As I slept, the sound of a crying girl was heard. She was in pain, weeping somewhere in the distant darkness. Where was it coming from exactly? My imagination, maybe? Either way, I needed to find out what was wrong. No one should have to cry like that girl was…
"Ahg, my fuckn' head…"
A miserable thumping in my head was what I had the pleasure of being greeted by when I awoke – the kind you would expect after a long night of non-stop drinking. And it must have been one hell of a fun night because I couldn't remember a damn thing about it. The only thing I could remember was some crazyass dream.
Glowing red eyes of a devil flashing in my mind upgraded me from semi-conscious to completely awake. My eyes shot open, revealing a revolving ceiling before me. With my hand going to my aching head, I sat up, groaning the entire way.
"Holy fuck, this hurts…" I loudly groaned.
This could easily be one of the worst hangovers I've ever had. I couldn't say for sure because my memories were a little fogged up at the moment. Made me wonder just how much I managed to drink without outright killing myself.
I rubbed each of my temples, waiting for my vision to stop spinning so I could go get some H2O in me. My spinning vision was making me sick so I closed my eyes for a moment, but the second I did, those same glowing eyes would appear, forcing my eyes back open.
The dream was surprisingly vivid despite having had it when I was piss drunk. I remembered each detail pretty well. Hell, it was the most vivid memory I had at all. From wrecking my motorcycle because of some dumb woman wandering out in front of me to a strange winged girl; I remembered it all. Every other memory was vague or uncertain, but that was just the booze's doing.
My vision slowly returned to normal and I finally could see my room. Problem was that it wasn't my room that I was in. Not even close.
"Oh, Christ… Not this shit again."
One quick look around and it was obvious that I was in someone else's house. I was afraid I had broken into the place in my drunken state and passed out in the first bed I found. That or the owners were kind enough to let me crash here and I just couldn't remember that part. God, please let it be the latter.
My hands went over my sweaty face. "Shhhhit…"
Either way, I needed to apologize to the owner of the house so I threw my legs over the side of the bed, tossed my thinking cap on and worked on an apology.
While I brainstormed (the bloody sledgehammer hitting me upside the head not helping at all), I gave the room another look around. It then hit me that I was in some rich person's house. It had to be a rich person's because the room was incredible. Masterfully carved walls of red stone and the floor was made of jet black marble tiles. The bed itself was quite large and it sat on a carpet that probably cost a fortune (much like everything in the room, I'm sure). The bed sheets looked like they were quilted by hand – the patterns were trippy. And, of course, the bed was nice and soft – very comfortable. The only odd thing about the room was the fact that there were no windows, the thing lighting the room being a fancy candle on an equally fancy nightstand to the left of the bed. I wondered why no window for a bedroom, but didn't really care. It wasn't my home.
I decided to be blunt with my apology. It was the best way to go about any apology, me thinks.
I hopped off the bed and immediately fell to my knees, smacking them off the hard floor. Crud. Legs went weak.
My hangover was still going strong. I gave my legs a minute to get their strength back then gave standing a second try. I succeeded, but not without a bit of difficulty. My legs continued to wobble some.
I looked around for my wallet, but found nothing of mine. I checked my back pocket, but found that it wasn't in my jeans. I wasn't even wearing my jeans. I was in black pajama pants.
Did I seriously manage to change myself while totally shitfaced? Props to me, I guess.
On the stand with the candle was a black button-up shirt that looked like it was laid out for me. Did the owners of the house give me these to sleep in? They weren't mine, I don't think. I figured that maybe they did so I went ahead and grabbed the shirt.
Another revelation came to me when I went to put the shirt on: my skin was unusually pale.
"What the hell?" I said as I stared at the white skin of my arm.
I'm sure I remember being tanned last night… so maybe someone had played a prank on me? Who the hell knows. I could worry about it later.
With a deep breath, I grabbed the doorknob of the bedroom door and turned it. The door was surprisingly hard to pull open. It was one of those heavy kinds of doors. The kind that you wouldn't want to try punching a hole in unless you wanted shattered knuckles.
I took a step out of the bedroom, letting the door shut itself behind me. I stood right where I was and stared down the stunningly long hallway. I could barely see the end of it. My eyes then looked to the ceiling and I found it to be just as stunningly high as the hallway was long. It had to have been at least thirty of me tall and I was at an even six feet.
I thought that maybe I was in one of those hotels for snotty rich people, but I didn't remember having one of those near where I lived. Then again, I couldn't really remember much other than that dumb dream.
Well, whatever… With the shrug of my shoulders, I slowly made my way down the hallway.
