Kuroi No Hana
Chapter 1: A Life Lost, A Life Gained
"Are you ready?" Kaori barked, rather than asked her subordinates, "Because once we step in, we are not going back."
"R-r-ready, Takara-sama!" they responded in unison.
Kaori scared them more than ever with her feared crimson eyes. All the human in her had completely disappeared, only a monster took its place. It would only be a matter of time before she turned into a figure, remiscent of her father. In this time they were lucky to have a leader, since there was no one competent enough, or brave enough to try and surpass her.
Akira wiped the hair out of his eyes and muttered unbelievingly, "I don't believe this. What have they done?"
"Don't look at this as an impossible situation, Akira." Kazuki snapped at him, able to tell what he's thinking, "We can do this, I have faith in Kaori-dono."
Aiko stood there, with her pale face buried in her arms. She could feel the vibrations of the Kitsune. The pound of their hearts sent shivers down her spine, and thus, made her too weak to even stand. Therefore, Nozuka had to stay behind and interpret her thoughts. Aiko was always in control of the vibrations, but their heart pounding was driving her mad, it was too much.
"Okay, Kiyoshi and Hiromi, get into form. The rest of you, unsheathe your swords and…Scatter!"
And with that, they changed and dispersed from Aiko's location and surrounded the perimeter. Kaori swiped off her mask for a minute. She wiped her eyes, tears lined her cheeks. She put up her index finger to Kazuki, who noticed the sobbing. She actually seemed human this time, and he understood the whole situation.
When she finally mustered up her courage to speak, she numbly mumbled, "This is my first time out in a long time…"
"Otosan!" Kaori shouted across the hall, "I'm going to school! You don't need to get up, so please don't wake up Okasan!"
"Huh?" her father muttered, "Kaori, what are you-"
"Ja matta!" she yelled flamboyantly, then skipped out of the house and walked down the long dirt path from their house in the Redwoods to school.
"That girl is a pain." Satoshi replied while fiddling with some taiyaki, "I swear, being her father is challenging."
His wife, Tara, glared back in response. Her eyebrows furrowed at his complaint. Meanwhile, Satoshi looked up from the long pause and exhaled deeply. He brought a hand to the back of his head in an embarrassed expression, "I didn't mean it like that! I mean, come on, she's a girl and I don't know how to deal with girls!"
"Hmm, you just need patience. Besides, she is a nice girl, but at the same time she's pretty odd." she retorted.
"That's true." He mumbled with a mouth full of food. There was another long silence, until he moved onto some ramen that he left next to his empty plate of taiyaki.
"You know, I wish I could speak with her more often." Tara said, while bringing her tea to her lips, "I swear, I never get the chance to say good-bye anymore."
"Phew, school surely took its toll on my body." Kaori's friend, Mari, replied weakly. They were slowly trudging their way through the quiet neighborhood after complaining to the nurses that they weren't feeling "up to par." The girls were actually too lazy to go through the whole school day, so they decided to leave together. Luckily, they both left before physical education class right after lunch, because the new unit was baseball.
"Yeah, you're right." Kaori responded. She held her bag close to her chest, seemingly, she looked worried about something. Kaori decided to cut it off now, "Um, Mari, I better make a turn onto here. I'll see you at school tomorrow! Okay?"
"I'll see you…sure…" she mumbled; she still looked like a walking zombie.
Kaori walked a little faster now, not sure why her feet were carrying her as fast as they were. Her feet shuffled in the dirt, and a cloud of dust followed her. Somehow, deep inside, she felt that something was terribly wrong. There was a ferocious beating in her chest, while all she saw was a swirl of brown and a little green that led her towards home.
What's happening to me? She subconsciously thought to herself.
Her pace quickened, as she reached the wooden stairs that led to the building of timber. The Redwoods overhead were huddled together, and soft whispers fled from the tops of the leaves to the rest of the forest. Any sunlight that somehow made its way through the treetops shown a light to the house. The windows were boarded up and the door was opened slightly. Her mother's housekey with a pink cover was still in the keyhole.
Kaori finally reached the door. Slowly she pushed with as little force as possible, but there was a slight creak at the sudden movement. This startled her, but she lightly pushed and snuck through the small opening. Kaori also grabbed the key out of the doorknob and tiptoed down the hallway. Her socks muffled the sound of her footsteps, but she felt that every move she made screamed to the rest of the house of her existence.
She reached the stairway, nearly crawling up the wooden steps. Her vision became troubled because it became darker and darker. As she crawled, she heard a faint tapping sound that indicated her parent's location. The key was still in her hand, digging into the palm of her hand. The door to her parent's room was open.
When she reached the room, a scream rushed out of her throat.
"Nooooooo! Mom! Dad! Wha-what ha-happened?!"
Kaori hurriedly sprinted to the bodies of her mother and father. She touched their cheeks and held their wrists. The pulse was lost.
Blood stained their clothes and the skin of their corpses was ashen. Their necks were unusually disoriented. A gun lay next to her father, but it was unloaded. Her parent's clothes became spotted with her salty tears, as they rushed in waterfalls down her cheeks. Her sobs grew louder and louder, but it had never occurred to her to stop her crying and start calling for help.
Kaori immediately turned around and noticed the phone on top of her parent's tall drawer. She struggled to stand, but once she was up on her feet, pressure striked her back and she pummeled onto the floor. Her teeth throbbed from the attack, and blood oozed out of her mouth. Her heavy eyes looked up, as a dark figure stood before her.
"Hmph." the figure omitted, "I can't let you tell on me from what I've done here."
She stayed in her position. Frozen.
The room became shrouded in darkness just as the atmosphere outside was, thunder escaped the clouds just above the Redwoods. The only color she could make out was the frightening crimson that flickered from his eyes. The light reflected a perfectly chiseled face, but small wrinkles lined his deceitful smile. Thoughts of his demeanor and the result of his rummaging scared her to death, but at this moment, Kaori could do nothing but dismiss them and think about the warmth that surrounded his deep voice. Her heart seemed to have skipped a beat.
"Well, what are you going to do now?" he questioned. Since this man did not expect an answer, he bent down low and studied Kaori's bloodshot eyes, "Ah, did you know you look the most beautiful when you are in fear?"
She did not respond to this.
"Well, you do." he muttered. Again, she did not panic because his voice muffled the shivers that were sent through her spine. He knew this, as he reached a hand out to her head and stroked her hair. His breathing was steady and seemed to concoct a dream as he spoke, "What a masterpiece. Such a face would look stunning with wine red eyes."
Kaori became confused. Was he going to kill her? Why was he doing this? In her reality, this man could be a stalker or a pedophile, but the amount of dread that rattled throughout her bones made this man something, seemingly more. Seemingly, more in a terrorizing way. Seemingly, like a monster.
"Since I'm doing all the talking I really should apologize for hitting you. You see, I prefer peace when peace is needed, so I really am sorry. I hope you will be the same after this is done."
What? When what is done? But he was right, he had hit her before. Although Kaori forgot because she had been in a trance ever since he spoke.
"You might be asking, when what is done?" he continued, still stroking her hair. Stroking the strands away from her neck, "So please wait momentarily, for you will see what I mean."
"What?" Kaori screamed, in disbelief. Finally, she was able to let out a word. There was no time for confusion, though, as he grabbed her shoulders and forced her to sit up. He tilted her head and moved the collar of her shirt away from her neck. She started to scream again, but this did not bother him at all. When her eyes opened, for the last time as azure, she could see nothing but the red of his eyes and the pearl white of his teeth. Those sharp white teeth.
Everything after that was history.