Blank Dream

Realm of Blood

'Realm of Blood, Bathe in it if you wish and go mad.'

I unlocked the door with the Gold key.

The decor was nice and pleasant. Red carpet lined the walls and floor and fancy music played. There was a sign to my right.

'We shall guide you to the mirror quickly and without interruption. Welcome, master, to the Realm of Blood. For now, give no thought to the return trip. If you are tired, enjoy a soothing meal."

I entered the door on my left and found myself in a big room. There was a waterfall and a throne! It sat at the head of a table filled with delicious looking food. Angel like statues lined the walls giving it a sort of ominous look.  There was a piano and all sorts of fun activities. The sign by the piano read, 'If you see anything you like, relax at your leisure."

I entered another room. It was a bedroom with a sign on the wall. This place seemed like the only safe haven in this entire world. The Mirror Realm was scary and I didn't want to go back.

The sign read, 'If you wish, you may take a comforting rest. The mirror is to your left.'

I looked to my left and saw the mirror. "That was easy," I muttered. I looked down and saw a blue teddy bear.

The teddy bear stares with round eyes.

"Cute..."

It was my reflection but... something was different. Something was wrong. I locked eyes with my reflection.

---------

TWO YEARS AGO

A MIDDLE SCHOOL

I found myself in one of my school's back stairwells. I was surrounded by students who had bullied me.

"Hey Usui, you're late," Atome snickered.

"Because I had gym...," I replied.

"I don't care! Just give us our homework! You did do it, didn't you?" I quickly took their homework out of my bad and handed it to her.  She laughed. "Can't get in the mood for three math worksheets. Thanks li'l Usui. 1000-yen fee for every wrong answer. You're rich, so that's enough responsibility, eh?"

I'm living like a slave to the every whim of these pieces of garbage.

"You listening, Usui? Always spacing out. That's blank-stares Usui, alright! Does the class even know you're a student? If you don't stand out some, nobody's gonna notice ya!"

I've been dealing with them for three months. They're just letting out stress for the coming exams, they're not going to a decent high school anyway...That's the sort of thing I think about as I let it wash over me and endure. With the recent death of my grandpa. A famous artist, the Usui family has been in turmoil over his inheritance. So I can't talk to my parents or stop attending school. At home, I care for my family; at school, for these losers. I feel myself withering, lonely, doubting. What am I living for? I'm the one whose building up loads of stress, not you jerks.

"Say, did you know? I doooo. Contrary to appearances, she really likes frilly outfits. Like gothic lolita and stuff. She's gone out like that on her days off."

"Now that's something!" Another bully chuckled. "So cute, Usui! You wanna be a princess?"

Don't talk about people tastes like that you assholes.

"Well, it's about time, Usui. Show us your little clothes. Let us snap some pics!"

Don't rob me of the one thing free of stress. Don't get into my private life outside of school.

"You listening? Bring put your favorite clothes. Sunday or something. We'll have a fashion show! What do you know, Usui! Always such a dim, awkward girl, but today you'll get to be a pretty frilly princess! Ohh, so adorable for her age!"

They burst into laughter.

Don't make me any more angry. If I stay silent, they'll get bored eventually. This isn't wise... So please, don't reach for my pocket. Don't grab what's in there... If I grab that, it'll turn the world upside-down...

"What's that? Say it loud and clear, Usui!"

"Knock it OFF, assholes!" I pulled out a knife and swung it at Atome.

She screamed but I didn't care. It made me feel amazing. Yes... In that moment, I took out a small hidden knife and swung it at the delinquent. It left a trail of red on the girls hand, six ccentemeters long. Immediately after this incident, a teacher heard a scream and came running. It wasn't a severe wound, so it didn't affect my school record such that I couldn't graduate. And no one in my class talked to me any more...  When my parents heard of the incident... My mother especially lost it, and berated me. She began using harsh discipline and control over me in the name of "correction." That was this memory... Now to just break the mirror.

No, not yet. There's more to do here still. This may just be a vision of the past. But this is a reenactment, an illusion the mirror is creating. It's merely based on memory. So... what reason is there to hold back? Before, the blood and screaming brought me to my senses, but now is different.  Now that my spirit has grown stronger from going around this world...

I can kill them. Leave no survivors. I'm convinced I can do it. I'll let my urges and hatred find an outlet. If only here in the mirror, I'll get retribution. If only here, I'll make these horrid assholes suffer!

I stabbed Atome I'm the gut. She screamed and blood went everywhere. Beautiful. I stabbed Minami in her back. She fell to the floor and coughed up blood. This felt amazing. Finally, I sliced Rem's throat. She fell to the floor and quickly bled out. I laughed.

"Was it this simple...?" I asked. "Was it this pleasant? And was it so short-lived?  It feels like nothing matters anymore.

I took the knife and plunged it into my throat.

--------

I came to, again standing before the mirror. Though I still felt a vigorous feeling in my hands, there was no trace of a knife wound.

"Yes. In the third term of my second year of middle school, I turned a knife on those delinquents. As a result, all my efforts to calm my parents as they dealt with the inheritance went to waste. I set off a bomb just waiting to burst. My mother became hysterical and strict after that. She desperately tried to 'train me right.' And so I lost a place to belong."

Just I regained a piece of my memory, I felt as if I'd lost something important.