Vermilion Tears [Kurapika x Kurta!Reader]

[0] Carnelian Nightmares

You were going to die.

Running desperately through the woods, tears staining your face, all you could feel was an impending and terrifying doom settle over you, a fear of losing your life so intense you were afraid it was you who was willing it into existence. It wasn't your imagination though. Whatever was happening, whoever it was - they were strong. You didn't need to be a skilled fighter to know that it was only a matter of time before you were found and killed.

Okaa-san... Obaa-san...

Bare feet padding along the cobbled road, you tried to ignore the screams of anguish and fury around you. You tried to ignore the metallic scent that hung heavily in the air. Worst of all, you tried to ignore the dead bodies on the ground, blood splattered everywhere, and black holes where eyes had once been.

Finally making it to your own home, you slammed open the already broken door, causing it to fall off the one measly hinge that it was still attached to.

"No.... No!"

You threw up. What had been your breakfast now splattered on the ground, you continued to dry heave and gag at the sight before you, the salt of your tears and the acidic taste of your bile on your tongue. It didn't do much for the already destroyed home, bodies strewn out across the house. Your sister and her friend. Your father. Even your grandmother. Nobody was spared from the massacre, everything painted a bright, sinister carnelian.

"[Y.../n].... is that.... you?"

The voice that called your name came out choked, and you whipped your head to the side to see an even more gruesome sight, causing you to sob even louder. Your mother was sitting up, back propped up against the wall and still alive. Barely. Even now you could tell she was on the brink of death, life fading out from her. She, like the rest of the room, was covered in a gooey red, and you were horrified to realize that most of it was probably her own. With her stomach torn open as if it had imploded, a pink trail of her organs hanging out, you cried even louder, not caring if you were found by your pursuant.

The worst part were her eyes - or lack-there-of. Probably assuming she was dead, they had taken her eyes from her.

"[Y/....n].... come..... ere...." Her voice came out broken, and you complied, crawling over and smearing blood all over your hands and clothes.

Now in front of her, she fumbled for a moment before grabbing your hands, and you felt a cool metal contrast against your mother's clammy skin.

Sighing, her head fell back against the wall weakly, her eyelids fluttering close. "Run... live.... my little... butter.... fly...."

Her hands dropped from yours and you continued to cry, calling out for a person who could no longer hear you. "Momma.... momma... noooo.... please wake up.... I need you! Please wake up! MOMMA!"

No matter how much you pleaded, she never woke up.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity but was probably only a few minutes, you shakily stood up, your face a mess of dirt, tears, snot, and blood. In your hands was a , one you had never seen before but was beautiful if it weren't for the smears of blood on the gold chain. It wasn't a family heirloom. Did your mother perhaps grab this from one of the killers?

"Let's do one more sweep of the town. Not everybody's dead yet."

The voice that came out was fairly close, and you felt yourself freeze up at the thought of being found.