@kawaii beam - Thank-you so much!
Great to see you again!
@rndmnweird - Thank-you for understanding AND missing me
@Beecubed - Wow, that really means a lot to me and I'm very pleased that you're starting to warm up to GakiKame! (What's not to love?
)
WARNING: SWEARING (Just for those that care
)
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The In-Between
My breath hitched as my eyes shot open and I woke up. I could feel my body go tense, a heavy layer of sweat covering me. I quickly began to try and calm myself by taking deep breaths, but I couldn't get rid of the image. I turned onto my back and placed my arm over my forehead as I stared up at the blank ceiling.
"That dream again..." I breathed out.
Ever since I was young, I've been able to see things that other people can't. Things that aren't really alive, but they have all the traits that define "living". Even though I say 'things', it's more like people. Don't get me wrong, they're not the living dead; far from it. I don't quite know how to explain. They're like a whole other race of being that live with us on this Earth, but we can't see them... except for me. Why? I'm not sure, but it doesn't bother me anymore. I'm so used to these beings that sometimes I get them mixed up with humans. Yes, sometimes I mistake them for humans even though they have some animal features and slightly glow.
"Eri?" I asked out into the darkness of my room.
Nothing happened. I let out a weak laugh and slid my arm over my eyes. Tears fell down my face to my lips where it felt like they tried to get rid of my weak smile. I lay there weeping.
"Who am I kidding? She doesn't even exist," I lied to myself.
More tears fell and I wasn't going to stop them. They streaked down my face, leaving a burning trail.
"FUCK!" I yelled with a tear-stained voice. "
FUCK!"
"
Risa."
I could still hear her voice reply in my mind. I still remembered her face, every single detail. Her sparkling eyes, her cute little fang, her hair...her lips.
"Why you?!" I screamed.
It had been three weeks since I has last had any contact with her. Two weeks since I found out that she had been taken. Taken by those bastards!
I bit my lip as I remembered what Eri's older sister, Ai-chan had told me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As I collapsed onto the sofa, I couldn't get rid of the uneasy feeling I'd been having all day. I had been able to shrug it off for most of the day, but I couldn't help but wonder. Did I forget to do something important? Maybe it was my time of the month.... Once again, shrugging off the uneasy feeling that covered my whole body, I could feel myself slipping away into sleep.
I shivered as I began to dream, it was horrible. I was surrounded by darkness and all that I could hear were the painful screams of a girl...of Eri.
"ERI!!" I would scream.
I could feel her pain seeping into me. My whole body ached, unbearably so. It felt like I was being killed from the inside out. I threw up blood over and over again as each throb of pain weakened me. I wanted to die, to escape the pain, but I couldn't. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't wake up from the nightmare. Not until Eri's blood-stained body flashed in front of me and she screamed, tears pouring down her face.
I screamed as I shot up awake from the sofa. The tears wouldn't stop.
"Eri...no....Eri...." I whimpered. I was suddenly aware of the faint blue glowing figure in front of me. Tears blurred my vision.
"Eri?" I asked out in disbelief.
"Gaki-san!" the voice called out. I instantly recognised it.
"Ai-chan..."
"G-Gaki-san...t-they took her...they took Eri! They found out about you and her, s-so they burst in last night a-a-and..." her lip quivered. I was frozen in place. My blood went ice cold. I felt like I was going to throw up.
"WHAT? WHAT DID THEY DO TO HER?!" I screamed desperately. The dream flashed in my head. Her blood-chilling screams of pain.
"They raped her! Right in front of our eyes! We tried to help her but they bound us and we couldn't use any magic! They began to h-hack off her feline ears and her tail. I-It was horrible....I-I-I..." Ai-chan wailed, her voice cracking.
"N-No..NO!!"
"...I-I-I'm so s-sorry Gaki-san...."
"NO!!!" I screeched.
"T-They're going to kill her."
"NO!! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" I screamed while crushing my ears with my hands.
