Hello! Lukia here! This is my KH AU Halloween themed short story fic, which has allusions to a few other series as well (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni anime, a book called Bad Girls Don't Die, etc. which you DON'T need to have background knowledge of to understand this fic). A little bit of OOC-ness from Kairi and a certain someone who I will not mention, and I will be using Japanese honorifics for that certain someone...

Anyway, hope you enjoy it!

Prologue: The Necklace

"Say you want, you say you need; you can take it all from me.
I'll call the debt one day. Marks of blood you'll have to pay.
Lost on trails of fear and spite, unrelenting, hopeless night.
This twisted dream will die When the Cicadas Cry."

~Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni, "When They Cry", ValliereVee's English lyrics

~Fifty years earlier, Satsujin residence, 2 a.m.~

A raven-haired girl gripped her cleaver-knife tightly, a psychotic smile creeping up on her face.

Her taller twin gripped the door handle tighter, willing it to open. It was locked. Just like the door was. Just like the closet was. No way out, not for her.

"Time to die."

Springing forward, the moonlight caught the youngest twin's weapon as she aimed directly for her sister's stomach. A rough dodge from her twin made the killer's eyes flare.

"Why…?" Cowering on the floor, the prey dared to gaze into her twin's crazed eyes.

"You've always been the best, stealing my spotlight. I told you your time was near, but you didn't listen."

"Sis—"

"Shut up!" The cleaver struck forward as the target parried again. The murderer was ridden with anger now. She wasn't here to play cat-and-mouse. Burning revenge made her see red as she pinned her sister to the hardwood, splintered floor with her knees and started to stab her repeatedly in the stomach, tearing through the nightshift she wore and into flesh, red stickiness covering the walls.

Blood, blood spilling! You deserve it!

The killer relished in the screams of agony; it almost felt like music to her as her victim's throat filled with blood, each cough splattering warm, sticky blood on both their faces. Was this what killing felt like? A rush of adrenaline, having all the power—

Blood, evil, traitor, I HATE YOU!

Almost as if on cue, the killer's victim shoved her twin off of her, sending her careening into the pristine white walls.

"Sh—Sh—" The killer's name wouldn't form on the wounded's lips as she laid there, blood pooling around her hair and running down her face.

The killer, satisfied, gave a mentally unstable giggle, and stood. Her sister would pay. Sixteen long years she had endured it; the being looked over, the relegation. She would no longer be just someone's twin, the lesser, the inferior…

Each step the crazed girl took was, to her, like walking on air; the feeling was exhilarating. Her sister laid at her feet, her breaths in short spasms, her hand clutched against her ripped-apart stomach.

"P-Please… I'm sorry, please… D-Don't…"

Bending down, the killer began to whisper in her twin's ear. No mercy. Never.

"I warned you. I told you it would come to this. But your superior mind refused to listen. Now, you will pay for all those years, those years of pain I had to endure. Goodbye, my sister."

And in one swift motion, she slit the victim's throat.

The silence was deafening as the murderer stood, glaring down at the bloody, dead corpse. The tingling in her hands remained from the killing. It felt… good. Amazing.

Maybe…

Maybe she could go after the others…

"Hehehehe… HAHAHAHAHA—!"

She gasped, suddenly realizing that if she was caught, she'd never get the chance.

But, then again…

Moving as if in a trance, the killer set the stage. She slashed through the door with the cleaver, leaving a gaping hole. She smashed the window at the other end of the room, glass cutting her face as she did. Finally, she went to stand beside her mangled twin, pointing the weapon directly at her heart.

If I can't get away with killing, then why not someone else… later?

A final, mad smile played across her lips before she plunged the cleaver into her chest.

As her body hit the floor, the cicadas started their mourning song.

~Present Day, a beach house, 4:17 p.m.~

"Naminé! Come on!"

"One second, Kai!" The blond-haired teen threw her remaining things in her bag and hoisted it over her shoulder, briefly surveying her room to make sure she hadn't left anything. The bed was bare of sheets, the open drawers empty – Time to head back home, she thought.

"Nami! Mom said—"

"Just tell her not to leave me here!" Naminé shouted back with a giggle, walking out the room and closing the door softly behind her. She leaned over the banister, gazing down at her twin, Kairi Mizu. The look on her face was sour, annoyed. Naminé said to her good-naturedly, "Go tell her I'm coming. I just wanted to make sure I had everything."

Arms crossed and brows furrowed, the redhead sighed and started out the door of the rental beach house. "Whatever… like Mom would ever leave you here."

With a tug on her shirt, Naminé started down the wooden stairs. Kairi was just overreacting. What did she mean by that comment, anyway? Not that the two twins had ever been on good terms, but Naminé was sure that their mom loved both of them equally. Kairi could at least try to see that.

