All right, I admit I'm the slowest writer in the universe. I'll have to admit I've been
pleased with the responses I've gotten or I probably would have just dropped this story
all together.
I wrote this after reading several slightly disturbing pieces of literature on serial killers,
and assassins. I'm pretty sure you'll be able to see the influence these books had on my
writing, because all of a sudden this story gets a little heavier or cornier (whatever your
take)
Also for those of you who are unfamiliar with Japanese, "Oneesan" used later on in this
chapter means sister.
Don't forget to review and tell me what you think.
Chapter 6
The blood swirled around, her pooling into a lake of dark red, as she knelt on the dirt
floor of the hut. It was seeping into her clothes, and staining the pale, whiteness of her
skin. She covered her eyes in fear. She tried not look, not to see, but she couldn't help
her wandering gaze. Out of the corner of her eye she could see a hand, lolling, muscles
relaxed. She traced it up the broken body of a dead boy.
It looked like Shingo. Yet, it couldn't be Shingo. Usagi had left him safely at home, with
her parents. His expression was one of shock, his unseeing eyes staring upwards, as if he
hadn't really expected to die. The gash in his throat was still gushing blood; she reached
out to stanch it, as if she could still save him. Sobbing, uncontrollably, she continued
with the futile effort, but the blood just kept coming. Oh God, the blood. There was so
much of it. In her panic she cried out.
She looked around for someone to help her, anyone, but the hut was empty. The only
evidence of anyone ever being there was a bloody trail leading out the door. She was
alone in this blood filled room with an already dead young boy.
"This is his fault," a strangely familiar voice whispered to her.
"Whose fault?" She sobbed out incoherently.
"Endymion's."
"No." He wouldn't. "This isn't real anyway." She lashed out.
"That's what you think."
She woke up panting from the dark dream. The woods were draped in an all-consuming
darkness and beside her Endymion lay still sleeping, his breathing soft and regular. Her
eyes narrowed in on him, the large comforting frame, belonging to a man of strength. It
wasn't real, she told herself. She knew Endymion well enough to know he would never
do anything like that. No, despite the realistic quality to her dream it was completely
false. It had been a figment of her imagination.
Her dreams were darker, more intense and she was starting to fear where they were
leading her. Endymion's presence had mysteriously disappeared from her dreams ever
since he had shown her how to open up the lock. She was completely alone in this battle,
against the phantoms residing in her mind.
Endymion stirred, throwing one heavy arm on top of her. He pulled her closer, so she
was crushed against his chest. Suspicious Usagi studied his face, but his eyelids hadn't
fluttered, and it seemed the motion had been unconscious. A bitter thought escaped her.
He was probably used to sleeping with a woman. She bit her lip, tasting salty tears.
Soon though, they would reach the Keeper, and they would sort out this entire mess.
Endymion would find Serenity and Usagi would go home. But of course, even that
wasn't simple anymore. Usagi wasn't sure she wanted to find Serenity, or go home for
that matter. She sighed. When had things gotten so complicated?
Frustrated, Usagi tried to dislodge herself from his embrace, without waking him up. She
gently peeled back each finger from around her waist and tried to hoist the heavy arm off
her body. The motions only seemed to rouse him into wakefulness. One minute he was
dead asleep and he was regarding her with sleep-misted eyes.
"Where are you going?" His deep voice was husky. She shrugged. She didn't really
have a specific place in mind; she just wanted to get away from him. How easy it would
be to throw herself in his arms, seeking oblivion. But where would that lead her? She
knew the answer to that question. It would lead her to sin and Endymion to adultery.
"Ask him how he lost Serenity," the voice whispered to her. She must have jerked at
unexpected disturbance, because Endymion was looking at her with a baffled expression
on his face. She dropped her face into her hands, cradling her head.
"Are you all right?" Endymion asked her.
She was hearing voices while she was awake now too. Now she was the crazy one.
"Yes, I'm fine." She wondered if her voice sounded a little strained.
"Ask him." The voice hissed at her.
"No." She hadn't realized she spoken out loud, until she saw Endymion raise his
eyebrows.
"Are you sure, you're O.K.? He propped himself up on an elbow to assess her.
