Chapter 11 – Resonance Part I

The darkness was there. It was everywhere in this place, seeping inside people's minds and their hearts, and yet even though it was all around, Katahaba seemed as if he could barely feel it. A gentle light shined from his companion as he walked backwards, facing her with his arms behind his head in a relaxed manner. When people he cared about were there for him, there was always an extra bounce in his step, and Katahaba wasn't the type of person who would try and hide it just because he was scared of this place.

She listened while he talked on and on about the great times he had had with his big brothers, and the rest of his family. The blue haired woman smiled as she listened. The big man in front of her sounding like an excited boy trying to get a story out. She loved taking care of people with all her heart, but in this place there was hardly ever anyone who believed in her. There was hardly ever anyone who trusted her.

Katahaba was different though. He had warmed up to her as soon as they had met. He had the habit of doing the same to everyone else he met even when they turned out to be dangerous. She had seen him go to great lengths to help people, and she honestly felt bad about it. She could do nothing for him, and yet he always came back. No matter how tempting it might be for him to run away.

Nothing going on here was his problem, he had decided on his own to involve himself with James' reckless decision to kill Johnson. He had been in the darkness ever since. Neither Katahaba nor James were the type to give up on an idea before they were finished with it, and taking into account how ridiculously stubborn and strong those two were, it meant sometimes things got crazy around them, crazy even for this world.

The shining lady chuckled in an amused manner, and Katahaba joined in assuming she was laughing at his story, and continued on, saying, "And then I was like ka-bam! Creed was piiiissed. He tore through the wall, and wrecked the floor coming after me, and I couldn't see where I was going because I was laughing so hard, and then he ran over James, and James beat the crap out of both of us. It was awesome."

Another story of a brawl with his brothers. That was the probably the most common kind of story he told since those three seemed to do nothing other than fight all the time. That was sort of expected though. Boys would be boys after all. The woman was pulled from her thoughts though as Katahaba motioned a stop. She immediately followed his directions, wondering why he would stop in the middle of a story, which was very unlike him as he usually kept talking until people wanted to pull their ears off to escape it.

Then she heard it. Further down the hallway, in a dimly lit area connecting three other dark halls in one nexus, she could hear sniffling, like someone was crying. As they crept closer, she could make out it was a child, and as they came to the end of the hall she could even see it was a small girl. It was a small blond haired girl, who was slumped on the floor crying into her hands. Her hair was matted with sweat, and her pink dress was torn in places. Katahaba crept up, studying her, and wondering if she might actually be a monster meant to lure them into a false sense of security.

After a couple seconds of watching, he shook his head, and whispered, "It's just a little girl."

The glowing woman nodded to him, and asked, "We have to help her. You should bring her to your home, and let her stay with the other children."

Katahaba thought for a couple minutes, keeping a close eye on the girl, and also glancing back and fourth between the three other openings into the little nexus area ahead. It was a circular room with the far wall being all rusty metal. Four hallways led into it, and they were all black except for the glowing woman, and the dim illumination prevalent in the junction. He eventually shook his head, and replied quietly, "Nah, I don't think it's too late for her to leave."

She raised a questioning eyebrow, and asked, "Are you sure? It's so rare to see children this deep."

Katahaba looked at the little girl as he whispered back, "She was probably just unlucky. I can tell from here she's not from Wish House. The dress is too pretty, they'd never give out something like that. It'd make children vain or some other crap. Besides that, you should always try and help someone solve a problem before you try and teach them to just deal with it."

Katahaba motioned for her to stay still while he silently entered the nexus. As he stepped into the dim light he purposely let his footsteps ring out louder to alert her to his presence. As his heel thudded against the metal floor the dull clang registered sharply, and the girl started away from the noise, crying out, and retreated on her hands and knees towards the dead end wall away from Katahaba.

The big man said loudly, "Wait a minute kid, I'm not going to hurt you."

The little girl at hearing his speech took her first look at him from the other side of the room. The blue haired lady had to admit, if she had been a little girl lost in this place, she probably would have distrusted Katahaba as well, if even mostly because of his rough looks. Katahaba and the girl stared intently at each other, and the big man made no move to cover the distance between them.

Instead he squatted down until he was on a similar level to her, and just put one of his hands out, waving a greeting. He said quietly to her, "Hey, how's it going?"

The girl gasped as he spoke. She regarded him, almost as if she couldn't believe she was seeing another person. The woman watching knew if she was in that girl's place, she would probably be sobbing into Katahaba's arms at about the time she realized he wasn't a monster, but the little girl kept her distance. Instead she spoke back to him, saying, "There's a monster. It's out there in the dark."

Katahaba stood up, and cast a glance around at the entrances to the other hallways around them, and then grinned back at the girl, saying, "Nah, there's no monsters around here."

"I'm not lying!" the girl shouted at him a few tears leaking from her scared blue eyes.

Katahaba replied to her, "I believe there was a monster, but it's not around now. It'd be way too scared to come after you while I'm around."

Silence stretched between the two almost a minute passed without speaking before Katahaba sighed, and asked, "So...what are you doing here anyways?"

She responded hesitantly, "I...I don't really remember. I was in the woods, and it was dark. My daddy was there, and he was yelling. I remember hurting a lot, and I think I fell asleep because I woke up here. Then that...that monster started chasing me, he won't leave me alone."

The big man shook his head, and then sat down, showing himself to her as being relaxed, and she took his example, and calmed down a little herself. Then Katahaba asked, "What's your name?"

She sniffled once before answering, "Carla."

Katahaba smiled, and said, "Tell me Carla, is your daddy a nice man?"

She winced at the question and the woman watching the scene unfold thought she heard a growl when the girl winced.

Carla herself though didn't answer the question, she just made a point of not looking the big man across from her in the eyes. The big man didn't press the subject, and instead pursued a different branch of questioning, asking the girl, "So, are you afraid of the dark Carla?"

She nodded her head in affirmation, before Katahaba continued, saying, "Is there anyone you would like to go back to?"

She responded quietly, "I just want my mommy. I told her he was bad, but she didn't believe me. She said I wasn't old enough to understand, but now he has us. We can't ever get away from him."

Katahaba stood up, and said, "Well I'll send you home now if that's what you want."

