Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Sacrifice ❯ House of the Dark Bride ( Chapter 4 )

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Sacrifice

Chapter 4: House of the Dark Bride

By: Melissa Norvell

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Everyone stood in front of the old Victorian house with uneasy looks upon their features minus Fife, who was his perpetually blissful self. Eyes gazed upon the drab looking place, each mind pondering something different. The house looked as if it should have been abandoned, standing three stories high, like an imposing shadow that looked overhead. Such a sight made them uneasy and reluctant to even go to the door, much less enter it. It had flaking, dark purple paint and tattered, cracked, black shingles. It was like a relic, brought straight out of a time long passed.

"Creepy, isn't it?" Chichiri asked as he broke the silence. He couldn't stand feeling creeped out any longer and the silence didn't help at all. He just wanted someone to talk, anyone who was willing to have a conversation and cut through the eerie silence that surrounded the place.

"Do we honestly have to spend the night here?" Ko also questioned. She really didn't want to. Why couldn't they have just gone to a nice hotel or something?

"We don't have a choice, I'm afraid," Fife told her casually. It was the closest place to them. He didn't know about the others, but he couldn't make a longer trip without draining himself of resources. Besides, he was worried about damaging himself more than he already was. Plus, he was tired from all of the blood he had lost. Even with the short nap he had, he still felt like sleeping.

"I see I have guests," a strange voice broke their conversation as all eyes turned to see a man dressed in black. His hair was long and pulled back with a ribbon. The male's clothes were reminiscent of something out of the olden ages of England. This figure wore long black slacks with a black, button up coat and a short, mid stomach cape that was tied together at his neck. Glassy blue eyes looked to the strange group with no expression to them.

"Welcome to Saesugawa, land of legend," he spoke further and his voice cold and informative. It was as if he was going to give them some sort of ghostly tour.

"Who? Us?" The happy teen pointed to himself in question. Fife didn't know that they would get any kind of welcome, much less one by someone so unique. He was actually shocked that anyone was even alive.

"Yes, you look new to this place." The mysterious man had never seen any of them there before. In fact, he hadn't seen anyone there before, not in a long time. Most people were too terrified of the sector of town to want to visit it at all.

"Fife has only been here a month, but I've been here all of my life," Undine informed the man. Some of them were new, but she certainly wasn't. Out of everyone in the group, the short girl had thought of herself as the wisest one when it came to knowing the lore behind that town.

"We're new here as well," Chichiri offered. He knew that he didn't know anything about anything that had to do with Saesugawa, besides what little he knew about that winged boy legend.

"What's going on anyway?" Ko hoped that this strange man would have an answer to her problems. "Did you see what happened?"

"My name is Kabuto Yakushi. Welcome to the House of the Dark Bride," He introduced himself and the place he resided in.

"The House of the what," the singer had never heard of such a thing before. She didn't like the way that sounded at all. The last thing any of them needed was to have another weird occurrence in their lives.

"It's an old legend, isn't it?" Fife assumed that since this was the town of legend, The Dark Bride would obviously be a legend. It was exciting to him; they were coming across another legend that he would have the chance to learn about. He couldn't wait to figure out the bride's secrets.

"Yes," Kabuto confirmed.

"First winged boys and now dark brides, how many legends does this town have anyway?" Chichiri found this situation too reminiscent. Was this Dark Bride another awful person who wanted to murder them, too? He certainly hoped not. What were the odds that she could just be some sad lady who happened to die? Or maybe she was a good legend….then again, if she had `dark' in her namesake, he highly doubted that.

"Many," the dark haired man told the group. "Legends and stories can be of equal importance and are often untold. There are many things about them that we as human beings could never comprehend. Anything can be a legend when it's retold by enough of the masses."

"How many legends does this town actually have, Kabuto?" Ko was somewhat interested. The only legend she had ever heard of was the Winged Boy. She had no idea so many prominent ones existed.

"Many," the answer was the same, "but there are only five prominent ones. The Winged Boy legend is probably the most heard of, but the Dark Bride is a close second. By the way, are you looking for a place to stay?"

