I do not own Vocaloid.
Her laughter broke the silence . . . Miku lay on her side, body limp and hollow with the likeness of a porcelain doll, the echoing cackling that slipped from her mouth burned into my head, possibly forever, if I even made it out of this ordeal to be scarred enough to remember. I turned to face her; she was hell of a lot less threatening when she was knocked out cold. I could remember a time when she was beautiful, the apex of jealousy for both women and men alike; a 'perfect' lady some would say but not much to show was left to the rotting carcass. Snake-like turquoise hair cascaded down her neck creating a scarf of sea-foam, contrasting with her alabaster white skin, like the sea upon the coast, I pondered.
Pale, colourless lips were agape as her eyelids seemed swollen, as if she had been weeping to herself, not the graceful kind of weeping expected of a lady of her class, no. It looked like the more hysterical kind of screeching and pulling out her hair, the way I'd seen mental patients in asylums do in so many stupid movies. I laughed; it was like a movie now wasn't it?
A puppet show, but I had a feeling that my strings had been tangled or worse. Cut.
An eerie, ominous wave seemed to have washed throughout my gut, the harsh winds from outside not lightening the atmosphere as my heartbeat shot through the roof. I passed the door and my instincts wailed at me in terror but I'd learnt to ignore my instincts, no matter how right they were. They told me to go back, go back and help but I wouldn't because I knew the path to Heaven was never paved with good intentions and God would not forgive me for helping one of the damned. I had no intention of going to Hell today. Maybe I was already in it.
The crash of thunder and the roar of lightning only made the foreboding atmosphere heavier as inwardly, weights crushed my chest. Her feet were tangled in a mass of white covers, stained in some places with quickly-darkening blood which could have only belonged to her.
Forest green orbs stared back at me as I flinched; shattered orbs of blue.
And they moved. They lazily followed me sluggish and grotesque like the rest of what was left of her.
My breath hitched in my throat as I stumbled backwards, overwhelmed by the prospect that she was still alive. I could only imagine the torture she had endured as I observed a silhouette moving in the distance. I gulped and clenched the hem of my jacket, the outdoor coat now reduced to rags with a zipper. I fell back, back into the shadows, out of sight but not too far, not too close. Just right.
The silhouette had a large, bulky figure paired with stumpy short legs, it walked oddly and I imagine it would have to with such a blundering and muscular set of arms. It hoisted itself up onto the platform where poor Miku lay; helpless and without defence. I prepared for the worst but the killing blow, the coup de grace, to the unfortunate soul never came, as instead the creature merely sat upon Miku's torso almost as if in triumph?
At this moment in time I didn't care, it was a preferred option compared to all the other outcomes that could have played out.
With a glimmer of morbid fascination the creature began to make small cuts in the formerly unblemished skin as I cringed, my face wrinkling in the moist unpleasant way. Horns spiralled from the top of its head like towers as leather-like skin stretched over a bony frame, like a too-small top, leaving some organs uncovered and unprotected as they hummed and kept whatever it was ticking. A strong sinewy smell seemed to emanate from it, the kind that got right up your nose and forced you to cover your face and your eyes to water. An armored tail rose high and pride in the air. Bulging yellow eyes, disproportionate to the rest of its facial features let out a soft yet malice-filled light across the room as Miku's halo lay askew on one of its horns mounted like a trophy. I frowned, my cringing face becoming like stone and more stoic by the second.
Now able to see the room in a dim light, I noticed that it was well-furnished to my surprise. Bottles of high-quality brandy lay shattered on the floor and ornate mirrors and expensive-looking jewellery boxes littered the floor. The distinct tang of nicotine lingered in the air along with the aftertaste of metal and gunpowder. Merely breathing made me feel nauseous and forced me to clutch my head and supress a groan of pain.
I could make out another silhouette, this one more equestrian-like. A deep mane of red flared up proudly and a cloak of black made the form of the body. Like a silent but harmless guard dog, hissing if anything the beast did somehow annoyed it, if it was sentient that is. It sat, guarding something almost, as if it was stopping any means of escape from both parties.
