The Lady In Red
Through the flurry of drapes
The moon glows
Eerily incandescent
A scream echoes
In the distance
The night whispers
Malevolent promises
The lady in red
Awaits…
Tamaki lowered the sheet of paper shakily, his hands trembling in affright.
What is this?
The sound of a door slamming shut behind him made the blonde jump. The room was quiet, too quiet. The only sound that could be heard was the rustling of the curtains as the light breeze blowing through the open window ruffled them. Tamaki placed the sheet of paper on his desk and calmly stood up, backing away from the table like it was some sort of evil medium. It probably is, Tamaki thought to himself as his back hit the door, and he moved his hand around aimlessly along the wood until it clasped around the cool metal handle. Twisting the knob, Tamaki swiveled around and threw the door open, proceeding to jog down the corridor in urgency. He had to get away from there, from that room, from that poem.
The chandeliers that hung overhead illuminated the hallway dimly. Tamaki could have sworn that they were on full brightness when he had walked into his room a few minutes ago, but now it was as if somebody had turned them down just to intimidate him. His mind was stuck on a loop, constantly repeating the poem like a broken record. The words rolled around in his mind, bringing fresh horror every time he visualized them. The poem, it had been terrorizing him; it had infiltrated his dreams, and had plagued him when he was awake. He did not know where it had come from, or why it had suddenly popped into his mind in the first place. It had just appeared like a sinister epistle, and now he saw it everywhere. Finally, he had decided to write it down, thinking that it might make it disappear, but that had only made things worse. As soon as he had written it down, the words of the poem became true.
Through the flurry of drapes
The moon glows
Eerily incandescent
The drapes in his room had started to flail madly in the wind of the suddenly open window, and the moon was clearly visible outside, like a silver beacon of unrest.
This can't be happening. Tamaki apprised mentally, making his way around the corner and entering the sitting room where his piano resided. The light from the moon shone down on the piano, bathing it in a semi-white luminescence. Tamaki approached the piano slowly, shuddering involuntarily at the silence that seemingly engulfed this whole mansion. He needed to break the unnerving quiet. Sitting down at the piano, he lifted the lid and positioned his hands; soon a soft sonata filled the room steadily, drowning out the soundlessness of the dark room. The music was slow and steady, flowing from the blondes fingers likes a sort of wizardry. Tamaki closed his eyes as he let the notes clear his mind, finally calming a little.
A scream echoes
In the distance
Suddenly, a blood-curdling scream echoed throughout the room, sounding like it had come from somewhere outside. The blond, startled, pressed his hands down involuntarily resulting in a cringe-worthy clash of notes ringing out from the piano. Tamaki swallowed and removed his hands from the keys, and not bothering to close the lid he stood up and ran from the room. His breathing now heavy and ragged, he headed downstairs. Where had everybody gone? Not a single servant was to be seen or heard, making Tamaki even more nervous. It was like he was completely alone in this place, like not a single other soul was to be found. But that couldn't be the case; there were plenty of servants always hanging around, not to mention Shima who was continually surveying the other staff members. There were usually about twenty people in the vicinity at any given time, and he had yet to see a single one.
Whipping around several corners, he decided to head to the front door. He would go to Kyouya's, yes, his best friend. That was what he would do. He had to get out of here, to feel another human presence beside him. Perhaps it was the incessant loneliness that was getting to him, that had to be it. If he could just get to his limo and call up his driver he would be able to leave and stay the night at the Otori residence, away from the ominous feeling that was overwhelming him.
The night whispers
Malevolent promises
As the blonde made his way through the labyrinth of corridors voices started to ring in his ears, soft and sinister. They seemed to be emanating from the walls, following him as he wound his way through the Suoh residence.
"Don't run, it's safer inside…"
Tamaki swiveled his head around back and forth, trying to catch the owners of the utterances, but to no avail.
"The night is a harsh mistress…"
He scrunched his eyes closed trying to phase it out, but the strange voices continued with their dark messages.
"You can't hide, you can't hide…"
He couldn't tell if the voices were male or female, or even if they were human. All he knew was that they were so thin they could have been the ghosts of voices left from former inhabitants of the mansion, come back to reclaim what was rightfully theirs. But that was absurd; that sort of thing only happened in the movies. He couldn't say that the rest of the happenings that night would exactly be classified as normal though.
"You're almost there…"
Tamaki almost fell over in shock; he had just entered the last corridor he had to pass through before he would reach the main entrance. It was like the supernatural apparition knew where he was heading, on top of following him as he tried to escape, it could also read his mind. He now knew it was essential that he get out, screw going to Kyouya's, he just had to leave this mansion. It was imperative. He was so close now; sprinting down the corridor he came to the main entrance and ran up to the door. In a few seconds he would be free.
The lady in red
Awaits…
Hastily he turned the handle and threw the double doors open. However he couldn't bring himself to move once he saw what was waiting for him on the other side. His eyes widened what seemed to be more than humanly possible, his face paled and his voice left him completely the scene was so horrific. There, covered in blood, stood Haruhi. She was naked; her eyes were glazed over and clouded. She looked dead, the warmth and glow that usually surrounded her were absent, replaced with the fog of the night and the white pasty appearance of her formerly peachy skin. Somehow though, she was standing, although her head lulled to the right slightly, like she was too weak to hold it up.
Tamaki put a shaking hand over his mouth, and then ran to her. "HARUHI!" He screeched, hysteria building up in him. This was worse than anything he could have imagined. What happened to her? Why was she covered head to toe in blood? He had so many questions and no way to get answers.
Suddenly Haruhi's head snapped up and her voice rang out clear and low. "Stop."
Tamaki halted in his tracks, centimeters from the brunette, and looked down at her affrightedly. Said brunette bent her neck back to face him, but it appeared she couldn't see him as her eyes were still vacant of any human emotion or life. "I have been waiting for you," She whispered, her voice rattled and hoarse.
Tamaki grabbed her by the shoulders not caring about the blood that covered them, "Why have you been waiting for me? What happened to you?" He asked frantically.
Haruhi's facial expression remained neutral, "I have come to collect you."
"Collect me for what?" Tamaki tried again, getting more hysterical by the second. His voice became an octave higher.
Haruhi didn't respond. She bent her head back down so Tamaki was now looking at the top of her head. "You must go back inside." She whispered again.
Tamaki turned his head back to the mansion, the front doors were still wide open and he could see the dimly lit front entrance. "In there? In the mansion?" He asked, cringing, "No, I can't go back in there, not in there…"
"YOU MUST!" Haruhi shouted, pushing him back and away from her. Her face was still expressionless, but the voice held venom.
Tamaki's jaw dropped, "NO! I CAN'T!" He shouted back, shaking his head in refusal.
Haruhi blinked, "Now." She responded calmly. Tamaki looked at her, and then let out an ear-piercing screech when he felt something grab him around the waist and proceed to drag him inside. When he looked down there was nothing there, which made him scream even louder.
Haruhi watched on, still expressionless, as Tamaki got pulled back through the front entrance and down the hall until she could not see him any longer and only his futile screams could be heard. She blinked again and for the first time moved to walk inside, her feet leaving bloody footprints in her wake. When she entered the doors slammed shut behind her and before she too disappeared down the hall, she uttered one last sentence.
"The lady in red does not like to be kept waiting."
Fin
This is the first time I've attempted horror, or anything scary, so please review and tell me how I went; I am greatly interested in your thoughts :)