Welcome to Raftel
by Her Pretty Smile
Synopsis: When Nami disappears, Luffy makes it a point to find her inside a strange town called Raftel where he eventually comes to realize that there's a reason why it's a ghost town in the first place.
Warning: Mentions of blood and gory/gruesome descriptions.
Note: This is an entry for the One Piece Halloween event on Tumblr and is inspired by Konami's "Silent Hill" game. Prompt used is for October 25: Darkness/Shadow.
WELCOME TO RAFTEL
"Raftel?" Luffy muttered to himself, staring at the signpost a few meters before him. It looked pretty worn, probably a sign of age. There seemed to be some sort of liquid sticking to the words, appearing red and sticky.
Is that blood…?
Luffy shook his head and started to trek towards the only road in front of him.
Nami… where are you…?
Soon, he found himself in the middle of a town. There was nobody in sight; the stores and apartments looked empty and dreary. The heavy fog was hindering his sight, and the snow only sent slight chills down his spine.
He turned his gaze skywards.
This isn't snow… he slowly realized.
They're… ashes…
Suddenly, he turned around, feeling something burning into his back. Something was watching him.
Rather, someone was watching him.
Luffy stared at the familiar figure standing by the empty street and a bright grin finally made its way on his face.
"Nami!" he exclaimed, running over to her. "Nami! Hey!"
When he got close to her, however, she turned on her heel and ran. Luffy thought that he caught a glimpse of an eerie smile playing on her lips.
"Nami…?" His voice echoed in the surroundings. "Hey, where are you going?!"
Luffy ran after her, ignoring the stabbing paranoia inside him. There was something wrong with this town. He knew it the moment he felt something unpleasant when he woke up in his car without Nami in the passenger seat. He had gotten into an accident after trying to avoid a passing deer and fell unconscious after that. When he came to later on, he found himself alone and ran into the signpost after a few minutes.
Luffy tried to swallow the slight lump in his throat. If the liquid on that signpost was indeed blood, then he and Nami should not be in this town any longer.
It's my fault…! I should've paid attention while I was driving…
Soon, Luffy came to a stop in front of an abandoned school. He was sure that Nami went into the front doors, so he followed suit, taking a deep breath before going inside.
Pure darkness instantly clouded his vision. Disoriented for a moment, he tried to go back outside, but then the large doors suddenly closed behind him. Luffy gritted his teeth, trying to force them open. However, they wouldn't budge an inch.
"Damn it!" Luffy immediately pushed his hands inside his pockets, remembering that he had taken a pocket flashlight from his car earlier. When he finally found it, he turned it on and flashed it in front of him.
There was a long hallway, empty and narrow, before him. Luffy clenched his free hand into a fist.
Nami…
Why did you run away from me?
"I'll find you and we'll go back together!" he exclaimed, bravely navigating himself across the hallway. It was unnerving, the fact that he was completely alone with darkness surrounding him. There was definitely something wrong with this town. He had to find Nami quickly.
Luffy had no idea why she seemed to want to play hide-and-seek with him. There was nothing light about their current situation.
Luffy almost stopped in his tracks.
The Nami he knew was a scaredy-cat. She would never explore a town like this alone. She always needed someone by her side even in a common horror house.
Luffy thought back to that eerie smile he saw on her face and his eyes narrowed.
His questions would have to wait until he found her.
It seemed like an eternity before he finally came to a large area in the school. His hand that was holding the flashlight was shaking. Luffy had always thought of himself as fearless, but this was a situation he had never encountered before. Suddenly, ever since he stepped foot into Raftel, he was hearing tiny voices inside his head. There were also times when he felt that someone was watching him.
Someone… who was not Nami.
Thump.
Luffy immediately turned around at the sound. He wanted to call out for Nami, but his lips were sealed tight. It was like something inside him urged him to be quiet.
Like something horrible was going to happen if he made a sound.
Luffy swallowed as he spotted a room nearby with dim lighting.
It was the girls' bathroom.
Something akin to hope rose inside Luffy. Maybe Nami's in there…!
Suddenly desperate to escape from whatever he was afraid of, he ran towards the bathroom.
There's something wrong in this town…
There's something wrong with Nami…
I'm hearing voices and seeing shadows everywhere…
…!
…Maybe there's also something wrong with me…
"NAMI!" he cried out as he arrived inside the room.
There was a mirror before him and four stalls by his left. Luffy gulped as he saw his disheveled reflection and soon realized that there was a gurgling sound.
There's something in the sink…! Clouded by his curiosity, he peered at the sink and saw—
Is that… blood…?!
In an instant, the lights turned out.
A heavy chill ran down Luffy's spine.
What's happening?!
At that moment, the lights blinked on and off rapidly, further growing the fear and paranoia in Luffy's head.
What's going on?!
Suddenly, he spotted something behind him.
Luffy managed to open his mouth.
"Nami…?"
He saw her face briefly before the lights turned off. She looked… normal. Her hair, long and the colour of her favourite fruit, was let loose behind her back. Her eyes were wide and brown, and there was a little smile on her lips.
When the lights turned back on, Luffy's mind crashed on him.
Nami was still behind him. However, her skin turned pale and sunken, her hair was messy, and her small smile stretched into a gruesome grin with blood dripping from a huge hole on her forehead up to her scalp.
She had no eyes.
That image of her gruesome face stuck itself into Luffy's head before she gave a haunting laugh and proceeded to break his neck.
"Luffy?! LUFFY!" Nami yelled, panicking when she woke up and saw that Luffy wasn't in the driver's seat.
In her haste, she shoved the car door open and yelled his name over and over.
It was then that she came across an eerie-looking signpost.
WELCOME TO RAFTEL
"…D—Did he go there to get help?!" Nami exclaimed. "I'd better follow him, then!"
Her figure soon disappeared in the road filled with fog.
fin