Fade to Death

Chapter 3: Escaping Reality

Kira and Janice arrive at the house and find the door open. Kira panics and breaks into Nani's bedroom. The bed was empty. He ran outside and saw a trail of blood. Oh, no! he thought as he followed the trail and found Nani with a bloody hand. "Nani! Are you okay?!" he shouted. "Kiyu!" she screamed, running towards him. Suddenly, it happened.  

Nani looks behind her and sees something emerge from some nearby trees. It was night, so no one could see well. Suddenly, they hear a slashing sound and Nani falls to the ground. 

"Nani!! Answer me!" he shouts, picking her up. Coughing, her once cheerful voice, is now weak with fear. With every last ounce of strength she has, Nani says: "Kiyu, you're ok... Great."

"Nani, did you see your attacker's face?! Who was it?!" he screamed in panic.

"Kiyu, I will be back, don't cry. Promise me you won't get your revenge." Nani whispered. Kira wasn't able to cry, yet he didn't know why. Suddenly, his sadness turned to anger.

"I'm sorry. I can't do that. I will kill your murderer, even if it costs me my life." Kira whispered back.

"I love ya, Kiyu. But if you do that, I can never forgive you. I think.... It was you who killed me, Kiyu. But don't worry, I'm not mad. But I will be if you kill yourself over such a dumb thing." Nani said, trying to pronounce each word as accurately as possible.

"What do you mean by that?! I was over there!" he shouted furiously. He wasn't angry at her, but at himself. "I don't know, it's just that I saw your face when I was slashed. Maybe it was a hallucination. Remember one thing, though: The Amuleto, Kiyu. You'll soon understand. Never take it off." Nani closed her eyes and her fragile hands stopped clutching the Amuleto on Kira's neck. 

Kira gently layed Nani on the floor and stood up. "Kira..." Janice said, with the feeling of concern in her voice.

"Take her to the nearest hospital. I'm going to check on something." he said, with his back faced to her. His voice was no longer full of fear, instead it was dead serious. As he walked past Janice, to the other direction, he made no eye contact. Janice stood there, frozen, until he walked past her.  

Janice picked Nani up from the ground and took her to the nearest hospital. There, she was officially pronounced dead and Janice had to explain what happened to her to the authorities.

3 days had passed, and Kira was nowhere to be found. Nani's death was ruled as a homicide and the authorities still had no leads. Meaningless clues were found at the crime scene. The case was about to go cold, when suddenly, something surfaced.

On the 5th day, Kira came back with something that changed his fate forever: the murder weapon. It was a glove with blades attached at the knuckles. The blades where full of blood. At first glance it might look like a good thing, but it's far more complicated. Kira did bring in the murder weapon, convicing the authorities that he was innocent. That is, until they figured out that it was his. 

This weapon did not at all belong to Kira. But, the government found witnesses that claimed that he had been using it for practice sessions. "He said : 'This is a very dangerous place. A man's got to protect himself and his family.' Then, he headed for the woods to practice like he did every night." said a witness, who was one of Kira's neighbors. 

Janice tried to explain that she was with Kira at the moment of the murder. But eventually, Kira plead guilty. Janice was claimed to be an accomplice. So, both were sentenced to death (their world was modern but cruel back then) and were to be hanged the following week. 

"Peace and love will take over the world and hatred will succumb." Janice read, with a blue book in her hand.

"Heh! Yeah, right. (sarcastically) And someday, people will fly in giant metal contraptions." Kira said unpleasantly.

"You're always so negative. It could happen." Janice argued. "When that happens, I'll be long gone in the depths of hell. Anyways, drop the subject."

"What now?" Janice asked. "Let's get out of here." Kira said, making eye contact with Janice.

" Okay.... But, how?" she asked, confused. Kira pointed at the amulet on his neck. "Ohh, now I get it. Wait.... What are you going to do with that?!" Janice exclaimed, with a look of worry on her face.

"I'm going to get us out of here. Then, we can never come back, understand?" Janice nodded. He closed his eyes and ripped off the amulet from his neck. The pupils in his eyes turned blue while the rest (the white part of the eye) turned black.

"At the count of 3, when I slash the lock open, jump on my back." he explained. "Like a piggy-back ride? What am I? A 5 year-old?" she complains. "This is serious, just do it!" he shouts. "Ok, fine... (under her breath) Mr. Cranky-pants." 

As soon as Kira slashes the lock open, Janice jumps on his back and they run at an incredible speed. When they pass the watch guard, he's sound asleep. "Seriously, what's with these guys?" Kira says, amazed at how stupid they are. "Just keep going!" Janice nags. "Fine, but we could take a million years and they still wouldn't catch us." he mummers. When they noticed that they're far enough, Kira stops. He puts on his amulet and his eyes turn back to their usual brownish color.  

"What now?" Janice says. "We're going to get Nani." Kira said. "Kira... I'm sorry to tell you, but Nani's dead." Janice whispers.

"What the hell's wrong with you? I was there when it happened! (sigh) What I meant was, I want to get her corpse back." Kira replied. "Oh, then what's your plan?" Janice asked.

They run towards the morgue. There, they find the body on an examination table. Kira picks up Nani's lifeless corpse. Janice, unable to see his face, looks worried (for the third time in this chapter).

"Let's go." he whispers, his face expressionless. As he thinks of a way to react, a stabbing pain shoots through his heart. He tries to turn around, looking for Janice. However, he passes out from shock before he is able to do so.

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