A/N: Inspired by the song Borderlands! by Kagamine Len. NOT based on the song.
Borderlands!
Miku yawned. She laid there on her bed in the middle of the night, covers off, legs and arms spread out. It had been a hot afternoon because of the sudden temperature rise over the last few days. And not to mention that the air conditioner wasn't working anymore and no one had enough money to get it fixed. Everyone was sleeping now but she was sure that they were all in the same state as her.
She heard a squeaking sound; someone was going down the stairs. Since she didn't have anything better to do and couldn't sleep, she got up from the bed and opened the door slowly, making sure it didn't made any noise. She slowly and carefully took a step down the stairs and as she went down, she started hearing a weird sound, almost as if someone were devouring something slimy. She approached the kitchen and stopped at the door. Trying not to make any sounds, she peeked her head into the kitchen.
The door of the refrigerator was open, making the light coming from it make eerie shadows across the floor and walls. Kaito was kneeling in front of the refrigerator in his pajamas, eating something. But he was so desperate that he looked as if he hadn't eaten in days. Miku's throat suddenly felt dry. She gulped and threw one of her pigtails back.
"Kaito? W-what are you doing?" Miku asked in an almost inaudible tone.
Kaito suddenly stopped what he was doing and slowly turned his head. His mouth was covered in ice cream and Miku let out a sigh of relief. She couldn't believe she got scared for a second. Kaito was just eating his ice cream.
"Kaito, not again." Miku scolded and walked towards him. She then slipped and fell to the floor and landed on her rear. She let out a loud grunt.
"What the…?" Miku raised her hand and looked at the liquid that made her slip. It was warm and kind of slimy but it was too dark to see it clearly. She examined it a little more, bringing her hand to her nose and taking a quick sniff. The smell of iron and metal with a hint of salt filled her nostrils. She let out a shriek realizing she was sitting on a pool of blood. Miku desperately tried standing up but she ended up slipping and falling again. Her nightgown was now covered in the slimy liquid.
"Miku…" Kaito's voice sounded very disturbing. Like he had a sore throat but he wasn't sick. She looked straight at his face but that wasn't the Kaito she saw a few seconds ago. His mouth was twisted into a horrifying smile and his eyes looked as if they were about to pop out of his head. His right hand twitched, making the ice cream he was holding fall to the floor. After that, everything happened in a blur.
Kaito got on his arms and legs and crawled to Miku in a flash. She once again tried standing up but she found herself being face to face with Kaito as he crawled on top of her.
"K-Kaito! Get off of me!" Miku yelled and tried pushing him off but he didn't budge. Her cheeks turned a little red but all her embarrassment was soon forgotten. His Cheshire smile and the far away look in his eyes sent shivers up Miku's spine.
"Miku…" he said her name again in a low and frightening tone. His eyes started twitching along with his mouth, arms, legs and whole body as if he were having some sort of convulsion. Blood started coming out of his eyes and little drops landed on Miku's cheeks.
Miku was horrified. She wanted to get away from there but she couldn't. Her body was trembling with fear. Blood started to come out between his teeth like drool until he started coughing uncontrollably; his smile never leaving his face.
"Miku!" he cried out and started vomiting blood; all of it landing on her face. Miku screamed.
"Brother…" Rin glanced at Len who was standing by her side as they watched how the ambulance took Miku away. "Do you think Miku will be alright?"
"I don't know, sis," Len grabbed his sister's hand tightly, trying to comfort her. "But since Kaito…" Len hesitated to complete the sentence.
"Died," Rin completed. She knew how Kaito's sudden death affected her brother. Kaito was Len's idol. He looked up to him and now that he was gone, Len was having a hard time adjusting.
"Yeah…died… Miku's been acting strange and look at what happened. We should've listened to Gumi. We should've taken Miku to the hospital sooner."
