Well, I'm finally done chapter 10... After multiple threats from 'Rin' that is X3 It's not really my fault; I was busy watching anime! Okay yeah, it's kinda my fault XDDD Anyway, enjoy and leave a review

Chapter 10: Melancholy

When Miki came too, she was lying somewhere on a cold, tiled floor, and Teto was gone. She instantly panic and tried getting up too quickly. The blood rushing out of her head too fast caused her to come crashing down to the floor, bashing her head solidly on the tiles. She rubbed at it, feeling a slow trickle of blood run over her fingers.

Using the wall for support, she forced herself to her feet. Her vision was blurry and confused. Stumbling along the wall, she searched for a door, not even noticing her surroundings. She finally found it. She tried turning the knob, but the door didn't move. Rattling the handle, she jerked and kicked, but in vain. Tears began streaming down her face as she gritted her teeth, still desperately trying to open the door.

"SOMEONE HELP ME!" she screamed, the words ripping through her throat.

She smashed her fists against the door one last time before slumping down to the floor, sobbing.

"I hate this place," she cried silently. "I just want to go home."

A whirring sound began, and she held her breath, listening carefully. The lights dimmed suddenly. She didn't dare to even breathe. Something grabbed and she felt strange needles jab into every joint, leaving her feeling uncomfortable. She swung her fists, causing pain to shoot up from her elbows. She ignored it.

"Let me go!" she yelled angrily, her little hands striking a hard surface that hurt her knuckles.

She kept hitting, her fists ripped and bloody, but still, the thing didn't release her. She tried to see what it was, but the darkness wouldn't allow it. It was then that the needles started moving, slowly and then faster and faster, spinning like drills, driving the sharp edges deeper into her skin.

"Stop," Miki whimpered as pain spider-webbed around every joint. "STOP!"

Her scream echoed, bouncing against the walls as the needles grinded through her bones, lodging themselves deep into her joints.

.

.

.

Len drifted in his mind, in a state of half-sleep. His thoughts flickered, moving from one thing to another faster than his brain could process them. Strange images flashed before him, disappearing before he could see what it was.

One image stuck though. Rin's back was facing him. She was practically naked, her clothes completely shredded and burnt away. He tried to go to her, to save her from the fire she was standing in, but his feet didn't move.

She turned around, and he noticed the stitches that crawled along her limbs. She faced him, and her face was a mask of horror. Her eyes were blood-shot and bulging, her nose hanging from her face at a strange angle, much like Lily. In her stomach, dozens of small knives protruded here and there, leaving a pool of blood underneath her feet and staining what little pieces of clothing that still clung to her skin.

Len wanted to scream, run, do anything, but he couldn't move. Her lips started moving and he struggled to catch the whispered words that came from her mouth.

"…save me," she said in a barely audible whisper. "Why didn't you save me?"

The voice repeated that, and the words bounced around in his head.

I did, he tried to say. But no sound came.

"Why didn't you save me?" Rin continued chanting.

Her body burst into flames, the skin melting off her bones, landing with gut-wrenching sloshes onto the ground. Her screams ripped at his ear-drums. He fell to his knees, trying to blot out the shrieks of his sister.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm sorry…"

Something grabbed his shoulders and he screamed, jolting into an upright position. The disgusting mess of blood and guts that had been burning away slowly in front of him was gone. Instead, Rin, who was perfectly okay and definitely not melting, stared at him with a worried look on her face.

"Say something," she said, shaking his shoulders a little.

His heart was thumping, the images in his head fading away quickly. He stared at her, confused about everything.

"Where are we?" he finally asked, his throat feeling dry.

Rin sighed and handed him some water. He drank only a little, knowing they needed to save as much as possible.

"Same place as we were before you fell asleep," Rin answered as he looked at his surroundings.

"Fell asleep?" he echoed, even more confused.

Rin frowned at him.

"Are you okay Len?" Rin asked, her voice sounding worried.

No, he wanted to answer. He couldn't remember how he'd gotten here. All he remembered was carrying Rin through the maze while it was on fire, and then falling down. And then, nothing. No, he thought. That's not right. He vaguely remembered seeing a building. He must've gotten up and went in. But, how could he not remember this?

"I… I remember a fire," he began, speaking quietly.

Rin leaned closer in order to hear him. He avoided her gaze, digging through his memories.

