Darkness Falls - Chapter Nine: Samurai

Everything began to change as soon as she entered the building. The hallways, originally made of a marble-like metal, warped and twisted, changing in front of her eyes to wood. Hallways of wood with ropes hanging from the ceiling. Green mist clouded her site, forcing her to walk slowly, testing the ground carefully with each step. The surroundings seemed all too familiar from her dream; she didn't want to go plunging through the floor.

STUPID GIRL! LEAVE HERE AT ONCE!

Whether someone was shouting at her, or whether she was hearing voices in her mind, Caroline couldn't tell. Whatever is was, though, caused a searing pain to shoot through her head, causing her to cry out and fall to her knees, clutching her head.

I can't leave, she thought, gritting her teeth. The pain wouldn't subside. I can't! Iris asked me to come here, and she's right: X, Alia, and Zero are still alive. I can't just let them die. They're different; even my mother could see that, though she didn't want to admit it. They're different. And they don't deserve to die. I don't care if I have to go through Hell to save them, I'm going to!

You better be willing to go through with that… The voice came again, only this time softer, and afterwards the pain was gone. Pulling herself to her feet, Caroline sighed, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Here!"

The voice of a young girl startled her. Looking around, she saw nothing, no child, no source of the sound. "I'm imagining things," she murmured to herself. "I'm slowly going mad. After all, I am doing the bidding of a dead woman."

"No, please, in here!"

This time she saw the little girl. She was short, maybe 5, 5 foot 3, with black hair that fell down to her waist. Caroline guessed that she was roughly nine or ten.

Or, at least she was when she died.

The little girl was transparent. Swallowing hard, she forced herself not to vomit, and slowly walked towards the expectant girl, arm over her face to shield it from any falling debris or attack. I wish oh I wish I had a flashlight, she thought. Why was I so stupid as to come in here without one?

"He's in here." The little girl stared up at her, never blinking.

"Who?" Caroline asked, lowering her arm. She didn't seem dangerous…

"The man who tried to save my doggy. He failed… but he felt so bad afterwards. He was nice to me. I died later though. But I want to help him. Please? Will you help him?"

She didn't know exactly who she was talking about, but judging by the fact that the girl called him a 'nice man', she had a hunch that it was X, and not Zero. "All right," she said, nodding. "I'll try and help him… where is he?"

"The next room."

"Okay." Feeling her mouth suddenly go dry, Caroline licked her lips. "Okay," she repeated, not at all happy with her decision.

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+╝

She's coming.

The words pounded into his mind, causing him to groan. His entire body ached horribly; his wrists burned from the wires? ropes? holding him up, and his shoulders felt like they were about to, if they weren't already, dislocate themselves.

Don't worry. Soon, you won't be able to feel a thing.

Somehow, that didn't do much to comfort him.

+╗
+╝

"Hello?" The room was large, she could tell that much. Probably a meeting hall or something like that, she thought, blinking. Her voice echoed throughout the confines, coming back at her with a mournful, hallow sound.

She shivered. Something didn't seem right here. Never mind the fact that everyone in Hunters was now dead, and that for all she knew there were dead bodies laying all around her, grinning and ready to grab her as soon as she made a wrong move. Never mind that. There was just something wrong here.

"You've come for him, I see."

It was that voice again, only this time it was different. Before, she couldn't tell where it was coming from, couldn't tell if it was male or female. Only now she could. This was a woman talking to her. And the woman was over there. Frowning, Caroline slowly picked her way towards the source of the voice.

And stopped.

And stared.

There was X. X was hanging from the ceiling. Ropes were wrapped around his wrists, suspending him, and his head lolled about his shoulders. Worse yet, even in the pale light, she could see the thin trickle of blood that slid down his check. Something had attacked him earlier.

"Do you like it?" The woman. She was standing under him, smiling. Squinting, Caroline could just barely make out of her outline, but everytime she thought she knew what she looked like, the woman changed. "You should recognize it. Or has Miku neglected to inform her granddaughter of everything?"

"You're Malice, aren't you?" She surprised herself, ignoring the woman's questions. "I was told about you… what have you done to X?"

"What have I done? Nothing… Except hang him from the ceiling which, if he were conscious, wouldn't really even have any effect on him. However… Samurai was having some fun with him. And I suppose if you want to get X back, you'd have to fight Samurai." Malice was grinning, elongated fangs poking over her bottom lip.

"Who is-" Something slammed into her side. Crying out, Caroline fell, camera flying and skidding across the ground, coming to a rest several feet away. With a groan, she pulled herself to her feet and looked around to see her attacker.

There, standing off in a corner, was a man… Samurai, Malice had called him. He looks the part, she thought, recognizing his clothing as the armor the ancient warriors would wear. In both hands he held a Katana: A long, thin sword.

He was also dead.

"Holy sweet mother of God, what the hell am I supposed to do to fight this thing?!" There was no response to Caroline's question, save for Malice's laugh. Grinning, Samurai leaned forward. And charged at her.

Jumping to the side, Caroline landed wrong, her ankle collapsing underneath her, and slammed into the floor once more. Crying out, she instinctively curled herself up into the fetal position, waiting for it all to end. I was stupid to think I could do this. How am I supposed to fight a bunch of ghosts?! It's not possible!

… but the camera…

Eyes snapping open, she stared at the camera, lying now only a foot away. Something told her that she had mere seconds to grab it, to use it, to… to do whatever it was that she needed to with it. Samurai was coming back, and this time he wouldn't miss…

Propping herself up on her arms and shoving herself forward, Caroline grabbed the antique, rolling over onto her back and bringing the viewfinder up. I pray this works…I pray this works… not even bothering to check the picture, she pressed down on the shutter.

A bright flash of light filled the room. With a howl, Samurai fell back, falling to his knees and clutching is head, screaming his pain. Scrambling to her feet, Caroline snapped another picture, watching in amazement as Samurai was not only stopped, he was beaten. With a loud 'pop' he disappeared, leaving behind a small, glowing blue light.

"Huh." Malice frowned, shaking her head. "So you've gotten one back… I doubt you'll get the other two."

She was gone.

Caroline stood still for a moment, too shocked to really do anything. The camera… it was just like in the legend. It could fight ghosts. And Malice was back… the legend… the ropes. Rope hallway… there was something she was missing…

"Please, help him!"

The cry brought her out of her thoughts along with the loud snapping sound. Turning around, she saw the ropes that were holding X up break, sending the blue hunter falling to the ground, legs crumpling under him and landing in an undignified heap.

"X!" Oh my god he's dead he's dead after I did all of that he's dead… Running over to him, she tripped and slid, wincing. "Goddamnit…"

"He's hurt. Badly. Can't you help him?"

It was the little girl again, only this time she was kneeling next to X, her hand resting on his head. There seemed to be something wrong with him, however, other than the fact that he was simply unconscious.

He was semi-transparent, almost like the little girl. Looking up, Caroline could see him still hanging there, only it wasn't him. It was his spirit, trapped. "Oh god…"

"He trapped. He's hurt. If he can't come back together soon, he's going to die." The girl spoke with a calm, matter of fact voice, and then sighed, resigned to some sort of fate. "I can't let him die."

"But what can you do?" Caroline asked, confused. "What can I do?"

"Nothing, but…" Once again she sighed, frowning. "But I can save him."

"How?"

"By killing myself."