"Yes," Keiji replied. "Could we stay here? We have some money." He put his gloved hand into his pocket, reaching for the money he had when Kabuto held up a hand. The boy looked to him in question. This was the first inn keeper he ever saw that didn't want any form of payment.

"It isn't needed. You can stay for free." The travelers looked weary, and if he could, he would help in any way he could. Besides, just from looking at Fife, he could tell that they were probably strapped in a lot of ways.

"But don't you need the money? Your sign says vacancy," Chichiri protested, insisting that he take their payment. It just felt wrong not to pay this guy. Sure, he was creepy and his place was falling apart, but he felt cheap somehow not paying him something for putting up with all of them. After all, they were a big group.

"This isn't a hotel," Kabuto told them, "but you can stay the night. Some want to witness the paranormal happenings around here." The House of the Dark Bride was more like an attraction than something he wanted to make a profit off of. If people wished to have the experience of a life time, then he would lend them that opportunity, free of charge. It wasn't every day that people ventured out there just to seek it out.

"Paranormal happenings," Ko wondered aloud. This didn't sound good at all. What were they getting themselves into? Something told her that they should have turned back, then again they didn't have anywhere else to stay and staying in a dilapidated house wasn't nearly as comfortable.

"Yes," a flash of light shot across the lenses of the male's glasses, "People have died here." His last statement was grave, filled with an eerie tone and news that sent shivers down their spines.

The blonde edged back a bit, a nervous and slightly fearful look on his face, "that's not cool. We're staying in a creepy dead people hotel?" Nope. Chichiri didn't want to do it. In fact, he would have rather just took his chances with the sadistic angels flying the skies and slept outside. Then again…people died out there, too. That's it. He was screwed, oh so screwed.

Kabuto was silent. He just peered through the long strands of hair that framed his face. Were they going to accept his offer, or were they just going to stand there and stare at him? He was letting them stay for free, afterall.

"There are dead all around us," Keiji stated. What made this place any different than the Rose Hip or Saesugawa for that matter? Even the ground they walked on now was riddled in death. For all they knew, a dead man could be resting beneath their feet.

"He has a point," Ko agreed, though unnervingly so. She wasn't too keen on staying the night either but she knew that they had no choice if they wanted to avoid Hiroshima and Tsurugi.

"I'm surprised that you aren't dead. The winged one is back and he's destroyed a small community centered on the Rose Hip Club," Kabuto known about the incident that took place before they arrived. Word traveled fast and for someone with little access to television or radio signals, he had his way of gathering information.

"Yes, we're a small band called Sub-Seventy-two. We were supposed to be performing there but we ran into some complications," Chichiri introduced them and explained their involvement during the happening. It was only fair that he at least explained himself.

"So, you've seen the legend?" Slight interest crawled its way into the usually stoic voice of Kabuto. He hadn't met anyone in a while who had contact with something like that. They were just as interesting to him as he was to them.

This brought an ever-repeating flashback of the events that befell Fife at that very location. His head tilted down and navy blue hair shaded sad eyes as a frown crept slowly to his face. The pain and unspeakable horror coursed through his body, and he felt a little dizzy. In truth, he wanted to throw up, but held it down the best he could. It would be rude to puke on the floor.

"Yes, we were in the Rose Hip Club at the time of the attack," Undine confirmed his story.

"And you weren't dead?" Kabuto was slightly interested and arched his eyebrow. "That's a feat all in itself. Do come in." The dark man instructed as he opened the door and bowed, arm extended as an indication to enter the building.

The group walked slowly and unsurely into the old house, the scenery filling their senses. The hall was narrow but spacious and things looked way too clean and tidy. It was reminiscent of a hospital in that matter. Everything was perfect and well-taken care of. The black, dark green and white tile was polished and everything had been dusted. The house had a color scheme of black, white and dark green and seemed to be mostly made of hard, reflective surfaces. On every wall there was at least one portrait of a mysterious woman. Down the hall odd objects were placed that seemed to disrupt the normal scheme of the house, and the place was empty except for the small group.

