The Field of Nightmares

by Otakuprincess24

Tsuzuki finds himself in a beautiful garden of flowers. However, Tsuzuki soon learns that appearances can be deceiving and his paradise is transformed into a living Hell.

Title: The Field of Nightmares

Author: Otakuprincess

Fandom: Yami no Matsuei (Descendents of Darkness)

Rating: K+

Genre: Supernatural

Disclaimer: This is just a work of fiction. All storylines, characters, etc. relating to Yami no Matsuei belong to Yoko Matsushita.

Waiting in line at his favorite bakery, Tsuzuki leaned against the wall and began to read over the menu. He always had a hard time deciding which confections to buy, and today was no different. Tsuzuki finally settled on his favorite sticky bun and a slice of strawberry cheesecake. The delightful aromas wafted from the bakery as Tsuzuki walked inside. I've been so on edge lately, he thought to himself as he placed his order. My sleep patterns are also screwy too. I'm always interrupted by bizarre dreams, most of them involving Dr. Muraki. I just wish I knew how to destroy him. After Tsuzuki got his sweet fix, he headed back to the office to see if there were any new leads on Muraki's whereabouts. As usual, he was the last one to arrive at the meeting, and got a reproachful glare from Chief Kanoe. Hisoka looked agitated, well more so than he normally did. There was nothing about Muraki, but Tsuzuki wasn't surprised. The doctor had a habit of making himself hard to find. He always managed to show up whenever Tsuzuki least expected it. But of course, that was all part of Muraki's plan. There really wasn't much in the way of work today, and after puttering around the office all day, Tsuzuki went to his room to try and get to bed early. He knew it was a fruitless effort because chances were he'd be tossing and turning most of the night anyway. Oh well, it's worth a try, he thought as he climbed underneath the covers. Surprisingly, he fell asleep almost instantly. Perhaps it was because he hadn't gotten much sleep lately. Whatever the case, Tsuzuki was finally going to get a decent night's sleep and that was all that mattered.

It was the most beautiful field Tsuzuki had ever seen. Flowers of all kinds stretched as far as the eye could see in every color imaginable. He spotted a path and decided to take a stroll among the flowers. It was such a beautiful day that it seemed a waste not to enjoy it. The path was lined with miniature rose bushes in vibrant shades of red, pink and orange. Tsuzuki inhaled deeply, taking in their sweet aromas. The field itself was full of violets, irises, and sunflowers, just to name a few. The rich shades of purple, yellow and blue blurred together, creating an almost surreal image before him. Up ahead, Tsuzuki saw an old-fashioned gazebo and decided to check it out up close. When he got closer, he could see that it was pretty worn down, eroded by the winds of time. Miraculously though, it was still standing. Even more flowers, including morning glories, which had wound their way up the weathered pillars, surrounded the gazebo. Tsuzuki spotted a sea of color not too far off and walked over to it. Roses of every color and size were spread out before him; he bent down to take in their heavenly scent. The roses were so exquisite that Tsuzuki decided to pick some for Hisoka. The only hard part was deciding which colors to take. After much deliberation, Tsuzuki settled on red and white ones. Red roses were a symbol of love and passion, while white ones stood for peace. Being careful not to get pricked by the thorns, Tsuzuki clipped three red roses and three white ones. His hands felt slippery after picking the roses, but he just figured that it was the morning dew that had not yet evaporated. However, when he looked around, there was not a single drop of water anywhere. Tsuzuki glanced at his hands and screamed in horror when he saw what was on them. Both of his hands were covered with blood, although he didn't remember pricking himself. And besides, a prick from a thorn wouldn't draw this much blood. He took a closer look at the roses in his hands and immediately threw them to the ground as though he had been burned. The roses themselves were bleeding, which Tsuzuki found very disturbing. Flowers don't bleed, he thought to himself, as he looked closer at the rose bushes. He broke off another rose from the bush, and sure enough bright crimson blood began to ooze out from the end of the stem and from the bush itself. Tsuzuki leapt up and began to run as far away from the gazebo as possible. On the way, he tripped on something and hit the ground, hard. "Owww!" Tsuzuki cried out as he rubbed his ankle. Looking around for what he had tripped on, he spotted something white, gleaming out of the corner of his eye. When he got close enough to see it was, he had to do a double take. He had tripped on a human skull. Okay what the hell is going on here? Tsuzuki thought as he started to go into panic mode. He thought he heard a voice calling to him in the distance, but he didn't see anyone around for miles. Sweat started to collect on Tsuzuki's forehead and he felt the drops trickle down the side of his face. He heard a rustling from behind him and turned around, yet no one was there. As soon as he turned forward, he heard it again, only this time it was closer. And once again, no one could be seen when Tsuzuki looked behind himself. This has got to be a nightmare, it just has to be! He thought to himself. All of a sudden, he felt a hand on his shoulder and jumped three feet into the air.

