Based on Pumpkin Syndrome, sung by Len and Rin Kagamine
Told by Rin Kagamine.
…
I know I'm asleep.
"But this all feels so real. Is it?"
I ask a cat by my feet. How it got into this… dreamscape, I don't know. I don't know why my clothes changed, either. I'm wearing a black dress, with an orange-striped shirt underneath. A green band rests on my right arm, and the green Beret perched on my blonde hair is seemingly held by two black clips. Orange ruffles adorn my neck, straps to hold my dress stretching from under them.
The cat just gives me a short meow, and I pass it, seeing the purple and orange door in front of me. I hear a rustle behind me, and the cat turns back- "Please come this way," it purrs, and with a light touch of its whiskers the door opens, creaking almost silently. Cobwebs hang from its hinges, and I cringe. I glance around frantically, my guide lost in the gloom, and a purr rises from the eerie dark. "Looking for me?" The cat speaks again.
I shiver, looking into the gloom and hoping that nothing would come out. It's so cold, so dark… "Please give me warmth…" I whisper to no one in particular, hugging myself in an attempt to warm myself. I shiver again, but this time not from the cold. I look behind me cautiously, and the decayed pumpkins sprawled in the patch by my feet glare at me with faintly glowing amber eyes.
"Now, now, sit down and help yourself to this," a velvet voice murmurs, and I turn around, staring curiously. I hold back a quiet gasp. I see a yellow table, with tinges of orange and purple, and different types of candy arranged chaotically on top. But that isn't what makes me pause- a boy sits at the table, and he looks to be about my age. His ruffled blonde hair glows a sickly gold in the dying light, and he wears a black jacket with orange lining and collar. A green-striped shirt completes the final layer, and above that, on a white spot on his neck, hangs an orange cloth with a jade oval, still in the windless place I was in.
I am pulled by invisible hands into the chair opposite him, and I face him nervously. I could feel sweat start to slide down my back as he stares at me coyly with his beautiful jade-green eyes. "No, I don't want to eat extremely poisonous sweets," I replied as coolly as I possibly could, fixed on the talons of those glimmering eyes.
"Choose between the two."
The two what?
We are suddenly up in the air, the boy leaning casually on a pumpkin while I struggle with another. The jack-o-lantern leers at me as I barely hold it, trembling. My feet are haphazardly swinging in the air, my green and orange tights gleaming in the light of the pumpkin I held. The boy beckons me, and I feel myself being swept his way once again. Whispers curl around us, and patches of fog twirl by as if they had a mind of their own. "The restless spirits and Jack wishing to please the hell…" the boy sighs with a ghost of a smile. I have no idea what he means, but as I hear a high-pitched cry from the distance, I shudder. A spider drops in front of me, and the boy pulls me aside. I was trembling harder than before, my lime green eyes wide with fear and confusion. I see a hand reach out from the earth beside a grave, and a rock tumble to the ground.
Lights start to twinkle around us, and I subconsciously edge closer to the boy. If anyone knew what happened around here, it was he, and I wasn't going to take any chances. A wind blew suddenly, easing up as the boy led me down a different path. I shiver, rubbing my cold fingers as best as I can with the glowing pumpkin in my arms. Ghostly candles that gleamed with a bluish light burn around us, and I stare as the indigo smoke swam into the air. I blow one candle out, and immediately the boy grabs my hand.
"What a naughty child, I'll give you punishment," he murmurs to me, eyes glittering like gems. A checkered plate appears silently beside him, swirling orange and purple. On it lay cakes, candies, pumpkin pie… I stare at it silently, my tremors freezing to a halt. A fork and a knife appear in front of me, and in my head flashed a memory. No, no! The memory swirled, until all I could make out were crazed red eyes.
I let out a cry. "Replace it; I want to be in a happy, sweet dream!" I yell, trying to run from the boy and his sweets. He smiles bitterly, and a warm, red glow pours from his fingertips. We fly back down to the ground, and I lay, shivering, at the boy's feet.
"Now, now, should I put a blanket on you?" the boy croons, stroking my hair, which had spilled out from under the beret that covered it.
"Hey, it's okay to forget everything, right?" I asked softly, and he merely fixes me with his jade eyes again. I hear keys jangle in the distance, and wince softly at the thought of another fright. I see the door that I entered from, the glowing orange and purple door that creaked, black cobwebs streaking the wood. Leafy black inscriptions spiral around it as it seemed to float a few feet away, black nothingness where it used to stand.
From his palm the boy lets loose a red flame; I put my palm up as well, pale eyes wavering, and a light indigo flame joins his. He smiles, and I clench my hand. The two pumpkins that had accompanied us watch me slyly from behind the boy, eyes still flaring that pale orange light. The boy grasps by hand gently, and I slowly look up. "Open that hand you clenched tightly," he whispered to me. "And take sweets." He grasps my other hand as well, and as he faces me, I feel a pale pink tinge fill my cheeks. "Because once the dream is over, you can never come back." He smiles sadly at me, and I feel my mouth tip downwards, my eyes giving him a slow, pained blink. All the memories I had of the dream rush through my head, and I let out a whispery sigh.
The boy releases my hands, and offers a hand to me again, this time brimming with the round sweets. "Trick or Treat, please take pity on me," I whisper to him, and he smiles at me once more, that sorrowful grin. "Please choose me…" I reach for his hand.
"The one who chooses you is only you," the boy says, and our fingers touch. A blue chair rimmed with gold markings appears beside us. I see the banner over it;
"Hello, hello, this is Halloween!"
I feel myself being swept away, and I let out a faint cry as I swirl in the crackling memories, sweets pouring toward me, the warmth of the boy's hands, and his smile. I stand desolately in the doorway, the strange world rejecting my presence. I see the door slam shut behind me, orange and purple wood glittering sadly.
"Wait!" I cry as darkness fills my vision. "I don't know your name!" As I wake up in my bed, the orange sheets damp with sweat, I see the boy smirking at me, a vision in my head.
"My name? It's Len…"
That was the last I hear of him. The faint pumpkin scent in my room lingers, however, and tonight, as sleep overtakes me…
Is that his voice I hear?
"Rin…"