Purgatory
Rated: PG-13 for some language.
Genre(s): Drama and romance.
Author's Notes: BAH. The original chapter was deleted, right when the going was getting good. So I apologize now for the delay in getting this one posted. Anyway, please review, and thanks so much to those who already have!
The beginning didn't come out as well as I'd hoped in the rewritten version. I just couldn't replicate the way I'd originally intended Kurayami to make her entrance, even if she'd just going to be a minor character.
That, and I just realized I've been spelling Tatsuya's name wrong for the past chapters. I substituted the 'a' with an 'e'. Baka! ::Smacks self on the forehead:: Oh, well, it's not anything too terrible.
And so, without further ado, here's chapter four of Purgatory! (Sorry for lack of action this chapter. The next chappie will bring all that, promise!)
---
Night had fallen, but she had barely taken notice.
Already? This day passed by so fast.
Upon closer inspection, she realized that the moon was a thick, deep, blood red color. She shivered.
Damn, something bad is going to happen. It's a bad omen.
Kurayami rubbed the golden cross hanging about her neck feverishly with her index finger and thumb, praying silently that nothing horrific would transpire upon her before the night was out. She traced a hand over one of many pentagrams scribbled with charcoal on her apartment's walls, feeling a sense of relief.
Relax, Kurayami. Your room is completely free of the supernatural. You couldn't be safer.
Besides the pentagrams, at least twenty dream catchers hung from the ceiling, many directly above her bed. Garlic draped over large, makeshift wooden crosses decorated the mantel above the fireplace, a horseshoe was suspended from a nail above her front door, and the carcass of a black cat sat atop her nightstand, a disturbing reminder to any felines of a certain color to stay away from her. Far, far away.
She wondered why people always seemed a bit frightened of her whenever she invited them up to her apartment.
Sipping her green tea idly, Kurayami's nervous green eyes darted about her two-room home. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing up. Was something watching her? Or was it just a warning of something bad to come...?
She shrieked and spilled a bit of her tea on her lap when there came a harsh knocking upon her front door. She squeaked.
Who could possibly be here at this hour?!
"W-Who is it?" She called, trying not to sound as afraid as she was feeling.
The person on the other side responded almost instantly. "Kura, it's me. Masao."
Kurayami Kirishima blanched. "Onii-chan? I thought you were--"
"I was. They... let me go free. Now, let me inside, I'm freezing!"
"H-Hai!"
She obediently allowed her twin brother entrance. Masao hurriedly shuffled in, giving the outside hall a swift, almost jittery glance and slammed the door behind him. After hanging his coat up, he turned to her with a warm smile.
"Onee-chan, I've missed you," he murmured, embracing her.
"I did, too, but..." She stepped back, holding her brother at arms' length. He eyed the cross dangling from her neck. "They just let you out of the mental ward?"
Masao didn't answer. He just turned to her fireplace and took interest in the bulbs of garlic. "So you're worried about vampires now, too?"
"Masao-onii-chan..."
He took no heed of her nervous tone. "Look, Kura. I need a place to crash for a few nights. I won't bother you for over a week, more than likely less than that. Could I please stay here?" Turning, he addressed her once more with a coy smile. "After all, isn't that what siblings are for?"
---
The room was dark, and she was alone.
Those were the first two things Kira Kashino realized when she awoke. She instantly wanted to be unconscious once more due to the horrible pain in her stomach, but she didn't let herself pass out again.
I'm in the hospital. What happened? Where is everyone?
"Unh..." A hand flew to her forehead as a sharp twinge pierced her temple. Trying to remember what had caused her this agony was difficult and she didn't believe she was up to the task in her current physical state.
Curiosity getting the best of her, she swung her legs off the bed and slowly got to her feet. Everything spun about her for a bit, and her knees felt like they'd been turned to mush, but she regained her bearings quickly.
