Aria and Yomi hurried home without a word, casting glances at the streets around them. The sky was darkening and droplets of rain were starting to hit the ground, proving Aria right about Yomi's assumption of the day. Every time that girl said it would be beautiful – every time!
It wasn't long before the girls arrived at the house that belonged to the Suzumiyas. Shuddering from the sudden cold, Aria walked in. Yomi went to follow her, but the Japanese girl froze and looked to her left.
"Someone's out there," she said. "Excuse me, sir, do you need help? It's going to rain in a bit."
Aria rolled her eyes. Now it wasn't going to rain. Damn Yomi and her opposite-weather powers...
The man walked closer to them and Yomi continued to try and get his attention. He didn't respond to anything she said and continued walking toward them, limping slightly. "Sir?" Yomi asked. "Do you need help at all?"
Without warning, the man shot out and grabbed tightly onto Yomi. Aria jumped away from the door and called out for her, earning curious questions from Daisuke and Junko, who were apparently in the living room. The man opened his mouth wide and tried to force Yomi to the ground. Aria subconsciously reached for one of her belt loops and pulled out one of the old daggers she'd brought with her to Japan. Just as the man sank his teeth into Yomi's shoulder with a sickening crunch, Aria rushed at him and stabbed the dagger into his head, instantly killing him. The man fell to the ground, motionless, and Aria led the traumatised Yomi inside.
"Yomi!" Junko panicked. "Yomi, baby, are you okay?"
Daisuke stood beside his wife as he watched both of the girls, mixed emotions in his face. Every time he looked to Yomi, there was worry and panic. But every time he looked at Aria – confusion and fear.
Yomi wiped away some tears that were trickling down her face. "He didn't bite deep, I don't think," she squeaked. "Should we call an ambulance?"
Daisuke nodded firmly. "For all we know, that man could've been rabid," he muttered. Aria raised a confused eyebrow. She was pretty sure that rabies couldn't be passed from person to person – just animal to animal or animal to person. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry...
"Should I go get the bandages?" Aria asked the parents. Junko nodded frantically as she cuddled her daughter tightly, beginning to cry along with Yomi. Aria, while feeling awkward about the situation, left the room immediately and made her way to the kitchen, pulling the medicine box from the top of the fridge.
"Yomi?" she heard Junko say. "Yomi! Dai, something's wrong with her!"
"Yomi!" Daisuke said. "Yomi, wake up!"
Aria hurried out of the kitchen and joined them again, witnessing something odd. Yomi was out cold, eyes closed and breathing halted. Taking another step toward them, Aria held out the medicine box.
"She could've passed out," she suggested. "From the shock of it, I mean."
Daisuke and Junko didn't listen, only focussing on their daughter. The teenager's eyes fluttered open, and then she coughed up a spray of blood as she sat up. The blood sprayed all over her mother's clothing and part of her face, but both of the parents were smiling.
"Baby!" Junko celebrated. She hugged her daughter once again. Yomi wheezed out a weak breath and stared blankly at Aria and Daisuke, and then she opened her mouth wide, clamping her teeth down on her mother's neck. Junko screamed in pain, causing Daisuke to snap and run out of the house, laughing hysterically. Aria just stood there and watched, horrified by the sight before her. Daughter devouring mother, watching her the whole time. Aria tried to move away, but Junko grabbed her ankle in an attempt to get her to help. Aria kicked the hand away, too scared to see if Junko would do the same as Yomi if she survived the bite.
Dropping the medicine box, Aria made a dash for her room. She closed the door and locked it, making sure no one had followed her up the stairs. Satisfied, but still shaken by Junko's now loud screams, Aria made her way to her bed, pulling the suitcase out from under it. She unzipped it quietly and pulled out the first thing that would make her feel safer – the old sword that had been in her family for generations, apparently originating from China. It wasn't hard to believe, what with the style and sturdiness of the sword.
