When I woke up, everything was black. Not as if the lights had gone out, but as if nothing was there to begin with. Nothing existed here. Even I didn't exist.
I couldn't feel anything but cold, the kind that seems to come from the inside out. Everything was numb, and yet, I felt only the chill of the stone beneath me.
Everything came into perspective slowly, little by little. I could make out strange shapes, straight, but round on top. Or square?
When I reached out to touch one, a light came out of it. A small ball of light came out, floating in the air like it weighed nothing. Nothing at all.
Then there were more. So many, that I couldn't count. All floating around, lighting the area. Like they were alive. But they couldn't be.
All I could think of was 'Where am I?' but then it was replaced by another question. One that seemed more dire to answer. "Who... am I?'
He'd done it again. He'd snuck out of the house. Right under the noses of all servants and guards, even his own mother and brother. Was he just that good at escaping? Not that they would wonder where he escaped to. Where they lived, there wasn't much beyond the mansion walls, save for the forest. There was a pathway that ran through it, connecting the house to the main road, which then connected it to the nearby town, but he never took that. It'd be far too easy to get spotted then. No, the young boy trekked it out on foot through the thick underbrush. He had to be careful not to scuff his clothes. When he returned he needed to look like he never left.
Escaping that suffocating house for a couple hours, or even just a few minutes, was more than he might have wanted. It was exhilarating. Out here he didn't have any expectations, other than to enjoy his company. There were no books to study or people to impress. He felt a little less like himself and more like someone he never realized he wanted to be.
Slowly, he began to hear voices. His footsteps slowed as he neared them.
"Hur-y up-! We've b-en wa-it-ng for yo-u all d-ay. " It sounded so distant and broken, like talking through a weak signal. The voice dropped out, picked up, and faded out again. Up ahead, two people came into view. They were close enough that he should have been able to see their faces, and yet, he could not. Not that they were obscured or some such thing. More rather... they were empty. Vacant. Like a portrait that had been scrubbed of all features. And yet he wasn't afraid. He had no reason to be. These were his friends. These were...
His eyes opened. The forest disappeared, the voices quieted, and he found himself back in his room. It was still night time, with only the palest light coming in through the window he lay beside. This sofa wasn't the comfiest of places to sleep but it was quieter here than in the rest of the house. The piano piece playing through his headphones was all that broke the quiet of the room, inside of his own head anyway.
He wasn't one to wake up so suddenly from a dream. He idly wondered what might have caused it. Maybe someone had entered his room and closed the door? He was alone in here and nothing looked different. A crackle of static interrupted his music. These were new headphones, the wires couldn't be fraying already. As he sat up to inspect them something outside of the window caught his eye. From the way his room faced, he had nearly a clear view of the street in front of the house. The street was empty. Their human neighbors habitually went to sleep at night. So when he saw the silhouette of someone standing beneath the yellow street light, he couldn't exactly find an explanation.
Their figure was black but crisp in the lighting. They seemed to be facing the house, with or without intent of walking towards it. A human might have reacted. Screamed, gasped, moved away from the window, but Shu wasn't one to react to.. anything. It would be a waste of energy to do so. He simply watched the figure a few seconds more to see what they would do.
The figure's head tilted, looking up. There was no definition of eyes, nose, or mouth. Just empty blackness. A car passed by breaking his line of sight. In the short second the car took to pass the figure had disappeared. The street was empty.
He had little reason to doubt his own mind. He knew very well what he'd seen. Still, doing anything about it seemed wasteful. He closed his eyes and focused on his music again. The vampire was unaware that something had passed by his window.
A couple nights later.
"No, that can't be right." Yui sat in her room looking over the assigned homework. She couldn't quite work out the equation. Or at least every time she tried to solve it the answer somehow came out different. She grabbed her eraser and scrubbed away her fourth attempt at the problem. Before she could attempt again, she heard something outside of her room. Is someone running? She could only imagine one of the boys was up to something and her curiosity got the better of her.