It seemed as though she'd been injured relatively severely, and who knew how long she could have been out cold on that bed. So where in the world were her friends, her family, her husband? Rei, why aren't you here with me? She bit her lip, and almost allowed tears to come to her eyes. But no, she wouldn't let herself weep. She was too prideful to cry like some spoiled child.
Gasping, her knees buckled beneath her without warning. She grasped the nightstand, which she had conveniently been leaning against, just barely saving herself from falling to the cold tile. When she was level with its wooden surface, however, she found herself staring at a yellow piece of scrap paper attached to an opaque vase.
"Kira—
I went out for a while to get myself a pillow to use to sleep in your room tonight, because that chair hurts like a bitch. I'll be back soon, though I doubt you'll be reading this... just in case. You know I'd never leave you alone. Love you.
--Rei"
Kira instantly felt like smacking herself. What a fool! Rei could be naïve as anything sometimes, but he'd never just leave her stranded in a foreign hospital room like that. He cared too much about her. She should know that. Kami-sama, did she feel guilty for even insinuating that he'd left her in here alone.
She sat on the tiles, playing with a wrapper that had fallen stray from a nearby garbage bin. Someone she knew had attacked her, she could recollect that much. Her hand flew instinctively to the wound on her stomach.
Her abdomen was screaming in pain; he had stabbed her before going for her throat.
That's right! He had used a knife, and then attempted to suffocate her.
Well, that explains my current state of affairs, she thought sarcastically.
Before she could delve deeper into the troughs of her mind, however, the oak door in the front of the room slowly creaked open, and in stepped a sight for sore eyes.
Rei's vision didn't adjust to the dim lighting right away, so he had to feel his way over to his chair, which was quickly becoming like a second home for him. He didn't notice the beaming Kira lying on the floor at first; no, the first thing he realized that her bed was empty.
"Kira-chan?!" He gasped, dropping the paper bag he'd been hauling all the way to the hospital. He desperately patted the indentations her body had left on the mattress.
"Err, Rei-kun?" Her voice was weak and dry, signaling that she hadn't used it in quite some time.
Reeling, he searched around for her. It only took him moments until he laid eyes upon her, smiling brightly up at him.
"You're awake!" He laughed aloud, tightly embracing her. She gave a small mew of pain, and he quickly released her. "Oh... gomen nasai, lost my head for a second, here, lemme help you into bed..."
He swept the petite girl into his arms and placed her down onto her bed sheets.
"Jesus, Kira-chan, I thought I'd lost you. Never do that to me again, you hear?" He kissed her on the lips before she had a chance to respond to his gentle scolding.
She grinned as much as her body would allow when she was able. Now that her husband was back, she felt as though she could take on anyone and anything that could possibly oppose them. She was safe.
----
Doctor Hisiashi wrung his weathered hands together, biting his lip. "Oh... so you mean he's still on the loose?"
The chief of police glanced down as his clipboard, expression giving away the fact that he dealt with things like this excessively. "Yeah, he killed the nurse and ran. Little bastard destroyed the corpse pretty wholly, too. Missing some entrails and--" He saw an elderly woman wheeling her crippled husband down the hallway adjourning them glance at him in horror, and he lowered his voice. "You get the idea. But don't worry, I doubt he'll come back to the scene of the crime. I don't think any murderer, little kid or not, would be stupid enough."
The corridor leading to the janitorial closet where Nurse Hamazaki had been killed had been roped off to anyone except for hospital personnel. The culprit was Masao Kirishima, of that they were sure. He'd left evidence of that for them left and right.
Chief of Police Ichigami had a smug look upon his face that night when he brought his silver Mitsubishi's engine to life. Kirishima would be caught within days. There was nothing to worry about.
After all, what's a dumb kid like him got on the Japanese police force?
A/N: Wow, I just barely got through that chapter. xX I wasn't too thrilled with the outcome. Sorry if you found this one kind of boring, I'll make the next one more interesting, promise!
That being said, please review!