It was the worst night of my life.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It's all my fault...." I whimpered. "If I just hadn't fallen in love with you. If I just hadn't been able to communicate with you....If I just hadn't existed..."
My body shook.
"If I just hadn't existed," I repeated, "...If I just hadn't existed."
My eyes were bloodshot and stinging, but none of that bothered me. I slowly began to move, edging out of my bed, my whole body aching. I had nothing to remind me of Eri, only my memories. No human camera could catch her image, her beautiful face.
Shivering, I ran from my room, from my apartment, and from my pain. The rain pounded down, drenching me in seconds. My tears merged with the rain. If only I could merge my world with Eri's. I ran out onto the road without any second thoughts.
I wanted this.
No... I
needed this.
It all happened so fast. I couldn't feel the pain. Nothing can ever compare to what I felt in my dreams; the slow torture, the blood chilling screams.
I opened my eyes and felt the bitter taste of blood wash over my tongue. I heard the screeching of wheels before all fell silent apart from the slow patter of the rain hitting the tar. The cold rain made me lonely and only one person could fill that empty space. More tears fell. I lolled my head to the side, my last look at Earth as I knew it. My breath hitched. I scoffed. This was a joke, right?
"Now I'm hallucinating, again," I choked out staring at the glowing figure. Those ears, that tail, that figure... They stepped towards me.
"
Risa."
Eri's voice replayed in my mind, each time louder. The figure stood above me. As they slowly bent down I could now fully see their face. She was smiling so innocently.
"E..Eri..," I breathed out. She smiled and stood back up.
"Yo," she sweetly greeted.
"Eri...I thought that you were..."
She only smiled.
"Am I dead?" I asked.
She let out a small laugh and shook her head.
"No, Risa, you're not dead," she replied.
"Am I still in the human world?"
Again, she shook her head. So, if I wasn't dead but not in the human world, then....
"Did I transition?"
"No."
"Eri...this doesn't make any sense. If I'm not dead, but not in either of our world's, then where am I?"
She giggled.
"Honestly Risa, I'm here as well, you should be asking "where are
WE". By the way, come here, I want to show you something."
"What? Can't you see that I'm lying here dy-" I stopped speaking half-way. I could actually feel my body, and it wasn't hurting. I glanced down to look at my body and I was perfectly fine.
"But- Huh?"
I shoot up, confused.
"EHH?!" I waved my arms about and ran in a circle, trying to make myself believe that I really was fine. "This doesn't make any sense, Eri!" I walked over to her.
"It didn't make any sense to me either," she said before signalling for me to walk over, "until I saw this."
I felt my breath hitch as I looked out off the bridge we had come to be standing on. A huge field of gold was engulfing the land, making it glow perfectly in the warm sunlight. My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw my race and Eri's race chasing each other, playing, laughing.
"B-But I thought that I was the only one who could see your race," I stuttered out in disbelief as I heard the joyful laughs of the little children and adults.
"Me too."
Eri took me down to the field of gold and we stood there, a small breeze cooling our skin. Smiling at me, Eri playfully stuck her tongue out at me, enticing me to chase her. I obliged. Catching her, she obviously not running at her full potential, I gently tugged on her arm, causing her to spin and fall down. Embracing her, we both softly rolled down the small hill, laughing. Landing underneath her, I felt a true smile come to my face. I felt a strong, tingling sensation on my hand. It was Eri. We looked at each other, deeply staring into the others eyes. Leaning down, Eri caught my lips with hers in a sweet kiss that had a power that surged through my whole body. We separated and I was shocked to see tears falling from her eyes, but with a smile on her face.
"Risa, we're in the in-between. We can live together here forever," she choked out happily past her tears. I smiled sweetly up at her as I began to stroke her hair.
"Un," I nodded, "RisaEri, together forever."
I placed my hand on her cheek. I beamed the best smile I could and gently pulled her head closer. I leant into her ear and whispered the most important sentence in my life.
"
I love you, more than life itself."