But when she opened the door, the hallway was empty. Maybe she just imagined it? She was about to close the door when she heard the sound of footsteps again, and she could have sworn she heard a small laugh. The Sakamakis weren't one to laugh, or run in the house for that matter. How strange. Did they have guests? Deciding she could use a break from the assignment, Yui left her room. As she walked down the rug lined hallway she heard the sound of a door closing followed by the same same unfamiliar laughter. Just who would be running around the mansion like this? If it continued Reiji would be angry.
Her adventure took her to the end of the hallway, and as she suspected, there was no one around. She couldn't have imagined those sounds, could she? Maybe she was working too hard and needed to rest for a bit. She turned to head back to her room.
"Oi, Pancake."
Although she should have been used to it by now, having someone suddenly standing behind her always warranted a reaction. She turned quickly to face Ayato, standing in the direction she had just walked.
"Mind keeping it down? It's hard to concentrate on anything with you running around and making noise. What's gotten into you?"
"I-it wasn't me. It really wasn't. I was out here looking for who was causing it." Stammered Yui.
Ayato arched a brow and looked down at her skeptically. "And what, they just vanished into thin air? Got an imaginary friend you're gonna blame it on?"
"No. Ayato, I'm telling the truth." She replied indignantly. She found herself trapped against the wall of the hallway, Ayato's hands to either side of her shoulders.
"I don't take kindly to talk back, Pancake."
"Ayato, please believe me-" A cold hand touched her neck, moving her hair and collar out of the way.
"I should give you a lesson in respecting your superiors." said the vampire. His green eyes glinted with a dangerous spark. Yui regretted setting foot outside of her room.
"Ayato, how many times have I told you to act upon your interests in the privacy of your room." Ayato looked up to see Reiji walking towards them. He looked thoroughly disappointed at his younger half sibling. "To do this in the hallway of all places lacks all propriety."
"Dammit." Ayato moved away from Yui. "What do you want?"
"Only to ask you a question, Yui included since she is here. Have either of you been into my study recently?"
"Why the hell would I go in there?" Ayato answered with a huff. Put off by Reiji's interruption, he walked passed him down the hallway to the stairs, leaving only the two of them.
Yui recovered from her near-bite encounter and fixed her collar and hair. She finally spoke. "Did something happen in your study, Reiji?"
"Yes, it would appear someone thought it would be funny to turn all of my tea sets upside down in the cabinet. I've been looking for the culprit since we returned from school."
"Who would do that?"
"Exactly what I want to know. If you hear anything from those brothers of mine, do tell me right away."
Yui agreed, and once Reiji had left, was finally able to return to her room. She closed the door behind her and sat on her bed. Sometimes just leaving her bedroom proved to be a dangerous decision.
Reiji had returned to his study, unable to question his other brothers over the crime. When he looked into the room, he realized something that was off was righted again. The tea sets were all back to their original positions. His eyes narrowed. He didn't like this. Not only someone touching his things without permission, but that they did so undetected.
The following evening, Laito was on a search for something recently gone missing. He walked around the house, unsure of where exactly to look. He had checked his room three times over and retraced his steps to everywhere he had gone in the house since he'd woken up.
"Ah~ I know I left it in my room. Where could it have gone?" He thought aloud. "Puzzle books don't just get up and walk off on their own. I know I left it on the table." He had been close to finishing a rather complex crossword puzzle he had been working on for three days. To lose it now left an uncomfortable twist of frustration in his stomach. "Someone must have snuck in while I was showering and stolen it."
He wasn't exactly angry, but he was annoyed. So long as he found his book, all ill feelings would be absolved. He had already asked Kanato and Subaru if they had seen it. No such luck. It was hard to imagine any of his brothers would do such a thing as take a puzzle book. His adventure through the house took him around the first floor. As he neared the open doorway of the entertainment room, he heard a distinct sound of pool balls knocking into one another. Someone must have been playing a game. Perhaps they would know.
