"So what's it like?", Ren asked Kyoko on the phone. Kyoko flopped down on a couch with a sigh as she tried to describe the furnished apartment she had just moved into.
"It's pretty big..", she admitted. " In fact I'm surprised the rent is so low. The kitchen is just a little smaller than yours and the other rooms are..yeah it's perfect!"
"So what's the problem?", he pressed her. He didn't need to explain how he knew something was wrong. He just knew, from her unenthusiastic tone that the apartment was far from perfect in her opinion.
Kyoko sighed, leaning back on the couch. "It's not home!", she said gloomily. "I miss my room! My dear old cozy room at the darumuya! Where I could study, act, rehearse my lines and sleep comfortably, feeling at home! And I miss your bedro-", she broke off mid way blushing.
"Yeah?", he said teasingly. "What else was it that you miss?"
"Don't tease me Ren!", Kyoko cried, half embarrassed and half amused. "I'm having a serious issue settling into my new 'home'!"
It was nearly three years since Kyoko joined the showbiz industry. Only three years, and she was already one of the most promising stars in Japan. Her role as Natsu has earned her rave reviews and landed her with more roles than she could imagine. But fame had a price.
Though at first she had enjoyed the new found attention she received from the press, it soon became irksome to find reporters outside the darumuya nearly everyday. Therefore, the president, for the convenience of the darumuya , as well as for her own safety, put forward the idea of Kyoko moving to a new place in a safe and private location.
She now lived in a complex, and much nearer to Ren's place. Though the actor would have preferred her to move in with him, Kyoko had argued that it would only attract more attention from the press. So she had secretly moved into the fully furnished rented apartment.
"If it's that bad how about I come over to your place tonight?" Ren asked casually. Kyoko smiled at the faint longing in his voice. "You're always welcome to my new place Ren, but..", she said a little doubtfully.
"I'll make sure no one sees me", he quickly assured her. "Once this shoot is done I'll be right over. I won't spend the night there if you don't want me to , but I really want to have a look at your place."
"All right then.", Kyoko replied smiling, already counting the minutes. She yawned as she hung up the phone, tired after her day's work. But her talk with Ren cheered her up considerably. She was glad Ren had called up and agreed to come over. They were usually so busy with their work that it was hard to squeeze in enough time to spend together. But tonight, that wasn't the only reason she wanted him by her side.
Kyoko usually didn't get jittery, but tonight, in her new apartment, she was. The moment she had stepped into the flat, she felt a cold, unfriendly atmosphere about the place. There was no warmth, no homeliness and no coziness anywhere. In fact, Kyoko had never felt more unwelcome in a place before. She felt as though there was a hostile presence..a presence that didn't want her in this house at any cost.
Kyoko would have turned down this apartment immediately but it happened to be the only one within her budget. The reason she has opted for a rented apartment was because most of the houses on sale were way beyond her budget. Until she found a house for a reasonable price, she was forced to live here.
She went to her bedroom and put on her night clothes. She left her cell phone by the bed, switched off the lights and went to the drawing room. Kyoko turned on the TV to watch the news. After a few minutes, the show Tokyo Tabloid came on. She wasn't usually interested in gossip shows, but there wasn't anything better to watch.
Her eyes flickered with interest and surprise when the surprise guest turned out to be a member of Sho's band. As she listened to Kyo's confession, she felt mild irritation at the sound of Vie Ghoul. She hated their vocalist, Reino, one of the few men who could truly terrify her. He had stalked and nearly raped her a few years ago on the sets of dark moon and had threatened to destroy her career by leaking the news to the press.
Well.., she thought with satisfaction, he's going to get what he deserves now! That stupid beagle!
Suddenly, Kyoko felt as though the air around her had turned very cold. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself, looking around for the source of the cold wind. Now how did that happen?, she muttered nervously when she saw that the windows were shut. Maybe the air conditioner broke dow-Kyoko froze mid sentence when she suddenly felt an icy gust of wind down her neck.
She turned quickly, and looked around panicking. "Wha..what was that?", she gulped. It felt as though someone with an extremely cold breath was breathing down her her neck. She slowly stood up and looked around the room warily. The room seemed to be getting colder every minute... But there was something else that felt different about the place.
Kyoko felt as though she wasn't alone in the room...there was something else..something or someone..a cold, evil and menacing presence..She looked at the corridor leading towards the bedrooms, shrouded in complete darkness and shivered at the thought of walking along it.
The best place for her, she decided, would be outside until Ren returned. She walked towards the door and stopped, frowning in confusion.
"What the?", she muttered. "I could have sworn I left the key in the lock!"
She stood there, hands on her hips, trying to remember where she could have possibly left the keys. The bedroom!, she suddenly realized, remembering that she had gone in there to leave her suitcase. I must have left it there!
