Some of this will be from personal experience, as I have had an illness similar to Rena in the sense of seeing hallucinations and hearing voices.
Also, there will be references to the TV series 'The Walking Dead' and PS2 game 'Second Sight'.
Enjoy!
True Happiness
Chapter II – Voices, Abilities, and Information
I crashed to the floor, feeling extremely nauseous and as if I would die right then and there.
I guess I hadn't completely healed yet from that incident.
No…I can't die…not here…not now…
I…can't…
No…!
"ARGH…!"
Rings of pale blue light suddenly enveloped me.
And I cried out in fear.
Were my hallucinations back?
Was I seeing things again?
No…wait…is this…real?
But…how is that the case?
…
"That's…so strange…" I shivered slightly but managed to stand up.
"I feel…better…all of a sudden."
That light…
Did it heal me?
I stared at my hands, and realised only then that the scratches I had received from climbing that fence were gone.
"What…what's happened to me?"
I shook fitfully and sank to the floor once more, clutching my elbows and shaking violently.
The sign on the door of my hospital bed swam before my eyes in a blurry outline.
Is this…what they meant by…'experimentation'?
Rena was…being experimented on?
To confirm my fears, I focused my mind on wanting to 'feel better', and all at once, the veils of blue light surrounded me again…and this time the bruises on my knees faded away.
After a short while of nearly hyperventilating at this strange new power, I willed myself to calm down.
This wasn't so bad…if I can just get used to this…then I will be able to heal myself whenever I need to…it's a useful…
"No!"
I screamed and clutched my aching head in absolute horror.
"This can't be happening to Rena! It can't!" I yelled to no one in particular and sobbed hysterically.
"Rena is a normal girl. Rena is a happy girl…she…doesn't have…these mutations!"
I tried desperately to convince my broken body of this horrifying fact that I had acquired psychic abilities and managed to stand back up.
"No…no…" I repeated my comforting thoughts like a mantra inside of me.
But they weren't enough to persuade me.
"Rena has to…get out of here…" I panted once more, and put a foot forward.
As I continued to walk, I gathered my racing thoughts in my aching mind.
So…
Whilst I was unconscious…something horrible had occurred.
The 'Hinamizawa' that was my hometown has now been supposedly wiped out.
For some reason, I survived.
But before all of that happened…I was in a coma of sorts.
And the doctors decided to 'experiment' on me.
And…now…
I've turned into some kind of…monster.
I shook my head vigorously at the thought.
"No, Rena is not a monster! She is not!"
She can't be…
…Right?
I realised with horror that more tears were leaking from my eyes, and hastily wiped them away.
This was no time to be crying.
If I have time to cry, then I have time to find civilisation.
And where there were people…there would be help…
I was sure of that one fact.
…
What I wasn't sure of…
Was why the scars on my neck were completely gone.
"Hinamizawa…that's the sealed off village area, isn't it?"
"Sealed off?"
"Yeah…no one's been allowed to enter ever since the entire village was annihilated by an unexpected eruption of poisonous gas."
"So…you're saying the whole event was a natural occurrence?"
"Well, that's what everyone says. By everyone I mean the news and all…why?"
"Ah…nothing,"
Mamoru Akasaka put down his notebook with a dull thud on his work desk.
"I was just…curious."
"I-Is that a car…?"
A rumbling was heard from far ahead of me, something that sounded like the rolling of wheels on hard gravel.
Was I finally saved?
I ran towards it as fast as I could, waving and shouting upon realising that it was indeed an operating vehicle.
"P-Please wait up! I need help! Hello?"
Thankfully, the driver noticed me and stopped his car, waiting for me to catch up to him.
"You need something, little mi…? Whoa! Are you alright?" The man exclaimed in surprise upon seeing me panting heavily onto the car door, half my body covered in bandages and my skin sweating bullets.
"Y-Yes…I…really need to get to…somewhere where I'll be safe…" I managed weakly, and tried my best to compose myself.
"'Where you'll be safe'? What danger is out there? And where did you come from?" He grew suspicious all of a sudden and peered at me from under his shades.
"I'm from…"
Don't tell him.
"…What?"
"Huh?" The driver blinked and cocked his head to one side, apparently not hearing the hiss of a voice that had been so audible to me.
"You're from…where?"
If you value your life, keep your true identity a secret.