It was silent. The only thing that could be heard was their footsteps which carried and echoed through the open space, and the ticking of a distant grandfather clock. Ko's eyes locked on one of the portraits upon passing it. The woman in the picture was very beautiful, her skin an ivory color and her hair long, black and permed. Her eyes were half-lidded and the most beautiful shade of forest green. This woman had indeed looked too beautiful to have existed on a mortal plain. Perhaps she was the result of some artist's imagination.

Chichiri spotted a birdcage farther down the hall. It was a small golden round cage that was suspended by a black metal rod. In the bottom there were about four small, black feathers which looked untouched by time. The sight unnerved the man.

"This is kind of creepy," he said to himself. No building was this perfect, this quiet. It was like he was standing on an apocalyptic plain and the only man left alive. He didn't like the feeling that he was getting from this place at all.

Undine was across from him, preoccupied with a small stream that was flowing on the other side of the railing of the hallway. Her dull eyes peered into it, seeing beautiful fancy black fish swimming in the clear waters. Her gaze locked upon them, fascinated by the creatures. "…How pretty…" the girl said in a distant voice, almost as if the creatures put her in a trance.

Then a hand touched hers causing her gaze to shift upon another figure. This one was unfamiliar to her. She looked into frightened eyes, slightly lighter than her own. A girl a good two feet taller than her was staring back at her.

This girl had short, light slate hair and large, round eyes that looked wise yet held some type of innocence to them. Her figure was tall and thin, and was dressed in a long dark beige coat that extended to her ankles. She wore black mid calf boots with heels on the end and a short, tight, black dress that was mid thigh. Two belts fell over one hip. The top of her dress had two sets of buttons going up the right and left side and a collar that crossed in the front, plunging low but now showing any cleavage. This figure's skin was a shade darker then her pale counterpart and her hair short, but thick and messy. A black headband with white lace adorned her head.

She drew back and gasped at the sight of Undine. "Sorry!" Her child-like voice called out as she bowed in apology. "I…I'm sorry!" The girl looked as skittish and shy as a deer. She looked as if she would bolt at any second, and that's what she attempted to do.

"Amazing…Isn't it?" Undine asked her, causing the girl to take two unsure steps forward before coming to a stop and looking over her shoulder at her.

"Yes, it's like rivers running along the walls and…The fish swimming…and so fancy," the shy girl played with the high collar of her coat in silence for a few moments before she turned around with a gentle smile on her face, "and so pretty."

Keiji looked around at his surroundings, taking everything in as the two talked in the background. He didn't even notice the other girl, due to him being so side-tracked.

"What's with all of the random objects?" Ko asked after trying to find a scheme to this house, but coming up blank. It was just an accumulation of things that shared no motif whatsoever. Who was the interior designer of this place? They needed lessons…badly.

"This house is left how it was…Since May of seven years ago," Kabuto educated her.

"May of seven years ago," Chichiri looked over his shoulder. "What happened then?"

"Everyone died."

At that statement Undine and the girl she was with turned their heads to pay attention to Kabuto. What did he mean by that? How did everyone die? What happened?

"Died?" The young girl asked.

"That would explain the eerie silence in this place," Ko stated. She knew it felt like a graveyard, but now she understood it was a literal graveyard.

"It has the feeling of an old memorial site…Somewhere where mass causalities occurred," Keiji's tone was grave, and it sounded haunting in the ears of his peers. At this point, everyone was uneasy and on edge again.

"No one died in this part of the house," Kabuto reassured the two of them. He wouldn't have let them stay there if that were the case. However, they could stay in the more paranormally infested part if they wished. By the looks on their faces, he didn't think any of them wanted such a thing.

Chichiri gazed at another portrait of the same black haired woman except she was nude. Nothing could be seen however, because her hair was so long it covered all of her intimate parts. He almost seemed transfixed on the picture as he spaced out, only concentrating on her face.

"Are you interested in that portrait?" Kabuto caught sight of the boy, and glanced over his shoulder at the man.

"Huh?" He was almost incoherent. It was like the picture star struck him and sucked his soul into it.

"You were staring at it pretty hard," Kabuto reasoned. If he wanted to know about the woman, he would gladly tell him a few things.

"Oh…She's just so pretty it's hard to take my eyes off of her," no matter how hard Chichiri tried to ignore her, he just couldn't. Something about the mysterious woman held an intense magnetism to it. Even when he tried to look away, it was like her eyes lured him back.