I still felt a bit tipsy so I took my time walking. I hoped I would just run into someone, but so far there was nobody. The place was eerily quiet. The red stone walls were cool and all, but they just added to the creepiness. I took note of not only the lack of many windows in the hallway, but also the lack of electric lights. The whole hallway was lit by candles on the walls. It was cool I guess, but it must be a real pain in the ass to keep them all lit.
Did the retard architect forget that some people like a little more sunlight than this?
After a rather long walk, I got to the end of the hallway just to come to another one. "How big is this damn place?" I thought out loud in frustration. With only one way to go, I cautiously made my way down the second hallway.
The place was looking more and more like a hotel – it was filled with an endless amount of rooms. I placed an ear on a few of the doors during my trek down the second hallway to see if I could hear anyone inside, but all I got was silence.
I tried for the life of me to remember what exactly I was doing before I passed out, but all I could draw was a blank. I felt more and more retarded the more I tried to remember. I think I should seriously think about cutting down on the booze. This amount of memory loss was ridiculous.
Halfway down the hallway and a door to my right opened suddenly. I jumped in surprise a little, accidently startling the person who stepped out of the room.
"Goodness gracious!" the small girl cried out.
Color me relieved. I had finally found some life. Was beginning to wonder if I was in some kind of '28 Days Later' scenario or something.
Wasting no time, I put on a friendly smile and greeted the short kid. "Hey there, kiddo," I said and stopped right there with my greeting and stared.
I stared at what appeared to be a set of transparent wings on the girl's back. The set was comprised of a total of six wings and they were tinted orange. Quite frankly, they looked like fairy wings. Seemed legit considering the person they were attached to was a kid that was maybe about nine years old, possibly ten. She was a cute little red-headed girl. I tried not to focus too much on the fact that she was dressed in some sort of maid uniform because it just made me want to laugh.
Oh, God, I can't stop smiling. Just don't burst out laughing like an idiot.
"Could'ya help me out? I'm kinda' lost and need to speak to whoever runs this joint. I think they may have my stuff," I said.
She just stared up at me, her eyes blinking at full speed like I was the first human being she's seen in her life. Maybe I was? Hell if I know. I just wanted to get the hell out of the building.
Her eyes widened, looking like she had come to some realization of some sort. "Oh! You're the corpse that Milady brought back!" she concluded loudly as she pointed at me.
Did… Did she seriously just call me a corpse? And just who the hell is Milady?
I let the odd (and a bit insulting) description she gave me slide and said "Yeah. Take me to your boss. I need to get my stuff so I can get a move on."
"Of course! We were told by the Chief Maid to inform her if you woke up. It's about time you did!" the little maid girl said.
Big Boss Maid, eh?
I kind of wanted to ask why a kid her age was working as a maid… so I did.
"Ain't ya a bit young to be working?" I asked.
And the girl puffed her reddening cheeks at me. Was just a normal question so no idea why she was getting all upset.
"What do you mean?! I'm still alive so why wouldn't I be working?!" she shouted at me.
Her reaction to my question made no sense so I figured I'd just drop the question before things got any more awkward. "Oookay… Just take me to an adult, please."
"Oh! There she is!" the girl exclaimed as she pointed down the hallway.
Down the hallway was another girl – an oriental girl – dressed in a maid's uniform. The only difference between the shorty next to me and this one was that she was all grown up and damn fine looking. She looked to be a couple years younger than me, maybe more. And her hair… Its silvery color was as strange as the kid's fairy wings. No way was it her natural hair color, but it looked good on her regardless so who cares really?
I approached the apparent maid-in-charge and held out my hand to her. "How are ya? My name's…"
I went silent. I was going to tell her my name, but for some messed up reason my own name escaped me. It was right there on the tip of my tongue yet I could not get it out.
What the hell…
"So, you have awoken," the silver-haired girl said. She actually sounded surprised that I had woken up.
I chuckled. "What? Ya thought I was dead or something?"
Not amused in the slightest, the girl just stared back at me with a serious expression. "Now that you are awake, I must take you to our master," she said.
OUR master? This girl been drinkn' too?
"Uh, yeah. Sure," I replied.
I wasn't going to waste time asking questions. I just wanted to get my stuff, leave and shake off this damn hangover. I was pretty sure I had overstayed my welcome anyways.
"Please, follow me," she said.
Not only was she pretty, but polite too. I wondered if she was polite off the job or if it was only a mask she wore solely for work. It wouldn't surprise me. We all wear different masks for the many different situations of our lives.
"Sure thing," I complied.
