"T-Teru...I'm sorry," Kurai uttered, slowly drifting awake from her slumber. Her mouth covered with drool, hair disheveled, and eyes feeling heavy.
"I have to prepare breakfast for my family," Kurai thought.
She forced open her heavy eyelids with her hands. As she was about to stand up, she noticed a blanket that was midnight-blue, soft and thick, resting cozily on her.
That was when reality hit her; she wasn't home. She had left her family behind and fell asleep on Lady Caltheris.
"Where am I?" Kurai thought, starting to become alarmed, she pulled off the blanket.
She scanned the area for any dangerous items, but boy, was this place a wreck!
The paint on the walls was begging to be peeled off, and the shutters were shuddering.
The atmosphere wasn't filthy, but it had a putrid smell in the air, impossible for Kurai's lungs to consume.
Spider webs hung in the corners, and tons of shoes in the genkan were scattered, covered in dust.
"Where the hell am I?" Kurai thought once again, "Who brought me here?"
Kurai began to overthink and thought about scenarios where Lady Caltheris had been kidnapped, and whoever kidnapped her had decided to kidnap Kurai too, just in case Kurai was pretending to be asleep.
Shaken by her imagination, Kurai wasted no more of her precious time; she had to get rid of that kidnapper and keep Lady Caltheris safe.
Kurai was scared out of her wits; she hadn't been in a situation like this before.
She was sheltered her whole life, that now she was exposed to the dangers of the real world, she couldn't help but feel appalled.
Desperately, Kurai shoved her hands in her small purple handbag, in hopes of finding her phone, but found none.
Kurai trembled with fear.
"I can't possibly go out unarmed..." Kurai whimpered as she peeked through the half-open door.
The small handbag dangled across her chest, and that's when an idea struck her.
"Hai! Thank God I always wear my handbag! I'll pose myself to look all cute and innocent, it'd be impossible for the kidnapper to resist, and when their guard is down, I'll wrap the strap on my handbag around their neck and pull hard and watch as they gasp for air," Kurai beamed, "Hah...I scare myself sometimes."
Fully opening the door, Kurai trudged down the stairs.
Her face spiked with horror.
Knives, ammunition, and all sorts of illegal items were prettily sitting on a wooden table.
There was still no trace of Lady Caltheris.
Antsy began to course through Kurai's veins.
"Please tell me they didn't force those drugs down Lady Caltheris' throat, then disposed of her body in a shrub like they do in the horror movies!" Kurai screamed and quickly covered her mouth.
She had a habit of speaking what she thought of out loud because keeping everything on her mind had become overbearing, and she desperately needed someone to talk to, and Lady Caltheris was her last hope, but all her hope had been lost.
And now she had been left with nothing.
"No!" Kurai's eye twitched. "I did not run away from home to die alone, cold and hungry in some old kidnapper's house. That's pathetic!"
Her gaze fell upon the ammunition. No, she couldn't possibly do it. Would she?
Kurai carefully picked up the gun with a stern look on her face.
"I no longer have a family, and I no longer have friends, tell me what else do I have to lose?"
Hehehe
Kurai dolled a smile.
Perfect.
Just a perfect little Guinea pig waiting for her all along.
Kurai slowly but surely turned the doorknob but it was locked.
"Fuck..." Kurai whispered under her breath.
Kurai was too agitated to care about the door being locked, and she could have simply made a run for it.
I mean, where else could she run off to?
Her family? Gone. Friends? Gone.
And she was basically a wanted criminal; she had to be a fool to be a saint and report the horrific scene to a couple of cops.
They would take one look at her and arrest her.
Besides, to Kurai, the justice system was rigged. If she were to make a report, the kidnapper could escape by the time the police gets there, and track her down to kill her too.
She wanted to murder that kidnapper in cold blood, and she was going to get what she wanted, one way or another.
Bang bang
"Open up~ It'll be a shame to wreck this place some more~"
Silence.
One thing about Kurai is that she hated silence when she was alone, and she wasn't going to put up with this kidnapper.
After all, abandoning her family and running away only to die alone, cold, and hungry in some old house was triggering her.
She had to find whoever kidnapped Lady Caltheris.
Her finger swiftly danced about the gun as she toyed with the trigger, but didn't dare to press it...yet.
Her fist banged on the door harder than before, enough to send the sound of her fists vibrating off the walls.
"Kurai!"
Kurai's heart stopped.
That elegant voice, that voice with such words speaking back to her.
Is it God who had let her be able to hear her voice again?
"Have you come from heaven to speak to me again?" Kurai teared up.
"What are you talking about?"
The doorknob turned, and Kurai tensed up and poised her gun, awaiting the kidnapper's arrival.
"Kurai! Why are you pointing that gun at me?"
"Lady Caltheris!" Kurai exclaimed, "By God's grace, you're alive!"
"And you'll be dead soon if you don't tell me now why you are holding a literal gun to my face."
After going back and forth explaining what had happened, Lady Caltheris cackled.
"You...you thought I got kidnapped," Lady Caltheris said through her final cackles.