"Or maybe he's just a pervert who likes staring at nude portraits as a source of cheap porn?" Ko crossed her arms, and gave him the death glare. She didn't doubt it at all. It wasn't like Chichiri didn't have hormones or anything. What a pervert.

"Hey!" Chichiri defended. "I'm not like that! I wasn't even looking at any of that!" So what if he was a guy? Didn't she ever hear of appreciating art?

Sweat ran down Kabuto's forehead as the two continued to argue. They were certainly an eccentric bunch, weren't they? Something told him their stay would be a sight to behold. Ah, well at least it would lighten up the place.

"Well, thank god her hair is long. It covers up everything else," the girl spat in jealously as Fife walked up beside of them and glanced at the picture. His calm voice cut through the others harsh ones, silencing their quarrel.

"She's very pretty. Isn't she?" Seriously? Was Fife really agreeing with him. And here Ko thought that he would be on her side.

"Who is she?" Keiji asked, now standing beside of Fife.

"One in a long list of casualties," the man replied as dark blue eyes looked to him.

"Then why is she so important? I don't see anyone else's picture hanging in this hall," Keiji noted that it was strange that out of all who had died, she was the only one to be memorialized. Obviously, there was something about her that he wasn't saying and he wanted to know what.

"Her death was considered the most tragic," Kabuto spoke in a sad tone. It was almost as if he knew this woman personally. "This place…was her supposed place of marriage."

A moment of silent shock passed through the group before Fife spoke up.

"This place," Fife looked to a plaster angel statue a few feet away. "Used to be a church?"

"Of course," Kabuto confirmed. "After such a mass loss of life that conspiracy and rumors began to flood this town. The building went unused and was almost condemned but I bought it and fixed it up. I live in part of it and occasionally offer a room to travelers who come through this part of town." There was nothing out this way, so he decided to let the weary stay, or those who had heard the legend behind this place. Daring adventurers and those battered by the elements were all welcomed.

As Kabuto was explaining things to the group of males Ko, Undine and their newly acquired acquaintance were opening doors and peering in the rooms that aligned the hall. An eye darted back upon hearing the creak of one of the doors.

"You four," he spoke in a commanding and strong voice as the girls looked like deer in the headlights of an oncoming truck. Ko's hand was on the doorknob of a slightly parted door. "Don't stray. Close that door and I'll show you to your rooms."

The girl turned to shut the door and momentarily had a glimpse of something that disturbed her. She could have sworn that she saw a picture of that woman with blood splattered on it hanging on the wall. Blue eyes widened and she shut the door quickly, wondering if she should have seen that. Ko sword it was straight out of the pan and into the fire with all of these morose incidents. Why couldn't they just have a moment of rest from all of the blood and gore? That's all she ever wanted.

"Are you alright?" Undine noticed the surprised look on her comrade's face. Ko looked as if she'd seen a corpse crawl out of the ground, and she was far paler than usual.

"I'm fine," the other female reassured her of her condition. 'What was up with that? It was so creepy…It almost sent chills up my spine…The air was cold and that room was pure white…Was I seeing things or did that picture have blood on it?'

"I wonder why he wants us to stay out of those rooms," the other girl said innocently. If this place was free to stay at, then shouldn't they be able to check it out to their leisure? It was almost as if he was hiding something.

"Yeah…Who are you by the way?" Chichiri finally noticed her.

"My name is Azmy. I was traveling through town and bumped into Kabuto. I didn't want to spend the night in that destruction so I came here. Guess we'll be like roommates huh?" She beamed. After all of her travels alone, it was nice to see someone else she could talk to. In truth, Azmy walked a lonely road for far too long.

"Guess so," the blonde agreed. He didn't mind her company, although it was going to be odd sharing rooms with a girl.

Kabuto gestured to the door with his hand. "This is your room. Feel free to stay as long as you like but don't snoop around. If you need anything, there's a phone. Call the downstairs phone and I'll pick it up. The number is beside of the phone. Dinner shall be ready shortly." He walked off, his shoes echoing through the halls as he disappeared from sight, leaving the small group in their new room.

