Hello ladies and gentlemen and thank you for pressing on the title of my story be it by simple curiosity or knowledge of the birth of this story if I can put it that way.
This story was previously known as "The Evillious Tales" published and written by my dear friend Kirya Yui. I'm beginning my adventure on fanfiction and she kindly allowed me to retake her work as her successor on this site.
So basically "Flower of Hell" is a revamped version of her work and after many twists and turns I finally found the freaking guts to publish this.
I'm such a coward XD ahem...
Kirya sends her regards to all of you who supported her till the end and this is for you all. She thanks you so much and I hope I'll be worthy of this wonderful fic. Of course even though most of her original characters remain she gave me permission to change the story to my heart's desire. She wanted her story to revive and find a new beginning in my hands and I'm grateful for that. I would have stressed so much if I had the misfortune to mess up a part of her storyline.
So without further delay I present you "Flower of Hell"! I hope you'll enjoy!
Flower Of Hell
I – Yuki
"The fear of death is the most unjustified of all fears, for there's no risk of accident for someone who's dead." - Albert Einstein
"Look, the tree is covered in snow..."
The girl's eyes followed the descend of the snowflakes, her brown hair slowly being covered by the iced petals.
"Put your hood on, you'll catch a cold."
Pale hands rose to touch her face before sliding back to her coat's hoodie and adjusting it properly on her head.
"Zuzu I'm a vampire and vampires don't catch colds!" she proclaimed proudly only to be struck by a series of coughs. The boy sighed.
"If you knew how being sick feels like I don't think you'd let yourself turn into a moving snowman."
"Zuzu your hair's grey and you're telling me I'm too white?"
"What does that have to do with my hair? And don't call me that," he huffed in annoyance. "Besides...my hair's silver not grey."
"Grey," she taunted with a huge grin and he frowned.
"Silver," the boy insisted.
"Grey." The little girl continued with her mockery and the words flew back and forth between the two. Since both were unbelievingly stubborn it ended with her companion hissing at her and turning his back to her, a scowl on his face.
She blinked then her eyes softened.
"Hey Zuzu don't be angry," she said taking a step forward. He straightened his back and glanced at her, shooting her a deadly glare along the way. The young vampire smiled nervously.
"Zuzu? Come on I didn't call you for us to argue," she said her voice firm, hoping she'll get her point across that thick skull of his.
"You're the one that started it," he replied sternly and she looked down.
"Please don't be mad, it was just a joke..." she murmured but the boy stayed silent, not moving from his spot. She averted her gaze from the ground to his back and her eyes grew puffy.
"Zuzu? Please talk to me...don't ignore me..." she pleaded.
No reaction.
"Zuzu...?"
Still nothing and the little girl could feel her heart constricting in her chest.
"Zero?"
"Yeah?"
She blinked and he turned towards her with widened eyes.
"You were seriously crying?"
"I hate you!"
The girl grabbed a handful of snow and threw it at him with all her might but he dodged it easily and retaliated with another snowball. She ducked and landed on the ground head first. She heard him laughing and her eyes started to water.
"You're mean! I hate you!" she wailed and he was reduced speechless.
"He...Hey don't cry..." he said slowly but her sobs only grew louder.
"Stop crying!" he shouted but he was more worried than angry. Zero walked closer to the crying mess and kneeled down to her level.
"Come on Rose! Stop crying for nothing!" he exclaimed but Rose looked at him for a second than resumed breaking his ears. Realising he was doing more harm than good, he shut his mouth and stayed frozen in disbelief. The boy didn't know how he was supposed to calm a crying vampire girl either thus he was feeling pretty much helpless right now.
"Hey big brother, how do you make people not cry?"
"You mean stop crying?"
"Yeah."
"It's easy really, girl's love when guys are funny."
"But that doesn't answer my question Ichiru..."
Zero than widened his eyes and cracked a grin of satisfaction.
"Hey Rose," he called and she looked up. He then lifted his hands to his face and pulled his cheeks downwards making him look like a bulldog. She blinked and grimaced.
"Zuzu what are you doing? You look horrible," she asked and he facepalmed.