Tucking a bit of orange hair behind her ear, Aria reached into her bag and grabbed another dagger, tucking it into the same spot that the last one had been in. She then tied the rope of the sword's sheath around a belt loop and made her way for her wardrobe, gulping. There were worse things to worry about now than small spaces, it seemed.
Hearing something banging on the door, she opened the wardrobe and climbed in, crouching down as she closed the door. The darkness was much to take in, but at least it stopped her from seeing how small the space was. She could still feel it, though – still feel the horrible, stressful, air-depriving, small space she was in. But at least she could get out this time.
Some time passed before Aria heard the door crash open. She held her breath as she heard the heavy, limped footsteps enter the room. They came closer and closer to the wardrobe, continuing toward her. There was a thud against the door, and Aria flinched. It was the boot of the car all over again. Thud, thud, thud. Help, help, help.
Aria squeezed her eyes shut and cradled her head in her hands, fighting back a whimper. She would not let them know she was in there. She would not let them find her so easily.
More footsteps entered the room, followed by someone clearing their throat. The thuds stopped and a loud wheezing came from whoever was at the door. Aria opened her eyes and lifted her head slightly. The slice of metal meeting skin filled the room, followed by a body being rammed into the doors of the wardrobe. Aria cringed as a sword's blade went through the door, right in front of her face, and felt like gagging when she saw blood dripping off the tip.
Oh joy, she thought. More reasons to add onto my claustrophobia.
The sword withdrew and a body slid down in front of the door. Footsteps went back to the door, followed by what sounded like a sword being sheathed.
"You can come out," a male voice said. Aria jumped slightly, gripping her sword tightly. She pushed open the wardrobe door and stood, ready to fight. The sight of Yomi and Junko, lying dead on the floor, caught her off guard.
The guy moved toward Aria, cautious and curious. "You weren't bitten, were you?" he asked.
Aria glanced up at him, shaking her head. His purple eyes watched her, caution gone entirely but the curiosity still remaining.
"I'm Alec," he said, holding out a hand. "Alec Takahashi."
Aria took his hand and shook it, unsure of whether or not to trust him. "I'm Aria. Aria Lambert," she replied. "Got a full name or were your parents lazy enough to just call you Alec?"
He didn't seem intimidated by her tone. "Full name's Alexander," he said. Aria nodded.
"I think Alec's better," she noted. He nodded and glanced at the sword in Aria's hand. He didn't say a word – just like Aria would've preferred – and then turned around, waving.
"I guess I'll see you 'round, Aria," he said, leaving the room. A breath caught in Aria's throat. He was leaving her? Why? Not that she liked the fact that she owed someone her life, but she couldn't survive this! Not on her own!
Yes, you can, a little voice in the back of her head said. Do you know what the perfect first step would be? Kill Alec and search his supplies. Step two would follow along the lines of running, yes?
Aria felt herself pale. Sometimes she hated that little voice in her head. She hated it so much...
"Alec!" she called, moving out of the room. She made sure not to touch either of the bodies. "Wait!"
She caught him just as he was turning into the kitchen and knew she had a look on panic on her face as she balled her hands into fists at her sides. Alec turned around when she joined him, looking about ready to raid the fridge.
"Problem?" he asked, a lazy look replacing his curious one.
Aria almost felt like she was hyperventilating. "C-Can I come with you?" No – kill him here and take his things; survive!
Alec's lazy look disappeared. "Seriously?" he scoffed. She nodded nervously. "If you want to come, why do you look so scared?"
Swallowing a snap, she said, "I just climbed into a freaking wardrobe to hide from my friend and her mother. On top of that, your sword nearly went through my face." She let out a breath, her nervousness obviously gone. "And you have the nerve to ask what I'm so scared about?"
Alec's hand rubbed the back of his neck, his expression thoughtful, and he turned to the fridge, opening it quickly.
"A rational person would say, 'What if there are more people like that out there?' but you didn't. You didn't even mention it." He pulled out a bottle of water. "I'm guessing you're still recovering from being in a closed space, so I'm gonna go with claustrophobia." He glanced at her. "Yeah?"