"AHHHHHHH!" Tsuzuki turned around cautiously, in case the intruder was armed. He was looking into the eyes of the person he least wanted to see--Dr. Muraki.

"Hello Tsuzuki. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to frighten you. How are you doing on this lovely day?" Dr. Muraki said with an eerie smile.

Tsuzuki blinked a few times, hoping that Dr. Muraki would disappear when he reopened his eyes. To his dismay, however, the creepy doctor was still standing in front of him. "What the hell do you want Muraki? And what the hell are you doing here? And where for the love of God am I?"

"Tsk tsk Tsuzuki. You're in a beautiful garden. I should have thought that would have been obvious."

"BEAUTIFUL? Maybe you need to get your eyes checked, doctor. The roses are bleeding and there are human bones scattered among the flowers. This is far from paradise. I feel as though I've stepped into my own private Hell. And the fact that you're here just makes me feel even worse."

"Oh Tsuzuki you hurt my feelings. You know how much you mean to me, dear sweet Tsuzuki. This is my heaven. Just you and me--alone--no interruptions. I am finally going to have you and there is not a soul around who can stop me."

As Dr. Muraki came closer and closer, Tsuzuki became more and more frightened. This isn't happening--this isn't happening! Muraki is--Muraki is going to-- Tsuzuki couldn't even finish his thought and before he knew it, Muraki had pinned him to the ground.

"Get off me now Muraki! I said get off! Please, just leave me alone already! Get away from me and get out of here. LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Tsuzuki heard the voice again, the one he thought he had imagined. It seemed to be calling his name, and was getting louder. "Tsuzuki! Tsuzuki! Can you hear me Tsuzuki? Tsuzuki!"

Tsuzuki bolted upright, still screaming for Muraki to get off of him. Light flooded in all around him and he saw someone sitting on the edge of his bed looking worried. Rubbing his eyes, he realized that it was Hisoka.

"Hi--Hisoka? Wha--what happened? Where's Muraki?"

"Muraki? Tsuzuki, you were having a nightmare. I came in when I heard you screaming. It was a scary sight. You had your arms flailing in every direction. I was afraid to come close to you because I thought you might hit me."

"But--but--" Tsuzuki felt as though he lost all ability to speak. He just sat there in his bed, sweat pouring down his body. Hisoka could see that his body was shaking badly. It must have been an awful dream, he thought to himself.

"It's okay Tsuzuki. Don't worry, you're safe now. Why don't you tell me about the dream? It might make you feel better to talk about it." Hisoka could tell that it was difficult for Tsuzuki to get out the words he so desperately wanted to say. This dream obviously frightened Tsuzuki a great deal, and the fact that Dr. Muraki was in the dream as well only made it worse.

"The flowers--the flowers were--bleeding. After I picked them, I saw my hands covered in blood. The flowers were bleeding. There were human bones everywhere. I tripped on a human skull. And Dr. Muraki--he--he--" Tsuzuki couldn't say anymore, and Hisoka didn't push him.

"I'm going to go get you some water Tsuzuki. Just wait here I'll be back in a minute."

Hisoka felt something grab his wrist and saw Tsuzuki's hand around it. "Please don't go. Please don't go Hisoka. Goddamn it, I'm too afraid to even close my eyes. I might see him again--"

Hisoka gave up on getting water and sat on the bed next to Tsuzuki, leaning against the headboard. "Don't worry, I won't leave you, I promise. Just try to go back to sleep okay? I'll be right here in case you have any more nightmares."

"Thanks Hisoka. I owe you one."

Three hours later, Tsuzuki awoke, feeling a lot better. He sat up and saw that Hisoka was propped up against the headboard, sleeping. He stayed with me all this time, Tsuzuki thought to himself as he brushed the hair out of Hisoka's eyes. Not wanting to disturb him, Tsuzuki got up and went to take a nice long hot shower. Feeling almost a hundred percent better, Tsuzuki went back to check on Hisoka but saw that he was gone. After getting dressed, Tsuzuki went to look for his partner. He ran into Watari on the way, and of course Watari looked as cheerful as ever.

"Oh, there you are Tsuzuki. I was just going to look for you. You got a delivery not too long ago. It's in the office."

"Umm thanks Watari." Tsuzuki went to the office, where he saw Hisoka sitting in a chair with his legs resting on the table.

"Hisoka there you are. I've been looking for you. I just wanted to thank you for--you know--staying with me. I really appreciate it."

"Oh no problem, Tsuzuki. I didn't mind." Hisoka blushed, but turned around before Tsuzuki could see.

"So where is this delivery Watari was talking about? He said I received something."

"Oh yeah, it's on your desk. I didn't look at it myself so I can't tell you what it is. Go ahead and open it."