Azmy slowly looked around. "This place…"

"Is mega weird," Chichiri finished her sentence.

Fife was already making himself at home, stretched out across the bed. "This bed is nice, however…" He smiled and sighed to himself, closing his eyes. The feeling of the cool sheets and soft covers beneath his broken body felt like heaven, and he wanted to soak its comfort up while he could.

Ko sat on the bed a few inches away from his legs, which were dangling off of the edge, considering Fife was taller than the bed was wide. It felt good to finally be off of her feet. It felt like they had been running forever.

"I don't like this place," Keiji had bad feelings about it from just looking at it. There was something unsettling about it. Things didn't help that Kabuto said such awful things about what happened inside. He wasn't too keen on staying in a slaughter house. Something told him that their stay here would be anything but normal.

"It is kind of creepy," Chichiri agreed. He was the first one to want to turn back around as soon as they came in. Seriously, fuck this place and all of the ghosts inside of it.

"It's not so bad. It's a place to stay after all and Fife is at home here," Undine looked to the slumbering boy. He had taken a lot of damage and he needed to recover. She felt at peace just knowing that he was resting for once and not bouncing off the walls as he usually did.

"He got stabbed and he hasn't had any time to rest. Give him a break," Keiji defended the wounded boy. If there was one thing he could take sanctity in, it was that Fife was able to rest now. At least he was staying in one place, and as long as he was asleep he would stay out of trouble.

"You're nice all of a sudden," Chichiri noted. He'd been acting weird since Fife saved him back at the decaying Rose Hip. Was Keiji getting soft on him?

"Hmpf," was the only answer he got.

"He's mad again," the male sighed.

"What are we going to do about this legend?" Ko looked to the two, changing the subject. Since they had nothing to do, it was time that they got down to discussing their plan of action, as well as their next move.

"We'll have to find him," Undine replied simply. That was the obvious answer.

"That's such a risk…But it can't be helped…that and it would be putting Fife in danger again," Chichiri sighed. Was there really an easy way to deal with these guys?

"Hiroshima won't hurt him again," Undine pressed as her newly acquired acquaintance listened, not really knowing what the two were talking about. She trusted the dark angel, and as long as he knew they were her friends, he would back off for her sake.

"Don't worry about Fife. I'll watch him," Keiji told her sternly. It was his fault that he had been stabbed, so he was going to make it his job to see to it that he recovered.

"This won't be easy," Undine informed as she stared at those in her room. Just then, Chichiri broke the silence.

"Hey Azmy!"

"Hm? Me?" the girl pointed to herself.

"Come over and talk to us. We won't bite," Chichiri joked with a flashy smile and patted the spot beside of him on the bed.

"Okay," Azmy happily agreed and walked over, sitting down shyly beside of him. She left some distance between them, not wanting to get too close at the moment. After all, they had just met. It would have been awkward to be so friendly towards all of them.

"Don't be so shy! We're all friends here!" The man smiled. It's not like he was going to rip her clothes off or anything, it wouldn't have killed her to sit a little closer to him.

"But…I don't know you." Azmy didn't trust people so easily. She wasn't about to trust this guy, either.

"Well, this is "get to know you" time then," Chichiri told her. There was no sense sitting over there by herself. Besides, he was sure that Azmy felt a little sad that she was being left out of the fun. He just wanted her to have a good time like the rest of them were.

"Who are you?" Undine asked the girl.

"My name is Azmy Tamaguchi," she introduced herself to the group of strangers.

"Tamaguchi?" Keiji recognized the last name.

"Yes like the famous ninja clan," Azmy confirmed.

"The Tamaguchi are very respectable in this land," Undine informed.

"Yes," Ko agreed. "They are the best at what they do. Prized ninja assassin and bounty hunters, anyone would pay everything they had just to be in one's presence. Which of the Tamaguchi are you related to?"

"My mother's name is Miyaka." (2)

"Miyaka?" Chichiri questioned.

"You mean Miyaka the Legendary?" Keiji asked his eyes slightly widened.

"Yes."