"I don't know if she'll recover Len…"
"Me neither…"
After that, they both went inside the two story house. Their cousin Teto was playing Uno cards with the others in the living room: Gumi, Gakupo, Luka, Meiko, Neru and their little neighbor Yuki all sat on the floor beside the couch. It was a surprising sight after everything that has happened but they all knew Teto was like that. She was the one who always cheered everyone up and seeing everyone smiling and having a good time with the game made Rin and Len think that it was okay.
"Uno! I win!" Yuki cheered in complete excitement.
"What? You totally cheated you little brat!" Neru threw her cards to the floor and chased the little girl around the living room.
"No! Make it stop! Make it stop! Stay away monster!" Yuki cried out as she ran away from the 'monster' that was chasing her.
"What did you s-" Neru tripped with Luka's boot and fell facefirst to the floor.
"Sorry," Luka apologized.. "My foot kinda slipped out of place."
Everyone laughed while Neru whined in pain. Len heard his sister giggle. It made him very happy.
"Hey! I wanna play!" Rin said and ran to sit beside Meiko.
"Len, come and play too!" Gumi gestured Len to sit by her side.
"I'll get something to eat; I'll play in next round," Len said and walked to the kitchen behind him hearing how Gakupo told Meiko not to start drinking sake in front of Yuki.
An unconscious smile formed on Len's face. It was nice to be back to normal; at least it was normal for the moment. He opened the refrigerator looking for his bananas. His eyes scanned every section but didn't found them.
"Guys, did someone eat my bananas again?" Len shouted.
"Check in the freezer," Meiko shouted back. "I think I left them there."
"Seriously?" a sweatdrop appeared on his forehead as he opened the freezer.
She must've been drunk again… he thought, remembering the last couple of times Meiko had taken his bananas while being drunk. Last time he found them in the toilet. His eyes searched inside the freezer and there he found them. He took them and placed them on the kitchen counter beside him. The bananas were hard as rock.
Len sighed. He was closing the freezer but something caught his eye. He saw Kaito's ice cream and grief swept through him. He had finally forgotten all about it for a second but now it all came back to him.
The blond boy extended his hand and took the ice cream container who was once Kaito's. It made him sad. He read the ice cream's label.
"Strawberry shortcake flavor…" Len let out a quiet chuckle and opened the container and grabbed a nearby spoon.
Without giving it much thought, he grabbed a spoon full of the ice cream and took it to his mouth. He slowly ate it but it had a very weird taste. He took another mouthful and kept tasting it. Len made disgust faces and almost turned green. It was so horrible that he had to run to the trash bin and get the ice cream out of his mouth. When he finished, he read the label again, making sure it was strawberry short cake and not crap cake.
He kept examining the label and then took a peek inside to the ice cream. What he found made him drop the ice cream instantly to the floor. His hands were shaking now.
"W-What the…? B-Blood…" his stomach felt as if it were doing ten leaps in a single second. He ran again to the trash bin but this time, he knelt and stuck his head inside it and vomited.
It got quiet all of a sudden and all that was heard was Len vomiting. Len heard steps coming to the kitchen and he quickly grabbed the ice cream container and threw it inside the trash bin. He didn't want anyone knowing that he just ate ice cream with blood, plus, he didn't want to give any sorts of explanations.
"Len?" Rin's voice was heard and soon, she was kneeling beside Len. "What's wrong? Are you sick?"
"Yeah, I think so," Len replied, his stomach still refusing to feel any better. He let out another load of vomit.
Rin took her brother upstairs into their room and helped him get to his bed. She opened the window beside his bed to let some fresh air in.
"Hey, is Len alright Rin?" Rin turned and found Gumi standing on the door. "Everyone is worried."
"I'll be fine. I just ate something that didn't do my stomach well," Len said, turning on his bed looking for a comfortable position.
"Want me to go make you soup?" Gumi offered. "After vomiting that much you need something back into your stomach or else you'll get sicker."
"Yeah, that would be great."
Anything to get this horrible taste out of my mouth… Len thought.
"I'll leave you to rest Len," Rin told her brother and then she turned to Gumi. "I'll help you with the soup Gumi. Len can be picky when it comes to food sometimes."
