a huge gust blew in its path, causing Luka to shiver from the intruding cold on her wet skin. Her legs ached and hurt, and from the speed that whatever-it-was possessed, she would never have been able to outrun it with her pathetic sluggishness in comparison.
Hope filled her heart, and she ran. Not the funny sort that made you giddy inside, like the hope for a new toy or the hope for a vacation. No, this was a different kind of hope. It was the depressing sort, that never really required much, and yet always seemed impossible to achieve.
This hope...
Was a hope to survive.
And she continued to run.
Fear coursed through her body, along with ache in her calves, as she carried on with her mad dash to nowhere, or perhaps anywhere but where the monster was, only to bump into the same creature the second she blinked.
The creature's tongue darted in and out of its filthy lips, dried blood crusted on it. It had crimson eyes, and slowly, its lips rose to reveal a deadly smile, teeth like daggers, waiting, just waiting, to dig into her flesh.
The consequences of pushing her body far beyond its limit came crashing down on her as her knees gave way at the most horrible timing she could think. Pain was all she could feel – it was all she had been feeling the past few who-knows-what's of time. It coursed through her body, spread in her legs, and stayed there, making sure her thighs and calves pulsed and throbbed with the ache.
Luka decided that addressing the creature as 'the creature' all the time would simply not do. This was a stray thought, of course, for her main concern at the moment was to survive. Subconsciously, she had chosen to dub this monster as 'the demon', instead, since she had encountered many creatures that day.
The demon hissed, its snake-like tongue flicking out in a glimpse.
As a reflex, the young woman, shivering and cold, frightened and on the ground, reached out a hand and swiped at it. Its amber eyes widened greatly, staring at her, bloodshot and pupils compressed. It let out a hideous screech, obviously enraged at the smack it had received.
They had managed to meet in an alleyway; a dead end. It was grimy and revolting to even have her skin touching any part of the place. Her body shook with tremors as the demon eyed her hungrily, angrily, and her hand fumbled around the ground in the darkness to find anything, anything at all that could help save herself from death.
A large glass shard pricked her palm, sending a trickle of blood dribbling down it.
Her grip tightened on the object, her will to survive great, far greater than her hunger or her pain. She dismissed the affliction cutting into her palms, and with a swift stab, the demon was on the ground, the fragment of glass half-sticking out of its head. It twisted and turned, in obvious agony, and with a new-found strength, Luka stood, towering above the withering monster.
A hideous crunch followed a vicious stomp to the skull, effectively putting the thing out of its misery forever.
The woman struggled to regain her breath, panting so heavily you'd think she were part puppy. Grasping the piece of glass, she tugged it out of the demon and wiped whatever mush that came with it onto the concrete floor. She'd need the makeshift weapon for now.
As she scanned the area, taking cautious steps to escape from the alley, she knew, oh, she knew.
She'd definitely need the makeshift weapon for now.
She'd been walking for a while. Ten minutes and forty-eight seconds. Yes, she had counted the time, for she had to keep herself occupied once in a while, to distract her and keep her from being paranoid over the smallest of issues.
Up ahead was an old abandoned warehouse, having rusted over the years. Although Luka's vision was blurring, and her head pounded with what seemed to be a severe headache, not to mention her throat was dead dry, she strode onward to the building, aiming to find something at least edible at the least, along with a shelter to sleep safely.
She decided right there and then that she'd kill anything, anything at all, for a Panadol.
She wanted some God damn Panadol.
Stepping around and over wooden crates and boxes of various sizes, she wandered around the building, pupils darting about in a wild search for anything she could use to live.
A whizz of blue rushing past her instantly made her stop in her tracks. Her heart pounded as she, as a reflex, slammed her body against the surface of a large crate by her side in a failed attempt to hide herself. She crouched down, shielding herself from any line of sight more effectively. One question lurked in her mind, however...
Why did that color seem so familiar?
"Luka-san.. I-is that.." a stutter emitted from the darkness, making her flinch in fear for a second, before realizing it was-
"Kaito!" Salmon hair flew all around as Luka threw herself into her friend's body, trying to find comfort in him. Her arms wrapped around his torso, and he hugged back, to her surprise. She had been so frightened, she thought that she'd been alone in this horrible torture, but at last, she had found someone else.
Tears gathered in her eyes as she reviewed all the things she had been through today, all the blood she had to shed and pain she had to endure to survive. Finally, maybe she could go home, and have Rin and Miku treat her wounds. She could enjoy tuna after recovering, and forget all about this incident.
She'd end up waking up from this nightmare, hopefully instead. It would have been just a nightmare, and she would have woken up, all alright, and she'd go downstairs like she did everyday and have breakfast.
She'd never have to suffer.
But no, it was all too good for her.
Though she was not able to see it, Kaito grinned as her embrace tightened around his waist.
"Don't worry, Luka-san. The torture was all just a dream, a vision."
As soon as these words drifted from his mouth, her eyes widened. Since when did she tell Kaito about her agonizing, harrowing day? She hadn't told him about her experience, not even a slight mention, and she knew for certain that Kaito wasn't smart enough to figure it out on his own from all the panicking she had done.
Her head flung upward to face the man she was hugging tightly, her eyes wide with fear and anxiety. The man she thought was Kaito had the same sadistic look as the creature she had encountered before him, and had blood dripping from his alluring crimson eyes. This wasn't the brother-figure she knew. This wasn't her best friend. This wasn't him.
"You're not Kaito, let go of me!" Luka struggled fiercely against his tight embrace, and as his grasp on her grew in strength, she felt his fingers on her shoulder blades. Pain shot through her back as she felt fingernails digging into her back, tearing at her flesh and muscles. She shrieked.
