Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Beyond the Looking Glass ❯ Prologue: Hide and Seek ( Chapter 7 )

Beyond the Looking Glass

 

Author's Notes: And the craziness continues with the Prologue. To answer some questions: `Matsuei' is very relevant, but I doubt many people will get it until I disclose who the main ghost is, but it should be pretty obvious. Heero and the gang haven't shown up at the mansion yet. They show up after the scientists, way after. That's one of the reasons for the dates, so I don't end up confusing people with my total disregard for linear events. Also, a couple of people are confused about `The Darkness'. Anyone who has played Fatal Frame will understand this, but in each game there is a `Darkness' that kills everything that it touches. It is a sort of generic term for the most evil thing you can imagine. There is no male version of Shrine Maiden, so I didn't bother trying to come up with another term for it. Shrine Maiden is just fine. I'm sorry if any of this is culturally incorrect for Japan, I'm just going on my own basic knowledge.

 

Prologue: Hide and Seek

 

 

 

It… hurts. It hurts so… much… the blood… darkness… you… betrayed me… Why..? You'll know my pain… you'll all know it… the world will hurt… You'll all hurt…

Please… I'm so scared… the dark… the Darkness… I know I must finish this… I'm so scared… I don't want to kill… I'm waiting for you… It… hurts… mother… father… why? You said that you loved me, you said we would be together forever… you were supposed to love me… protect me… but it hurts now.

 

 

July 3, 1975

 

 

 

“You can't catch me!” Midii cried cheerfully as she ran away from her best friend through the village.

“Midii, wait up!” Catherine cried, her smaller form racing to catch up and failing. People watched the two young children run, smiling at the fun of youth. Catherine loved her friend very much, but sometimes she wasn't very considerate. The sun was starting to set and Catherine knew that her mother was going to worry about her, but she didn't want to go just yet.

 

Catherine Bloom and her mother, Ally Boom, were in Japan visiting old friends of theirs, the Une's. They had all met in Germany, but Midii's father had moved to Japan for business and Catherine never saw her anymore. They only got to see each other one a year during the summer and, while Japan was fun, Catherine still missed her very much. She didn't want to leave tomorrow morning. Though they lived continents away, Midii was still her best friend and she hated saying goodbye. So, when Midii had suggested they go exploring up the forest path, Catherine, against her better judgment, had said yes. That was the way that their relationship had always been, Midii would get her to do stupid, dangerous things even when Catherine knew better. Her mother said that the blonde girl was a bad influence, but for Catherine, she was the only `real' friend that she had.

The two girls ran up the lengthy forest path, stopping to gawk at a large owl that was sitting in one of the trees. Suddenly, as they reached the top of the winding road, Catherine stopped and Midii crashed into her back.

“What's wrong?” she demanded excitedly. Ever since coming to this tiny town, she yearned for adventure. Why couldn't they have moved to some place more exciting like Tokyo? Instead she was stuck here where nothing happened and the only things she had to look forward to were the yearly visits from Catherine.

Catherine only gaped as she saw the huge mansion in the distance. Midii followed her gaze and grinned. She took off running towards it.

“Midii, what are you doing?!” Catherine called, running after her.

“Exploring, dummy!” Midii yelled. The girls ran up the rest of the way until they were standing in front of a huge gate that was open just enough for them to slip through. The two of them stared up at the ancient mansion with wide eyes.

“Whoa,” Midii murmured. Catherine just nodded, her brown her bobbing around her head.

“It's beautiful,” she said in a soft voice. It was quiet around the mansion, all forest sounds had died and they couldn't even hear the wind. Midii couldn't believe her eyes. She had lived in this town for two years and had thought that she had seen everything, but this was just… incredible.

“We have to go back,” Catherine said in a panic, “my mom's probably worried about me…”

“Oh, come on, Cat, we have to go exploring!” Midii insisted, “When are we going to get the chance again and there's probably some neat stuff in there! It'd be soooo cool to play hide and seek!”

Catherine bit her lip. The huge house, dark and mysterious, scared her, but at the same time, a small part of her did want to explore the place. No one seemed to live there and it would just be for a little while, right? She nodded.

“Alright, but just for a few hours, ok?”

Midii grinned and grabbed her friend's arm, dragging her to the door which was, oddly, unlocked.

 

“This place is awesome,” Midii breathed as they walked through the hallway of rooms. Catherine hid behind her, worried that the old house might drop something on their heads or that bats would come flying out of nowhere. There seemed to be hundreds of rooms in this hallway alone and she was scared that they would get lost. One thing she would never get used to in Japan were the sliding doors that were everywhere in this house. They were cool, but a little bit strange.

“Why doesn't anyone live here anymore?” she wondered out loud. Midii shrugged.

“It looks expensive,” she pointed out. Catherine screamed as Midii suddenly smacked her arm.

“You seek, I'll hide!” Midii cried.

“No!” Catherine protested, scared of being left alone in this huge, and very creepy, place. “What if we get lost?!”

Midii didn't hear her, already running down the hall. Catherine sighed and pressed her forehead against the wall. She started to count.

“1, 2, 3, 4, 5…”

 

*****

 

Midii ran through hallway after hallway, taking random turns, but was careful to only stay on the first floor. After a few minutes had passed, she finally, quietly, opened one of the guest room's sliding door, wondering at how the door didn't stick, despite its age. Even the guest room was large, huge tatami mats making up the floor. There was a coffee table that was low to the ground and a wooden barred window in one corner of the room that moonlight was leaking through, helping her see in the darkness. She headed for the closet and opened the sliding door. Japanese closets were different than German ones, she thought. There were shelves instead of hangers and she climbed up on the shelf, which was only as high as her chest anyway. She closed the door behind her, but left it open just a crack. She would never admit it to Catherine, but she was scared of the dark. However, that fear was kind of exciting, too, so she didn't mind the dark as long as she could see that sliver of moonlight on the floor.

Midii stifled a sneeze. This place probably hadn't been dusted for centuries, she thought, and was immediately nervous of spiders in the small closet. She rested her back against the closet wall and waited. She imagined what it would be like, to be trapped in this closet and how horrible that would be. Stuck in the dark, unable to see if anything was next to you. She shook her head. Stuff like that only happened in horror movies, not real life. Besides, Catherine was here and if she did get stuck, her friend could just get help. The minutes ticked by in the darkness and fear started to eat away at her courage. She scratched at a cut on her arm, which was starting to bleed. She didn't remember how she got it, but it must have been when she had climbed into the closet. It itched and hurt badly, but she had scraped her knees more than once and ignored the pain. The old house made odd noises, creaking and whistling, and logically, she knew that a place this big and this old would sound strange, but she didn't like it. She was starting to think that maybe this idea of hers hadn't been so great when, finally, she heard the bedroom door slide open.

Midii breathed a sigh of relief. At least Catherine hadn't gotten lost. For a moment, she felt panicked. What if it wasn't Catherine, what if it was something horrible? But, the footsteps walking into the room were small and light, those of a child, and she relaxed. She remembered that she was supposed to not want Catherine to find her, but she still hoped that she would. She heard the footsteps and the creak of the tatami getting closer to her, but she couldn't see who it was yet as they were in the shadows. Midii smirked. She was surprised that Catherine hadn't immediately run towards the moonlight. The girl could be such a scaredy cat sometimes. Midii felt herself relax fully as she saw brown hair in the moonlight and young girl approached the closet. She smiled, knowing the game was up, but still stayed silent, wanting to win the game. She frowned when the closet door was opened.

“Alright, you caught me-,”

Midii screamed.

 

 

End Prologue