CHAPTER 1

Miku collapsed onto her bed, exhausted. She had performed for three hours straight along with the rest of the Crypton Family. Everything had been a blur. The lights, the loud music, the audience's screams, the constant nagging of her manager. She could just lay in bed and never wake up the next morning. Next door, she could hear the twin's voices though too muffled to make out their words. It must be nice, she thought, to always have someone by your side.

Miku often wondered about them for long periods of time. Being so different from each other yet so similar. One so optimistic, so cheerful and her laugh can make about anyone smile and listen without getting tired of it, the other shy yet full of energy and likes to compete with the other.

Outside her door, she could hear Meiko talking with Luka as they ate snacks together in the kitchen. After a while their footsteps could be heard as they exited the kitchen and into the living room to watch tv together. Miku envied them. She hadn't return from a single concert without feeling so exhausted and weary, yet the others seemed to go on just fine. Kaito had just finished his one hour hot bath and received a scolding from Meiko for being in the bathroom for so long.

After laying in her bed for so long, Miku gathered up the last of her strength and struggled to fit into her pajamas. She could've passed for a zombie tied up with clothes. Finally, she dived under her blankets and fell in the trance of sleep. Before blacking out, she vaguely remembered that she hadn't brushed her teeth or let loose her twin-tails. But none of that matters now as she fell into the comforting land of dreams.

...

When she woke up, the first thing she realized was the acrid taste in her mouth. How long was I out for?

She stirred in her bed. The morning was especially chilly and she tugged her blanket higher over her shoulders. For some reason which she hadn't noticed the night before, her blanket seemed no thinner than a towel and she could feel her bare legs touching each other though she could've sworn that she bad put on her favourite comfy PJs with the long cut.

Another thing she realized was that her breathing was especially weak and when she pulled her thin blanket up, her arms felt like wooden chopsticks about to break. Must be from the performance last night, she thought drowsily, though she had never experienced anything like this before.

Suddenly there was screaming from outside her door. Miku bolted upright in her bed so quickly that she nearly passed out from the migraine she received. She blinked open her eyes, expecting to find herself in her bedroom but instead saw that she was in a mostly empty room, nearly the size of her bathroom. What she thought was sunlight filtering through her windows actually came from a single light bulb dangling from the ceiling which provided the only source of light since there were no windows in the room. She was on a bed of pure white sheets and beside it was a wooden chest of drawers with a digital clock and a small capsule containing red pills. On one side of the room was a wooden closet. There was a desk placed beside it and on it was a few sheets of paper and colour pencils with a lamp. The walls were painted like you would expect from a kindergarten classroom, green grass, blue sky, a big yellow sun in one corner with a smiley face and all sorts of animals smiling through the walls.

Miku wanted to scream as she tried to comprehend everything around her. It's like she's in an orphanage though she's pretty sure orphans slept together in dorms. The place had an eerie feeling to it, and she felt like there's someone watching her. She looked down and threw off her blanket and realized that she was in a simple white dress with a pink wool sweater on. She shuddered. Cold air blew from the old radio-looking air conditioner in the corner of the room.

The screaming came again and Miku's goosebumps raised. She felt tears coming to her eyes. Never had she felt so lost, so helpless, so frightened.

Then she heard footsteps coming towards her door which had a slider at the top. Miku felt a tingling sensation up her back at the thought of someone peeking in, looking at what she's doing at any moment. Then keys jangled and the person outside fitted one and unlocked the door. Miku held her breath, not sure what to expect as the knob turned and the door opened.

A woman in a long nurse uniform came in. On her head was those old-fashioned nurse hats they used back in the 1900s and her greying hair was tied back into a bun. Her face looked stern as if she had frowned once too often. She was carrying a tray with what looked like mashed potatoes on it and orange juice. She put the keys back into her nurse coat and her face softened as she looked at Miku as if she pitied her. She came to her bed and placed the tray on the drawers before taking the capsule and opening it.

"Alright, little Miku," she mumbled as if talking to herself. "Time for your pills. Don't make this hard for me. You're not the only child I have to feed in this asylum."