Revenge [A Love Live AU]

<< Chapter Two >>

[THREE YEARS BEFORE]

A terrible, haunting, screech pierced the air.

The purplette's beautiful emerald green eyes widened. She stopped in her tracks, hearing the pleading voice of the dying soul call out to her in agony, begging her to do something. She closed her eyes almost reflexively, trying to breathe normally and continue doing whatever she had been doing, but the owner of the voice was relentless. Its screams continued haunting her, ripping her sanity apart little by little.

Nozomi Toujou was on the very brink of insanity.

But she just couldn't lose her mind, no matter how hard she wished to, no matter how hard she tried to be. There were only two ways to get out of the hell she was living in currently. Insanity or death. Death was not an option for her, seeing as she was the sole breadwinner of her family. She could only rely on going insane. Insanity would grant her and her family a lifetime of peace, so that none would have to work anymore.

But try as she might, she just couldn't force the remains of her sanity to disappear. Over the years, she had been haunted by the souls of those who had passed on, but somehow her mind refused to let go of that last shred of sanity she still had in her.

An agonising, pain-filled scream pierced the air once more.

Nozomi flinched again. The cries of the soul got more frantic, seeming to thrash around in her mind, begging her to save it from whatever hell it was currently experiencing. However, she did not have the ability to do so, only being able to listen to its cries and see it die.

It was a curse.

Not a gift, but a terrible, terrible curse.

Can you imagine knowing someone is going to die, but not being able to save them?

It was a curse. A curse that had been haunting Nozomi Toujou ever since her childhood.

Another blood-curdling scream made its way to Nozomi's ears, causing her to drop to her knees suddenly. She was well aware that people were starting to stare and murmur, but she could care less.

A bead of sweat rolled down her face as she tried to block out the screams of the dying soul.

" I have family. They... they're waiting for me at home. Please don't do this!" The soul screamed.

Nozomi's eyes filled with tears of guilt. She clutched her head. She bit the inside of her lip so hard that it drew blood, only just barely holding back a scream of her own.

" Help me!"

Nozomi continued trying to block it out, trying to pick up her pace and continue walking, but the soul continued screaming. She tried using her hands to block out the noise, but it continued vibrating inside her head, rendering her desperate attempts useless.

" Save me!"

Unbeknownst to the purplette, a single tear managed to break free from its prison of her eyes and fall gently down her face, leaving a thin trail behind it. She picked up her pace, her feet working on autopilot. She didn't care where she was going, oh no, her mind was occupied with far more pressing matters than that. She felt... trapped, being unable to escape from the calls of the suffering soul. Her eyes sealed shut as the screams penetrated her mind yet again.

" Y-You can't do this! Please, I know you can hear me... please help me..." Another deafening scream wormed it's way into Nozomi's mind, and she choked on the waterfall of tears now cascading down her face. A sob rose in her throat as she attempted to compose herself and continue walking.