"They say that she and a band of allies helped defeat the corrupt Princess Teruna and solved the mystery of the Crimson and Clover Swords (1)," Chichiri told them of the old legend that gave her a rise to fame. Miyaka was known far and wide for her efforts in that incident.

"There was a winged man and a dark angel who helped them," Undine noted the possible involvement of the legend. Maybe that's where that dark angel came from? Could he truly have been one of the heroes of legend?

"Yes, she talked about them a lot. Their names were…Tsurugi and Hiroshima," Azmy told them of the two angels.

"What?" the blonde replied, making a connection. "Isn't that the name of the angel who stabbed Fife back at the Rose Hip?" So, he was right. Tsurugi was a hero of legend. What in the hell happened to him to make him so corrupt?

"Yes, the other angel's name hasn't been revealed," Undine told them as the phone rang.

It was picked up by Chichiri. "Hello? Oh great! We'll be down there in a few minutes. Alright, bye," he hung up the phone. "That was Kabuto. Dinner is ready," he delivered the message to the gang. He was sure they were all hungry and ready to eat.

"Good. I'm starving," Fife woke up, and had been listening to the latter half of the conversation. He wasn't sure how much food he could hold down, but he was going to try and eat something. He would need the nourishment. Who knew how long it would be until they eat again.

"I didn't think you'd be up," Keiji stated as the boy sat up a little slowly and gave him a placid smile.

"Just took a little cat nap."

"We'd better get down there before the food gets cold," Keiji responded.

"Yay! Food time!" Fife cheered.

"Such a pain," Keiji ran a hand down his face in irritation.

"You know you love me!" Fife teased.

"I don't think so," the stoic boy retorted emotionlessly as he walked by him and headed out of the door.

"Wait! Keiji-kun!" the boy bounded off after him.

"Fife…Your injuries," Undine followed them out of the door, leaving Ko and Azmy in the room together. She wanted to make sure that the boy didn't end up hurting himself or moving around too fast. His state worried her.

"Well," Ko gazed at the door. "We should get going."

"Yes," the shy girl said as the two of them headed down the hall. "That girl," her eyes fell on one of the pictures of the mysterious woman.

"I know what you mean. This whole house seemed themed around her. I wonder why," Ko mused. It was weird and really obsessive to have so much of the house centered around her. She could bet anything that half of the stuff in this house probably belonged to her. What kind of creeper was Kabuto anyway?

"Maybe something important happened to her," Azmy brought up another possibility. She had to play some kind of role, didn't she? What if she was the one who murdered everyone?

"I wonder if she's connected to Kabuto," the singer wondered. Kabuto seemed to know a lot about the legend, so it would make sense. Plus, Kabuto was the one who scolded them for looking in different rooms. There was no doubt in her mind that he was suspicious.

"Kabuto?" Azmy looked at the other female in question. Why would Ko think that he was weird? To her, she was some nice guy who was letting her stay in a house that happened to befall a great misfortune for free. She couldn't look down upon him for being a victim of circumstance.

"He's been acting weird…Like he knows something we don't," the two walked by the stairs, continuing their conversation as a faded image of a woman with long, permed black hair, clad in a white wedding dress appeared at the beginning of the stairs gazed at them with dead green eyes.

"What the hell?" Ko almost yelled in shock as she turned, her foot slipped and the girl went rolling down a tall flight of stairs nearby.

"Ko!" Azmy gasped and threw her hands over her face in shock and worry at her friend. Tears clung to frightened eyes, threatening to fall. Ko could be seriously hurt! There were a lot of stairs to fall down. She prayed with everything in her that Ko didn't break her neck.

The apparition cast a worried look to the fallen female. She didn't mean for this to happen, and then she turned her gaze to Azmy and closed her eyes as if to signal a silent apology.

"Who…Are you?" The shy girl asked.

TBC…

NOTES: (1) This is referring to my series Crimson and Clover, which is a prequel to this story. I'll be writing on it when this when I'm done with one of my other works. Just in case everyone is wondering where the reference came from.

(2) Miyaka is also a character from Crimson and Clover. She was a ninja who joined into the main cast. She was a spunky, tough, yet sad character. She was also one of the strongest female characters in my main cast.