"Please," Rin kept begging, the tears never ceasing to fall out of her eyes. "Please let us go. I don't know what we did to deserve this, but we're sorry. Very, very sorry. Please, don't hurt us. Please."
Humming, Kaito said, "I'll make you a deal: We play one round of hide-and-seek. If Meiko and I can't find you within the span of an hour, we'll let you go. However, if we do find you . . ." The twins didn't need him to finish. "So, do we have a deal?"
Vigorously nodding her head, Rin replied, "Yes! You have a deal. We'll . . . We'll play your stupid game."
"Then I suggest you start hiding," Meiko purred before instantly she and Kaito disappeared into thin air. Suddenly, seemingly out of no where, a loud voice began counting. One. Two. Three. Four. Five.
"Move it!" Rin hissed as she pulled Len to his feet. After making sure her twin wasn't too dizzy to run, Rin dragged the boy behind her as they jogged up the steps. The mysterious voice continued counting without interruption.
Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen.
Rin settled into a state of panic as she and Len tried to find someplace, anyplace, to hide. Everywhere the twins looked seemed too obvious a spot to stay out of sight. Nowhere was a good enough place to remain hidden.
"We should split up," Len suggested. "We could make it harder for them to find us."
"I'm not getting separated from you," Rin shook her head. "Do you honestly expect the either of them to keep their word? Whether or not they find us we're still going to be pawns in this stupid game. Right now I'm only buying time for us to come up with some sort of plan, but I can't do that if I don't have you to plan with."
"You have a point," Len realized. "Come on," it was his turn to tug on the other, "I think if we can find an attic that would be a good enough hiding place."
Seventy-six. Seventy-seven. Seventy-eight.
Time kept ticking as the blonde twins ran up and up the stairs. With each second their hearts beat faster. The higher the voice counted the more on edge the twins became. When Rin and Len finally made it to the highest room in the mansion, Len latched the door shut as the counting came to an end.
Ninety-eight. Ninety-nine. One Hundred!
Meiko's voice then echoed all over, the very walls vibrating with the sound. "Ready or not, here I come~!" Her giggles sent chills up the twins' spines.
"We should have plenty of time to form at least one decent plan," Len whispered in the still darkness.
"What makes you say that?" Rin asked, her voice just as quiet.
"If I were them," Len answered, "I would wait until the last minute to find whoever it is I was messing with. Waiting will only make us more and more nervous with each passing minute, so why not have a little fun out of our nerves?"
"That makes sense," Rin replied. "I just can't understand why they're doing this."
"I don't know, either," Len said, "but we're in this situation now so we have to make everything we do count."
Not knowing what else to say, Rin nodded in agreement. They needed a plan, but nothing came to her mind. "Any ideas on how we can escape?" she asked Len.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
When the hour finally coming to an end, Rin and Len had already planned their escape. "As soon as the hour ends," Len went over the strategy one last time, "you and I will split up as we both look for the exit. If they want to stop us they'll have to split up as well, and I think we can handle each one on our own."
Rin nodded in agreement. They both knew there was always a chance their plan would fail and in the end nothing would have been gained from it, but they had decided it would be better to go down fighting than to simply give up.
"Rin," Len said her name and instantly she knew he was preparing for the worst, "if anything happens, and I'm not saying it will, but no matter what I want you to know that I love you."
"I love you too, Len," Rin whispered, another tear slidding down her face. Normally Rin hardly ever cried, but she never had reason to be this scared before either.
"Ready or not~, here I come~," Meiko's voice sang the phrase she had said barely an hour before from the other side of the wall.
The twins gave each other one last look, one that wished the other luck and begged them to be safe. Len leaned forward and pressed his lips against Rin's forehead, his own tears drifting down. The immediate second after he jumped out of the closet, surprising Meiko and Kaito in the process, and jumped down the stairs. Rin instantly followed suit, but instead she took the stairs on the other side of the room.
"Those little brats!" Kaito hissed. "Split up."
"I get the boy, you get the girl," Meiko instructed before both took off in their respective target's direction.
Each twin ran as fast as humanly possible. Rin pushed herself to new limits, and the non athletic Len ran fast enough to race in the Olympics. So far everything seemed to be going according to plan, but neither were foolish enough to hold on to any false hopes. Only when they were outside the forest would they allow themselves to experience relief.
Twists and turns was the plan. Confuse the enemy, but be careful to not confuse yourself in the process. The mansion was a maze, but keep heading downwards and the exit should make itself known. Eventually.