She nodded, and sniffled again before saying, "I looked all over, but there's no way out, do you know where it is?"

Katahaba nodded, and said, "What are you talking about? The way out is that door right behind you."

Now the growl had turned into a low rumble coming from one of the hallways. Whatever was here, it was big, and it was angry. Still Katahaba kept his grin up. As for Carla she moved away from the wall as if it were a demon as it started bubbling, and changing. When the commotion ceased she was looking at a little metal door where before there had only been a wall.

A faded sign above the door read, "Exit."

Katahaba walked up beside Carla, and knelt down hugging her from behind as the glowing woman walked into the nexus joining them. He whispered into her ear, "Remember Carla, someone like you doesn't have to be afraid of the dark. I'll always be the one waiting inside it."

He stood, and gave her a little shove on the back towards the door. She hesitantly opened it, looking at a long flight of stairs leading up to a white light. The monster back in the hallway behind them was louder than ever, and it sounded as if it were scraping something very sharp across the metal walls in its wake. No doubt it was the monster that Carla had been talking about.

Carla started up the stairs, and Katahaba's blue haired companion followed along closely behind her. As she passed the big man he said quietly, "Try and hurry please."

She nodded to him as he turned back to face the direction all the growling and screeching noises were coming from. Then the glowing woman followed Carla up the stairs, and into the light.


Everything was dark, and Jonathon was screaming, "Carla! You get back here!

You don't want to know what I'll do to your mother if you try to run!"

He ran through the woods searching everywhere for the little girl, with a rifle in his hands,

as her mother screamed out behind him, "Don't listen to him baby!

You run, you run as far away as you can!"

Jonathan shouted back at the hysterical woman to shut up before firing a

shot into the air, and listening for anything running.

He was positive he had managed to hit the little girl with

an earlier shot, he had even heard her scream,

but he couldn't find her anywhere.

He needed to find her body before the police came snooping.

He heard some bushes rustle to his left, and saw a small figure fleeing.

The hunter grinned, and chased after her. Jumping the bushes, and mostly

rolling down the hill behind them. He came up covered in leaves, and cursing.

The man with the rifle saw the figure disappearing around some trees ahead,

and followed behind, intending on setting an example on what

happens to bad girls who try to run away from him.

He scrambled around the trees, and into a clearing when he saw the little

blond girl he was looking for unconscious at the opening of a large clearing.

That was when he noticed how dark it was.

His stomach knotted up in nervousness as he began sweating, unsure why he was suddenly

overcome with fear. He approached the small girl, and knelt down,

placing a hand on her. She was warm, still alive, and yet she was so pale.

The paleness of death is what he thought as he swallowed hard.

On the other side of the clearing he heard a twig break, and looked across.

Then the screaming started.


Katahaba's nervousness grew as the sounds got louder and louder. To have heard it so far away this wasn't an average sort of monster. This was the kind of monster you needed to run from as soon as you knew about it. Even so, Katahaba needed to wait. Sure his shining companion would most likely be fine on her own, but he wasn't keen on leaving anyone behind.

He would wait for as long as he could, but as he heard the metal screeching in the distance, he wasn't sure exactly how long that would be, or how long he could hold a monster like that when it got there. Katahaba pulled the big pipe off his back. About three feet long, and solid steel. It had a curve at the top where it would normally connect to another pipe.

He felt a lot better as he held it in his gloved hands. Sure James had an awesome katana, and could deal a lot more damage, but Katahaba always felt better using weapons that had purposes besides killing things. Instruments of killing were beneath him, and one day he'd teach James the same thing.


Catherine heard the screaming, and rifle shots as she chased after Jonathan.

She was intent on giving Carla as big a head start as possible. The little girl didn't

deserve this kind of abusive life, and Catherine was now prepared to give

her life to make sure her baby didn't suffer anymore.

When she heard the rifle shots her heart jumped into her throat, and she screamed.

If Jonathan had hurt her baby, she would kill him, she would find some way

to make him pay for it. Then she realized the screaming was his.

She dashed down a hill nearly falling, and towards the

large clearing in the woods up ahead.

Three rifle shots and screams issued from the clearing.

When she burst through the tree lining her whole body sagged.

Faced with the sight in front of her, she gave up.

It was so dark.

Yet she could see everything.

It seemed as if the darkness itself was wrapping around Jonathan,

pulling him towards the far side of the clearing.

He screamed as it ripped his rifle from his hands, and bound his feet.

Tendrils of darkness wove all around him, obscuring him.

A small lump of darkness was all that told he even existed.

Slowly it pulled him across the ground into the darkness on

the other side of the clearing.

All Catherine could see was black.

Not the black of night.

Not the black void of space.

It was the black that choked people's souls.

The black that let you know to quit living, because there was no

light anywhere inside that abyss.

Black was the last thing she saw before she fainted.

And she smiled.


Katahaba looked back at the metal door bursting open as a man was thrown out of it, landing on the floor at his feet. His shining companion walked out of the door, closing it behind her. It immediately began bubbling, and disappeared into the same metal wall again. Katahaba regarded the man on the floor who was screaming.

He was wearing a flannel shirt with a white background and blue stripes. It looked as if he was carrying something in his shirt pocket as well, judging by the shape, Katahaba would say it was a small cartridge box, so the man had probably very recently had a gun. He had short brown hair that was all tussled, and soaked in sweat, and tanned skin that spoke of an outdoors life.

The big man tapped him with his foot, and the man scuttled back from him, almost in the same manner Carla had done just a few minutes earlier. He shouted at Katahaba, "Who are you!? What the hell was that thing!?"

Katahaba responded casually, "I don't know what you're talking about, bud. The only thing that happened around here was a more than fair trade."

The big man turned his back to the smaller man huddled against the wall near the opening to one of the dark hallways. The man called out quietly, terrified, almost like a little kid, "Wait..."

Katahaba sighed as he stopped. His companion stopped beside him, and said quietly, "You don't need to. He deserves this."

Katahaba shook his head, and replied, "Abandoning a defenseless person would leave a bad taste in my mouth, whether he deserves it or not."

Katahaba reached into his left pocket, and pulled out a switchblade knife. Not good for combat purposes, but it was better than bare hands. He tossed it to the man, and said, "This is your chance. You can still make it out of here, however hard it may be, I've never seen this place pit anyone against something they can't overcome. Let me tell you something though, I don't know what you did to her, and I don't care. If you get out of here though...if you get out of here, and I ever even think that you've hurt her again. You won't be able to hide from me even in your dreams."

Katahaba's companion shuddered as she heard his tone of voice. She hated hearing him sound like that. The anger and the hate in his voice. It almost made him sound like James. She never wanted Katahaba to end up like James, and she knew Katahaba never wanted that either, so it was worrying to hear his tone, and confirm that indeed, this place got under his skin just like everyone else.

The man darkened at Katahaba's threat. The big man sheathed his pipe as he turned away once again, walking away from the noises growing ever closer. He took three steps away from the man when he heard him pick up the switchblade. The man growled, and said roughly, "Who the hell do you think you are? You think you can just threaten me?"

Katahaba ignored him even as the man stood up, he wasn't any kind of threat to Katahaba, even with a switchblade. He did notice that the screeching of metal on metal was absurdly close now, the room rumbled with each strike from whatever monster was closing in on them. Katahaba was much more worried about getting away from it than whatever kind of threat the man could be anyways.

The angry man screamed out at him, "I'm a war hero dumb ass! I fought in Iraq! I ain't scared of you!"

The man ran at Katahaba's back, and he heard a gasp coming from his shining companion. The big man turned, ready to fight. The switchblade didn't add a lot of reach to the man's combat range. He would still have to get in close to fight Katahaba, and close range is where he was most at home. Katahaba read the knife path, this guy only had maybe a tenth the attack speed James had, which put him on even grounds with Katahaba in terms of speed, but the big man had strength, and the experience of fighting things several times more deadly than an angry man with a switch blade.

He moved to the side of the knife, grabbing the man's forearm in a blur of motion. He twisted the man's arm harmlessly to the side, holding the knife away from him with his left hand. Katahaba used his right hand to grip the man's shoulder tightly, squeezing it, and letting his attacker know just how overpowered he was. Katahaba met the smaller man's eyes, and said roughly, his voice taking on a slightly gravelly sound that made his opponent shudder, "I'm a lot harder to hurt than a little girl."

Katahaba shoved him back roughly, and as the man regained his balance, and looked back towards Katahaba, it was too late. The bigger man had already covered the distance between them, and as he was running into the smaller man, Katahaba grabbed his head, and rammed it forcefully into his own, knocking the man flat. Then Katahaba turned, and jogged towards the path he intended to take out of there. He had wasted too much time, and darkness was already spilling out of the hallway nearest to them. It roiled out like a black mist. Clouds announcing the mysterious figure of death come to greet the both of them.

Katahaba saw the red eyes back in the black mist, and decided he had seen enough of it when a long black metal scythe extended from the darkness, and crashed into the ground not ten feet from the man he had just floored. It pulled back, ripping the ground open, and making an awful shrieking as it cut through the metal floor. The man Katahaba had been fighting up to then suddenly seemed to forget his bravery, and rolled away from the scythe, headed in the opposite direction of Katahaba.

He gained his feet, and ran as the creature pulled itself into the junction of all the hallways. The torn ground immediately beginning to close itself. Whatever it was, it was slow, but Katahaba didn't care. It could afford to be slow, because there wasn't really anything they could do against it. It had many appendages seemingly made of bending metal, and it struck out blindly with them all ending in sharp scythes.

Katahaba could deduce two or three ways he might be able to fight it, but there was no way it was worth how hurt he could get when he could just run away right now. At least it wasn't until he noticed he had been so focused on the man who had hurt Carla he had forgotten his companion in the confusion of the brief brawl.

She was backed up against the metal wall, and Katahaba noticed she was looking at him. The black fog tendrils crept towards her as the creature pressed forward. The black smoke lashed at the shining woman only to be repelled by a bright flash of light before each little tendril made contact. Katahaba heard her whisper even at their distance, and over the screeching metal, "Just go."

The big man looked at the dark hallway behind him. His companion would probably be fine. She was stronger than he was anyways. Then he turned back to the monster, pulling his pipe out, and strode towards it. He wrapped it sharply on the ground creating a loud bang over and over, drawing the creature's attention.

Those big red eyes turned to face Katahaba, but the tendrils of darkness didn't stop their harassment of the shining woman. The blue haired lady's eyes were wide, and she started as Katahaba pointed at the big monster towering over him with his pipe. Everything was silent.

Katahaba looked the creature straight in the eyes, and said loudly, "Look here bud, I'm gonna tell you one time, and one time only. If you ever touch somebody I care about, I'll kick your ass from one end of this world to the other, so are you sure you want to do this or what?"

In the end, to Katahaba it didn't matter how strong she was. For that matter, it didn't matter how strong the monster was, because he was going to do a mixture of what he thought was the most awesome, and what he thought was the best thing to do anyways. Whether he was actually able to do the things he wanted would have to be found out during the execution.

The monster replied with one of the appendages towering above the front of its' fog of black. Katahaba watched the scythe slowly rise up, and moved out of the way as it came crashing down, tearing the floor. The shock of the impact made him stumble a couple of steps back, and he couldn't help but think about how he was getting in way over his head again. The big man really had a knack for attracting impossible fights with guys like James and Johnson. Even if this thing wasn't as strong as those two were, it was still plenty stronger than him.

"Alright big guy, don't say I didn't warn you," Katahaba said aloud.

Katahaba couldn't actually see what the monster looked like under all the black fog, but he was forming a plan as he stared into its big red eyes glowing inside the darkness. A bit of the fog suddenly pulsed out, and the big man took that as his cue to move as a much smaller scythe than before attached to a small spindly arm reached out for him.

He dropped, and rolled to his right, and came up charging. From what he had seen while it was moving, it had at least ten arms it had used to pull itself, which didn't necessarily mean it couldn't move without them, but he felt it would be severely hindered if he could take some of them out. He banged his pipe on the ground again, trying to taunt it into attacking. The plan worked, although not quite in the way he was expecting.

A whistling sound on his right prompted him to an attack at neck level moving in, and he could see another one coming from his left at about knee height. Reacting on instinct, Katahaba jumped, and braced his right side on his pipe. He cleared the bottom attack, and felt the second one crash into his pipe, and launch him upwards, spinning twice before coming down hard on the ground flat on his back.

The big man groaned loudly as he landed. That had hurt, but at least he hadn't been cut to pieces. This thing was way too strong for him to expect to beat without taking some heavy damage or dying in the process, and he wasn't really keen on a suicide attack, which really only left him with one option to end this all in one piece, and with his companion in tow.

Katahaba dashed to his right, looking out for any more attacks as he charged towards the glowing woman keeping that black fog at bay. He noticed the big scythe arching up over the creature again, and jumped forwards, clearing the strike, and rolling forward over his shoulders, and back up onto his feet as he landed. The next strike was a smaller scythe, but arching up over the top of the monster like the larger one.

It was too fast for him to dodge, so Katahaba placed his pipe over his shoulders, bracing it in place by hooking his forearms over the top of each end as he leaned into the attack, taking the metal blade across the pipe braced on his shoulders. Katahaba felt like he was being crushed as it struck, and drove him to his knees. The blade sparked brightly against the steel pipe, and as he struggled back to his feet he felt the tightly compressed muscles in his lower back protesting, and ensuring he would feel that hit for a while.

He chuckled as he imagined how Creed would probably laugh at him right now, and call him a pansy. He'd probably knock the monster into next week as well for messing with Katahaba. The big man wasn't as strong as Creed was though, actually, nobody was stronger than Creed. Not James, not Johnson, and probably not any monster in this whole place that he had ever seen. There could be little time for thought though, the next attack was coming from behind as a particularly long arm curved around behind him, pulling the scythe back quickly in an attempt to half him at the waist.

He dashed towards his goal again feeling a slight slice on on his back as the attack almost connected with him full on. Then he was there. His companion was looking at him with wide eyes, obviously wondering why he would go this far when he knew she was stronger than him. The fog burned, badly as it wrapped around Katahaba's left arm, and he hissed as bit at him like flames.

That didn't stop him from reaching through it to grab his little friend though. He grinned at her, and shouted loudly, "Time to run!"

He wrapped his arms around her, and dove to the side, pulling her with him as a large metal scythe slammed into the wall right where his chest, and her head had been a moment before. Katahaba came up running with his companion thrown over his left shoulder.

He heard it roar in anger as he disappeared down the hallway he had tried to go for earlier, and the screeches of its blades as they pulled it along after him. They were safe for then though, that monster was slow, and would never catch up unless the hallway happened to be a dead end. Katahaba chose not to think about that possibility though as he ran and ran.

He probably ran on for a full five minutes before he stopped to lower his friend to the ground, and clutch at the cramp in his ribs. His lungs were burning, and he doubled over on his hands and knees as his muscles punished him for his less than intelligent actions earlier. He was pulled from focusing how miserable he felt though by the voice behind him, saying, "Jacob, I would have been fine you know. There's no need to go so far for my sake."

The big man gasped for air for a few seconds before responding, "Don't...worry about it...You'd have done...the same for me."

She smiled at him, feeling moved, but also feeling the need to educate him by responding, "Actually no...that's against the rules."

He chuckled, and responded, "Well if it wasn't you'd have helped me, right?"

The glowing woman nodded, and Katahaba continued, "Well that's all that matters then."

She placed her hand on his back, noting she could still hear screeching metal far behind them as an angry beast tried futilely to catch up, and whispered "Jacob..."

He stood up slowly, and said, "You gotta stop calling me that, you know I'm supposed to be Katahaba now."

That was a little unexpected, and she said sternly, "Well, you've been Jacob to me all these years, so that's what I'll keep calling you."

He chuckled, and responded, "Well yeah, I'm Jacob to me too, you spend your whole life being called that, and you tend to remember it, but James said to be Katahaba, so I'll be Katahaba."

She sighed at his simple mindedness, but let it slide. James had his reasons behind that demand, but that didn't mean she liked it. Her reflection on that was interrupted by an unexpected comment from the big man, "Hey...do you think that Konata will really remember me?"

They both began walking at a brisk pace as a particularly large crash behind them let them know the monster was indeed getting closer little by little. She responded, "I think she will."

He scratched his chin at the answer, and said, "I'm not really even sure how I know her. I keep getting it in little flashes. I see a park, and Kagami was there, or at least I remember the twin tails. I think I was right there beside them, and a few other hazy things later on, but I don't remember how or when."

She patted him on the back, knowing full well why his memory was hazy. It would probably clear up sooner or later, this place would make sure of that. In Konata this place had finally found a way to attack the big man successfully, and she knew firsthand how much this darkness loved picking at people. She said, "I wouldn't worry about that for now Jacob, let's just find you a way out of here while I still have some time left."

He nodded, and they fell into a companionable silence. They walked, and she listened to his steps clicking on the metal floor, and the dull growl behind them as the monster never gave its chase up. She didn't know why, but her thoughts were all melancholic as they continued on into the eternal night before them. Deep inside she felt like a failure because all this was happening to the people she cared about. It was all her fault, and because she had been so foolish her precious people were paying for it. Rather they had been paying for it for a long time, and it was only now coming to a head.

She just hoped that when everything came to an end, that they would all still be alive, and maybe...just maybe...they could forgive her. They walked on and on until they came to a large staircase leading upwards a few minutes later. Katahaba wasn't keen on going up when he thought James was deeper, but it was much better than going back to try and fight that monster. They had been climbing stairs for nearly five minutes when his companion suddenly said, "I'm sorry Jacob, but I can't go any further."

She took a step back down the stairs, and Katahaba couldn't help but reach out for her, but she was already growing more and more transparent. His hand went right through her shoulder, and she turned to look at him. Just before she disappeared, the woman gave him a sad smile. Then she was gone, leaving Katahaba in pitch blackness. Then the big man felt like he was choking.


Konata burst through the door, and immediately ground to a halt and she nearly choked as the giant breathe she had taken before she opened the door caught in her throat at the sight waiting for her. Mannequins. Mannequins everywhere. She looked to the left and the right, and no longer did this hallway end in a dead end, and on the other side a junction room, but rather it stretched on in both directions as far as she could see.

The hallway was totally illuminated now by an unknown source, although the Otaku had a feeling this place just wanted her to see this. It wanted her to know it could do things like this. These mannequins weren't the blue skinned death bringing mannequins from earlier. They were actual mannequins complete with smooth white faces. All of them were facing her. As far as she could see they were packed tight like a wall, and she had no choice but to continue on towards the door in front of her.

She took the three steps, and inserted her key, still too scared to blink, and almost too afraid to breathe. The silence pressed in once again. She could no longer hear the ragged breathing she had heard from within the living room she had just come from, but just silence. She turned the key, hearing the latch click, and pushed the door open.

She looked back to see the mannequins had now even crowded in behind her, blocking her path back towards the living room, not that she wanted to go back there. She shut the door behind her, and sagged back against it for a minute, examining the new room she found herself in. There wasn't much to it. Instead of metal walls it had a plain white plaster wall, and there were some cement stairs leading up to yet another door.

A good sign, Konata mused. At least she was headed up, and even though the Otaku wasn't sure of exactly where she needed to be in this place, she doubted she wanted to go deeper. A little voice in her mind spoke out in worry though. Katahaba was going deeper. She could feel it, and he was all by himself. Why it grated on her nerves that she wasn't there for him, Konata didn't know, but she really wished that they had both been heading out of here.

For that matter, even more pressing was Kagami. The Tsundere was lost somewhere in this place, and unlike Katahaba, she couldn't even really fight back. As far as Konata knew, Kagami had never fought anyone in her whole life besides Matsuri, and that didn't really count. They had made a promise to always take care of each other, and yet so far Konata hadn't been able to do anything to protect Kagami. Even though Kagami always tried her hardest to balance her work, college, and her relationship with Konata, the younger girl always managed to make Konata happy.

She had gotten a full time job on top of her work at the cosplay cafe in order to pay for all of Kagami's tuition. The Otaku had worked herself to exhaustion to make sure Kagami could go to the good college she had wanted to go to, and she had made Kagami so happy. Konata had felt like she was actually taking care of Kagami like she had promised, and then all this happens, and even on their anniversary. A few tears were shed at the thought, she had worked all day long, and even though she was tired they had gone to meet up for the movie.

Konata had barely been able to keep her eyes open, but she had been so happy that there was no way she was going to miss the precious few moments she got to spend with her girlfriend. Now she didn't even know how much time had passed, or if it was still even their anniversary day. Her shoulder ached from where she had been cut open by that big creature's spiked tail earlier. She felt the bandage, and thankfully it didn't seem like the wound had opened back up.

Her back was aching as well from where Katahaba had fallen on top of her earlier during their fight with those dogs. The only amusement she could find in her situation was the bitter humor of knowing what it felt like to be an old lady always complaining about body aches like in anime. She sighed, and figured she would take what she could get. At least this place hadn't stripped her of her ability to find something humorous or entertaining no matter how bad things got.

Konata stood up despite her aching shoulder and back, deciding it was best not to linger in one place too long. Hopefully the mannequins wouldn't follow her any further, but even if they did, it didn't change the fact that she needed to find Kagami. Without Kagami she didn't even feel like herself. It was like the most important part of her had been ripped away. She needed to protect Kagami, and take care of her, but the reverse was also true, she needed Kagami to take care of her as well.

Being alone was awful, when she was alone those memories haunted her, the same memories that had driven her out of her home, were driving her crazy as she pressed on through the darkness. Konata's flashlight beam illuminated the stairs in front of her, and Konata began climbing. Each step elicited a dull thud that echoes off the cement, and between the walls. She was filled with determination in her heart, but her mind was reeling.

Konata felt as if her thought processes were falling apart. The only things she could think of naturally were Kagami and Katahaba. She actually had to force herself in order to think the way she normally did. She swore though, once she found Kagami, and got her out of this place, she was coming back. There was no way she was going to leave Katahaba here even if it meant trekking back through all this again.

She reached the top of the stairwell, and opened the door only to see pitch black in front of. Even shining her flashlight didn't reveal anything, and yet a quick test with her foot confirmed the ground was solid. As she studied the darkness in front of her, more and more apprehension grew. This was familiar somehow. Almost like something she had dreamed once, or lived through a long time ago.

A spec of white could be seen in the distance, and the blue haired girl had played enough video games that she immediately identified it as her goal. It looked like she would have to go through this black in front of her to make it. Her only other choice was to go back to the mannequins, and the Otaku didn't think she would get on this place's good side by doing that. Even though she didn't know why, she could tell this place was leading her somewhere. Why else would it be making such a linear path.

Konata felt like as long as she played along though, she would eventually find her Kagamin, and that was enough to get the little Otaku moving. She switched the flashlight off since it was useless in here, and stepped into the black. The first thing she noticed was how hot it was. Sort of like wrapping up completely in a blanket so that not even your head stuck out. It didn't take long for her to begin sweating all over.

She could feel her robot unicorn t-shirt clinging to her, and was thankful she wasn't in the habit of wearing bras, knowing she would be itching like crazy if she was wearing one right now. Konata couldn't hear anything at all in this place. The dark soaked up any sound she might be making. She couldn't hear her breathing, she couldn't hear her footsteps, and she couldn't hear her own rapid heartbeat even as she felt it hammering away inside of her.

The silence was absolute, and even when she yelled, and began sprinting towards the speck in the distance, she heard nothing. She couldn't make noise if she tried, it almost felt as if she didn't exist anymore. All there was in this place was the darkness. The darkness was everywhere, and it was starting to make her feel sick to her stomach. Konata shuddered, and suppressed a gag as she realized this darkness was inside of her too.

It was flowing in her mouth down her throat, and probably other areas she didn't want to focus on, and it made her sick. Even though she couldn't actually feel anything but the heat, just knowing it was there made her want to empty her gut. She came to a pause as she finally heard something.

"Kanata...you know I love you right?"

Her eyes widened, of course she hadn't really heard that. Her ears were clogged with the dark, and she wouldn't be able to hear anything with it violating her body. The darkness flowed in places she promised only Kagami should ever see or feel, and it made her feel filthy. She began walking on, trying to cry, but the dark wouldn't let her squeeze any tears out.

"No daddy...I'm Konata, mommy was Kanata."

"Ignore it, ignore it, ignore it," the blue haired girl thought desperately, and futilely as she kept running towards he destination, the speck of light in the distance that was growing ever so slowly as she proceeded. Konata now knew where she was, and why this place was familiar. She had been here a few times, and tried to make herself forget.

She could feel the darkness pressing in on her all over, and wanted to sick up even more.

"It's okay baby...sometimes when we're alone, we can pretend you're your mommy okay? It would make me really happy."

She fell to her knees. Konata wanted to scream, and cry, she had moved on from this, so why? Why did it hurt so much? This was a monster she was all too familiar with. The monster that haunted her thoughts when she was alone in the darkness.

"If it makes you happy then it's okay daddy."

That thing wasn't her dad. Even as a little girl she knew it, but she had had to keep it satisfied or she knew deep down her kind loving father would disappear forever. It had come to her occasionally. She had always felt something wrong with the atmosphere, and knew it was waiting for her, or coming before when she had that sinking feeling in her gut.

She didn't realize until now though, that all of those times she had been here. All of those times she had been here in this darkness while it drooled over her. Thankfully it was never interested in Yu-chan or Yui-chan. It had been her own personal demon that none of them ever knew. Deep down though, she could tell her father always knew about it.

Konata felt a vein pulse in her forehead like Kagami's own habit when she was pissed. After all, it was Kagami who had taught her to not be afraid of it. It was Kagami who had taught her that she wasn't some monster's dirty plaything. It was Kagami who had taught her she was a beautiful person, and Konata had now come to believe that with all her heart.

She exhaled carefully, and felt the darkness leave her body. It had no right to touch her anymore. Konata was mad, almost growling she was so infuriated, so this thing had come from this dark hell. Was it the one that had dragged her and Kagami here, was it angry with them because Kagami had pulled her forever out of its reach?

She said aloud, "So, it's you."

The voice pressed in on her mind again, seeking entrance to the body it so craved to have in its grasp.

"Kanata. I need you."

Konata shouted back, "I'm not playing your games anymore! I'm free from you, and you can't do anything or me or Kagami!"

"Kanata...don't you love me? What about our child? We're going to have a baby remember?"

No, it had never gotten to that point. For all it disgusting urges, this thing had never managed to do more than grope her. Even that made her feel disgusting, but there was no child. Even if she had once wanted desperately to have that baby, she wasn't desperate for love so much anymore that she needed it's seed.

She could always tell that her father, her real father, and not this thing that had been in his skin from time to time had stopped it. It had been too strong for him to hold back completely, but he had done everything to save her from its desires. She would never mistake this thing for her daddy again. She began moving on, feeing the darkness desperately trying to cling to her. Konata kept it at bay, believing she was only for Kagami. Her blind faith in that idea kept it at bay, but it wasn't finished.

"I'll hurt him."

Konata stopped, eyes wide. It had never addressed her directly like that before. It was supposed to be a mindless beast. The dark took her momentary weakness, and seized the opportunity to invade her again. Once again it pressed into her throat and ears and nose, but she forced it back, and kept moving on. She had to get out of here.

She didn't want her father being hurt, she loved him even if she couldn't be around him anymore. She recognized it was picking at her though, if it was going to hurt him, it would have done it a long time ago. It would have hurt him when she had run away, but even if it was going to carry through with its threat, she couldn't be stopped.

Konata started walking towards her goal again as it screamed in rage, trying to weaken her mind with images of him feeling her. Trying to break her with threats of death, and pain, but for all its hatred, this monster was weak. Once it had had her completely under its control, but that was before Kagami had taken her away, and made her strong. The old Konata may have broken down at this, but the new one that lived her life alongside Kagami, the Hiiragi family, and all her friends shoved it way by focusing on how she had overcome this monster a long time ago.


Konata woke up, and immediately knew something was wrong in the house. It was around. She could feel it, which meant that it would be coming here. Almost on cue her bedroom door creaked open, and she saw blue hair, and stubble. It was time again. She hated it. She hated this thing, but she was going to use it. She needed a baby, and she knew she was so disgusting only a monster like this would give her one.

It crept close to her bed, and stood still, watching her. Konata heard a whisper, "Kanata, I've come to see you again. Soon, soon we can be together again, and have the family we dreamed of. Just like you always wanted."

She trembled under her covers, and shed a couple tears into her pillow, refusing to look directly at the thing standing over her bed. It didn't even want her. She was too disgusting for even a monster, but it associated her with the memory of her mother, someone who had actually been worth loving. At least when she had her baby she could run away, when she was pregnant she could finally be done with this nightmare.

It stood over her bed for a few minutes, and then began rubbing her side. Its' hand traced the curve of her hip, and squeezed her butt. Konata kept her eyes as tightly shut as possible, and tried once again to pretend it wasn't happening as the thing felt her all over. She couldn't resist, when she tried to resist it got angry, and when it got angry she wouldn't see her dad for days. It would keep him locked inside while it ogled, and felt her.

It had told her that she was Kanata now, that Kanata was beautiful, and that Konata wasn't even worth being considered a person. Konata wasn't real, she was just a placeholder existence. Some worthless personality that inhabited her body until the next time it could be with its wife.

At some point during the feeling her mind gave up, and she passed out. It wasn't the first time she had forced herself asleep so she didn't have to put up with being made even more dirty. Sometimes she wondered how her friends could stand to be around her, surely even with the mask she put on in front of them, they could see how filthy and defiled she was.

Kagami had suspicions...that Konata knew. It seemed like nobody else even cared about her though. She had given up a long time ago on ever getting away, at least until she had become friends with Kagami. Sure the younger girl had been a jerk when they first met, but once they had become friends she had finally gotten to see the so very well hidden dere-dere that she had suspected was inside the younger girl.

She had seen so much of it actually that it had surprised her. Kagami tried to take care of her. She called to make sure Konata was doing alright. She helped with studies, and invited the Otaku over constantly. If Konata hadn't known better she would have sworn Kagami knew Konata wanted to be away from her home as much as possible.

In the morning Konata woke up to her cell phone ringing on her nightstand. He blearily answered it to hear a cheerful voice on the other end, saying, "Sup?"

Konata smiled, and responded, "Hey Kagamin, what's up?"

The Tsundere answered back, "Nothing much, just checking up on you."

"I'm fine," replied Konata happily, no longer amazed at how easily her mask formed.

"Well, you don't sound fine, so I decided we're going out today!" replied Kagami happily.

Konata chuckled, and responded, "Aren't I the one who usually makes these unplanned trips?"

Kagami replied back, and said, "That just means you owe me, so come over to my house, and we'll figure out what to do from there."

Konata purred back into the phone, "Ohhh~, is Kagamin lonely without me?"

She heard sputtering from the other end, and knew her friend was glowing pink as she responded, "Hey, do you want to hang out or not?"

"Yeah, I'll be there soon," answered Konata.

They hung up after saying goodbye, and Konata grinned. It felt good to grin genuinely. She was going to have a lot of fun with Kagami that day. She threw on a yellow sun dress along with a short pair of shorts to go under it. She grabbed her purse, and a little sun hat hanging in her closet, and headed out immediately, not even wanting to eat breakfast here.

As she went down the stairs into the living room, and headed for the door she noticed her dad sitting on the couch. She almost didn't say anything to him, but he spoke up, and said, "Konata...are you alright?"

She bit her bottom lip at the question, of course she wasn't alright. She looked at her father, and noticed his messed up hair, and dark bags under his bloodshot eyes. That thing had probably been feeling her up until early this morning if he looked so tired. This wasn't that monster though, this was her daddy, and he looked terrible.

For a minute, she wanted to drop everything. Konata wanted to go take care of him, but it was outweighed by her fear of the other one making an appearance. He said, "Would you like me to make you some breakfast Konata?"

She shook her head, and said, "No thanks, I'm going to see Kagami, I'll eat breakfast over there with everyone else."

He smiled, and nodded, asking, "The Hiiragi family...they're good people, right?"

She nodded, and said, "Yeah, they don't mind me coming over anytime."

He was silent at that, and Konata started making her way to the door, wanting out of this awkward situation. As she opened the door he said, "Konata, you know I love you, right?"

She responded, "Yeah dad, I know."

With that she left, and shut the door behind her. It was all she could do to not break down right there. She wasn't sure if her dad knew exactly what went on between them when he blanked out, but she knew he felt horrible about it. She had come to realize over time it wasn't something he could control, and there was no way to predict when it would happen except only when they were alone, and it was dark. The other him was very careful. She wanted to help him, he was always so kind and loving towards her, and yet, because of the other one she had grown uncomfortable around him even when he was normal.

That train ride towards Kagami's house was melancholic to say the least as she was bogged down in her thoughts, but it suddenly turned around for her when the train doors opened, and Kagami was waiting on the platform for her. It was surprising, after all Kagami was supposed to be waiting at her house, but she had come to meet the Otaku.

Kagami greeted her, and the Otaku put on her best cat grin, saying, "Couldn't wait for me to make it to your house, huh?"

Kagami blushed a little, and replied, "Well, I figured you could use some company on your walk over, besides, everybody else is gone, so it's just you and me."

Konata giggled, and replied, "So Kagamin really waslonely."

The younger girl outright denied she had been lonely, and Konata didn't push the issue, she was just glad to have a companion for now. They chatted idly as they walked, Kagami asking about her plans for college since their entrance exams were right around the corner. Konata pretended not to notice how every few seconds Kagami would stare at her with a worried look.

Once they arrived at the Hiiragi's house, Kagami announced loudly, "Alright, since your stomach grumbled like eight times on the way here, I'm going to make you some breakfast."

Konata went blue in the face at the thought, and replied, "No, Kagamin, that really isn't necessary."

The Tsundere didn't miss her face, and replied, "Come on now, I've been practicing, I'm a lot better than before."

Konata shuddered remembering Kagami's batch of cookies she had cooked last time. She had insisted they were so black because they were dark chocolate, and Konata had almost fainted when she took a bite. If Kagami was cooking, she figured she'd better stick to cereal, but the younger girl was insisting on it.

The Otaku sighed, and said, "Fine, but how about we make it together. That way we'll be cooking for each other. "

They both blushed lightly at the idea, but Kagami accepted it, and the two got to work in the kitchen. It wasn't long before the whole house was smelling nice as Konata whipped up pancakes, and Kagami fetched her everything she needed. As she flipped the final pancake onto a plate, and switched the stove off, Konata saw Kagami looking at her.

She felt embarrassed at that look. Kagami's eyes lingered on Konata's hair which was poking out in places after cooking, and her face was slightly flushed from the heat. She watched Kagami's eyes travel down to her chest, and blushed a bit, then they went further down to her hips, even though their light curve was obscured by the dress. It wasn't the first time Kagami had looked at her like that.

If Kagami wanted to look at her though, it was fine. After all, she dealt with much worse than being ogled. So if Kagami wanted to see her as an object too then she wouldn't fuss about it. At least Kagami would be nice to her while staring. At least Kagami would call her by her name. Then she was being held.

Konata didn't know when it had happened, but Kagami was hugging the smaller girl into her chest as she trembled in Kagami's arms, biting her bottom lip to stop from whining. Even now tears didn't come though, she knew she didn't deserve to cry, not if she wasn't worth having her own name, not if she couldn't help her daddy. She didn't deserve to be treated nicely if she was going to ruin hanging out with her best friend like this.

"I'm sorry Kagamin..." whispered Konata.

The bigger girl held her close, and asked worriedly, "What's the matter with you Konata, something has been really wrong for a long time now. Why don't you tell me about it? I told you I'm always here to listen."

Konata said quietly, "For a minute I thought of you as the same. I thought you were looking at me like he looks at me."

Kagami's grip tightened, and she responded, "He? You mean your boyfriend? The one you're going to have a baby with eventually?"

Konata nodded into Kagami's breasts, their softness did make her feel a bit better. Her inner Otaku flared for a moment as she considered copping a feel, but she squashed that thought lest she invoke Kagami's rage. Instead she decided to be honest, and said, "I know you're better though. You would never look at me like an object, right?"

Kagami's face turned red at the question, and Konata was pretty sure that Kagami had had some perverted thoughts about the Otaku's body. After all they were very close, and even though Konata would never allow herself to believe she could deserve Kagami, sometimes when she closed her eyes while that thing was touching her, she had imagined it was Kagami. She still never responded to its touches, but imagining it was her best friend helped her sleep, helped her pretend it was just a bad dream, and soon enough she'd wake up with her baby and run away.