"Hey, I've somehow misplaced my puzzle book, have you seen-" His words stopped short when he set foot into the room. It was empty. The pool table was untouched, no one was sitting in the chairs or playing darts. But he was sure he had heard the sounds of the pool balls. He stepped further into the room to see if one of his brothers might have been hiding behind a curtain or chair. Nothing. He looked down in surprise. There on the cushion sat his puzzle book.
"How on earth did this get down here from my room?" Laito asked the empty space. He picked up the book, flipped through it to assure it wasn't damaged, and gave one last glance around the room. Someone was playing a very sneaky prank on him. He wasn't sure if he found this amusing or interfering. He pocketed the book and left the entertainment room. With his back turned, he couldn't see the pool cue rolling across the table's surface.
Coincidences happened all the time, but when they happened in a short time frame, coincidence didn't seem to be the answer anymore. At first it had just been brushed away as a slip of the mind, like distractedly setting something down, but as more and more occurrences began to line up, a collective thought of suspicion began to creep through the house. Items were going missing, only to turn up in odd locations. Small things like books, papers, or other personal belongings would all together vanish and be discovered somewhere else in the house. Small items would appear to move just out of reach when one glanced away. Inconsequential things by themselves, but in the span of a few days?
Yui felt very uneasy at the thought. If none of the brothers were pulling these pranks, then who was? The thought gave her goosebumps. They hadn't seen anyone else in the house. Who would dare to enter a mansion full of vampires? Encountering something one couldn't see. It gave her a feeling of helplessness, which was a feat considering her current living situation. She didn't want to think about it. Thinking about it might draw it out. But it was hard not to think about the strange things going on. Every noise, every sound, it seemed amplified. The sounds of the house settling took on a whole different impression.
Her bedroom brought a feeling of sanctuary from all of this. She just wanted to run back and hide for the rest of the night. Her pace was quick but when she passed by the window, she couldn't help but stop. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight outside. There was someone standing by the fountain in the back garden. She was sure of it. Their clothes were unfamiliar. She couldn't see their face, they were facing the fountain and bending over.
Someone was on the their property, which would result in a very bad punishment if they were caught by one of the brothers. Against her better judgement, Yui turned around and jogged to the large double doors leading to the backyard. She took only a minute at most to reach the other end of the house, and upon stepping outside into the garden, she discovered it to be empty. There was no one near the fountain and no sign that anyone had been walking around. It was a large enough property that even fleeing she might have seen tail of them.
She had a feeling of worry, paranoia. How could someone disappear so quickly? Rather than stay and ask questions to no one, she decided she was better off staying in her room until all of this hopefully blew over. Returning to her previous route, Yui walked along the hallway. There were many times in the Sakamaki mansion where Yui could feel nothing but dread. The threat of being bled dry always paired with a specific feeling that crept into her body. That wasn't anything like what she was feeling at that moment.
She had stopped walking without realizing it. Her knees locked up. She couldn't move. But inside she felt as if her insides were twisting, her muscles suddenly twitching to run. She hadn't heard or seen anything. She simply felt terror. The terror that something, not like a vampire, was suddenly very, very close. There was no one ahead of her, leaving only one possible location. There was someone behind her, in her complete blind spot. Every sense she had in her mind was screaming. The seconds ticked on, she held her breath, she felt she might faint. She could feel the sensation of someone watching, their eyes staring at her back. Finally, she brought herself to look over her shoulder. Empty. The hallway was empty. Something inside her clicked and her legs felt free again. She bolted down the hallway. If Reiji was upset, she wouldn't mind- she wouldn't care-, but she couldn't run fast enough back to her room.
Naturally, she had been unable to get a good day's rest. How could she? With the threat of someone possibly being in her room at any time looming around, it was hard to find a peaceful thought. She didn't experience that feeling again that night, she used that as a safety gauge. Her constant loss of focus made her homework assignment nearly impossible to complete. By he time she had gone to bed, the sun was already up. Now she had to wake and get dressed for a long night of school and the Sakamakis. Her body ached with exhaustion.
