Writing two stories at once…yes. You know why? Because A) I want to; B) This one will be quite dark so I need to keep at least a little bit of my sanity in check, so I'm writing another story along with this one. Anyway, I hope you enjoy. I will say now though WARNING: THIS STORY WILL CONTAIN GORE/ABUSE/POSSIBLE SEXUAL ABUSE/TORTURE/ETC.

So…yeah…you've been warned :]

Enjoy!

The Skin House

Prologue

Screaming.

Shouting.

Blood.

Who are you?

Why are you doing this?

Leave us alone.

Don't touch them.

Don't touch my brother.

Hikaru…

Tamaki…

Kyoya…

Please…

Ple-

Kaoru's beautiful, hazel eyes opened slowly. His vision was foggy, making it impossible for him to tell where he was. What had happened?

All he could remember was that they had gone out camping in the woods for the first time. It was Haruhi's idea, because she said that it would be fun for them to experience it. Tamaki and Hunny jumped on the chance while Kyoya shrugged; Takashi merely blinked while Hikaru grumbled.

"Camping? I don't understand the appeal of camping…I never have…" he had said, receiving a smack on the head from Tamaki.

"Don't be rude!" the blonde had scolded. "It was Haruhi's turn for a weekend trip, so camping it shall be!"

Then…everything had started out alright…but…people in masks arrived and…

Kaoru wanted to lift his hand and put it to his head because he suddenly felt a headache coming on, but he found that he couldn't. As his senses were coming back, he noticed that he was in a large room with strange, medieval-looking equipment. There were masks hanging from the walls and devices along the walls that made him confused.

The next thing Kaoru noticed was that he was sitting straight up on a short yet thick plank of wood. There was another plank of wood keeping him sitting straight; his hands were tied behind him around the wood. His knees were tied tightly together. There was no way he could move his head properly because a chain was tied to the plank behind him as well; if he moved forward even a centimeter, it pressed against his adam's apple, making it hard to breathe.

The final thing that Kaoru noticed when all of his senses came back, was that his face was covered in something. Though, what, he had no idea. It felt like a mask, but it was mainly covering his mouth.

Kaoru tried to move but it was so difficult. What kind of game was this?

There was a loud creak as the door in front of him opened. Kaoru was highly disappointed when he saw it was not Hikaru, Tamaki, or any of the others. Then again, what was he expecting?

Instead of the sweet faces of his friends, he saw a rather tall gentleman walk in. He wore a long, white lab coat with black buttons along the side. There was no way Kaoru could see the identity of the man either, considering he had a mask on. Covering his face was an old-fashioned plague doctor mask.

The man walked forward slowly, his rather nice shoes clapping on the floor. Kaoru could feel more fear rising within himself after the "doctor" walked closer to him in the slow pace. Soon, his shadow was on him; the long beak of the plague doctor mask loomed over him.

The man bent down and got eye-level with Kaoru. His face was as close as it could possibly be to Kaoru's. The tip of the beak almost touched Kaoru's nose.

Kaoru was too afraid to speak. He was too afraid to ask who he was. He was too terrified to ask what this man wanted from him. So he sat silently, his hazel, sparkling eyes wide in fear.

The man in the mask said nothing as he reached forward with his long arms and touched Kaoru's face with surprisingly gentle fingers; covering them were rubber surgeon's gloves.

Kaoru began breathing heavily at the man's touch. As he kept touching all over his face, examining him, Kaoru felt more fear than he ever had in his entire life.

Suddenly the man backed away and turned around. He walked slowly over to a table that held multiple different objects.

Kaoru, though extremely terrified, took this moment to finally speak.

"Wh-"

Kaoru had barely gotten a sound out when he let out a startled and pained sound, causing the man in the lab coat to turn around.

Kaoru squeezed his eyes shut. The pain he felt on his tongue for merely trying to speak shocked him. Blood dripped down his chin through the bottom of the iron mask. What the hell just happened?

"Ah, ah," the man said as he waggled his finger at him. "You see, the mask you have on is called a Scold's Bridle."

Kaoru listened as a tear slipped down his cheek. He was so confused. The man continued talking anyway in a calm manner as though he were merely talking to someone about the weather.

"It is one of my favorite contraptions from the medieval times, really. There is a metal bridle-bit about two inches long attached to the mask and protruding into your mouth. Along the bridle-bit are spikes. Therefore, if you even try to speak, the spikes will nip at your tongue in the most unpleasant way. So try and not do that."

Kaoru could almost hear the smile behind the mask.

What was this nightmare?

…

If anyone is interested in what the Scold's Bridle really looks like, here is a picture: