Disclaimer: I do not own Mai-HiME.
A/N: Hello again. I don't honestly know what it is, but lately I've been having quite a bit of ideas for some fics. I know I've still got some other fics to finish, but they can wait. Also, to the readers of "Endless Darkness", I'm am sorry to inform you that I might be cancelling the story. I feel that I screwed up somewhere along the lines and now… it just feels empty to me. Give me some feedback if I should cancel it or not. Anyway, I decided that I would go ahead and start a new fic. I hope you enjoy this one.
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Silence in the Mist
Chapter 01 - Dreams
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The air was damp as well as it was cold. Mist cascaded across the grounds, making it hard to see. The full moon was pale as death; light shimmered through the dead leafs of many trees. The atmosphere was so still, it would make most people sick.
Walking down a small road in the park, a woman took a deep breathe as she tightened her scarf. It was unnaturally cold this disturbing evening. Putting her hands back in her dark blue, heavy set jacket, the woman continued down the road.
It was so silent, she could hear her own footsteps. The woman had no knowledge of her destination, she just knew she must arrive. The wind picked up overhead, causing the leaves in the surrounding trees to rustle.
The cobalt headed woman stopped in her tracks, she could of sworn she heard someone's voice. "Who's there?" Natsuki asked as she turned left and right, searching for the mysterious person.
"Come… here…" It was like someone, or something, was luring her to it's location. "Natsuki…" The voice softly said as it silently echoed into the distance.
Natsuki turned around and saw a road forking off from the one she was on. "What the… That was never there before." Natsuki said to herself. "Naaatsuuuki…" The voice softly said once more. Natsuki wanted to ignore it, but it felt like she was being pulled towards the voice.
Natsuki began her journey up the road. The rustling of the leaves ceased. The woman heard an owl 'hooing' in the distant trees. It felt very eerie.
Leafs covered the road as did the fog. Natsuki wrapped her arms around herself as she began to shiver. There was no wind chill, yet she felt extraordinarily cold.
Natsuki halted in her tracks as she came to the front of a giant mansion. "What…? Why is this here?" Natsuki questioned.
The wind picked up, causing an eerie chill to go up Natsuki's spine. The moonlight spread across the gigantic refuge making it give off a creepy look. The front side of the mansion seemed to have over thirty-two windows. The front patio seemed well proportioned as well.
Natsuki walked up the creaky wood planks towards the wooden door with an oval shaped window in the center. Strangely, it looked as though this mansion was over one-hundred years old. Natsuki found it strange for she always took this road when she decided to go for a stroll.
"Naatsuuki…" The voice sounded off once more, only this time, it was much more quite, ad much more frail. The door slowly crept open. Natsuki peered inside, but it was almost to dark to see your hand in front of your face. The only light that was shed in room was moonlight that leaked through the holds in the curtains on the windows.
Natsuki reached into her pocket and pulled out a Zippo lighter, flipped it open, then struck it. A bright orange flash cascaded an yellow glow across the room, and a small light was born.
The fire from the light flickered as Natsuki progressed deeper into the strange mansion. The light barely filled the room. Natsuki could tell that it was pretty large. From what she could see, there were two arch like pathways, one on her left, and the other on her right. In front of her rested a high staircase. The woman looked down and noticed that she was standing on a quite impressive looking marble floor.
"Naatsuuki…" The soft spoken voice beckoned again, this time, it sounded from behind her. Natsuki quickly did a one-eighty and prepared herself for anything. There was no one there.
"Heh…" Natsuki chuckled as she began to become freaked out. "He-… Hello? Is someone there?" The woman hesitantly asked. "Up here, Naaatsuuki…"
Natsuki turned towards the staircase. The wood of the staircase seemed to be old and brittle. It's texture was worn, as well as it's color. Natsuki approached the staircase and set her left foot on the first step and extended her right arm that contained the light.
The woman made her way up the staircase that seemed like it went on forever. After she reached the second floor, she heard a light breathing noise to her right.
Natsuki turned her head and saw a hallway a few feet away from her. The woman began to walk down it, as well as admire the architecture of the walls. The were white with quite a bit of décor on them. Every ten feet, there would be a pillar like molding jetting out from the wall.
The floor was marble as well, only if had a long red carpet in the center of it. There were many paintings on both walls. Natsuki looked as she walked down the long hallway and saw no doors, only strange looking paintings.
After awhile, Natsuki stopped dead in her tracks. "What the hell?…" Her eyes were widened. Before her was a man that was strung up with barbwire. His skin seemed to be torn off the torso of his body. His face had a horrid expression on it, like this all happened while he was still breathing.
The blood on the floor seemed quite old. Apparently, this never happened anytime soon. "Who… or what, did this?" Natsuki's body began to quiver a little. Just then, she heard music. It sounded like an old music box.
The woman shifted her attention to her right where music was coming from. There was a small hallway that seemed like it just appeared. The strange thing was, it was very different from the hallway she was already in. The walls were covered in rust, and all of the décor seemed damaged by age.
Natsuki slowly made her way down the hallway as she continued to follow the music. On the walls were paintings, very disturbing paintings. Like someone was painting the scene of some torture event.
One of them caught her eye. Natsuki looked over and saw a painting of a tombstone. The woman took a closer look and noticed the name etched into it. Her jaw dropped slightly and her eyes widened. "N- No…. What the hell is this?" Natsuki began to back away.
The tombstone read "Kuga, Natsuki". Natsuki was halted as she came in contact with something. It felt like a person. "Natsuki" The voice was heard again behind. Hesitantly, she peered over her shoulder. "Shizuru?" Natsuki exhaled and closed her eyes. "Oh thank god… For a minute there-…" Natsuki turned to face the woman and opened her eyes.