"And then, you… fell down," he continued, frowning. "I… I think I carried you."

"I'd be dead now if you hadn't," Rin confirmed, encouraging him to continue.

He nodded distantly.

"Smoke," he said suddenly, his gaze snapping up to meet hers. "I was chocking on smoke. And then, I blacked out."

"Then what?" she pressed.

"I'm not sure… In the maze, I saw a building, I think…" he said, straining to remember.

"That's it? You can't remember anything more?" Rin asked worriedly.

He shook his head, sighing desperately.

"Well," Rin said, filling him in on the fragments of memories he was missing. "I woke up here. You were there. I thought you were dead. But, after drinking a bunch of water, you seemed more or less fine. So, we came up here, and then you fell asleep in this classroom."

"I was awake?" he asked. "Wait. How much water did I drink? Are we in a school?" he added without giving her time to answer.

He grabbed the backpack, looking inside. They'd had six bottles. There were now only four left with water in them, including the one he'd just drunken from.

"I drank two full bottles?" he said, his eyes wide with horror.

"No!" Rin answered quickly, wanting to reassure him. "I drank one of them!"

"Oh," he replied, relieved. "Well, we should be more careful… Who knows when we'll find more water."

"Of course!" Rin answered, glad he wasn't angry or anything.

Len stood up and steadied himself, feeling a little bit dizzy. The feeling passed and then he felt fine. Trusting himself, he slung the backpack onto his shoulder, motioning Rin through the door of the classroom.

"We shouldn't stick around too long," Len declared as he followed her out of the room. "I have a bad feeling about this place."

"Okay," Rin agreed.

They were about to continue down the hall, when Len finally noticed something was off. He stood motionlessly, listening.

"What are you doing?" Rin asked.

"Shh," he hushed. "Hear that?"

Rin listened carefully, her eyes widening with horror.

"What is that?" she asked.

"A piano," he answered, confused.

A strange, melancholic melody floated in the air, drifting throughout the hallways.

"It's coming from over there," he said, pointing to a hall on the other side of the staircase from which they'd come yesterday.

"Len," Rin whispered fearfully. "That hall… It wasn't there when we came up."

Len continued to stare, the flats and sharps of the song ringing in his ears. He took a step towards it. What am I doing? he thought with horror. He tried to step back, but his body wasn't listening. Instead, he took another step forward, as if drawn by the melody.

"We can't go there!" Rin shrieked quietly.

He turned to her. He wanted to scream at her to run, but he couldn't.

"Let's just go check it out," Len replied instead, a huge grin stretched across his face.

No! Len thought, trying to scream or move away from Rin. But, his own body wasn't listening.

"O-Okay," Rin answered, unsure.

He started heading towards the source of the sound, and Rin followed him. Run Rin! he tried to scream. Goddammit Rin! Run! Fuck. RIN!

It was useless; he couldn't warn her. He was trapped within his own mind, and he was most likely leading Rin to her death; and his.

.

.

.

It was hard to leave Teto and Miki behind, but they'd had no other choice; the door wouldn't open no matter what they did. So, Ia had to leave them behind, right? That's what she told herself, but she couldn't help but feel guilty, as if she'd let them down.

"I'm sick of everybody dying and disappearing all the time," Gumi sighed as they walked.

"Yeah, me too," Haku agreed.

Neru stared at the floor without answering.

"There's nothing we can do about it," Ia said, her tone sounding desperate.

"I suppose…" Gumi replied, sighing again.

"What do you think happened to Lily?" Meiko said.

All four head turned to her; they hadn't noticed she'd been listening to their conversation.

"Well," Ia answered, trying to calm the suddenly tense atmosphere. "If what Luka said is true, then she's probably dead."

Gumi snorted. "Yeah, and if what Luka said is true, Ted and SeeU were murdered by one of us."

"Maybe Luka was right," Haku muttered under her breath.

"Haku!" Neru squeaked, shooting her a glare. "We don't know that for sure."

"I think," Ia quickly interjected before a fight broke out, "that we should just be careful."

Ia reached down to her belt, making sure the gun she was carrying was still there. Haku and Neru did the same, Gumi touching the handles to her little throwing knives and Meiko squeezing her shotgun tighter.

"Yeah," Gumi agreed. "You're right on that point."