Aria scowled. She didn't answer at a risk of losing her temper, and simply nodded when he raised an eyebrow in a demanding gesture.
"Fine," he sighed. "Come along, if you want. You'd better know how to use that thing."
He was pointing to the sword at her side as he took a sip of the water. Aria rested a hand on the hilt confidently, smiling now. "Not even five minutes and you've already underestimated me," she told him. He grinned and pulled out another water bottle, chucking it to her with his free hand.
Looking down at the scenes below, one word came to mind for Mei: Damn. All she'd been doing was sunbathing – which ended in her sleeping – and now look what was happening! Chaos was right in front of her!
She stood up and frowned, glaring down at the street below, and then crept over to the edge of the roof. If this was happening outside the house, who knew what was going on inside the house? She ran a hand through her short, fluffy hair, letting out an amazed breath. Everywhere, people were screaming, shoving, biting, groping, twitching, convulsing... The list could go on.
Damn. That was one word that cycled over and over in her head. Damn, damn, damn!
Gritting her teeth, she dared a peek down at one of the windows. The door – the front door – had been forced open, what with half of it off its hinges, and nothing else could be heard over other people screaming for help outside. Mei crouched down and hung her head over the edge, trying to peer into the window of the balcony. She stared at the glass, taking in the splatters of blood coating it and the people screaming for help on the other side.
One of the people not screaming walked to the window, ramming into it lightly. A small crack appeared, and then the person rammed again. The glass cracked further, and before long it broke apart, allowing the person access to the balcony. Mei quickly brought her head back up and scrambled back to where she had been lying, waiting for the guy to come after her. Was this going to be like that movie? What was it called, again? She knew the creatures she was thinking of were called Reavers, and that these things sure as hell reminded her of them.
She risked another peek and inched forward, just barely finding the shape of the person on the balcony. She gulped and inched back, unsure of what to do.
Something normal caught her eye – something acting more human than the guy on the balcony. She had long white hair, some of it sweeping to the left at the front, and it began to wave a bit at the ends. Mei couldn't see her face, not even when the girl looked up and lifted a finger to her lips, silencing her in one gesture. The girl unsheathed what looked like a samurai sword and entered the house quietly, and before long Mei could hear the sounds of bodies falling, all of them falling under her.
She leaned over to check to see if the guy was still there, but he was turning around, limping back into the room. Mei swallowed a lump in her throat, wondering what Sword Girl was going to do. Just as the guy went inside, he was suddenly thrown outside, followed by the snowy-haired girl slashing at his face with her sword. His face peeled and half of his inner-head was exposed as he fell back and over the balcony edge.
Awesome.
The girl walked out onto the balcony and sheathed the sword, jumping up and attempting to climb up onto the roof. Mei immediately reached for her hands and pulled her up, finally getting a good look at the girl. She looked about sixteen – the same age as Mei – and was dressed in a saturated purple tank top and jean shorts, as well as shoes of the same colour of purple. Her hair was away from her eyes, which were a deep sky blue, framed by the lashes.
"Thanks for helping me up," she whispered with a smile. Mei blinked, then smiled back, suddenly tightly wrapping her arms around the girl.
"You are so cute!" she squealed. "Cute, cute, cute!"
The girl wasn't moving. "Okay..."
"I'm Mei," Mei introduced, still keeping a grip on the girl. "What's your name?"
"I-Izanami," she replied. "Feel free to call me Iza. Uh, can you please let go of me now?"
Mei let go of Iza, still amazed at how adorable she was.
"What now?" Iza asked her, seeming confused.
"Why are you asking me?" Mei demanded. "You're the one that killed all those freaks."
Iza sighed and looked down at the scene in front of them. It didn't seem to be getting any better down there.
"Why don't we just stay here until it dies down," she suggested, nodding toward the road. Mei couldn't agree more with her.
"Kozan," Wendy asked. "Where are we going?"