"You were supposed to laugh," he mumbled and she giggled.
That made him raise an eyebrow as he stared at her completely confused. He'll never understand how girl's work.
"But seriously you shouldn't cry for something so childish," he told her with a straight face. "During training my big brother goes through worse than this so stop whining for nothing."
The young vampiress stared at him then hiccupped, tears streaming down her face once again.
"Hey! No! Rose I'm sorry OK?!" he yelled in panic and a wicked grin was all he saw before being tackled to the ground.
"Take this!" she shouted while throwing snow in his face. "Feel the pain of getting your face stuffed with snow! Hahaha!"
She heard an angry growl coming from underneath her and she shrieked when Zero suddenly rolled out-of-the-way making her fall on her side. He was then on top her, keeping her from moving as she screamed.
"Stop yelling!"
"Let go of me!"
"To let you assault me with freezing ice? Never!"
The little girl furrowed her eyebrows and cried out as she flung a completely startled Zero off of her. They soon engaged into a battle of cries, snow and insults which resulted into them getting wet from head to toe. They scoffed in unison and marched towards each other like two soldiers on a battlefield ready to attack. Rose was the one to launch the first blow.
"Pig!"
"Urchin!"
"Old man!"
"Pinkie!"
"I'm not even dressed in pink!"
"Who cares, cow?!"
"Macaroni!"
"...what?"
They stopped and stared into each other's eyes for a moment.
"You suck with names Pinkie," Zero commented.
"Well at least my name isn't Zero!" she retort.
"You wanna repeat that?" he growled and thunders flew between them, their glares intensifying as the wind grew stronger. Rose eventually noticed this and gasped.
"Tornado!" she screamed and he rolled his eyes.
"Idiot it's just the wind picking up," he replied. "Let's find a shelter before you pee in your pants baby."
"I'm not a baby! I'm a pretty woman!"
"Yeah right! I'm sure your parents still feed you with a pink spoon while you're cozy in your high chair."
Rose said nothing and his smug look gradually disappeared as the silence stretched.
"Hey...Rose...?" Zero said uncertain and she looked up her eyes devoid of emotion.
"We should find somewhere to hide, I think a storm is coming," was the only thing she said before walking away. After some minutes of searching they fell on a small cavity between the rocks of the hills nearby. They snuggled inside and stared in silence at the forest slowly disappearing in the blizzard.
"When things calm down you should hurry back home Zero, they're surely worrying about you and I wouldn't be surprised if they sent Ichiru to look for you," the girl said breaking the uncomfortable silence they were bathing in.
"I'll take you back to your house," he insisted but she just smiled.
"It's OK, no one is waiting for me anyway."
Zero gazed at her for a moment.
"What did you call me for earlier?" he asked and she huffed.
"It's only now that you remember?" she asked her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Nevermind, it's not important."
"I really doubt you called me just to see me," he replied.
"And why not?"
"Rose."
She looked at him and Zero knew he reminded her of something displeasing.
"I guess I wanted to take my mind off things," she whispered.
"Something happened back home? You argued with your sister?" he questioned and she brought her knees up to her chest to hug them.
"She...she's getting married," the little vampiress finally answered and he widened his eyes in shock.
"Your twin? What the hell?" he exclaimed and she frowned even more.
"Yeah my twin you know, the sweet girl everyone loves," she hissed kicking some dirt.
"And what are you so angry about? I think you're pretty lucky," he said and his opinion on the matter somewhat shocked her.
"Don't you get it?! She's getting married to our only brother!"
"...eeww."
Rose punched his shoulder and Zero winced at the surprisingly painful blow.
"What was that for? Don't tell me you wanted to get married to your brother?" he asked bewildered.
"He's our only brother and if my sister marries him than who am I gonna be with?!" she shouted like it was the most logical reason in the world.
"Frankly...if I had a sister marrying her would just be so weird."
"You don't get it Zero! I have to marry someone otherwise I'll be nothing!"
Somehow, what she said made the boy's blood boil in anger.
"And what makes you say that?! You can pretty well take care of yourself! Depending on someone is just ridiculous!" he yelled back.