If she was lucky, then maybe Kagami would come with her. Then Kagami responded, "Of course I wouldn't Konata."

Konata felt horrible. She always used Kagami as her outlet, although it had never been this bad before. She usually felt better after a little teasing, and fun, but now she needed to be close to Kagami, and it wasn't fair. Kagami liked her, and Konata knew it. She had seen Kagami staring at her, and fidgeting when they got close. More and more they got closer and closer. Lately they did almost everything together. They ate, slept, and played together almost every day. A couple times they had even held hands.

Konata felt sick though, she knew she was just using Kagami. It wasn't like they cold actually be together. The Otaku just kept playing along so she could feel like Konata was a person worth being. Maybe if she kept being Konata with Kagami, it wouldn't hurt so much to be Kanata at home. Kagami was always there for her. Konata just kept taking and taking, and never giving back. Konata was amazed the Tsundere hadn't grown tired of it yet, and moved on.

Lately though, the more time she spent with Kagami, the more her mask cracked. She had tried so hard to keep how she felt hidden from the world that never cared about her, but now it had all built up so much that she was breaking. She wanted to tell Kagami everything, she wanted it to all be over with, but she had to stay strong at least until she was pregnant. She could do at least one thing worthwhile with her life. If she could have a baby, then she'd finally have a reason to move on. Something she could give all her love to.

If she had a reason to keep going, then Konata could be a person too.


Konata pressed on towards the light in the distance, it was noticeably closer now. The creature's mental attacks had strengthened as she reflected on the worst parts of her memories, but they wouldn't be able to break her no matter how much they hurt her. After all Konata knew on the other side of that light, Kagami could be there, needing her help. She could never make up to Kagami what the Tsundere had done for her. Her lover had given her a chance at actually living. Kagami had pulled her out of the days where she had separated herself into three people, Konata, Kanata, and the nameless one. The girl she was who decided which of those masks to wear. The girl who was empty inside.

The girl who wanted more than anything to disappear to where nobody could ever find her again. Kagami had made her into a real person though. Kagami had shattered her masks, and shown her life could be worth living. She used to want to be a mother in order to have something she could love. She wanted to love something with all her heart like her daddy had told her that her own mother did. At least that's what she told herself, really if she could focus her entire being into feeling one emotion, she could forget everything else.

She had chosen a baby. Since she was a little girl, that's what the other dad had told her they would have. As a child, she hadn't fully realized how evil the creature was. She had grown up hearing all the wonderful things about her mother from her good daddy, and had wanted to be her mother when her evil daddy had started calling her by that name.

She had known her mommy had been a great person, and she always hoped she could be that great too. It had seemed so natural as a child. Konata had come to resent it though, being Kanata meant she lived Kanata's life, that she dreamed Kanata's dreams. It wasn't long before Konata had stopped being a real person. It wasn't long before she stopped having a life and dreams of her own.

A particularly fierce attempt by the darkness made her slow her pace as she remembered the first time her good daddy had been locked away for a week. She had learned not to anger the evil one very quickly after that. Still, she recovered, and strengthened her pace, determined to make it out into the light at the end.

"You're alone. No one will ever love you. You're a worthless shell, and your only useful purpose would be as my wife!"

Konata wouldn't break, this darkness would never break her again like when she was a child. She was a person now, a strong person, and she would make it through here, and save Kagami no matter what she had to go through. After thinking that thought, a small area around her illuminated, showing her the stone floor she was walking on. She could finally hear her breathing, and was no longer in that all oppressing silence.

Konata wasn't alone, she had people she cared for with all her heart. Not just Kagami. She had Yu-chan, and Yui, and Nanako. As well as all her Onee-chans Matsuri and Inori both of whom she loved. Then Tsukasa and Miyuki, the only people in the world who was as important to her as Kagami was. It kept on though, shouting about how they were all gone, left her to the dark. She was almost tempted to listen to it. Konata was feeling lonely, she was trapped in the dark with her own personal demon for company.

For just a minute the light seemed to dim around her, and then she remembered what Katahaba said. It didn't matter how strong this place was. It didn't matter how much she hurt, because in the end, she believed she would be strong enough to make it to Kagami. If she couldn't do it on her own then Kagami, and everyone else would help her.

Katahaba was important.

Her head pounded as she thought she remembered him for just a second. A brief flash, and she had known everything about him, and then it was gone. Her legs wobbled from the force of the memories, and she collapsed down to her hands and knees with her little pool of light shrinking. Then she heard the footsteps on her left.

Konata looked over to the edge of her tiny pool of light, not so different from the one they had been inside in the theater with her phone. Standing there was a little boy. His height wasn't even up to her chest standing. He was skinny and pale, wearing some torn baggy khaki shorts, and a worn out white t shirt. He was so skinny though. His arms were twigs and his clothes hung off him. The Otaku had no doubt if she lifted up his shirt, she would see his ribs clearly. He looked like he had been starved for weeks.

Konata almost started away from him, but something just seemed so familiar about him. For a few moments she couldn't hear that attacking voice pressing into her mind at all. She crawled over to the little boy, hugging his scared, tiny form, and asked him, already knowing his answer, "Who are you, are you okay baby?"

He didn't react to her hug at all, keeping his arms at his sides. He just said quietly, "My name's Jacob, I'm lost."

His tone held no emotion, the boy was just a shell. Not so different from how she had been before. Konata felt a vein in her forehead again as this place seemed determined to throw her into a rage, and she hugged the boy tighter saying, "Don't worry, I'll get you out of here."


Author's note: Editing is not entirely done on this chapter, but I had a good time typing it up. I'm getting to the more serious aspects of the story now, and I personally feel as I'm typing that it's flowing a bit better than at the beginning when i wasn't entirely sure what i wanted out of this story. I'll have part 2 out as soon as possible, but it'll most likely take around a month as Christmas is coming up, and I'm not going to have any spare time from work until the holiday rush is over.

Hope you guys enjoy reading this, and feel free to critique your heart out, it always helps me to develop my writing further, so I anxiously await the next time I hear from you all.