Her brother didn't reply straight away, a strained look on his face as he guided Wendy out of her school.
"Do you want me to treat the bite?" she asked him. Kozan pushed open the door that led to the front yard of the school. Why wasn't he answering her? He continued to guide her, more half-dragging, half-pushing as he walked out the gates and broke into a sprint. Wendy struggled to keep up with him, but still managed to run at his side.
"Wendy, you need to be very quiet," Kozan muttered. "Okay?"
Wendy nodded without a word and followed her brother, gasping at the sight before them. There was so much blood on the street and so many people were walking around aimlessly, moaning and wheezing as thought they were sick with something. For all Wendy knew, they were sick with something.
They all had chunks of skin missing somewhere, the wounds barely bleeding anymore, and Wendy couldn't help but steal a glance at her brother. Did this mean he'd been bitten? No, he'd be like one of them if he had been. Maybe a dog attacked him or something.
Kozan started to lead Wendy toward an empty section of the street, ushering her toward a left turn. Once they reached it, they started to run once more. So many questions were attempting to burst out of her, but Wendy kept her mouth shut and concentrated on running, scared of what would happen if she suddenly asked something.
The continued on the path, now passing people that were like the ones from before as well as people being bitten by them.
"HELP ME!" a woman screamed desperately. "FOR GOD'S SAKE, HELP!"
Wendy went to stop and turn around, only to have Kozan's hand grab hers and drag her away. Why was he ignoring the woman? They could help her, couldn't they?
Kozan kept her leading her away from the crowds of cannibalistic people, dodging to the sides when one walked past them. He seemed to look a bit sicker.
They stopped running for a moment, sucking in deep breaths as they tried to figure out what to do, and then Kozan suddenly started running again. She has no idea where he was leading her, no matter how hard she thought about it. They passed a small pothole in the road, filled almost completely with thick red blood. The colour reminded her of the colour of her hair.
Two more stops and three crowds of dying people later, they arrived at a quiet street. Kozan was looking worse for wear, though. He slumped down onto his knees and began gasping for air, choking on each breath as though he were about to vomit. As though something was coming up, but not out.
"Kozan?" Wendy squeaked, kneeling by his side. Kozan pushed her away, something finally spilling out of his mouth. Blood.
"Run, Wendy," he rasped. "Get away from me."
"What?" Wendy was confused. Didn't he brother want her there, to help him? "Why?"
"One of 'em bit me," he said. "I'm–" He was cut off as he choked and coughed up a spray of blood, creating a messy line of red in front of him. "I'm changing."
Tears welled up in the twelve-year-old's eyes. She was going to lose her brother? Now, of all times? Wendy stood up, trying to peek at his face. He was getting paler, turning a sick grey colour. This was wrong – this wasn't supposed to happen to people!
The unexpected happened. Footsteps came from up the street, two sets, followed by two teenagers – a boy and a girl – turning the corner and facing them. They looked the same age as Kozan. One of them had a gun and a sword, the other just a sword.
The girl swore under her breath and attempted to run over, but the guy grabbed her arm and stopped her, staring at Kozan sternly.
"Kid," he ordered Wendy. "Get away from him."
Wendy shook her head furiously. "No!" she shouted. "I won't leave my big brother!"
Something flashed in the girl's light lilac eyes. Wendy didn't know what it was. Sympathy? Did she feel that she could relate to the child? Wendy thought it was absurd. The guy frowned and let go of the girl's arm.
"I'll take care of this," he said, almost grinning. It made Wendy shiver with fear. Was this boy even human?
The girl took a turn to grab his arm. "And let you take all the glory?" she scoffed. "Nah. I'll do it. I'm not really good with upset girls anyway. I assume you are?"
The guy frowned, frustrated. "Fine," he sighed. "Take the gun and do it."
She scoffed again. It was like they'd forgotten all about Wendy and were focusing on who got to kill Wendy's brother.
