Disclaimer: I don't own Vocaloid.
Miku was having a great day. She had just found a wonderful bakery in town, and the shop owner was kind enough to give her a free batch of cookies. They were right out of the oven, shaped in stars and witches' hats and bats, and Miku had to think that they were adorable. After bowing her head and thanking the kind old lady many times, she had skipped out as happy as a bird.
"Careful," the lady had called, "It's almost Halloween; you wouldn't want a witch to come to steal you away!" Miku had laughed at this, and said that she would be careful, and thanks again for the cookies, etc. The last light of sunset was quite pleasant when coupled with the slight, warm breeze that ruffled her teal hair occasionally. The people were friendly, and the atmosphere light; Miku was sure this was the best day she had ever had.
She was still in the best of moods as she headed home, and decided that because her luck had been so wonderful today, she would explore an alternate route. She walked down the small, dirt path, only noticeable because of the short grass didn't grow on it, and hummed a little tune to herself. Her mind was occupied with what she might do with the cookies.
Presently, she came across a forest just to her right. "That's funny," thought Miku aloud, "I didn't know that there was a forest here." She looked around, concluding that there was no harm in taking a look. She skipped right in, not bothering to glance at the deteriorated sign at the entrance.
The trees at the entrance had light brown trunks and bright green leaves, only a few having experienced the beginning of autumn. As Miku went in, however, the sun set, and the trees began to look darker and thinner. "What effect shadows can have on things!" wondered Miku, "and I suppose the trees don't get as much light when they are this deep within the forest... perhaps I should turn back, since it's so late?"
Just as she said this, a sound came from somewhere within the trees to her left. It was a chuckle, high-pitched, like a child's. "Who's there?" she asked nervously. The trees really did make things look more sinister.
This time, the giggle came from her right, a little higher than the last. "Hello, Miss. Did you get lost in the forest?" asked the voice - a girl's.
Then the slightly lower tone came from her left. "We could help you out, if you want."
"I'm not lost..." said Miku quietly. She was very confused, turning from the trees to her left to the trees on her right. She couldn't see anyone. It was even more startling when she felt something cold touch her left hand. "Eek!"
The lower voice chuckled again. "Don't be scared, Miss."
A hand grabbed her right. "That's right. We just want to say hello."
Miku blinked at the two children in front of her. They were very similar, both with blonde hair and blue eyes. One was a boy and the other was a girl. With those smiles on their faces, they looked innocent and mischievous. Miku immediately felt her heart warm up to them.
The boy took her hand and kissed the back of it. "You're quite pretty, Miss."
"Isn't she?" agreed the girl, leaning forward so that her mouth was just centimeters away from Miku's ear. "Hey, Miss, what've you got in the basket?"
"Eh?" Miku was surprised. "You mean these cookies?" she lifted the lid of her basket. "Would you like some?"
The twins - for surely they were twins - smiled identical bright smiles. "Really, Miss? You'd give us some?" "How generous you are!" said the boy. "How sweet you are!" said the girl.
Miku couldn't help returning the smiles as she handed them the basket. "Sure, help yourselves. They're cute, aren't they?"
Neither responded as they were too occupied with the sweets. Miku could understand their enthusiasm, being 16 herself, and took the time to look over their outfits. The girl was dressed in a knee-length, long-sleeved black dress with white frills around the lower hem. Atop her head was a small black and red hat attached to a black headband. Her sleeves and stockings were both striped in alternating black and deep red. A sort of half-coat went over the top of her dress, topped off by a neckerchief. The boy had similar sleeves, coat, and neckerchief, but was wearing a shirt and pair of black and deep red vertically-striped shorts instead. Both were wearing tall, brown boots. With all of the dark colors, it was obvious that they were starting Halloween early.
By the time Miku had examined all of this, the basket was empty and the twins were wiping their mouths with satisfaction. She couldn't help but smile at their cute expressions. "Ne, Miku-nee, wouldn't you like to come play with us?" said the girl.
Miku blinked. "I don't see why not... but where? Surely you don't mean in this dark forest?"
The girl giggled, while her brother answered. "Of course we don't, Miku-nee! There's a mansion within the forest, and it's a secret, but since you're special, we'll let you in, okay?"
"Well, okay," she said, not wanting to see their faces sad. The boy took out a thin, gray strip of cloth. "What's that for?"
"It's a blindfold," explained the girl, coming behind Miku and beginning to tie it, "So that we can show you to the mansion."
'These children can come up with the strangest ideas,' thought Miku as she suppressed a laugh. "Okay. Lead away." The blindfold was secured, and she felt two hands take hers and lead her forward. She couldn't tell who they belonged to, though.
It felt like less than a minute before Miku heard a giggle and a pair of hands removed the blindfold. There they were, right in front of a gigantic, black mansion. Judging by the surplus of cobwebs, it was abandoned. The children were already on the front step in the time it took Miku to look it over. "Let the games begin," they said in unison.
After a few rounds of hide-and-seek (which the twins were very good at), Miku said she had to go home. At first, they looked a little sad, but then they brightened up and the boy handed her the gray blindfold. "If you enter the forest while wearing that, you can visit us anytime, all right, Miku-nee?" he gave her a smile.
"You have to promise!" urged the girl, swinging her legs back and forth.
