Spirited Away (a HakuXChihiro fanfic)

Ch. 1: The Tunnel in the Woods

"I'll miss the fuck out of you, Chihiro... Your BFFF (best fucking friend forever), Rumi.", I read from my going away card that my BFFF attached to a bouquet of sweet-smelling Luna Blossoms. She always knew what I liked... I slouched lower in my seat as we pulled onto an unfamiliar street, suddenly feeling a wave of depression hit me like a punch in the chest. This is so stupid...its not like I meant to break the bitches nose... I thought. But I guess this is what I get for standing up for my friend... I was jerked out of my thoughts by the sound of my fathers voice from the drivers seat. "Chihiro...Chihiro, we're almost there!"
I softened my grip on the bouquet and let out a long breath, staring blankly out the window. My mother looked out the passenger window, worried. "This really IS in the middle of nowhere... I'll have to go to the next town to shop.", she muttered. "We'll just have to learn to like it." I frowned. Yeah, right... I let out a little 'hmph' noise, gripping my flowers tighter against my chest.
"Look, Chihiro, there's your new school! Looks great, doesn't it?", dad mused, pointing out the windshield. My mom smiled, "It doesn't look so bad..." I tried to pay attention to the large, dull-looking building out my window. I glowered and flicked it off as we passed. "Its gonna suck... I liked my old school.", I grumbled into my now-wilting flowers. I gasped, looking at the decaying petals beginning to fall off. "Mom! My flowers are dying! Gimme some of your water!", I panicked, leaning forward and grabbing for moms water bottle in the front cup holder. She sighed and handed it to me, "I told you not to smother them like that... I'll find them a vase when we get to our new home." I sighed with relief as I stuck the stems into the mouth of the bottle, making sure that the ends were fully submerged before leaning back against my seat. "The one time I get a bouquet and its a goodbye present...that's depressing as hell...", I mumbled, just loud enough for mom to hear. She leaned back against her seat and sighed. "Your father got you a rose for your birthday last year, remember?" I scoffed. "Yeah, just one. One rose isn't a bouquet..." She huffed impatiently and rolled down the window. "Chihiro, just stop whining. Its not everyday that someone gets to start fresh...so try to enjoy it like everyone else." Her words felt like a slap in the face. Bitch... I thought, looking back out the window and holding my precious momento close.
I sat there silently, for what felt like forever, watching countless buildings and cars go by. Its not fair... I thought, sadly. They were so quick to uproot my entire life when word got out that I'd hurt someone. She deserved it, though... I sighed and closed my eyes, trying to shake the anger that boiled inside me. Why couldn't I be like everyone else? Why couldn't I just turn a blind eye to all the assholes out there? It never did me any good to try and help people from getting stepped on by them... I shook my head, biting my lip to hold back tears. Why do I even try..?
I was shaken from my pity party by a sudden change in the road. I wiped away a tear and looked out the window as the car came to a stop. "Wait...did I take a wrong turn?", dad questioned, sticking his head out the window and looking ahead down the dirt road. We were stopped about a hundred feet from a forest that seemingly swallowed the road. "This can't be right..." "Hey, look! There's our house!", mom pointed out, looking up the hill to our right. Me and dad both turned our heads to see a long row of houses lining the top of the steep hill. "Its that blue one on the end." I finally spotted it and blinked. It was pretty cute... "Huh, you're right.", dad said, turning back to the road ahead, "I must've missed the turnoff. This road should take us there!" "Honey, don't take a shortcut, you always get us lost..." I zoned out as they continued to talk.
I let my gaze fall to the ground outside my window and leaned forward. A group of tiny, stone houses sat just below the tree; growing moss and ivy. I stared as we started to move again down the narrow, dirt road. "What are those? They look like little houses..." I asked no-one in particular. My mom looked back at them and answered, "They're shrines. Some people believe little spirits live there." Creepy... I thought as we sped off into the woods. I watched tall trees and foliage pass as I got a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. "Dad, I think we're lost.", I called over the wind. "Don't worry, I've got four-wheel drive!", dad called back, smiling confidently. Suddenly, the car jolted and I realized how fast we were going. Dad, you speed maniac! I screamed in my head, holding on to the door handle. I swear...this man will be the death of me. The weird feeling got stronger as the car rattled down the rocky road. I almost instinctively glanced out my window just in time to see a strange statue hidden among the foliage fly by, making my stomach flip. There was another strong jolt that made me jump a foot or two off my seat. We must be going like, 90 miles per hour! I grabbed the door tighter and swallowed hard as we sped faster and faster through the woods.
"Honey! Slow down, you're going to kill us!!", mom yelled, gripping the handle above her door. My dads eyes widened at something at the end of the road. "What's that?!", he yelled, slamming on the breaks. The car seemed to scream as it skidded to a grinding halt just inches from a stone statue, similar to the one I saw fly by us on the way here. I opened my eyes and shakily pried my hand from the door handle, looking out the windshield with my parents. My mouth hung open as we stared up at a giant, red building with a tunnel blocking our way. "What's this old building?", mom mumbled as dad exited the car. "It looks like an entrance.", dad said, amused, as he walked up to it. "Honey, get back in the car! We're going to be late!", mom yelled after him through the open window. With curiosity getting the better of me, I unthinkingly opened the car door and got out, taking my card from Rumi and my purple cat ear hoodie with me. "Chihiro...", my mom scolded as I walked past her still sitting in her seat. I joined dad at the opening of the tunnel and pulled on my hoodie, quickly dodging the creepy statue we almost smashed into. "This building's not old, it's fake. These stones are just made of plaster.", he pointed out while running his hand over the wall. We both peered down the long, dark tunnel, wondering how far it actually went. I shivered after a moment of staring into the pitch black and quickly pulled my hood over my head, fixing the ears so that they didn't look retarded. I looked down at my feet as the wind picked up, gently blowing a few stray leaves into the tunnel. I blinked and looked back up into the darkness. "Its like its pulling us in...", I mumbled, shoving my hands in the pockets of my ripped skinny jeans. Moms footsteps approached us. "What is it?", she asked, standing between me and dad. He looked to her, smiling, "C'mon, I wanna see what's on the other side!" I gasped and backed up. "What? I thought we were just looking!", I yelled, furrowing my eyebrows. "Don't be such a scardy-cat, Chihiro. Lets just have a look.", he taunted, taking moms hand and beginning to walk into the darkness. "The movers will get to our house before we do...", mom hesitated. He smiled and squeezed her hand, "Its alright...they've got the keys, they can start without us." "Fine, just a quick look..." I looked at them wide eyed. Are they fucking serious?! I whined in my head, feeling the same strange sensation from before, only stronger. "You both gotta be kidding! Let's just go back!! Shit's creepy as hell!", I yelled, backing away and shaking my head. "C'mon, honey, it'll be fun." I pouted, "That's what the stupid teenagers in horror movies say before they go into the murderers house and they all die! I'm not going!!", I shouted at them, crossing my arms glaring. I glanced to my right and realized that I was standing about a foot away from the creepy statue. The gross feeling in my stomach got worse and worse the longer I stared at it, almost making me gag. I quickly averted my gaze to see that they had already started into the menacing black. "Chihiro, just wait in the car then.", mom called back to me. I whimpered and stomped like a little kid, "Ughhh...but moooooom!!" She's fucking ignoring me! I glanced back at the statue before giving up and running after them. I can't believe I'm really doing this...