Rin followed Gumi down the hall and down the stairs, leaving Len in the room resting. His stomach still threatened to make him puke another load of stomach acid so he concentrated on falling asleep and avoided the thought of blood, puking, and crap cake. He closed his eyes and a while passed before he drifted to sleep.
Len opened his eyes and found himself standing in the middle of nothingness. It was all black. There was a presence around him. One second it was in front of him and the next it was behind him. Len looked around turning his head desperately looking for the person who was making him frightened.
"Len," someone whispered into the boy's ear and he quickly stepped back but didn't found anyone near him. "Len…"
"S-Stop it!" he shouted, bringing his hands to his ears. "Stop!"
"You can't make it stop…" the presence said. From a soft whisper, it was turning into a very deep and frightening voice. "It has already begun."
"No!" Len shouted and closed his eyes tightly. When he opened them, he found himself sitting on his bed in the middle of the night.
He was sweating and breathing heavily. His eyes looked around the room looking for any signs of life but didn't found anything suspicious. He then looked to his window and there he found Miku sitting on the edge. Her nightgown was all covered in blood. She had a disturbing smile and a distant look in her eyes. She held a butcher's knife in her right hand which was also covered in blood. Len struggled to get off his bed and fell to the floor. He ran in fear and opened the door, leaving the room.
"You can't run away," Miku said with that deep voice that was hunting the blond. "It has already begun."
Len was now on the roof of a building. He was panting and was having a difficult time trying to breathe. He looked around and in the far corner to his right, he saw someone standing on the edge of the roof. The person was staring at him very intently and had the same distant look and same disturbing smile that Len had seen Miku with. Len realized who it was and ran towards the person.
"No!" Len shouted.
The blue haired man brought his index finger to his lips and made a 'shh' sound. "It has already begun," Kaito's voice was deep, just like Miku's. After that, Kaito took a step back into the air and fell.
"NO!" Len shouted in despair but it was too late.
"Len! Len!" Rin desperately shook his brother's shoulders until he opened his eyes and came back to reality. "Wake up!"
"Ri-Rin," Len whispered in disbelief. Rin saw the look of fear in Len's eyes and she quickly sat by his side and gave him a hug. He was shaking.
"It was just a nightmare," Rin assured. "It wasn't real."
"I-It wasn't real. It wasn't real." Len repeated to himself trying to believe his words. He noticed a plate with spilled soup on the floor. A spoon laid close from the mess.
"Sorry," he apologized.
"It wasn't your fault. I actually dropped it by accident when you started screaming in your sleep," Rin explained, letting out a quiet giggle. "What was it you were dreaming?"
Len hesitated to whether or not tell his sister about that odd and horrible nightmare but he didn't want to lie to her. And even if he did, she'll know. Len thought it through, reviewing the nightmare in his head before beginning to tell his sister. He talked normally but as he got to the middle and close towards the end, his voice turned to a low whisper.
Rin just listened. "Len, you're still having trouble adjusting after all that's happened."
"Sis, you sound like an old lady," Len felt a sweat drop forming on his forehead as he saw Rin laugh and pretend she didn't hear that.
All his fingers suddenly started twitching, followed by his left arm and two legs. Rin stopped laughing after she saw this and the amused expression she had turned into a concerned one.
"Len?" she placed her hands on her brother's shoulders trying to calm him down but he wasn't reacting. His whole body started convulsing. "Len!" Rin cried out trying harder to keep him calm.
She saw how his eyes rolled to the back inside his head and the most disturbing smile formed on his lips. Rin stood up from the bed terrified asking herself what was happening to her brother. And when she was about to turn and run out the room and scream for help, Len suddenly stopped. He didn't move.
"Len?" Rin called out again slightly taking a step towards the bed where her unmoving brother laid.
She extended her hand to touch his face but Len's back suddenly arched upward making a few cracking sounds and she quickly stepped back again.
"Len what's wrong?" Rin asked in desperateness. She didn't know what to do. Run and get help or stay until he gets better? The first option seemed more reasonable and as she started to turn, Len's back fell to the bed and he suddenly took a large breath in as if he emerged from underwater.
