Chapter 1:

Chihiro carefully placed the bouquet of flowers on her parent's grave and sent up a silent prayer to them. With her new job she hadn't had the chance to visit their grave since their funeral two years ago. Not that she could forget the accident or the dark days following it. They had been on their way home from her graduation dinner when a drunk driver had hit them from behind throwing their car into the busy intersection. Two cars struck them crushing the car and the occupants within. Chihiro's parents were killed on impact, but Chihiro was only knocked unconscious. When she awoke later in the hospital, she only had a few bruises and a small mark where her favorite purple hair tie had broken against her wrist. It took Chihiro months to come to terms with their deaths and the guilt she felt for surviving. Standing up and brushing the dirt off her knees, she began the walk back towards the hotel where she was spending the night. The class reunion was going to be hosted at the local ryokan near her old house, but all of the hotels near it were already completely booked. Chihiro wondered if it was even worth attending since she hadn't had any close friends in school and doubted anyone would remember her. However she had taken off work to attend so she reasoned that an appearance was necessary.

Chihiro sipped her beer gingerly as she watched her classmates talk in groups around the room. Dinner had passed quickly thanks to the small talk floating around her table, but it hadn't taken long for all of her tablemates to wander away after they finished eating. It was nice to see everyone again, but it was hard for her to make small talk when the visit to her parent's grave was still on the back of her mind. Chihiro's vision was blocked as her old classmate Tsukasa-san sat across from her at the table.

"I see you are still as antisocial as ever, Ogino-san. Are you having a good night," she asked before taking a long sip of her beer.

"As good as could be expected I suppose," she replied as her eyes continued to wander around the room, "I think I might head back to my hotel soon. It is getting late and I have to drive back to Tokyo tomorrow morning."

"I can't believe people still confuse us. Nakamura-kun actually thought I was you when I went to get a drink from the bar. Anyone with half a brain could tell us apart." Chihiro nodded her head in agreement as Tsukasa-san rattled on about their apparent differences. Despite their similarities in appearance, Chihiro lacked the bubbling outgoing personality that always flowed from her classmate with ease. She preferred to sit back and watch the others instead of interact with them. Their frivolous worries and shallow personalities had irritated her when she had first moved into town with her family, but it was easier to say nothing and be ignored than to insult the crowd and be ostracized. She hadn't thought of them since she moved to Tokyo and began her work as a manager at an international toy company.

"Maybe if he wasn't so drunk I would let him take me back to the hotel, but after he mistook me for you he would have to get on his knees and apologize."

Realizing that she would go on for the rest of the night if Chihiro would let her, she decided to excuse herself politely instead. Making a slow circuit, she said her goodbyes to the classmates she remembered and gave her thanks to the old student council members who had been gracious enough to put the event together. With her greetings done, Chihiro grabbed one last beer from the bar before making her way to the coat room to get her purse. Ignoring the couple sloppily kissing in the stairwell, she grabbed her purse from the rack and gave her thanks to the okami-san before stepping outside into the warm summer air. Finishing her beer quickly, she threw the bottle in the trash before starting towards the road back into town. A loud thud of flesh meeting wood stopped her in her tracks and Chihiro looked back to the shadows on the side of the ryokan. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she recognized Tsukasa-san pinned against the wall of the ryokan by her neck as Nakamura-san hovered over her.

"This isn't her fools. Kill her. We can't have any witnesses," a gravelly voice sounded from Nakamura-san's mouth. Chihiro's eyes widened in horror as a black shadow seemed to pull out of Nakamura-san and snap Tsukasa's neck. As the body slid to the ground, Chihiro backed away in fear. The shadow retracted back into Nakamura-san and his head rolled to stare at her with hungry red eyes.

"Found her." His words broke Chihiro's shock and she began to run. Peeling off from the road, Chihiro zigzagged through the woods as footsteps followed after her. Stopping shortly to catch her breath, she could hear the footsteps crashing closer.

"Chihiro darling, stop running. We need to talk!" Taking off running again, she spotted what looked like a tunnel ahead. Deciding to hide on the other side of the tunnel, she was surprised to see light coming out from the other end of the tunnel. Stumbling out into a bright, empty room she marveled how much it resembled a train station. She couldn't recall a train station out in the woods or frankly anything other than woods for miles in this area of town. The immediate crunch of gravel reminded her of the need to hide. Jogging quickly out onto a platform, Chihiro nearly stopped in shock when she saw a river and the lights of a small town across it. There was no river for miles as far as she could remember. Wondering if she was hallucinating, Chihiro hid behind the end of a bench and held her head as she prayed that he wouldn't find her.

"Chihiro, Chihiro, Chihiro," the gravelly voice drawled, "You will never be safe from us as long as you live." Squeezing her fists tight, Chihiro prepared to fight as she watched his feet getting closer to the bench. A loud roar resounded and Chihiro's head whipped around to see a large white and teal dragon diving towards her from the night sky. Curling up in a ball, she felt the wind rush past her. Peeking up over the bench end, she could see the dragon ripping into Nakamura-san with sharp claws. Standing up and backing away, Chihiro watched as the dragon tore him apart limb from limb with ease. Deciding to take the chance to escape while the dragon was occupied, Chihiro eased herself to the edge of the platform with the intention of jumping off onto the tracks below. If she was lucky it would connect with a platform on the other side of the train station and she could escape back through the tunnel unnoticed.

However the sound of tearing flesh stopped as her bottom touched the stone platform. Looking back over her shoulder, Chihiro was under the intense scrutiny of the dragon's green eyes. The dragon began walking slowly towards her as it carefully observed her. Stopping a few feet away from her, she felt herself tremble as it bowed its head towards her. Bowing her head back towards it, Chihiro looked up to see the last bit of dragon disappearing into a man. Lifting a bloody hand towards her hesitantly, he asked quietly, "Chihiro?"

His green eyes were the last thing Chihiro saw as the world spun around her and she slipped away into the darkness.