Zodiac Girls

The Nightmare

She ran with all she had, away from the people who had been after her since she discovered the truth about herself; the people who had been after her with horrible intentions; the people she had once trusted, only for them to break that trust just as soon as it was formed.

Rain did not know who these people were. One day, after a horrible revelation of herself, they appeared, claiming to be on her side, and that they find kids like her to help live out their lives how they should be. As a child back then, frightened of the world and herself, it was only natural for Rain to accept a helping hand. However… on their way to her supposed new home…

“Can’t believe how easy it is to manipulate that kid into coming along with us,” she heard.

“I’ll say. Then again, she’s a frightened little midget. Any kid is easy to handle when they’re scared. All it takes is a little sweet talk, and they’re easily won over.”

“Except that thing is no kid. From the moment it was revealed to be a monster, it is not even human anymore. There are only two roles a monster can play; they are either villains that threaten humanity or tools to be used for our sake. That brat wants to live? It can live all right... as our slave.”

The moment she heard those words, tears streamed down her cheeks, and Rain ran from them. She recalled times when she had felt her monster side wanting to take over her, and that she gave in to that side the first few times, but as time went by, she managed to learn how to suppress it, and instead tried to live a normal life in a number of places. Unfortunately, try as she might, those people still managed to find her, prompted her to forcibly move away from all those places she wanted to call 'home'.

This time was no different. Though she had stayed in one area much longer than anywhere else, in the end, she was still found by them.

A group of figures suddenly appeared before Rain, causing her to stop in her tracks and stared at them in fear. She turned, and saw the ones chasing her had caught up, completely having her surrounded.

Rain looked around at them all, wondering how she was going to escape from them. She did not want to rely on her other half in this, not after all the pain and suffering it had already put her through. As it would turn out, though, she did not need to do anything, for something came and rushed by these people, so fast that all she could see was a blur. As the blur had struck each pursuer, however, each figure got dismembered into pieces. To say Rain was shocked speechless would be the greatest understatement, as she saw the blur easily killing off more figures around her, blood splattered everywhere, followed by fearful screams.

Rain widened her eyes at the scene. She wanted to be away from these people, but she did not ask for their deaths! “Stop it! Don’t!” Taking a step forward, she somehow caught the figure and stopped them from moving, giving her a good look at their face. One glance, and the teen widened her eyes in shock, for the figure had her face. “Y-… You’re…”

“You can never run from the truth,” ‘she’ said. “Stop delaying the inevitable.”

Next Rain knew, the other her grabbed her by the arm and started spreading dark shadows all over her. The girl panicked at this and tried to release the other her’s grip off her arm, only for her hand to move through her, and the shadow to hasten its spread all over her, a sight that frightened Rain even more, for she felt as though she was slowly getting swallowed up by her own dark side. 

"You can never live a normal life. Not ever again," she heard 'her' say. "You're better off submitting to me, leave everything in my power. Like that killer did, I will make thoroughly sure those people who kept pestering us will know to leave us be."

As she said that, the shadows were completely covering Rain up. "No! Stop! Don't! NOOOOOO!"

******

Rain shot up with a gasp, panting and sweating profusely from the nightmare she had. Upon feeling and getting a good look at herself, she saw no sign of even black on her and lied back in bed with a relieved sigh. 

"Whew... Just that nightmare again..." she breathed out. Though somewhat used to the nightmare, she much rather have the other usual dream. At the very least, Rain would not be involved in it.

A few seconds of relaxing later, though, the girl snapped her eyes open upon realizing something else.

"Wait, I'm in my room?!" she gasped. "But... But didn't I-?" As Rain turned to her desk, where her farewell letter was to be, she saw nothing there at all; no trace of the letter.

This confused the girl. Did she dream she was leaving the academy? But it felt so real to be a mere dream. Especially with how she had encountered those two members from that dreadful place. She could've sworn it was all real.

"Hello, Passing Star~" came Sherry's voice, as the girl slammed the door open with a bang once more. 

"Aah! Sherry?" Rain gasped in shock from the sudden entrance.

The blonde looked at her and was quite surprised at Rain's condition. "Whoa, still in bed? That's rare, coming from you. You're usually awake when I come get you," she stated. "Then again, after that game we had yesterday, I don't blame ya! My blood is still pumping, though~"

"Uh... Yeah. Guess I was a lot more worn out than I thought," Rain said, going along with the assumption. She knew for sure she did not collapse in bed after the game. In fact, taking that into consideration, if that encounter really was a dream, then the soccer game should've also be a part of it. And yet, the game clearly happened.

"Well, don't just stay in bed! Hurry up and get dressed!" Sherry urged. "We may not have class today, but don't forget the team is holding a party to celebrate yesterday's win! Come on, we're on snack duty! Can't keep the other girls waiting!"

Rain held back a laugh at her friend's action. "Okay, okay. I hear you. Just give me a few minutes to freshen up and change out of these pajamas."

"Aye, aye, Passing Star~" With that, Sherry left the room, closing the door behind her.

As she got up from bed, Rain couldn't help but wonder still about last night. She knew for sure she sensed the organization had found her, and attempted to leave the academy. So why did she wake up back in her dorm room, in her own bed? Could this be a dream?

As Rain wondered that, her bare foot hit the leg of her bed, sending intense pain on her toes. "Ouch! Definitely not a dream..." she cried out, holding her stinging foot.