The boy was breathing heavy. Rin took a step towards him but he stuck his head out the edge of the bed and started vomiting again. This time only blood came out and she panicked. She turned around and headed out the door, into the hallway, down the stairs running and shouting and calling for help.
Everyone waited impatiently in the hospital's waiting room. Luka leaned against the wall while Meiko sat on the floor beside her. Gumi sat between Rin and Gakupo and Neru just walked around the room in circles texting in her cell phone. Silence filled the room and the only thing heard was Neru's steps. They were all thinking the same thing. Something was definitely wrong. Kaito suddenly died, Miku suddenly went crazy and ended up in an asylum and Len was now sick.
Rin was the first to stand up when a doctor came to them. She was the one who was worried the most about Len. After all, he was her brother.
With a smile, the doctor talked. "Len is gonna be alright. He just had a little food poisoning."
Everyone sighed in relief. The doctor told them Len would have to stay the night at the hospital due to dehydration. Rin wanted to stay with Len and Gakupo agreed to stay and look out for both of them. The other's left and headed back to their house.
Len didn't wake up in the whole afternoon; the antibiotics were working. It was eleven in the night when Rin got sleepy and she went and laid down beside Len in the same bed. Gakupo sat on the chair beside the sleeping twins and slept too, leaving a lamp on so it could give illumination to the room without bothering their sleep.
Len found himself standing in the middle of nothingness again. He didn't move, waiting for the voice to speak. He heard shouting and he recognized whose voice it was. Miku passed by him running and screaming in terror as Kaito ran after her with a bloody butcher's knife in his hand. He was calling out her name with a smile plastered all over his lips. Len wanted to go after him but he was nailed to the floor. He tried to tell Kaito to stop but he couldn't talk either. All he could do was watch in horror.
Kaito threw the butcher's knife and it pierced through Miku's back. She fell to the floor and didn't move after that. With a laugh that could make the bravest shiver in fright, Kaito disappeared; his voice still echoing in Len's head. The blond boy watched as Miku's blood began spreading around her, turning her nightgown into a dark color and wetting her pigtails. He felt the urge to cry.
"I haven't died yet," someone whispered into Len's ear. He tried to step away but couldn't. He knew who's voice it was but how? He looked at the floor where Miku laid and she was still there. He felt hands caressing his chest and they slowly went down to his belly.
"You can't run away," Miku whispered. Len started trembling in fear. This wasn't Miku. She was dead on the floor!
Len felt a sudden weight on his right arm. He looked down and found that he was now holding the same butcher's knife that Kaito used to kill Miku. It was still covered in her blood.
"Give in," Miku whispered, still caressing Len's chest with one hand and his stomach with the other.
Len felt a piercing pain in his neck and he quickly moved away from Miku. He was no longer paralyzed. He brought his free hand to his neck and felt a warm liquid. When he looked at his hand, he saw that it was covered in blood. He looked again at Miku who was still there standing in the same place. Her mouth was covered in his blood and she licked her lips. She had that disturbing smile and her stare was vacant. Len lifted the butcher's knife in defense and Miku started laughing maniacally. Without much thought, he charged.
"You want to kill me?" Miku asked between laughter. Without hesitation, Len sliced trough her shoulder and chest, making blood gush out. Miku kept laughing, her voice gradually changing to a deeper one. Len panicked and kept slicing, her blood landing all over him.
"You can't kill me!" Miku yelled with a demonic voice. "I'm already inside you!"
Rin was fast asleep, her right arm around her brother. A sudden movement woke her up and she opened her eyes slowly, still feeling drowsy. She didn't saw her brother by her side, instead was the empty space where Len was supposed to be sleeping on. She sat, looking around the room, but there wasn't any sign of her brother. She started panicking a little and quickly turned to Gakupo who was fast asleep beside the bed. His arms were crossed and his head was laid back on the back of the chair.
"Gakupo?" Rin whispered but he didn't wake up. Instead, he just shifted his position into a more comfortable looking one.