With a defeated air ,she looked at the passage to the inner rooms, which now looked as though it was miles long. She took a deep breath and began marching in a determined fashion along the corridor, heaving a sighing relief when she reached the bedroom and turned the lights back on.
It was much warmer here in the bedroom. Feeling braver now, Kyoko decided that the air conditioner was faulty and made up her mind to get a repair man to fix it as soon as possible.
"Now where did I leave the keys?", she asked herself looking around the bedroom. She began to search the entire room from top to bottom but no success. "Where the hell did I put them?", she asked herself again feeling thoroughly frustrated.
She turned to the attached bathroom and stared. There, beside tooth brush stand on the shelf, was the key!
"When did I leave it in the bathroom?", she asked aloud in amazement. She went into the bathroom and was about to take the keys when the door shut behind her loudly.
Kyoko jumped in fright, and turned around quickly, her heart beating loudly. She took a tentative step towards the door and pulled. Or tried to.. Because no matter how hard she tried, the door would not open.
" Help!", Kyoko yelled desperately, feeling like a trapped rat. She was locked inside a bathroom which was locked inside an apartment! "Help me out!"
She pulled the door handle making the door rattle dangerously, but it remained stubbornly shut. Kyoko dropped her hands feeling an increasing sense of panic and terror grow within her.
What is happening here?, she thought, frightened. As if on cue, Kyoko began to feel that familiar atmosphere of chilliness and evil in the bathroom. She turned slowly towards the mirror and watched in horror an disbelief as it turned misty in the chill.
But what frightened her even more was the fact that the keys were no longer on the shelf!
POP!
Kyoko jumped, as she felt a familiar popping sound at her head. She stared in amazement at her 'grudge spirit', floating down, it's eyes half closed. Suddenly it's eyes widened in fright. It gave out a frightened "Squeeee!" and flew straight down the door.
Kyoko turned around, startled when she heard a sudden cracking sound behind her. It was the mirror, which looked like a frozen lake. At the corner of the mirror was a crack.
Kyoko felt her racing heart stop for a moment as she saw the crack grow bigger and bigger..till the entire mirror was filled with cracks.
Suddenly, the mirror shattered into a million pieces, sending shards of glass everywhere. Kyoko screamed as she raised her arms to protect herself. She braced herself, expecting to feel the glass cut her arms. But nothing happened.
Kyoko slowly put down her hands, looking warily at the mirror, only to find it intact.
Am I going mad?, she wondered, as she began to seriously freak out. I'm sure I did not imagine the mirror breaking!
Meanwhile, it had gotten colder in the bathroom. Kyoko felt as though the air around her had frozen solid and was slowly closing in on her..trapping her..engulfing her completely, before she suffocated. Kyoko tried taking in deep breaths, but it was getting more and more difficult to breathe in the bathroom. Gasping and wheezing, she began to pull at the door urgently. "Help!", she croaked."Someone..anyone.."
She was starting to black out. She felt as if something was stuck in her throat, preventing her from breathing easily. Suddenly, the door opened miraculously. Kyoko stumbled out of the bathroom and immediately collapsed onto the floor, gulping in air. She almost had a heart attack when she felt a pair of arms around her but sighed in relief when she saw who it was.
"Ren!", she cried in relief, as she flung her arms around him. "How..how did you get here? I don't want to stay here a minute longer! Thi..this place is h..h..haunted!"
Ren wrapped his arms protectively around her. He easily lifted her and put her on the bed. "what happened?", he asked her, sounding annoyed. "I rang the bell so many times but no response! I started to get worried and called your landlord for an extra key. And now I find you here, acting strange, talking about haunted houses!"
Kyoko glared at him, her fears evaporating in an instant. "I'm NOT acting strange!", she retorted hotly. And she told him all that had just happened. She felt a mixture of disbelief and anger when Ren started to laugh, once she was finished.
"Honestly kyoko! Just what horror show were you watching just now?"
Kyoko just saw red. "I am being serious Ren!", she yelled, shaking him away roughly. She noticed the sudden darkening of his eyes, but she was too angry and too frightened to care. The one person whom she thought would help her was refusing point blank to accept her story! She stood up in a rage and started to leave the bedroom when she felt a vice like grip on her wrist.
"Let me g-" she was about to snap when she felt Ren pull her down violently and pin her against the sheets. He towered over her, a maniacal glint in his eyes. "Never-speak-to-me-like-that-ever-again!", he threatened her in a low and dangerous voice. "Don't ever try to test my temper Kyoko! You don't know what I'm capable of!"