I followed the girl and as I did, I looked around, observing the increasingly strange building I was in. We went by a single window – a rather large window. Not only that, but it was a stained window. Was very cool looking with the dim sunlight shining through it in an array of prismatic colors. I also saw more of those young girls going about their business. Like the first one, they too had what seriously looked like fairy wings of different shapes, sizes and colors. It weirded me out. Seriously, who hires young girls and dresses them up with fairy wings? I kept my mouth shut about it as to not start any trouble and just followed the Boss Maid.
We came to a large flight of stairs with a red carpet running down it. It looked like we were on the third floor of the building. I glanced down over the stone railing, getting a quick look of the wide hall. The distance from the floor to the ceiling was simply staggering. More fairy girls were seen, working like little worker ants in a colony (minus the organization).
The Boss Maid cleared her throat to get my attention and gestured me to continue following her. I did as requested and we went up the stairs to the fourth floor.
My curiosity finally got the best of me and I asked "What is this place anyways?"
The maid kept her eyes forward. "I am sure you have a lot of questions, but I assure you that our fair Lady will answer all of them for you," she replied.
Fair Lady? Damn girl plays her job well.
She again referred to the owner of the place as our boss. Last I checked I worked… somewhere that was not in some medieval hotel. It irked me, but at least now I knew the owner was a woman. Probably some old naggy bitch, but here's hoping for a MILF.
Once we got to the top of the stairs, we immediately came to a large set of black doors. The girl opened them and we went through.
I stopped in bewilderment at the strange room we were now in. It was an open room with what looked like a throne sitting in the middle. Behind it was a huge window that took up the entire space of the wall. A dark red curtain of equal size covered it, blocking any and all sunlight.
I had to be on some movie set or something because this was just absurd. The mere sight of it forced a short laugh out of me.
"Ah haha! Where's the Queen of Hearts?" I asked jokingly.
The maid girl apparently had no sense of humor and made no reaction. Oh, a tight-ass, eh?
The girl led me to another door on the left side of the room. She opened it then stepped to the side, kindly motioning me to go in first.
"Thanks, sweetheart," I said, giving her a cheerful smile as I walked by. I would have tipped her if I had any money on me. Maybe I will before I leave. Maybe.
I stepped into the room. At first glance it appeared to be an office. It had a number of shelves alongside the walls that I'm guessing were filled with papers. Why they hadn't computerized was yet another mystery of the place.
In the center was a really nice desk of mahogany wood that had some books and stacks of paper on it. And behind that desk sat a female who was busy with paperwork. I immediately assumed her to be the manager of the place.
I was just about to introduce myself, but when she looked up at me… Nothing prepared me for the set of eyes I saw looking back at me.
That entire dream from last night rewinded in my mind then replayed itself. My heart painfully skipped a beat and every muscle in my body tensed up the second I saw those glowing red eyes from the dream. I stood frozen in place, those otherworldly eyes snatching me up in a powerful grip.
"What… the fuck…?" I gasped.
There was no mistaking it. The girl who sat behind the desk was the girl from my dream. She had everything that girl had: the wings, the pale white skin, and most importantly, those insanely beautiful and mesmerizing and terrifying eyes. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Her outfit was even the same, except it was white instead of black.
My hand went to my stomach in search of a hole. I found none there so I was sure that was all just a dream, but how the hell was this girl here? Was it just an insane coincidence? It had to be. There was no other explanation for it.
But I knew her name. Somehow, the second I saw those eyes, I knew her name. I had never met this girl before yet I knew her name. How on Earth was that possible?
Her name flowed from my lips as if someone else had pulled them out from me. "Remilia… Scarlet…?" I choked, nearly losing my breath and what sanity I had.
The winged girl smiled at me, a dark, foreboding kind of smile. I nearly jumped out of my skin. "At last, you have awoken," she said, seemingly delighted.
She walked around the desk and approached me. I wanted to get the hell out of there, but her bloody eyes held me in place. I couldn't do anything but stand there gawking at her like a child at a zoo.
"Who… are you?" I asked unwittingly.
The winged girl giggled the same cute giggle she made in my dream. It was cute, sure, but my mind couldn't take the freakish similarity it had with my dream. Good God, what was going on?!
"I am as you said," the girl replied. She stopped in front of me and started to fix my hastily buttoned shirt, her eyes never leaving mine. They just kept staring, staring deep into my very being. I couldn't breathe. Her eyes were strangling me.
Once she was done with my shirt, she took a step back and greeted me formally. "I am Remilia Scarlet and this is my home. Welcome, young one, to the Scarlet Devil Mansion."
I remained speechless as I turned around to look at the silver-haired girl behind me. She stood calmly and stared back, not saying a word. I then turned back to the winged girl of my dream. That dark smile on her face was truly the smile of the Devil. Terrifyingly confused was hardly enough to describe how I was feeling right there and then.
Just how much did I drink last night? WHAT did I drink last night…?