Unhealthy Attraction
Chapter 1: New Neighbor
A/N: I'm baaaaaccccckkkkk! Hello everyone and welcome to a trip to the darker side of Harvest Moon fiction. I must warn everyone that this fic might not be appropriate for readers of all ages. Reader discretion is advised. Based on the world of Back to Nature. Also, I do not own Harvest Moon and its characters or anything else I make reference to.
With the legal technicalities taken care of, here is a brief introductory paragraph. Basically, this is a story where Popuri falls for the farmer next door. Slowly, her attraction turns into obsession and she deteriorates into a crazed stalker. Basically, it's the same premise as nearly any other stalker movie, but with a Harvest Moon twist. I hope that at least some people read this and enjoy it. Reviews are very much appreciated. Thanks.
Thoughts and inner voices are italicized, while regular text is normal font
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She was alone, like always. Standing up on Mother's Hill in that exact location where she had first met him. The wind catching her long pink hair and playing with it, laughingly tossing the stray stands across her tear filled eyes. Day after day, she came to this spot and remembered the carefree days of young, when she and that mysterious boy joyfully spent that summer. From out of her quivering lips came a depressing whistle, carrying a tune full of memories of events from long ago.
He had been what she considered her first love. Although she was very young at the time, she knew that something special was developing out of that innocent friendship. The day that he had left had indeed been a sad one for her, but he had made a promise to return one day. Now, after over a decade of waiting, she was ready to give up.
There had been one faint glimmer of hope, but that turned out to be unfounded. A man of the sea, named Kai, showed up every summer. That young boy had never told her his name, so she believed that this Kai person must have been that very same little boy. Kai went along with the story about being the boy that she had met long ago, but she had learned otherwise since. Kai was only a tiny fling to hold her over until her true love returned.
Her name was Popuri. She was the daughter of the owners of the Poultry Farm in her hometown of Mineral Town. Mineral Town is and always has been a quiet, relaxing getaway from reality. Her mother was very ill so her father left town in search for a cure to help her ailing mother. But, her father had yet to return, just like that boy.
"Popuri."
The voice was faint, but yet sounded oddly familiar. "Has he returned, just as he had promised?" She turned, searching for the source of the voice. She was still alone in the tiny meadow. "The voice must have carried with the wind." Popuri told herself, returning to her vigilant, yet lonely wait.
"Popuri!"
This time the voice was much clearer. Once again she turned in the direction the voice had come from. This time, though, a figure was climbing up the hill, heading directly towards her. She tried to get a better look at him, but he was still too far away and appeared blurry to her.
"Popuri!"
"It has to be him!" Popuri told herself as she began running towards the approaching man. The man, seeing her come towards him, held open his arms to greet her. No sooner had he done this and Popuri had buried herself into his warm welcoming grasp. Her eyes were filling with tears as she held onto her lost love.
Suddenly, the man placed his hands on her shoulders and began shaking her roughly. Popuri looked up into his eyes, confused at his sudden twist of personality. Instead of seeing a pair of friendly eyes staring back at her, she was now peering into dark pools of hatred. The frightened girl fought desperately to push away from the abusive stranger. It was no use; he was too strong for her. She opened up her mouth to protest against his treatment of her, but all that came out was a frightened scream. The stranger held up a clenched fist as if he was about to strike her. All she could do was close her eyes and wait.
"Popuri, wake up!"
"What…?" Popuri mumbled as her eyes began to flutter open. She was back in her room, her arms clenched tightly around her pillow. "It was only a dream." She told herself as she forced herself to turn over and look at the person who had awoken her. The figure was dark, with the early morning glare coming through her window, making it impossible to tell who it was.
"Come with me!" The figure grabbed her by the arm and hauled her out of her bed. It was her brother, Rick. It wasn't unusual for her older sibling to wake her up, but today, there was something different about Rick. He seemed to be upset about something.
In one movement, Popuri pushed away her older brother and brought her blanket up to cover herself with. She was still in her nightgown and felt embarrassed before her brother. Luckily, he hadn't seemed to notice. "Get out of my room! Let me get ready and then we can go see what's bothering you!" Popuri ordered as she pushed her brother out the door, slamming it behind him.
