Title: Deadly Driver
Author: Fyyrrose
Rating: Teen
Song: Slipped Away by Avril Lavigne
Anime: Jigoku Shoujo (translated into English as Hell Girl)
Disclaimer: Nope, not mine…although, this anime is super fascinating
Summary: Time can't heal all wounds
Notes: Again this is a challenge fic. This fic is my beta's fault! She wrote one…so now I have to copy her and write my own.
She sat down in class and sighed. Staring out the window, she watched mindlessly as birds flew in the vast blue sky. It was on a day like this that her boyfriend had been killed. It was a hit and run.
No one had come forward to make a confession, and she blamed herself for his death. If she hadn't been the one that wanted to go to the park and swing on the swings, he might still be alive.
She knew that she wasn't the one driving the car, but she still blamed herself for his death. Without a face to the driver, she could only blame herself. It had been a year since his death. She had fallen into such a depression that her parents decided that she needed to attend a different school.
Somehow, even the walls reminded her of him. So that's where she was now: in foreign territory with no one to lean on for support. It was lunchtime now, but the anniversary of his death loomed and she had no appetite. She told everyone that she was on a diet rather than explain his death.
"So Ryo, it's been a year already and no one caught you?"
She looked at the group conversing. They were the elite of the school, meaning that their fathers were powerful and full of money. Ryo's father was a powerful influence in the construction industry. One word from him and his father could tear down your building in less than a day.
"It was that guy's own fault for getting killed. He should have known better than to cross at a crosswalk when I was coming. The streets belong to me."
The guys laughed. She balled her fists in outrage. She knew what would happen if she screamed at him in her outrage. She couldn't do anything about it and was powerless to do anything about her boyfriend's death.
"Hey Ryo, didn't the police ask you questions?"
"Yeah, but Dad paid him off as usual. He even paid the coroner to say that his death was a suicide." The group started to laugh and said they were going to the rooftop to smoke.
She watched through tear filled eyes as they got up and left the classroom. They were talking about her boyfriend. He just confessed to killing him, and others only laugh instead of standing up. She hated him, and she wanted revenge; but how do you seek retribution on someone who can destroy your life with a single word?
She got up from her desk and ran into the girl's bathroom. She opened a stall and locked herself in. The tears streamed down her face. She sat on the toilet she her feet on the seat. She hugged her legs and buried her face in her knees.
"Have you heard about the website?"
She held her breath as she listened to the other females in the washroom talk.
"The hotline to Hell? Yeah I heard that my cousin's friend's ex-girlfriend's sister used it. You remember that kid that was always bullying other kids in the zoo last year..."
She couldn't see their reactions, but she held her breath and waited for them to continue.
"I heard you can only access it at midnight and your dreams and wishes for revenge will come true."
She heard the girls laugh. "I have a few people on a list. But there's a rumor going around that only people with a true desire for revenge can access it."
"Man, that sucks."
The bell rang signaling that lunch was over and there were a few minutes to get back to class.
Later that night she turned on the computer and searched for the website. She was surprised at how easy it was to find. She clicked on the link and sighed. All she got was a broken url page. Then she remembered what the girls said in the bathroom, it had had to be midnight. She checked the time at the bottom of her monitor: 11:59 PM. She waited for the minute to tick by before hitting the refresh button.
Success.
She sat starting at the web page. For a few milliseconds her mind tried to second-guess her judgment. The black screen said nothing but 'Your bitterness, I will dispel' along with an input bar and a send button. Without hesitating any longer she typed in Ryo's name and hit the send button. The screen went black.
She sighed. She didn't know what would happen, she didn't know if anything would happen. She didn't even know if it was sent.
She turned off the desktop computer and threw back her covers. She didn't know how long she lay there trying to fall asleep, but she opened her eyes to look at the clock beside her bed, when she noticed that she wasn't in her room anymore.
