badsaints - I can tell you for free that it's not Ai. Who is it? You'll have to find out
Chapter OneIt was like swimming in syrup.
Eri was trying to wake up but there was something inside her that wanted her to stay asleep. And it was hard to fight it. She felt cold and hot at the same time and was dully aware of being wrapped in something, but the sensation faded in and out so she couldn't be sure. A blanket maybe? Pieces of her memory wanted to slip together, to join into one and make sense, but she was too drowsy to try to encourage them and so her head remained fuzzy.
It was the strangest feeling, to be numb once and then over-sensitive for the next minute but when light and consciousness finally seeped back into Eri's mind, she found that she would much rather stay asleep. Despite the syrupy feeling. Pain was the first thing she remembered. How to be in pain. Her head ached and she could tell that there was a large swelling on the back, but she couldn't remember why.
That is, not much of why. She remembered being thrown into a wall, feeling her shoulders bruise... and those glowing eyes.
The room Eri awakened to was entirely unfamiliar. The walls were too white and the bed uncomfortable but she was glad to be lying down, as the second she tried to sit up a swift dizziness hit her. It turned out that she was cocooned in an overly quilted blanket and it was restricting her movement quite a bit but she was more concerned with figuring out where she was to lament the fact that she couldn't move her arms.
Her senses were closer to full strength after ten minutes of staring at the ceiling and she was about to make a move to detangle herself from the blanket when the door opened.
And in stepped Takahashi Ai.
"You!" Was the first thing that left Eri's lips. The shock and the disuse of her voice combined to form a sound that was a lot less accurate than intended. The Takahashi girl just smiled.
"Good, you're awake. I brought you something to drink." And surely enough she was holding a glass of what looked like some sort of fruit juice. Mistrust pervaded Eri's thoughts but Ai looked genuine enough.
Eri made a grab for the glass and practically poured it down her throat. Ai looked a little amused by this, but said nothing.
"Is this your house?" Eri muttered, testing her voice.
"Mhmm," Ai nodded "this is the spare room. We haven't decorated yet, hence the lack of colour."
"Oh... Wait! Why am I here?"
Ai bit her lip and glanced away from Eri. "I... I found you, unconscious. The alley's not far from here and I don't know where you live."
"Someone attacked me." Eri said simply, looking at her hands. Ai nodded again and the silence became awkward.
A loud thud from what Eri assumed was downstairs disturbed the quiet and Eri looked up to Ai in question.
"Probably Aika-"
"Your sister?"
"No," she said with a laugh. "A friend, she's been living with me for a few years."
"Oh. Um... well, thank you Takahashi-san, but I suppose I should be going home." Eri struggled with the blanket and stood up not realising that she was only dressed in a nightgown. Ai laughed as Eri's face turned quite red.
"Your stuff's downstairs. I'll go get it for you and then you can go."
t.R.h
It turned out that Eri had been unconscious for a little over a day. By the time she got back home it was dark again and she realised that she didn't want to sleep. There was no way she was going back to school for a few days - in fact there was no way she'd be motivated to leave the house unless the sun was dead set in the middle of the sky.
The night was going by slowly and Eri couldn't force herself to drift off. Eventually she gave up and did the one thing she hoped she'd never be bored enough to do of her own volition. Study...
Surprisingly, the time started to move faster when she opened her books and she hoped that wasn't from any form of enjoyment.
It three a.m. when the first crash came. Eri jumped and then immediately stilled.
The second crash was closer and was swiftly followed by a third crash and the glass in the window beside her shattered. Eri threw herself to the ground and covered her head with both arms as the shards scattered across her bedroom. She could feel the edges grazing her arms and it stung like hell.
When the glass stopped bouncing around she looked up and slowly got up and moved towards the door.
She peered into the living room. There was three people there. Two men and a woman and they were hell bent on destroying her home. Eri pressed herself against the wall, hardly daring to breathe.
Peeking around the wall again Eri found that there her front door had been torn off it's hinges and was now lying in two pieces on the floor. That was one of the crashes, Eri supposed as she planned her escape route. With the door displaced the route to the outside, and hopefully safety, was clear.
And Eri took it.
She ran straight for the door alerting the intruders to her presence. Eri heard a shout from behind her, but she ignored it and kept moving.
It all happened in half a second. Eri found herself pitching forwards, her arms flailing, and crashed into the floor, then she felt two sets of hands on her ankles and she was being dragged backwards into the house. And she was screaming bloody murder hoping that someone would hear and come to her aid.
When she could recognise the carpeting in her living room she was lifted up and for the second time in just as many days she found herself thrown into a wall. This time the hands didn't grab her shoulders. No, this time she was seized around the throat and Eri moved her hands to try and peel the fingers away from her neck but her assailant was too strong.
But when the attacker leaned forwards, Eri gasped and her arms dropped - all will to fight suddenly fleeing her body.
Green, her eyes were glowing green. And her shoulders tingled in recognition of the grip that was now around her neck. This was the same woman who had attacked her previously, and she didn't look to be in any better of a mood. "Stay away from Takahashi." The green-eyed woman growled into Eri's face. Eri couldn't respond but it didn't look like this woman was looking for an answer.
The woman shifted and Eri felt her grab her right arm and pull it upwards. She watched in horror as her unusual attacker raised the wrist to her face and bit swiftly into it. Eri felt a searing burn as the teeth broke the flesh on the inside of her wrist.
Eri made a choked sound of pain and tried to fight against the iron grip around her neck, trying to wrench her arm away from the woman's mouth. The woman silenced her with a green glare and continued to bite. Eri felt light headed as she watched her blood well around her attacker's mouth and drip to the floor and white spots started blocking her eyesight.
Finally, when Eri felt that she might not survive this the woman pulled away with a long final lick to the wound. Eri could see that her whole mouth was painted crimson but the woman didn't seem to be bothered by it. Feeling sick at the sight, Eri was barely listening when the woman made her final threat.
"If I ever see you with Takahashi again, you won't be so lucky."
Then suddenly she was gone, taking the other two with her.
Topic: The Red Heart [Chapter Three] (Read 4092 times)