"Fine! Don't take too long, this is important." Rick stated from the other side of the door. The sound of his angered footsteps storming down the stairs followed.
Rick and Popuri had never gotten along. They might have been on friendlier terms when they were younger, but things had gotten sour after their father left. Rick claimed that their dad left to find a way to cure their mother's illness. On the other hand, Popuri knew that the jerk had gone off with some cheap fling that had passed through town. Rick was just too stupid and bullheaded to figure out the truth. Popuri often told her brother this. In return, Rick treated Popuri like dirt.
"What's his problem?" Popuri asked herself as she went to her closet. She opened up the door and began flicking through her wardrobe. She carefully considered the collection of dresses that were all the same. Popuri didn't know what it was about that simple outfit, but it drove the boys in town crazy. That was the exact effect that she wanted and it made her feel good about herself.
After nearly a full hour of getting herself ready for the day, she was finally finished. She had nearly forgotten that Rick had wanted her to see something, so she was surprised to see her brother waiting at the bottom of the staircase. Popuri had a confused look on her face as she stepped off the bottom step, passing by her brother. "So... What did you want to see me for?" She asked as she coolly brushed past her sibling and up to the breakfast table.
Rick seemed to have cooled down since getting kicked out of Popuri's room. He calmly placed a palm down on the table, blocking Popuri's path to her utensils. "How many jobs do you have around here?" Rick inquired, leaning over his sister's shoulder.
Popuri carelessly shrugged her shoulders. "Don't know. Maybe five?"
"How about one? All you have to do is make sure that the chicken coop's door is closed and locked and you can't even do that." Rick sneered as he coyly headed towards the front door.
"What do you mean? I shut that door every night!" Popuri protested.
"Except for last night. Come look at what happens when you don't do your job." Rick beckoned for Popuri to cease eating and join him. Popuri hesitated slightly before pushing away her food. Rick had already gone outside and was waiting for her to join him. Sure enough, the chicken coop's door was gaping open. "Go inside." Rick ordered, pushing his sister towards the building.
Popuri shot an evil glare at her brother, sticking her tongue out in rebellion. She was filled with a small feeling of dread as she peeked into the chicken coop. The sight that greeted her was almost enough to make her vomit on the spot. Right in the middle of the coop was the mangled corpse of a hen. "Which one was it?" Popuri asked weakly.
Rick, for some odd reason, was smiling. The smile quickly vanished from his face when Popuri turned to look at him as if he was hiding something. Popuri didn't seem to notice, mostly because her eyes were brimming with tears. "I checked on all the other hens. The only one missing was Pon."
This news devastated Popuri. Pon had been her personal favorite, having raised the hen since it was but a little chick. Now, because of her own lack of responsibility, Pon was dead. It was almost more than she could handle. "I've got to go talk to mom." Popuri stated, turning to storm towards the farm house.
Rick merely smiled as Popuri vanished indoors. He reached down, picking up a bloody hammer, calmly wiping the blood and feathers off the flat surface of the mallet. "That should teach to act more like an adult instead of a child." The older sibling commented as he tossed the murder weapon into the river.
"It isn't your fault, my dear." Those were the first words that Rick heard as he stepped into the farmhouse. His mother, Lillian, was consoling the weeping Popuri. It was obvious, looking at the two women, that they were related, because of the bright pink hair they shared. In fact, it probably would be impossible to tell them apart if they were the same age.
"But it is! I left the hen house door open! I forgot and now, Pon is dead!" Popuri sobbed.
Lillian looked up at Rick for confirmation. Rick merely nodded his head as he passed by on route to the refrigerator. Popuri sneered at Rick as he loaded up a tray of food and carried it with him outside. "Rick doesn't seem to care." Popuri complained, looking up at her mother.