For some reason, instinct told me to listen.
"…From Tokyo…! I'm from Tokyo…I…was on my way to hospital since I…recently had a car crash…and when I woke up, I found myself in an empty vehicle."
The lies were so easy to tell.
Why was that?
…
Whatever the reason, they seemed extremely pathetic to me.
"Oh? You poor thing, that must have been very hard for you." He seemed to buy my story, probably due to the fact that I could barely stand up without gasping for breath.
"Here, get in. I'll take you to a nearby hotel, how's that sound?"
"Y-Yes! Thank you so much!"
Overcome with relief, I shakily opened the car door and seated myself in.
"What's your name, little missy? You really do need to get some food and rest, you look white as a sheet!"
"I'm…Re…"
No.
"…!"
"Is something the matter?" He noticed my silence and started up the engine.
"Well, um…"
"Hold that thought, pretend I didn't ask you. It's not polite of me to poke my nose into other people's affairs." He said good-naturedly.
"If you don't want me to know who you are, that's fine by me. You don't seem like a bad girl to me."
"Th-Thank you…" I sighed softly and leaned into the car seat.
Looking around, I spotted his ID lying next to the cup holder.
Keitaro Ragii.
Officer of Tokyo Police.
He didn't seem like a bad person either.
Maybe I would be able to see someone I knew soon…
And they can tell me what's going on.
"Akasaka! I need you here!"
The young officer perked up and ran over immediately.
"Yes sir?" He asked hesitantly.
"I heard you expressing interest in visiting Hinamizawa again…" The head of police reached for a manila folder with several case files stashed in it.
"And I think I have some information regarding that incident."
"R-Really?" Mamoru cocked an eyebrow and received the sheets of paper with a tattered looking scrapbook.
"Yes…these are actually the files detailing on the case just before the Hinamizawa Tragedy."
"Oh?" He looked up from examining the cover of the scrapbook and gazed at his chief questionably.
"And what incident might that be?"
The man leaned forward with his elbows on his table and furrowed his brow.
"The Hinamizawa Forest Services Hostage Crisis."
"…What's that?" I asked, my heart suddenly pounding unnaturally fast.
He couldn't mean…
"Well, from what I heard…it occurred just a night before that certain incident…"
"Yes…?"
I pretended to play dumb, and decided to uncover the information regarding the first case before asking about the second.
"According to some of the files that I was given to investigate, a young girl with delusional problems took several classmates hostage and poured gasoline all over the floors of the classroom."
I seized right up, but, lost as he was in his thoughts, Keitaro didn't notice.
"Also…she threatened to burn the entire classroom down if her negotiations were not met… Some crazy freak, huh?" He turned to me and offered an awkward smile.
"Y-Yeah…completely insane." I managed to laugh weakly back and pretended that I needed to sleep.
He knew…
He knew about me…
But…he doesn't know it was ME.
The 'me' who was sitting right next to him…
He had no idea who I really was.
"S-So…what happened to that…er…'delusional freak', I wonder?" I asked shakily.
And for some reason, it felt satisfying to address myself with that term.
Yet it also stung bitterly.
"Um…I heard she was taken to hospital, and no one else was badly injured in that incident. She calmed down, and was treated for her illness." Keitaro's expression grew stony.
"Though I also heard that she was still in that village when it was gassed…so she shouldn't be alive anymore."
"G-Gassed?"
We finally arrived on the roads of the city, and he stopped at a red light before turning toward me.
"Yeah, I'm talking about the great Hinamizawa Disaster…you do know about that, right?"
"Er, well. I should… but my memories have been quite hazy ever since the doctors gave me the pain killers." I murmured nervously.
"Well, it's no happy fairy tale." He sighed and leaned into his own seat.
"I can't remember clearly myself, but I think it was several days after the incident I just told you about…what happened was; that the entire village of Hinamizawa was engulfed in poisonous volcanic gas, and everyone in the village perished."
"…"
"The whole incident was caused by natural elements. And there was only one survivor."
"Wh-who's that?" I croaked.
This can't be true.
It just can't…!
"Erm…I believe…it was one of the village head's granddaughters…"
…!
Wh-what did he just say?
…Village head…
Head…
Granddaughter…
My eyes widened as I turned to stare at him.
Mii-chan?
End of Chapter II