"I mean, yeah...I don't even know how I even got here."
Lady Caltheris got up from the table and pulled out her business card.
"I'm Lady Caltheris, you could technically call me the CEO for Nightmare Fuel because, well, this was nightmare fuel, wasn't it?"
"I mean, yeah, I was accidentally going to kill you because I got scared..."
Lady Caltheris cracked up.
"This house I have taken you in isn't any ordinary house; it is a house full of elegance and courage."
"Not sure how having illegal stuff is considered elegant..."
"Like I was saying before you rudely interrupted me, this house is elegant, for inside it dwells children just like you who strive for a new beginning!"
Kurai looked back at the table.
"A new beginning? Does it have to do with this stuff?" Kurai wondered.
"Now, lassy, don't be frightened, I know what's best for you. Murder teaches people lessons, drugs make the world go round and round, and make us money!"
"Isn't that dirty money though? And I was going to kill because I thought you were the kidnapper, you technically are though...and here you are talking about money."
"Whether someone is good or bad doesn't excuse killing, Kurai."
In that moment, Kurai felt something was off about Lady Caltheris.
Though her words were soothing to the ears, the meaning felt like knives prickling at her, but she had no other choice but to listen; she was basically being held at gunpoint.
People who are involved in crime are known to be apart of some sort of huge organization.
Only God knows what this Lady would do to her if she got her mad. She tried to hide her antsy and played along.
"Come meet your new sister!" Lady Caltheris called.
A bunch of children swarmed the living room, each coming from every direction. Left, right, center, it was impossible for Kurai to escape now.
"Hi sister, we hope you enjoy your stay at Nightmare Fuel, once a stir to the fire, always will be." Their voices roared.
"Thanks," Kurai awkwardly replied.
She hadn't been used in the presence of so many children in so long.
This really was nightmare fuel.
One thing to note, that they're wearing designer clothes, which were nowhere close to Kurai's casual style.
They looked straight off those social media reels, which one may claim to be enticing.
But to Kurai, all she saw was their pain stitched to their skin, arms begging to be free from constantly having to be associated with violence.
There was a particular boy who caught Kurai's attention. Kurai could tell he was wearing excessive makeup because when she was looking around at the other children, his hand brushed roughly against his cheek, revealing a slightly different tone.
Kurai squinted her eyes at his cheek, noticing his skin condition. She was a bit confused what it was at first until she made it out, vitiligo, it looked rather unique so she kept staring, her mind wandering on possible reasons why he would want to hide such a beautiful thing.
The boy's eyes searched for a way to avoid the long stare Kurai was giving him, but he was failing miserably.
Apart from all this, his hair was impeccably styled, dark and glossy, with every strand falling perfectly in place and his face flushing with embarrassment.
"I see you have met Gengyo, he's quite a timid one, you two look like you will get along."
Gengyo took a peek at Kurai and when Kurai noticed, she put up her hand to wave but he turned his head away quickly and covered his face, trying to make himself small as possible.
The rest of the children snickered and whispered.
"What race even is he? Looks...weird."
"Seriously, it's like some kind of...freakshow makeup!"
Kurai didn't dare breathe.
Was this fantasy of a "family" a gimmick to conceal their lies?
But she played it cool. She couldn't get attached to these crude people, not when her life was just on the line.
"What do you think of your new siblings? They are your siblings of darkness, as I am your mother. Today, you all will get to talk to one another. I'll be back in a few hours. I have a woman who's sticking her nose in a business that doesn't concern her. May curiosity kill the cat."
Lady Caltheris zoomed out of the house, and that's when the children's sinister faces turned into innocent, welcoming smiles.
"Another one like us," a creepy boy said, caressing Kurai's hair.
"The way you grabbed that gun was sick!" A girl squealed.
"Why does your ebony hair have purple streaks?" a little twin boy and girl chimed.
"Oh, I was just born this way...my genes are a bit weird, I know."
"How is that weird?! I always wanted to have colored hair," the little twin girl whined.
Kurai maintained a frown on her face.
When Kurai was younger, she was bullied nonstop for the abomination that infested her scalp.
Day and night, she would tug and pull at her hair, practicing techniques to make her hair look unique, but the purple streaks always spoke to people first.
Feeling helpless, Kurai took drastic measures.
She chopped chunks of her hair that had the purple streaks on it off her head just to feel normal.
But just like any hair texture, it had to grow back at some point.
A month passed, and the purple streaks grew back, and the confidence she gained faded quickly.
This was why, deep down, Nightmare Fuel didn't sound so bad after all.
Doing a couple of evil deeds had their perks if it meant Kurai was going to finally have people who could talk and relate to her and have a family she had always wanted.
And what made Kurai grow a sickening grin was the reminder that Nightmare Fuel was going to give society some justice.
So it wasn't like they were doing anything wrong...right?
Isn't this what civilians would want? Justice? Freedom?
This wasn't nightmare fuel; this had to be some sort of blessing sent from above.
"Society needs to be condemned for their despicable behavior."
And she hoped with all her might that this blessing would last forever and she had someone in mind, Gengyo.