Once she finished getting ready, she collected her school bag and left her bedroom. Even from the second floor, she could hear an ongoing argument from downstairs.
"Just give it back already!" Shouted Ayato.
"Why would I take your dirty magazine?!" Retorted Subaru.
Their argument was cut off by a sharp quip from Reiji. It was time to leave. Yui was the last to join the group as they exited the house and filed into the limosine. Yui stopped in shock.
"My homework!" She gasped. "Reiji, I forgot my homework on my desk, can I run back to get it?"
"Yes, but hurry up. If we're late for school you'll be punished for it."
With that incentive, Yui was quick on her feet. She entered the front door of the house and paused. She didn't really want to go back up into the house. It suddenly seemed ominous now. To be left alone in here, she couldn't imagine it. She took a deep breath. She needed her homework.
The sound of pages flipping broke the quiet of the entrance hall. Yui looked around but there was no one on the first floor that she could see. She looked up the stairs and was met with a surprise. Sitting on the railing of the second floor landing as a shadowy figure. In their hands, the pages of the magazine flipped of its own accord. Yui looked on at the figure, sitting so precariously on the railing that if they leaned too far, they'd surely fall. Yet they didn't seem at all worried. No matter how hard Yui focused on them, she couldn't get a clear image. It was as if they were out of focus, or overlapped several times.
"Who are..."
Her question was stopped short by an amused laugh, and a cold sensation bled through her body. The magazine plummeted to the first floor and landed limply on the ground. Yui still needed to collect her paper, but she felt less keen on going up the stairs now. She had taken so long that Reiji called from outside. Yui had been about to forsake the homework when the figure raised a pointer finger and pointed behind her. There was a soft flutter of paper. Looking over her shoulder, Yui noticed a paper on the small table that hadn't been there before. When she picked it up, she said quietly, "My homework...?" She looked back up to where they were sitting, but there was no one on the railing.
The car ride to school was usually a quiet one but this time there was an added hint of tension caused by the goings on of the house.
"Nn~, you're awfully quiet today, Little Bitch." said Laito, his voice reminding her oddly of the one she had heard only minutes before. Amused, when there was really no reason to be. She felt the sensation of chills down her spine. She tried to steady her breath. Her knees where shaking.
"It's nothing. Just back in the house... I thought I saw something."
"Hm? Like what?"
"I-I'm not sure..." She didn't want to talk about it.
Ayato cut into their conversation. "Something is wrong with that house. It's giving me the creeps lately. Why does stuff keep disappearing?"
"It feels like someone is watching us. Do you think it could be haunted?" asked Kanato, hugging his Teddy close to him.
"Haunted? Don't be ridiculous." said Reiji, his hand to his glasses again. "There is no such thing."
"If it's ghosts you're afraid of, Little Bitch, you can sleep with me. I'll keep you safe."
Yui didn't reply. In all honesty, she would have rather been at the hands of a ghost person than any of the vampires she was living with. But she couldn't say something like that out loud. Even when they arrived at school and first classes began, Yui couldn't get the word 'ghost' out of her head. Could their house really be haunted?
Meanwhile, back in the now vacant Sakamaki house, a soft laugh rang through the first floor, a curtain moved as if someone walked by, and one of the benches sitting in the hallway began to scoot away.
Remember how I uploaded another fanfic for the trash heap that is this game? I decided to redo it. It wasn't fully showing what I was envisioning so I took down the old one, re did a bunch of stuff and added a load of things I thought up after. Hopefully this go around will be better.
For those of you who read the previous few chapters, no spoilers in the reviews please. Let's pretend this is a whole new fanfic I'm working on okay.
icantbelieveimwritingthis
I was trying to force myself to wait until I had more written up but I'm just too excited I gotta post up at least the first chapter while I work everything else out. I'm having too much fun writing this and I hope people enjoy reading it eAe.
