Wonderland Carnival

Hitomi

Halo Nine: Hitomi:

She and her boyfriend worked different shifts. Hitomi worked at nights while he worked during the day. They only had time for each other on the weekends. During such, they pretty much just slept in. Lately, Hitomi's boyfriend, Akihiko, couldn't sleep. Very early in the morning, he would hear a thud noise in the walls. This Saturday night was the last straw. The man lay in bed, gritting his teeth.

Damn it! Why won't it stop?! He poked his girlfriend in the shoulder. "Baby, wake up," he whispered. Hitomi rolled over and rubbed her eyes.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Shhh!" The couple took a listen at the walls. Thud! Thud! Thud! Hitomi sat up with a confused look on her face.

"What is that?" she asked.

"That's why I'm asking you," Akihiko said. He looked her in the eye. "This is a corner apartment, right?"

"Yes," his girlfriend replied. She rested her hand on his shoulder. "I will have someone come over and look at the walls in the morning, okay?"

"Alright," Akihiko said. Despite that exchange, the man didn't go back to sleep.

"See you at dinner," Hitomi said to Akihiko at the door the next morning.

"Have a good day," he said back. Another thought crossed his mind as he turned to head out the door. "Oh, your manager called," Akihiko spoke up. Hitomi gave him a puzzled look.

"What did she want?" she asked.

"Just some files and things like that," her boyfriend said with a shrug.

"Ah," Hitomi replied. "Thanks for letting me know." They shared one more kiss at the door.

"See ya," Akihiko said.

"Bye," she said back.

Around six o'clock, Hitomi headed to work, leaving Akihiko alone in the apartment. He was channel-surfing in the living room when he heard the thuds in the wall again. This time, the loud volume made him jump, jerking his head around.

"What the-?!" he shouted. His eyes trailed upwards to the ceiling. The thuds came down through the ceiling.

"Hello?" he asked. The man stumbled backwards when he felt something brush up against his leg. "Shit!" he hissed. Suddenly, the lights began to flicker again. Akihiko sighed and lowered his shoulders.

"Not again," he muttered. Akihiko was about to head to complain to the landlord about the power again when he heard little footsteps behind him. He turned to see a little girl about six years old running down the hall. Curious, he just had to follow behind. The child turned the corner into their bedroom.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Get out of there!" When Akihiko got to the door, he found his room empty. "Hello?" he asked. The door slid shut so hard that the frame rattled. Before the man could move to the source of the sound, a strong hand grabbed him by the shoulder. Akihiko turned his head to see a blackened school girl opening her mouth for a loud death rattle. His hand dropped by his side, limp.

"I'm home!" Hitomi whispered in the early morning hours as she walked through the front door. She took off her shoes, smiling. The intern looked forward to cuddling up to her sweetie in bed as she caught up on some sleep. Hitomi didn't notice the graveyard-like silence around her as she walked further down the hall.

"Baby, I'm home," she whispered aloud. However, terror came over her face as she saw her boyfriend lying on the bed, trembling on the bed as if he was having a seizure.

"Baby!" she screamed. "Baby, what's wrong?!" Hitomi reached into her coat pocket for her cell phone. She was about to make an emergency call when she saw a pale little girl running by in the mirror. Hitomi whipped around, but no one else was there in the room. Her ears caught a low death rattle noise before a crunch. She turned to see the blackened school girl walking towards her in a zombie-like walk. Hitomi fell back, struggling towards the closet, quaking. The high school girl reached out her hand for her victim. Hitomi covered her face as the heavy breeze blew over her. However when she lowered her hands, an evil look washed over her face as she bit on her fingers.

Around nine o'clock, Namie knocked on the apartment door. She paced around with the file in her hand. She looked up when the door opened. Hitomi looked at her with an empty expression her face.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Um, I've brought that file I want you to look over," her manager told her.

"Oh, cool," Hitomi said. She walked into her apartment. Curious, Namie followed the intern inside.

"Are you feeling okay?" she asked.

"You shouldn't be here," Hitomi said in a low voice.

"Excuse me?" Namie asked. The intern turned around with her head down at her feet.

"The little slut," she mumbled.

"What?" her manager asked.

"He seduced her. He raped her. He raped my baby!" Hitomi growled. Namie grabbed her by the shoulders.

"What the hell?!" she shouted. The intern shoved her manager out of the apartment and locked her out.

"Hitomi!" Namie yelled. The intern walked down hall with her eyes to her feet. The blackened schoolgirl stood outside of the window, looking in.