"I'm a girl!"
"So what?!"
Zero didn't get it and Rose didn't understand why he was being so adamant in proving her wrong either.
"Well my parents are siblings too and they say it's normal for Pureblood women to marry their brother," she explained calmly, after all she just remembered he was from a Vampire Hunter family and didn't necessarily know about their customs. "They give birth to a girl and a boy precisely for that."
There was silence after her revelations.
"...vampires are sicker than I thought."
"You're not helping."
Zero sighed and looked up, noticing the storm had drastically calmed down.
"Come on, I'll take you back to your house," he suggested but his tone of voice alerted her that no amount of complaining would make him change his mind.
"OK," the girl agreed and she took his hand as they started their little journey to Rose's big mansion on the other side of the forest. However, her companion suddenly halted and let go of her hand leaving her startled and confused.
"You know..." he started then stopped to glance at her. She noticed his cheeks turning slightly red and could only wonder if he suddenly fell ill along the way.
"If you really have to marry someone..."
He inhaled deeply and abruptly spun around making her yelp.
"Then I'll marry you!"
Her eyes grew to the size of saucers and Zero turned beat red.
"...w-when we-we're old-older of course!"
Rose stayed silent while anxiousness slowly ate him up from the inside. Tears then streamed down her face and she opened her mouth before closing it.
"You're...not lying?" she asked hesitant.
"No!" he exclaimed and to prove his point he got out a bracelet from his coat pocket and handed it to her.
"There that'll prove your my fiancé from now on!"
"It's pretty!...but when did you make it?"
Zero's face was now redder than a freshly picked apple but Rose just smiled brightly. She lunged forward and tackled him to the ground once again but this time in a bear hug.
"We're together now...right Zero?"
"Yeah."
"You'll...never leave me?"
"Never, I'll protect you."
"Never?"
"Never."
Rose lifted her pinkie up and intertwined it with his.
"We're together now...forever."
The convenient store was empty, only the ruffle of the newspaper could be heard as the cashier turned the pages in utter boredom. The young man looked up and yelled in fear almost falling off his stool.
"I'll take this," a brown-haired girl probably not older than sixteen said and he looked at her from head to toe with a raised eyebrow.
She was only wearing an ugly and dirty brown colored trench coat and he couldn't help but wonder if the original color wasn't cream instead of the hideous combination of blotches, patches and...blood? Was that blood?
He shuddered and simply took hold of the water bottle and wrapped sandwich, taking note of her bandaged hands and scrapped fingers.
"Could I also get a pack of dried beef sausages please?" she asked and he nodded scanning the packet.
"That'll be 712 yen* please."
She dug her hand in one of her pockets and got out some coins, she continued until the desk was filled of them. She then started counting and the guy soon snapped out of his trance.
"You're kidding woman? I'm not gonna count all that," he pointed out sternly. She looked up at him and it was only then that he noticed the scars on her left cheek. The corner of her left eye was also slightly burned and it went all the way to her ear. Her bony legs were covered in torn black tights and her skirt was barely visible under her extremely long coat. Her boots were plain and simple leather ones but they looked so stuffed it seemed like she was wearing over three pairs of socks.
"You're funny, do you think I'd be loosing my time in counting all this if you did your damn work!" she spat, her greasy-looking hair flopping from side to side.
"I...sorry I'll help you," he said and counted relatively fast all the coins before handing her back five of them.
"It's only 712 yen."
"Yeah thanks."
The girl slid the rest back in her pocket, bid him a good evening and left through the sliding doors as quietly as she came.
Outside, she looked around and whistled. There was a bark in the distance and a tall german shepherd emerged from an alley. She nodded at him and he returned into the alley before appearing again but this time holding a case.
He dragged it towards her and she sat on the pavement, her hand coming to pat his head.
"Good job Hannibal, no weirdos around?" she asked and Hannibal shook his head.
"Good," she sighed in relief and brought the case closer to her. She then ripped the lid of the pack off and gave two sausages to the dog. He didn't waste time in snatching them from her grasp and ripping them to shreds with his sharp fangs.