"I'll use my own stuff, thank you," she said, almost teasingly. At that, she reached behind her and pulled a dagger from under her shirt, the shiny metal blade reflecting the scene before them. The girl walked over effortlessly, taking her time, and stood before Kozan. Wendy went to charge at her, but the boy had appeared out of nowhere and scooped her up.
"Better not look, kid," he muttered, trying to hide her eyes. Wendy fought back and tried to see what the girl was doing. She already had the dagger pointed at Kozan's throat.
"Anything you want to say to your sister?" she asked. Kozan looked up, wheezing a breath and smiling, the blood around his jaw making him look like the Joker.
"Be good, Wendy," he wheezed. "Grow up strong. Don't get bitten. Live longer than I did."
Without warning, the girl's dagger was thrust into Kozan's temple, leaving him falling to the ground sideways with the hilt of the blade sticking out of his head. A scream, a cry, all noise to be made was caught in Wendy's throat. She stopped struggling against the boy and just stared at Kozan's motionless body. The girl knelt down and carefully pulled the knife out of Kozan's head, flicking the loose drips of blood onto the ground.
"Almost makes me wish I'd worn my black jacket," she muttered. She looked to the boy. "Hey, Alec, lend me a sleeve."
"Why?" Alec asked, sounding as though he didn't want to.
The girl rolled her eyes and walked over to him, snatching his wrist and wiping the two sides of the dagger onto his sleeve of his jacket, the blood barely visible among the black. Wendy watched the two of them carefully. It took Wendy a moment to realise that the two had almost the same eye colour. The boy was certainly taller than the girl. Were they...?
"Are you related?" she blurted out, unable to stop herself.
The girl froze just as she went to put her dagger back in its original place. Alec tried to hold back a laugh as he put Wendy down.
"I should bloody well hope not!" the girl growled. "Do I look half-Asian to you?"
"You look like a freakin' ice queen crossed with a hothead," Alec laughed. The girl stared at him, confused for a moment, and then picked at a lock of her orange hair. What an unusual colour...
"Well you look like you ate one of those static-electricity balls," she growled. Now it was Alec's turn to touch his hair. It was spiked, but not the way the girl had described it.
"At least I don't look like a carrot," he shot back, laughing again. The girl punched his shoulder, more in a playful gesture than a violent one.
Now Wendy was über-confused. Why were they making fun of each other's hair when the girl had just murdered a human being?
"Why are you doing this?" she squeaked. "Why are you acting so...normal?"
"Because blood is the new black," the girl replied cruelly. "You don't like it, just give up."
Wendy stared at her in shock, and it gradually turned into anger. And then sadness. Finally, a deep, depressing reality that she was never going to become used to. Wendy dropped to her knees, tears spilling over rapidly as she covered her face with her hands.
"And now you think we're monsters," the girl's voice continued. Alec sighed.
"At least we're more human than them," he muttered.
Wendy knew that much was true, at least. But she wasn't sure how long that would remain the truth.
Mei and Iza frowned at the sights before them, bored with watching everyone. While the option of continuously hugging Iza was still open, Mei doubted the girl would willingly agree to it. Or find it funny.
"I don't know about you," Iza said, "but I'm kinda bored."
"Who knew the end of humanity would suck so much?" Mei pondered. "Oh, and not with the whole end of humanity itself, just the time it takes for something worthwhile to happen."
"Mmm-hmm."
They continued to watch in a bored manner and eventually began to yawn, wishing something good would happen. It was like watching a movie that went for hours and you didn't think to buy popcorn or even a drink. Mei silently growled at herself. And, like watching movies in that situation, Mei had to sit through it and wait for it to end before getting something to eat.
Something told her that was going to take a while...
Not all characters were introduced, but they will be later on. The reason for the very long wait for this first chapter was because I was spending a lot of time thinking about how this will go and have come up with a pretty good outcome... I think...
Anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter and I hope I can get the next chapter done much quicker and make the rest of the introductions. Also, if I get any characters wrong, please tell me so I can fix it.
~Miki