"I'm sure. I just need...." What she really needed was a good dose of an anti-psychotic
drug. "...I just need to use the bathroom."
He nodded and lay back down. Relieved, Usagi moved away from him and into the
woods, away from his unsettling presence. Panting, Usagi leaned up against a tree. What
was happening to her? Her fingers bit into the bark as she waited for the voice to come
again, but all she heard was silence. After several minutes she was ready to laugh at
herself. She was foolish. She was definitely overreacting. She ran trembling fingers
through her tangled blond hair.
Deep breathes Usagi, she told herself. You haven't lost it yet. Gradually, she began to
calm down. But that was unfortunately when the vision hit her.
She was back again, holding the bleeding, dead boy, clutching him to her heart. Except
this time he wasn't quite dead. She gazed, adoringly into those chocolate brown eyes,
praying softly that his soul wouldn't choose to leave him just yet. He was so young,
around her brother's age of thirteen. His skin was still smooth, unmarred by time's angry
caresses. It was really unnerving how closely he resembled Shingo. Usagi couldn't get
over this strange twist of fate.
His chest was rising and falling just barely. Each intake of air was a struggle. His
eyelids flickered shut, once and than twice. He was giving up.
"Please." Usagi begged him. He smiled then, just a quick lifting of the corners of his
mouth. The fingers of his hand closed around her own.
"Oneesan." He whispered softly, slurring the word in his pain.
The Usagi holding him didn't blanche. But it was like she was watching herself from a
distance. The other Usagi, the distant one was shocked and confused. That Usagi would
have reacted visibly. The Usagi holding him though, clutched him tighter, tears dripping
from her eyes.
"What happened? Who did this to you." She muttered, bitterly.
"...Doesn't...matter..." The boy was having a hard time getting the words out. His face
was drawn, and pale from the loss of blood.
"How can you say that? Of course it matters." Usagi was indignant.
"...the...truth...hurts..." The boy gasped and than choked. His eyes rolled up into the
back of his head as he fainted. And a few seconds later the boy's breathing stopped
altogether. Usagi looked up then, saw the bloody footprints leading to the doorway where
a man stood.
Dark hair brushed the collar of his jacket. Even from across the room she could discern
the piercing blue color of his eyes. His sword was still drawn, dripping blood. He hadn't
bothered to wipe it off. It could only be one person.
"I couldn't save him." He said mournfully. His large frame shook.
"You couldn't save him?" Usagi shouted angrily. "Endymion, you've killed him!" Her
arms cradling the boy began to tremble.
"So I have." The sword clattered to the ground. He was staring at his hands in disgust.
Their eyes met for a brief instant and then Usagi was jolted back into reality.
She was still gripping the tree like it was her last anchor to sanity. The bark was digging
into her fair skin and scratching it. She sighed heavily as her brain attempted to process
all that she had seen.
Could she even trust these visions that she was having? Were they simply figments of her
imagination or her own insanity? Or could these visions actually have happened at some
point in time? She didn't know. And the uncertainty was killing her.
She took a couple more minutes to gather herself together before she returned to
Endymion. She figured he'd probably start to get suspicious if she stayed away from him
or too long. Sure enough, by the time she returned he was wide-awake and pacing
impatiently, in a diagonal pattern across the clearing.
"What took you so long?" He asked clearly agitated, unconsciously running a hand through his sleep tousled hair.
Usagi sighed and tried to think of a plausible excuse that did not include visions or
unseen voices in her head. She finally just countered with another question.
"Why, was I gone for that long?"
"Long enough to make me worry." He seemed to be waiting for an explanation; an
explanation Usagi was unwilling to give him.
Usagi decided it was best to feed him a bit of the truth. "I've been having disturbing
dreams, I was just recovering."
Endymion jerked, looking visibly ruffled. He grabbed her arms, clenching them tightly
in his urgency. "How long have you been having these dreams?"
Usagi's eyes widened, she bit her lip. His hands were bruising her arms. "You're hurting
me."
He loosened his grip, but the urgency was still there. "How long?" he demanded.
"I don't know. Maybe a couple of days." Usagi didn't understand why he was getting so
agitated.
He released her abruptly, Usagi staggered off balance for a few seconds. He looked
positively anguished; there was a feverish look in his blue eyes.