She threw back the covers and swung her legs over the mattress. Everything was in a red hue. Even the lake and tree seemed to be reddish. The moon was huge and seemed to engulf the entire landscape. Even that was red.
"I've come."
She jumped up off the bed and turned towards the voice. She jumped again as three people crawled out of the shadows. Two males and a female.
"I'm Enma Ai."
She blinked slightly, "You're Hell Girl!"
"Do you hate him that much?" She glanced over to the younger looking man. She couldn't find her voice to speak, but she nodded her head furiously.
"Hate him enough you would like to see him die?" She looked at the older fatherly figure.
"He killed my boyfriend and even bragged about how he got away with it. He can't get away with this." She fumed. Tears once again poured down her cheeks.
She closed her eyes and wiped away the tears with her pajama sleeve. "Take it." She opened her eyes to see Hell Girl holding out her hand. She looked down to see a voodoo doll made of string all bundled together. "If you truly wish to eliminate your antagonist then you must untie the red ribbon." Her soft willowy voice caressed her ears.
She looked at the red string around its neck.
"If you remove the string then you will have officially entered into a contract with me. The one you seek revenge upon will be taken immediately to Hell."
She took the doll from her and held it up to her eyes. "To Hell." She repeated as a million thoughts flew into her mind. Finally her boyfriend would have the peace he deserved. If this was the only thing that could appease his soul, was she willing to do it? Could she risk another's life to seek retribution? Her mind swam with possible outcomes. She was scared.
"Know this, if I deliver your revenge, you must make restitution to me."
She stared blankly at the young maiden before her.
"When one person is cursed, two graves are dug. If you accept this contract, then your soul will fall into the pits of hell."
She gasped and almost dropped the doll in fright.
"Your soul will forever wander in pain and agony never having known paradise. But that's after you die." The woman dressed in an old fashioned kimono purred from the sidelines.
Suddenly, she felt fire slowly crawl up onto her skin like they were little demons. She could feel her clothing burn and singe and she could feel her flesh melt from her bone. She screamed out in agony. She could smell burnt hair and she could feel the fire lick the insides of her eyelids.
She woke up and grasped her throat choking for air. She looked around. She was alone. Home in bed where she was when she went to sleep. She felt her skin and hair, it was all still there.
A dream?
She breathed a sigh of relief. She looked to see what time it was and there was the same doll sitting by her alarm clock. She grabbed it to make sure it was real.
So then it wasn't a dream.
Before school the next morning, she shoved the doll into her bag. She was half way to school when the screeching of tires on cement drew her attention. She gasped. It was Ryo's car. She would never forget a car like that in her entire life.
She watched as he barreled down the street. Movement caught her eye. A young elementary schoolboy was just starting to cross the crosswalk. Her heart stopped as she ran towards the small boy. She was able to grab his collar and yank him back seconds before the car would have rolled over him.
She held the small boy as he cried. How many more people would have to die at the hands of this lunatic? How many more cover-ups would his father have to make on his behalf?
She now knew only Hell Girl could help extract her revenge. She swung her bag to her side and pulled out the doll. Its bright red string seemed to call her. Without a second thought, she pulled the string.
The voodoo doll in her hands vanished leaving nothing but the red string behind.
"I hear and deliver this vengeance." A deep omnipotent voice sounded from the heavens. She looked up to see nothing there.
The boy got up and thanked her before looking both ways before crossing the street. She too hurried to school. She couldn't afford to be late any longer. She felt a tiny prick on her chest.
She hurried over to the nearby shop window and opened her school uniform to see the mark of Hell engraved on her chest. She stopped and looked towards the heavens. She knew that her revenge had been extracted. She knew that she would never find paradise, but she would cross that bridge when the time came. So long as her boyfriend was now at ease and future lives would be saved; it was all worth it. She smiled for the first time in a long time.
Who knew the price of hell could be so rewarding?
AN: wow that was fun to write.
Beta: Copy-cat, yours was better than mine