"Hannibal I already told you not to eat on the floor, it's dirty!" she scolded but he only barked absent-mindedly to which she rolled her eyes. She gave him a couple more before unwrapping her own meal and taking a good bite.
"Three days...we're a bunch of lucky rats huh?" the girl joked. "Usually it takes us longer but I guess that with Valentine's day around the corner people tend to shop a lot more."
Hannibal barked in agreement but she only sighed.
"Sadly, all our money went into this," she murmured lifting her water bottle to take a sip. "I hoped we could book a tube** and take a bath at the sento***, damn."
They ate in silence after her last words then stood up.
"Come on, let's go before the owner kicks us out again for blocking the entrance."
The streets were relatively filled for a cold Monday evening and the neon signs were killing her eyes. She buried her face in her red scarf and grimaced as she spotted a couple openly kissing.
"No sympathy for singles apparently," she huffed but continued pretending to ignore this and stopped at the traffic lights. The girl knew someone was watching her and she hissed reminding herself not to turn around.
"Hannibal, we're going straight to the train station got it?" she whispered hurriedly and he nodded. As she looked back up she saw a woman and a kid. The child precisely piercing her with his gaze. She smiled warmly at him to which he tilted his head and waved finally returning the smile.
However, when the lights turned green and the little family moved on, her smile dropped and she glanced behind her towards two men simply leaning against the walls.
She wasn't naïve, that child wasn't the one looking at her with such intensity.
Hannibal made a quiet sound and they speed-walked towards the large square. She glanced behind her once again and just as expected, they were following her.
"A good duo of perverts, or worse some of those crazy bloodsucking maniacs," she cursed under her breath and entered the hall of the train station. In front of the security bars, she scanned her card and entered. She could only hope the creeps following didn't have one of those.
A pretty woman in high heels and glittering accessories than passed by her and the girl closed her eyes in slight remorse.
"Poor woman," she whispered as the two men changed target and entered the empty corridor the woman engulfed herself in.
She continued on her way, trying to forget about the event, and waited like the other passengers for the train. She then got out her card and sighed in annoyance. Hannibal knowing this sigh shook his head and jogged towards a bench dragging the case with him. She smiled and proceeded to walk in the opposite direction hands in her pockets.
A man then bumped into her and she staggered slightly.
"Oh I'm sorry," he apologized although she saw him wrinkle his nose.
"It's OK I should've been more careful," she replied and he nodded. As he walked out of her site, she lifted her arm to smell her armpits and coughed.
"God I do smell," she mumbled then lifted the man's train card to check it. Satisfied, she threw in a bin her old stolen one and returned to Hannibal.
As the train entered the station, she spotted two women as poorly clad as her diving for a cigarette. Of course after they noticed each other, there was a loud argument that resulted into a huge fight. An officer finally separated them, one had a twisted bleeding nose and the other was holding a bundle of freaking hair.
"Look Hannibal what the street does to us," she said coldly. "We become fucking beasts."
She stood up and hopped in the train trying to ignore the scream she thought hearing coming from a distant corridor.
The buildings were passing by so fast she wondered if she wasn't turning blind. Hannibal was neatly hidden under the seat and she could only pray the controller wouldn't show up.
They had only two stops left after all.
The door slid open and the brunette made herself as little as possible, hunching her back just slightly as the awaited officer stopped and glanced at her.
She sure screams "normal person".
"Misses, your card please."
She was screwed.
She handed him the card and the man sighed.
"Follow me please."
She stood up, Hannibal following close behind to the officer's astonishment.
"You'll have to pay a fine, come back tomorrow at the office for the registration," he said as she stepped outside in the cold night air.
"Of course, good evening sir."
The miserable-looking girl left in the dark night under the eyes of the passengers. In one of the cars she spotted the child from the traffic lights.
She smiled at him and the boy stared at her.
"Probably a hobo," a woman commented.
"So young?" another replied.
She wasn't sure if those people knew she could hear them but those comments lost their effect on her a long time ago.
What she was sure off though, is that the controller certainly knew he was never seeing her again.
Her accordion case in hand and Hannibal walking next to her, the girl pushed the fences of the small train stop open and proceeded in following the road through the large fields of wheat.
