VOICES -

Disclaimers: I do not own Serial Experiments Lain, or any of its characters...

This really takes place around Layer 08. I've never seen the episode before, so don't yell at me if anything's wrong. I added my own twist to it.

~ ~ ~

Do you want to hurt yourself too?

~ ~ ~

Voices, a million of them, everywhere I go. They come back to haunt me.

/What is she doing?/

Lain walks over to the night stand in the darkened living room.

/Is something wrong Lain?/

"Hahaha... I will kill myself." She chuckles as she shoves the contents on the
small table off unto to the carpeted floor.

/This isn't the true Lain.../

Lain slumps to the ground and glares at the materials displayed before her.

/Lain? What's wrong? You can tell us... we love you./

~ ~ ~

Do you want to feel your mind scraped by a rasp?

~ ~ ~

"Do you know? Do you know who Alice Mizuki loves?"

"Lain...?" Alice feigned a desperate look.

"Do you know who Alice is thinking of, while she is playing with
herself?" Lain smirked.

"It was you who spread it... aren't I right?" Alice felt her eyes burn with
un-flowing tears.

"Hahaha..." Lain stared up at Alice with dead eyes.

Alice grabbed Lain by the sleeve of her jacket, pleading with her for any
reasoning anything at all.

"Lain! Have you always been watching me, like now?"

Lain chuckled dryly. "Hahaha..."

~ ~ ~

If you want to, never to turn your eyes away.

~ ~ ~

"Hello, Navi."

"Hello, Lain."

"I am myself. There is no "I" other than myself, is there?"

~ ~ ~

Never...

~ ~ ~

Lain grabs a pair of scissors clumsily and holds it up against the small
stream of light, squeezing through the window shutters.

"Because I am Lain..."

/There is no "I" in Lain, Lain./

Lain crawls over to the chest, set up against the wall and opens it hastily,
pulling out a small drag doll from it's dark abyss.

/Is it story time, Lain?/

"No!"

~ ~ ~

Alice collapsed to the floor. Ignoring the sudden pain, ripping through her
knees. But, she could not however, ignore the pain deep within her heart.

"I made it a secret, and never wanted it to be seen by others, and I..." She
looked up at Lain, searching for an answer.

Lain shrugged Alice off of her. "Hahaha..."

"Tell me it's not! Lain! Lain... you..."

~ ~ ~

"Die..." Lain starts breathing in deeply finding it harder and harder to
breathe.

/What are you doing Lain?/

Lain opens the scissors slowly, and places the drag dolls neck in between
the blades.

"I said die!"

/We can't die Lain./

Lain shook her head.

/We live forever in the Wired./

"This can..." She whispers harshly as she closes the scissors abruptly.

/Lain!/

Her eyes follow the falling head as it crashes to the ground. Waves of hair
flowing around it.

"Hahaha... I will kill myself."

~ Kojiro Yomoda