DREAMS & NIGHTMARES

Mika stood on the cliff overlooking the glistening waves of the ocean. A gentle breeze animated her long blue-white hair. She had been to this spot many times, often at night. She could stay here for hours, watching the ocean, admiring the stars. Tonight, something seemed different, as if she wasn't alone.

A strange sensation overcame her. Mika found herself not being able to breathe, tears welled up in her eyes. It was then that she felt hands closing tighter around her neck, and heard a sweet voice whispering in her ear.

Mika tried the scream, but could not find her voice. Her head was spinning and she felt herself losing consciousness. The hands let go of her neck. Mika fell to her knees and gasped for air. She heard laughter behind her. Slowly she turned around, nothing besides darkness.

Mika turned her head towards the voice. A tall figure, floating in midair, met her gaze. Mika was speechless.

The figure smiled. Mika could not keep herself from staring at the figure. The ground began shaking underneath her. She tried to get up and run, but her limbs would not respond. Mika tried to scream again, this time with success. Her screams bounced off the cliffs as she fell towards the waters of her belove'd ocean.

Miyu continued to stare outside.

Miyu turned away from the window to look at her persistent friend.

Miyu focused her eyes back on the schoolyard.

Elsa stood clutching onto Rom. She had been seeing him since Mika was five, hoping he would make a good father for her only daughter. Mika had never grown to accept Rom. Her daughter had gone out the night before, to watch the ocean as she did almost every night. This time, she didn't return. Elsa's first thoughts brought her to search below the cliffs. She laid her head onto Rom's shoulder and allowed herself to cry.

Mika's body laid bleeding in the soft yellow sand. Her eyes were moist with tears, shreds of cloth were scattered around her.

Mika was picked up and carried to a waiting ambulance. A feeling of relief came over Elsa. Ron kissed her forehead and wiped the tears from her eyes. Rom looked up at the cliff then the spot where Mika was found.

Miyu sat on the edge of the fountain, her feet gently moving in the water. She watched her reflection distort in the water. Larva stood on the other side of the fountain, his back turned to Miyu, watching the violent tides assault the beach sands.

Larva continued to watch the tides. Miyu walked up to him and hugged his waist. She sat up on the railing to look at her companion.

Miyu's class was sent home early after the school officials had been informed of what happened to Mika. The young girls were told to stay indoors after dark till the one responsible was found. Mika had been found at the bottom of cliff, badly bruised, bleeding, and close to death. Signs of sexual abuse were also present.

A figure levitated in front of Miyu and Larva. A sinister smile across it's face. Miyu jumped down from the railing and hid herself in Larva's cloak.

With that, the figure disappeared

Miyu awoke from a disturbing dream, screaming. In her dream, she had caught glimpses of Larva involved in a brutal battle and found herself not being able to help him. He was hurt and barely able to defend himself, then the final attack came his way. It was then that Miyu began screaming

She walked into the main room of the house which they had adopted as their own.

The room was barren except for the empty birdcage in the corner. Miyu walked out into the cool night air. The moon lit up the backyard, but Larva was nowhere in sight. Miyu turned to go back inside when she noticed Larva's mask laying amongst a bed of blue-black cloth. She walked slowly over to it, sat down on the cloth and pressed the masks against her breasts. She closed her eyes and the tears began flowing down her cheeks.

A warm touch removed the tears from Miyu's eyes. She slowly opened them and found herself looking into Larva's caring eyes. She laid the mask down and gave Larva a hug.

Miyu stood up and walked over to Larva, who was now standing on the other side of the patio, watching the ocean off in the distance. It was rare for her to see him without his cloak, it had always seemed like a part of him.

The figure sat in a nearby tree, keeping his eyes on the group of junior high girls, contemplating which would be his first. The girls were not aware of his presence.

Seeing that his target had be chosen for him, he jumped down from the tree branch. Erika continued walking down the path, unaware of being followed.

Erika stopped. It sounded like someone was calling her name.

Erika turned around to face the voice. All fear left her. The most beautiful man she had ever seen, stood in front of her. Tall and thin, dressed in all black. His shoulder length fire-engine red hair covered half his face, which seemed unusually pale. He wore a look of pity. Her heart began beating so fast, she felt is was going to burst. The fear returned as he reached for her. Erika tried to scream as the hand closed around her throat. He kissed her quivering mouth, all the while keeping his grasp on her throat. His other hand began shredding her clothing. He gently fondled her small breasts and slowly began moving downward. He bite into her sweet smelling neck, Erika began to softly moan. Her eyes had lost all sign of life. She was aware of what was happening to her, but no longer had any control.

The figure looked up to see a young girl standing next to him.

Miyu held a fireball in her hand, ready to attack the Shinma. Sinister laughter filled the night air. Just as Miyu was prepared the throw the fireball, a large cape closed in around her.

Miyu stood in the garden, her back to Larva.

Larva walked towards Miyu who had knelt down in the garden to admire the blood red roses.

A single tear splashed on the rose in Miyu's hand.

The rose fell out of Miyu's hand. Her eyes were filled with rage as she raised her head to look at Larva. She hated to be reminded of the night all her mortal dreams had been shattered.

Larva looked at his concerned reflection in the rose garden's pond.

Miyu was dreaming. The sky was dark and menacing. The land was barren, all life had long since wilted away. The laughter she had been hearing in the distance was coming closer. She looked down to find herself naked, a cold hand grabbed her face. Miyu looked at her attacker and found herself face to face with the Shinma.

Miyu awoke, shaking. The sun was shining brightly through the window. She slowly got up. Her head was spinning. In the main room she found that the birdcage was now occupied."

Miyu looked at Larva leaning against the doorway. He was once more without his cloak, dressed in black, with a large sword at his side. She ran up to him and placed her head against his chest.