The nails grew, and tore deeper into her back. Luka shoved the impostor away, wincing as multiple snaps came from behind her as the body flew and it landed, with multiple cracks, onto the ground. It was a disgustingly fragile body. The young woman stepped forward cautiously, examining the corpse, afraid that it would jump back up and tear her apart when she wasn't looking.
Its fingernails had been broken off, which would have explained the sound earlier. The nails were still embedded deep in her flesh, digging into her back even more each time she moved.
A sudden movement brought her eyes toward the impostor's face. A black sludge slithered from his lips, and his mouth was now filling with thick, dark bile.
The mere sight of it disgusted Luka so greatly that she didn't dare swallow. The floor was covered in many layers of fine dust that stuck to her hair and sweaty palms. Tears filled her eyes again, as she spent a few moments silently mourning Kaito. Whether this was actually him or a just an impostor, the creature in front of her still had the face of her friend, and that was enough for her to even care.
Quickly, she got up. There was no time to lose, she could have been ambushed in those precious seconds that she had wasted, and she realized that fact only now. Bending her body forward as much as she could, her hands reached back to pull out the nails quickly, before the wounds got dirty. By then, her flesh probably would have already been starting to get infected, but it was worth a shot.
There was a sickening squelch as one nail finally came out, having had to tear up her tissues even more before it'd even budge. The pain that surrounded the area immediately after didn't matter to her. She had to get out of this Hellhole, as safely as she could manage.
But nowhere was safe in this damn place.
She was hearing things.
'Luka..'
There was that irritating voice again.
'You're losing the game...'
It only uttered complete nonsense, and had been doing exactly that for the past few hours. She'd put up with it at first, but only now was the noise really getting to her. She knew she was weakening from the constant walking she had to do. She knew she was dying from dehydration. She fucking knew that her grip on life was slowly going down, and she sure as hell didn't need that voice shoving it in her face for hours.
With that, she carefully positioned the glass shard above her left ear, where it was attached to her precious little head, before slicing it off with ease. The voice stopped, as she'd expected.
"Luka, your ear!" a figure raced toward her, causing her to snarl and scowl. She quieted down, however, when the figure stepped into the light.
Luka stared at the woman before her.
"Luka..." the female with auburn hair called out, her voice bouncing off the walls, echoing in the narrow gap that they were in.
The said woman's right arm sprang up, her knuckles most likely white from gripping onto the glass shard so tightly. It was hard to tell the color of her skin, since it looked dark under the shadows of the night, and looked white, along with the rest of her, under the moonlight.
"Stay away from me," Luka spat, her voice taking on a spiteful tone, laced with malice.
"Luka, it's me, Meiko!" The other woman replied, not heeding the warning and stepped forward, trying to reach out to what she thought was her friend. She hadn't known that Luka had been through so much that it had traumatized her. She hadn't known that Luka wasn't mentally stable at the moment. She hadn't known that the minute she made contact with Luka, her fate was sealed.
There was no screaming, no shrieking, only the barely audible sound of flesh being torn apart could be heard, of course, only if one's ears were strained greatly. The ghost of a grin instantly appeared on Luka's lips as she tilted her head slowly, examining her work of art on the ground. Dark crimson was pooling around the body, some of it splattered beautifully on the brick wall.
Luka smiled. She smiled, then she beamed, and finally broke into a fit of insane guffaws.
"I won, I won!" She eyed Meiko warily, as though expecting her to rise back up and taunt her. The happiness showed on her lips, but her eyes showed madness and anger. She had won, she had won against these pathetic creatures who had set out to kill her.
Her hair, like tendrils in the wind, was splattered with dark crimson liquid, slowly drying up.
She had been a good little girl, she had done no wrong, but yet she lost a pinky and an ear and her precious sanity.
Well, look what she accomplished. She took down all the bloody creatures that tried to hurt her.
She won.
Without having anywhere in mind to go, Luka started off in a sprint. Her mind was in a blur, she couldn't think straight and she hadn't slept for over two days. She didn't notice when a lamp post popped up, and then another, and two more, and so on.
She didn't notice when lights shone on her face, or her scarf being back on, or the slightly smaller crowd surrounding her and walking in difference directions, browsing for Christmas presents at the last minute.
Her running slowed to a walk as she finally noticed the change.
Luka looked around. She was back on the street, as though nothing had happened. Her finger was still on, and despite the small ache there, her stomach was still inside her body. She fumbled around with her hair to sigh in relief as she found her ear. She was even more please that she could hear the sigh.
The shard of glass was gone, so she had no weapon to defend herself anymore.
But maybe, this was a sign that she didn't need defending.
As soon as she caught the eyes of Gakupo, however, natural instinct forced her legs to start up and run as far away as possible from anything alive at all, for she had no weapon. After a few steps, however, she stopped, finally processing that she was no longer in danger. That it had all been a daydream, a horrible, nightmarish daydream.
Gakupo had watched her curiously as she sprinted.
"Luka, why were you running?" he asked.
The now embarrassed woman turned her head around to face him, albeit slowly, as it was the least she could do. Several sets of eyes were on her, owners wondering about the mad woman dashing all of a sudden.
"...for fun?" she answered lamely after having a look around, her mind clearing up slowly. She bit the edge of her lips nervously.
"Luka dear, what seems to be the problem now?" Gakupo questioned upon seeing the action, obviously worried for his precious 'girlfriend'.
"I...got carried away in a daydream, I suppose. Nothing to be worried of," Luka smiled, trying to reassure herself. Gakupo smiled back with equal friendliness, relieved, but then... she saw it. Her eyes widened as slowly, his lips rose to reveal a deadly smile, teeth like daggers, waiting, just waiting, to dig into her flesh.
End.