"I just knew this would happen," he said.
***
pleased with the responses I've gotten or I probably would have just dropped this story
all together.
I wrote this after reading several slightly disturbing pieces of literature on serial killers,
and assassins. I'm pretty sure you'll be able to see the influence these books had on my
writing, because all of a sudden this story gets a little heavier or cornier (whatever your
take)
Also for those of you who are unfamiliar with Japanese, "Oneesan" used later on in this
chapter means sister.
Don't forget to review and tell me what you think.
Chapter 6
The blood swirled around, her pooling into a lake of dark red, as she knelt on the dirt
floor of the hut. It was seeping into her clothes, and staining the pale, whiteness of her
skin. She covered her eyes in fear. She tried not look, not to see, but she couldn't help
her wandering gaze. Out of the corner of her eye she could see a hand, lolling, muscles
relaxed. She traced it up the broken body of a dead boy.
It looked like Shingo. Yet, it couldn't be Shingo. Usagi had left him safely at home, with
her parents. His expression was one of shock, his unseeing eyes staring upwards, as if he
hadn't really expected to die. The gash in his throat was still gushing blood; she reached
out to stanch it, as if she could still save him. Sobbing, uncontrollably, she continued
with the futile effort, but the blood just kept coming. Oh God, the blood. There was so
much of it. In her panic she cried out.
She looked around for someone to help her, anyone, but the hut was empty. The only
evidence of anyone ever being there was a bloody trail leading out the door. She was
alone in this blood filled room with an already dead young boy.
"This is his fault," a strangely familiar voice whispered to her.
"Whose fault?" She sobbed out incoherently.
"Endymion's."
"No." He wouldn't. "This isn't real anyway." She lashed out.
"That's what you think."
She woke up panting from the dark dream. The woods were draped in an all-consuming
darkness and beside her Endymion lay still sleeping, his breathing soft and regular. Her
eyes narrowed in on him, the large comforting frame, belonging to a man of strength. It
wasn't real, she told herself. She knew Endymion well enough to know he would never
do anything like that. No, despite the realistic quality to her dream it was completely
false. It had been a figment of her imagination.
Her dreams were darker, more intense and she was starting to fear where they were
leading her. Endymion's presence had mysteriously disappeared from her dreams ever
since he had shown her how to open up the lock. She was completely alone in this battle,
against the phantoms residing in her mind.
Endymion stirred, throwing one heavy arm on top of her. He pulled her closer, so she
was crushed against his chest. Suspicious Usagi studied his face, but his eyelids hadn't
fluttered, and it seemed the motion had been unconscious. A bitter thought escaped her.
He was probably used to sleeping with a woman. She bit her lip, tasting salty tears.
Soon though, they would reach the Keeper, and they would sort out this entire mess.
Endymion would find Serenity and Usagi would go home. But of course, even that
wasn't simple anymore. Usagi wasn't sure she wanted to find Serenity, or go home for
that matter. She sighed. When had things gotten so complicated?
Frustrated, Usagi tried to dislodge herself from his embrace, without waking him up. She
gently peeled back each finger from around her waist and tried to hoist the heavy arm off
her body. The motions only seemed to rouse him into wakefulness. One minute he was
dead asleep and he was regarding her with sleep-misted eyes.
"Where are you going?" His deep voice was husky. She shrugged. She didn't really
have a specific place in mind; she just wanted to get away from him. How easy it would
be to throw herself in his arms, seeking oblivion. But where would that lead her? She
knew the answer to that question. It would lead her to sin and Endymion to adultery.
"Ask him how he lost Serenity," the voice whispered to her. She must have jerked at
unexpected disturbance, because Endymion was looking at her with a baffled expression
on his face. She dropped her face into her hands, cradling her head.
"Are you all right?" Endymion asked her.
She was hearing voices while she was awake now too. Now she was the crazy one.
"Yes, I'm fine." She wondered if her voice sounded a little strained.
"Ask him." The voice hissed at her.
"No." She hadn't realized she spoken out loud, until she saw Endymion raise his
eyebrows.
"Are you sure, you're O.K.? He propped himself up on an elbow to assess her.
"I'm sure. I just need...." What she really needed was a good dose of an anti-psychotic
drug. "...I just need to use the bathroom."