Mika lay in her hospital bed, staring at the ceiling. Her physical wounds had been tended to, her mental wounds were another story. She still remembered most of what had happened that night. No matter how hard she tried, she could not forget the rape and falling towards her death. She also remembered the masked figure catching her falling body and placing it on the beach below the cliff. She knew him from somewhere.

The name would not leave her thoughts. Over and over again, Mika continued to hear the name.

Mika's mother had appeared in the doorway. She looked so tired, her eyes swollen from crying. Even Rom looked like he had been crying. Mika couldn't help how much he looked like her father. She didn't remember her father that well, but she remembered all the pictures she had seen. She had been afraid that Rom was trying to replace her father. Mika promised herself that if got through this, that she would try to get along with Rom. She needed both of them, but didn't know how to tell Rom she needed someone she had pretended to hate.

School had been canceled for the rest of the week. The police had found Erika's abused body hanging in a tree and feared there would more if the schools remained open.

Karen climbed out her window and down the nearby tree. There was no way she was going to miss meeting up with her new boyfriend. She ran to the small patch of trees behind her house. It was dark, but Karen swore she could make her way through the trees with her eyes closed. Karen could see the fountain and her boyfriend through the trees. She was almost there.

A cold hand covered her mouth. Another hand grabbed her shirt and ripped it off her body.

He squeezed Karen's right nipple. Her body shuddered. He removed his hand from her mouth and replaced it with his mouth. Karen softly moaned. He felt the moisture in-between her legs. He reached up inside of her. Karen tried to scream, but his mouth was still upon her's. He began pulling out her intestines all the while maintaining his embrace upon Karen's sweet lips. When he finally released his "loving" embrace, Karen was being held in midair, her hands and feet bound together with her own organs.

Karen's screams echoed through Andrew's ears. He picked up the his flashlight and ran to the patch of trees. Andrew vomited upon seeing Karen's body hanging from the trees. She was hanging from a noose made of her own intestines.

Miyu had arrived in time to see Karen's lifeless body cut down from the tree limb. Andrew was sitting next to the fountain, covered in a blanket, shaking. Miyu walked up to him and lifted his face with her hand to look into his eyes. She saw nothing but sadness. She leaned to "whisper" in his ear. A few minutes later, Andrew got up and walked away, his eyes no longer showing his pain.

Larva held Miyu as her body shook from the tears she shed.

The afternoon sun shined brightly. Miyu had stayed up the entire night talking with Larva. He explained the entire story of what had caused the Shinma to go mad, that they had been friends, but strangely the one thing Larva could not recall was his name. Miyu felt as if these were going to be her last few hours with Larva. The feeling disturbed her.

Larva comforted Miyu for a while. He tenderly kissed her on the forehead and disappeared, leaving Miyu standing alone in the rose garden.

Mika felt a presence in her room. She slowly opened her eyes and noticed a small figure in the corner of the room.

The figure walked towards Mika. Mika recognized Miyu instantly, but was shocked by the look on her face. It was was a look of anger and of sadness.

Miyu turned to walk out of the room.

Miyu sharply turned around and stared at Mika.

Miyu returned to the house she was currently calling home. On the porch lay Larva's cloak and mask. Miyu picked up the items and disappeared into another realm.

Larva turned around to face the voice.

Larva smiled.

The first swing came Larva's way, he avoided it with ease. Larva's sword cut through the air and tore the fabric on the Shinma's shoulder, exposing the painful cut.

The next attack was aimed for Larva's head, then swiftly reversed direction and the sword's blade became deeply embedded in his leg. Larva closed his eyes briefly to keep back some of the pain. The clash of metal upon metal rang out. The next few attacks were blocked by both opponents. Larva's vision blurred briefly from the pain in his leg, enough time for the Shinma to strike his arm.

Larva felt his rage growing like a wildfire. He leapt into the air and brought his sword down across the Shimna's chest, leaving a deep wound. The Shinma growled loudly.

Miyu entered a realm much like the one in her dream. The air was still, the ground covered in dried up mud. The sky was a deep crimson. Not a living thing was left in this realm. Off in the distance, Miyu heard a sound similar to metal banging against metal. She followed the sound to a wall made up of large rocks. She leapt upon one of the rocks and saw the battle before her.

The Shinma's clothing had soaked up much blood, however, Larva wasn't in any better shape. Larva had managed to knock the Shinma to the ground and was ready to thrust his sword through the Shinma's heart.

In a quick movement, the Shinma kicked the sword out of Larva's hand and shoved a small silver dagger into Larva's abdomen. Larva fell to his knees, clutching the handle of the dagger with both his hands. His eyesight blurred and his eyes filled with tears

Through his blurring vision, Larva could make out the Shinma standing above him, ready to finish him off, but he also noticed a dark figure standing behind his opponent, holding his sword.

Kirin turned around to face the masked figure in the dark cloak, only to meet the end of a sword with his name written on the blade. The figure plunged the sword deeply into Kirin, then shoved it upwards. Screams filled the still air. Kirin's body became consumed by flames and his screams died out as his body became a pile of dust on the dry, cracked terrain.

Miyu dropped the sword and ran to Larva. She helped him pull out the dagger. Blood bubbled out of the wound. Miyu placed her head upon Larva's chest, her eyes filled up with tears, which ran down her face and onto the wound. Miyu watched with amazement as the tears slowly worked on sealing up the wound. She looked at Larva's face and found a smile upon it.

Miyu helped Larva stand and held onto him as he limped his way from this realm.

A small figure stood in the corner of Mika's room.

Miyu approached the bed.

Miyu turned to watch the young boys pass by Mika's window.

Miyu continued to watch the boys.