Kyoko struggled to get free but Ren was too strong for her. His fingers sank gripped her so tight that Kyoko winced in pain. "Let me go Ren!", she snarled. "What's gotten into you? You're hurting me! Let me go!"
But Ren was gone. Kyoko suddenly felt afraid of the man leaning over her with a strangely hungry look on his face. Something is wrong!, she thought panicking. Something feels different! I've never been so afraid of Ren before..
Ren roughly slid his arms beneath her back as he lowered his mouth down to hers. Kyoko cried out in pain as his nails dug deep into her skin. She cried out again when he bit her tongue hard and roughly gained admission into her mouth. He kissed her savagely, torturing her tongue with nips and bites, making her whimper in pain.
"Stop it! Please, I'm begging you!", Kyoko sobbed as she tried to push him away. He let her go, but was far from being done. In lightening speed, he undressed himself and towered over the Kyoko's tiny, cowering frame.
"You wore this for me?", his eyes lustfully taking in the red bra and pajamas she had on, before tearing them off her. If Kyoko had been afraid earlier, it was nothing compared to what she was feeling now.
He grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her head back painfully before attacking her neck. Kyoko struggled in pain as he bit her neck savagely, leaving kiss marks all over. His other hand was marking her back, as his nails scratched her, digging deep into her skin, making her bleed.
"No!", Kyoko screamed. "Stop it I said!"
But she might as well have been talking to the walls. Ren was all over her body now, bruising her back, biting her breasts, hurting her whole body, and bleeding her...He was like a starved wild animal. The way he was attacking her made her feel like a wounded sheep being attacked by a lion.
He stopped his torture for a moment. But only a moment..because he had something worse in store for her...Kyoko shrieked in agony when she felt Ren ram his large manhood inside her. He showed her no mercy, as he thrust into her repeatedly, each time harder than the other. Kyoko closed her eyes , trying to shut out the pain...wishing she was dead..she had never felt pain like this before. Not just the physical pain, but the pain of the knowledge that the man she loved so much was torturing her like this.
She felt a mounting pain between her legs and screamed when she felt the most agonizing explosion inside her.
"NOOOOOO!", she yelled, half crazed with pain, her back arching as she clutched the sheets. "Make it stop! Please make it stop!"
She felt another pain, as though a white hot knife had just sliced her from within. She felt Ren finally withdraw and lay there shuddering. Ren got up without a word and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
Kyoko felt tainted.. She simply could not imagine how Ren could have inflicted such pain on her. She wasn't a virgin and even when they had made love the first time, Ren had been so gentle, that she had never felt any pain at all!
Kyoko got up slowly, wincing as her whole body ached. She glanced down at herself and was shocked to find her entire body, cut, bruised and bleeding... She noticed the blood between her thighs and felt herself reeling even more..
Why? She thought brokenly. Why did you do this Ren? She remembered his gentle kisses, touch and caresses, his uncanny ability to drive her wild with desire.. Yet tonight, it felt like nothing short of rape.
She stood up and managed to put on robe. Suddenly her cell phone rang. Kyoko looked wearily at her phone and picked it up to see who was calling. She stiffened when she saw the name on the screen..
Ren tsuruga calling.
Kyoko frowned in disbelief and answered the call, wondering if Ren had lost his phone.
"Hello Kyoko!", a cheerful voice spoke into the phone.
Kyoko froze. "Ren?", she asked in disbelief.
"That's right!", he answered her."I'm sorry I'm late! The car conked out in the middle of the road! Luckily I managed to get it repaired..I'm almost at your place now.."
But kyoko was not listening. She suddenly noticed something tiny lying on her bed. She looked at it closely and felt her heart stop for the millionth time that evening. It was the grudge kyoko.. But completely unrecognisable now as it had slashes and bruises all over it, similar to the ones on Kyoko.
The grudge Kyoko made a feeble motion and finally crumbled into dust before Kyoko's eyes.
"Hello, Kyoko?", Ren asked her uncertainly. "You there?"
But something else had now captured Kyoko's attention . She stood, petrified, her eyes now on the bathroom door which had opened a tiny crack. A pair of eyes was peering at her eerily through the crack. They had a malevolent glint that frightened Kyoko more than anything else.
She screamed and rushed out of the bedroom making her way to the door. To her surprise, the keys were in the keyhole, as she remembered leaving them. She hurriedly unlocked the door, and ran out of the apartment.
She stood there, panting before the elevator, and slammed a fist against the button. There was a 'ding' sound of the elevator arriving and Kyoko stopped when she saw Ren stepping out, looking just as frightened as she felt.
"What happened Kyoko?", he asked her urgently. "Why did you scream?"
Kyoko collapsed in his arms, sobbing in relief as his familiar scent engulfed her. "I just got raped by a monster who looks like you!", she replied, in between sobs..