The frail woman merely sighed, shaking her head. "I don't know what I'd do with you two." Popuri looked up, surprised at her mother's comment. Then, Lillian headed upstairs, probably to rest a bit. Her mother was slowly, but surely, growing weaker. This fact scared Popuri, knowing that if something happened to her mother, the Poultry Farm would be left to either her or Rick. She was going to have to really impress her mother and show that she was capable of running the place if she had any hope of being the one to inherit the family business.
Popuri got up from her seat and walked towards the door. She had something on her mind and it needed to be let loose. Popuri took one step out the door, spotting Rick and calling out to him, "Rick!" Rick hardly seemed to react to Popuri's call, acting as if he hadn't heard anything. Popuri stomped up to her brother and turned him to face her. "What is your problem?" She screamed into his face.
Rick gave Popuri a harsh shove, sending the girl to the ground. Then Rick motioned as if he was about to strike his sister across the face, but held his fist back as Popuri flinched. "I guess I'm just trying to get you to grow up by taking responsibility for your actions." Rick muttered before returning to his work.
"Oh, I hate you, Rick!" Popuri yelled, turning her back to her brother and storming away. "Popuri?" Rick called after Popuri, but she made no sign that she had heard him. Rick watched as Popuri made her way past a confused looking stranger and up towards the hot spring. The stranger cast an intrigued gaze after Popuri, almost as if he knew her from somewhere. "Can I help you?" Rick asked, pulling the stranger out of his near dreamlike state.
The stranger acted somewhat surprised by the sudden attention that was being brought upon him. He nervously swept aside a few stray strands of brown hair that had fallen across his face. All the stranger did was smile awkwardly and make as if he was going to leave. "Wait." Rick called out as the stranger turned his back. The stranger turned back towards Rick and waited for Rick to make his request. "Did you see my sister? Can you go find her for me and apologize?" The stranger nodded his head in understanding before taking off the same path that Popuri had taken.
"That must be our new neighbor, Jack." Rick looked over in surprise, seeing his mother standing just barely outside the door. Rick rushed over to his mother's side, "You shouldn't be outside, Mother. It's not healthy for you to be out in the sun." Lillian accepted her son's help as he led her back indoors. Trust Rick to start acting like a little suck-up.
Meanwhile, up on Mother's Hill, Popuri was sobbing her heart out. "I'm sure that I shut that door last night. It's the last thing I do every night, so why would I forget last night?" Popuri asked aloud as if there was someone who was going to be listening to her.
This just happened to be at the exact same time as when Jack was climbing up to the hot spring area. He had overheard every word that Popuri had just said. Deep down inside, he felt sorry for her. Jack walked up behind Popuri and placed his hand on her shoulder.
Popuri slowly turned her head and found herself looking deep into the eyes of the friendly stranger. She could feel her heart start to beat faster and faster as she felt a strange attraction for this person who she had never seen before. "I'm so sad about what happened… but Rick is so mean!"
Jack's eyes showed sympathy as he produced a bouquet of flowers from his rucksack. Popuri immediately accepted the gift, clutching the flowers against her chest. "Thank you. You are the kindest stranger that I've ever met. I'm Popuri." Popuri extended her hand towards Jack. The farmer looked at her for a moment, shrugging his shoulders casually. Then he turned and walked away, leaving Popuri by herself.
The following day, Popuri was watching Jack at work on his farm. Jack was completely unaware of Popuri's unnerving watch as she was leaning over the fence that separated the two farms. A sigh escaped Popuri's lips as her eyes followed the rugged farmer work strenuously away.
"Popuri, you already have a boyfriend. There's no point bothering with that one." Rick warned as he carried out his chores behind Popuri. Popuri merely let out another sigh acknowledging Rick's statement. She couldn't bring herself to look away from the gorgeous man that had her so infatuated.
"Maybe, just maybe, he's that same boy who stayed at that exact farm so long ago. If it is him, I swear that I will do anything to make him remember what we shared."Popuri promised herself, a frightening smile crossing her lips as she continued her vigilant watch over the farmer.
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A/N: There, I finally finished the first chapter. I've been working on this for a long time, but never had the time to complete it. Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know that Popuri isn't as creepy of a stalker as I had promised, but give her time to spiral downwards. Thanks for reading and please review. I promise to update soon.