Soon, Naminé had closed the front door behind her and turned around to take one last look at the beach house her family had rented for the weekend. It was early October, and it was one of those rare warm weekends when the houses on the Destiny Island outskirts were actually available. They place her dad had chosen was a bit old, maybe a century, had chipped paint and slightly cracked windows, and was a bit dark in color for Naminé's liking. She was actually glad they were heading back to the city. Not that she didn't enjoy the trip, but…

The family van was heard starting up behind her, and Kairi gave one last attempt to get her sister to hurry up. "Nami! I wanna go home!"

Without bothering to reply – that might just start an argument – Naminé ran to the car, flinging open the back door and climbing in. She tossed her suitcase in the back and gingerly buckled herself in.

"Goody-two-shoes," Kairi mumbled as the van pulled off, the house growing increasingly smaller as Naminé looked out the window. She realized with a jolt that she'd forgotten to draw the house before she left. She hoped she could remember what it looked like so she'd be able to draw it when she got home.

Their mom, her long blond hair shining, turned around slightly in the passenger seat to address her daughters. "Did you enjoy yourselves, girls?"

"Mmhm," Naminé replied brightly, and Kairi gave a terse "Yeah."

"Did you find anything interesting?"

Naminé gave a small smirk as she watched the green pastures floating gently by on the side of the highway. Sure, the house was old, but that didn't mean there was a bucket load of treasures in it. Unless Kairi had gone exploring, being sneaky and scouring the attic. That would be just like her.

"I found some jewelry," Kairi added, and when Naminé heard jangling, she turned her attention away from the window to Kairi's hand. From her index finger hung a necklace with a charm, in the shape of a six-pointed star, gray in color. In the center of the pendant was a glittering blue jewel that caught the evening sunlight as they drove.

"That's beautiful, Kairi," their mom said as she turned around and turned up the volume on the radio. "Where'd you find it?"

"My room. The first night we were there." She tucked the necklace into her jeans pocket as her dad made an exit. With a pointed glance at Naminé, she continued, "I'm glad I was the one who found it."

Naminé, however, made no move to ask what she meant. She's just in a bad mood, that's all. No need to make a fuss over a stupid piece of jewelry.

"Now, Kairi, be nice." Her mother reached back and patted Naminé's leg softly. The blond cringed. She knew how much Kairi hated it when their mom said that, because it really got Kairi irked.

But her twin made no sound, only crossed one leg over the other.

Weird, Naminé thought. Normally Kairi would blow up about how she was always treated the worst, and was always told to 'be nice', and then it would become a full-blown argument. Naminé shrugged and took it as maybe Kairi had had a change of heart.

The sun lowered to brush Naminé's face. She soaked up the warmth, knowing when she went back to school tomorrow it would be freezing cold. That was what October did, fluctuated its temperatures way too much. At least she could get away from that house. Though she wouldn't admit it, being there had scared her just a little bit. It felt… like something was watching her.

It's all in my head, Naminé reassured herself. Things will be fine once I get back home…

~Mizu residence, 6:37 p.m.~

The twins flew into their house's foyer at the same time, kicking off their shoes and scarring the hardwood. Naminé giggled as she tripped over her own feet and almost fell, but she grabbed the stair railing for support. The familiar smells of her house surrounded her nose. It felt great to be home.

"You girls better go unpack before it gets late," their mother warned, so Naminé started up the carpeted stairs with her suitcase, following her sister who was halfway to her room.

Naminé's room was on the same hall as Kairi's, though Naminé's was on the left and Kairi's on the right end. The blond turned into her room, passing the pictures of them as children on the wall before crossing the threshold. Her bag dropped from her hands as she went over to her bed and collapsed face-first onto it, not bothering to turn on the light. Warm and fluffy, Naminé relished in the comforter despite the heat of outside. Suddenly, the sound of the door creaking open was alerted to her ears, and she instinctively knew it was Kairi.

"What is it?" Naminé asked politely, turning over on the bed to stare at her sister in the doorway.

"Don't you ever think about touching my necklace, got it? If you do, what happens won't be pretty." Kairi's eyes flared in the darkness of the room; Naminé didn't recognize the message behind them, but despite that, she nodded in reply.

"Good." The door slammed behind her as Kairi walked out.

With a sigh, Naminé crossed her arms over her chest as she laid there. Kairi was getting all worked up over a necklace? That was odd, even for Kairi, who was Miss Weirdo Incarnate in her class last year. She decided the sun must have made her a bit tired and that's why she thought Kairi was acting so weird. There was just no other explanation.

Wearily, without bothering to unpack or trying to sketch the house, Naminé turned over and tried to go to sleep, Kairi's words ringing in her head.

Please Review!

~Lukia