Rin decided not to bother him and just go out and look for Len. Maybe he just went to the bathroom. Without making any sounds, Rin got off the bed quietly and tippy toed to the door. She opened it and left the room, closing the door behind her. She winced at the white light emanating from the light bulbs across the hall and waited for her eyes to adjust to the brightness. When they did, she looked side ways but didn't find anyone.
"Rin…" someone whispered into her ear but when she looked back, there was no one there. She felt goosebumps all over her arms and legs and dismissed the thought of ghosts lurking the hospital.
She heard someone whisper her name again but this time it came from the end of the hallway to her left. She told herself that she would go back to the room where she was safe with Gakupo but the thought of her brother being in danger gave her enough courage to follow the terrifying whisper.
She walked down the hallway, passing by some nurses and doctors that didn't pay her any attention; they were all busy going in and out of rooms. She stopped walking when she stood on front of another hallway. She looked to her left and to her right, unsure of where she should walk to now. But she heard the creaking sound of a door opening behind her and she quickly turned her neck and saw a door closing. She looked back to the hallway she had walked and didn't find any nurses or doctors this time. She was completely alone.
She heard her name again. It came from behind the door she had seen closing. Her hands began getting sweaty from the fear that was taking over her. What was going on? Trying not to think about it, she went to the door and looked at it for a moment, studying the handle and hesitating. She raised her hand and slowly turned the handle and opened the door; peeking her head in.
She found stairs that went up and down to other floors. Someone was going up. "Len? Is that you?" she asked, her voice making echoes with the word 'you'. There was no response and it made her feel even more nervous and terrified. What was she thinking coming here all alone? She didn't know who the person she was speaking to was and Len wouldn't be here all alone.
With her shaking hands she turned around and grabbed the handle of the door to get out of there but she stopped as soon as she heard Len's voice. "Rin! Come up here, I wanna show you something."
Relief swept through her. She dropped her hand to her side and started going up the stairs. "Len! What in the world are you doing up there, you should be resting," Rin scolded but Len's footsteps just kept going up and up. "Len!"
She got tired. She was also breathing heavy from all the flights of stairs she had gone up. A drop of sweat went down her forehead and down her brow. She wiped it away as she saw a door at the end of the stairs. She stood before it for a few seconds, catching her breath and then she turned the handle and opened the door. She was on the rooftop now. The wind blew through her hair and it made her feel relaxed. She closed the door behind her and walked through the roof, her head turning everywhere looking for Len. She found him on the right corner of the rooftop and he was sitting on the edge. This quickly made Rin nervous and scared.
"Len, don't sit there, you might fall!" she walked towards him but she stopped, paralyzed, when he turned his face to look at her.
His smile was twisted up in a way that didn't seem possible and his eyes looked like they were about to burst. The tips of his mouth were twitching.
"L-Len?" Rin's voice was almost inaudible. "What is happening to you?"
He laughed like a madman at Rin's words. She shivered at the sound, realizing that that wasn't her brother. But his voice was beginning to sound deeper and deeper with every second that passed, almost as if he were speaking with two voices at once.
"Sister, soon you will understand," Len spoke, his words making the hairs all over her body stand. Her eyes filled with tears as she began fearing for her brother's sanity.
"Len, what's wrong? What's happening to you?" Rin yelled at him, not sure if she could get an answer out of him.
"Do you really want to know?" Len stood up. He walked toward Rin and stretched his arms out and huged her
He noticed her shaking and let out a quiet chuckle. "Rin…" he spoke into her ear. "Get away from me," this time Rin knew it was Len. The real Len.
Instead of doing what he told her to, she hugged him tighter and placed her head on his shoulder. "Everything will be alright, Len," She whispered, a small tear running down her cheek. "Fight it. Be Strong."
Rin noticed Len's fingers twitching. She stood back and quickly grabbed his hands in hers and began caressing them. "It's okay," she repeated. "It's okay."