Tsuzuki walked over to his desk and saw a long white box with a red bow tied around the middle. Hmm, I wonder what this could be? Tsuzuki thought as he slid the bow off of the box. When he lifted off the top and saw what was inside, he let out a scream. "Oh--my-- God!" He backed away from the box as if it were poisonous.

Hisoka ran over to his partner. "What's wrong Tsuzuki? What's in the box?"

"Roses."

Hisoka chuckled, "What's so scary about roses Tsuzuki? Maybe you have a secret admirer or something."

"This is no laughing matter. Three red roses and three white ones. Exactly like--"

"Exactly like what Tsuzuki? Help me out here."

"Those were the roses I picked in my dream. Three red ones and three white ones. It's just too much of a coincidence."

"Well is there a card with them? Check to see if it's at the bottom of the box."

Tsuzuki walked back to the box and carefully lifted them up out of the box. Sure enough, there was a gift card enclosed with the flowers. It was written in what looked to be red ink, but the lines weren't thin; instead they were thick and blurred in spots. "Shit. This note is written in blood."

"Blood? Are you sure Tsuzuki? What does it say?"

Tsuzuki swallowed hard and read aloud, "I'll always be watching you."

"Man that's creepy. I wonder who it's from."

"Put two and two together Hisoka. They're from Muraki. That's the only logical explanation. Who else would scrawl such a creepy message?"

"Well the name of the florist is on that card isn't it? Why don't you go there and ask the employees for a description of the customer who bought them."

"You're a genius Hisoka. Come on, let's go." Tsuzuki grabbed his jacket and sunglasses and hurried out the door.

"Wait for me Tsuzuki." As Hisoka ran to catch up with his partner, he imagined what Tsuzuki would do if Muraki really had sent him those flowers. It wouldn't be a pretty sight, that's for sure, he thought to himself as he finally caught up with Tsuzuki.

When Tsuzuki and Hisoka arrived at the flower shop, they stepped inside. Hisoka walked around pretending to be interested in some of the flowers while Tsuzuki went to the front desk. A middle-aged man walked up to help him.

"Can I help you, young man? Is there a particular item you're interested in?"

"No actually. I received a bouquet of roses from this flower shop and I was curious to know who sent them to me. There was no name on the card. Maybe you could tell me what the person looked like."

"I'm sorry young man. I'm afraid I take a lot of orders and wouldn't be able to remember all of them individually."

"Maybe this will jog your memory. There were three red roses and three white ones. Pretty odd combination, don't you think?"

The man seemed to be thinking hard, and suddenly he looked as though he remembered something. "I think I remember one of my employees mentioning something. Hold on I'll get her from the back."

He returned with a girl who didn't look much older than eighteen. "This is Reika. She might have some information for you."

"Hello there. I'm pretty sure I know who you're looking for. He came in and my first thought was that he was an angel from heaven. He was dressed in white from head to toe, and his hair was gray, although in a certain light it looked silver. When he told me what he wanted, I thought it was a little odd but not uncommon. After he paid, I told the other employees what happened. They didn't seem to find it all that strange."

Tsuzuki couldn't believe what he had just heard. Although he guessed it was Muraki, he was hoping that it was only a guess. He really was the one who sent me those flowers. Damn him. Tsuzuki thanked both the man and Reika and rushed out of the store. Hisoka saw his partner leave and ran out to catch up with him.

"Damnit Hisoka. It was him. Muraki. Goddamn him!" Tsuzuki punched his fist against the brick wall of the building where the flower shop was.

"Tsuzuki, I don't know what to say. I can't believe he'd be so bold as to send you those flowers. He had to have known that you'd go checking into it."

"Of course he would. This is all just a big game to him. What the hell does he want from me? Oh hell with this! Let's go Hisoka."

Once they arrived back at the Summons Department, Tsuzuki took one of the flowers and broke the stem in half. When nothing happened, he started laughing. Did I actually think it was going to bleed? Oh man. I've really lost it! He put the roses back into the box and tossed the box into the trash. That's what I think of your flowers Muraki. One of these days, I will destroy you. Tsuzuki walked out of the office and headed back to his room.

Meanwhile, back in the office, the night staff was cleaning up and disposing of all of the garbage. One of the workers gasped as he dumped the garbage out of Tsuzuki's trashcan. The box that contained the roses was dripping with something dark and sticky. It wasn't water, that much was certain. He picked up the box and touched where it was wet. Looking at his fingers, he saw that the substance on the box was, in fact, blood. "Yuck! That's a little disturbing. I wonder how blood got onto this box," he shrugged. "Oh well, not my problem. I've seen way too many unusual things in this line of work, what's one more?" He tossed the box in with the rest of the trash and didn't give it a second thought.