Hello there. I hope you enjoy this story. It's going to be about five chapters long- Chapter one being an introductory chapter, and the rest being the letters which Johan had written. Johan is one of the most amazing villains out there. I hope I can do some justice! Also, I apologise for any typos. Enjoy, and review please!
Chapter 1- Discovery
It was over. It was finally over.
So, why on Earth were they returning to this awful place?
The question drummed through Doctor Tenma's head repeatedly, becoming louder and louder with each step he took towards his destination. Walking beside him was Nina- still blonde, still beautiful, still the spitting image of her twin brother. However breath-taking Nina looked, behind her eyes slept a trauma powerful enough to drive her insane. Behind Tenma's eyes, there was only regret. Instead of looking like the image on the postcards, the town was desolate and drained of all life; even the sky had relinquished its light, and the whole place swum in a hue of darkness.
This was the first time that either of them had returned to Ruhenheim after the near massacre six months ago. Despite the town being prevented from complete disaster, everybody had abandoned the place after the incident. As they walked through the central street, Tenma shuddered. The feeling of tension overhanging them was palpable. It was as if Johan's presence was still here, overshadowing it. Now that Johan had disappeared, he seemed more like a presence than a human being. He was the manifestation of something terrible.
"Do you remember the exact place?" Tenma asked Nina.
Nina nodded, and, wide-eyed, pointed to a hill in the distance. "It's over there…" she whispered. "Amongst the trees, behind that hill, it's there. The 'vampire's' house."
Seeing that Nina already felt the pressure of having returned, Tenma placed a hand on her shoulder. Encouragingly, he sent a smile in her direction, and she responded with a weak twitch of her mouth.
"Thank you for coming here with me, Doctor Tenma. I couldn't have come back to this place alone, not after what happened here…"
"…and you're sure you're okay to do this? If you start to feel ill, we are heading back."
She shook her head resolutely. "I'm here for Johan."
Tenma sniffed. Yes, Johan. Johan had been comatose ever since he had been shot in the head for the second time. Nevertheless, on the day Tenma chose to visit Johan in the police hospital, Johan vanished. He only turned away for a moment, but when he turned back, the bed was empty, the window was open and Johan was nowhere to be seen.
He had looked so innocent when asleep, the monster had. Johan's face was calm, serene, spread out into a relaxed expression. Tenma wondered if Johan had heard him, when he told him that Johan was indeed given a name by his mother. When Tenma spoke Johan's real name to him, he could have sworn that the young man's face appeared more content. If anyone met Johan while he was asleep, the possibility that there was a monster lurking in his head would seem absurd.
"We're almost here," Nina observed.
While Tenma had been lost in his thoughts of Johan, they had left the main hub of the town, and where now well into the outskirts. The 'vampire's' house was not far from this path, leading through the trees. The forest thickened, the air became even darker and more laced with tension, until the pressure was so much that Nina's steps began to falter. She paused for a moment, and stumbled, clutching her mouth.
Tenma caught hold of her in time. "Nina, are you okay? We can stop for a second, if it's getting too much."
"No, no. Don't worry about me. This happens to me a lot. Knowing that this place is associated with Franz Bonaparta, somehow awakens thoughts in me that are frightening."
Eventually, they reached the abandoned house. Tenma eased open the front door, which creaked loudly, as if it were alerting the world to their trespass of its vicinity. No light reached the innards of the building, and so Tenma reached into his pocket, pulled out a small torch, and switched it on. The downstairs floor was of little interest to them. What they were looking for, was the items situated upstairs. Namely, some drawings, some books, or maybe even a clue to Johan's whereabouts.
"This is the room, isn't it?" Tenma guessed, pointing towards a door just at the top of the stairs. Nina nodded, and he opened it. They entered the room.
Tenma half-expected the grisly form of Johan to leap out at them from the shadows, but the musty room was only filled with silence. To him, the room was exactly as it had been left by them, with everything in the same position. To Nina, however, something was amiss.
She stood, staring into space, with a terrified expression.
"Oh my God…" she whispered, her voice trembling. "Something's different." She gathered strength. "Tenma, something's different. I think… I think Johan came back here!"
"Why?" he asked hurriedly. "What has changed?"
"The drawings of us on the floor are arranged differently. They're in chronological order. Johan was here, and he put them into a timeline of our childhood!"
Nina rummaged through the pictures, but seemed to pause above the last drawing. It was of their faces- only their faces- with no hair or other features to distinguish them. It was a true demonstration of just how identical they were. She picked the picture off the floor, and suddenly gasped.
"What is it, Nina?!"
Tenma hurried down to Nina's side, staring at the same thing she was. Upon seeing it, he was paralysed with shock.
It was an envelope. A new envelope, with letters inside. On it was written:
To my dear Doctor Tenma, and to my precious other self.
- - Johan
