Chapter 9 Hotaru's silence

Hotaru shivered and cowered under the table. A few feet away laid her father's body. "Papa..." The little girl whimpered as she watched the pool of blood expanded.

Gunfire was heard, just outside the building. Hotaru covered her ears and squeezed her eyes shut. Then, a loud explosion shook the entire building and the little girl screamed.

Everything seemed to be happening at once. The air was starting to get hot and smoke was creeping in. Hotaru was paralyzed. She knew what she had to do, but she couldn't move.

It was getting harder to breathe now. Hotaru gasped for air, as panic engulfed her entire body...

All of a sudden, everything seemed to shake. Things were falling off the shelves, windows were shattering...as if things couldn't get any worse, the dead body on the floor rolled over and got up.

"Papa?" Hotaru widened her eyes. She wanted to run into the safety of his arms, but his blank stare stopped her in her track.

Hotaru opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out...

Papa was only a few inches away now. He staggered and dragged his broken left leg behind, leaving a trail of blood. Closer and closer, Papa raised his arms and moved towards the little girl...

"Ahhhhhhhhh"

Hotaru jolted awake and opened her eyes. She turned and saw Chibiusa staring at her with concern.

"Are you okay? Did you have a nightmare?" Chibiusa climbed onto the bed and gently coaxed Hotaru to lie down again.

Hotaru nodded. Still shivering, Hotaru pulled the blanket up to cover her shoulders. She had relived that night over and over in her dreams, but it was still scary each and every time.

"Do you want me to stay here with you?"

The traumatized girl nodded again. She grabbed onto Chibiusa's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Okay. Just a warning, I snore. If I am too loud, just kick me." Chibiusa laid down next to Hotaru. "Good night."

Hotaru closed her eyes and sighed with relief. Chibiusa put a hand on Hotaru's shoulder and started to gently pat her. Pretty soon, the two girls drifted off. Thankfully for Hotaru, it was a dreamless sleep.


The next morning, Hotaru woke with a smile on her face. She put one hand on her forehead and realized her fever was gone. Next to her, Chibiusa was starting to wake, stirring and murmuring…..

She felt something under the blanket and she pulled it out. It was Chibiusa's stuffed animal. A black cat with a crescent moon on its forehead.

"Her name is Luna. Mama bought it for me for my 10th birthday." Chibiusa rubbed her eyes and then smiled. "She is my lucky charm and she keeps my nightmares away."

Hotaru smiled back and stroked Luna's soft fur. If only she was a real cat...

Just then, a gentle knock was heard and the door was pushed open. Michiru-mama poked her head in and gasped in surprise. "Chibiusa..."

"Good morning, Michiru." Chibiusa jumped out of bed and ran to gave the woman a big hug.

"Did Hotaru have the nightmares again? Did you keep her company for the whole night?"

"Yup. I chased the bad dreams away...I think." Chibiusa looked towards Hotaru for confirmation.

Hotaru nodded emphatically and then beamed at her new friend. She then quickly gestured to Michiru that her fever was gone and then pointed outside.

"You want to go out and play already?" Michiru-mama came over to double check. "Okay, young lady. You know what, maybe a little sun would do everyone some good. Let's pack up our breakfast and bring it outside? We can have a morning picnic."

"Yay." Chibiusa jumped up in excitement.

An hour later, the three of them laid on the beach and sighed happily. Michiru-mama had made some excellent breakfast and Hotaru rubbed her belly in contentment.

"Michiru, can we go over there and explore?" Chibiusa pointed to a patch of not-so -dense forest.

Michiru hesitated. "That might not be a good idea..."

Hotaru couldn't hide her disappointment. Truth was, she wanted to spend some alone time with Chibiusa and not to be watched over by an adult all the time. Her pout was not missed by her new mama and Michiru relented.

"Okay, don't go too far. Stay within shouting distance." Michiru said in her stern voice.

Hotaru nodded quickly. She grabbed Chibiusa's hands and started to run. Last time she was in the forest with Haruka-papa, she found a huge field of wildflowers. She thought of bringing a friend here, but she didn't have any back then.

"Where are we going?"

Hotaru looked back and winked. That special spot felt like paradise. It was so pretty and so peaceful, she couldn't wait for Chibiusa to experience it too.

When the flowers came into view, Hotaru turned around and beamed at her friend. She saw the wonder that appeared on Chibiusa's face and it filled her heart with joy.

"Wow. Wow." Chibiusa laughed as she ran through the field and started to chase a butterfly. Hotaru joined in.

For a brief moment, Hotaru felt like her old self again. She looked at her new friend and thought, maybe this new world wasn't too bad after all.

"Hotaru, look. Ladybugs. Oh, oh, I found worms." Chibiusa came running back, dangling the earthworm right in front of Hotaru.

She giggled and ducked away. She bent down to pick up a weird looking bug and was ready to chase Chibiusa down with the new creepy crawling. When she turned around, however, her face paled.

Chibiusa was gathering up a bouquet of flowers now. Distracted, she didn't notice the danger behind her.

Two zombies had staggered out of the forest. They were slowly walking towards Chibiusa. Hotaru ran towards her friend and waved her hands wildly.

Chibiusa looked up, smiled and waved back.

Hotaru shook her head and tried to wave her hands again. The zombies were getting closer. She couldn't get there in time...

"Run, Chibiusa. RUN!" The words tore out of her throat in desperation.

It took a full second for Chibiusa to get over her shock. She then turned and stared up at the monsters' faces.

The scream came and rocked the entire forest. Hotaru wasn't sure if it was hers or Chibiusa's.