He nodded and lay back down. Relieved, Usagi moved away from him and into the
woods, away from his unsettling presence. Panting, Usagi leaned up against a tree. What
was happening to her? Her fingers bit into the bark as she waited for the voice to come
again, but all she heard was silence. After several minutes she was ready to laugh at
herself. She was foolish. She was definitely overreacting. She ran trembling fingers
through her tangled blond hair.
Deep breathes Usagi, she told herself. You haven't lost it yet. Gradually, she began to
calm down. But that was unfortunately when the vision hit her.
She was back again, holding the bleeding, dead boy, clutching him to her heart. Except
this time he wasn't quite dead. She gazed, adoringly into those chocolate brown eyes,
praying softly that his soul wouldn't choose to leave him just yet. He was so young,
around her brother's age of thirteen. His skin was still smooth, unmarred by time's angry
caresses. It was really unnerving how closely he resembled Shingo. Usagi couldn't get
over this strange twist of fate.
His chest was rising and falling just barely. Each intake of air was a struggle. His
eyelids flickered shut, once and than twice. He was giving up.
"Please." Usagi begged him. He smiled then, just a quick lifting of the corners of his
mouth. The fingers of his hand closed around her own.
"Oneesan." He whispered softly, slurring the word in his pain.
The Usagi holding him didn't blanche. But it was like she was watching herself from a
distance. The other Usagi, the distant one was shocked and confused. That Usagi would
have reacted visibly. The Usagi holding him though, clutched him tighter, tears dripping
from her eyes.
"What happened? Who did this to you." She muttered, bitterly.
"...Doesn't...matter..." The boy was having a hard time getting the words out. His face
was drawn, and pale from the loss of blood.
"How can you say that? Of course it matters." Usagi was indignant.
"...the...truth...hurts..." The boy gasped and than choked. His eyes rolled up into the
back of his head as he fainted. And a few seconds later the boy's breathing stopped
altogether. Usagi looked up then, saw the bloody footprints leading to the doorway where
a man stood.
Dark hair brushed the collar of his jacket. Even from across the room she could discern
the piercing blue color of his eyes. His sword was still drawn, dripping blood. He hadn't
bothered to wipe it off. It could only be one person.
"I couldn't save him." He said mournfully. His large frame shook.
"You couldn't save him?" Usagi shouted angrily. "Endymion, you've killed him!" Her
arms cradling the boy began to tremble.
"So I have." The sword clattered to the ground. He was staring at his hands in disgust.
Their eyes met for a brief instant and then Usagi was jolted back into reality.
She was still gripping the tree like it was her last anchor to sanity. The bark was digging
into her fair skin and scratching it. She sighed heavily as her brain attempted to process
all that she had seen.
Could she even trust these visions that she was having? Were they simply figments of her
imagination or her own insanity? Or could these visions actually have happened at some
point in time? She didn't know. And the uncertainty was killing her.
She took a couple more minutes to gather herself together before she returned to
Endymion. She figured he'd probably start to get suspicious if she stayed away from him
or too long. Sure enough, by the time she returned he was wide-awake and pacing
impatiently, in a diagonal pattern across the clearing.
"What took you so long?" He asked clearly agitated, unconsciously running a hand through his sleep tousled hair.
Usagi sighed and tried to think of a plausible excuse that did not include visions or
unseen voices in her head. She finally just countered with another question.
"Why, was I gone for that long?"
"Long enough to make me worry." He seemed to be waiting for an explanation; an
explanation Usagi was unwilling to give him.
Usagi decided it was best to feed him a bit of the truth. "I've been having disturbing
dreams, I was just recovering."
Endymion jerked, looking visibly ruffled. He grabbed her arms, clenching them tightly
in his urgency. "How long have you been having these dreams?"
Usagi's eyes widened, she bit her lip. His hands were bruising her arms. "You're hurting
me."
He loosened his grip, but the urgency was still there. "How long?" he demanded.
"I don't know. Maybe a couple of days." Usagi didn't understand why he was getting so
agitated.
He released her abruptly, Usagi staggered off balance for a few seconds. He looked
positively anguished; there was a feverish look in his blue eyes.
"I just knew this would happen," he said.
***