"Lucy." She could hear her mother call for her.
"Coming! Give me one second!" Lucy Ishikawa responded as she searched through her drawer for her magatama ,a small coma shaped bead. Her father had made it for her, attaching a small string on it for her to wear as a necklace. It was her good luck charm, she couldn't leave without it.
"We're getting ready to go, Lucy." Lucy's father told her in a temping voice, making it sound as though they were going to leave without her.
"I'm coming!" Lucy replied again, abandoning the draws to search under her bed. Nothing. Her closet. No. Lucy couldn't leave without her magatama, not that she needed it of course, but being an seven year old girl, she felt that she had to bring it. They were just going out to a movie, but still. She stood there for a moment to think. Where could it be? She thought as she pondered. Under the pillow! She thought excitedly as her memory returned to her suddenly.
She'd hidden it under Azure ,her pillow dragon, which she'd named after the Dragon that protected Kyoto. She'd hidden it under him, because she'd seen something the night before. She couldn't tell what it was. It looked like a man, but he wasn't there. He was a big man. His body seemed to blend in with the darkness. He made this weird clicking sound as he watched her through her bedroom window. She couldn't make any part of him out, except for the big red eyes that stared at her, before disappearing. The sight of the man scared her, forcing her to hide her good luck charm under her dragon protector, who she also hid behind. When she went to look at him again he wasn't there anymore.
She quickly wrapped her fingers around the familiar shape underneath the big green bearded dragon and removed her magatama. Looping it over her head and around her neck, she was finally ready.
"I'm coming Mommy! I'm coming Daddy!" She proclaimed as she ran from her room to the hallway, where she'd seen them last. They weren't there. They were probably waiting at the door, trying to scare her into moving faster. It was a threatening prospect, but they never did leave without her. "Mommy! Da-ddy?" She paused as she shot around the corner, noticing her parents weren't there. Where could thy be?
And then she heard him. The clicking sound. She turned towards the dinning room, where the noise had come from, and saw... it... The man who wasn't there. She could see him in the light more clearly now, but he was still difficult to make out. It was like his body was camouflaged like the chameleon lizard she'd learned about in school last week. He continued making that sinister growling noise as he stared at her, those large red eyes flashed like hell fire burning through her soul as they looked at her. Below him were... Mommy... Daddy... Her parents. Their bodies were covered in red. The man's claw like fingers grasping her mother's beautiful pink dress as he held her up. Her father has lying down in front. His head was missing. The man held it in his hand. The image of her father's broken visage sent a cold chill down her spine. She could feel her eyes begin to cry.
"Mommy...D-Daddy..." She whispered hoping her pleading for them would somehow make them wake up. They didn't.
"Mommy... Daddy..." The man said. He sounded like she did, only his voice was different, it made it sound wrong. The man let out a shrill haunting laugh as he dropped Lucy's mother and father. It was after her now. For a sudden brief moment she could see the man clearly, his camouflage lifting before settling back. He was black with red stripes. His hair was also red with these dark purple beads on them. He wore a type of armor she'd never seen before. It was also black, but with silver accents, and a brown belt strap affixing it to his chest. It was hard for her to see but he also looked to have this fishnet mesh that the camouflage refracted off of. And his face... no it wasn't a face, it was a mask. She couldn't tell what to describe it as, it was nothing like she'd ever seen before. The only thing she could make out of it, were the red eyes, and a haunting grin panted on it.
These three red lasers appeared from the side of where his head was, and pointed down at her forehead. The armor piece she'd seen on his shoulder moved. She thought about what she'd just seen as the man approached. Her parents, the dark body of the man's true form, those red eyes, that smile. The sight of it almost petrified her. Almost. Before she could understand what happened, she screamed and ran. There was a loud zapping noise, followed by an explosion. She couldn't see it. She just kept running towards her room. It was the only place she could think to run to. Another blast came, it was like an orange fireball. Lucy dived into her room as the blast impacted with the end of the hall. She weakly turned around to see the man standing over her. She heard a metallic slice as these large claws appeared.
The man approached her slowly. She screamed again right as the man brought his blades down.
/
Lucy woke up in her bed, half naked in a cold sweat. It was just a nightmare. she thought in a small panic. She quickly scanned her dark room. Looking for him. Nothing. She allowed her self a moment of relief, burying her head in her knees as she thought about the horrible dream. It was one she'd been having frequently. It wasn't actually a dream, but more of a memory, only she hadn't died like she always does in her dreams. She'd hid under her bed. The man, creature ,whatever the hell that thing was, knew she was still there though. Before it could begin to look for her though, she could her the zapping sound again, followed by a pained roar. Lucy felt something warm and wet hit her face as that happened. She dared herself to look and found a patch of glowing green on her bedroom floor and desk. There were two holes in her bedroom, one had come in, it looked like something had burned through it. The other was going out. The man had left. She stared out of it but found nothing. She'd gotten lucky somehow. Her father's magatama had brought her luck. Unfortunately it didn't bring her parents the same luck it'd brought her.
Lucy tearfully brought her face away from her knees and blindly stared up. She wasn't crying. She didn't want to display weakness, even though there was no one around to see it.
Lucy brought herself away from the traumatic moment long enough to look at her bedside clock. 4:06 a.m. Damn it! Lucy thought, almost muttering under her breath as she got out of bed.
Lucy couldn't have time to think about what she'd just dreamt. She had an important day ahead of her. Lucy and her partner ,Amy, had been after a dangerous drug dealer now for over six months. Today was the day she and the rest of the precinct would finally nail him to the wall and find out who and where he was getting his supplies from.
Before she decided to get her day started she opened up the window of her apartment bedroom and poked her head out. Lucy took a deep breath of the warm summer air as she stared out at the New York streets below her. The humidity was almost choking her nasal passages. It was one of the hottest summers she'd ever been through. Second only to the sweat bomb that was 1997, and the summer that she lost her parents to that thing ,25 years ago. Ever since then she'd always had this feeling. It was always at it's strongest during summer. It was like something was watching her. Like it was watching her. The feeling couldn't have been more stronger that it was then. She scanned her surroundings. Nothing.
"This is stupid, Lucy." She told herself as she shut the window to her bedroom, before turning to the closet. She opened it and regretfully stared at her police uniform. Of all the occupations to choose from this one... It wasn't really that bad of a decision. It was challenging, and she appreciated the idea of service, but the hours were hell, and the pay was shit. Had it not been for her partner Amy she would've quit years ago.
"Today's the big day." She said as she put on her uniform. "Let's make it happen." She said with hopeful optimism, as she held her father's magatama in her hand. Hopefully her luck would still be with her.