The smaller, more deformed creature unleashed a feral growl as foaming saliva dribbled from its mouth in globs of acid green which plummeted to the ground joining the mixture of brandy and blood. Its eyes stemmed an unnatural yellow light comparable to the yellow glow of cat's eyes mixed with a neon shimmer.
The demon that lay atop of Miku seemed to snarl possessively as it opened clenched jaws to speak, a set of interlocked teeth unlocking and snapping open and I felt my hand sub-consciously flying towards the handgun, the trusty companion on the side of my belt. Only one bullet left.
I couldn't waste it on a cold case.
Miku Hatsune could not be saved and I all too painfully knew it.
"Mine…" it snarled throatily, venom lacing its tone and malicious intent etched onto its face. Claws sprouted from its nails as the sickeningly nauseous sound of flesh tearing could be heard.
I held my breath as I clenched my eyes shut not wanting to look, my mind tumbling into an abyss of misery and despair. Another one, just another soul. Nothing special. I shouldn't care, I barely knew her. We sung a few times; she was like an angel. This angel obviously had fallen though; and they had fallen far.
I braved a chance and my eyes shuddered open, my whole body trembling. There sat Miku, still in generally one piece.
I blinked in surprise; did I merely imagine the sound of flesh ripping?
With all my heart, I wished I did imagine the sickly 'shnaaap' of flesh and muscle being separated.
I shot my heard upwards to get a better view of the situation but all was not well.
The demon lay limp on its side, sprawled across the floor, immobile and rather vulnerable to the beast attacking it, whatever this beast happened to be. The offending little creatures arm however was not given such a treatment as it looked like someone had shredded it as muscle matter coated the walls, cream wallpaper turning a pinkish shade.
In the place of the demon sat a humanoid figure. I cursed underneath my breath. I could make out the distinct glowing orbs in the place of eyes; normally I would not be worried however the too-calm redness made my hairs stand on end; and its calm demeanour did nothing to remedy my fear.
Ivory skin melded into a deep purple main of hair that was lazily thrown back but other than that untamed with the likeness of a bird in flight and eyes, a resplendent vermillion, were like drops of blood upon a pure sheet of bleached white.
The humanoid beast ran an icy hand over a pallid face. Brushed-steel lips uttered words that were incomprehensible to me as he turned, flesh morphing and bones re-shaping themselves into the form of a bat, hands had already flown towards the gun and I was ready to shoot, trying to maintain my breathing, keeping it as steady as possible. The new appearance left as quickly as he came, he flew from the previously unnoticed window, out into the dark depths of the night much to my relief as I nearly dropped the gun in my hand.
To the great disapproval of my instincts and common sense I fled from my hiding place as I examined the now-decaying body of Miku Hatsune. Her veins were slowly turning black, phenomena I had yet to research, and maybe the Teacher would want to know? I sorely wished my wingman, or woman to be precise was here. Meiko was always a comfort. I bent down to my knees and traced a finger over the discoloured part of her skin where black veins had appeared but quickly whipped back my hand whilst hissing. I hastily put my finger in my mouth, and quickly took it out. It was burnt. Dead and ashen skin was falling off onto the floor as I felt tears swell in my , I stared before deciding that sitting in one place was not safe, plus I couldn't see who or what was behind me, stupid idea.
My feet thumped against the surprisingly chilly mahogany floor as noisily my feet slapped the ground and I timidly made my way over to the other out-of-place object which I had noticed before.
The other thing in the room was some sort of object with a black velvet cover thrown over, the impossible dark fabric looking like a piece of the night itself; against my better judgement I pulled it back, the table supporting it creaking as I suddenly wish I hadn't. Bile rose to my throat and I shrieked in a rather . . . womanly manner, completely aghast and taken aback.
Underneath the blanket there was a birdcage, perfectly normal, right? Inside however was a severed hand.
Bone stuck out in various angles and the skin was close to translucent, the muscles underneath gone a sickening shade of grey.