"You can't hide forever, Rin," Kaito's voice called after her. Had he sounded as if he was panting Rin would have felt somewhat better, but his calm tone made Rin panic even more. There was nothing that could throw this man off, wasn't there?
Same held true for Len. No matter where he went, no matter where he turned, Meiko's playful giggles followed him. It terrified Len how often this woman giggled. If anything Meiko was having a ball. She was the kitten, and Len was the ball she batted around. The illustration may be cute, but being in the actual situation was anything but. It was truly petrifying.
They could barely have been running for a few minutes, but each passing second felt like an hour to the twins. Their ears, now cat ears, did pick up sounds better, but it only added to their fear. Every creak in the wooden floors could be Kaito lurking not far behind Rin. Every bump could have been Meiko purposely pushing things around to put Len on edge. Not to mention how either of them would explain to their parents why they now have cat ears if they did manage to escape.
When the foyer came in sight, each twin ran faster to the front door. It had surprised them both that despite their own maneuvering and twists they still managed to meet up at the exit, especially at the same time, but now was not the time for questioning. They would make it out. They could be free. Not a thing that occurred would be remembered. The both of them would convince themselves all that happened was nothing more than a shared nightmare.
If only it were that simple.
"It's locked!" Len hissed before he began swearing aloud. Rin would have joined in as well had it not been so surprising for her to hear her usually quiet brother swear like a trucker.
"What? Did you honestly expect us to make escape that simple?" Kaito asked, appearing from behind out of nowhere.
"We're having too much fun for you to leave early," Meiko added as she stood by Kaito's side.
"You two are the sickest, most sadistic people I have ever seen," Rin growled. "And to top it off you aren't even human!"
"Did you know just figure that out?" Kaito asked simply.
"I caught on when my tail became real, actually," Rin answered. No more being scared, she decided. If she was going to die, she would rather die while being snarky and sarcastic than sniffling and crying.
Len seemed to feel the same. "Show us your true selves," he demanded. "Let us know what we're really up against."
"You're going to soon regret your words, Len-Kun," Meiko grinned.
Suddenly the lights went out. When they came back on, the duo looked different, if only slightly. Kaito had bat wings protruding from his shoulder blades, and Meiko had cat ears, a tail, and claws. The only change they had in common was their eyes were now a shade of blood red.
Meiko was right, Len did regret his words. Not that he would admit it, but magicians sounded like a better thing to go up against instead of a vampire and a werecat capable of magic. Geez, he and Rin both were going to need therapy after this.
Could things possibly get any worse?
Author's Note: Because ending a chapter on a jinx is something I don't usually do. Also I'm updating a day early because I won't be on FanFiction again until Thursday. I didn't spend my weekend studying like I was supposed to so naturally I have to spend the week making up for that. . . . I hate exams.
iloveyugiohGX93: I'm glad you liked it. :)
SoumaKumiko14: Well it never once crossed my mind to put demons in the story. I only saw the more famous PV and within time my mind was wondering "How did dolls Rin and Len come to life? Why do they want to kill Miku? What's the real story behind the PV?" Naturally a theory was born (because most Vocaloid songs lead to theories when the meanings aren't all that clear), and thus my first fanfic was brought to life. There's another theory that conceived this sequel, but I can't say yet because it's a spoiler. ;)
Ushinatta Neko: Cats are annoying. Cute, but annoying. Eh, it's all right. I'm happy enough simply knowing you read the chapter. :)
DanisaurSaysRAWR: Because we all love more chapters. XD
Arisugawa I'maGhoul Alice: Here's the (pretty boring) next chapter! :D
The Super Twins: Actually it was a cover, not a PV, that inspired the sequel, but whatevs. :P Hahaha, I don't know why on earth I have Mei-Chan and Kai-Kun the personalities they have here, especially since I don't see Meiko as a giggler, but the way they act is pleasantly fitting in this. XP
Rose Verdict: . . . I'm not going to lie, I barely understood what you said. However, I did get that you were excited I updated so I'm glad you like my fanfics so much. :)
I hope you guys are pumped for the next chapter. It was my absolute favorite to write and is probably my favorite out of the whole fanfic so I really hope you guys will enjoy it when it's posted. It's really long, too, when compared to the previous chapters so it's kind of like a climax in a way. Prepare yourselves for the secrets and twists I have in store for you!
-Ray