The woman stood in shock. Shizuru's eyes had been ripped clean out of her head. Blood streamed down her cheeks. There was also a gapping hole where her heart should be. "Join us Natsuki. It's not all that bad." Shizuru's hands reached out towards Natsuki.
The only thing the cobalt headed woman could do was stand there, shocked. "NOOOO!!!"
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A loud scream was heard in a small, dark bedroom of an apartment. Natsuki flung herself upward, tangled in her sheets as she screamed at the top of her lungs.
The body laying next to the woman quickly shot up, revealing chestnut colored hair and groggy crimson eyes. Natsuki collapsed her face into the palms of her hand as she rest her elbows on her legs. The woman was panting in between sobs; her face was covered in sweat.
"Natsuki! What's wrong?" Shizuru rested her hand on Natsuki's shoulder. Natsuki quickly looked over and saw Shizuru's figure. "Get away from me!" Natsuki tried shoving the woman away, then fell onto the cold floor. The cobalt headed woman quickly staggered towards the other end of the room.
Shizuru reached over to the nightstand of their bed and turned a lamp on. Natsuki was curled up in a corner of their room. Shizuru quickly got out of bed and rushed over to Natsuki. The woman knelt down a rest her hands on Natsuki's shoulders. "Natsuki, calm down. What's wrong?" Shizuru asked with concern.
"No… Please. No more…" Natsuki said with a shaky voice. Her arms around her body and rocked back and forth. Natsuki also shut her eyes as tight as she possibly could.
Shizuru quickly cradled her loved one. The woman gently stroked her hand down Natsuki's hair. "Shhh… It's all right." Natsuki just continued sobbing.
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"This is the sixth time now…" Shizuru said as she picked up her cup of coffee from the table. "That's horrible. How is she doing now?" An orange headed girl asked. "It's really getting to her. It feels like she's becoming very distant everyday, Mai-han." Shizuru took a sip of her coffee then set it back down on the table.
Shizuru decided to go to Mai's place and discuss Natsuki's predicament. It was early in the morning, around nine o' clock. They sat at the dining room table. The room was brightened by the sunlight that came through the windows in the living room which connected to the kitchen.
It's been over seven years since the HiME carnival, and it seems that everyone has gotten on with their lives. Mai and Tate, got married and moved into a nice cozy place at the southern end of Fuuka city. Tate was an accountant at one of Fuuka's biggest banks. Mai was currently working as a part=time nurse until she could find a more suitable job.
"So, do you have any idea how all of this started?" Mai asked as she picked her mug up and took a sip. Shizuru shook her head. "I'm not entirely sure. One night, Natsuki just started screaming, and from their, it continued. These nightmares are taking a toll on both of us. I just can't stand to see her like that…" Shizuru looked down at her mug and watched the white steam rise off the top of her black coffee.
"Have you considered a therapy. Maybe she's having some sort of emotional problem." Mai said as she looked at the other woman. Shizuru just shook her head once more. "I've pried most everything I could possibly get out of Natsuki. I don't think there is anything else I don't know about her past." Shizuru said and took another sip of her coffee.
Shizuru heard footsteps and turned to meet a familiar figure. "Ah. Took you long enough." Mai said with an irritated tone. "Oh, good morning, Tate-han." Shizuru said with a warm smile.
"Oh, Shizuru. Good morning." Tate said as he rushed to get his shoes on. "Damn it all! I'm going to be late again!"
"I told you to make sure you set the alarm." Mai said and let out a light sigh. "Hey, the least you could have done was wake me!" Tate retaliated. "Hey, It's not my fault you stay up so late with those video games. Trying to wake you out of that coma is like giving a drowning kid a glass of water." Mai retorted.
"Hey! Leave my hobbies out of this. You don't see me complaining about your cook wear collecting." Tate retaliated against the orange haired woman. "Yeah, but I don't risk my job over them."
"My, my. Seems you two never change." Shizuru let out a giggle. Tate just sighed and finished tying his shoes, then he rushed into the kitchen and grabbed a few muffins off of a plate on the counter next to the oven.
"See you later" Tate said, then leaned down and gave Mai a quick kiss. "Oh, don't forget. We're meeting up with Takumi and Akira for dinner later." Mai said as she watched her husband walk out of the front door. Both woman heard the man give a loud groan on the other side of the door and chuckled.
Shizuru just looked back over at her coffee mug. The air lingered with an uneasy silence. The clearing of Mai's throat then broke the uneasy silence. "Well, maybe you should just get her an appointment with a therapist just in case. You don't want this getting to out of hand." Mai said, wrapping both her hands around her mug.
Shizuru didn't want to force Natsuki to do anything that she was uncomfortable with, but sadly, she saw no other solution. "Yeah, maybe."
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Natsuki laid on her couch as she stared up at her ceiling. Her forearm rested on her forehead. The sound of a clock ticking could be heard in the background. "What's happening to me?" The woman closed her eyes. "Every time… it's the same dream, yet each time there's a different ending."
The room was spinning in Natsuki's mind. The first time she had the dream, it was of her mother, yet it was still taking place in that same eerie place. Natsuki couldn't quite place her finger on it, but it almost felt like something was trying to force itself to the surface when she was having that dream.
"All I remember… Was that damn music box…" Natsuki thought as she tried to remember the events before her incidents.
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A/N: And BOOM! Cliffhanger! Well, I think I'll save some of the stuff for the next chapter. Well, tell me what you guys think. Is it juicy, or dry? I hope I put enough in this chapter to leave you guys interested. Anyway, please remember to drop me a review. Later.