Miku, still internally giggling at how they were such children, in such an endearing way, said,"I promise to come back." They told her to put on the blindfold again, and they'd take her out of the forest. When she was told to take it off again, she was at the entrance of the forest and the twins were no where to be seen.
The next day, she found herself again at the entrance of the forest and decided to pay them a visit. Putting on the blindfold, she walked inside. After about 2 minutes of wandering, she heard a soft giggle. "You can open your eyes now, Miku-nee," said the twins' voices at once. She took off the blindfold and was again in front of the mansion. She found this very odd, since she had been in the forest for much longer than 2 minutes yesterday and had not gotten anywhere near a mansion.
"Ne, Miku-nee," began the girl with a smirk, leaning into Miku's face, "You have another sweet on you today, don't you?"
Miku smiled. "Yes! I brought some biscuits and honey." She held up her basket. Len quickly slipped it out of her arm. They pushed and pulled her into of the mansion immediately. They were such energetic children.
As they were enjoying the honey dipped delights, a little got on Miku's cheek. She was a little surprised, and even more so when the girl came over and licked her cheek. Then the girl smiled. "Can't let any go to waste, right, Miku-nee?" For some reason, Miku couldn't speak, she found herself recalling something seemingly random. Why did she remember herself when she was younger, holding her dolls and smiling?
For the next few days, Miku went into the forest with sugary snacks for the twins, and they played and talked and ate. Then, one day, her mother got sick, and she decided to stay home and take care of her. It was a somewhat rainy day anyway, making her hope that the twins wouldn't wait for her in the woods in this sort of weather. She wouldn't want them catching colds, too.
"Miku-nee, you haven't been here for a while," came a voice, not nearly as sweet as it usually was. Something about it was almost dangerous as Miku took off the blindfold. "Why?" It was the female twin speaking.
"Well, my mother got sick, and I wanted to make sure she got better..." Miku gave them a nervous smile. "You didn't wait for me, did you?"
The male twin's look darkened. "Miku-nee... where are the sweets?"
"Huh?"
"What are you going to give us?" reiterated the girl.
"I didn't bring anything today. Sorry," Miku tapped a knuckle against her head in an 'oops' fashion. The twins still hadn't smiled once. "A-anyway, let's play!"
After a tense moment, the girl giggled nervously, and the boy smiled again. "Okay, Miku-nee! We're glad you're back; we thought you'd never visit us again after you left us for so long..."
Miku went to pat his head, but at that moment, he grabbed her hand and pulled her inside, the girl pushing her from behind. "Come on, Miku-nee! We have to play!"
After a little while, the girl handed Miku a cinnamon stick. "Here you go, Miku-nee." She accepted it.
"The cinnamon stick is like a magic stick, isn't it?" sang the boy to an improvised tune, kicking his legs back and forth above him as he lay on his stomach on top of a dusty bed within the building. The girl pulled the eldest over to lay down, too.
She continued the song. "With just one flick, the syrup will swell into a dream so sweet you'll forget you ever knew bitterness." 'What strange lyrics,' thought Miku.
"Sheltered by a canopy" - she felt her eyelids beginning to feel heavy - "You'll fall into a deep sleep." And the world descended into black.
Later, Miku felt her consciousness return to hear some soft voices. They were low, almost ominous. Cracking open one eye, she noticed that she had a blindfold on and that there was a crack in it that allowed her to just barely see that she was in a dimly lit room and that two kids were sitting there. They looked familiar, but their eyes were orange, and the smiles on their faces were menacing. And then she noticed their shadows, and with a gasp, her memory came flooding back to her.
She was sitting in her home, playing with her dolls. She had so many, and the newest was a set of twins, both with ashen white skin. Their eyes were single buttons, and their smiles were stitched so that they were rather creepy. She had disliked them so much that she put them in a corner of her room and never touched them again. She had other dolls, dolls that were pretty, dolls that she loved. And those white-skinned, nightmarish twins were completely forgotten...
"My, my, what a wicked child! You're already awake?" said the boy's voice, causing Miku to gasp again. The twins had noticed her, and their eyes were still that frightful orange. Just like the button eyes of her dolls...
"If the blindfold came off," said the girl, leaning into Miku's ear closer than ever, "then shall I blind you?" Miku said nothing. "Come now, smile! Let's see that precious face!" The female twin put her fingers at the corners of Miku's mouth and turned them upward. "There, see? Smile!" She and her twin wore smiles themselves as they wrapped their arms around each other.
"What happened to make your eyes so wide? Your body is trembling." The boy grinned even wider. "We'll go back to the lies, so just take in the sweet, intoxicating smell of the act!"
The girl, who Miku had not seen disappear, grabbed her from behind. "That's right, relax. Just give us what you have there in your pocket."
'What I have... in my pocket?'
"Give it to us!" said the girl.
"Give it to us!" said the boy.
"Give it here, right now!" They said in unison. Even though they were just speaking normally, Miku heard it as if they were screaming. The sound of their orders to hand it over were filling her head, making her dizzy, until all she could see was a hand - whose, she couldn't tell - reaching out to her. And that was the last thing she ever saw.
Hatsune Miku died in the forbidden forest at age 16. She had her heart ripped out of her chest, and two patchwork dolls were by her sides. No one ever found her.