Personal Nightmares

Author's notes: Thanks to Kurmoi, whose everyday updates on her "Snob School" story made me feel bad for not updating, I finally got off my lazy ass and made a new chapter! Yay!

Wolf Runner: I can picture you hugging your Ayane doll by the end of Chapter 7. ^__^

AnGeL70: Sowwy. -_-

LC WOLF: Actually, I got the idea of Ayane being hooked on drugs from the Mainliners. I love those creatures in The Suffering. ^_^

Can'tsay: Well, aside from Silent Hill, I got some ideas from other horror games, like Fatal Frame.

Chapter 8: Fading Innocence

"I should get up…" a girl with auburn hair said to herself. "…lying down here on my bed, staring at the ceiling all day long won't bring in any money…"

Kasumi then opened her eyes, and went from lying down on the bed to a sitting position, her eyes surveying her room.

"What a mess…" Kasumi said. "Maybe I should stop painting in my room. Heh. Painting. When I started, I actually sold several paintings and made money. Now, I haven't sold any lately. To be honest, I don't think I'm any good at this."

The girl, wearing a pink tank top, dark blue jeans, her hair tied in a ponytail, then stood up. She quickly gathered some of her paintings scattered on the floor. As she was about to leave her room, she took one long look at a certain painting, which was leaning in a dark corner. The painting showed three figures: a girl with auburn hair in the centre, a man with similar hair colour to the right, and a purple-haired girl to the left. All three were smiling, as if they didn't have a care for the world.

"I wish we could be together again. Hayate…Ayane. Why did this happen? Was it my fault? I guess it really doesn't matter. I do know one thing, though. We'll never be together again. Never," Kasumi said, as she quickly left the messy room.

*****

"…I haven't sold a painting, yet again…" Kasumi mumbled, as she walked across the foggy streets of Silent Hill while carrying her work. "I'm running out of money. I have to pay my rent. I don't want to get thrown out. I don't want to move all over this country anymore. I like this place. It's so quiet and peaceful. I'd better go home now. Hehe. Home. Is this really my home?"

Kasumi walked for several, uneventful minutes, the fog heavy on her face. Suddenly she saw a figure nearby. "Someone's over there. Maybe he'd like to look at my paintings…"

The girl then walked over towards the figure, but stopped as she got a little bit closer. She looked at the figure much more closely, and it was a man, wearing long, brown, trench coat, with auburn hair. Kasumi gasped, as she dropped her paintings. "It's…him. He's here," Kasumi gasped.

The man wearing the trench coat took no indication that he heard the noise, as he kept moving, his back facing the shocked girl. "I'd like to talk to him, even for the last time…"

Kasumi then followed the figure, until she saw him enter a building. "This looks like a dojo, a karate dojo to be precise. But…I've been to this street several times, and I don't remember seeing any dojo here…"

The auburn-haired girl then entered the structure. The place was in ruins. The walls were falling apart, and there were many holes on the wooden floor. As Kasumi carefully moved around the place, she came upon a wide open room. "This must be where students usually train."

As she looked around, she saw the man near a set of stairs, his back facing her. "Hayate!" the girl yelled.

The man didn't move, nor showed any sign of hearing the girl shout his name. He just stood there. "Hayate. I know why you're here. I understand what you're going to do…I just want to talk with you, even if it's the last time…"

The man said no word in reply, but moved from his position, and went up the stairs. Kasumi moved to follow, but stopped when she heard more noises upstairs.

A girl then started walking downwards. She was wearing a blue jacket, blue jeans, and a pink headband wrapped around her brown hair.

"Don't worry, it's not your fault. He deserved it. That dirty old man…" the girl said out loud to herself. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, Kasumi gasped, as the brown-haired girl was covered with blood.

"You! You're still alive?"

"Wha…what happened? Are you OK?" Kasumi asked. She recognized the girl, but did not recall her name.

"Am I OK? I've never been OK since that day. You'll probably mock me now, call me 'Daddy's Incompetent Girl' for not finishing properly what I started, right?" the brown-haired girl muttered.

"What? But…"

"DIE!" the brown-haired girl yelled, as she brandished a bloodied kitchen knife. The two girls got entangled, Kasumi using her hands to hold the other girl, the knife inches away from her face. After what seemed an eternity of gasping and struggling, Kasumi was able to knock the other girl backwards. Kasumi then ran as fast as she could, and entered the nearest door. The place looked like a kitchen, as she looked around for any available weapon. After searching through the drawers, she was able to find a meat cleaver. With weapon in hand, Kasumi hid in a small space in between a counter and an old fridge. The brown-haired girl then entered the kitchen, yelling "Who's a coward now? I thought you wanted to fight me head-on!"

Kasumi gripped the meat cleaver much tighter, as she listened intently on the footsteps emitted by her pursuer.

"Aha!" the brown-haired girl yelled, as she found where Kasumi was hiding. In an instant, Kasumi sprung out of her hiding, and swung the meat cleaver, hitting the other girl's stomach. A sickening sound could be heard from the impact.

"Auughh!" the girl yelped, as she immediately placed her left arm around her stomach. Blood began to pour out of her wound.

Kasumi then grabbed the girl by her hair, and shoved her roughly into the kitchen sink. "What's going on here? Why did you attack me?"

"Looking for a reason to kill?" a sinister-sounding female voice erupted inside Kasumi's head.

"Huh?" Kasumi muttered to herself. Her head was beginning to ache.

"Please! I'm sorry. Please don't hurt me, daddy…"

"She's not herself! Give her a chance to explain…" a male voice inside her head said.

"Kill her," the female voice said, almost instantaneously.

Kasumi debated with herself, that this girl was too dangerous. With no more doubts, she swung the meat cleaver on the girl's neck.

"Augh!"

Blood splattered all over the place, but the blow was no good. The girl kept squirming and struggling. Kasumi then swung the cleaver again, on the same spot.

"Augh!"

The brown-haired girl then slowly stopped struggling, but Kasumi was not finished yet. Lifting the meat cleaver, she swung as hard as she could, the cleaver impacting on the same spot. The blow finally decapitated the dying brown-haired girl, as her body went down to the ground, while her head fell into the sink. Kasumi looked at the gruesome scene, and was horrified, as she dropped her weapon.

"Why didn't you give her a chance?" the male voice said.

"You're just like me. You love it to, don't you?" the female voice said.

Grabbing and shaking her head, Kasumi turned around to leave the place. She then saw the man by the doorway. He was now looking at her. He had a disapproving look on his face. They both stared at each other for several seconds. The man then shook his head, and with a sad face, turned to leave. Kasumi followed, intending to go back to her apartment.

End of Chapter 8

Author's notes: Sorry, Kasumi haters. It's not over yet! Kasumi's story will have several chapters! ^__^