After what seemed an eternity, the exhausted pair spotted a tower in the distance; Hannibal barked and ran towards it followed by his mistress.
Arriving on a crossroad she stopped though.
"Hannibal that's a school not a town," she said tired. The dog just stared at the big building similar to a castle and back at her.
"The famous Cross Academy filled with the most fortunate people on this earth," she added spinning on her heels and slowly walking away. However she didn't make it far before her legs gave in and she fell hard against the concrete. She lifted herself up only to collapse after a few metres, luckily she managed to head for a tree so the impact was less painful on grass.
Hannibal licked her cheek and she smiled at him.
"Well boy let's spend the night here," she suggested. "I highly doubt someone's wandering around this place at midnight."
Her companion plopped down next to her and she brought her arms around herself in search of warmth. She winced as she felt a pointed object pierce her skin and brought her hand to her face to check her wrist.
She sighed, it was just her bracelet.
Hannibal sniffed it then started munching it only to have his mistress hitting him upside the head.
"No Hannibal! Don't do that!" she scolded and he whimpered. She sighed again.
"Those flowers have dried a long time ago so I don't think you'll get much from eating them except a stomach ache," the girl explained.
The dog then nuzzled her neck and she cringed turning around to lie on her back.
"What...? Oh that?" she asked lifting her necklace up and he barked. She laughed and ruffled his fur.
"That's metal, highly unrecommended," she joked and he howled in disappointment.
She switched her gaze back to the silver jewellery and stared at the carvings on it.
Yuki was written in beautiful cursive writing and she inhaled before letting her hand drop on her stomach.
"I know...someday...I'll find who carved this for me," Yuki whispered and looked up at the stars.
"Someday Hannibal...we'll find them...my parents, my old life."
"Someday...I'm sure of it. We won't be wandering the streets anymore, begging for money or food."
"Someday...we'll find them, I wonder how they looked like?"
"Someday...I'll finally remember who I was and why I'm like this now."
Yuki closed her eyes and her breathing slowed down.
"Then I'll marry you."
She smiled.
There was loud barking and Yuki opened her eyes slightly.
"Hannibal...shut up will you?" she hissed turning to lie on her side.
The barking didn't seize and this time she shot up and tried to grab him by the collar only to realise he wasn't there. She looked up and found him facing the road, growling and barking at the fog.
A strange fog that had covered the whole place.
"Hannibal what are you doing?" she asked in slight worry, her feet carrying her towards her companion and kneeling down to his level.
"Sshhh Hannibal calm down," Yuki whispered soothingly but her dog only barked louder. She turned towards the road and it was precisely then that she saw it.
There was a little girl in the middle of the road, plainly staring at them. Although that wasn't the worst part.
That girl was completely white, with black eyes and blood oozing out of them.
Yuki widened her eyes completely petrified. It was only when the wraith made a move forward that she stood up.
"Hannibal. Let's. Go." she ordered detaching every word.
The white-haired girl then spun on herself like a ballerina before moving further away in the fog. Hannibal barked and ran after her.
"Hannibal!" Yuki yelled and dashed after her dog. She continued running, panting as she tried clearing the fog around her.
The wind was picking up speed and she now felt frightened and lost. She stumbled across a small bridge and stopped when she saw her dog.
"Hannibal!" she called only to have him barking and lunging forward towards the girl now sitting on the railing.
"No! Don't!"
Light suddenly blinded her and she realised with horror what was coming towards the two.
A car.
Everything stopped at that exact moment, only Yuki could be seen running across the road. She dived towards her dog who had turned at the sound of the car and lifted him up in her arms.
She saw the light.
She saw the driver's look of complete mortification.
She saw the girl at the back wearing a black uniform scream.
And the white-haired girl smiled as she let herself fall off the bridge.
Thank you for reading.
712 yen are approximatively 5 euros or 7 dollars.
Tube is a "last resort hotel" used by people, workers or party rockers who usually missed the train and are long tubes with a mattress, tv and air conditioner. Women rarely go there.
Sento is basically the public bath.