It was actually a collection of hands to be accurate, all hanging on different lengths of chain. All of them were well-kempt, like you'd treat a bird, each was thoroughly cleaned, no grime or dust in sight and the nails were un-chipped and painted a plethora of colours but blood still dripped at the bottom of the cage. . . some of the hands being fresher than the others. I squatted down a bit to get a look as they lay un-moving. I stared at them, intrigue and disgust swirling in my eyes. Tapping at the edges of the cage, nothing moved. Finally my stomach, unable to stand the sight anymore and throwing a hand over my mouth I made to cover it again. I got up feebly and looked around, the covering landing near not-really-Miku, who was still staring, much to my displeasure. I tried to be silent as I manoeuvred through bottles and blades and other things that littered the floor. I picked up the strange fabric and gently began to go through the obstacle course way back; half way through something grabbed my attention. My head snapped upwards as there was a crash. The bird-cage had fallen over. Kicking the rest of the things on the floor out of my way, I crouched down to pick it up, finding it surprisingly light, until I realised.
It was empty.
I stood upright in confusion as fear leaked into my brain; there was a scratch. Within moments my hand flying towards my gun, secure in my belt and dropping the cover on the floor. I gripped onto the butt of the gun, making to pull it out but someone grabbed onto my wrists and squeezed. I could feel my wrists threatening to snap under the pressure as I cried out in pain. Something else grabbed my leg, something else clawing at my leg and one settling a bit too close to my neck, one over my eyes, shit they were everywhere.My stomach clenched and I bit down on my lip, hard. Twitching and muscles randomly slashing at air in an un-dead dance of false reality the hands scratched and tore and clenched into my skin, scuttling over like a spider would to a fly.
One had successfully scrambled up my trouser leg and broken through my leather jacket like it was paper. Skin made a sickening rotting odour diffuse into the air and blood spurted out of my right arm, the oozing, ever-so-nauseous feeling wriggling in the back of my head not helping as I full-out screamed in horror, voice reverberating but falling on deaf ears. More clambered upwards, one thing on their minds, if they had them. Rip, tear, and kill. Thick splodges of blood marring my clothes until my vision was abruptly cut off, the noise alone and the pain, the torturing agony told me I was still here. I hadn't passed out though; God was not that kind to let me go through this painlessly. Liquidised life streamed from a ripped ear, a broken nose and I was sure that they had flayed off my arm which was heavy and motionless. I was still screaming, I realised, out of pure reflex until my voice had gone so hoarse that I couldn't breathe well, with one of the critters circling around my neck, another cutting through my gum, sure enough about to take out my tongue as it raked across the muscles leaving lines of red and blood and pain and fear. I didn't question why I couldn't see, my body wasn't listening to me anymore, it had stopped a while ago and now I was relying on pure gut instinct; maybe I had shut them myself, far too scared to actually look at what was going on but the niggling pain on my eyeball was increasing slowly.
I didn't want to know the truth but it was now obvious; one had got to my eyes.
Taking a grip into the side of my eye socket and digging in, the blue-nailed hand sunk in, screaming, shrieking, downright wailing from the pure intense agony I kicked but there was just so many. Getting a full grasp around my eye-ball it yanked on it, as the optic nerve snapped, it was so loud. To me.
Everything was so loud, everything should stop.
But I wasn't dead.
I didn't understand. I didn't understand why it hurt, why was I still alive, I-I could, I could, I could, I can't, couldn't, could. I remembered; I was vaccinated.
I finally understood. My wish had become my curse.
The hand moved to the other eye.
Screaming began to grow hoarse, the pain was so normal it became numbing, like morphine but I was still conscious; fully conscious.
My nervous system had short-circuited and nothing hurt but everything hurt at the same time, a perfect contradiction.
The world was so light yet the darkness was always present.
I didn't know what I was at this moment, my physical being gone and my brain melting into ones and zeroes; the likelihood was too impossible, something had gone wrong, but nothing could do that.
In a morose, dark humour I smiled inwardly.
Duke Venomania was the perfect anomaly.
First fanfic in a while but yeah, originally this was for an assessment and was longer and incorporated Vampires but this account seemed dead so I thought I'd just edit this a bit and see how other people liked it. Critiques are welcome, I'd actually love them. The story is written in Kaito's point of view, who's a researcher who works alongside Vampire hunters and Miku was formerly a girl he sung with in choir, he went to save her, he failed. Kaito in this version has been 'vaccinated' against death which was an idea which inspired my original story.
Confusing, I know.