But Len didn't get any better. Soon his whole body started shaking and he cried. Rin made an attempt to hug him but he pushed her back. "Get away!" he yelled, covering his ears with his hands as he closed his eyes. "Get away! Get away! Get away!"
"Len, stop it! I won't leave you!" Rin shouted, attempting to get close to him once more but he just kept stepping back until he was close to the edge of the rooftop again.
His body was shaking like crazy now. She feared he would soon have a convulsion again but then he stopped shaking entirely and glanced at Rin. She saw the inhuman smile and stare back and knew that that wasn't her brother anymore. He began laughing softly but in a matter of seconds, it turned into the most terrifying laugh she's ever heard.
"HA HA HA HA!" It wasn't Len's voice anymore. Little drops of blood came out of the tips of his mouth.
Rin took a step back but before she could do anything, he went and grabbed her arm and looked at her straight in the eyes. "Do you really want to know?" he leaned forward, making his face stand inches away from hers.
Rin fought to free herself from his grasp. "Let me go! You're not Len, what did you do to him?"
"My sweet little sister," he cooed, caressing her face.
"I'm not your sister and you're not my brother!" she shouted but before she could say more, Len grabbed her face and smashed his lips onto hers.
Rin's eyes grew wide in disbelief as she fought to get away. She could taste blood going into her mouth and she desperately attempted to spit it back but more of the liquid kept going in and soon, drops of it came out of the corners of her mouth.
He finally let go. His mouth was dripping with blood and he had that inhuman smile plastered on his face again. Rin stood still, not able to take a single step. Her head swirled with disbelief and shock. She heard him laugh again. She knew that it wasn't him, that that wasn't his voice and there was something terribly wrong with him.
A loud boom nearby startled Rin and she quickly looked towards where it came from. In the middle of the rooftop stood Gakupo with a gun in his hand and cheeks wet with tears. She realized what Gakupo had just done.
Rin looked over to Len and saw that he clenched his stomach tightly, blood tainting his white shirt. "LEN!" she yelled and ran to him but before she could reach him, he stumbled back and tripped with the edge of the rooftop and fell. "NO!"
She was too late. When she reached the edge of the rooftop, her brother had already hit ground. She saw his body lay there unmoving. His legs were twisted and blood surrounded him. Tears went down her cheeks and she sobbed. Her body started shaking uncontrollably and she could barely breathe. But within a couple of seconds her sobs began to turn into low chuckles until she began laughing. Her mouth twisted itself into the same smile Len had and her voice changed. The madness was taking over her now.
Gakupo walked over to Rin and he wrapped his arms around her. He was crying as he held her tight but she just kept laughing like a maniac. He brought the gun to her head.
"I'm sorry…" he whispered into her ear, his voice full of pain, and then pulled the trigger.
Another loud boom was heard and Rin's body landed beside Len's. Gakupo stood at the edge of the rooftop looking down at the dead twins. It pained him that he had to kill them both but it was too late when he got there. He was unable to save them in time. The sickness had already taken over them and he couldn't allow for it to spread because if it did, it would lead to the end of humanity.
With one last look at the twins, Gakupo turned around and left.
"Miku, it's time for dinner, sweetie," the old lady announced as she opened the metal door with her key.
She went in with the tray of food to the white room where the teal haired girl was. It was also time for her medicine. The old lady placed the tray of food on a table nearby Miku's bed and she took out some pills and shots out of her pockets. She went to Miku who was sitting on the bed facing the wall and prepared the shots. The old lady grabbed Miku's arm but before she injected the shot, she noticed that Miku was shaking.
"Oh dear, you're cold. Let me go get you some more bed sheets," the old lady turned around but the girl grabbed her arm. She turned her neck to look at Miku but her teal hair covered her face.
"Miku, let go," the old lady ordered but she didn't let go. Instead, she tightened her grip.
The old lady began to panic and she quickly made an attempt to call for help but she stopped once she heard Miku start laughing. It was a low chuckle but it gradually became a madman's laughter.
Miku raised her head, the hairs that covered her face falling to her sides, revealing a terrifying inhuman smile. "YES."