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─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─── ▁ ▂ ▃ ▄ ▅ ▆ █ 100 %
↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺
𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐀 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐎𝐍 𝐄𝐃𝐆𝐄 ever since the first girl in the village disappeared. It wasn't outlandish to assume she could be the next target in the mysterious string of kidnappings.
But tonight. Tonight felt different somehow. An acute buzzing filled her head and a prickling at the back of her neck set off alarm bells in her ears. They felt like signals. Signals of danger.
She ignored them. It wasn't as if this was the first time she'd felt it surround her. A lingering sense of dread.
Misa still hated how paranoia had become a normal part of her life, as if it had always been there. How maybe it had been.
To her chagrin, she'd been accompanied by at least three escorts (guards) everywhere she went. She'd barely been allowed privacy in her own room and this had been one of the few moments of peace she managed to steal away.
Sitting in front of an ornate gold mirror, she removed the delicate jewels adorning her body. First, the classy silver necklace, an opal stone studded with aquamarines and then the dainty pearls circling her wrists.
She sighed in relief, feeling lighter without all the useless ornaments weighing her down. She reached for the wisteria hairpin, a charming cluster of amethysts, when a gentle knock came at the door.
"Miss, are you alright in there? I've brought you some sakura tea."
"Come in," she called back.
A homely woman entered, carrying a tray laden with expensive china. The vivid strokes of colour revealing floral designs gleamed in the thin shaft of moonlight.
"This should help you relax," she assured. "It's no wonder you're nervous with all the missing girls these days."
"Thank you Mayumi-san."
The woman poured some tea from a swirly blue teapot, wrinkles around her mouth and eyes becoming more pronounced as she smiled.
While Misa didn't care for many people, she held a fondness for her housekeeper, who had taken care of her in the absence of her parents.
Whether it was combing her hair or helping her dress presentably for a social function, Mayumi had always been there with a kind word and reassuring smile.
Misa smiled down at the salmon pink petals floating atop the amber liquid, grateful that Mayumi had remembered her diversion to the colour red. Even such a small detail never escaped her notice.
"Good night miss," she shut the door with a quiet click and the room was silent once more. Not a comfortable silence, however. This was a silence that reeked of death.
Misa sat for a few moments, inhaling the sweet fragrance before taking a sip. The fusion of floral cherry blossom tones and the undertones of fruity plum almost made her forget the reason for her tense posture.
Almost.
She slipped on a lacy nightgown, moving over to the window to draw the blinds. It was a full moon tonight, she noted. Misa half wished she could throw open the windows and leave the stiflingly empty house.
Run away and watch stars glitter instead of diamonds or the sun shine instead of gold. Misa could barely remember how it felt to have the sun on her pale skin, but she recalled it like a warm hug. Or what she imagined a warm hug would feel like.
For a singular moment, Misa felt emboldened by the radiant light of the moon, so unapologetically bold and bright. As if she were brave enough to do anything without facing the consequences.
She hesitantly reached for the latch on the window when she looked down and-
Of course, she thought numbly. Of course they would have guards stationed under her window.
It seemed there was no lustre of adventure to be found outside the confines of her imagination. It was an impossible fantasy, designed to satisfy her ache for something more than precious stones and glossy pianofortes.
Such are the foolish dreams of young girls.
She caught a movement in the corner of her eye. After blinking and rubbing her eyes sleepily, she saw a boy in a black and green checkered haori a few metres out from the walls the residence.
He appeared to be...sniffing the ground? Misa briefly considered inviting him in as he must have been quite hungry to be sniffing the ground in such an uncivilised manner.
Unfortunately, the guards in the hallway wouldn't let her take even a step outside her room after dark. Let alone go outside to invite a suspicious individual for tea.
"I wonder what he's doing out so late at night..." she murmured to herself before she grabbed a velvet curtain and tugged it to obscure the luminous moon overhead.
Darkness spilt like ink, bathing the room in an unnatural shade of soot. The kind that used to make her sneeze as she watched the glowing embers burn out in the fireplace.
As she slipped under the covers, she felt the eerie feeling of being watched that had accompanied her all week intensify tenfold.
However much she'd tried, she couldn't shake the persisting notion that her presence wasn't the only one here. Irrational, paranoid, she berated herself.
When she sat up to take in the room, nothing was amiss. The elegant watercolours hung in frames (that had cost more than the art itself), the ceramic vases of baby's breath and asters, the oak table with sheafs of yellowed parchment and splattered inkwells.
She sighed, annoyed with herself for getting working up over nothing.
ꔫ
When Misa next opened her eyes, there were gnarled hands clamped over her mouth, sharp nails digging in to her skin, and there wasn't even enough air to scream.
